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I woke up to some kind of noise... someone singing. My ears strained to hear the familiar voice.
Two become one
One made whole
The cycle completes
When thrice angels fall
Awaken now Harbinger
Open your eyes
Take up your mantle
The Devil shall rise.
“Did anyone hear that?” I asked. I felt somewhat embarrassed as I observed the lateness of the night and a few new people standing in camp.
“Hear what?” Bal Vyr asked.
“Are you okay Blackwing?” Harbinger’s voice called out to me. It was good to see he had returned, but I was troubled by what I had heard. The words were spoken as though the Mayor were right next to me, whispering in my ear. I scanned my surroundings once more.
“We did kill the Mayor right?” I asked.
“Yes. By my hands he was slain,” the Goliath reminded.
“I swear I just heard his voice...” I trailed off as I realized how stupid I sounded. Clearly I had just dreamt the poem into existence. Let alone with all that had transpired recently, it’s no wonder I was dreaming non sense.
Everyone else continued about whatever they were doing, paying me no mind. I was later filled in that at midnight we would proceed back to Lake Town. When the time came, I took my spot next to Harbinger as we began our trek toward town. Bal Vyr kept pestering the Goliath about why Garth would need to see us at midnight for our own safety. It would seem if the Thorplewood brother had enacted himself as Mayor that he could make it so that we weren’t criminals. Part of me agreed that that did seem fishy, but Harbinger held such trust in them (and had discussed with them hours before) that surely there was reason for the midnight rendezvous.
We came to the West Bridge to which the Goliath told us to wait back while he made sure it was safe for us to approach. As I stayed put at the foot of the bridge, I watched as he knocked on the gate’s door. Whisperings could be heard, but nothing distinct. As I continued to observe, I caught sight of Harbinger beginning to act funny.
“What? No!” the Goliath suddenly exclaimed. I began to walk toward Harbinger.
“Hey, what’s going on?” I called out. The Goliath turned about, seeming to be undergoing some internal struggle. I narrowed my eyes on him trying to see if I could figure out what was happening. Bal Vyr began to cast a spell to examine the magicks at work as the gap between me and Harbinger lessened.
“Blackwing!” he called out to me as I came within a few feet. His mouth then clamped shut.
“What’s happening?” I demanded. Unable to speak, Harbinger held up a hand to me as though to stop me from drawing closer. I looked toward the gate beginning to suspect that the guards might be the cause of what was taking place. Had they done something to trigger his rage and now he was struggling to keep control? However, with it being night, I couldn’t see past the dark square that marked the shutter in the gate.
“Bal Vyr, can you sense anything yet?”
“Just a moment,” the Drow responded as he continued to concentrate.
Harbinger then stood up straight and reached a hand behind his back to draw his sword.
“Forgive me Blackwing,” the Goliath choked out. My eyes went wide and quickly I pulled my halberd up to defend myself. If I hadn’t acted so quickly, I probably would have been dead from how swiftly he brought his sword down upon me.
“What are you doing!?” I exclaimed as I deflected his sword. Whatever was happening to him left me confused. Was this the work of the mark? I could only hope that Bal Vyr would figure it out quickly.
“Harbinger!” fellow comrades called from behind, reiterating my same question.
“You need to stop this now!” Trickfoot shouted.
“Why are you trying to hurt your woman?” Tornar questioned as he attempted to intercede.
“Guys, there seems to be some kind of dominating spell upon him. I would seem it’s coming from the armor!” Bal Vyr announced. I looked into the Goliath’s eyes and could see a sense of pleading as he remained helpless to the spell upon him. My anger began to bubble under my skin as I realized the Sylphsbane Clade had tricked us- no, tricked him! They had sponsored his armor and now it seemed evident why!
“Harbinger,” I said calmly, though I’m not sure why. It wasn’t like my tone would make a difference with the struggle he was facing, “You can fight this spell. Just keep your focus on me,” I encouraged. I then attempted to fatigue him, thinking if I could zap his energy that perhaps we’d be more successful in stripping him of the corrupted armor.
The Goliath flinched away from me and with swiftness that would suggest my spell had no effect, swung his sword into my side. I felt a rib crack and placed a hand to my bleeding wound. As I fought for breath against the pain, Harbinger implored of us to flee. “Please run before I kill you all!”
