The Finger of Fate(Zorolo)

Avardeen Cataphretes. Once a knight, now a warrior... the prospect did nothing to amuse him, and much to depress him. Were it not for the aid and everlasting good will of Essie Brashe, he would most certainly have thrown himself into the sea long since. The sea... so tranquil, so flat and calm from land, seemed restive and violent when surveyed from the deck of a ship. Storms seemed imminent and forever on the brink of existence on the high seas, but the captain and her crew were rarely, if ever, alarmed by the prospect of this atmospheric disturbance. That much was strength, even if the crewmen were relatively unable t extricate themselves from blinding fear of pirates... scum of the seas.

The night sea stretched forever in the direction Avardeen had been told to search... the crow's nest was an unpleasant place. All splintered wood and course flooring, the nest was obviously meant for a rougher, sailor-type man. Still, the knight bore it in silence, scanning the horizon as if it were a sacred jewel to be guarded with intense wariness. Nothing. The sea was blank for miles and miles and miles, with no end in sight. The young warrior nearly gagged on his thoughts as the glaringly obvious set in: they were without food or fresh water, and were quite possibly on course for death.

Essie was bright about it. The dazzling young woman was ever lively, but something about hardship seemed to make life and death mutually entertaining games of chance. It amused Avardeen, though he did not let it show, enough for him to gain a certain amount of affection and respect for her. Odds seemed not to matter to her, almost as if she did not care at all. He wondered, briefly, if that truly was the case in such instances. Perhaps she truly did not have any thought for living. It made his back tingle, and a shiver rand down his spine in response.

"‘Ello! How's the crow's nest treatin' ya lad?" a burly sailor asked, having climbed from below deck to take his watch.

Avardeen nearly snorted, but refrained and said, "As always. Boring."

"Aye, lad, that'd be the norm. Get yeself below decks and have some sleep while I sit up ‘ere watchin' the seaboard, but remember to check in wit' the cap'n first," he gave Avardeen a conspiratorial wink, "Mayhaps she'll even tuck ye in."

The knight felt himself glaring just in time to break eye contact with the slightly vexed seaman. Being "tucked in" by the captain was most likely a crack on his attentiveness towards the young lady, not a shadowed comment in regards to his secret affection. None of the sailors could know about that... even if Essie did, she certainly didn't act any different for it. It was preposterous. There was no way in heaven, earth, and the Otherworlds that he could have let it show.

Essie pursued a different line of thought. Alone in her cabin, the young and ambitious captain could scarcely keep her mind off Kichaa Mesoa, a young warrior she'd known some time ago. She'd left him high and dry in a port town... too long ago. He'd never come back, never found her, never shown any sign of searching for her as she had for him. That had ended it, in her mind, but in her heart it ached unbearably. Avardeen Cataphrete's interest was only another irritant, something she hoped would be solved tonight when he came to report.

Speak of the devil, the young woman thought to herself as heavy, armored steps resounded outside her door, echoing through the wooden planks of her cabin's crude flooring. A rap sounded, and she called for him to come indoors. He did so, dim candlelight illuminating his large torso as he stepped forward.

"No land in sight, Miss Brashe," the man said, obviously trying to avoid eye contact.

Essie sighed in exasperation, as if he were a child and needed instruction, before answering quietly, "It's the middle of night, it's overcast, and even in daylight we've seen more fog than I have in years. If you expected something else, you are very wrong. I can feel from here that we're close to land. The water is choppier, the air is warmer, and we're slowing down. We're close enough to land that I could put in anchor and row east, and within an hour we'd hit the beach."

"Then why don't we?"

"Because this area is dangerous."

"Pirates?"

"No, I was thinking raving madmen and cave trolls," Essie snapped, glaring daggers and the sea-stupid knight.

Avardeen was not to be put off, and said so, "You are merely afraid. Lower the anchor and I will accompany you and a few men to shore. From there, we can scavenge supplies enough to get us to a ‘safe' dock."

"No, that's much too risky and I won't allow my men to be put in harm's way," the young captain replied, her voice tinged with an edge of protective anger. This idiot was just not getting it.

Avardeen's face almost seemed to sneer. Uncharacteristic of him, it's true, but he was angry, and the hunger did much to encourage this. He growled, "If you do not put down anchor and we do not go ashore, I will lower one of the longboats regardless and head to shore myself."

The young woman and the knight were at a standoff. After a few moments of stony silence, she conceded defeat gracefully, and pointed at her door, "You get out of my cabin and ready the starboard longboat. Have the crew bring in the sail and lower the anchor. We go to shore in the morning. I want a decent night's sleep before braving that sickening shore. Get out."

Avardeen left, and did all she said... the morning dawned bright and clear, proving immediately that Essie knew the sea: shore was less than a hundred yards away. The longboat would not even need a full crew to sail the distance. After a brief wait, Avardeen and Essie– she would not concede the point of taking her men ashore– were lowered to the surface, and the longboat's sail unfurled into a crimson banner. They struck shore within minutes, and were out in seconds.

