Fallen Heroes and other storylines

[Mix Thorngall]

The Scroll 5: The Gate of the Scroll (4/4)

The water valkyrie charged against Ayesha with fury, while Lugh awaited Eladriel's attack from above... unexpectedly, the little Wrath could withstand the clash of the broad icy sword, while Lugh was ready to strike...

- "I really have nothing against Angels, but..."

The godly sword crashed into the Dragon Shield, greatly damaging it, but Eladriel also got smacked by the hard shield. He got up and spitted some blood... he could not heal as quickly as usual in the Arena, and Lugh smiled seeing it...

Meanwhile, the valkyries were dueling, but Camilla was getting advantage, as her sword and ice elementals were punishing Ayesha's fire and combat ability... the Wrath was swifter and allowed the fire one a free hand to slightly flame up the water one, but it was not enough... maybe if she was able to replace her foe, she could last longer in the ring...

- "Hey, fiend! You gonna let your minion do the job?! Are you not mighty enough to beat a weakling dark witch, you rejected one?"

- "Nice try, my dear... chill her to the core!"

Camilla went all out in icy attacks, and Ayesha had nothing besides dodging them. Lugh knew what was going on, and strongly rammed Eladriel, attempting to get rid of him for a while... he took a hard blow, but he managed to stop the raging angel!

- "Agghhh... What a...!"

- "Shut up, you piece of...! Lady... resist! I am coming!"

The harmed Lugh rushed as he could to help, forcing Camilla to take back, although his great shield would resist only a few clashes more. The warrior lured the water valkyrie to duel and, finally, Eladriel went against Ayesha, somehow stunned by Lugh's last attack...

- "Ouch... Right... I will do it myself... if you like, fallen one!"

The dark fighter, slightly recovered from the cold strikes, swang the Wrath against the Archangel, who was trying to bait her into some kind of Light Defense spell, but... it did not work, and he had to clash the little sword at the last moment!

- "Nice try, but... which part of "no summonings" have you missed, wimp?"

No summonings for him, but he still had rage, strength and a fearsome Light blade! Ayesha was quicker, and her whip was harassing the Archangel with flames, but he seemed nearly unbreakable. However, Eladriel seemed to fear the Wrath, and he often was willing to tank some whip lashes, just to avoid that sword reaching him... the valkyrie could have a brief look to the other side, where Lugh was boldly standing against her overpowered sister. Maybe she had to bear him a hand again...

The last of Camilla's icy blasts trampled over the Dragon Shield, freezing it and dropping the warrior... and her flying charge finally broke it into pieces, hardly hitting Lugh's arm! He barely withstood her wrath, but it was so hard to survive... fortunately, she got too confident, and did not see Ayesha tossing Lugh the magic spear!

Gae Assail arrived just in time to the smith's hand, but he was not able to clash the mighty water blade... instead, both fighters got painfully nailed! The spear came across the valkyrie's armor, also severely damaging one of her wings, and the godly sword got stuck at Lugh's chest! Both collapsed, but Lugh seemed way more harmed...

Ayesha escaped the assassin's rage for a while, seeking to care for Lugh. The proud Eladriel did not mind a bit about Camilla, and just laughed out loud...

[Mix Thorngall]

The Scroll 5: The Gate of the Scroll (3/4)

They reached the brightful inner hall of the Gate, where the old mage was standing in front of a huge oval mirror with an ivory and jasper frame crafted with ancient rune scriptures...

- "Greetings, fighters. I am Eldarias the Gatekeeper, the guard of the Path, and I see you are coming to cross it, aren't you? Only a few are worthy enough to succeed at this harsh task, so I strongly advice you to take back!"

- "Thank you sir, but I have not come so far to give up now. This is my only chance to get rid of this curse, and I won't waste it!"

Eladriel took out his sword and stood between Ayesha and the Gate with rage, and Camilla stood behind him...

- "You shall not pass! Only true fighters of Light like us deserve such power, you blighted dark witch!"

- "Shut up! I am way old to believe in that stuff, man... Anyone having all the items of the Treasure can get in, but... you still have the right to challenge her! You both must fight evenly in the Arena of Gods, and may only the winner claim the Scroll!"

Lugh was so worried about the assassin Eladriel reaping the full power of Darkness, and raged out his sword against both Angels!

- "None of the Sisters can aid you now, so please let me join in, my dark lady. Let's fight!"

Ayesha smiled, glad to have the God Lugh again on her side, and grabbed her flaming whip and the Wrath of Altair, taunting Camilla with it...

- "Right... the winners will have the chance to open the Gate of the Scroll with the Treasure collected... but you must keep it until the end of the fight!"

Eldarias held up his scepter, uttering the Spell of the Challenge... soon, both Angels, Ayesha and Lugh were vanished out from the fortress of Xanadu into some kind of round arena floating over the void, surrounded by lighting torches. The floor of the arena depicted a demon and an angel, both holding up the mighty Scroll of Light and Darkness...

