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Marius gazed upon he who would dare halt his passing, eyes of fire and hatred burning like fierce coals. The Master Necromancer was certainly in no mood for games. With the humiliating defeat of his magical forces thrown in his face, and him on the flight, the last thing he wanted to do was exchange idle banter with a rogue and assassin.

"If I do not like what you have to say, Shadowstone, I will destroy you." Marius said evenly. The words were cold and chill, and they would've melted any stalwart mortal to the bone. Shadowstone seemed unaffected. Marius hated him for that.

Shadowstone grinned. He surveyed the aristocratic tyrant before him. Marius kill him? Shadowstone? Not likely! He always had a few tricks up his sleeve. He was more than prepared. But the convicion and tone of Marius' voice knew that he shouldn't mess around.

There were far worse things than death.

"Well," the crafty rogue said, propping up against the wall and juggling his golden dagger easily. The little thing was a point of pride for Shadowstone, and he often showed it to people.. just before he was about to kill them.

"I'll tell you that right now, you probably want to be back at Vesper." He finally said, drawing out the moment as much as he could, enjoying the tension he saw in the usually controlled Marius.

"Oh really?" Marius droned, sarcasm thick in his voice. Shadowstone was a reliable source of information, that was sure. But he was also self-serving, which made him dangerous if underestimated.

"Why exactly would I want to do that, and more importantly, why should I believe a whit of what you're saying?" Said Marius, the words coming from his train of thought. If he was going to act on what Shadowstone said, he was going to make sure it was worth doing.

Shadowstone shrugged, non-committally. "You don't have to," he said coyly, sliding a serpentine grin at Marius. "But your tower is on fire."

"What?!" Marius fumed, indignation burning his words as the thought of this indignity came to light in his mind. At the castle doors, some of the heroes of Britannia had ventured forth, most noticably Joram, concerned that Marius would re-attack, and threaten his beloved monarch.

Marius half-spun, glancing for a second at Joram, and in that fleeting moment, Shadowstone disappeared from sight. The rogue was dangerous, Marius knew, but he wouldn't strike here. Not this time, anyway.

The prospect of another fight didn't particularly appeal to the Necromancer, and the defeat still stung his pride. Joram, even if Marius could defeat him, would severely tax his magical strength, and there were more than twenty other heroes of Britannia, at least, still waiting in the castle.

Marius knew he was outclassed: he'd said that a direct confrontation was unwinnable to Gizash, only hours ago. Indeed, the whole night had felt like a years-long epic, but it was nearly at an end. Dawn was coming.

Without hesitating to defend his Queen, the brave Joram advanced, calling the guards to him, as was his status as a Knight of the crown. Marius spat, throwing up a wall of dark fire between him and his enemies, keeping them distracted while spoke the words to another spell. The guards cringed in horror as the flames consumed their flesh, shrieking as it devoured their souls. Joram, bold Knight and brave warrior simply strode through them, ignoring the wounds to swing his sword at Marius, trying to fell the fiend and traitor with a blow.

All Joram struck was air: Marius had teleported away to his tower, safe again from justice as the laws of Vesper protected him. Joram swore that one day, he would bring Marius to justice.

Marius arrived instantly at his castle and there, as dawn crested and the pure light of the morning sun, sparkling over Ice Island basked Vesper in it's glory, Marius saw something that he did not expect, but had long awaited.

Something that would change the face of Britannia forever.

(continued in the final chapter VIII)

I like it Marius.....keep it going!!!


Herakles

sweet!

The thrilling conclusion to this epic story is out now.

-M