Vengeance

Life, Trauma/ Loss

For all of ten years, Sprizen and Sudea were at peace. Their love for their son brought them even closer. Sprizen swore to be what he had robbed himself of. His purpose was to his wife, and to his child. Like all good things, it ended too soon.

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It was only a couple months after young Sereth Akkamara's tenth birthday. The boy had just been put to bed. Sprizen and Sudea would engage in friendly sparring activities in their back yard. Sereth watched through the window. It was a quiet, and peaceful night, until Sprizen heard a struggle from inside the house. He drew his Theosite sword. It's glow lit the area around him. He flew through Sereth's window just in time to see a devastating blow be dealt to his son by munren hand.   Just as quickly as the blow was dealt, the man dashed out the door. Sprizen told Sudea to use her divine magic to heal Sereth while he perused the man. The streets were full, and the night was dark. Sprizen used some of his arcane reservoir to create a strand of glowing magic that lit the street as bright as day. Just as Sprizen spotted the man, he turned into an alley. When he flew in to intercept, the man had seemingly vanished.   When he returned, he saw Sudea crying at Sereth's side. She told Sprizen the very thing he feared most. The wound was inflicted by a doom steel blace, and cannot be healed by magical means, at least by mortals. Sereth's time was too short to seek help. All Sprizen could do was cradle his son in his arms, and comfort the boy in his passing.  

Far beyond, the Midor mountains Far above, the blazing sun, A place for me and you Only for me and you   We forged our bond, We shared our pain We've seen the sun light our days Now it fades   Now the pain forever fades