- "Nice place to die, fallen one... let's see how long you can last against our might!"

- "Blah blah blah... come here! I will make you eat your bloated words... just after your pretentious shiny sword, freaky bird!"

The voice of Eldarias the Sage could be heard in the faraway...

- "Welcome to the Arena, bold warriors... Only the last challengers standing with the full Treasure will succeed in this fair combat of steel and magic... no Light or Darkness summoning shall aid you in this place, as the Scroll wraps them all!"

[Mix Thorngall]

give me some of whatever you're smoking!

Smoking can severely damage your health

[spO.oks]

give me some of whatever you're smoking!

[Mix Thorngall]

The Scroll 5: The Gate of the Scroll (2/4)

A huge and tight bunch of spear trolls and bone guards were crowding the main gate of the grim fortress known as the Xanadu, backed by Nemain's brute strength and Anand's bloodlust spells... even the blessed Paladins were having a very hard time trashing them, and Camilla was compelled to heal her fighters instead of breaking the defenses... the siege was about to fail, but...

- "Look up above, lord Lugh! What's that?!"

- "Doom! Let's rush, or we will lose the Sisters soon!"

The huge light crashed the ground near the Paladins, harming a ton of the undead and taking them back... a shining Angel with a fierce blessed sword, many pairs of wings and boiling hatred inside his eyes, landed at last to end the battle!

The flaming Eladriel began to shred the trolls and bone guards, completely dismissing Camilla and her wounded Paladins... but soon, she was able to join him in the slaughter! Nemain went all out to stop her with the precious sword of Nuada, while Anand focused all of her dark magics to take down the Rejected, severely damaging him, but sadly not enough...

- "Aggh... you are indeed strong, demon! But nothing will... stop... the Light... aaargh!!"

Eladriel was down, and Anand was about to finish him... but Camilla took a hard blow from Nemain in order to flee and heal her master up again! After the buff, he quickly caught the Dark Morrigan off-guard and threatened her neck...

- "Darkness never pays off!"

He swang the godly sword to end his job... but a huge fireball trampled over him just before doing it! The warriors had arrived!

- "But what about Fire, you proudish fiend? Did you miss us?"

- "Ahhh... the fallen one at last! This will be a great fight... but why don't you join us instead of helping these Danann hags? Maybe I can get you rid of your curse with some merciful blessing, you fire witch..."

Camilla stood up, catching her breath. She was exhausted, but Eladriel didn't even care.

- "You are unworthy to bless even a single drop of water, rejected one! I know what you are looking for, lady Ayesha... and I am the guard of the place where you can claim it... Nemain, give it to her!"

The Sister was not really willing to do that, but at last she dropped the sword of Nuada with anger... Ayesha grabbed it, and suddenly a huge green shining column came out from the Xanadu... to point the Gate of the Scroll!

- "So you have completed the Treasure, dark warrior... and you are able now to follow the path of the Scroll!"

Eladriel's eyes poured with greed... he didn't expect the full power of Darkness to be at his hands...

- "Not so quick... great to know the Gate of the Scroll is buried inside your rotting lair, witch... but I won't let it so easy... I call upon my right to duel you for the Uaraqasshaid-yannuri, fallen one!"

So the assassin held his wrath for a while to allow the Sisters to gather them into the buried cave hosting the shiny Gate... Sir Taron rejoined his Paladins, and Anand dispelled her undead guards. The fight was over for now.

The Dark Morrigan guided Ayesha, Lugh, Camilla and Eladriel inside the cave, where Eldarias the Sage, the dwarven Great Wizard in charge of guarding the Path of the Scroll, was awaiting for the challengers...

[Mix Thorngall]

The Scroll 5: The Gate of the Scroll (1/4)

Anand, the eldest of the Sisters of Danu, and also the first of the mystic Sylphids or Morrigna, was tempted long ago by Macha to grab the dark power of the undead. She enrolled in a grim spellcraft which sacrificed her Light attributes and made her in par with most high demons...

- "You arrived at last, my sister Nemain... We must keep the Sword, as one of the deadliest assassins is coming here to reap it!"

- "I know, my dear... but that dreaded Ayesha won't ever reach our stronghold, I swear!"

- "Ayesha? Not really, as with her last breath, our ill-fated Badb whispered into my mind... The fallen one took the Stone of Fal, turning it into Light... and then, she fooled the Paladins to let Badb escape. Unfortunately, the assassin managed to kill her using some kind of poison. And maybe he also slayed Macha inside her stronghold... did you see her murderer, Nemain?"

- "No, I just supposed it, and so probably I was wrong. So... who is really against us, and why?"

- "I don't know yet, but it must be a blessed Light one, as nobody else could have defeated Macha and her dark dragon so easily. Maybe some renegade angel..."

