Illian Mini-Series: Difference
#1 of Illian Mini-Series: The Darkness Within
Hey everyone, this is the very first chapter of the Illian mini-series: The Darkness Within. This mini-series takes place in that time gap between Chapter15 and 16, which is a 20 month period. I do ask that anyone who reads this mini-series please also read the original Illian Series if you have not already One final note, this chapter, like the very first chapter of the Illian Series, does not have any yiff (of course, expect to see some in the next chapter). Well...hope you all enjoy this as much as the Illian Series and I thank all of my readers for taking a look at my work.
So much had happened to Markus Snow in the 10 months since he had fought his brother, the Malar King, Felix Lightbane. He had been possessed by an ancient demon known as Valecruiz, he had returned to the place where he was first raised as an Evizil, he had nearly been forced to kill his friends and now he had the pleasure of reuniting with a childhood friend who he apparently had killed. Finding himself upon the back of the red dragon named Cyn; Markus began to sift through these events as they headed towards their next destination; Rea, the DarkRange, the one plot of land that divided the realm of Sanctuary and the realm of the Races of Darkness, Forgotten Sorrows. So many times he asked one question inside his head 'Why am I here, heading towards the diving line between the Races of Light and the Races of Darkness with my mate and my two best friends?' Every time he asked himself this, one answer rang true; to find the Trinity Prophet and save Illian. Before he had fought his brother on the night of the Blood Moon, Markus had been captured by an alien race known as the Nexus Stalkers. These creatures wore the guises of races such as Evizil, Geckos, Foxes, Wood Nymphs and basically any race they found had the possibility of sustaining intelligence. During his capture, the Evizil had been brutally tortured by a Stalker under the appearance as a dark blue vixen, but yet he had gained important information as well. He was told by a girl by the name of Fiona that there existed a single person who had the ability to hold the blood of all three Greater Races, giving that person the ability to become a Sinan. During the late days of Ill, the Sinan had been used to fight off the powers of the Millar god Uru and his human mate Sillen (Cil-en). But in the end, it took the power of the Ultimate Force, Gree to end the wrath of his grandson. With no purpose left, the gods of Illian decided to dispose of the Sinan, for they had become too powerful of a force to keep Illian in balance. And so, one by one, each Sinan had been banished to the deep spaces of the Void where their physical forms soon died and they were never heard from again.
With the power of a Sinan aiding the Races of Light, there was no way Illian could not be saved, unless of course it was already too late. Shaking his head slightly, Markus thought to himself 'No no, you can't think like that Markus, if you give up now, Kane will have no world to grow up in and everyone on Illian will fall.' Looking ahead of the giant red dragon he was riding on, Markus saw the bodies of an orange furred, large breasted, slim bodied feline with a white furred feline in her hands and a white haired, silver eyed muscularly built human with an ashen wood bow hanging off of his back. The feline, his mate Kia, held her and Markus's child, Kane Frostbane, gently yet securely in her hands with a look of awe and fascination as she stared below the mighty dragon and saw a blur of green that was a field sweep past them. The young human, his best friend by the name of Eonarchanus Silverstrike or Eon for short, looked straight ahead and had a look of anticipation deeply set into his expressions. Chuckling once, Markus said "Eon, what exactly are you waiting for? The DarkRange won't just sneak up on us; we'll know when we're there."
Hearing a snort come from a draconic muzzle to his right, Markus turned to see a forest green broodling flying right beside them. This broodling, Markus's once human master that now held the name of Oz Dienar, was at least six feet tall, had a tail that was at least half a foot long, a total wingspan of at least eight feet, razor like claws and a muzzle full of teeth. Turning to meet the white coated Evizil's gaze, Oz replied "Markus, he's a boy that's about to travel through a place that he has been taught through childhood fairy tales to stay away from. You would have been better off asking him to try finding mermaids in the RezOcean if you wanted to keep him from being so worried."
Looking back at Oz, Eon said in retort "Hey, I'm sorry I'm not old enough to experience these kinds of things yet. Granted I've been able to feel what spiraling horns being rammed through your chest is like, going through the place that divides Sanctuary and Forgotten Sorrows is an entirely different thing." Looking back at Markus, Eon continued to say "Markus, I know we're suppose to look for the Trinity Prophet, but you don't really expect us to go into Forgotten Sorrows, do you?"