"Something's wrong," Avardeen muttered, scanning the treeline, "there's someone here."

Essie didn't even bother to admonish him... of course there was. She had been right.

The great darkness sat in deep meditation, his hands folded upon his lap, his eyes shut behind his hood, his ever growing anger and hatred were feeding his massive increase in energy. He had failed to kill Dorn, and what was worse is that he had arrived in this crap-hole. He didn't move, didn't twitch, barely seeming to breath as he tried to find something entertaining. He had arrived and killed the inhabitants without much trouble, his growing darkness seemed to consume them as they attacked, literally crushing the life from them.

The powerful Shinu lay in the treasure cove of the pirates that had build a base upon this island, and had wiped them out, to the last man, with but a whim. He wanted a challenge, something to quell his urge to crush a strong foe. As he sat in the cave, focusing, he thought of both Seth and Nemo, whom had been two of the only challengers he had ever had. His gray eyes shot open and he screamed in great anger. The birds outside the cave of the tropical island fled the palm trees they were upon as the angered roar seemed to wake the dead. His eyes opened, he ground his teeth and held out his hand and began to fire off dark bolts at the surrounding area, creating great holes in it, but not damaging the structure severely. He took quick breaths as he slowly calmed down and his eyes scanned the dark recesses of the landscape he was in and began to stand up straight and move towards the exit. Something began to stir in the specter as he moved.

What is with all that racket?! Why are you being so annoying?! The demon said as he awoke from his sleep. Aizi was annoyed by dark Zorlo's disregard for his power and prowess. Have you forgotten it is that anger that wound us up here. You let go of yourself and nearly got us killed. I should never have let you battle that fool!

How was I suppose to know he had astounding power? Well?

I'm going to destroy you one day. I want you to know this little human.

I'd love to see that, the dark human soul snickered as they left the cavern into the early morning sun. God dammit it is sunny out today. Wonder if there is anything to do on this god forsaken island.

I still don't see why we don't just leave, we have to power to?! Aizi complained to the young, evil soul.

Because, I want to have some fun before we leave, who would have thought those pirates were such pussies? Well?!

I suppose you are right youth. Wait... I sense something, something oddly familiar. A knight, but not the one we know, another, much weaker. Let us have fun with him.

Good idea! Where is he?!

The beach, Aizi told Dark Zorlo with an odd ringing happiness about him. The two dark forces laughed as they comprehended the luck they just had and began moving out from the center towards the powers they sensed. The palm trees were thick and lush, beginning to bear fruits of various kinds, but the dark one had no interest in the odd fruit, what he wanted was to fulfill his bloodlust and move on. He walked at a slow pace until he emerged on the sands of the beach and looked upon two figures. Loosening his robe to removed his amulet, he pointed it upon the knight and watched him as he noticed a girl with him.

Two! The evil human soul happily screeched in the shared mind.

Twice the fun, the great demon added as the gray eyes of the dual voiced man watched the two carefully.

"Die!" Shinu whispered as he created a dark ball and fired it upon the knight.

Fear stabbed through Essie as the man appeared... and that fear doubled when the dark missile was launched at her companion, though he was not her friend any longer. The energy appeared, for all shapes and purposes, to be a magical projectile, but the type was something unfamiliar to the young woman; that surprised her. She knew quite a lot about magic, considering her age, and to not even recognize a spell was... disturbing. As it struck-- Essie could almost feel the pain it would bring, and that caused her to cry out weakly--, she saw the knight struggle to remain upright, though the darkness blotted out any facial expression he might have had.

A surprise, the man walked through the blast relatively unscathed, other than a certain weariness she glimpsed in his face, briefly. Then, it was gone and so was he, running full-tilt with that oversized spear of his swinging out dangerously, cutting through the air before even nearing the object of danger: that being higher up the slope. Essie quickly realized the dilema that this could pose, with the enemy on higher ground and the two of them considerably weaker... or, probably weaker, judging by the magic this man could use.

This time, she wouldn't take a chance on losing someone she trusted, even if that person was an ingrate, not even good enough to be considered a friend... so she went on the offensive. First one, then a second rasp of steel sounded through the crisp morning air, and two blades, the smaller a virtual copy of the larger, glinted under the sunlight. Essie began running, trying her best to make headway through the sand, even as Avardeen made his first true offensive, sweaping out with his spear towards this... this enemy's legs.

Essie didn't see the result. She knew something was going to happen, and if it happened it would be too fast for her to catch just on her own two legs. She jumped, drawing into what magical ability she had, and sent a sharp gust of wind ploughing against her back. She sailed forward a dozen meters and landed on dry ground, dirt this time, only a yard from her target. Avardeen was hewing again, though she'd not even seen the first one's result, at the sorcerer with both arms clenched on the spear... and that gave essie an idea.

