A deep breath echoed into the vast empty spaces of the temple. It's dark chill came as a comfort to Ridley as he limped along into the future of the mosaic artwork at his feet. The images had evolved and become something more. The color of the small tiles would now change and flicker, giving the image the illusion of movement. In the artwork itself, the Ruinous Griffon continued to slaughter innocents, now having activated a beacon of ice in a land Ridley did not recognize. Meanwhile, the Scarlet Griffon had killed Nero in battle, and now hunted Armoth and what appeared to be his bodyguard. All the while, a mysterious wizard watches everything from the shadows, planning and plotting. Lastly, there were glimpses... flickers now and then of a massive leviathan. Encompassing all the floor that Ridley could see. What did all of this mean? Was this all a dream, a vision? What foul purpose could Kraven have, filling Ridley's mind with these delusions, if it was even Kraven's doing at all. Ridley continued to wrack his mind with more questions than answers when he heard a coughing wheeze from behind him. Fearing the Ruinous Griffon had caught up, he turned and held Trog's blade high.
The Scarlet Griffon fell before Ridley. Half rended, heavily burned, gushing blood, the knight crawled closer to the paladin, dragging his glowing sword. Something in the figure spoke to Ridley. A glimmer of hope, maybe. He pulled the knight to his feet, helping to support his weight. "Come on, Griffon, I know not how it is that you survived, but I will not leave you to that creature." The burned man coughed while attempting to voice words, "You cannot... kill the goodness in you with a simple blade."
"You are the embodiment of good?"
The Griffon spat up blood and winced at his burns, and after a moment spoke again, "I am all that is your kindness and empathy, yes."
"Well, you are not the only one here fighting for our soul."
"Yes... there is a monster inside of you."
"There is a monster inside of us all, Griffon." Ridley pulled the knight up to better support him, and quickened his pace, knowing the Ruinous Griffon was not far behind. In the mosaic, the creature had made it to a third beacon, and quickly rampaged onto the fourth. The Scarlet Griffon in the image had become wounded while facing Armoth, burned similarly to the Griffon in Ridley's arms. He looked to
the knight and asked, "You are born of this place, tell me, are we in a dream? What does all of this mean?"
"Your mind is wounded, you are unsure of which path to follow. In your weakened state, the good and evil tear at one another to seize control of your body and soul. To say we are in a dream is not entirely accurate. We are in the very fabric of your mind. This temple is the representation of all the choices you have and ever will make, while not entirely accurate, it is a useful guide."
Ridley took a deep breath and looked around. He could not shake the feeling that during his walk the temple had become uneven. The once flawless arches and windows now appeared ever so slightly skewed. Dark figures moved from beyond the stained glass, and the light pouring in now grew dim. When his eyes fell back to the path, he saw Nero standing before him. Ridley spoke to the wizard, "Nero! How have you come to this place?" The infernal mage turned to Ridley with fear in his eyes, "They have learned of my dealings with Kraven, Ridley."
"Who, the devils?"
"They will kill me for my betrayal."
"No, Nero, there is hope. Come with me! Leave this foul magic behind you! We can escape this long and dark path!" Nero was lifted into the air by an unseen force, and the stained glass windows glowed with a violent, blood red light. A horrifying resonence echoed through the temple as Nero's mouth opened wide and fire poured from it. The heat gleamed from Nero's eyes, nose, and ears, and as his face began to char and bake Ridley cried out, "NERO! NO!" Ridley set the Griffon down and ran forward, holding out his hand. There were prayers for this, ways to banish hellish figures, but he could not remember them. In all of his paladin training he could no longer remember how to save Nero. He looked on in terror as his ally was engulfed in unholy hellfire. The blackening body convulged and cringed in pain, but it did not scream. The body continued to twist in agony until the fire stopped, and the parched corpse fell onto the floor. Ridley fell to his knees and picked up Nero's body. Before this moment he had not realized... since he had ran from the Griffons, Nero was the only man he could have called his friend. Ridley stood and watched, powerless as his friend died. A single tear scrambled from Ridley's eye and fell onto the corpse's head, evaporating instantly with a gruesome tsss. Though Nero was gone, the blood red light did not fade, painting the temple in it's vile incandescense. Ridley stood and walked back to the Griffon, picking him up and continuing into the temple. He looked at the man in his arms and said, "I know that look in your eyes. It is the same look father had, and the same one Pelor had after that. Are you going to lecture me on your dissapointment?"