  Sprizen sang as Sereth passed in his arms. Something in Sprizen died with his son. Something that once was loved. Something that made him what he was. He would bury his son in the presence of high templars, and priests of Horoth, Arotha, and Deos. For weeks, he wrestled with a newfound desire. A desire that he knew could cost him more than it would give. He longed for vengeance. Sudea was a templar, and therefor had to learn self control higher than any other. On top of that, she was a Fafnian, taught against the use of violence. Sprizen was neither a templar, or a Fafnian. He had no such teachings. The thing that died in him was his morals, his refusal to commit evil.   Sprizen ultimately decided that he would track down the man who dealt this blow, and everyone this man loved. To each of them, he would do far worse than what they did to Sereth. He himself was a skilled tracker, and his sorcery could sense the path that the Doom steel blade had traveled on in the days after it had been there. When Sudea, still dealing with the pain in any way she could, asked why Sprizen was leaving in this time, of all times, Sprizen answered with, "You need not worry where, or why I go. I will return within a fortnight." That exact moment, she decided that she'd follow Sprizen. She'd wait a day before leaving, to put some following distance between herself, and Sprizen. Close enough so she could still track him, but far enough so he cannot catch on to her. Sprizen's hunt took him to Brimbaria.   Sprizen would eventually find who took his son. He recognized them as the Eclipse Mercenary Company. Furthermore, he recognized the shield that accompanied the doom steel blade. Sprizen drew his Theosite blade. It now had no glow in his hands. The man retreated to behind the rest of his company, and told them, in the common tongue "Make it hurt." Normally, Sprizen would be much more cautious if his foe said those words. Simply for the fact that he would not kill them, but they would kill him. This was not the case today. He was going to enjoy tearing them apart. A smirk adorned his face as his first victim charged forth. As easy as it would be to vaporize the opponent, that would be far less enjoyable.   His first victim was a man with a longsword. Through one of his oldest maneuvers, Sprizen deflected the sword out of the man's hand, and drove it into the mercenary's mouth His next victim was a man with a bow. Sprizen spent some of his arcane reservoir and pulled the man close. The momentum allowed Sprizen to plunge his clawed, draconic hand into the man's chest. The next, had his legs slashed at the knees, and fell to them. Sprizen planted the edge of his sword across the man's eyes, pulled the sword away, brought it around, and removed the man's head from his shoulders. His fourth, he used a little more of his reservoir to pull the man close. Another spell sent a red arcane mist up the man's nose, and down his throat. The magic squeezed the man's heart, and lungs until they popped, and blood poured from his mouth. The fifth rushed Sprizen with a warhammer. Sprizen caught the hammer by the handle mid swing, and beat the man to the ground. With the warhammer now in his hands, he proceeded to pummel the man's face out of recognition. There was one mercenary left, the leader of the group. He wielded the doom steel blade dripping with acid, and a shield that Sprizen had only read about in books. A shield that all but makes you invulnerable to attacks from a draconic foe: the Shield of Belon. Sprizen simply smiled, now that he will have earned his vengeance. Their battle was fierce, as their blades clashed, and Sprizen's unblocked attacks simply flew towards the shield, involuntarily. With one more spellbound strike, a dark red fire erupted from his blade, and struck the shield, cracking it in two. The man fell to his knees and begged for mercy, saying he didn't realize that his target had a sorcerer for a father. Sprizen simply laughed, and said, "Regardless of if I were a sorcerer or not, I would have come for you. I wanted to watch you suffer. I wanted to watch you all suffer, and I am but one last strike away from this liberating desire." As he was about to cast the final blow, and erase the man from existence, Sprizen found that Sudea had been following him from Doh'garus. "Sprizen! Stop this madness!" She screamed. "Sudea. You should be in Doh'garus. Why have you followed me?" replied Sprizen. "Look around you! Look how you dishonor Sereth's passing!" "I do not dishonor his death, I'm avenging it. Is this not what is deserved?" "Who are you to decide what is deserved? Are you some holy judge? An arbiter of Horoth, or Deos?" "Sudea, are you defending the man who took OUR SON from us?! If so, then you are the one who dishonor's Sereth's passing. Not me." "I want to see justice unfurl just as much as you do, Sprizen. I also believe there is a way to do so without falling to sin."   The mercenary somewhat unwisely interrupted saying "If you want justice, then I can tell you who hired us. In exchange, you spare me, unlike my siblings." "Who?" asked Sprizen. "Some high and mighty draconin. Calles himself Selas. Says you present a threat to his grander plan, and that to truly destroy a man, one must test his mental, and moral fortitude. He gave us the choice between the bitch that you've been yelling with, and the kid. He gave me the sword to make sure the job was done right. When we told him the job was done, he gave us no payment. He said to leave with our lives and be glad of it. I want to see him burn. Clearly not as much as you do, but still-" "SHUT UP!!!" shouted Sprizen. "You said Selas?" The man nodded with a smirk on his face. That smirk quickly disappeared as Sprizen cast forth a red arcane lasso that bound the man's wrists, and burned them. "I thought I said 'if you spare me'!" screamed the man. "I am! So long as you behave. I need evidence to rightfully kill Selas. However, it doesn't matter if you're dead, or alive. There are magics to peer into your memory, and find the proof." When he turned to leave, he saw Sudea gazing into his eyes, and he, hers. He saw only grief, and dread in her green, draconic eyes. Sudea only saw a shell of the man she loved. She stepped aside, and let Sprizen pass.   Sprizen returned to Doh'garus, and confronted Selas. "Look familiar, Craak Saud?!" He threw the man, and the doom steel sword forth. The sword splashed acid across the polished floor. Selas stood, and said "You dare accuse me of not only heresy, in devotion to the Eternals, but also treason in having a munren attack councilman's house?" "I know it was you." answered Sprizen. "Only a disciple of the Eternals has access to doom steel. Along with that, I could sense no lie. I've been sensing a lie from you since the first time I saw you." Selas smiled, and held out his hands. From his hands sprouted dark green strands that pierced the mercenary several times over. Selas pulled on the strands, and opened up the man's torso.   With a massive burst of green energy, wings sprouted from Selas' back. Sprizen and Selas took their battle to the sky. A massive display of magical might from both combatants was visible even from Midor. Once Sprizen got close enough to grab his foe, he viciously tore off Selas' wings, and pushed him to the ground, nearly bringing the entire council hall down on top of them. Still, the power of the Eternals preserved Selas, and he was still alive. Sprizen drew his sword for the first time in the entire battle, ready to drive it through Selas' heart. Selas laughed, and said, "Kill me, and the Eternals will win. You will have fallen to an irreversible sin, that will relieve you of the purpose assigned to you by Deos... DO IT!!!" Sprizen threw his sword to the side. When it hit a pillar of the council hall, it tore a chunk of the pillar off its side, and shattered the theosite blade. He grabbed Selas by the throat, and said "For heresy of the highest order, association, and accessory to crimes committed by munren hand, and treason against your people, and nation, you are hereby placed under arrest by order of Militaristic council member Sprizen Akkamara. By order of me." Selas submitted.   Sprizen threw Selas into the deepest sell in all of Doh'garus, where he would be forgotten, and would die, cold and alone. When he returned home, he found a note on his bed saying:  

Dearest Sprizen,   Our last meeting showed me something I had hoped I never would know. In your eyes I did not see Sprizen Akkamara, but an animal wearing his face. I saw a rage incarnate that has broken every oath he has sworn in a very short amount of time. I have moved to the councilman's housing district at the northern end of Akkara. Our vows are still intact, but before we speak again, you need to figure out what purpose you serve. Are you the man you claimed to be? Or, are you the embodiment of sin I saw in Brimbaria? Until you figure that out, we will only see each other during council meetings.   Sincerely, Sudea Haedros.