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Talja

Talja

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Hi there - this is a story I originally posted in the Lore forums, but I hoped to expand it so the rest will be here as well.

I'm not a writer, and this is the first fan/Runescape related story written, so it is more of an experiment over anything. Definitely a continual work in progress.

Enjoy! Critiques and comments are welcome.

05-Jun-2014 09:32:05 - Last edited on 05-Jun-2014 10:11:41 by Talja

Talja

Talja

Posts: 3,506 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Chapter 1: The End

No more time.

Despite all the plans made in the seconds and minutes and eons before his return, Zaros' control is slipping. He has run out of time to ascend, for the elder halls, the cradle of the elder gods and the cycle of the universe, no longer houses the egg that would seal the end of the universe.

It is already hatching when they arrive at the halls - a party of Zaros, Azzanadra, and the World Guardian, while the rest of his army is up above, fighting against a Saradominist and Zamorakian alliance bent on stopping Zaros.

They did not understand, Zaros says to the skeptical World Guardian about the formation of the Second God Wars, no time to explain or convince Saradomin or Zamorak with the metaphorical axe so close to their necks. She protests, his words now a chilling contrast to the pleas and assurances for the greater good that he had once fed her. She doubts herself, her ability in being the World Guardian when she feels that she cannot do much anymore to protect Gielinor from war. But Zaros is right on one thing - there is no time left.

It is now or never.

Before them, the slithering creature that crawls out of the remnants of its shell is both a pitiful and sickening sight at the same time. Weak. Grotesque. Craving life and nourishment from this world; it will kill many for the needs of itself, knowing now only the natural instincts instilled in every living being. And as the elder hatchling breaks free of its confines, mewling for the life force of the universe, while it crawls with its hands towards the rift, Zaros picks up the creature by the neck and turns to his companions.

"It must be done."

05-Jun-2014 09:32:27 - Last edited on 05-Jun-2014 09:56:48 by Talja

Talja

Talja

Posts: 3,506 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
This is his resolve; the catalyst that would allow him to both ascend to an elder god, and the method for waking the elder gods. The solution to stop the world from becoming the next Freneskae, for life of the elder hatchling would save the world. The World Guardian, who has tentatively placed faith in Zaros with so little time left, says nothing. She locks eyes with him. No words will sway him anymore. She has no choice, one way or another, no affordance of bias as Azzanadra had once said.

She looks sadly at the hatchling, this pitiful hatchling. Utters a silent apology to Guthix, to forgive her for all the decisions she has made as Zaros kills it, closing his hands around its neck and driving crystal shards through. The creature cries out once and is still. She and Azzanadra shield their eyes as a bright light engulfs the halls.

"My lord, are you...have you ascended?" Azzanadra is the first to recover.

"Yes." Zaros pauses, as a tremor ripples through; a powerful wave of energy that reminds them of the battle still raging up top.

"We must rejoin our troops. World Guardian." An implied request. Never a question. She nods, and in another flash of light the four of them arrive back on the surface.

The battle has turned more intense in that short time. Zaros's small army with what troops could be drawn in such a short time is but an echo of what his empire was once. Zamorak stands at the forefront of the alliance, Saradomin next to him as they command troops to attack the Zarosians. How ironic, those two working together, but fear drives others to do miraculous things, as they once did during the fall of Senntisten. Azzanadra, joined by Wahisitel, dash off with Zaros as soon as they hit the ground, screaming orders to their own legions.

05-Jun-2014 09:32:34 - Last edited on 05-Jun-2014 09:50:47 by Talja

Talja

Talja

Posts: 3,506 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
The World Guardian hangs back, surveying the scene, when a pulse of darkness from the corner of her eye draws her to run in that direction. Next thing she knows, she ends up on a far ledge overlooking the battlefield, Sliske in front of her. No thoughts, no words as she charges at him. The Mahjarrat laughs and dodges her blow, weaving in and out of the shadow realm as if they were dancing. "You've missed," he whispers next to her ear, and she twirls around with her rapiers, trying to slice him at close edge. Damn it, she curses as he avoids it easily, appearing in front of her again. The smirk hasn't left his face as he twirls the staff of Armadyl, when suddenly a shriek tears through the air, a terrifying scream that rips through the core of one's soul.

"MY CHILD!"

The battlefield combatants all fall to their knees; humans, icyene, demons, Mahjarrat - shaking and clutching at themselves in pain as the earth rumbles and burns with fury, the air suffocates and chills to the bone.

The elder gods have woken.

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05-Jun-2014 09:32:41 - Last edited on 05-Jun-2014 09:52:59 by Talja

Talja

Talja

Posts: 3,506 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Chapter 2: Happily Ever After

They stand over the world, terrifying creatures that are time and creation itself. The more that the World Guardian tries to look at them, the more they shift in appearance, but eventually they seem to vaguely sediment into beings, like the echo she had fought in Strisath's mind. Mortal eyes are not meant for the elder gods. By this point the battlefield has fallen silent with the sound of fighting. They cower in fear like children - even Zamorak and Saradomin, looking up terrified at the eldest and most powerful of entities.

"Jas, stop!" Zaros floats up to the largest elder god, a hexagonal pattern emblazoned on its head. She reminds the World Guardian of the desert, her form like pillars of sand falling and rising. "You have created life on this world! You cannot destroy it!"

"Who dares?" She shrieks. Every word to a lesser pierces into them, echoing around their head like she is in their minds, beating out their brains as they struggle to comprehend the voice of an elder being into language.