Before Markus could even reply, his orange furred feline said with a tone of seriousness "The Prophet could be found anywhere on Illian, and that includes the lands controlled by the Malar King. So yes, we have all agreed to first start in the DarkRange and move northwards; into the lands we should not enter." Smiling, Markus confirmed what Kia had said by not saying anything at all, which caused Eon to simply frown heavily and turn his attention back ahead of Cyn. Putting a hairy hand on Kia's shoulder, the white werewolf leaned over and gave his mate a 'thank you' kiss for explaining to Eon what needed to be said. Looking back at him, Kia said "I don't blame him though Markus, the Rea are the one place I would rather not get to know."
Shrugging, Markus stared back at her with his ice-colored left iris and said "We have no choice Kia. We took the responsibility of finding Illian's savior, and I plan to not come home with empty hands. I will not ask any of you to throw down your lives for this search, but I do ask that you follow me with full understanding of why we are here in the first place. We have a son that was just brought into this world, and I want to make Illian a bright place where he can live his life in ways I never could." Nothing more left on his mind, Markus simply leaned forward and said against the rushing wind "Cyn...how long until you need to rest?"
Flapping her large draconic wings once, the red dragon craned her neck to look back towards Markus and replied "I'd have to estimate we'll have to stop within three hours. Your body weights and the weight of your weapons and equipment don't help me much in means of staying airborne." Nodding in understanding, Markus leaned back to his normal position and began to think again. 'Three hours...how long have we been up here anyway? I've been so caught up in the same worry Eon and Kia hold that I lost sight of time.' Looking in the direction Eon and the rest were looking, straight ahead, Markus lazily began scanning the horizon and just as he did, a small grey speck appeared on the line where the dawn and dusk became one. Straining his Evizil eyesight, Markus began to see the end of his vision give birth to more of the tiny specks, each of which began growing taller and more apparent to him and the others. Slowly, he began to see a large, wide body sprout from underneath each grey speck and as that happened more and more grey specks filled his vision until soon enough, the horizon in front of him became grey. 'Surely...no...it couldn't be...'
To prove him correct Eon, who had been seeing the arrival of the grey specks with his Second Sight, shouted happily "MARKUS...We've made it...we've really made it. The DarkRange is so close." Not able to see much of what was going on, Kia simply smiled widely, brought Kane close to her chest and snuggled him happily. Oz let out a snort of approval and Cyn released a deep sigh of relief from her large maw.
Keeping his now increasing excitement pent up inside and wearing the visage of a true leader, Markus asked "Cyn...is there any chance we can make it there before resting? I would rather not stay in these lands any longer than we have to and the sooner we reach Rea the sooner we can cross into Forgotten Sorrows."
Keeping her vision towards the mountains, the crimson dragon nodded and answered "I can go faster than this, but doing so would cut my durability. I can only stay airborne for so long, Markus Frostbane, and as it is we've been like this for more than half a day. But...I can sense your anxiety, as well as my own, so yes I believe we can go just a bit faster." Smiling as she said this, Cyn brought her wings closer to her body so that her body looked like a very tight W. Stretching out her neck as far as it would go, the dragon yelled against the wind "Lean forward as much as you can. You're creating a lot of air resistance up there." Holding Kane as close to her stomach as she could manage, Kia immediately leaned over until her head was touching one of the dragon's large back scales. Following suite quickly after, both Markus and Eon jerked slightly as they felt their speed increase abruptly and the wind began lashing at their faces like the cruel throngs of a mighty whip. Because there was nowhere he could hide himself on Cyn's back, Markus simply sighed and let his face, as well as any part of his body left open, be beaten in repentance for crimes he did not commit. Daring a glance or two, with the reward of a flash of pain swelling in his eyes, the Evizil managed to see the mountains come into focus much quicker than before and slowly he began to noticed more detail in each mountain. Two mountains in front of him stood together so perfectly, the only open spaces between them would only be considered a welcome sight for insects. About halfway up both mountains, a small indent in the shape of a square was found that found itself at least five feet into the body each mountain. Using only quick peeks to look at each, Markus and Eon both decided they were most likely abandoned resting points for foolish climbers or possibly even mountain rangers that once guarded Rea long ago. Second by second, Cyn and the others advanced closer to the mountains until finally they were about a tail's length away from touching rock. When it came to this, Cyn said to the others "Hang on!" and positioned herself vertically and began flying upwards towards the mountain peak. Being but a broodling, poor Oz was left with no choice but to muster every ounce of speed he could and still only managed to get as close as five seconds behind the rest. When Cyn finally higher than the peak of the mountain she gently tilted herself back into a horizontal position and let the others sit up once again. Bringing her wings out as far as they could go again, the scarlet dragon said "Alright...I can only carry you all for about five minutes so find me a place to land...FAST!!" As she said this, Cyn began to lower her altitude and managed to glide past the mountain and into an open space above a large collection of smaller mountains.
