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Kashan heard a snap, and saw his head limp to the side.

He saw that Groshek was right. The few warriors of Varrock still alive were fighting a lost battle. Barely five hundred were left, fighting to both the east and the north, while the Wilderness was still counting near three thousand and Morytania over two thousand. Five thousand against five hundred; not the greatest odds.

The Varrock army retreated, defending on the west and south parts of the square.

~~~~

“I can’t believe this. First, he vanquished Chronozon, then he defeated Xen, then he jumped fifty feet into the air and onto the King Black Dragon, and now he’s killed Groshek! All in the same battle!” Kai said with awe and admiration in his voice, and then added in a more serious tone, “I have to have a chat with him when this is all over, if we both live.”

All of a sudden, a large shadow shoved up in the horizon. An ogre, larger then anyone had seen, came jolting out of the Wilderness, towards the Army that hours before had come from the same place. It started tearing through the enemy ranks, taking out nearly twenty beasts before it was discovered.

Arya was as surprised at this as all the others; she had thought that there was no chance of reinforcements from anywhere.

“Uhh, I don’* want to be a ‘the glass is half full* kind of person, but why is there an enormous ogre beating up those chaos druids?” She said to Kai, astonished at the brute force of the ogre.

“I don’t –” Kai was cut off by Timier.

“It’s Kolodion,” Timier stated, and then continued. “Now the only question is, is he really on our side, or is this some kind of a trick?”

End of Chapter 20.

19-Sep-2006 23:55:39 - Last edited on 19-Sep-2006 23:57:44 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

[#80N8R0VWZ]

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Chapter 21 - Know Your Place

The battle went on, and the men’s morale heightened, due to the falling of Groshek and the arrival of the giant ogre, who was wreaking major havoc on the Wilderness’ forces.

The giant ogre that was Kolodion massacred at least twenty beasts, before it was incinerated by a fire spell from a Zamorak wizard, much to the dismay of the men of Varrock.

When this happened, Timier became very silent. He just stood and stared at the battlefield, where the giant body of the ogre lay, silently, and the beasts surrounding it roared a cry of joy.

Their roars quickly turned into shrieks of fear, as all the small beasts standing in a small radius surrounding him had suddenly been tossed aside. A gigantic spider was now standing instead of the ogre, continuing the work he had started. Timier let out a sigh of relief.

“But how much longer will he survive down there…?” He muttered to himself, as the low buzzing that had been on the edge of his hearing for a few seconds got louder.

It continued getting louder and louder, and suddenly Timier heard the voice of a mage that had gone to the west end of the palace, seeking out the origin of the buzzing.

“The White Knights are coming! We’ve received aid!”

For a moment, nobody moved; they couldn’t believe their luck. Then they all rushed to the west part, the excitement and thrill was so much they were almost pushing each other away to get there first. Then they saw what fate, or luck, had handed them.

Eight thousand soldiers, most clad in thick, white armour, wielding large two-handed swords, were marching towards Varrock. Along with them there were several of the dwarves’ nifty little inventions; the multi cannons. Falador must have sent almost its entire army to help them.

19-Sep-2006 23:58:03 - Last edited on 19-Sep-2006 23:59:19 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

[#80N8R0VWZ]

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There were virtually no archers or mages, but they completely made up for that with the number and equipment of the warriors, and of course the multi cannons, along with some of the clever, new devices of Falador; the catapults. Falador had always focused more on it’s militia than Varrock, and now both cities reaped the benefits.

Timier, and all the others, almost fainted with relief. Arya threw herself to hug Timier, Kai almost limped down on the embrasure, and all the others either were frozen in shock, staring at the large mass of bodies below, or screaming and cheering in some way.

They realized after a few seconds of nirvana, that the battle wasn’t over yet. In the few minutes it would take them to reach the main part of the fighting, they were still outnumbered ten to one, and even after they’d have reached the fighting, there was no guarantee that they were going to win the battle. They had already lost over five thousand men, and the Chaos Elemental was as untouchable as always. Depression took over once again.

“Come, we must re-commence our firing. It’s all we can do,” Kai said depressed as he slowly turned around, followed by all the others.

They resumed firing upon the battlefield, seeing the hopelessness in the battle below. The men were growing tired after fighting hours on end, but the beasts they were fighting showed no signs of such weakness. The men’s morale had quickly lowered after the jolt of joy they received with the arrival of Kolodion, and they didn’t know about the arrival of the white knights yet.

Time seemed to slow down to Arya, as she witnessed the horrible massacre below here. On the south end of the square, she saw a werewolf rip a man to pieces with its claws and teeth. He could have been a nice man, a family man, with a wife, children, and perhaps even grandchildren, which would never see him again. She didn’t know. The thought made her sad.

19-Sep-2006 23:58:11 - Last edited on 31-Oct-2006 19:57:25 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

[#80N8R0VWZ]

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On the west part of the square, she saw Toin, twirling around amidst the fighting, swinging his ax like a tornado of death, many men flocking to him in the hopes of salvation. They found nothing but the bitter mortality of humanness, as countless beasts ravaged the once proud city of Varrock.

She caught a glimpse of red going from the south end of the square to the west, leaving behind a trail of dead beasts. Coming to Toin’s side, she saw Kashan, nearly to fast for the eye to follow.

It seemed the arrival of Kolodion was no trick, as he continued his rampage, killing almost fifty beasts in total, now in his spider form, before he was “killed” once more. Again, like before, several beasts were tossed away. Standing on the exact same spot as the spider had seconds before, now stood a spirit, shaped like a human, but almost twice as tall. It began swinging its long arms at the beasts surrounding it, and although he was too ethereal to hit them directly, anything he touched limped down, unseen underneath the commotion.

The fighting continued for almost five full minutes before the White Knights of Falador came into view for the warriors. It was a grand sight, seeing eight thousand white-clad warriors march into a city like a sea of white, seemingly with no end, as the last troops were too far away to be seen. Amongst the scores of white, there stood several cannons and catapults, like islands in the great mass.

Ahead of the army was a tall man, wielding a longsword instead of the regulatory two-handed one, with a red cape around his neck. He bore no helmet, but a silver crown, so thin it was almost naught but a small circle of silver. He had short, shaggy brown hair, and a goatee of the same colour.

While they were still marching towards the fighting, the spirit form of Kolodion crumpled down under a powerful blast from the Chaos Elemental. A small blast radius occurred again, and a large black demon arose, roaring over the battle.

19-Sep-2006 23:58:12 - Last edited on 19-Sep-2006 23:59:52 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

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He continued the spirit’* work, and had, by now, killed or mutilated beyond healing at least a hundred beasts. The Chaos Elemental had gone somewhere else.

As the White Knights came closer, the tall man’s voice was heard over the battlefield. It was deep and powerful, giving off the sense that that was one man you could trust.

“Come on, men! Charge forward with all your might, and drive back the creatures of darkness! Free the city of Varrock from the attacking hordes!” As he yelled that, the men broke into a run, charging at the battle.

They met the remainders of Varrock’s army at the west end of the square, filling in any possible blanks in their army. When most of them had arrived at the battlefield, the catapults and cannons rolled into place. Then the strangest thing in the battle happened.

It started with the odd beast turning back, retreating, but soon spread like wild fire through the attacking fiends, and soon, nearly every single attacker had retreated to its place: werewolves and vampires to Morytania, the others to the Wilderness. The men were astounded at this, as there were still almost five thousand beasts alive, and the battle far from over.

However, that did not apply to everyone. Two beings, time, and space away, witnessed the battle as well.