- "The angel of death is now following your steps... These words have been echoing into my head since Ayesha got into the cave below my settlement, but... do you know what they mean?"

- "Nooooo! Goodness, why have you not told me this before? It's the horrible and merciless Aelaydrael-nass, the Rejected! We are all dead meat if that fiend enters our homeland seeking war! Gather all of our fighters, we must defend! And hope Ayesha comes first, we must earn her trust to join us against him!"

Both began preparing their defenses for the siege... Meanwhile, a huge party of Wanderer Paladins was marching against them, commanded by a fair and powerful valkyrie trained by the Master Zadkiel himself...

Ayesha was following the steps of the Wanderers, reaching a little forest not too far away from the fortress of the Dark Morrigan. There were signs of battle, and a dead Paladin laying on the ground... not yet dead, as he began crawling towards her, but hardly damaged and bloodstained. It was the proud Sir Taron, completely defeated by someone...

- "What happened? Who did this? Anand?"

- "Please... help..."

- "Again, Sir Shiny, you need the help of a damned magic wielder? Don't get used to it, my friend..."

Ayesha realized, at last, that former Paladin was not the feared Eladriel, as the proud killer would never beg for her help like that, even disguised... she took the flask with Dagda's holy water and gave Sir Taron some of it, making sure to keep enough for opening the path of the Scroll. His wounds began to heal, but his godly armor was completely wrecked...

- "Much better, mage... a mighty warrior from Heavens came to take over my soldiers to raid Anand but I refused, so she quoted me as possessed by the Sisters and defied me! My soldiers didn't dare to oppose an Angel, but I severely doubted about her intentions, so... here I am!"

- "So, you have learned the lesson, man... and, as you have fought against a light spirit, it makes you officially "dark", huh?"

- "Ah, ya shut up, witch! Maybe I have to rethink everything about light and darkness... but now let's go for her, I want my Paladins back!"

A strong voice echoed from the trees, and a great warrior came out...

- "Count on me, fighters!"

With some Northern-alike horned helmet and an impressing Dragon Shield, the God Lugh of the Danann appeared in his true self!

- "Nice to see you again, smith... and greatly improved! I see you also have many hidden charms, my lord... your help would be so welcome, as we are against some high Light spirits now..."

- "The time has come... Eladriel is all out against the Sisters now, and nothing seems able to stop him!"

- "But... my lord, it was a female warrior who ambushed me and reaped my troops. A pretty and strong soldier, possibly one of the Valkyries, with a bluish shining armor and a blazing godly sword of the same colour..."

- "As if we had not enough with the Rejected one! If you are right, she must be Camilla Alma'annassiya, one of my former sisters at arms who left Heavens so long ago like Eladriel... and her healing and water elemental mastery is a real pain for me!"

Sir Taron stared at her, surprised and wondering how a mere flame witch could know so much about Heavens and their crew...

- "By the way, sirs... I think it's time to end with this pesky disguise and prepare for battle!"

Ayesha got rid of the spell, getting back her flaming red armor suit and greyish wings, and picked out the Wrath. Sir Taron's first instinct was to fight her, but he remembered that Angel nearly killing out him...

- "So weird... A divine angel had almost killed me, and a fallen one had saved me... but I owe you my life, so I will follow you, whatever you are!"

Lugh gladly looked at her, ready to fight...

- "Nice to meet you at last, your greatness Aishannarida... let's end this madness!"

[Mix Thorngall]

Grey Wings (4/4)

She got up at last, but first she had to help her wrestling queen for a while. The gargoyle screamed painfully when Ayesha pierced it with her sword, saving Lyrith from a deadly claw stab! The Queen somehow raged at her for interfering in her fight, and tried to show she did not need her help by hardly flaming out the gargoyle harassing Rina, trampling over him.

- "Great! That's the spirit, your Majesty! Now, the big one... ouch!"

Again, the Baron was over the valkyrie, hitting with his nasty whip. And one of the gargoyles stomped Ayesha's back, dropping her. Greywing landed, and took his swift weapon back, aiming to her neck!

Ayesha rolled and dodged the killer blow, and quickly grabbed the whip, strongly pulling the Baron!

- "Nice whip, my friend... may I keep it?"

A huge flame from her hand lighted the leather, reaching and burning out Greywing's hand holding it! She took the fire-powered whip and violently lashed the surprised Baron with it, until he was dropped out of combat. Then, she took her sword to finish the job...

- "Your siege has ended, demon... say your last words!"

Ayesha was about to behead the monster, but her Queen had another nasty idea... she rushed like a beast, ramming the valkyrie away... and she strongly bit his neck, draining his demon blood!

Doing that, Lyrith reaped most of his strength and power, leaving him undead. The Baron became a mere vampire demon, still powerful, but no more a match for any of the Queens. As a side effect, the alive gargoyles got self-aware at last and fleed the place. The vampire Greywing was no more able to control them...

- "Right, throw away this weakling, my child! Victory!"

