-Flashback-
The Putrid scent of decay drifted through the air as Rot's presence seemed to corrupt the very ground beneath his feet. Small patches of grass withered and blackened where he stepped.
Across from him stood a battle-ready Oreon with both his daggers tightly gripped in his hands. Behind him, both sisters stared at what they couldn't believe: An elf in Holy Order garb.
"What...what in the hell?" Sylvanie stuttered. "A dark elf, working with the Order!"
"That's...Impossible..." Celestia spoke in a frightened whisper, horrified by the sight before her. "But why would...Why would an elf of any kind..." She breathed.
"Heh-Heh-Heh." A dark chuckle escaped Rot's mouth as he placed both of his hands in his pockets. "So, the daughters of royalty. It's nice to finally meet you." A broad smile stretched across his face as his red eyes lifted slightly.
"You traitorous filth!" Sylvanie screamed, stepping forward in front of her sister. "What is the meaning of this? How dare you don those robes? Standing with the Order's soldiers like some general? What the hell kind of games are you playing at?" She gritted her teeth as she took a deep breath, her anger now turned from Oreon to the corrupted dark elf in front of her. "Explain yourself." She spoke darkly, her slightly sharper-than-human teeth now showing. "And maybe I won't make you beg for death when I stomp your head in."
The wide grin turned into a sick smile that extended across Rot's face. "Ah, so you're the dramatic one." He imitated Sylvanie, took a step, and the grass under his foot withered immediately, eventually turning black. "Words of your personality did travel down to the Elven slums. The mannerisms of royalty and such, however, unfortunately for us backwater elves, even in our lifetime, it was frowned upon to grace your court with our peasantry." He kept his sick smile on his face.
"But, oh my: look how the mighty have fallen...He-he-heh." Another giggle followed. "You look just like you crawled out of the back alleys we grew up in. Never in a million years did I ever think that I would get the chance to see such royalty dressed in rags and starving for a meal. Tell me, your majesties...How does it feel? How does it feel to be on the ones crawling on your bellies?"
"You disgusting piece of—" Sylvanie's face contorted with anger, already fallen prey to Rot's words.
Extending her arm to her side, she attempted to conjure her scythe. Dark magic slowly gathered around her arm and finally settled into her palm. However, given her condition and lack of healing, her magic vanished. Gone just as quickly as it came. "What the..." She growled as Rot could do nothing but continue his creepy short giggles at Sylvanie's pitiful display. "You've got to be kidding me right now?"
"Ha-ha! Look at you! Nothing but a pathetic shell of what you once were!" Rot pressed. "Can't even call for your magic now!"
"Great," Oreon thought. "I didn't expect them to catch up this soon." He growled under his breath. "And even worse." He glanced over at the Elven sisters. "It's an elf." He turned his attention back to the corrupted dark elf as the soldiers stood behind him.
Rot's giggle finally turned into laughter as it began to echo through the clearing, earning a frustrating look from Sylvanie.
"How could you?" Celestia spoke up, standing next to her sister. "You're an elf, are you not? Why would you stand by the very people who want to see us extinguished? The same people who came and destroyed our home?" Rot tilted his head at Celestia for a moment. "You clearly know who we are, but even knowing that, you still stand with the Order, hoping to put us back in chains! Why? Why would an elf side with our oppressors?"
His head still askew, Rot kept gazing at Celestia, appearing as if he thought her words were absurd.
"Oppressors?" A sinister smile stretched across the dark elf's face as his red eyes lit up with cruel satisfaction. "Tell me, former queen, who is really the oppressor here?" He countered. "When was the last time you set foot in the Elven slums? Got your pretty shoes dirty walking through our filth that we were forced to live in?" Celestia's eyes narrowed as he held a small, rusty knife in her direction. "I don't ever recall you coming down there personally to ensure that we Elves had what we needed. No? Just sending your royal knights down to the pits was good enough for you to maintain order amongst the vermin who were deemed less than you."
With a slight glance to the right, his gaze fell on Sylvanie as he slowly directed his corroded blade towards her. "And what about you? You are one of us, are you not? A dark elf?" He questioned her. "Yet, here you are, playing princess to a throne that never belonged to you."
