Libitina's body froze in position, her swords still lunged forward as if they were stabbed into something. Her red irises glaring apathetically upon the back of her target. Raphael spun around, his front now faced the killer. He readied his father's blade in his usual reserved position. His face looked exhausted but his eyes were ready.
The assassin placed by her blades back at her side, she was once again ready to make her move. "You say that it means nothing," calmly spoke Raphael, his eyes focused dead center on his enemy's face. "But I know what I heard...something was holding you back. How else could a skilled killer not make the kill even though it's sitting oblivious right in front of them?"
Libitina then quickly sprinted towards Raphael, she remained silent after Raphael's words. Raphael gathered his focus at that moment, he readied his sword for the trade. Within the range of the young man, Libitina catapulted her longsword downwards. Raphael quickly swayed his body to the left, attempting to dodge the blade entirely.
Her blade flew by Raphael, missing the flesh of his right arm by inches. Raphael countered by making a strike of his own, he swung his sword across. The tip of Falcon was coming for Libitina's throat. She quickly knelt down, her knees dug into the stone. She then readied her shortsword, swinging it to slash across Raphael's shins.
Raphael saw this coming, his eyes flipped down towards the ground and his sword halted in it's motion. He jumped, bending his knees until his legs looked like a sideways V pointing to the right. Once the blade safely passed by, Raphael began to fall down. As he fell, he pulled his blade in front of him so that he can make an attack on the assassin.
His sword began to fall towards the crown of Libitina's head like a guillotine. She realized his plan and so she quickly pulled her longsword up without even looking at Raphael to block his attack. The two blades bashed against each other in a sound of heated collision. Their blades were clashing with each other, it was a power struggle.
Libitina quickly readied her shortsword to make an attack on Raphael, her arm swung upwards. Raphael sees this and so, he prepared himself to dodge. He quickly flipped his body backwards, dodging the viper's strike. His body spun 360 degrees, he landed perfectly onto his feet once again. He stood five feet from where the assassin stood.
She came after Raphael just as soon as he landed on his feet. Her footsteps were loud and furious, echoing all across the room. The young leader prepared himself once again for the assault, bracing himself for whatever may come. As she ran to him, she pulled her shortsword in front of her. She quickly heaved it with precision towards Raphael.
The sword spun like a top viewed from above, it's eyes were set on the center of Raphael's forehead. It was an extremely accurate throw, Raphael knew that he didn't dodge it that he would be killed. Quickly, he waltzed around the incoming projectile. The flicker of the blade passed right by Raphael's face.
His breath was kept to himself as his purple eyes gazed upon his own reflection that was clearly seen in the eyes of the sword. He refocused himself back upon Libitina. Raphael swung his sword from his left to his right, aiming for Libitina's mid-torso. To avoid suffering an injury, Libitina fearlessly leaped forward into the air. Her body looked like it was taking a dive.
Her front was now looking down at the ground, she watched as Raphael's sword barely missed her. She completely dodged Raphael's strike, landing back perfectly on her feet. She stood tall on her feet just about two feet from where Raphael stood. She now saw an opportunity to end Raphael's life. Her glaring red eyes gazed with a deathly stare, she smelled the blood like a shark.
She readied her blade, quickly spinning backwards to face Raphael. She stomped towards him, lunging her blade forwards. She aimed for Raphael's mid torso. He looked at her with a shock expression on his face, a gelid fear unlike any other shivered up and down his spine. He watched as the blade came closer and closer to him, he was unable to do anything about it now.
But as Raphael was just getting to digest the possibility of dying once again, Libitina's blade suddenly ceased in it's motion. She felt the feeling as though somebody was watching her intensely. It was the sort of eyes that one would never wish to have upon them. Raphael realized that his life may have been spared, his breath going in and out almost like he was hyperventilating.
His eyes were as wide as dinner plates and his heart pounded at the speed of a bullet. The woman stood back up straight, her blade is pulled by to her side. Just behind stared the cold, remorseless eyes of a man in a hooded cloak. He wore steel plated armour from his neck down. It seemed to have a design of a bird, his pauldrons looked like feathers while his gauntlets and boots looked like talons.
His eyes were a beautiful verdant circle and did have a faint glow to them. He was tall, standing at seven feet. He had a beard that was a mixture of gray and brown. And he did seem rather old, he wore many wrinkles. Strapped to the right side of his waist was a sword that was sheathed in a leather case. The sheath had plates of steel on it. His eyes glared onto the back of the black robed assassin.
Libitina twisted her body around, her front now faced the man in the hood. Her red irises faced him, faced his hardhearted eyes. The two just stared into each other's eyes, not a single sound was heard. Not even a breath. Raphael couldn't quite fathom what was going on or who the man was. He was just grateful that the man came when he did.
The steel titan that the young genius, Telvern summoned was crushing the assassins around it. The bodies of fifteen other assassins laid lifeless upon the floor. Some of them had pools of blood around where they may have lost a limb. One of the assassins charged towards the tower, attempting to take it out.
