The days had been growing darker around Lenore. Askarus was sitting on Cyress's roof smoking a pipe full of tobacco, easing his nerves. As he laid his head back against the hay roof, his mind wandered to another time and place. Askarus found himself in a giant wheat field stretching for miles. Across the field, Askarus could see two figures walking on top of the wheat as if floating. Moving closer and gripping his katana, Askarus noticed that the two were his parents, now long dead. Creeping toward them, Askarus spoke softly.
"I'm dreaming..." he said to them as they continued to stare off into the sky. "What does all this mean?" Suddenly, Askarus's father began to speak, but not in his voice. It was the voice of the old man.
"You are not dreaming protector. This is the fields of AlDur in which you must find that which you will need most to defeat Lord Salos and end the war." Askarus looked around as the wheat began to rustle. His parents disappeared as Askarus spun around, swinging his sword low to the ground. From under the wheat, a series of animal screams echoed in his ears as four dog sized spiders cracked open and died at his feet.
"Stay your sword protector!" the old man screamed. "You have one chance and one chance only to survive this. Hand over the woman to us and we shall let you pass through the wheat unharmed. Deny us and the guardians in the field will surely destroy you."
Askarus bowed his head for a second and considered his options. "You forgot my third option. How about I kill every one of you, right here, right now!"
With that Askarus leapt high into the air drawing his katana and shearing the tops of the wheat stocks off. From his aerial view Askarus could see that the wheat field was filled with thousands of giant spiders. To his left, Askarus saw a shining blue light. "That must be what I need to get" he though as he landed.
Instantly, the spiders began to leap at Askarus. Sheathing his katana, Askarus drew his twin tanto's and hacked though the creatures, slowly making his way through the wheat. For what seemed like hours, Askarus leapt around dicing the monsters one by one. Suddenly as he landed deep in the wheat, a spider sprung out of a trap door in the ground and sank his fangs deep into Askarus's leg. Falling to the ground, Askarus plunged his tanto deep into the spider's eyes and pulled his katana out. Trying to right himself, Askarus realized that his leg had been numbed by the spider's venom and he was now unable to walk. As he sat there in pain, Askarus watched as spiders surrounded him. For the first time in a while, he was terrified. Looking up at the sky, his head filled with thoughts of Cyress. With one last swing of his katana, Askarus fell onto his back as the poison began to flow through him. With his final scream Askarus stood up and yelled.
"Cyress!!" he screamed throwing his katana high into the sky. As he fell on his back, the spiders closed in around him. The sky began to fade as he watched his blade begin to fall from the sky down upon him.
Suddenly from behind him, there was a loud rustle as Cyress appeared and leapt into the air. Straining to see, Askarus watched as she grabbed his katana from out of the air and landed at his feet. Quickly she spun in tight circles, splintering the hard exo-skeletons of the giant spiders. From her belt, Cyress pulled a bottle of dark red potion, plugged with a piece of cloth. Instantly, her hand ignited in a dark blue flame as she lit the cloth and threw it high into the air. Grabbing Askarus, she leapt once again to the adjacent hillside where the shimmering light was coming from. Askarus watched as the flaming bottle went up and landed in the field. Instantly, a deep red flame erupted consuming the field and the spiders within. When the explosion subsided, nothing remained but burnt ground.
"My, my, Askarus. How many times do I have to save you?" Cyress chuckled pulling a knife out of her belt and cutting Askarus's bite open. Quickly, she sprinkled an herb on his wound as a bright white fluid rushed out onto the ground. Instantly Askarus began to feel better. His vision returned and he sat up, looking around.
"Cyress, you always know the best times to arrive, thank you" Askarus said softly touching her face.
"Oh it was nothing." she replied, giggling and skipping over toward the glowing orb.
"Wait! This was for me to find, I don't know its power yet." Askarus said. "You should stand watch, those spiders will be back." Cyress skipped back to the entrance of the cave as Askarus approached the powerful blue light.
The blue light gave no hint of a solid body below it. It sat high on a stone column that Askarus read to himself
"He who fears not death, nor pain, nor loss, nor sorrow has hands strong enough to pull the light from the darkness. But those who fear these mortal feelings will lift nothing." Askarus stood there for a second and reached for the blue light. As he grasped the light, his hand passed through it, not touching a solid body.
"Something is wrong..." Askarus said softly. "I can't grab it." Cyress came over and tried her luck with the same results. "I fear something still" Askarus said. "I fear that someday I will loose you"
Cyress looked up at him and smiled, gently kissing him on the lips. "And someday you may, but someday I may loose you" she said. "That doesn't mean we have to dread our separation. We must realize it and take advantage of the time we have."
Askarus smiled as her words touched him. "So beautiful, so smart" he said softly, pulling her close as they held each other.
From the scorced fields below, Askarus could hear the sound of thousands of legs running up their hill. "They're coming" Cyress said softly as they held each other.