“Rip your armor off-” I began to shout when my vision was suddenly splattered with Harbinger’s blood. The crusader finally made his attack on the Goliath and his strike was true. It happened so fast that I stood stunned as the decapitated form of Harbinger lingered in front of me. Soon he slumped to the ground, to which the crusader stepped over him, uttering aloud, “You have evaded Justice for too long.”
“How was that Justice!?” I spat. I stood to my full height and got into Grendel’s face, “He was under a spell! He wasn’t responsible for his actions!” Let alone I had one task to do! One task! Not to let any of my comrades succum to the mark!
“Hey Araja, you know he isn’t really dead,” Bal Vyr interrupted.
“Shut up Bal Vyr! Grendel, if there’s any ‘Justice’ to be had, anyone to blame, it’s the Sylphsbane Clade!” I shouted. My body shook as I managed to restrain myself. I could feel everything about me spiralling out of control and there wasn’t anyone who could hold me together. I fell to my knees next to Harbinger, my sobs escaping me.
“Well, I’m gonna take his armor off-” the Drow began to say when the gate opened. I looked toward it, my rage set. I was gone. My anger and pain took over. I would have killed Grendel then and there, but Bal Vyr was right. With the mark upon us, we weren’t really dead after being killed. Though I loathed the man, Grendel was one of those I was charged to not let die. And so I settled for the guards who now served Garth Thorplewood. They, and everyone associated with them, would die as my soul now cried out for it’s own ‘Justice.’
I flew into action, striking the guards as they came. A few were able to get a hit on me, but my adrenaline kept me going. Abu took a moment to heal me which allowed me to continue with vigor as I fought along side Tornar, Bal Vyr, and Grendel.
Amidst the blood shed, a guard instructed his men to keep their grounds while he sent for the other platoons.
“This might be a good time to flee then,” Trickfoot suggested over the chaos. I ignored him as I pursued another guard. Once I rendered him dead, I looked up and could see what appeared to be a hundred guards making their way toward us. Suddenly Trickfoot’s advice didn’t seem like such a bad idea.
“Perhaps we should leave,” I announced, pointing toward the troops.
“Let them come,” Grendel barked, “Let them taste our vengeance for the betrayal they’ve done to us.”
“Heaven’s you are insane!” I snapped.
“And think about it Grendel,” Bal Vyr jumped in, “These men are just following orders. We ought to figure out who’s responsible and apply Justice like a scalpel to the perpetrator.” Guilt tried to pang at my mind at the Drow’s words.
“Justice should be applied with a hammer!” The crusader retorted.
“There are too many for just the 6 of us to fight off!” I reminded, “And- oh heavens, look at Harbinger!” I stated. The Goliath’s body was contorting in all sorts of ways that was unnatural. It was too unsettling and I felt myself choke up. Part of me was grateful that he was turning because it meant he had a chance to come back again. However, he was decapitated... I could only hope he’d live once more.
“I’m gonna cast some fire to hopefully ward off the guards as Harbinger kills them. If we're lucky he won’t be dumb and rage into it as he attacks the troops,” Bal Vyr announced. He went about lighting the guard house on fire, leaving a portion of the bridge for the demon Goliath to unleash his fury. We all then high tailed it to the woods.
As we ran away, a few minutes passing before the night was rent with a familiar roar. It was stronger than when I heard it back in the Goblin’s cave. We all turned around and through the trees could see an enormous silhouette. Harbinger was even larger than before. He had to have been well above 30ft tall... Heaven knows what’ll become of him and the town, for all I knew, our best chances now laid with the Elves.
After some time, we all came to a stop. We gasped for air as the adrenaline wore off and reminded us of how limited our physical bodies were.
Though my rib was healed, my chest felt as though something had been ripped from it. It was comparable to when Meryth wasn’t Exalted. How I was left with her blood on my hands, never to see her again. Maybe I’d see the Goliath again, but it was the crusader that turned him into a monster in such a manner that had me convinced otherwise.