Immediately, every usable eye in the group was found looking down on the mountains, each hoping to spot a hidden valley or even the entrance to a cave. Darting left and right, Markus's left eye, the only one that still had the ability to see, examined each and every mountain and every crevice for a potential landing spot. Just as he was looking down at a mountain that appeared to be missing a large chunk of its peak, a large roar assailed his ears and he looked up with shocked riddled across his face. His heart racing, Markus asked "What was that?"
Looking up, both Kia and Eon looked towards him, tilted their heads in confusion and said in unison "What was what? I didn't hear anything..." Once again the roar rang across the Rea and this time its hollow cry felt like thousands of tiny daggers cushioning themselves within the Evizil's ears. Covering his ears with his white coated hands, Markus nearly fell backwards from the pain and was forced to be held up by Oz's forest green scale hands.
Looking around, the broodling said "Markus is right...something is out here...something that probably shouldn't be. Long ago, way back before even the War of Shattered Souls, the dragons were plagued by something that was far beyond their powers; a creature named the Nixxurath (Nicks-ooo-wrath). No one really knows how it was made, but many guess it was once a member of the Silver Dragonflight, the most noble and fierce of all of the Dragonflights. Over time, the Nixxurath fled to Forgotten Sorrows, but it has always been rumored that it would stalk the Rea in search for other dragons."
Staring at Oz with a serious look about her face, Kia asked "Why?"
Shrugging casually, the green broodling simply answered "To mate. Every creature is given the instinct to reproduce...so why not one such as it? Like I said before, it was once a dragon, which means it could still produce hatchlings."
Taking his hands off of his pointed wolf-like ears slowly, Markus asked "So...if it still carries the qualities of a dragon...why aren't you or Cyn bracing yourself in pain like I am?"
This time, Cyn replied by saying "Because we can't hear it. For reasons beyond even Uru, only the Evizil can hear the call of the Nixxurath, which is why it has to use subtlety to capture its prey. When the Dragonflights first began dealing with the Nixxurath and its unholy spawn, we had no choice but to ask the Evizil for aid. I'm sorry to say it, but we had to use you like an alarm of sorts. A Nixxurath's roar brings with it the pain of its creator, which causes your keen, sensitive ears to hurt fiercely. Do not be embarrassed by that fact...you took that surprisingly better than many other Evizil's had. Markus...where did that call come from?"
Flicking his ears once, Markus suddenly remembered and said "From our left, it's coming from our left." Sure enough, a large dragon-like creature was found rapidly advancing towards them without rest. The creature had a very slim body, scales of a bright silver hue, dark blue eyes, a maw filled with sharp purple teeth set in blue gums the color of their eyes, a tail at least two feet long with what appeared to be a curved blade at the end and claws sharper than steel. Folding its wings tightly against its body, the creature rushed at them at an amazing speed. Roaring once again, Markus covered his ears again and said "Nixxurath!!" Immediately taking his hands off his ears and pressing himself against Kia, Markus leaned forward as far as he could go and held onto one of Cyn's scales with his arms in front of his mate. As if on cue, the large crimson dragon flipped herself upside down and dropped her altitude slightly, causing the Nixxurath to soar by directly above them. Not prepared for the tactic Cyn pulled, Eon found himself hanging upside down with his legs slipping off the smooth, yet hard surface of the dragon's scales. With no friction between his legs and the scales, it wasn't long before Eon found himself falling towards the peak of a mountain with his vocal cords stretched from screaming. Not even a second after he fell, Eon suddenly stopped falling and when he looked up he saw Oz's right hand holding his left leg as tightly as he could.
Meeting the broodling's gaze, the young human simply said "Thanks" and let his head fall back again. Keeping a steady grip on the young man's leg, Oz was forced to keep his body in an upright position as he used his draconic wings to stay in the air. The moment Cyn flipped herself over again Oz swung his arm back and curved his arm as he threw Eon straight at the red dragon. With the curve of the toss and the force of the wind pushing against him, Eon found himself soaring through the air in a normal, upright position. Now panicking, Eon said to himself as he headed towards Cyn "Mezamar, god of the Bow and of the Hunt, please help guide your loyal servant through the air so that I don't crash face first into a two ton dragon. If you do, I swear upon my very bow that I'll...I'll swear to celibacy for half a year." Moments after he said that, a mysterious gale rose underneath the human and pushed him just enough so that he now found himself back on Cyn's back in the place he had first started in.
