...Rubicant lies dead, a victim
of Lord Garland's Draconian hit men. His death was not an empty
one, for he has
granted Kain the powers of a fire elemental. Aided by his new
powers and a new companion; the mysterious elf
Elistriel, Kain sets out to find the orb. This ancient artifact
hold the key to the Worldgate, and Kain cannot allow it to
fall into the wrong hands...
The Tower of Zot, once glowing and magnificent, stood as a
testament of the power of Zemus. But with his defeat, the tower
had fallen, it's metal body cleaving a swath of destruction
through the countryside. It's two mile length lay shattered
across the
grassy plains, over cliffs of the StoneCoast, and into the
churning ocean. Only the first six floors stood undamaged, but it
had
become a haven for birds and other feral wildlife. The once
beautiful (and terrible) tower was now a monument to decay.
Nekis eyed the strange old man curiously. "Are you sure this
is the place?" the caravan driver asked. This place worried
him.
The wind tore across the plains loudly, ripping leaves from their
parent trees. Deep onyx clouds bore down on the green
valley, blowing in from the ocean.
The ancient wizard looked at the remnants of the tower and
grinned. His wrinkled, crow-like face twisted as though
unaccustomed to smiling. "Yes." he hissed, his gnarled
hands stroking the glittering orb. "Thank you for your
services. Just
unload my equipment here, and my people will deliver it
inside."
Nekis looked around. The only people here were his caravan men.
The wizard had been their sole passenger (except of
course, for their missing guardsman). The wizard chuckled at the
man's dumbfound expression. He then extended his hand out,
pointing to the gravestones that were laid out, oddly enough, in
the middle of nowhere. He whispered a word of magic.
"They have been waiting for me." Akel droned as he
watched the gravesites. Slowly, a bony hand tore through the
dirt. The
bones were nearly brown from the decay, having never been
bleached white in the sun. Twelve skeletal knights wrenched
themselves from their graves. Nekis stumbled backwards, his
screams of terror choked in his throat. "Well, I can't have
you
telling people where I am, now can I?" Akel crowed.
"Kill them. Leave no survivors." The black-robed mage
craned his head
around, and watched as his skeletal troops tore the caravan team
to shreds. Their screams of terror filled the sky. Soon they
were joined by wicked laughter. Akel hadn't had this much fun
since the siege of Fabul all those years ago.
The wizard opened his spellbook and prepared a spell. It was a
special enchantment he had devised himself which allowed him
to control the dead. "Wikash ne olemtas neroska."
Softly, he chanted the words as he rubbed a fingerbone and a oak
stick
together.
Kain squinted his eyes, trying to sort out the alien colors. He
was not accustomed to night-vision. In fact, he was still having
trouble controlling even the simplest of his powers. He had
nearly melted his cherished dragon-armor in an earlier attempt to
warm himself. Ever since he donned the amulet, he had suffered
from a deep chill. Several times he tried to remove it, but each
time it seemed to catch. "It won't come off until you are
dying, or a better host comes along. " Elistriel chimed,
almost laughing
at Kain's antics.
"How do you know so much, lady? And what did Rubicant mean
when he said 'Tell him the truth'?" Kain snapped. He was
finally starting to warm up at least. Elistriel let out a deep
sigh and bowed her head.
"I suppose now that you are one of us, you deserve to
know." the elf spoke cryptically.
"What ARE you talking about? I'm no Elf, I'm an
elemental..."Kain's voice trailed off, realizing the truth
for himself. "You are
no elf either?" Kain eyed the girl suspiciously. "Are
you?"
"No." she answered at length. The wind was picking up.
the ghostlike breeze caught the elf-maiden's hair and tossed it.
Kain
began to stutter. "Yes, I am Valvalis, Kain."
"But...but why the ruse? Why didn't you just tell us
before?" Kain asked.
"I am Valvalis. Do you know how many knights want my head? I
had to hide my true form until I could be sure..."
"Be sure of what?" Kain prodded.
"...that you wouldn't kill me." Valvalis whispered,
bowing her head low.
"Kill you? Why would I do that? You helped us back there.
Hell, I owe you my life. " Kain replied, surprised. Valvalis
blushed. She didn't seem like the brutal Warrior of Wind he knew
from the days when he was under Golbez's control. She
seemed almost human, fragile.
"A lot has happened since we last met." She smiled at
the dragoon. "It is I who owe you MY life."
"What do you mean?" Kain wondered. He slid closer to
her, slightly, but enough for her to notice. Her face was hidden
in her
golden hair.
"Before you joined us, I was a..." Valvalis paused for
a moment, contemplating the consequences of her words. "I
was a
coward." Kain jerked back in surprise. Never had he seen the
woman shy away from any battle. "Not in the normal sense of
the word. I was scared of myself, my mortality. My humanity. I
saw the weaknesses of 'normal' humans and I was afraid I
would become like them one day. I had no emotion, no soul. I was
afraid to look at my true self. The girl inside this warrior
body." Valvalis shuddered slightly and went on. "But
then you came. You weren't like other humans. You were strong,
brave.
You had a passion that I had never seen before. When Golbez tried
to take your mind, you held strong. Only when you
dropped from exhaustion did you yield. But even then, ever so
slightly you still had control. I admired that. I respected that.
When you betrayed us, it was like a sword being struck in my
heart. I felt so alone then. So weak. It was then that I realized
that I was in love with you."
Kain's head jerked up in surprise again. He tried to speak, but
his voice eluded him. Valvalis looked into his eyes and
continued. "Golbez captured my mind. He twisted my emotions
so that I would hate you. After you defeated me a second
time, Golbez cast us away. Only Rubicant and myself survived, but
he bore a deep resentment towards me. In his eyes, I had
allowed my emotion to cloud my judgment. My love for you was so
deep that I couldn't bear to destroy you.
"After the downfall of Zeromus, I wandered the world as an
Elf, watching you. Following you. But I could not bring myself to
face you. I was afraid...I was scared you would reject me."
Valvalis shuddered again. Kain noticed the tears running down her
face.
"You are braver than you think." Kain spoke softly,
brushing the hair from her face. "That took a lot of
courage. To say those
things" Valvalis smiled slightly. Kain rested his hand on
her cheek. "I guess this makes us partners, huh?" Kain
said as he
moved his face closer. He pressed his lips against hers.
The wind rippled through the trees, but neither of them noticed.