Ayesha was so unpleased with that... instead of letting her deliver a swift death to Greywing, that Lyrith preferred to humiliate and curse him forever. Although fallen, she still was a honorable warrior...

The vampire Greywing was rejected from the castle. He could not get back to his stronghold, as his once enslaved gargoyles would take revenge on him, so he sought for another one, buried underground in the faraway eastern lands, to await a chance to resurge as the next Vampire Lord!

For the next centuries, Ayesha and Lyrith tried to silently gather all of the vampire armies under their command. Although always refusing to go against Selene in the frozen highlands, the Queen of Fire spent many time finding Amelia and the others. She was unsuccessful at first in merging their forces but she managed to get them nearby...

And then... the Blood Wars started!

[Mix Thorngall]

Grey Wings (3/4)

Ayesha arrived to the Throne Hall to meet the Blood Queen. It seemed a great fight happened in, as many night warriors and a few gargoyles were still laying dead... Lyrith was harmed and exhausted by the fight, while her sorceress Rina was trying to heal her and her knocked sister, Dejanira. A little girl was behind her, completely frightened.

- "My respects, Mother Queen... Really I have come just in time, huh?"

- "Agg... who are you? You saved a few of my... fighters, but you are not one of them... what are you seeking here?"

The valkyrie flamed up her left hand, and Lyrith smiled seeing it, as it could mean her last hope had arrived.

- "As you think... I am Ayesha, the last of your... sisters. I think we can get rid of that Greywing fiend together, if you allow me to join!"

- "If that's right, why do you pretend to help us? Most of my Queens are too selfish and pride to bear a hand... Anya fleed alone to prey south, Amelia is nowhere, the greedy Amaranthine went all out hunting Necromancers to grow her dark magic, maybe coupled with her beastly Adele... and that hatred Selene, who even tried to kill us all!"

- "Because it won't be for free, my lady... I will lead your armies myself if we defeat the Baron, that's the deal!"

- "Nice... really you act like... a real Vampire Queen, my dear... Right, you Ayesha... Queen of the Fire!"

The sun was setting again, and the winged nightmares began to awake... Soon, it would be over... but a huge crash was heard in the basement of the lair!

- "Greywing... has broken in! Run, for your lives! Aaaargh!!!"

Soon, the gruesome demon entered the Hall with three of his gargoyles. With the head of a vampire succubus in his hand, flaming wings and claws, and chewing some blood... Baron Greywing was ready to rumble!

- "At last I meet you, mother of the suckers... Abide your Master or die, vampires!"

The fallen one smiled, picked out her sword and taunted Greywing with her flaming left hand. The Baron grabbed a dragon leather whip and made a sign... and his soldiers charged against Ayesha and the vampires!

The sorceress quickly dodged the charge and stroke back with a fireball, taking back the fierce foe. But these ones seemed stronger, maybe because their boss was enraging them! Lyrith was hit and knocked, but she got up and fought back like a beast, ripping the gargoyle with her fire claws. Such bad manners for a Queen, Ayesha thought...

The third gargoyle was defeated harmlessly by the valkyrie, while Greywing went directly against her! An accurate flying charge ended with Ayesha rolling on the floor, with a painful wound from a whip lash. She tried to stand up, wrapped in the Baron's laughter...

- "I do eat fire witches like you for dinner, my dear! Come on, I supposed you could do it better!"

[Mix Thorngall]

Grey Wings (2/4)

She finally came out from the cave, hiding her restored but still darkish wings. Not so far from there, she met three fighters armed with spikes, holding a rageful gargoyle attacking everything around! Soon, the beast ripped through the opponents and charged against the awakened one! They crashed, but the gargoyle was damaged and got stunned, while the strong Ayesha quickly recovered from the strike...

- "What?! Do you even know who I am? I have not come to get pissed off by any winged crap!"

The fallen one got a nice chance to test her abilities, hurling out a huge blaze against the stunned beast, roasting and throwing it away. The fighters got closer to her, completely amazed...

- "Er... should we thank you, my lady? We have never seen such strength in any other than our Mother Queen Lyrith, so... maybe the last one has awakened, as said in the prophecy!"

- "The last of our pure-blooded Vampire Queens, the one who will free us from the dreaded demon known as Baron Greywing! He pretends to slay or enslave our whole race, and his gargoyles are getting him so close!"

Ayesha was not what they expected, but she thought it was better to have a little bunch of dark allies to start over...

- "Right, then... I have slept for a long time, but now I have arrived to fight! Know me as Queen Ayesha of the Fire, night warriors... Now, let's shelter, dawn is approaching! Take me with your leader!"

The harmed gargoyle got up at last, stared at Ayesha and fleed away to heal his wounds with the daylight... now the Baron was warned of a very stronger foe than Lyrith herself!