Sighing to himself, the young man suddenly heard in his mind 'I'm going to keep you to your word, Eonarchanus Belamus Zeanamathews (Zeen-ah-math-ewws). If you commit any act of sexual deviance, I'll see to it that you find the rest of your life...hard. And when I mean any, I mean any. That includes self pleasuring, got that?!? Good.' And just as sudden as the voice appeared, it left him as a strong gust whipped by his face. Shaking his head once, Eon felt Cyn begin to move again and instantly he remembered they were in the middle of an airborne fight. Leaning forward and grabbing under a slightly loose scale on Cyn's neck, the silver eyed human relaxed and let the dragon fight in her environment.
The slits she had for pupils dilating, Cyn conserved as much energy as she could by letting herself free-float in the air as the Nixxurath quickly turned around and darted straight for her again. Ready for it now, the red dragon shot straight for the silver devil-dragon and right as they were about to clash, rose above it and forced all of her weight down on its back. Hearing a loud snap in the Nixxurath in response, Cyn smiled as her head winced in pity for the poor beast. Flapping her wings once and rising into the air again, Cyn began to fly away when suddenly Markus began yelling in pain again. Turning around once again, Cyn was horrified to see the Nixxurath flying up to meet her with most of its back pressed into its body while the rest of it remained its normal shape. Taking a deep breath, the silver devil-dragon suddenly bucked its body upwards and with a loud snapping noise, the Nixxurath was back to normal. With a toothy, sadistic grin, the slim beast folded its wings slightly and rushed at Cyn faster than it could before. Her body too large to dodge the slim monster, the red dragon could only attempt to roll to the side and bellow in agony as the Nixxurath used its bladed tail to cut into her belly scales and anchor itself with her. Just barely cutting into her stomach, the Nixxurath's blade found itself held tightly inside the almost unnoticeable space between the dragon's scales and her skin. Now hanging upside down, the silver devil-dragon used the liquid like movement the air gave it to swing upwards so that its face was now staring right at her throat. Knowing she had to do something before it sank its purple teeth in her neck, Cyn prayed that everyone was holding on and bucked upwards and with a mighty push of her legs, kicked the devil-dragon's chest. The force of her kick was so strong that it caused a large front fang to come flying out of the Nixxurath's mouth as well as the anchored tail to come right out of her belly and sent the beast plummeting towards the sharp mountain peaks. Roaring one last time, the Nixxurath opened its large grayish wings and began heading east, back in the direction from which it came. Sighing once in great relief, Cyn looked to her back and asked "Everyone alright?"
Sitting up and nodding as they checked themselves and the infant feline over, Kia and Eon both replied one after another "I feel fine," whereas Markus remained crouched over behind Kia, causing Cyn's vision of him to be completely blocked save for his powerful, white coated legs. Concerned a bit, the dragon craned her neck over and began to say "Markus, how about..." before she found out why he hadn't replied. Deep within his upper back a large purple fang was lodged, the color from the fang slowly draining from the tip found in the Evizil's body. Turning her back just the slightest so that she could see her mate, Kia nearly screamed before Cyn overpowered her voice with a loud snort. Shifting her vision in front of her and to Markus ever so often, Cyn said to the feline "Don't make any sudden movements; he'll fall off if you do. The fang seems to have just brushed past his spinal cord, which is causing every nerve, bone and muscle in his body to be paralyzed. If we remove the fang quickly enough, he won't suffer any mortal damage. But if you pull it too hard, you'll end up tearing out his spine alone with the fang."
Fearing for her mate's life but yet willing enough to heed the dragon's insight, Kia asked franticly "Why is the fang losing its color? If anything, its turning back into a pearly white."
Coming in subtly behind them, Oz appeared oddly calm as he said "It's because the fang has no reason to store its taint any longer. One reason no dragon ever wishes to be caught by a Nixxurath is because each fang stores the malice and the corruption its body naturally creates. These devil-dragons might as well be considered almost like Uru; they are a physical representation of pure evil and therefore have this evil flowing through their bodies. Unlike the dark god, the Nixxurath produce too much evil for their once draconic bodies to handle and so over time nature has allowed them to store it within their fangs. In the same manner a snake hides its venom may a Nixxurath hide its taint. We have to find a place to land, now; the longer that thing sticks in his back the more corruption will be pumped into his veins. If we sit idly by, the evil in that fang will most likely destroy Markus's body or simply put it well beyond recognition, not to mention tarnish his soul."