~~~~

They were in a large, undecorated square room. The walls were granite, and there was no door whatsoever. There was no light source, either, aside from the wall in front of them, which was completely covered in images, showing the battle that was happening in Varrock as if it were happening right in front of them. It was currently depicting Xen’s defeat at the hands of Kashan and Arya.

Seconds later, Xen stepped inside the room, walking through the left wall as if it weren’t there.

19-Sep-2006 23:58:13 - Last edited on 20-Sep-2006 00:00:34 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

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“Master Zemouregal,” he said as he limped towards the two men, his wounds still bleeding profusely, almost unable to stand. He bowed on one knee to the men. “I apologize for my failure; the Balancer was much stronger than expected. If you heal me, I will return to kill him.” He was still on the ground, looking down. His voice gave no hint of emotion, and his head was bowed to the ground.

The two men didn’t move, not even to shift their weight. The one standing further away from Xen was the one who replied. He was very tall, with raven black hair, but a blonde line going through the middle of it. His hair was very long, going to the middle of his back, so smooth that it seemed to be of solid, well-polished metal. He had deep brown skin and a small stab scar on his cheek. Covering his body was a simple jet-black garb, but no armour other than the black cape on his back. Around his neck hung an amulet, the stone black as night, and in a large sheath, parallel on his back, hung a massive two-handed sword. He had dark blue eyes; his facial features were rough, depicting a man with years of hard work and pain behind him

“Why? Why should he heal you, when you have only reaped failure?” His voice bore only the tiniest hint of spite, he was as cold and emotionless as a stone; the amulet around his neck glowed with a faint red.

Xen growled at his words, but didn’t look up. He knew his place, and speaking was not the best idea in the current situation.

The other, Zemouregal, was wearing pitch-black robes, which covered his body completely, revealing no skin but a small part of his face if he shifted his weight in a certain manner. He had black boots and gloves, concealing any possibility of directly seeing flesh. In his hand, he had a large staff, but didn’t lean on it for balance or support in any manner.

19-Sep-2006 23:58:15 - Last edited on 20-Sep-2006 00:00:56 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

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It was long and slightly warped, and on the end, it held an emblem, a large star, glowing with a faint red, with a horizontal star around it like a planet revolving the sun, but frozen.

He spoke a single word, “Shift.” His voice was as malevolent as if it were littered with evil itself.