"Yes I know. They will never stop coming" Askarus replied, grabbing his katana off the ground. Slowly he broke the embrace that him and Cyress were in and turned toward the mouth of the cave. As he exited the cave, Askarus drew his katana slowly as the spiders approached. Spreading his arms wide, Askarus fell to his knees and screamed.
"I fear not which comes for me this foul day! I will not give up! You will not stop Askarus!" With that Askarus threw his katana high into the air and pulled his twin tanto's from his belt. With lightning speed he ran down the hill and crashed into the spiders. Askarus swung low and began slicing the spiders apart. One by one, they dropped around him. Meanwhile on the hillside, Askarus's katana landed at the mouth of the cave near Cyress. She walked over and pulled the heavy blade from the ground, looking at the words engraved on the side.
"Can I live..." she said to herself, griping the haft. "I can't let Askarus fight these monsters on his own! I will not stand here and watch him die!" With that Cyress ran down the hill after him and began dicing the giant insects along side of Askarus. For several hours the couple slaughtered the horde of spiders that surrounded them when suddenly, a loud rumble made everyone stop in their tracks. Looking around, Askarus could see nothing, only the growl from below.
"Something is wrong" Askarus said as the spiders quickly ran up the hill toward the blue light. From underneath him, a giant hooked leg sprouted from the dirt. Askarus rolled out of the way and grabbed Cyress around the waist, sprinting as fast as he could to get up the hill.
"Run babe! You have to run!" Askarus yelled as a fifty foot spider tore through the wheat field, throwing Askarus upon the hillside. Regaining his balance, Askarus looked around for Cyress, but she was no where to be found. "Cyress!!!" Askarus screamed.
From the spider's position, Askarus saw Cyress lying on the ground. The giant spider noticed as well, peering down and laughing. "You have cost me many of my best warriors Askarus! But now I have your woman! Mwahaha!"
"Who are you?" Askarus screamed, grabbing his katana.
"You haven't realized by now?" the spider replied. "I am Lord Sallos! And I have been waiting for you!"
"Let her go and I will allow you to live. Do it not and you will sleep in hell tonight!" Askarus yelled. Sallos reared his head and released an ear splitting wail, dropping Askarus to his knees. Instantly, the giant spider scooped Cyress up onto his back and began to tunnel underground. "You will not take her!" Askarus yelled. Quickly he scooped his katana up and ran toward the blue light behind him. Dropping to his knees Askarus prayed to the idol.
"He who keeps this sacred power, grant it to me so that I may destroy the evil in this world! Deny me and I swear I will shake this earth till nothing of humanity remains! What say you?"
Instantly, the light faded from the podium and a small blue steak fell into Askarus's lap. Carved on the side of it were the words "Breathe the shards of life and receive a new life, one of purity and strength."
"They want me to kill myself? What is this game?" Askarus yelled. Looking back, he noticed that the spider was deep under the earth by now, he had to hurry. Without hesitation, Askarus plunged the dagger deep into his heart, falling back upon the dirt. Darkness took him.
Askarus opened his eyes and saw he was standing in a rich green field. Trees lined the hillside all around him as he slowly walked forward. Suddenly, the sky grew dark as a bright purple lightning bolt struck the ground in front of him. Askarus peered into it as the blade of a katana swung from inside and sliced his shirt open. As the bolt cleared, Askarus was looking at a perfect image of himself.
"You have gotten this far protector" the copy said. "But do you have what it takes to wield this power?"
Askarus drew his blade slowly and steadied himself. "I have come too far to be stopped by myself" Askarus whispered. With that he rushed the copy, swinging down at its shoulder then quickly at his kidneys. The copy easily blocked both shots as Askarus danced back into place.
"I know all your moves Askarus! In fact I am you! This is the part of you that forgot who he was! You remember now, the protector of mankind, not a ruthless killer" the copy said, stopping Askarus in his tracks. "If you defeat me, you will arise out of this a better man, and able to defeat Lord Sallos. But if you are unable, the dagger will surely kill you"
Askarus waited not a second longer, rushing at the copy, throwing a volley of shots in all directions. The copy instantly responded, parrying the attack and throwing a quick uppercut, slicing Askarus across the cheek. Askarus did a quick leg sweep, knocking the copy on the ground as he followed up with a hard stab to the chest. The copy lay there and pulled his punch shield from behind him burying the katana deep within the wood. Askarus leapt back.
"Ah, a game of sword and board? My pleasure." Askarus chuckled, pulling his punch shield and one of his tantos out. The copy tore the katana out of his shield and tossed it aside.