Wanting to say something, Kia simply grunted as she was cut off by Cyn, who said after her mate "And we don't know how this darkness will affect Markus with Valecruiz inside him. For all we know, that taint may be feeding that demon power we can't afford him to have. In the worst case scenario...keeping this thing in his back may break the Augment and unleash the demon." Realizing just how dangerous this situation had gotten, Eon, Kia and Oz began to search madly for someplace to land. Taking a few quick glances, Oz noticed an incredibly wide hole in the side of a small mountain to his left.
Pointing to where the hole in the mountain was, Oz quickly said "Found one. Turn to a seven o'clock position and drop altitude. We've found our spot for tonight."
The darkness that had once covered him was brutally removed and Markus now found himself face down on a cold rocky surface the color of ash. Hazily looking up, the Evizil saw that the place he was now in was, in fact, a cave the proportions equal to a grand throne room that would have been found inside a magnificent castle. All around him, water dripped from the ceiling off of long stalactites in a rhythm stead enough that for half a moment, Markus almost believed the mountain's heart was beating. Circular in shape, the cave was only a single area that was littered with the minerals and jewels of Time's unrelentless passing. Shifting his head weakly to the left and to the right, the white coated Evizil found that most of the floor was cleaned of any protruding objects and left with finely cut stumps of stalagmites and other rocks. Finding himself staring at a large, unlit pyre that had been built in the center of the cave, Markus gauged that he was now in the most southern end of the room with the light of a crescent moon gazing heavily upon his back through what appeared to be a large hole. Lifting his head as far as it was willing to take him, Markus noticed that above him hung a short, thick stalactite that appeared to pulsate a purple light from its core. Just as he was about to move his entire body, his soul roared fiercely within him, causing him to double over on his back, and in his head he heard a dark voice say 'Rise and shine, my dear little Markus. It appears your body has already recovered from the fang, good. I'm going to need you soon, little boy, and when the time comes you had better not try to stop me. Just remember one thing and one thing only: you are mine now. You are merely my new anchor to Illian and you had better appreciate that fact. I am the master with the lashing throngs of a whip and you are the slave to my ambition, nothing more nothing less. Respect this, and I may actually give you peace in your miserable "life". I hold your fate in my hands now, Markus Snow...make me see that ending your life miserably is not worth doing.' And as soon as the demon's voice appeared, it had vanished, leaving Markus alone to ponder what had just happened. Odd enough that Valecruiz chose now to speak to him, it was even worse by what he had said. Never in the 10 months he's been with Markus had Valecruiz had such a sense of control and authority. Now true he had been slowly increasing his manipulation over the young man, but even as his power had grown the demon kept himself calm and malignant. Now...he had sounded anxious, energetic, controlling and above all excited. Slowly a tiny, indescribable feeling began to settle in the depths of the Evizil's mind, but Markus brushed it out of his thoughts and slowly rose to a sitting position. Grunting once and shaking his head to regain himself, Markus was almost shocked to find that he was absolutely alone in this cave. Worry and a hint of fear bubbling in his stomach, the white coated werewolf looked around the entire cave twice and finally concluded that there was no other escape from here besides the giant hole above him. Just as he was about to stand up, a thick, black pain shot from his upper back and sent the Evizil down on the ground again howling in agony.
Remembering the purple fang that had embedded itself in his back, Markus said aloud to himself "What happened after the Nixxurath was knocked away? Did they make it safely? Was anyone hurt besides me? And...why does the wound still hurt...it's fully healed and I felt fine before..." Knowing he had no choice but to explore the area himself if he wished to find the answers, Markus gritted his teeth and rose to a standing position once again, not before releasing a few choice curse words not even permitted by the understanding Evizil rules. Turning around and resting his back against the southern most wall, Markus let his breath flow through his body heavily for what seemed like a lifetime before moving again. Gnashing his teeth together once again, Markus began taking walking strides to the unlit pyre, whimpering as the mutilating pain shook throughout his back and began making its way into the rest of his body. Gripping a protruding piece of wood on the pyre like an old man would his cane, the Evizil found himself wincing and gasping for breath as if he had just traversed a valley of sharp blades. Irritation deep in his voice, Markus realized there was only one way to end the pain without hurting himself and said to no one in particular "If you use me, I'll end it quickly and surely. Remember one thing...you need me, whereas I don't."
