Back from the Abyss
Chapter 3
Conflict's Rise
Rhiana BlackHawk had since made up her mind to complete what she had first set
out to do back on Gal Da Val Island, stop Dark Force's revival. She had gained a
wealth of knowledge on the matter from her own texts at home, but had a greater
need for more. That brought her to Angelus Manor, and its extensive library.
"Ok, we're getting somewhere," She thinks out loud as she and her aunt Amelia
pour over mountains of books and optical disks. It seems that this Dark Force
isn't much different from Dark Falz that was defeated in the ruins, only more
powerful, and had its own body, without a need for a host. "
"But how will you break that force's barrier to stop him?" Amelia asks of her
niece, "It's not like we can just say 'Open Sesame' and the barrier break."
"I know, that's why I'm looking for as much information as I can get on this
thing," Rhiana answers, "and any past encounters with it. This may be it. It
seems that a party of 'Protectors' faced off on the old Planet Motavia with a
wizard named Zio. He was protected by a similar barrier, but it was broken by a
'Psyco Wand'. I wonder if it could be that same psycho wand that I found in our
attic. Dad always kept a bunch of stuff hidden up there."
"Could be," Amelia answers, "Something else is written here about that wand.
This text probably came from Dezolis. Maybe you should go home and find the wand
again."
Elsewhere, the strange force from Gal Da Val Island appears through a telepipe
on the outskirts of the colony. "This place is perfect," he thinks to himself,
"So many lives to take. So many deaths to feed to raise Dark Force." He walks on
toward the colony's border, with his mind made up, and ready to do what he must.
Rhiana continues her research on breaking the strange force's barrier when a
telepipe opens behind her. Her father steps out of the teleportation device,
followed by Galveris.
"Rhiana," he begins, "Turn on the news. This, you have to see."
Amelia turns on the holovid projector to the local news broadcast, which shows a
scene of random carnage, and a black clad FOmar standing amidst the massacre.
Newscaster Nol Rinale is standing before the latest scene of blatant
destruction.
"What you're seeing behind me," she says, beginning her report, "Is a scene of
utter chaos, destruction, and carnage. Just a few minutes ago, a strange
black-clad force, apparently calling himself 'Zeira', walked into the middle of
downtown Pioneer City casting numerous different techs on the innocent citizens
of the city. Governor Tyrell has declared a state of emergency, and the Colonial
military is being dispatched to deal wtih this situation. More on this as it
develops."
"More lambs to the slaughter," Rhiana thinks out loud as she feels a hand on her
shoulder. She turns around to find the young man she almost ran into this
morning behind her.
"Don't tell me you're planning on facing that thing alone," Daxion tells her,
"You won't stand a chance."
"I have to do this, Daxion," she answers, "I'm the one that let him get this far
along. If he kills enough people, Dark Force will arise."
He looks right into her eyes as he begins to speak again. "Then let me help
you," he tells her, "We all know that if you go into this alone, you'll not make
it out alive. With some help, there may be a chance we can win this."
"Then I welcome your help," she replies, "Let's do this."
"Not until I give you something," Galveris notes, "Rhiana, Mike told me about
that wand that was in the attic, so I got it before we came here." He pulls the
Psycho wand out of a storage unit in his right leg, handing it to Rhiana.
"Thanks, Galveris," she says, hugging the huge android, "Who knew that having a
bunch of packrats for a family would come in such handy?"
Daxion runs upstairs to get his weapons and equipment. He grabs his armguard
from the desk and his frame from under the bed. When it came time to decide on a
weapon, he looked to the shelf where his father's Durandal sat. He picked up the
saber and activated the blade. "This should do nicely," he thinks as he runs
downstairs to meet Rhiana.
"I think we're set," Rhiana tells her friends and family, with her wand in hand,
"Dax and I will face Zeira. I don't want to endanger the rest of you, so please
don't follow us."
"Just be careful and come back alive," Mike advises his daughter, "We'll be
waiting for you. I sent word for Lara, Jessie, and the others to come here as
soon as possible."
"Thanks, Dad. Now, come on, Daxion, Galveris. We've got a force to stop."
