BLACKTHORN - Chronicles of the Dark Sword Book One Page 0,1
Trolls shattered the lines and waded through the ranks reaping men as if they were wheat. Their iron cudgels growing slick with gore as they pulverized their enemies.
Arrows filled the dark sky; iron tips reeking havoc among the combatants wherever they fell. The Tal’shear engaged the giants, at great cost they slowed their progress and with long bladed spears the tall warriors began to slay the fearsome juggernauts.
Emerald sheets of fire rained down upon the armies, slaying friend and foe alike. The Warders engaged the enemy powers and turned aside many of the attacks the Balhain hurled at them.
The Balhain became incensed by the arrogance of the Warders. They ceased attacking the soldiers, turning their attention to the hilltop. Bolts of power lashed out and the Warders were hard pressed to defend themselves. The hilltop glowed with power and the eldritch forces being wielded there killed any who stood too near.
So’san, mightiest of the warders was driven from the hilltop by the Balhain’s power. He staggered through the field of combat protected by his Anghor Shok, his sworn guardian. The warrior fought valiantly, slaying any who would dare attack his charge.
So’san climbed a jagged hillside and soon stood above the combat. He watched in horror, as the army of the east was being overrun. Looking on helplessly as brave and powerful heroes fell and rose no more. The Balhain were pounding his companions mercilessly, their might setting the very air ablaze.
He knew they had lost; their brave ploy had failed, for Sur’kar yet remained in his tower within the volcanoes heart. He would not come out and they lacked the strength to enter.
His Anghor Shok was slain by one of the few remaining giants, struck from behind his body exploding into bloody fragments by the force of the blow.
Rage filled the warder, an emotion he was unfamiliar with and could not fully control. Power filled him and he threw down the Troll with a bolt of searing energy. The Troll cried out in anguish as his body burst into flame.
Horrified by what he had just done, So’san fell to his knees weeping. He had violated the most sacred of his oaths. To use their strength to kill was against everything his order stood for. In the blink of an eye he had become akin to the evil that they now fought.
Tears clouded his vision and despair filled his heart. He knew today, right now upon this field was their only chance to save this world and its people.
There was but one choice remaining, a desperate plan that would kill millions but it would slay Sur’kar as well. It offered a slim chance for the survivors to rebuild a new world without the darkness of the Kin slayer.
He closed his eyes and called upon all the power he could master. He cast aside his barriers and allowed the might to build within him to a level he had never felt before. Pure power raged within him. He jumped to his feet. All of his restraints now gone, he felt as if he could simply close his fist and grind the world too dust.
The energy built within him until his body could hold no more and as he burned away he sent his final casting out into the darkness above.
The hilltop on which he stood exploded in a ball of golden light, so bright that it rivaled the sun. A blast of tremendous force raced out knocking nearby combatants from their feet. The soldiers closest to the blaze simply vanished consumed by the hellish energies So’san had unleashed.
The Balhain were caught in the open and the light burned them, shrieking in anguish they disappeared into the shadows. Dissolving into a dark mist driven by the wind.
The warders looked on in shock, they knew not what So’san had done, but it was a violation of every law they upheld.
The glow subsided and silence reigned upon the field of combat. Broken only by the groans of the dying and the rumble of the fire crowned mountain.
A new sound came on the wind, a deep rumbling screech that grew to deafening proportions quickly. The cloud of ash and fumes above raced off to the west as if it were simply wiped away by a giant hand. The sun shone brightly and a terrible hot wind raced across the landscape.
The sky brightened and a flaming sphere fell from the heavens, trailing a dark roiling cloud behind it.