Taking a deep breath, Markus stood straight up, closed his eyes and imagined a ghostly Evizil hand lurching into his body and digging into his soul. Knowing where its target was, the hand swiftly dodged and weaved past his physical innards and in the center of his chest it spotted what it was searching for. Directly in front of the hand, a black object in the shape of a three ringed compass was twirling in the same spot slowly. In the center of the odd compass, the origin of four rays, each going an opposing cardinal direction, was found. As the four rays passed each ring of the compass, two short, slanted lines were found on each side of each ray, giving them the appearance of mighty arrows destined to forever seek a home somewhere in that direction. Just as the rays passed the third ring they finally tipped off and ended the odd shape. While many would be confused and almost appalled at what they were seeing, Markus had done this countless times and so he knew instantly he was seeing the Guard, the spiritual representation of an Evizil soul. With all Evizil, the first ring of Markus's Guard was found in tiny pieces, the reason for this being the first ring is the separation between being an Evizil and a human. However, the second ring of his Guard was also shattered, symbolizing that Markus was now in the Lycan form, a more powerful state than a normal Evizil that Markus found himself in constantly now. However, the third and final ring appeared in tact, yet cracked, which meant that he had gone into the Thrall form, a form that was truly dominated by his now wolf-like instincts yet held with it power and speed few humans could consider real. Knowing he had found what he was looking for, the Evizil forced the ghostly hand to direct its palm at the Guard and from it a black beam of light shot forth into the center of the spiritual compass and instantly caused it to revolve faster and faster with each moment. When the Guard could no longer be seen except as a black blur, dark energies began to pour out from it and filled the Evizil's body, letting him know he had activated the Augment. Hesitant to welcome the energy at first, Markus knew that within the Augment and therefore his Guard, rested the ever malignant soul of the demon known as Valecruiz of the Void. But the longer he resisted it, the more unbearable the pain within his back became and so finally he let the black Relsinger runes trail along his white coat and bring out the full potential of the Augment. Sighing in relief, Markus began to feel the power of the enchantment fight back the pains in his back until once again he could walk and act without hurt. No sooner had he turned back in the direction of the hole in the ceiling did Cyn fly in with Eon, Kia and Kane on her back with Oz following slowly behind. Landing swiftly on his scaled feet, the forest green broodling closed his wings, followed the trail of black runes on Markus's body and said with a sigh "You shouldn't be up, much less using the Augment like this. What if Valecruiz tries to use you now? We'd all be done for Markus. It will take Cyn a few good months before her scales and her belly can fully recover, but before then she will be completely vulnerable to any attacks in that region."
Looking serious, Markus replied with "I know Oz, I know but Valecruiz won't be peeking his 'delightful' face out for a chat tonight. Something's different about him, he sounds like something has gone extremely well for him, something that he believes gives him an edge over me now." Completely bored of the conversation, Eon slowly got down from Cyn's back and began exploring the cave with a childish excitement. Shaking his head as he saw a grin spread across the human's face, Markus asked "So...where did you all go? When I woke up it appeared as though I had been the first one in here for at least a thousand years."
Laughing once, Oz replied "We dropped you off and removed the fang as quickly as we could. It was lodged in there pretty deep, but luckily it didn't puncture your spinal cord, otherwise you'd still be on the floor. Once the fang was removed we left the healing to your regenerative body and left at once to find any trace of food." Shaking his head solemnly he said immediately afterwards "Couldn't find a damn thing around here. We'll have to eat whatever rations we have left in Kia's bag and then pray the both of you are ready to leave in the morrow. And by the way, don't keep your Augment active throughout the entire night, the damage it could do to your..." was all Oz was able to say before Eon began yelling for them from the other side of the cave. Slipping off Cyn's back quickly, Kia met with the others and together they nearly broke into a run to see what had happened to the young human. What they found nearly caused each and every one of them to let their jaws drop in disbelief. On the rocky wall in front of them, a great red eye with its lid closed was found looking so large and so eerie that it appeared to be staring at each and every one of them through its crimson blind. Moving backwards to meet up with the others, Eon continued to stare at it and finally whistled once in disbelief. Before any of them could even ask what it was, the giant eye flicked open so suddenly and locked its gaze onto Markus, its great pupils burrowing their vision into his left ice-blue iris. The crimson eye's red iris growing as its pupil shrank in the purple light of Markus's Augment; the Evizil began to feel an unknown entity crawl its way into his mind.