Zeira had lain waste to another block of Pioneer city as a group of soldiers,
lead by one of Tyrell's best generals appeared out of a telepipe. "Ok, Men," the
career soldier began, "Weapons up, and fire at will." Almost immediately, the
group of soldiers begin firing different beam weapons at Zeira, their photon
bullets having no effect whatsoever against the force's shield.
"They haven't learned yet that it's useless to resist my power," Zeira mutters
as he raises one hand. Streams of fire lurch from his outstretched arm, hitting
every soldier in the ranks. The commander stands there, stunned that his army
had no chance at all of defeating the strange magician. Zeira stared the man
down for a moment, then launched a megid tech at him. The black energy drained
every bit of life from its target, and the military commander fell dead, and
Zeira walked on, going about his business of destroying all in Pioneer City.
He hadn't gotten another block down the street when he was face to face with a
young female force, joined by a male swordsman, and an android with a scythe. He
eyed the
force for a second. "I remember you," he calmly muses, "You tried to stop me on
Gal Da Val Island. Do you honestly think you'll do better now, than you did
before? You're just leading more lambs to the slaughter."
"Zeira," Rhiana BlackHawk begins, "You've taken countless lives today, all to
feed this Dark Force. Your life will be the last one taken, and your god will
NOT revive."
"We'll see about that. You couldn't penetrate my barrier before. What makes you
think you can now?"
Rhiana holds the Psycho wand before her, chanting softly. "powers of purity,
heed my call," she says, "let your might break the barrier of evil that keeps us
from our quarry." THe wand glows bright as the barrier around Zeira shatters. "Galveris,
Daxion, attack now," she exclaims, "I'll keep you healthy, and prepared."
Rhiana casts a quick shifta/deband on her friends, then a Jellen and Zalure on
her target, before attacking with a high level Grants. The evil mage reels from
the strike as Daxion brings the full force of his Durandal saber down upon
Zeira's shoulder. He leaps out of the way, just as Galveris brings his Soul
Banish down on the other side, slicing through the mage's flesh.
Not about to give up so easily, Zeira sends an arrow-like lance of black energy
at Rhiana. The power would have hit her, had Daxion not lunged in front,
Durandal at the ready. The saber absorbed the black wave, and flashed with
untold power. "What in the world?" thinks Daxion, as he raises the blade above
his head. He swipes the blade at the ground, releasing the energy wave back at
its caster. The energy hits Zeira square in the chest, and the dark mage falls
to the attacks he had sustained.
Elsewhere, on Gal Da Val Island, at the time of Zeira's passing, dark power had
began to
gather in droves. A pillar of darkness had risen to the skies, and was now
expanding.
"Professor," a research assistant at the government's 'Lab' yells, "Strange
energy readings coming from Gal Da Val Island. It reads similar to a force's
megid techs, but a million times more powerful. It looks like a vortex has
gathered on the island and is covering the entire land mass with nothing but
dark energy. I've never seen anything like this."
Dark Clouds now marr the once blue sky. The waves of megid-like energy can be
seen as far away as Pioneer City. Rhiana BlackHawk looked at the pillar of
energy where Gal Da Val Island once stood. "Oh no," she thinks to herself, "He
had taken so many lives to feed Dark Force, and his life was the last one that
he needed to revive. That pillar of energy is the abyss. That's where Dark Force
will revive."
"Rhiana," Daxion tells his friend, "I think we need to get back to the manor
now. Zeira may be dead, but it looks like we've still got more business to do,
and I want to know more, and better arm myself, before we go."
"I agree," Galveris adds, "My sensors are reading energy levels off the scale on
Gal Da Val Island. Whatever's there has to be at least a million times more
powerful than Zeira."
"Without his barrier, Zeira was a weakling," Rhiana tells them, "Now we've got
something else to deal with. Zeira's death was the last that Dark Force needed
to revive. That's why all this started right after his death. He had taken a
great number of lives..and the last death needed to feed Dark Force, was the
death of the reaper of souls..Zeira himself."
That said, Rhiana casts a Ryuker opening a teleport gate back to Angelus Manor,
where they are met by both families, and a few long-time friends.
The Final battle is at hand. What will become of Ragol, now that Dark Force is
set to revive? Only Time will tell. Find out in the 4th Chapter of "Back From
The Abyss".