But it would take time to accomplish, and this guy wasn't going to wait.

The darkness stood in silence, the foolish man had survived his first attack relatively unscathed, and the dark one was angered. He sat upon a tree, watching in the shadows of the forest, hiding his presence. He was ready to destroy these two, but the girl interested him. He couldn't tell if she was good or evil, but he knew the annoying armored man was good, perhaps even a saint, and this annoyed the Specter more then anything. This man reminded the Terror of Death of Zorlo, and he would make this man suffer. Stepping from where he stood, he began moving around in quick succession as he whispered, "Convert," changing his amulet into a weapon.

He dashed from tree to tree, watching his weak foes scampering trying to find the evil one. He laughed both loud and evilly as he watched the two, both seemed to do what they were doing to find him, but he was masked, echoing his voice with surrounding forces. He moved like a great hunter, stalking his prey, getting ever more ready to strike and wipe out his foes. Could they see him?! could they hear him?! He doubted it and smiled twistedly as he moved quickly from place to place, getting ever ready to pounce and annihilate them.

As he jumped and stopped laughing, the time had come to mock them and make them feel much weaker about themselves then they were. He began his speech with, "You fools, how dare you try to engage one such as I in this battle. I am twenty times your superior, and your only hope to defeat me would be if I killed myself," he mocked twistedly. Challenging them every with every step he took to find him, waiting to strike, he needed a moment, and then it would be over. "I've found you play things, and now I'm gonna make good use of you. When I get done, if you are lucky, you shall return to the mainland and tell people of what you saw and who has struck you. Tell them the Terror of Death is coming for them, and to bring their fear to me when I appear."

His words both harsh and cruel, but the time had come to strike. He jumped from one tree and launched his blade, the spinning weapon made the sound of a buzz-saw as it came towards his foe, drawing ever closer, he would kill the knight with the first attack and the rebound would wound the girl. A simple enough plan, and he knew if it worked, he could end this battle with no more then a whim. He would not need to waste unnecessary energy on bigger attacks to wipe out these weaklings.

With surprising agility-- indeed, it was something Essie was quite certain Avardeen lacked-- the big man sprang away from the deadly projectile, lashing out too late in an attempt to cut the weapon from the air. Essie watched it happen, noticing something horrific: the blade was turning and coming back, this time towards her. She hardly had time to breathe before the weapon clipped past, and only one thing saved her... that was Avardeen. The first blow from his spear had been too slow, missing the flying weapon as it passed, but this time he had been gauging the speed and was ready for it as it came. Granted, he only diverted the course of the flying blade, but that was enough to save her life.

"Essie, get back to the ship," Avardeen growled, his voice sharp with command. She didn't even answer, simply shaking her head as she turned and, with an outstretched arm, let fly the magical energy she'd been plying through.

Fire and Brimstone, one of Essie's stronger magical abilities, leapt forward with a different zeal, attributed an especially holy damage due to the only flame she could find... Avardeen's holy flame, the enchantment on his mighty spear. Using the sand as her catalyst, she sprayed out a gust of wind to combine with them, and the forest erupted into a massive forest fire almost immediately. Flame licked out and heat began to radiate from the light that was caused from the unnatural holy flame. Instead of dangerous, scalding heat, Avardeen seemed to feel something else entirely, and the big man began walking forwards into the blaze.

He called out into the forest, "What say you now, evil one? Do you fear the holiness of those flames, the light they create? It is a balm to me, and I can fight for as long as those fires burn. Come out, coward, and show your face, that I may show you my blade. You will never triumph over me!"

The young woman quite nearly giggled at the seriousness in Avardeen's tone as he said that. Once a holy knight, always a holy knight, Essie figured, but it was almost laughable that he was dealing out holy-mouthed monologues to an evil enemy that he hadn't even been able to hit with his spear, not to mention had almost been killed by... come to think of it, he was gloating over a power she had exercised, not that he had. That was almost pathetic. Essie decided to let it pass, but she still giggled when the knight began trudging resolutely towards the holy flames. He was insane.

As the blade whizzed back towards the dark one, he leapt and grabbed it as the annoying girl created the infernal divine blaze. As the trees were absorbed by it, the foul stench of angels appeared around him as he fled towards a place where he could use his dark energy at its fullest. Where would he need to lead these fools to manage this though. It hit him like a sack of bricks as he stopped fleeing, standing perfectly still as the obnoxious knight prattled one about something the dark one ignored as utter stupidity. Albeit the knight was a jackass, the girl was different, powerful, much more so then this metal man clanking through the forest like he was a god.

The dark one stood silently as the knight walked past another group of trees, trying to find the great darkness that lay before him. The cavern would be the greatest place for the dark Specter to strike at the pair, but first he would need to lure them their, and this would require some practice. The shadowed one watched from inside the cave, avoiding the bright flames outside, waiting for the fool to draw near.