The titan realized it and it quickly launched it's right foot towards the man. The speed of the attack was extreme, none were able to dodge it. The tip of the titan's right foot pummeled the man, shattering the man almost entirely. He flew several feet until his body crashed down onto the ground. He laid there, limp and lifeless.
But this sacrifice was not in vain. While he distracted the creature, one of the assassins managed to climb to the crown of the mountain. The giant still didn't acknowledge the presence of the man on his head. He readied his dagger, pulling up into the air. The tip of the steel tongue pointed down towards the very summit of the mountain.
The dagger impaled the head of the titan, digging six inches into his head. The titan screamed in pain, his loose hands harshly pulled up towards the scene of the injury. His hands were like claws, his face was a mask of agony. Telvern's ears caught the sound of his distressed titan. His eyes flipped over to his right and he saw at new crown that the steel throne wore.
Telvern became tense once his soft brown irises set themselves upon the black robed man. "Titan," shouted Telvern with fury. "On your head! Kill him! Now!" But the life faded away quickly in the titan as the assassin repeatedly stabbed it over and over again. It roared, it's voice echoing mystically. Once this shout is heard by the ears of Telvern, he suddenly felt this incredible pain and weakness embrace him.
He dropped down onto his knees, his book falling from his hands. An enormous pressure latched like a vise grip around the upper portion of his head. He reached his left hand up to his head, it grabbed tightly onto his forehead. He could barely move himself, his body completely exhausted. It felt as though his body weighed a ton.
The titan exploded in a blinding white light as it's scream steadily faded away. The assassin that ended the titan's life then began to fall down towards the floor his body was once bounded unto. He landed with ease onto the bottom of his feet, his face wore a smirk of confidence. The white light that enveloped the titan had all but faded. It was now as gone as a distant memory.
As the two dueled for the sake of Uriel's life, the boy was steadily declining. He couldn't even focus anymore on anything. He panted heavily as the weakness stopped him from even thinking. Elena's eyes watched as Telvern's titan disappeared. A frustration took hold of her mind, she was deeply discouraged. "They actually managed to kill his titan?" she growled to herself.
Calvin kept his eyes upon the young female archer, his feet began their march towards her. "Keep your eyes on me," the young assassin suggested. "Ya only have 'bout five minutes 'til he dies, ya know!"
Elena frantically turned her head over to the approaching assassin, readying her sword once again. Calvin swung his shortsword down upon Elena with all of his strength pulling it down. The young archer quickly pulled her steel longsword up, attempting to guard the attack. The two blades collided, sending the sound flying into the air.
But with a quickness of his sleight of hand, Calvin pulled his small dagger on the bottom of his shortsword's handle out of it's place. He quickly jabbed it into Elena's right arm almost before Elena could even react to him pulling his dagger off of his sword. His dagger impaled her upper arm, going almost all the way through.
Elena's face became a grimace as her pale blue eyes watched as the blood poured out of her arm. Calvin quickly pulled the dagger out of her arm and prepared his right leg. He catapulted his right foot towards Elena's abdomen. His right foot hit her right in the center of her torso, sending her flying backwards.
She flew off of her feet and was sent falling down towards the ground. Her body hit the stone floor heavily down entirely on her back just two feet from the assassin. Elena's body tightened up as she hit the ground, the hard stone floor sending shockwaves of pain all throughout her body.
Elena struggled to move her body but for some strange reason, her body wouldn't work for her. Her body raced with thoughts at this stunning discovery. Her face was the very example of her state of mind, shock and in disbelief. Calvin's pale blue eyes stared down upon the injured Elena.
He seemed to pause with the a feeling of sorrow, a disappointment that such a life had to end like this. "That dagger that impaled ya had a bit of poison on it," stated the assassin, he flipped his shortsword so that it was in a reserved position. "The type of which that stops ya body from moving for a minute or two. It won't kill ya but it'll certainly stop ya. So, don't bother wastin' ya energy and just accept it."
Calvin walked over to his target in a haste, his shortsword ready to make it's move. He now stared down the young archer, he was now at her side. "Rest in peace, princess," he respectfully told the young archer. "Sorry that it has ta come ta this."
Libitina continued to stare at the hooded man, leaving her opponent in a state of question. "Calvin," she called, not even turning to the assassin.
The young assassin heard his master's voice call his name. He halted himself, his head turned towards her. His eyes then saw the hooded man, he seemed to have a rather undeterminable look on his face. "Yeah, boss?" Calvin responded.
The man in the hood still said nothing to the leader of the Desert Assassins. He allowed his eyes to speak for him. Libitina's cold and apathetic eyes did no hindrance to the man. "Do not kill her," she commanded. "We will leave."
Calvin was rather questionable on the behalf of his master's command. But he did not reject or even question his master's will. Though he seemed partly happy, relieved that he doesn't actually have to kill Elena. He placed the dagger back in it's place, back at the bottom of his shortsword's handle. He then placed his shortsword back in it's sheath.
Calvin's upper body leaned forward, bowing as a show of respect to his master. "As you command, boss," Calvin replied, acknowledging his order. He pulled his body back up and turned his head over to Elena once again. A light smirk grew on his face. "Seems like tragedy won't strike taday afterall." Calvin then began walking over to his boss, his footsteps tapped against the stone as they echoed all across the room.
