ASKELADDEN: The Tale Of The Golden Quill

4. The Black Disciples

Masked individuals with black hooded cloaks with violet reflector streaks on the arms and chest. They spread out in all directions, destroying everything in their path. But one of them stayed stationary, hovering in the air while issuing orders.

“Make sure no one escapes and ensure there are no survivors. Raze everything to the ground. Destroy everything and everyone that stands in our way!” the Masked Leader commanded.

"Yes, Sire!!” the raiders saluted, and then dispersed to wreak more havoc.

“It's the Black Disciples!!!" a Royal Knight yelled, as a cloaked group headed in his direction.

"Round up the troops, Lieutenants. Take attack formation. Mage Battalion, focus on defense and ranged attacks. Royal Knights, you're the first line of attack. Charge!!!” the Captain of the Royal Guard barked orders as he tried to stay calm and collected, even though he was visibly shaken and confused, still struggling to understand what was going on.

The formation was readied almost as quickly as the orders were given, and the Mages launched their ranged spells on the two cloaked raiders that headed their way. The heavy barrage of spells was swatted away by one of them like it was nothing, and with a wave of his hand, the frontline was cut down like mincemeat.

"Don't panic, men!! Keep firing!!! Keep charging!!!” the Captain yelled, as he watched the assailants with terror in his eyes, as they mowed down his men like livestock.

In less than a minute, what was left of the Mage Battalion and Royal Guards were randomly scattered arms, legs, pieces of organs, and charred flesh. It was horrific.

The Captain screamed and frantically tried to escape this gore as he realized that he was the only one left alive and there was nothing he could do to stop the raiders. But he was halted in his tracks by an invisible force that felt like a gigantic hand, squeezing his ribcage. He coughed up blood as he began to levitate and was slowly brought back to the raider that seemed to one in control of an invisible hand.

“You! There's no need to run, you old fart. You're all gonna die eventually. So just be a good boy and point is in the direction of the Holy Church", the telekinetic raider said, with a low sinister tone.

The terrified Captain pointed the way and in seconds, became a mangled corpse as the invisible hand crushed his torso, turning it into just a jumbled lump of flesh and bones.

***

Orion slapped himself into awareness as he was mesmerised by what he had just witnessed. He bent over to puke his intestines out and then began to run in the direction of the Central Library which wasn't far off.

As he approached the building, he accelerated even more. Half of the building was already destroyed and the other half was on fire, quickly spreading and consuming the building.

“Motherrrrrrr!!!" Orion yelled.

No response.

“Motherrrrrrr!!! Where are you??!!" he yelled, louder this time.

The sound of glass shattering came from above, followed by a voice that made him heave a deep sigh of relief.

“I'm here, my boy. I can't leave the building. The stairway has been destroyed and the hallway is on fire. This is the only safe part of the building and it won't stay that way for long", his mother responded from the top floor.

“We have no choice, Ma. You need to jump. I'll cushion the fall."

“I don't know, Orion. I'm scared."

“Trust me, Ma. We don't have much time left", Orion hurriedly egged her on, counting the seconds before they were discovered.

Finally, his mother jumped, crashing both of them to the ground. They got bruised but nothing severe.

“Perfect. Let's get the hell out of here", Orion said out of breath as he pulled his mother up from the ground and took to his heels almost immediately.

"Not so fast, lad”, a sinister voice from behind spoke.

"Stay behind me, Mother.”

"Ouuu…such a brave lad. Too bad you have to die alongside your precious mother", the cloaked raider said, slowly walking towards them.

“If he loves his mother so much, why don't we kill her first and let him watch then end him afterwards", another voice spoke from the background.

A hovering masked cloaked figure emerged from behind. It was the leader of the Black Disciples.

“You've always been so diabolical, Sire. It's so admirable”, the other raider said.

"Alright, lad. You heard the Boss. Step aside!”

"No one touches my mother!” Orion said fiercely, maintaining his stance in front of his mother with his fists clenched.

The raider sighed and with a wave of his hand, two boulders came flying in Orion's direction. Before he could react, the impact had sent him flying, almost knocking him out.

"Wow…you're quite resilient. Those boulders packed a force of 3 million dynes each. I'm surprised you're still alive, not to mention conscious. Anyways, no matter. Stay put.”

"Leave my son alone!!”

Phoebe bolted in the direction of the raider, catching him off guard and tackling him to the ground. She latched tightly onto the raider as he screamed in pain.

“Run, Orion! RUN!!!” she yelled at the top of her voice. She aimed to completely drain him of his life force, allowing Orion to escape.

“I can't leave you here, Ma", Orion yelled back between tears, as he limped back in the direction of where she was.

“Just forget about me and go!! I've lived my life, you need to live yours. Don't let me die in regret, knowing I held you back from living a full life right until the very end. Please, my boy. Run!” his mother pleaded, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Orion was torn between decisions. He couldn't get himself to leave his mother behind, but he also knew that he was practically useless against their assailants, so either way, he couldn't save his mother.

"You should've escaped while you had the chance”, the deadly voice of the Leader broke into Orion's fruitless trail of thought.

Orion froze, the voice sent chills down his spine. He was done for and he knew it.

The Leader hovered towards Phoebe, gesturing with his hand in control, bringing her to his level.

Orion watched in terror as his mother levitated towards the Leader, helplessly struggling to break free from his invisible grip.

"Let her go, you fiend!!!” he screamed, running frantically in their direction.

“Shhh…stop squeaking, trash”, the Leader said coldly, casting a spell to manipulate the gravity around Orion, stopping him in his tracks and crushing him under the massive weight force.

“Woman, I'm surprised you managed to kill my subordinate. Although, he was a reckless fool, no ordinary person could best him that easily. Tell me how you did it and I might consider sparing your life. Probably even let you live as my pleasure slave."

“I have nothing to say to you, you monster. Let my son go”, Phoebe growled stubbornly, as she spat on the Leader's mask.

"You've still got some fight in you, huh”, he snickered, and then ripped her cloak to pieces.

“Oh wow…is that an Adalric Bloodline scar I see on your neck? That explains it. More reason why I should get rid of you both. Your bloodline is trouble.”

While controlling his invisible grip with his right hand, he released the spell suppressing Orion with his left hand.

“Lepides tou Skotous", the Leader cast a spell under his breath. Six blades coated in darkness formed out of thin air.

Orion mustered every ounce of energy he had left and got on his feet. As he raised his eyes towards where his mother his mother levitated, the Leader motioned with his fingers and one of the swords moved and pierced through her.

"NOO!!!!!” Orion screamed as he ran in their direction.

With every two steps he took, a sword went through her. The wailing Orion watched with eyes beclouded with tears, as his mother dangled lifelessly mid-air, with six dark swords poking out of her.

He screamed until his voice became nothing but a hoarse cry. His mind was filled with images of his mother getting skewered by swords and her muttering her final words with her mouth dripping with blood after the second sword went through her.

"I love you, my boy. Always have, always will”, she said.

"My ears hurt from all your pointless squealing, lad. You can go join your mother now”, the Leader scorned, interrupting Orion's tragic moment of grief.

With a wave of his right hand, he rose Orion into the air, and with another wave of his hand, he sent Orion flying in a far direction, somewhere at the edge of town, crashing into a pile of debris.

All Orion could see were lifeless bodies, burning rubble, and hallucinations of his mother. Then finally, darkness…