"Come find me fool!" He cried out, trying to draw the attention of the knight, make him find the darkness, not the darkness find him. The darkness shielded the powerful warrior, who stayed silent. The knight was by all means a 'Holy Knight' as one could tell from how he spoke and fought. Unlike the last knight Shinu had battled, this man was an honest to god Paladin, and his righteousness was getting on the dark one's nerves. "If I wanted to hear prattle like yours, I would merely find more knights and kill them. I'll make you scream in pain just before I end you, they all scream before they die, every last one. What makes you think you will be different in the end?! WELL!" Shinu roared across the landscape, making sure the knight heard him. As he did so, he receded into the cavern and launched his blade again, it cut through trees, its soul goal, to end this knight's life.

Essie could hear nothing beyond the fires, which were thankfully retreating almost as quickly as they'd sprung from her wave of heat, but the steady crackle of splintering, exploding trees and the snapping pops emanating from the more green and friendly plant life that had been engulfed within the holy blaze. Whatever fire Avardeen had enchanted his spear with, it was as fast-forming and dangerous as it was powerful... the woods between the coastal treeline had almost immediately disintegrated beneath the heat of the fire, and ashes served as a billowy carpet underneath her boots. As she walked, though, she realized the extent of what she'd done.

The fires before her were diminishing as rapidly as she was walking, leaving behind the soot that she walked upon, but until flammable objects ceased to be available in it's path-- luckily, it was a pirate island-- that forest fire would lick out across every square centimeter of the landmass and scorch the flora and fauna to sure, quick death. Something about that kind of power was... exhilarating and intoxicating. It came with being able to level ten square miles within a day, most likely, but she was feeling almost as if she was on an adrenaline high. It passed quickly when she saw Avardeen walk into the recesses of a cave.

"Avardeen! Stop!"

The big man turned to look at her, an expression of determination on his rugged, but not handsome, features, and called back, "Get to the ship, Essie, you don't want to see this man when he dies."

Who does he think he is? That man could have killed him long before now if I hadn't done what I did, Essie told herself, more to assure the bit of stubborn, hold-out desire for safety that she didn't need to run back to the ship whimpering and crying about being bereft of some fun. She simply stood there, instead, watching the stupid man pick his way deeper into the shadowy tunnel, more irritated at him than she had been the night before. This was shaping very badly, and danger was tingling over the back of her neck, but she couldn't help it.

She started to follow him, when she heard him call out in complete, terror-filled pain. That kind of scream could mean but one thing: he was dying.

As the young knight entered the cavern, Shinu was waiting. The large circular room where he had been meditating earlier had no light, and the only thing that this knight could see was the pitch black, inky, darkness that the evil one prized himself in. No longer did the divine flames threaten him, nor did the man's spear's energy threaten him, this place was the perfect trap. Watching, his gray eyes easily piercing the darkness, the Specter watched and waited. The dark one held his sword tightly, this man would suffer for daring to bring divine weapons upon the fell soil of darkness.

"Fool!" The nightmare roared at the man has he moved around the cavern. Watching the knight for response, he saw nothing, and encircled him, the darkness was the perfect cover for one who knew the power it held. Creeping upon the man, ever waiting to watch the light leave his eyes when the darkness overtook him and he perished. "You were stupid enough to follow me into this place. Like a fly into a spider's web, you have been caught in my trap. I shall kill you slowly for using that fell magic upon this island. I shall make your death slow, so you know how it feels to suffer." The Terror moved again, sneaking around the metal man who seemed unfazed by anything the dark one said. "And now, you die!" Shinu roared as he extended one of his dark tentacles from his feet and it began to bind the knight.

Rising with lightning speed, the dark one's entrapment attack had bound the man's body and was squeezing his body, crushing him. The sound of metal being bent could be heard amongst the screams of terror the youth let out, and it was nigh time he paid for his transgressions. The dark one stepped closer to the man, the sound of his heavy foot steps could be heard by the suffering man. Spinning his blade by its hand-guard, the darkness approached the knight, ready to strike and end him once and for all.

"And now, I shall finish you with what little you deserve," Shinu told him as he threw his blade at the knight, ready to slice him into parts to watch the blood stain the floor.

Running, stumbling, falling, leaping, running once again-- Essie moved through the cavernous tunnel with no grace or care, only haste, as she struggled in vain to stop the death from occuring, the death she'd heard start even from outside. Muffled now, the agonized screams of the man she'd come ashore with echoed through the dark passage, rebounding off walls and taking on an eery tone as they rumbled, one on top of another, from deeper into the underground. Essie stumbled again, sprawling facedown, and let out a small cry as her knee struck something hard and metal.

She reached down tentatively to find the shape of the object and the feel of the ground around it so she would not trip over it again on her way up-- something that would take thought, since the tunnel had narrowed to a mere triple-foot walkway. Stifling a gasp, she gingerly probed the long shaft, then the keen blade, of what she recognized to be Avardeen's holy spear, one of his most prized possessions... if he had dropped and left it, something had obviously gone very wrong. She hefted it carefully, feeling it's weight in her hand, as she rose.