"You watch your mouth, filth," Sylvanie warned lowly, clenching her fist.
Celestia stepped forward in front of her sister. "You mentioned the slums. I take it you are from the lowlands of Vel'Andria. But you speak as if they were impoverished. The cities in Vel'Andria were all well taken care of, even down to our rural settlements." Her eyes remained narrowed, slightly confused by the claim that Rot was making. "I admit, there were troubled times and issues amongst common and Royalty, but even the Elves at the round table made sure no elf went without." She protested.
"The lowlands?" Rot repeated as he snickered. "I'm not talking about the lowlands, that boring place where Elves choose to farm and live on the outskirts of your precious city. I'm talking about the Outer Regions. The same Outer Regions that everyone turned their nose up at. The same Outer Regions where we had to fend for ourselves and survive off the scraps of your trash."
"The Outer Regions..." Celestia lowered her gaze for a moment before returning to Rot. "Then, you're speaking of the elves who...were part of the diaspora, correct?"
"Diaspora?" Oreon repeated, slightly confused by the term.
"Elves who were banished," Sylvanie answered, keeping her glare locked on the corrupted elf.
Rot's scarred features twisted into a darker expression. "Oh, so your majesty remembers we existed after all. How...Touching, but yessss." He hissed. "The same Outer Regions where your royal bloodline dumped countless common elves. It's funny how you address it so...Casually, as if..." He paused. "As if your bloodline didn't try to bury us in that disgusting pit."
His tongue slowly slithered out of his mouth, gently licking the rust-covered blade in his hand before pointing it back at the trio, a small glow emanating from the blade itself. "But I'll correct that." He added. "I'll make sure the lovely royal elves are put back in their chains like the good little pets they are...Heh-heh-heh."
"Then you speak of the Outer Regions as if you were wrongly put there, yet kindly omitting that the Outer Regions were a place for the worst criminals of our kind." Celestia stood proudly. "If you were placed in the Outer Regions, then speak the heinous act that got you sent there." Her voice carried the demeanor of a queen as she continued her conversation with him. "Rot, was it? Answer me. No honest living elf would dare speak of an atrocious place as the Outer Regions, like it were a home."
There was a pause for a moment as everyone stood around, waiting for Rot's answer, as he just stared at the fallen queen. "Heinous...Crime." Another dark chuckle escaped his lips. "Oh, your majesty, you wound me deeply. But it is true, as they say." His chuckles stopped as he locked eyes with Celestia again. "You truly are... perceptive." The last word drug out under his breath.
"My only crime was that I dared to question why noble blood was worth more than common blood. I wondered why it was others who sat at the Round Table, and not me. What was different?" He began as he slowly, but casually, began to take a few steps to his left, walking as he began his answer.
"What's the difference between that pretty dark elf there and me?" He pointed his knife at Sylvanie again. "I'm a dark elf, so why couldn't I be royalty? Was it my birthright? No, that couldn't be it." Rot continued to move slowly around them. "Was it my appearance? Surely not."
Oreon tilted his head to the side at the comment. "Yeah, no, I'm sure looks does play a part in it." He interrupted, which caught a side glance from Rot, but he continued.
"I continued to ask myself, why are we the low-hanging fruit? What makes one necessary for the round table? How do brats like you become royalty, while those who fought and bled become nothing but just a commoner?"
"Your crime is jealousy then—" Celestia spoke, unfazed from the corruption that circled them. "Jealousy, born out of questions no one has the answers to or the answers you seek." She ended.
Oreon, along with Sylvanie, kept their eyes locked on Rot as he continued his slow pace around him, still wearing the diseased grin across his features.
"Jealously? Oh no, your majesty. My crime is much simpler than that." He glanced over his shoulder to catch Celestia in his sights. "I continued to wonder what separated us in this broken hierarchy of ours. So, what did I do? Why, I experimented, of course. Thanks to those who willingly gave up their lives for my findings, both common and noble elves." His eyes slitted as venom dripped from his lips. "Turns out—" He grinned grotesquely."–They both scream the same."
The words hung in the air like a curse. The casual admission of torture and murder sent ice through everyone's spines.