But his eyes flipped onto the man in the hood. His eyes almost seemed like a glare of evil, he didn't seem to like the man. His fellow assassins followed loyally behind him, they all looked upon the same man with the same sort of look in their eyes. Calvin stood a foot from the side of his master, his eyes choosing not to leave the hooded man.
The man's eyes kept their glance upon the woman in black regardless of all the new pairs of pupils upon him. Libitina and the rest of the assassins seemed to glow with the colors of white and purple. Quickly, the six evaporate with nothing. They disappeared in a sun of purple, their bodies fly upwards until they disappeared a few seconds later.
For now, the danger eluded them. But yet, it was still very present. Uriel fell down onto the ground, his body could no longer support his weight. He cried out in pain, his voice a weak whimper. His skin was deathly pale. Completely alerted by this, Elena pulled herself off of the ground. She realized that the toxic effects that held her body down were no longer there.
She jumped to her feet faster than a bolt of lightning. She then began darting towards Uriel as fast as she could. "Uriel," she called out to loudly, her voice sounded shaken. She was there within ten seconds. She got down to her knees just beside the boy. She quickly grabbed onto his right hand and held onto it tightly. She looked down upon the boy's distraught face. "You're going to be all right, okay? You're going to be fine."
The man in the hood turned his head quickly over to the scene where Uriel was slowly coming over into the hands of death. He then began walking over towards the two, his legs moved at an average pace. His green irises not letting go of the boy in a near death state. Raphael watched as the man strolled over to his comrades, he seemed concern.
The man stood at the feet of the boy, Elena noticed his shadow making Uriel seem darker. She turned her head over to source of the shadow, she sees the man knelt down beside her. The man reached his right hand up towards Uriel's left arm. His hand lightly gripped onto his upper arm, the boy felt the extremely frigid metal touch his warm body.
Elena watched without a thought on her mind except the concern and the fear of losing her brother. But her pale blue irises observed as her brother's pain was slowly purged off of his face. His breathing came back to normal and the sweat stopped pouring down his body with a quick speed. His skin too, he began to reclaim his color. The boy's eyes closed, he seemed as if he was now gently asleep.
A happiness came back to life, a delighted look appeared on Elena's face. The man stood up to his feet, releasing his hand from the boy's arm. Elena looked up at the man, her face alive with glee. "You saved my brother's life," she mumbled, unable to gather enough words to express her joy. "Thank you so much...!"
The man began walking away from the two, without a word to Elena. He headed towards the entrance that led back into the heart of the heat, back into the millions of miles of desert grains. He walked away from their sight, he was now in the faint light of the hallway. Believing that he must properly thank the man himself, Raphael ran after the man. "Sir," he called out to the man. "Wait, please!"
Raphael entered the mouth of the long dark hallway, he was now in the esophagus of shadow. He was running down the hallway, he saw the silhouette of the man on the other side of the hall. His rush spoke out from each wall. "Sir," he yelled out to, his voice echoed across the hallway. "Please wait!" Outside of the hallway and onto the skin of the desert, the man stood up at the top of the staircase.
Raphael popped out of the darkness, his purple irises stared at the back of the armoured man. The man did not turn towards the young man, instead his eyes peered out in front of him. He looked across the hills of the desert. "What is it?" asked the man quickly.
Raphael seemed exhausted after all of the running and by the wounds he sustained in the fight against Libitina. "I just wanted to say," he responded. He then leaned his upper body forward, bowing as a show of gratitude and respect. "Thank you so much for saving my friend's life."
The man began walking forward after hearing Raphael's words. The young man bolted up after he realized this. "W-wait," Raphael spoke quickly. "Sir, please wait!" His purple irises then saw the man's footstep stop after about four steps were taken. Raphael realized that the hooded man stopped, he seemed relieved.
The man kept his eyes gazing out towards the many blisters of sand, he watched as heat waves breezed by his face. "What is it?" he repeated himself.
Raphael had a rather curious state on his mind. "Who are you?" the silver haired young man asked. "I-I mean, if you don't mind me-"
The man turned his head around, his faintly glowing beautiful verdant irises now gazed upon the young leader. "My name is Soter," Soter introduced himself, interrupting Raphael. "But some refer to me as 'Soter the Savior.'"
The name Soter was an extremely familiar one to the young man. His eyebrows raised, a look of slight disbelief took hold of his face. "Soter the Savior?" he quoted. "Do you mean you're the same Soter as the one that ended the God Wars in the legends?"
Soter turned his head back to where it was just before he introduced himself to the leader of the Lumbridge Resistance. "It was not by my hand that the God Wars was ended," the hooded man stated. "It was by the hand of my master."
Raphael took a step forward. "Do you mean Guthix, sir?" Raphael questioned.
Soter scrolled his head up towards the sky. His green irises gazed up at the cloudless sky, it was a wide stretch of blue that was so crystal clear. "Raphael," he called. "I wish to make a request."
Raphael was surprised to hear this coming from the man who he believed was the savior of legend. "What is it, sir?" he responded.