"Ach," she hissed, having tried to stand on the knee she'd struck. Wincing in the dark, she propped herself up against the spear and leaned on it like a staff before taking further steps inside the cave. The screams had lowered to a mere constant gurgle of pain by the time Essie found herself in the same chamber as her companion. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark by that time, but she saw only fragments of the man, the rest of him blacked out by large, dark tentacles of the same dark, magical energy as before.

The girl wanted to scream, to run, but she remained still. Not the still, swaying motion of a being shocked or appalled, but the dead, motionless still of someone terrified down to their marrow. Essie couldn't gasp, much less scream, but that was quickly remedied, and she found herself shouting, "Let him go!" Against all her better judgement, she shouted the same words at least three times, each word a decibel lower than the last.

As the eight bladed sword whizzed in the air, it quickly hacked off the left arm of the knight, who was nigh motionless at this point. On the return trip, the blade hacked off his other arm, and the dark one listened as the annoying weapon rolled away from the severed arm of the useless knight. He was dying, blood gushing from his stumps that had once been arms, and the dark one began to walk towards him as he heard something.

"Leave him alone," the girl from before shouted once, and then twice more, softer each time. The dark one looked at her, absorbing the fear in her face, savoring every minute of pain he could extract, for the man hadn't lasted long enough for him to truly hear the howls of terror or pain he prided himself in. By this time, the worthless knight was barely conscious, hardly alive enough to form words or keep his eyes open, and the dark one was blood thirsty, more so this day then others past.

The dark one rescinded his tentacle and moved in towards the knight, kneeling down at him, looking at the once proud knight now on his last legs, on his knees, barely alive at this point. The dark one moved his head next to his ear, still hooded, he whispered, "This is all your righteousness got you, death and suffering. I hope you learn from this in the future youth. Oh, wait, you don't have a future do you, perhaps the next life then," the Terror mocked.

Holding his blade tightly, it was time to make the worthless speck of a human suffer for his last seconds of life. The dark one pulled his arm across his chest and cut the man's legs off and pushed him back, knocking him from his former legs, causing blood to gush from what remained of them. The dark one stood up and walked over to the knights remains, standing over them, looking down upon the knight, nearly dead as he was. His eyes were barely open, the fear that emanated was the greatest feeling the master of nightmares had come across in a long time, but now it was time to end this. He swung his blade across the youth's neck and rend his head from his torso. Picking up the head of the knight, he held it towards the girl as he saw her holding the former man's spear.

"This is what happens to those who preach righteousness girl! They wind up dead, without anything but their own beliefs to keep them company in the next world. Now, let us see if you are smart, if you surrender, I may give you mercy and make you my apprentice and teach you the greatest magic of all time, the power over ancient demon magic!" Shinu boasted to her as he held the knights head towards her.

Gagging on vomit, Essie struggled in vain to keep that which was contained in her stomach from erupting onto the cave floor... a faint choking sound, then a spit, and she suddenly felt horrible, but better at the same time as the intestinal acids crept back down her throat. The young woman managed to gasp in a few deep, sustaining breaths, this time fighting the battle to remain conscious. Who knows what this... this beast will do, she thought, If I were to black out in front of him. The very prospect of it made her blood run cold, and she found her hands tensing on the cold metal of the late Avardeen Cataphrete's spear, even as the knight's blood soaked down into the hairline cracks in stone.

She reached into her will, trying to amplify the holy magic on the spear again, this time inside the cave with her blocking the only exit, but swiftly realized the idiocy this would be: the fire may not have burned Avardeen, but the holy magic was more than able to lay her to ash in moments. Still, the spear's blade glowed holy fire as a sliver of Essie's magic flowed into the enchantment. Suddenly, the room was alive with light. Not burning, terrifying light as had been emanating from the forest fire above ground, but a solid stream of white.

Essie took the opportunity to look over this man that had attacked them, killed her companion, and offered her apprenticeship as casually as if offering a ripe melon to a small child. His eyes were bloodshot, but empty, devoid both of pupils and irises, and though a dark, hooded robe to cover his body, Essie saw evidence of gray skin underneath the cloth. So he's human, I know that much, she thought, taking in the somewhat lacking musculature and strange combination of colors the man had chosen at a glance.

"What d'you mean, your apprentice?" she demanded, "Because I'm not into the whole 'bow and grovel before me, faithful servant' thing, especially when the person offering it to me has a penchant for cutting complete strangers to pieces with his freakish version of a weapon. If you mean teach me, fine, but I don't want to have some kind of dominant male overlord telling me to do his bidding. We do this on my turms, or I bring us both down with holy magic."

She narrowed his eyes slightly, glaring, as she added, "And do not, for one second, think I won't do it."