"You...You didn't..." Oreon barely said.
"You killed your own people to feed your pointless jealousy!" Sylvanie growled.
"You tortured innocents to satisfy your curiosity between us and stand here and suggest that you were wrongfully exiled to the Outer Regions?" Celestia's voice trembled before regaining her queenly stance. "Why a monster like you wasn't executed escapes me." She commented back. "Banishment was too light a sentence for you, a mistake my father clearly made."
"Yeah, you belong with the Order," Oreon added. "Doing something as sick as that, no wonder they welcomed you with open arms." He kept his stance. "Hard to believe that the Order would turn down someone like you, someone who would kill their own kind like that."
"And yet, instead of standing with the Purifier. You disgrace his name by standing with fallen royalty." Rot struck back, his eyes now trained on Oreon. "Not only did you sneak into his domain, but you stole something precious to him and the Order and freed the Elves that he worked hard to capture. Do you consider yourself special child?" He pointed his blade at Oreon. "Because if that's the case, you're no better than me."
The blade's corrupted edge gleamed with malicious intent as it pulsed again; the area that Rot had walked had turned black and died off. The comparison he made caused Oreon to clench his jaw, his body tensing at the thought of being the same as the corrupted elf.
"I'm nothing like you, or my father; you sick freak—"
"Oh, but you are—" Rot's voice was laced with a venomous delight. "You defy the Order, stole from them, freed their prisoners... Tell me, brat, how many of their soldiers did you cut down to get here? How many deaths and screams did you ignore?"
Oreon winced slightly but maintained his composure. "That won't work on me. There's a difference between questioning authority and murdering innocents for sport. I learned a long time ago how evil my father can be. Where his ideals lie and the destruction he and the Order have caused, both to humans and non-humans. So trust me when I say this, we are not the same." Oreon lowered himself as if the comparison that Rot tried to make triggered him a bit.
"Is there, though? Once again, you defied the Purifier's will, stole the shard, and freed his captives. In his eyes, you're just another criminal that needs to be punished." Rot dragged his corrupted blade across his palm, dark blood seeping from the cut. "The only difference between you and me is that I'm honest about what I am."
"And yet, you wear corruption like a badge of honor." Celestia intervened. "You tortured and murdered our people—your own people—to satisfy your twisted curiosity, then you dress up your crimes as if you were the one who has been wronged, a twisted monster indeed."
"Twisted...monster?" Rot repeated, growing angry at the comment. "You little—"
One of the guards steps up beside Rot, placing a gloved hand on the decaying elf's shoulder. "Enough talk, Elf. The Order demands the—"
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Rot immediately turned and swung his knife across the guard's chest, creating a cut in his armor. The cut immediately became infected as the guard screamed before the infection completely took over his body as it began to decay into a rotten corpse, with the blade glowing a blackish purple color as a result.
The guard's scream cut through the air as his body convulsed. The infection spread through his armor and flesh. Within seconds, what had been a living man had fallen into a putrid heap of decay, causing the remaining four soldiers to immediately step back from Rot.
"Nobody touches me without permission." He grimaced as he turned around to face the trio. "Now, where were we? Oh yeah, Purifier's brat." He extended his left hand." Hand over the shard you stole, along with the elves." He simply said, eyes closed, with a disturbing grin on his face.
"By the light..." Celestia clasped her hands over her mouth, eyes widening in horror. "You're...You're completely insane."
"Disgusting," Sylvanie remarked. "And you wonder why you were sent to the Outer Regions. Even now, that place sounds like it was too good for a monster like you."
"I don't know what the Order did to you, but you're not even an elf anymore," Oreon added on.
"Why all the theatrics?" Rot twirled his small, rotten knife between his fingers. "What's a little push without somewhat of a demonstration? Besides, they're just tools." He turned his gaze towards the Elven sisters. "Just like you'll be once I drag you back to the Order. " His blade dripped with infectious corruption as he pointed it at Oreon.
"You're insane if you think I'm handing anything over to a Wack job like you," Oreon responded, tightening the grip on his daggers as he watched the dangerous Dark Elf in front of him cock his head to the side.