Using a voice as cruel and ancient as Time itself, a voice bellowed into his thoughts 'MARKUS SNOW, FIRST BORN WIELDER OF THE AUGMENT, I HAVE BEEN WAITING AGES FOR YOUR ARRIVAL. THE EYE OF REA HAS LONG DWELLED IN THIS CAVE, CRAFTED FROM THE DEPTHS OF THE SEVEN HELLS AND MADE WITH ONE PURPOSE. THROUGH ME, THE TRUTHS OF ANOTHER LIFE ARE SHOWN AND NOW IS THE TIME FOR YOU TO SEE THEM YOURSELF, WHITE WOLF. PREPARE YOURSELF, THE DARKNESS HERE VEILS THE VISION OF YOUR GODS...THERE IS NO HOPE OF REACHING THEM FROM HERE.' With that, the giant crimson eye shut with a loud snap and from there chaos followed. The glowing stalactite above the center of the room suddenly shattered and as it did, the entire cave was filled with a purple essence. The moment the essence contact his skin, Markus began to feel an indescribable experience. His body seemed to wither and expand, shrink and grow, pull and push and appear and disappear all in the same moment. His voice stretching and contorting until it became unrecognizable as he screamed for the others, the white coated Evizil began to see something else in his vision besides purple. In front of him, shades of green, brown, grey, blue and so many other colors began to fill his vision, casting back the purple oblivion until finally the colors replaced his vision and transformed into a world once again. Now finding himself on the ground reeling over and vomiting from the experience, Markus soon after picked himself up from the ground and nearly howled once again as he rudely found out the Augment has been disabled. Letting his vision clear fully, the Evizil found himself not in the cave, but in a dense forest surrounded by Ebonwood, oak and even Greenstalk trees. Suddenly remembering that he should not be alone, Markus quickly searched around and found that he was, in fact, all alone. Yet, before he could even let his voice carry from his mouth, he found himself on his knees as something shaped like a metal boot kicked his back. His arms suddenly held up by two Malar that seemed to have materialized from the air, Markus began to struggle before finding the same metal boot kicking his back harder than before.
With a grunt, the one behind him said with a voice as deadly as poison and rough as stone "Leader...look what we found. I can't believe I'm saying this...but we've found An Evizil. An Evizil all the way in Coppice Vale!!" His eyes widening, Markus could hardly believe what he was hearing. It seemed almost impossible that he was now on the exact opposite side of Sanctuary, not to mention that things such as Malar and what he believed was a goblin were here. Before he could even speak, a great shadow filled his vision. His head forced to look at the figure causing the shadow, Markus found himself looking at something donned in pitch black armor, a helmet the same color as his armor yet bearing two great spiraling horns where the figure's forehead would be and wielding a silver longsword marked with unknown runes.
Kneeling down so that it was eye-level with Markus, the figure took the Evizil's chin in his left hand and peered at his left ice-blue eye through a thin slit in the helmet. Moving his head in a way that caused Markus to believe he was smiling, the figure stood up, sheathed his sword and said almost cheerfully "Well done, you three. I believe the Malar King needs to see what we brought. Tie him up and prepare yourselves for the journey home. Oh...and just incase..." As the figure said that, it bent down once again, curled its hand into a fist and punched Markus straight in the gut, causing the wind, and his consciousness, to be knocked right out of him.
****
Gasping for air like a fish brutally removed from its aquatic home, Markus found himself sitting up in what he felt was a bed with his eyes closed from being in a deep slumber. Opening his eyes slightly, the Evizil found light entering the tiny slit in his eyelids with full force, causing him to go momentarily blind. Shaking his head once, Markus found his vision turned towards the floor on his left and there lay the dark armor and the sinister helmet his capturer had worn. As he examined the armor, a light, boyish laugh that sent Markus's hair straight up was heard to his right. This laugh was so familiar to the Evizil that he knew that even though it held a light tone, the master of this laugh was definitely one who could be considered deadly by all means. As Markus kept his gaze on the armor, the voice near him said "So it appears you've finally woken up, have you? And I see you like my new armor, no? That was crafted by the very hands of my king, young Evizil so take that to heart if you consider touching it."