His words were laced with power, and the landscape on the wall changed dramatically. It was now no longer on the bloody streets of Varrock, but the north gate of Falador. Hundreds of White Knights covered the wall before them, from end to end, and more were to all directions. It shifted again, now not as far, but to the front of the white mass. There stood a tall man, with a small circle of silver resting on his head. It was the head of the White Knights: Sir Amik Varze.

Beside him there stood another man, without a helmet as well, but an eye-patch covering his right eye. His hair was long, brown, and untamed. It was the second-in-command of the White Knights, Sir Vyvin.

Sir Vyvin spoke, his voice echoed through the large room as if it were magnified twenty times.

“We’re ready, sir. The forces have been gathered, and the last remnants of the goblins have been removed,” he said to sir Amik, his voice deep and strong.

“Then we best get going. Varrock might not exist tomorrow,” Sir Amik replied grimly.

They marched forwards, to the east, and the landscape shifted once more, now to Varrock again. All sound that had once emitted from the wall, cries of pain, roars of joy, the sound of swords clashing; they all faded, leaving only soundless images as Zemouregal spoke, without ever taking his eyes of the wall.

19-Sep-2006 23:58:49 - Last edited on 20-Sep-2006 00:01:18 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

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“Your failure is grave, Xen. The goblins were not sufficient to distract the White Knights, and now they march to aid Varrock; there is a chance the battle will be lost. This Balancer, this… Kashan Swanblade, he is not like the others… he has an aura around him, more powerful than other Balancers I have seen…” his voice was grim and threatening as he continued. “He will find his way here; that is certain. I would prefer it to be on my terms, not his.”

He directed his words to the man beside him, without ever taking his eyes of the wall. “Malkana, make all preparations, necessary and unnecessary alike, but make haste; I do not know how soon he will get here. Xen will assist you.” At those words, Xen frowned, and the amulet around Malkana’s neck started glowing slightly brighter. Neither spoke, though.

Zemouregal turned his head to Xen, and his robes shifted, revealing a macabre smile as he continued. “Later.” As he spoke the last word, the images on the wall faded, and almost disappeared completely, but he jerked his head back towards the wall, and the images returned, as clear as before.

Malkana seemed pleased with that, and strode out of the room, taking great joy in the frightful look on Xen’s face. He turned around just before he reached the wall Xen had walked through before.

“Master Zemouregal, am I allowed to release Usonaring, then?” He asked with the slightest hint of a hopeful smile on his face.

Zemouregal smiled to himself, but didn’t move from his position; he didn’t even look at him. “I like your taste. Keep him ready, but do not set him free unless need be. Also, find someone willing to wield the Morphing Staff. I believe a Shape-shifter will be useful.”

Xen looked up, questionably. “Morphing staff? Wasn’t it destroyed by the Balancer?” he queried, but turned his face back down with a growl as he felt as if the lower half of his spine was snapping apart.

20-Sep-2006 00:01:40 - Last edited on 20-Sep-2006 00:02:31 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

[#80N8R0VWZ]

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Zemouregal snapped at him. “Know your place, and right now your place is dangerously close to that of Krown’*.* *** understood the badly hidden threat; Krown had reaped the final punishment for his failure to kill the Balancer, even with two attempts. Zemouregal continued, a bit less harshly, though deadly threat still littered his voice. “Those fools never even thought about removing the staff from Krown; they did not even kill him. Those weak Saradominists will pay the price of their leniency. Being of the Mahjarrat tribe gives certain… leverage; in this case, magic, great enough to restore the staff’s powers. Of course it helps having the personal blessing of Lord Zamorak,” he said pretentiously, and then continued in a deadly calm voice. “Malkana, it is time for you to leave, now. Xen will be staying for some time more. He has much to catch up on.”

Xen’s eyes widened, and the last thing Malkana heard as he exited were the pained growls of Xen as his master tormented his very soul. A smile crept on Malkana** face.

Xen exited as well, nearly a full hour later, and although he bore no wounds, not even the wounds he had received earlier, it was evident by the look on his face that his pain had been of a different level than earthly torture.

More than two hours after that, Malkana re-entered the room with the news that everything was as prepared as it could be.

“And who did you find for the staff?” Zemouregal asked, still watching the wall with much attention. It was now showing the White Knights rushing through Varrock’s west gate.

Malkana spoke slyly, like a culprit speaking of a carefully planned assassination. “Merolgha, master. Ever since she recovered from banishing Azzanadra, she’s been restless. I thought the task befitted her…” He took a slight pause before continuing, a devious smile on his face. “Feminine skills.”

Zemouregal smiled to himself, without ever taking his stare of the wall.

20-Sep-2006 00:01:42 - Last edited on 20-Sep-2006 00:02:46 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

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“Good choice,” he said morbidly, and then continued. “The battle is over. Varrock will remain under the ruling of the pitiful humans. We got what they came for,” he said, as he waved his hand over the wall dramatically, and the picture faded away. The last thing seen on the wall was a hobgoblin, skidding to a halt, and then running in the opposite direction.

End of Chapter 21.

20-Sep-2006 00:01:44 - Last edited on 20-Sep-2006 00:02:56 by [#80N8R0VWZ]

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