"Wack job?' Rot's eyes widened, and he burst into laughter, his expression becoming exaggerated and manic as he looked at Oreon. "Wack job? WACK JOB?" He repeated almost as if the word set something off in his mind. "If it takes me being a Wack job to bring you to your knees, THEN CALL ME MAD!"
He charged full speed towards Sylvanie, blade in hand as he reared his arm back, ready to slash the skin of the royal dark elf.
Sylvanie, unexpectedly sluggish in her reaction, tried to grasp the handle of her stolen sword, but she was already too late. Rot was already above her, his blade coming down to swipe her. Her eyes shot up in shock as she knew there was nothing she could do to stop Rot's attack from landing.
"Oh no you don't!" Oreon shouted as Rot's blade clanged against one of Oreon's daggers, stopping Rot's attack instantly. The metallic sound of blades clashing together rang through the clearing as sparks flew from the collision. Oreon's muscles strained against Rot's unnatural strength, but he managed to deflect Rot's blade from touching Sylvanie. However, Rot's body twisted as he flipped over the two and set his sights on Celestia as he tried for a second time to carve his blade into the royal skin.
"Knock it off!" Oreon twisted his body as best as he could, leaping over Sylvanie, delivering a sharp spin kick to the side of Rot's face, knocking him away from Celestia, causing him to do a couple of backflips away from the group before landing on his feet right back in front of the guards.
The taste of Oreon's boot lingered on Rot's split lip as he straightened himself, wiping away a streak of blackened blood with the back of his hand.
"Fast little brat, aren't you?" He spat, the saliva sizzling against the ground where it landed. "But you can't protect them forever."
"Tch!" Sylvanie gained her bearings, finally drawing her sword in one fluid motion as she threw a quick glare at Oreon. "I don't need protecting, human!" She seethed. "Especially not from the Purifier's spawn!" But even as she said those words, her hand trembled slightly—not from fear, but from rage at her own sluggish reflexes. The chains, the captivity, the constant drain of their magical reserves had taken more of a toll than she'd care to admit.
"You were about to become a pile of—whatever that is over there." Oreon pointed to the pile of decayed flesh on the ground. "A thank you would be nice, especially since you almost snapped my neck before this guy even got here!" Oreon returned.
"Thank you?" Sylvanie gritted her teeth at him before turning her head towards him. "I'd rather die than owe my life to—"
Rot charged in again, this time aiming straight for Oreon as he slashed downward, trying to cut Oreon in half, but Oreon used both of his blades to block but the strength behind Rot's attack made Oreon wince in pain, even though he blocked.
"Crappp!" His mind screamed in agony, but on the outside, he held his composure. "His strength is insane! What the hell even is he?" His mind concluded.
Sylvanie was getting ready to move, but the four remaining guards pressed toward her. Their blessed swords now unsheathed and gleaming with divine light as they slowly advanced upon her.
"Stand down, dark elf! By order of the Holy Purifier, you will submit!"
"How about you come make me!" The first guard lunged forward with his blessed sword, golden light trailing the blade. Sylvanie twisted away, her body moving despite her weakened state, causing the first guard to miss entirely as the sword came down upon nothing but empty air.
"Damn witch! Get back—" The first guards were cut short as the blade of the stolen sword was swiped up, nearly cutting the guard in half as his body fell backward with a thud.
"You'll pay Dark Elf!" The second guard approached her, swinging his divine blade like an inexperienced fighter.
Catching sight of the second guard, Sylvanie moved between his attacks. With every awkward swing, the guard was exposed. "Is this all the Order sent after us?" Sylvanie questioned as she dodged another strike, pivoting on her heel, bringing her sword up in a vicious diagonal slash that opened him from hip to shoulder. The Divine light flickered in his blade as it clattered to the ground, dying out completely. "Pathetic."
The remaining two guards hesitated, watching their comrades fall with ease despite Sylvanie's weakened state. The dark elf princess still moved unnaturally for humans, despite having her magic drained from her.
"Now, then only two left." She purred, rolling her shoulders as blood dripped from her stolen blade. "Come on then," She pointed at the soldiers. "Don't keep me waiting."