The gargoyles retreated to petrify and heal, while many corpses of vampires started to melt down. The few remaining ones went back to fortify their master lair, taking advantage of the gargoyles' cooldown. But maybe the next strike would be the last one!

The lair was inside a hollow peak, partly protected from sunlight. Ayesha got into the forge to watch around... she found a piece of armor really alike her former celestial war suit and a nice light western sword, and started to work enhancing them.

The fire red armor was not fully suited yet, but she put it on, as it already was better and more fearsome than her stained one... the dark valkyrie, Ayesha the Fallen, was born at last!

[Mix Thorngall]

Grey Wings (1/4)

So long ago...

The fallen one awakened with a strange pain... like if her whole body were being boiled in a cauldron! She tried to open her eyes, and also felt them burning after seeing a deep cave nearby... Ayesha screamed loudly, and rushed to hide inside that cave before melting down to sunlight!

After getting deep enough, her burns slowly started to heal. She tried a light healing summon, but it had no effect. Then, she tried to brighten the place with some kind of holy beam she used to handle, but an elemental fireball blew out of her hand instead, crashing at the wall of the cave.

Ayesha did it again, but this time she kept the flame at her hand like a torch. The fallen one looked at herself... a rusty and weak armor, covering a dirty bloodstained and broken robe, replaced her celestial war garments; the Demigod Sword was no more with her, and she had greyish and damaged wings instead of her usual shining ones. She looked like Yzabel having a bad day...

- "So... you dared to curse me... sister? I swear I will... be back... and you... will regret... dumping me out... ouch... I will bring you... Mepherel's... head... and I gonna... make you... to eat it raw, damn! Aggh... hurts..."

The fight for the Fire, the curse and the sunburns completely drained her out, and she fell unconscious. Ayesha the Fallen slept, just for a few thousand years, before getting up in an ancient land of necromancers and vampires, where a great war was in place... Baron Greywing, the Master of Gargoyles, was besieging the Blood Queen Lyrith to enslave her vampire breed and become the absolute ruler of the nightly kingdom!

[Mix Thorngall]

Blighted Camelot 2: Haniel the Serene (4/4)

The raging spearmen pierced out Lyssandra with anger, and the Avengers greatly harmed her with their sacred flaming swords... the Gattkarr watched his wicked lady burned out and falling down the skies, just before getting his third eye destroyed by a pair of arrows!

The beast screamed and dropped Haniel's body, while trying to keep the angels away with strong but random claw slashes and his hellfire breath... but Haniel's noble death also began awakening the fallen angel soldiers from the evil charm! They began slowly joining back the heavenly forces and spamming punishment over the Gattkarr...

Altair and Ybreel were strongly pushing the cursed Aida back... she was weakening and was not so able to hold them. Maybe she was also getting rid of the corrupt spell, but the fiend was focusing only to keep her under control, while the angel swarm was harassing him...

Ybreel hardly sliced his Archoness with his twin swords, regretting it so much... but that allowed Altair to get past her, piercing the Light through the monster! That was for the final blow...

- "Aaaargh!!! Gaa... to hell... with you!"

The Gattkarr used his last breath to strike the three majors, nearly splitting Aida in half. The holy flames consumed him, and soon the Death Spirits appeared, surrounding the demon...

- "Better said, to Hell with YOU, sir... my reaper gonna enjoy your pain so much, Lord Gattkarr! Rest in pieces!"

Gaznar Soulripper and his troops began performing a grim dance around the spirit shape of the beast with their scythes... many angels looked away to avoid seeing the carnage, until the demon was completely chopped off and his dreaded soul was imprisoned into Hell. The nightmare was over!

Many fighters were lost in the battle, and their souls shall be honoured in a higher realm than Heavens, but there was one deserving a very special place. Haniel, the one who first stood against the Gattkarr, his grim demons and his fallen angels. The one who kept steady even when the very Archoness doubted. The one whose bold sacrifice was the seed of the victory...

Haniel awakened in a strange land. She had no pain and no sorrow. There were fountains dripping holy water in beautiful shapes from nowhere, trees and bushes endless growing fruit with godly look and taste, a fresh breeze and a charming fragrance which could make anybody wishing to stay in that place forever, and a bright sun which did not heat. A hooded one appeared, wearing a full robe with strange white and dark shinings, decorated with pretty scriptures in some unknown language...

- "Haniel, my dear... welcome to my true world. This is the end of your journey and the beginning of your life, please come with us..."

- "But... I think they still need me, Heavens are under attack!"

- "Your courage and your sacrifice made your fellow Angels to strongly defeat the siege, my dear. Never worry about it again, that's not your duty anymore, please trust us..."

- "So this place is... what's your name if I may ask?"

- "You are the ones having names, we don't need them. Glory awaits you forever, Haniel..."

But she tried to refuse. Maybe she was the first one ever refusing to enter the true Paradise. And the other one noticed it...