Snarling once, Markus turned his gaze from the devilish wardrobe to its master and said "I am your age, Felix Lightbane and it saddens me to find out you do not know your own brother, or is this some kind of sick game?" Indeed the person he was looking at, who found himself sitting in an Ebonwood chair in front of the bed, had slick blonde hair, blood red irises, sharp front fangs and a wicked, toothy smile that could almost be considered iconic to the young man. Markus's brother wore a blood red vest, matching leggings and on his back was the sheath of the silver sword that Markus now remembered as the blade that cut the vision from his right eye. Touching the scar that trailed from his upper cheek all the way to his forehead, Markus continued to say "Why exactly have you brought me here, brother? I thought you wanted me dead...and I know you're the Malar King, so drop this act, it barely suits you."
His right eyebrow arching, Felix replied with "Malar King? Me? Oh that is a laugh, Evizil. And do not fool yourself into thinking you are my brother, for the two of you are very different, though your eyes share the same color. You two do not even wield the same weapons, so it is I who will ask you to drop the act, white coated werewolf. You are under our hospitality here in Helzingwrong (Hell-zz-ing-wrong), GreatCity of the Malar, do not turn that into custody." At this, Markus's eyes widened and confusion took him greatly. Helzingwrong had been a great city for the Races of Darkness long ago in Sanctuary, but it had been destroyed during the first days of the rebirth of Ill. There was no way it could have been rebuilt without the Evizil knowing, could it? Before he could say anything in reply, Felix got up from his chair and said "What is your name anyway, Evizil? Though you know mine, and for obvious reasons, I feel it is uncivil for one side of the conversation to know more than the rest, do you agree?"
Shivering slightly at the more serious, warrior like way Felix was talking to him, the Evizil replied "My name is Markus Valecruiz Snow, White Wolf of Scycrain and follower of Izilan."
Laughing once, Felix said lightheartedly "Scycrain? That city hasn't been in existence for years my friend...now why don't you tell me where you are really from? It would be a pity for you to die, if it comes to that, without a place to bury you." Now Markus was really shocked. What was going on here anyway? Scycrain destroyed, Helzingwrong rebuilt, the Coppice Vale under Malar orders, none of it was right. Had he gone into the future...to a time where he and the others had failed and this was the ultimate outcome?
Gulping once, Markus asked "I'm guessing we are still in Sanctuary right now...and if that is true, what happened to the Rea? How did you manage to get across those mountains safely?"
Grinning his iconic smile, Felix merely said "Across them? Dear Markus, we went through them. The Races of Darkness hold powers you weak Races of Light could never understand. We stride with our god's blessing, one that has overpowered your pathetic bitch of a Wolf Goddess. Illian is ours and it has been for well over six years. Through an oaken door that separated the peach colored room they found themselves in from the rest of wherever they were, the heavy sounds of metallic footsteps could be heard. Going to the door, Felix turned the knob, peaked his head out and said across the hallway "My lord, he's finally awake. I'm sure he would be more than happy to meet his possible executioner." Suddenly the footsteps stopped, turned around and suddenly began getting closer and closer to the door. When the heavy footsteps were close to the door, Felix went out to the hallway and past Markus's view to meet whoever was out there.
Turning his right ear towards the door, Markus heard a voice he couldn't quite pinpoint say to Felix "Really now...I would be glad to meet him. And Felix, there is no need to address me by such polite standards, we are equals and have been since we rid ourselves of our incompetent former King." After listening to the voice carefully enough, a fear that bested any he had ever known before took him. He knew who was about to come into the room, and answers began pouring into his mind like the water of a broken dam. Breaking his thoughts for a moment he heard the voice say again "So his name is Markus Snow? I can tell I'm going to like him already..."
Felix entering the room first, he shifted himself to the left and let his Malar King enter the room unopposed. The King was donned in a long sleeved shirt as black as the shadows of an unlit midnight, leggings the color of an endless chasm, gloves so rich in color even shadows envied them and wielded a longsword on his back sheathed in something made entirely out of Crystal Tyrs, the strongest material ever known to Illian. The King had fairly toned skin, decently thick muscles, fangs that were sharper and even more powerful than Felix's, a long, thick mane of black hair and ice-blue eyes that seemed to peer straight into Markus's soul. His Dark Iron boots finally coming to a stop, the Malar King said with a grin that looked so much like Felix's "Hello friend, my name is Markus Valecruiz Frostbane..."