The dark one roared with laughter at the girl's claim, he knew it to be to true. She was just stupid enough to actually destroy them both, and the dark one was excited at the prospect of her joining him, for if she would kill him and herself, with proper training, she could kill thousands of others. He held out his hand in the symbol for stop, telling her to rethink destroying them both. His heart raced, his minds would discuss this, and although Shinu was not one for openly negotiating with people, this girl would, perhaps, be useful to him.

That woman is crazy, you understand that right? Aizi barked at the human soul as the two watched the woman.

She has much potential to do damage, I would enjoy her company greatly, Dark Zorlo added as he spun his blade around by its hand-guard.

What should we do?! If we say no to her offer, she'll reduce everything to dust. What do you think we should do?! The demon lord asked angrily.

Accept! The dark human soul replied.

"Convert!" The dark one said moving around the girl. His eight bladed weapon returned to its original form, as a amulet, which he then placed around his neck. He held the head of the knight, still dripping. The murder of the boy filled his need for blood, and now he wanted this girl to join him, but how to go about it. He encircled her in the dark cavern, the flame from the spear's tip making him partially visible.

"Youth," he said darkly, "I am not sure why you would think I would treat you as a slave? If I so desired a female slave, I have a woman who could give me any woman I want. I don't need you for menial tasks, I want to teach you to hone your anger, your rage, your hatred and most of all, your power. I could help you with this, if you so desire?!" He offered her as he disappeared back into the darkness.

He kept his gaze fixed on her, waiting for a reply, and he would wonder what she was up to. He held out his hand, his eyes on her, and he threw the head of the deceased knight at her feet. "To prove your loyalty, I want you to first shove that spear into that man's head, and then destroy them both. If you do that, I shall bestow you with power over dark magic. Join me and I shall help you find everything you ever desired!" He told her with a very evil grin.

How stupid does this idiot really think I am? The spear, as the situation stood, was the only reason she had even the slightest hope to survive this encounter, and he was simply asking-- and impolitely, at that-- for her to destroy it completely. Not gunna happen, Essie assured herself, tightening her already vice-like grip on the long-hafted weapon. Even if it just served as a lamp to her, when she needed it, and a staff, it would be useful enough to make her decide to keep it. The fact that it was her only defense, coupled with the request to give it up from a murderous entity of darkness, however, increased her desire to hold onto it tenfold.

But if I don't give it up, what would he do? she wondered, catching herself just before asking that very thing aloud; she needed to keep whatever odds there were on her side of this battle, not give over her thoughts so readily. Okay, let's think about this, she thought, remaining ever-keen to her surroundings and the movements of the dark form, I hold our lives in his hand, so he probably won't try to jump me if I just try to leave, but as soon as we're out, I've got nothing to stop him with. I'm safe in the cave, in danger outside, and the spear being destroyed is his bargain for 'letting' me join him.

Deciding to go on a thread of hope, she said, "I can't give up the spear. I fell and hurt my knee on the way down, and need it for a staff." She was quick on the punch, though, adding, as if she'd forgotten, "And I don't trust you enough to help me, so forget the spear getting destroyed. I'm keeping it and that's the end."

She stretched out her hand, gathering a small globe of fiery energy within her palm before releasing it towards Avardeen's disembodied cranium. Magical flame splashed over the human skull, leaving only a few scraps of bone and charred flesh behind and kicking up the lighting once again inside the chamber, even though a steady stream of white was emanating from her "staff." Coughing a bit at the smell, she gave a clipped nod at the darkness and shifted on her feet.

"That'll have to be enough for now, but I'm keeping the staff no matter how much you moan and groan about it. The fact of the matter is," she said, taking a firm tone, "I don't trust you at all, and I don't want you having complete power over me. I keep the spear for the holy flame enchantment I can exploit, you get to pretend to be my master, and we settle for that much. If that's not enough..." Essie let her voice trail off into echoes, hinting without even the slightest hesitation at the fiery cataclysm she'd unleashed up top.

The Specter laughed at what the girl told him. She had half done what he asked, and he knew she was untrustworthy, this made it all the more interesting. The dark one watched as the flames that had incinerated the skull vanished and he moved around in a circle again, ever watching her, making sure she did not do anything that would signify stupidity. This girl would make a good ally, and he knew that, by giving her but a taste, he could corrupt her and make her evil. Perhaps she may one day turn on him, but it would be well worth it.

A great, gloved, dark hand reached out and placed itself upon the young girl's shoulder. She didn't flinch in the slightest it seemed as he stood behind her, guessing she knew he was their, towering over he. He smiled looking down upon her, not speaking, not moving, just holding her shoulder. He was unsure of what he wanted to do to this woman, he knew that her anger made her unstable, and the weapon she held would be the destruction of them both.