- "So... we see you are eagering to return, and we will not stop you, my dear. You may get back to Heavens and come here again if you wish, but you will not be allowed into Earth nor fight for any side, as you are now bound to us. That's the only way we will allow you back, Haniel."

The hooded one kindly caressed Haniel's face with a mild and sweet touch, and vanished out.

- "You may stay with your beloved angels and inspire them, but know you will be not anymore an angel or even a spirit. You are now so higher, one of our dearest. May they know you as Haniel the Serene, my Light Adept!"

The best healers, the Angels of Law, were trying to help the extremely weakened and hexed Aida, but it was so hard. Her will was the only thing keeping her alive... until Haniel appeared in front of them, wrapped in holy light, with the most shining wings, robe and beauty ever seen in Heavens or Earth.

The wounded Archoness fought against the Gattkarr's curse as she could and barely tried to kneel before Haniel, but the brightful one rushed and kindly hugged her instead. And Aida got completely restored and rid of the spell, and so every other harmed angel around. Then, Haniel stared at herself. She seemed no more strong and hard as a fighter but soft, sweet and charming as a goddess.

- "A mighty gift from the Highest has arrived for us. The best mirror to reflect us, the brightest light to guide us, the boldest one to inspire us. Glory be upon you forever, Haniel the Serene!"

... Damn, that epic fail will not ever repeat! Now he was bestowed with the ghostly essence of the consumed Matron. No need to sneak past the gate of Heavens like a rat, no more tricks, no more fallen angels... he felt powerful enough to reap the mighty Treasure of Galzra and trample over his enemies using the uncanny magic of its ageless relics!

Would the buffed Gattkarr succeed at the wealthiest raid ever? Or will he join the countless list of greedy fools slain by the six-headed Guardian?

[Mix Thorngall]

Blighted Camelot 2: Haniel the Serene (3/4)

The three-eyed boss was staring at the Archoness with an evil smile... she began thinking it was a great chance for peace, but.. was it right? really a Light warrior could be moved by hate?... But Haniel stood in front and defied the demon, grabbing her sword!

- "Never, don't trust them! They are trying to lead us astray! We have already lost Ayesha to pride and Yzabel to rage, please no more! They are weaker than us if we keep together, our Greatness!"

But she was already lost into the Gattkarr's eye of despair... Hope and Altair tried to stop her, but Aida flew over to join the opposing forces!

- "Join us, my child. This will be our last battle... our power will extinguish that dreaded Hellsgate forever!"

Lyssandra got closer to Haniel, trying to calm her down and earn her trust. The angel soldier looked at her mild face, and seemed to agree. The Gattkarr smiled avidly, but...

- "For the Light!"

Surprisingly, Haniel stood and hardly crashed her sword's grip onto Lyssandra's face! Then, the angel soldier took back to defend, but the demons were so upset to react! Specially the boss, who went berserk seeing the knocked-out Lyse losing her disguise spell! Thus, the remaining angels would be extremely hard for him to tame after seeing her true shape!

- "Damn you, I will eat your stubborn heart! Charge all!"

A few of the fallen angels got awakened and tried to defend Haniel from the rest, but the possessed Archoness took care of them while the Gattkarr was also shaping back, as he had nothing to hide now. Belial was "smarter", and joined the frontline of attackers just to allow him some time to transform into one of them and scoot away unspotted!

Without time to think about Belial's chicken move, Lyssandra and her boss were having a great slamfest... the hexed angels were drawing all the attention of the soldiers, while the demons were slicing through. But the Gattkarr was mercilessly seeking for his prey, that little Haniel who could resist his evil! She was fighting bravely and, unexpectedly, his zombie angels were holding their strength against her, and even the Archoness seemed unable to stop her...

And, at last, he got his target. A great hellfire blow from the beast obliterated Haniel while she was helping a wounded soldier. And then, he pierced her with one of his deadly back stings, lifting her as a dummy...

- "Now you know how it feels to oppose me, wimp!"

- "Yes... and... it feels... great! You may kill me... but... you won't ever shade... our Light!"

Haniel threw her sword at Lyssandra, nailing it and allowing precious seconds for her mates to regroup and attack her again. Then, she finally expired...

All the fallen angels stopped for a while, and even Aida looked up at Haniel's body hanging on the sting. Altair and Ybreel spotted a weakness and also rushed into battle! The Archon's warcry also awakened many of the Flametruth Avengers from the spell... the Gattkarr tried to strenghten his power over Aida and his remaining fallens, but Lyssandra began getting so scared, seeing the army of Heavens charging against them!

[Mix Thorngall]

Blighted Camelot 2: Haniel the Serene (2/4)

The guard, Raziel the Keeper, was looking at them with distrust...

- "What are you doing here, strangers? Dark beings like you are prevented to find these gates, but surprisingly you are here... so, tell me!"