"No, the guilt of your failure is torment enough."
"I grow tired of this pain, Griffon... my conscience is dripping with the evil I have committed. I have seen what I would become on this dark path, and I can only wish that I could turn back!"
The Griffon took a while to respond, "Remember when you were a child? Just eight years old, you had wandered out of father's sight on the Griffon encampment and gone into the woods. When you were utterly lost, you had convinced yourself that the forest path would show up at any moment if you just continued walking. By the time father found you, night had fallen and you had nearly wandered to the burning forest. Sometimes we can fall far from the correct path, and we become so convinced of our own truths we don't even know where the sun rises anymore. Admitting we are lost is the first step to finding our way out."
"Griffon, I will seek my way out of this thick and dark forest. I wish to be a part of the company no longer. Let us go forth and end this nightmare." Ridley pulled his skull mask from his belt, tossed it onto the floor and crushed it under his boot. The Griffon smiled and embraced his darker self. The two continued onwards, ready to face what at the end of the temple.
The mosaic depicted less and less of the Griffon until now only the Ruinous Griffon remained. Now all five beacons had fallen to the creature's wrath, and Ridley saw the end of the temple up ahead. In the dim red light he could just make out a massive statue on the far wall, and as he came closer he became awestruck by it's presence. This statue depicted a leviathan, a titan of indescribable abhorrence. On the floor before the statue was one last mosaic image. The Ruinous Griffon knelt before Kraven, beyond them lay the wasteland of what was once the Central Kingdom, fallen to the forces of the elements. Kraven and the Ruinous Griffon then entered some sort of portal, into another realm, begining the process anew. Letting the Griffon stand on his own, Ridley took a step backwards, shaking his head. "Is this what Kraven wants? To destroy this world? Send it into the jaws of chaos?"
"That is what your subconscious would have you believe... But can you see it any other way?" The Griffon walked towards Ridley, grasping onto his pauldrons for both support and to deliver the potency of his message. "Kraven cares not for you, your allies, or anyone but himself. He does not know friendship, love, or compassion. He is void of these emotions, and so he will not stop. He will move from realm to realm do whatever he wishes, and you would be forever his slave, even in the afterlife."
"I cannot allow this to happen, how do we escape from this place, Griffon? I must warn Armoth and Nero!"
"There is only one way out, Ridley. You must defeat the Ruinous Griffon. In doing so, your mind will be whole again, and you will awaken from your slumber."
"Then let us slay the beast and be done with it!"
A shrill, horrifying whisper came from behind Ridley, "You wish to face me...? So be it..."
Ridley spun around as the Griffon of Ruin grabbed him by the throat and held him high into the air. This vile creature, emblazed in fire, with eyes as black as plague, stood nearly a foot higher than Ridley as he kicked and struggled to break free of the creature's grasp. The being tossed Ridley with immense force, and his body crumpled against the statue of the leviathan. The Scarlet Griffon raised his sword, weakened, but prepared to defend himself. The Knight of Bones laughed that ear spiking laugh, "Do you think that together you can match my strength? You will FAIL!" The Bone Knight swung his massive flail into the ground, dragging it through the mosaic as if it were mere sand. The shards of rock and stone pummeled the Griffon as a volley of arrows, and he too fell backwards towards the statue. Ridley stood, pulling the Griffon up with him, "Charge him together!"
The two warriors ran at the Ruinous Griffon, and the dark warrior held his arms open as if to accept the embrace of their challenge. As Ridley lowered his blade to start an assault, the creature delivered a jaw crunching kick into his face, and let his fist fall onto the head of the approaching Griffon, sending both warriors once again onto the ground. Ruin spoke again, "Love... friendship... compassion... these are the emotions of the weak. Only through fear and hatred can you ever hope to have true POWER!" He plunged his fist into the stone floor, and the temple shook and rumbled as several skeletal soldiers broke out of the ground.
"GET UP!" Ridley cried to his new ally. "Get up, Griffon! For our father, and our mother, stand and face this foe!" Ridley stood and held his sword high, roaring at the skeletons as his words went unheard to the unconscious Griffon. He twirled Trog's blade, crushing the bones of two skeletons, and sidestepped into an attack against another. Blocking several swings, Ridley backed over the body of the Griffon. "You will not have him!" Ridley spun into a whirlwind, vanquishing three more skeletons and harming the rest. As the skeletons backed off, Ruin whispered in a language unknown to Ridley, and the fallen skeletons came together to form a more potent foe. Ridley's eyes went wide, "Pelor... save me."