“You!” I seethed, walking toward Grendel, “You didn’t have to kill him!” I shouted, hitting his armor. I winced as my knuckles hit the metal, but continued yelling at him, “Did you not hear what Bal Vyr had said!? All we had to do was remove his armor!”
The crusader stood rather still for someone who’s just ran a mile or two. “He carried the taint of Injustice upon him,” he simply replied.
“Your obsession with this notion of ‘Justice’ is so convoluted that I have to wonder if you even know what it means!” I exclaimed.
“Foolish woman! You’ve allowed your infatuation to cloud your vision!” he barked.
“He was under a SPELL!”
“You deny yourself the truth!”
“Do I?”
“He was an agent of Injustice!”
“When is it Injustice when you’re forced against your will!?” I shrieked, “He was helpless. He begged us to flee! He warned us!”
“And all the previous times? When he acted against the people of this town? When he acted against me!?”
I scoffed at the crusader. “So that’s the reason!? He slighted you and therefore death is your solution? Oh Grendel,” I chuckled, “You and your grudges. So where’s my death? I’m pretty sure I’ve slighted you too,” I baited. The crusader took a step toward me, reaching for his sword, when the Srow interveined.
“Araja, we’ll go fetch Harbinger in the morning. I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Bal Vyr said attempting to calm me. I kept my eyes locked on the crusader. Part of me was reveling in the fact he couldn’t harm me.
Bal Vyr let out an exasperated sigh, “We know who magicked him up and we’ll be sure to deal with them,” he continued to explain, “I tell you, those Dwarves in town really have it out for us,” he continued, devolving into his paranoia. Tornar gave a mild grunt. I shook my head.
“That whole town is damned,” I said with an air of defeat. With my anger and sorrow still about me, I then flew up into a tree to mourn in private.
The moon was out, giving a soft glow to the tree tops. In the distance was a reddish glow that I assumed to be where Lake Town was.
I hated the predicament I was in. The relationship that formed with the Goliath was nice while it lasted, having someone that almost felt like family. Someone who didn’t just tolerate me. Now I had to wonder if the few weeks of bliss was worth the pain I was feeling. Would it subside with the blood I sought for payment? Would it lessen if Harbinger returned? I didn’t like how out of control I was with my anger, no matter how much I try to justify it through the crusader's actions. My temper has always been a weakness of mine.
The feeling of failure was equally crippling. What was to be done? Was it really that bad if only one person turned one more time? I suppose the Raven Queen would have chastised me by now if that were the case...
Movement below suggested that the group began to move further into the woods in pursuit of the Elves. I was mildly surprised that the cleric remained behind.
“Araja?” I heard Abu call for me, “are you alright?”
No! I wanted to snap back, I only witnessed my boyfriend’s head get cut clean off!
I managed to hold my tongue before realizing how childlike I was acting. An exasperated sigh escaped me. “I’ll be fine Abu. I just don’t like Grendel,” I muttered.
“I’m not going to deny that what just happened was terrible and I’m not sure if running away was the right answer either,” (so am I to blame for our retreat?), “Only the Gods know what’s happening in that town to those poor people,” the cleric said to me. I looked to the faint glow in the distance. Harbinger was very much fulfilling the will of the demon we left him as. Would the town be able to defeat him and save themselves? Would the Goliath in time revert back without death’s intervention? It would seem that was how I reverted back. I healed everyone and after a matter of time turned back into myself.
Still... it was wrong for me to condemn the townsfolk for the fault of the Sylphsbane Clade. If there was any amount of good to be had, it would be to stop Harbinger’s murderous rampage. Once that was completed, then hopefully I would have the strength and force to destroy the Sylphsbane Clade.
But what about Grendel? Another sigh escaped me. Either I would talk Bal Vyr into frying his good for nothing body or set about my revenge the moment the mark was cured from us. Funny enough, the thought of getting Grendel back (hopefully when he least expected it) gave me great pleasure. So much that I finally flew down from the tree to join Abu.
“Let’s go find those Elves,” I said to him. I began to turn when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked back into the cleric’s eyes, surprised by the concerned he was showing for me.
“Are you going to be alright?” he asked once more. I didn’t want to lie to him, but I didn’t have a solid answer either.
“We shall see,” I said quietly before pressing off after the others.
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