- "My keeper lord, we are the exiled, rejected from the lands of Chaos... just for trying to bring peace between us and the Light, our Father took merciless revenge upon us and our brethren, killing almost every one of us! We three survived and could flee away from his wrath... now he has earned our hate... peace is impossible while Mephisto is ruling over his evil throne of fire!"

Belial almost laughed out hearing that huge stream of lies, but his fear of the boss was way stronger than his madness, so he stayed steady... the Gattkarr was trying to bring the keeper to his side, while Raziel began staring at his eye of despair...

- "So... you are seeking... what? Revenge? That's not our business... but... maybe..."

- "My lord, he has been weakened by our battle... it's the best chance to get rid of him and have our desired peace at last! Please let us in and share our plans!"

- "Well... I think it would not harm to let a few demons in... if it's for good... you may pass!"

The three Defilers passed the gate, and began walking around, drawing the attention of the soldiers in the place. They first thought about attacking them all, but... for some reason Raziel allowed them in, so they felt intrigued. Soon, they got surrounded by a good number of angels... and the Gattkarr was ready to spread his taint over them!

- "Warriors of Light! Maybe we may look as your enemies, but we can join our forces! The Father of Chaos, our supposed master and leader, had just thrown us with many of our warriors away like garbage, betraying and nearly killing us all! Even for us dark demons, that's a shame! That Mephisto is the only obstacle left between us and peace, and it must be removed!"

The angel soldiers were being charmed with that words, and many of them seriously began to think about it... But one of them, Haniel, stood and strongly disagreed with that rant...

- "No way, sir. Revenge made us to lose many great souls to darkness... I would gladly risk my life to defend us, but never in such kind of invasion!"

But many of her mates and most of the Flametruth Avengers joined the three exiled ones. The temptation was great, light and darkness powers united to defeat Chaos forever! The group marched to the Throne Hall, but Haniel rushed first to prevent the Archons, as it seemed something had gone wrong... Belial was about to flame her out before reaching the hall, but the boss did not allow the madman to spoil his plot!

Both Archons and eight of their closest Archangels, including Hope, Ybreel and Zadkiel, came out from the hall with a party of soldiers to meet the exiled ones. The demons' frontline of angels were kind of absent... like zombies eagering for war!

- "Greetings, our lady Aida... we are the exiled, the rejected child of your nemesis Mephisto, and we all share our hate against him... the day of judgment is now! May the justice of Light prevail!"

[Mix Thorngall]

Blighted Camelot 2: Haniel the Serene (1/4)

Rhiannon was back... and the very Hell quaked with the rage of the defeated Gattkarr. The rabid beast, in its fearsome original shape, grabbed the most unlucky bypassing demon in history, and shredded it painfully with his chainsaw countless teeth! Everything around him fleed terrified, as the eternal punishment in flames seemed way more enjoyable than even a few seconds beside that monster.

Then, he looked up at the red flaming skies with his scarred third eye of despair. The demon was remembering the past, when he was almost able to conquer Heavens and enslave that pesky Archons forever. When only the courage and will of a girl was able to throw him back into the Fire...

So long ago...

The rejected Mephisto was preparing his ascension with a new batch of powerful dark beings, the Defilers. As Heavens were so strong for him to directly confront, his strategic approach was to draw as many Angels as possible to his evil side. As Aida's will was so weakened with her recent Darael and Yzabel's losses, it was a great chance to attack her homeland!

"Meph" could not trust on Yzabel, he felt she could serve him better as a free bird, and he was proven right. So, the stolen Sacred Fire gave birth to Belial, Lyssandra and the Gattkarr...

Belial was a psychotic and selfish incubus with great built-in shapeshifting and tempting abilities, Lyssandra was an horrific chimera with great mindwipe skills and unholy combat strength, and the Gattkarr was the most powerful of them, maybe the most overwhelming demon ever created... even the Fire was so dimmed and nearly extinguished after bringing him alive!

The young Defilers soon got self-aware and joined their forces... but demons are way unpredictable and "Meph" knew it best, so he prevented them trampling over his rule by fooling them into one of the Wraith-kin Matron's portals to the Earth realm...

- "Bring me the heads of both Archons... or way better, make them to praise you forever! Slay anyone opposing Darkness! Bring them all to doom!"

- "As you wish, Father... your darkest day has come!"

Of course, a Gattkarr ruling over Heavens would mean Mephisto's butt kicked out from his hellish throne soon, but he did not even mind about. Good old "Meph" only wanted Chaos for the sake of Chaos!

The three demons appeared on a high cliff beside the great Shadow Peak, in front of a sort of deep cave. A strong spell disguised their devil shapes to make their job easier.

Belial still looked like a psycho, but a wealthy and refined one, dressed with pretty and expensive silk and tons of jewels. Lyssandra looked as a way beautified version of Xaydia, grim but astoundingly charming... and the Gattkarr resembled a strong and weirdly handsome three-eyed warrior, wearing a fire red armor suit.