"I am Zaros, created by Mah. I have ascended to elder godhood to speak with you." Zaros's voice holds a tone of pleading. It is the first time the World Guardian hears of any emotion in his voice.

"Mah lived?" The one on Jas' right burns as bright as the sun. It must be Ful. A hint of curiosity and perhaps, hope in her terrible voice.

"She lives. There was not enough anima for her on Freneskae, but she created beings out of it, beings who survived in that once perfect world. Just as life exists on this perfect world. They must be protected." Zaros gestures beyond, to the verdant forests beyond the battlefield, to the civilizations that rise and fall, to the life forms that endure and survive.

The elder gods, for the briefest of moments, seem to rescind, and the World Guardian lets out a held breath. But they narrow their eyes, blazing with

05-Jun-2014 09:32:47 - Last edited on 05-Jun-2014 10:17:40 by Talja

Talja

Talja

Posts: 3,506 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
"Vermin!" Jas screams. With a sweep of her hand, the elder goddess tears through the battlefield, destroying a third of the fighters as if they are nothing more than clay. They have no time to scream before they become dust. Zaros fires a pulse of energy to stop her, but it bounces off harmlessly as she grasps him in her hand.

"Useless waste of anima! You killed my hatchling!" She howls, and the fury of an immortal being crushes him too, into dust. Shards of shattered crystal slip through her fingers like sand. The remaining gods and soldiers are in shock. Zaros, whether they liked it or not, was incredibly powerful. The only one who had stood on the level of the elder gods, destroyed as if he was nothing. She tries to think of a plan. Something, anything that can get rid of the elder gods. Save them all. But it is useless - they have always been on this world since its infancy.

A scream of fury, angry and pained breaks the silence. It is inhuman, a sound so chilling and filled with loss that that shouldn't be made by anyone, she thinks numbly. Azzanadra, loyal Azzanadra, runs forward, screaming like a madman deranged as he fires multitudes of blood spells at Jas, more powerful than any barrage spell that even mad Solus Dellagar would hope to accomplished. Nex and Char keep pace at a half step behind, not caring whether they hit friend or foe as they unleash their fury at the god that had killed their lord.

05-Jun-2014 09:32:54 - Last edited on 05-Jun-2014 10:18:33 by Talja

Talja

Talja

Posts: 3,506 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
But then Char is burning, burning in a fire that is hotter than any immortal being could sustain; her flesh searing off into blackened bone as Ful burns her alive from the flames that she had learned to control and claim as her own right. Nex has spread her wings, airborne as she charges at Jas through the acrid smoke and scent of death, but then she too is falling as Wen freezes her solid, spears of ice piercing right through her wings and chest. The feared general of Zaros, ended by the ice that had become her prison.

In his haze, Azzanadra registers the destruction of Char and Nex by the elder gods, and it only serves to fuel him even more in his fury and despair. The composed Mahjarrat gone, now a being with a but single thought - vengeance. The skies turn red, staining the battlefield with blood rain as Azzanadra summons the ancient element in his attacks, firing them at all his might. They strike Jas, and the ancient being recoils back, screaming as she clutches at her face. And then the earth has risen up around him, in the form of a great mossy leviathan as large as an entire city, snapping him up in its maw. A sickening crunch sounds out as it crushes his body; Bik taking down the last being who has dared to defy the elder gods.

Jas turns to the battlefield. One of her eyes drips blood, but it is nothing to her. She looks even more powerful and furious than ever as she decrees in a voice that is heard through the universe, a damnation to every living being.

"Perfection is a falsity. Stained by life. As such, nothing shall exist."

No, this can't be happening.

The World Guardian is numb. We failed, she thinks. The last resort of faith Zaros had convinced her to place in him, in his belief that he could communicate to the elder gods, was a lie. They couldn't be reasoned with.

A hollow laugh escapes her lips. The Empty Lord would have control over the fates of beings after all. They would all pay the price for his hubris.

05-Jun-2014 09:33:00 - Last edited on 05-Jun-2014 10:19:44 by Talja

Talja

Talja

Posts: 3,506 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
The anima of the world cries out to her. It feels wild, thrashing like a creature that knows it is about to die. The energy of every living life force, the threads of life, connected as the anima shows her the views of every being at that moment in her mind. It is overwhelming. Fear. Terror. Confusion. A man's life, from birth to death seen in a nanosecond. A mother, holding her child as she tries to consolidate his tears, her own silently slipping down her face while they watch light fade from this world. It is darkness and light, sounds and silence. She cannot fight against it, not form a single coherent thought, as she collapses onto the ground, twitching at the anima's overload on her body.

A hand grips her arm, half dragging her along in her lucid state as there is the sensation of being teleported through the shadows. They land somewhere underground she does not recognize, and she hazily registers it to be Sliske who teleported them. He keeps a hold of her arm, pressing her hand against the Stone of Jas, his other hand on the Staff of Armadyl.

His face is strained, and even underground she can see clearly the elder gods projected through her mind's eye as if she was still overlooking the battlefield, just as how he and every other being could see them now as well, and know their fury in the last moments of existence.

They scream in unison, and unleash their energy outward, wiping out life as the very fabric of the universe is ripped apart - the life of every being ceasing to exist as the universe darkens and goes silent. It is like her soul is being pulled apart in a million different directions; the pain is unbearable, and the World Guardian prays for death, anything to end this agony, before a surge of energy flows through her, and she too, is claimed by the darkness.
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05-Jun-2014 09:33:07 - Last edited on 05-Jun-2014 10:01:55 by Talja

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