"I accept you offer!" He said most sadistically as he moved his hand from her shoulder and began to walk out of the cave. "Follow me, I have something I must bestow upon you. This gift will make you much more powerful, and fear not, I am not going to harm you. You proved your loyalty when you destroyed that boy's head. Come and learn the true power you could have youth," he commented as he headed out of the dark corridors.

Freak. Though she thought it, and other uncharitable things, Essie carefully avoided letting her feelings come out visibly; the last thing she needed today, after all this, was some jerk with a god-complex biting her head off for an insult. One can never be too careful, the girl thought, following after her new teacher as he brushed up the tunnel and towards the cavern entrance. Just to be sure, and to reassure herself, Essie kept a nice, firm grip on her sword-- translation: she held onto the solid steel of that weapon as if her life depended on it, as it probably did. Light began to filter down from the entrance as they neared, but she kept up the steady heat in her new weapon until she felt it was somewhat... safe.

As they wandered closer to the light, Essie thought back to what exactly it was she'd been thinking about down there in the cave. This man had murdered Avardeen. Murdered him. As in, killing him without a good reason, if there was such a thing. It made her wonder, Am I capable of that? Is he going to turn me into a... a monster, like him? The thought of it terrified her, but for some reason it provoked another reaction as well: excitement. Resentment coursed within her veins, mostly due to the knowledge that he was probably much stronger than she was, but terror and excitement were the primary emotions.

Swallowing hard, she felt a shiver go down her spine, her blood running cold, as some kind of... voice... spoke out from inside her head. She recognized it faintly as the voice her thoughts took on, but it still frightened her when she took in the tone... evil. Sadistic. Heartless. He can teach you what life really can be... take, and gain strength in the taking. That is strength, he can teach you strength. Third person. She was thinking to herself, in the damned third person, and wondered if that happened only to psychopaths.

"What are you going to give me?" she asked, her voice cutting through the invisible tension between them with dull, uneasy feminine tones. She shifted nervously, staying just within the mouth of the cave, as her teacher reached the outdoors. Her throat was dry, and she felt some kind of swelling in it as well, blocking off any more speech. He was scarier in the dark, but in the light he was... strange. Almost demonic, if that was possible. Something was wrong with him.

The dark one grinned as he looked at her. Slowly, he removed his hood, revealing the gray skin and hair from under it. The gray eyes he knew scared so many now were locked upon the youthful woman. He stepped towards her, she seemed scared, and yet, she seemed to be excited about something. A strange glee about her made him feel more and more happy that he had taken this youth on as his apprentice. His steps were firm and cold as his foot crushed the ground under it, as if it were one of the humans he had so graciously removed from the earth. His left hand held the amulet of Aizi tightly, he walked slowly towards her. Silence.

"I am to give you something that I was given by my master. Something so horrible in power that it can be trusted only to the truly terrible. I feel you deserve it after watching that man die and feeling no anger over his death, not trying in vain to stop me from ending him. Much more, for giving up your own heart in search of power," he told her in a wicked tone as a strange black purple energy gather in his amulet. "Do not fear the darkness, embrace it, for it shall embrace you if you do!" He assured her as he placed his right hand on her shoulder again.

It was the excitement her could see in her that interested him, much more so then her fear of him. He moved his arm back slightly, and in a quick motion thrust his amulet between her breasts and used his right hand to keep her from moving away. A dark gray aura appeared around him, a dark flame that began to decay everything around it, except this woman. She was absorbed in a black purple flame, one as had appeared upon his amulet before he had granted her its powers. He watched her eyes, examining for any response as he forced dark magic into her. Finally, the flames settled and faded as the dark one released the girl from his grip.

"How do you feel?!" He asked her wickedly.

The action had been quick, deliberate, and cruel. To her surprise, Essie found herself neither startled or angry at the occurrance, partly due to her shock over the current situation as a whole and partly due to the power that had been forcibly introduced to her body, but she did have one strange desire: to vomit. Uncontrolible as it had been the first time, Essie was most definitely surprised this time when nothing came up. It was just nasea, not enough to make her throw up but enough to make her extremely uncomfortable. When he asked, she told him.

"I feel like I'm going to throw up on your stupid purple robe." She chuckled, finding a bit of humor in the cracked, angry voice that she'd spoken in, and felt the horrible feeling begin to recede from her mind, slowly enough to leave an impression. Taking a bit of time to compose herself mentally, she straightened her shoulders once more, stood up straight, and looked her teacher squarely in the eye.

Just before laying his smirking butt flat on the ground with a harsh left hook.

"If you ever touch me again, I swear to every stupid god in the universe that I'll blast you to ashes," she spat, "Do we understand each other? Pervert."

More for humor than anything, Essie nonetheless did feel a bit of disgust being touched by a cold-hearted killer, especially in an area she'd succeeding in keeping completely private for the years prior to this point, and found the thought that he might have enjoyed it quite disturbing. She prodded him with the blunt end of the spear, just once, before asking, "Now what?"