- "What are we doing in these cold lands, my lord? Too far away from the gate of Heavens, isn't it?"

- "Of course, but... feel free to fly over the whole damned sky if you like to, Belial..."

- "We dark beings cannot find it, stupid! We need to claim the Skyborn inside to lure it to Heavens, and it will be a nice training for you both, my warriors... go in, and never dare to return without the bird!"

Belial and Lyse entered the frozen cave of the mighty Skyborn. The bluish ice phoenix was asleep in the middle of the hall.

- "I seem more like an angel than you, my lady... a very rich angel, but it should be enough... attack me!"

- "What the...?"

The witch hurled Belial a huge fireball, trampling over him and awakening the bird! The Skyborn was fooled to help the attacked "angel", and chilled Lyssandra out with a huge ice elemental!

- "I... hate... you... bastard..."

- "Sorry, my dearest lady... And follow us!"

Belial pretended to be a hardly wounded angel, so the bird would carry him over to Heaven... and soon, Belial was flying over the phoenix! The Gattkarr smiled and entered the cave, laughing out at the frozen Lyse...

- "That pesky trickster fooled you, huh? Well, come on, at least he was successful!"

The demon melted the ice with a huge flame, in a way not really as kind as a lady would deserve... Then, Lyse unleashed a pair of succubus wings and picked him up. They followed the phoenix carrying Belial to the very celestial gates!

The Skyborn left Belial near Raziel's door, and the others waited until the phoenix fleed back to avoid alerting him. Then, they rejoined and walked towards the huge gate.

[Mix Thorngall]

The Mystic Stallion (2/2)

Suddenly, a chilling blast knocked out two of the harpies, breaking their perfect setup. The rest of them raged and attacked the undead knights!

- "Nice Freezers, my friend... lend me a pair of them to cool that witch down!"

Sir Valamir gave Balin a pair of the ice blasting potions, just before the flying charge of the succubi. The Carver was dropped and harmed, but he was able to grab one of the pesky harpies, mercilessly biting and chopping her neck, like a hungry zombie!

- "Hey, these winged ones are delicious! Do it, you vampire! You will enjoy their blood!"

- "Maybe they deserve it, but I am still a Knight, my grim friend... I prefer letting my sword do the job! Watch out, she is coming!"

Seeing her slaves falling down, the witch forgot about the horse and headed straight against the Knights, blowing fire like a flamethrower! Valamir dropped to avoid the massive fire shot, and Balin used one of the succubi as a shield, painly melting down her. The remaining "not-so-loyal" servants left the witch alone to protect their lives from the blades (and jaws) of the undead knights...

- "So hard to find good fighters in these lands... damn you!"

Again, she blew her flames over the warriors. They could not approach so much that sexy version of Valrakk without becoming undead ashes...

- "Craps! I would love to have her inside my cold hut in winter... well, she is way hot!"

- "Wait... stop joking and try crashing a pot into her face!"

Valamir picked his sword and tried to duel the pretty torch... she also had a sword ready and began clashing, but the vampire was being severely burned out and could not fight as always... meanwhile, the horse was recovering and saw Valamir struggling to save him from the witch...

- "Aarghhh!!! That's like fighting the damned Fireborn! Throw them, quick! I will resist, do it!"

Balin cracked the two potion flasks on the puny Valamir. Both of them chilled and dropped... the witch was stunned and slowly recovering, but the vampire could not move. As the flames dimmed, Balin could get closer. He picked out one of Valamir's flasks from his almost frozen bag and clutched the neck of the witch...

- "The house special, my dear. Stay cool!"

The Skull Carver forced her to swallow the icy potion inside the flask without thinking it twice. She tried to scream, but her throat was already chilled. And then, she completely became an ice statue. A real piece of art. But Balin was not really an art lover, and cracked her with a huge butt from his head!

Nightmare was free to get closer to help Valamir. The horse was getting back his strength, and his heat was slowly melting Valamir's ice. Soon the pot effect was removed, and the vampire was safe but exhausted.

- "You both look awful, friends... Come home and have some rest! That's over!"

Balin, Valamir and Nightmare got back to the swamp. The Night Knight had to remove a few leeches from the dark horse, but his wounds were almost healed. He was ready to break free again... but he stayed instead, staring at Sir Valamir.

- "Hey, go away! You are free, nuts! I have nothing to offer you!"

But the stallion ducked his head. He was asking Valamir to ride on...

- "I think you have a new partner, Sir... he does not want to stay here with me in this eerie swamp, but to go fighting with you, Knight! Ride him and go, Sir Valamir... or I will kick your a s s out of this place, I swear it!"

So, fearing Sir Balin's foot stomping his bottom, Valamir sat it on the flaming Nightmare and rode back home. The Skull Carver stayed in the swamp, proud of saving the horse and letting him to start a new thrilling life beside the Night Knight... but maybe Sir Balin still wanted to have a short ride on him!