"You're all...You're all monsters. Every single last one of you needs to die!" The fourth guard charged, his blade raised high in the air. "For the Purifier!" He screamed as he got within range of Sylvanie, who just stood there uninterested in the soldier's frontal assault, but suddenly a light shot out of over her soldier, colliding with his chest and sending him slamming into a tree, before his body slumped down unmoving.
Sylvanie whipped around, just in time to see the golden light fade from Celestia's outstretched palm, regret in her eyes as she lowered her hand.
"I'm sorry it had to come to that." She apologizes. "Taking one's life is something I'm not very fond of." She turned her attention to the third soldier, who stood frozen in front of them. "And now you have a choice, soldier. Flee now or join your companions in death."
The third and final guard could only tremble as he held his blessed sword, his eyes darting between his fallen comrades and the elves that had slain them.
"Three men...Dead in seconds." The guard uttered, his confidence completely broken. "What...What did we sign up for? Their monsters, absolute monsters." His body shivered in fear as he looked up from his discarded allies and saw Celestia standing mere inches away from here. "Gah!" he gasped as he fell on his butt, dropping his weapon as she stood elegantly in front of him.
"No, please. I...I surrender..." He spoke fearfully.
"Then go," Celestia simply said. "Leave the blessed sword the Order has given you and return to your home." She turned her back towards the soldier, but not without glancing back. "I do not show mercy twice." She told him calmly.
The soldier quickly nodded his head, accepting Celestia's offer. "Thank you...Thank you!" He yelled as he backpedaled away from her before finally turning away and scrambling into the forest, stumbling over vines and branches in his haste to escape.
"He's just a boy." Celestia thought as she watched him flee through the trees, his armor clanking with each panicked step. "Barely old enough to hold a sword, yet they send him to hunt us." She sighs to herself. "How many more are just as young as he is, dying before they're old enough to reach old age?"
"Sister, you're doing it again." Sylvanie stood behind her, slightly annoyed with the blade of the sword resting on her shoulder. "Showing the enemy your soft side. We've been over this."
"Let him go, Sylvanie. He's nothing but a child in armor that he's not even big enough to fit yet." She turned towards her sister.
"He's going to run back to the Order and tell them everything, you know." Sylvanie crossed her arms.
"I don't believe he will." She returned. "Fear has a way of making people not want to relive a traumatic experience.
Rolling her eyes, Sylvanie turned her head towards the trees where the soldier had run off to. "It's always that bleeding heart of yours that gets in the way." She sighed before becoming annoyed again. "And why did you get in the way of the last guard? I could have taken him out easily."
"You're exhausted; I can tell in your movements." Celestia's big sister voice, firm but still gentle, came out. "The chains that the Order put us in drained our magic more than you'd like to admit. You've been pushing yourself too hard ever since we were captured. As your big sister, I can spare a bit more magic to make sure you don't overdo it."
"And yet you used light magic to blast a soldier into a tree, and now you look like you're about to pass out." Sylvanie returned, walking past her. "Hypocrite." She muttered under her breath.
Meanwhile, Oreon pushed Rot off, and their blades clashed again. The corrupted elf and the human went blow for blow. The sound of their blades singing throughout the clearing as Oreon was trying his best to keep up and match the decaying elf. However, each time their blades met, Oreon's muscles tensed and screamed in pain as the strength from the dark elf was already outmatching his.
With another parry, Oreon's boots scraped against the dirt as Roy's next strike sent him sliding backward, his arms aching from the impact.
"What's wrong, brat?" Rot lunged at him, striking downward, but Oreon leaped out of the way, avoiding the attack completely, trying to catch his breath as Rot's knife carved a tree that was behind Oreon, but suddenly decayed the second Rot's blade sliced through it. "Are you getting tired?" He slowly turned to face Oreon. "We're just getting started, please stay alive just a little longer to entertain me!" Rot screamed as he charged at Oreon again.
Oreon growled lightly as the diseased elf's movements were becoming more erratic, more violent. Each swing carried enough force to break bone, and Oreon could feel his defenses weakening with every clash.
They entered their dance again, Rot attacking and Oreon dodging and parrying, only attacking when he was sure that he had an opening, but it only got parried or blocked.