The dark one wiped his face from the smack and laughed as he stood up. The great uproar seemed to almost shock the woman again. He stood up slowly, looking at her, making sure he didn't yield any ground to this woman. His eyes held no anger, only a twisted form of happiness as he rose and walked over to the woman.

"I am no pervert," he said with a smile as he thrust his fist into her chest, causing her to fall to her knees, trying to catch her breath. "I did what I needed to do, and that area just happens to be where the bodies energies intersect, so it allows for easier magic flow there. You should be grateful you worm, I've given you power. I don't mind speaking up against me, just keep in mind who has given you the power to cause destruction." He turned, and as he did so, his cloak brushed the ground and he began heading towards the beach.

He walked slowly, looking into the open sea, watching it for anything of interest. He held his amulet tight in his left hand, looking at the cool waves and the breeze as it blew through his hair, his skin tingled with a strange feeling of fulfillment. He held his arm up in the air and began gathering dark energy into it and fired it upwards. The black ball flew up for a few moments until he heard a rustle, and guessed it was the young girl that he had taken as an apprentice. Now was the time for the second test.

Looking out into the shallow depths of the island, he could see the faint flag of a nearby ship. This was how this girl got here, and that was the one earthly thing, he thought, that she had left. In order to make her pure and useful, she would have to destroy everything she loved, and that ship was the next thing on his list.

"Girl!" He cried out to her. "Your next task is to gather enough dark energy to fire upon that ship and destroy it. Use the power I have granted you, and only that power, and create a dark energy attack that can sink that ship. This is your last test before we leave this island and head out to a city to test out your full power." The dark one gathered darkness into his amulet and created a rather large dark ball in nigh no time. "Should you fail or hesitate to act, I'll just destroy you and find a new apprentice. So I suggest you succeed, and don't worry, you get more then one chance. No one has ever succeeded in destroying what they love in one try," Shinu told her with a dark smile.

Essie's face contorted in a savage twist between contempt and disgust at the prospect of destroying her own ship, one she'd owned and captained for longer than she wanted to look back... the ship she'd defended from pirates, the navy, and even sea beasts, and yet still came through alive. She didn't really give it much thought, just acted quickly and on instinct, conjuring a writhing, pulsating blob of darkness in front of her outstretched hands, and letting it loose into a large arc of black fire, her eyes pinned onto her frigate all the while.

It struck.

It punctured.

Right where Essie had known would do the most damage. Just above the water line, but close enough that when the initial blast rocked the ship dozens of gallons of salt water would pour in, lowering it. Then more would course into the holds, then more, and more... but that wasn't the end of the dark energy either. It cut all the way through, and Essie-- totally by accident-- lowered her hands from the attack, splitting the beam's last bits of energy into two spears of darkness and almost cleaving the ship's starbord side in half with the motion.

She blinked. It'd probably come from the amulet's power, but Essie had no honest reason to believe that she was capable of doing that. Despite that, her little frigate was sinking into the icy depths of the sea, leaving the sailors to swim to shore and starve or stay in the water and drown... and it didn't bother her at all. In fact, she found herself liking the feeling of power it instilled in her.

"That all?" she asked, trying her best not to sound overly eager and willing to destroy more innocent items and beings.

The dark one laughed yet again. He loved her enthusiasm, it made him feel like he had a good apprentice. She would learn from him, her desire to become powerful would feed her and he knew that in time, she would embrace the darkness as fully as the shared being did. He placed his hand on her head and ruffled her hair up and turned back towards the ocean. The time had come to depart the wretched island, and the dark one would take no greater joy then to be rid of the desolate place.

"The time has come. We depart now and head for land," he told her as he looked out. He was distracted by the concept of returning to society, and now would begin gathering up the darkness in himself to start to leave this place. A trick he had learned during his battles was to have a way out of certain traps, and this island was a trap. "Stay close behind me, I wouldn't want to lose you to the depths of the ocean," he told her with a twisted laugh as he stepped upon the water.

His body did not sink into the water, but instead, he stood upon a platform of darkness that easily could fit him and any others he need. It was octagonal shaped and he looked out into the vastness of the ocean. He closed his eyes and focused his power into finding what he searched for, looking for the nearest cash of people. His body did not more, nor did the platform as he waited for the young woman to step on. He found a city, not far from where they were with a good sum of people on it.

"I've found our destination," he barked as he looked turned and pointed. "Over there exists a rather large quantity of people. Let us move out and destroy them. Oh and stay near me, I can't have you falling into the ocean," he said as he began to walk and his platform moved as his feet did. As he walked, the dark platform moved out to keep him and his young companion in it. "Let us destroy these waste of life creatures and empower ourselves further. Let the darkness take hold and end all that exists. Like this!" he roared as he finally fired the massive black ball he had into where the ship had once been, causing a great explosion that killed off all the remaining sailors that were alive near the ship. The dark one continued on, ready for his next set of victims.