"You can't win protector!" the copy screamed as the two collided, each throwing consecutive shots to each others shield, chipping large pieces of wood out. The battle raged for nearly an hour until Askarus, kicked the copy in the knee, dropping him to the ground. The copy swung at Askarus's leg, burying his katana deep into the side of the shield. Askarus saw this and instantly kicked his copy in the head, knocking him on his back. Looking up, the copy began to cough up blood. "So strong, how did you get this far!? You still care about the woman, this is impossible!"
"That gypsy means everything to me, but I do not fear it! And because I'm driven by something that you don't have, I will never loose!" With that Askarus put his tanto through the copy's chest, turning him into dust.
Askarus awoke in the cave, the blue dagger in his hand. As he stood up, he noticed all his wounds were healed, his armor restored and his weapons sharpened to a razor's edge. He felt stronger and lighter than before and was confident. Turning to the field, Askarus ran at full speed and leapt down the hole after the spider.
For what seemed like an eternity, Askarus fell through the darkness, not caring about his landing ahead or where he was, all that he thought about was Cyress. From below him, Askarus saw a deep red light appear as the room opened up into a great hall. Askarus saw Sallos hovering over Cyress in the middle of the chamber.
"Your black heart will cover this hall you bastard!" Askarus yelled as he landed hard upon the Demon, shattering one of its legs. Sallos screamed in pain and wheeled around to face Askarus.
"So, you think a mortal can stop me!?" Sallos yelled. "I will eat your soul!" On that note, Sallos leapt high into the air and came down in front of Askarus. Instantly, Askarus began hacking at the hard exoskeleton of the beast, doing no damage. Sallos closed in on him, driving his large claws deep into the rock. Askarus danced around, trying to find a weakness.
"He is covered in armor!" Askarus thought to himself. "I can't get through that." His thoughts were cut off as Sallos clubbed him, throwing him against a boulder. Askarus coughed up a mouthful of blood, rolling onto his back. Quickly, he leapt high into the air and sliced one of the stalactites at the roof of the cave, dropping it onto Sallos. The monster tried to move, but couldn't evade fast enough. The giant rock crashed down onto his left side, crushing three of his legs. Sallos let out a huge scream, as he ripped free of his dead arms.
"Had enough yet?" Askarus said landing in front of the giant spider. As he approached, Sallos began to laugh.
"You mortal fool!" Sallos screamed as the back of his body ripped open and the figure of a man jumped out. Landing in front of him, Askarus got a quick glimpse of a tall red demon. The creature had deep black horns curling around his ears and stood at least twelve feet tall. Before he had time to react, the demon ran a long black katana across Askarus's stomach, doubling him over. Without hesitation, Sallos plunged his blade deep into Askarus's back, dropping him to the ground.
"You humans are no match for me! Now with your last breathes watch as I make your woman feel right at home." Askarus tried to respond but his lungs were filled with blood. As his vision faded, Askarus clenched the blue dagger in his hand and realized what was happening.
"I can't die" Askarus though to himself. "I have come so far, this cant end like this!" Slowly Askarus opened his eyes as Sallos walked away. Regaining his strength, Askarus stood up and pulled Sallos's sword from his chest. As he dropped it on the ground, Sallos heard the clang of the metal and spun around.
"It's impossible" Sallos whispered, clenching his fists. Askarus swayed on his feet and gripped the steak, dropping his katana. Sallos rushed at him, pulling his clawed hand back. Askarus saw the whole thing happen in slow motion as he closed his eyes and extended his hands. Sallos neared him and released a wail that shook the walls. Askarus stood still and began to smile. As Sallos came within three feet of him, Askarus gripped the dagger tightly and fell into a deep trance. From the end of the blue steak, a bright blue blade appeared, stretching eight feet long, glowing and crackling with energy. Askarus swung up and sliced Sallos's clawed hand clean off, stopping him in his tracks. With the momentum still in play, Askarus swung at waist level, splitting the demon in half. Sallos began to scream as Askarus brought his blade down on top of his horned head, silencing him forever.
Askarus dropped the steak and turned to see Cyress on the floor, bound with leather. Askarus quickly cut her bonds and threw her on his shoulder, leaping to the hole in the ceiling. With two quick kicks, Askarus collapsed the hole, trapping them in the tunnel. Askarus reached onto Cyress's belt and grabbed one of the red bottles, smashing it into the dirt. With his flint, Askarus lit a flame and lit the rag on fire. With no time to loose Askarus leapt high into the tunnel as the bomb exploded, pushing them up to the surface.
By the time Askarus landed his mortal wounds had healed completely as he worked on bringing Cyress back. Placing his hands on her temples, Askarus concentrated as a small blue charge entered her head. Cyress's eyes snapped open as she looked at Askarus
"It's about time you paid up" she said, chuckling lightly.
"You just don't know when to quit do you!" Askarus laughed, pulling her close.
"Is it over now my love?" she said, rubbing his face.
"Yes Cyress, it's over" Askarus replied as he closed his eyes and brought them back to the town of Lenore. There life was simple once again and the evil faded away.