Ruin spoke in response before fading into the shadows, "You fell from that peasant's light long ago..."
Ridley scowled at the towering beast, attacking the large skeleton. His slashes did little against the bone, and the skeleton grabbed him by the head and pressed him into the ground next to the Griffon, sending Trog's sword clanging out of reach. He felt his face crushing, his skull could not take the stress that this creature was placing on him. As Ridley's vision went black, all went quiet, and he heard the voice of his father in his head.
"My son, I know that we have grown distant over the years, but there is something my father told me that I wish to pass on to you. He said this to me not long before you were born, upon his deathbed. He said you do not raise heroes, you raise sons. And if treated like a son, he will become a hero, even if it is only in the eyes of his father. Ridley, despite our differences there is one thing that I know. You are a hero, my son. You may fall onto dark and distant paths, and life may take you into cold and dreary places, but remember that one truth and you shall prevail over any foe. I love you, my son."
Ridley opened his eyes, the glowing blade of the Griffon lay just within reach. He grasped the blade, and it's light accepted his touch. Magical power coursed into Ridley, and he swung the humming blade upwards, casting the large skeleton's bones across the room.
Leaping to his feet, Ridley charged the rest of the skeletons, twirling the magical blade effortlessly as it crushed the skeletons like a hammer. When the temple lay scattered with bones, Ridley heard a faint gasp of air, and he spun around. The Knight of Bones held the Scarlet Griffon high into the air. The Griffon, burned, beaten, cleaved, and choking, kicked meaninglessly at Ruin. The dark creature laughed maniacly as he looked to Ridley and spoke, "It is over, Ridley, I have won. Your feeble attempts to resist me have failed and now I will be free to exist in the real world..."
A rapid flick of Ruin;s wrist, and the Griffon's neck snapped like a dry twig, and his body fell limp to the ground.
Ridley screamed out, "NOOO!" his body convulced and twisted, he felt the good in him rotting away. The air tasted sour, and all hues shifted into a grotesque red. As he felt his courage fading, and fear gripping him, he stood strong. Walking towards the Ruinous Griffon, he gripped the glowing sword of the Griffon that now burned his hand. He picked up Trog's sword in his other hand, and ran at the Ruinous Griffon, now laughing at Ridley. "You fool, I have already won, killing me will destroy your soul and rock the foundations of your weak mind."
Ridley screamed a warcry as he attacked Ruin. His blades rended into the bone and sinew of the vile creature, and he fell backwards grunting.
"You know not what you do, Ridley. You cannot destroy me without killing yourself! It is FOLLEY!"
The Griffon of Ruin swung his flail with great wrath at Ridley, who struck the flail head with the glowing greatsword, and the bone weapon shattered under it's power. The Griffon screamed out as he drew a greatsword of his own. The clashing of swords shook the temple as light and dark collided in a final struggle for domination over a single mortal. The temple began to fall apart, and the two
warriors dodged and sidestepped as pieces of ceiling fell down between them. Ruin swung heavily with his blade, and Ridley caught it in the crossguard of Trog's sword, and swung at the dark blade with his other sword. The Ruinous Griffon's second weapon exploded with a resounding boom, and he fell back onto the rubble.
"If you kill me, Ridley, it is over for you. You cannot live without a soul! Look what this battle is doing to your mind!"
"You set me on this path, Ruin. You led me away from the Scarlet Griffon's and into the company of Kraven. You have given me freedom. Now you are no longer necessary..."
Ridley raised his two blades and slashed at the dark Griffon violently, over and over sending gore and guts across the temple as the walls, floors and supports collapsed completely. The dark creature howled and squeeled in agony as it felt it's life ending, and Ridley too felt a burning darkness enshroud him as he fell into the void beyond the temple. All was ending, and yet just beginning. Death and rebirth are one in the same. Good and evil are two halves of the same being. With no need for such petty moralities, anything is possible. Morality itself holds mortal kind back from true power.
In the darkness, Ridley tasted this power. Black feathers spun about him as his fall slowed and eventually stopped. Ravens squaked around him, and an old friend came approaching from the dark.
"Hello again, Ridley... what have you done to yourself now?"
Ridley looked up, his vision blurring, he saw the face, and spoke the name, "Kraven..."
No comments:
Post a Comment