Toll of the Infernal

The hollow ding of sword light hitting across the red Priest iron- gold Khakkhara rang like a ruthless toll over the city of Trinity. It was as if the ring was a message to every soldier over the wall.

Blinding light tore through the air in pillars of utter energy that shrouded the city in a domain of Arcana. Thunderous shouts soon followed as wardings began to light up and weapons began to be readied.

In but an instant before the dust had even settled, the skies over this wondrous academy were governed by spells and wards filled with multicolored light that was as blinding as the sun.

Hidden behind a few dozen trees within the shadows to help mask his location, Zariel smiled, watching as the sword light faded, revealing the red Priest with a sliver of blood trailing from his forehead and down his chin.

An iciness brewed like an endless storm in his two eyes that stood wide open as he looked passed the two dragons toward the location Zariel once was. He'd felt something. But the masterful stroke came too quick, too fast, and too hard.

The Red Priest shifted his eyes to the two dragons with no smile or expression over his serene face and spoke his command.

"Fire"

Zariel pivoted off his feet and dashed a few hundred meters away as hundreds of arrows were bleeding; a deadly arcana flared over the skies, blanketing the golden light of the sun peeking through the clouds.

An eruption of explosion detonated, sending cracks throughout the forest of Trinity. Flames lit up the skies as the cry of dragons followed.

Flashes of arrows struck against the iron scales of the dragons, breaking apart dozens of scales as they roared in anguish as their wings flared, picking up dust and debris. The Red Priest stood over the wall with an icy expression, watching as he lifted his Khakkhara and slammed it down into the ground.

Suddenly, crackles of lighting flared over the horizon, bathing Heaven and Earth in a deadly aura as a ghastly cry bellowed from the earth. Like something clawing out from the Hells itself, the fiendish aura gathered around the Priest as he began to speak in a foreign language that no one could make out.

All but one, as Zariel cursed. " A summoning." He said when his eyes suddenly caught sight of five shadows rushing towards him. He frowned for a second, and his fingers danced through the air as five silvery runes responded to his Arcana.

"There he is!" A warrior with two horns ebbing from his head, covered in scales that stretched from his cheeks to his shoulders, arms, and feet, howled.

Zariel had not waited for them to speak or combine their Arcana into their physical bodies before his runes flared to life.

"Hex of Weakening!" Zariel chanted, following the shrieking beams of light striking over the bodies of all five draconian warriors. As if a halo of light had spiraled around them and faded, all five draconian warriors struggled to stand as they howled, trying to gather their Arcana.

They had felt their strength had been cut in half, and before anyone could speak, much less figure out what had happened, Zariel had already lunged toward them with severance in hand. His sword shrieked through the air, cutting through flesh that would usually repel normal weapons.

Starin into the eyes of the draconian warrior who had first called to his comrades, Zariel's blade severed his legs in a ruthless sweep before he pushed towards another warrior who began to impart Arcana into his physical body in hopes of recovering from Zariel's hex.

However, by the time he had, the glint of Zariel's sword slicing through his neck became the last thing he saw before his head slipped off his neck. Blood painted the floor as Zariel counted three capable of fighting and one either howling or unconscious.

"Lor'gron, take his left. Zaf, you take his right. I got the front. We got to break his concentration to stop the hex!"

Zariel didn't comment on the draconian correct analysis. Hexes were powerful in their own right, but one weakness was that it took immense concentration to keep. A single hit could result in a heavy backlash.

Feeling the mark of Ishar withering the body of the dead Draconian warrior, Zariel's eyes did not leave the three warriors he'd taken by surprise for a single second.

His eyes slowly narrowed as he felt the three attuning their acana into their bodies to amplify their physical prowess. His heart tightened, but he didn't bother to react as they bolted at speeds that made the speed of sound seem slow.

Shattering the earth with each step, Zariel didn't take any chances as he bolted backward, not daring to show his back to his enemy. He smiled, and his off-hand danced into another rune, taking the three by surprise.

"Stop him!' Howled Zaf, stomping down as he opened his mouth, gathering nodes of light that slit the clouds as the beam tore toward Zariel.

The young lord could feel his skin bubble as the intense beam threatened to turn him to ash, but with a flick of his sword, astral force gathered at the edge of his blade. Empowering it with his telekinetic power, he swotted the beam of light towards the skies and pointed his finger towards Zaf, who shuttered.

"Oh no!" Shouted Lorgron, thrusting his spear toward Zariel in hopes of stopping. Praying to stop him as he pushed his body to its peak. He poured in as much Arcana as his cultivation of Arcane Lord could bring him.

The same could be said of Gars as he cried at the top of his lungs, thrusting his javelin towards Zariel's neck, but as he saw a sigil of a force blast and an odd one at the tip of his finger pointing towards Zaf, fear materialized.

'He's not supposed to cast so fast,' thought Gars as fear filled his panicked heart. 'You aren't even supposed to be able to cast while using hexes! How! Who is he!"

"Toll of the Infernal," Zariel said with a sharp tone as an explosion of force spiraled around him, protecting him, as the rune at the tip of his finger struck at blazing speed, almost impossible to dodge. It struck between the brow of Zaf, carving its way past the material realm into the Soul Flame of this draconian.

The dust stilled, and everyone felt the hairs on their neck stand on end as a cry, so depraved, so broken, rang like a cruel wail. It was so frightful that Zariel had to frown as he cursed the self-made Arcane Spell he created from his time in Hell.