"Damn it," Oreon cursed as he ducked a swipe from Rot, only to slash upward, barely grazing his chest. "What the hell did the Order pump in you?" Oreon side-stepped another blow and slashed at Rot's arm, who didn't even scream in pain. In fact, Rot quickly swung his knife, the blade colliding with both of Oreon's daggers as he tried to block again, but the sheer force of the attack broke through his defenses, sending him sprawling to the ground.
His body tumbled as he rolled over quickly, avoiding Rot from stomping his head into the ground, quickly regaining his fighting stance.
"Can't let him touch me," Oreon said to himself as he leaped forward, finally leading a frontal assault of his own. "Can't let him touch me." He repeated his mantra as he tried to slash at Rot's vital spots, but his attack was easily blocked as Rot quickly parried Oreon's attack, leaving him wide open, with Oreon's eyes widening in shock.
"Gotcha." With a sneer, Rot swiftly brought his blade down to slash Oreon's chest, though Oreon parried at the last instant; the force of the attack sent him hurtling into a tree. His back collided with the tree hard, causing his eyes to shoot up from the pain as he fell forward to the ground.
"Yep, Ok...That hurt." Blood trickled down Oreon's chin as he struggled to push himself up from the forest floor, his vision blurring momentarily from the impact.
Rot laughed as he approached Oreon's beaten form, his knife twirling in his fingers. "How unfortunate, I was hoping that you would last longer than this." He mocked. "Fighting with the son of the purifier. Another concept that seemed good at first, but now that I finally see you for what you are, a disappointment. A complete waste of time." He pointed his blade at the wounded Oreon. "Everything you've done up till now has been nothing but sheer luck. Even down to stealing the shard. But now," He took the blade and ran it across his tongue. "It seems like your luck has run out, hasn't it, brat?"
Oreon, who was now breathing heavily, wiped the blood away from his chin with the back of his hand.
"You know, thanks for that. I'm pretty sure my old man thinks I'm a disappointment too." Oreon slowly raised his arms, his daggers still clutched in his hands as he got back into his fighting stance. "But I never really cared what he had to say. Even less of what someone like you thinks of me."
Rot raised an eyebrow at the comment but continued to smirk. Then, without saying a word, Rot charged in again, this time faster than what Oreon could see. His eyes widened in horror as Rot appeared in front of him, this time with his blade mere inches from his face.
"Oh no...I can't dodge it." Oreon's mind raced as the blade drew closer.
Suddenly, Rot's knife was repelled as Sylvanie's sword clashed against it, knocking it away from Oreon's face, returning the assist from earlier. Rot's arm recoiled from the strike.
"What?" He muttered as a small burst of light pressed against his chest as he was sent sprawling back, but he regained composure and landed on his feet, balancing himself as he looked up to see both Sylvanie and Celestia standing in front of Oreon.
"Well, well, seems the majesties have joined us. And look to protect a human no less," He smirked at the sisters. "You've truly shown how far you've fallen."
Sylvanie's grip tightened on her stolen blade. "And you talk too much for something that should already be rotting in the ground." She readied herself, getting into a fighting stance of her own. "Why don't we fix that?'
"Can you still fight, human?" Celestia glanced over her shoulder, her blue eyes landing on Oreon. "We're going to need your help to release this monster from this world." She returned her gaze towards Rot. "He won't allow us to leave, nor will crimes stop once we're captured. So, I'm afraid there's only one option." She narrowed her gaze.
Oreon looked over at Celestia but gave a small smirk of his own. "Well, who am I to deny a queen?" He said, readying himself once again for another fight.
Tension filled the clearing as three figures confronted a single, corrupted enemy. Rot's laugh echoed through the trees as his knife began to glow with Malevolent energy as he pointed at the trio.
"Alright then, let's start Round 2."
"Hi to anyone reading this. Right now, I am currently editing the story in hopes of making the chapters flow better. So as of now, it's probably not going to make a lot of sense. But, I'm getting there. Just please. I ask once again, bear with me. Some chapters may not change at all or they all may change. I just hope those who read enjoy the story.