The Song of Emotionless
eCCioE & Brisinger987
Lord Lauro, a noble knight, walked through the streets of Reajh. Like always, he was emotionless. He didn't bring a horse, because Song (yes, that's the name of the horse) had to rest. He planned a serious visit in Hyoite to visit a knight. Yes, the knight was a friend of Lauro. Maybe even the only one.
The knight had sent an invitation to Lauro about a year ago, but because he traveled so much, he didn't get it sooner. But now he had the invitation and had to go.
It was a normal day. Nothing special had happened, but wherever Lauro was, something really strange had to happen. Maybe this time too.
He didn't know, that a group of bandits or robbers or whoever they were, wanted to attack the knight. A few people besides Lauro walked on the street too, but they didn't even notice the evil group. They just walked to Lauro and blocked him.
"You're not going anywhere..." one of them said.
Veskos sat, lounging in the throne room of his realm, observing the knight. The piercing yellow eyes glowed bright under the almost black flames that almost illuminated the room.
The knight was unfeeling, calculating, and powerful. He would be perfect for inciting violence in those around him, perfect as a servant to Veskos.
He will be my herald.
Veskos used his ascended powers to reach across the dimensions, taking a shortcut through Vorax, relaying off of Kirnardaz's huge wells of psychic energy. When he reached the knight, within seconds, he sent his first message.
"The weak don't deserve to live. Prove your strength and crush those who threaten you..." Veskos didn't mentally connect, just beamed messages to the knight, hoping that he would obey.
((For and idea of Veskos' psychic voice, and how it sounds, go here: VOICE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LZOsPBN2X0)))
Lord Lauro just looked at the group and took out his sword. He was ready to fight with them, until he heard something really strange. It wasn't like a voice from somewhere near. It seemed like a voice inside his head. And it made the knight kill the group.
Lauro just swung her sword through the people and most of them fell down. Without their heads. These, who were behind the ones, who lost their head, became scared and ran away. Everything around Lauro was now covered with blood and people on the street looked at the knight. Some of them looked scared, some were sad and confused... He had done something really wrong.
Veskos' mask smiled at the violence, pleased to see obedience in the knight. He was very obedient. He would make a perfect champion. Time to continue with the violence.
"Goooddd.... You demonstrated your strength... Now... Purge the ill, so that only the strong remain..." Veskos took the time to create an illusion of himself in front of Lauro, and made it point down an alleyway, in which laid three ill children, incurable as far as non holy magic was concerned. Ill through their sensitivity to Kirnardaz's growing invasion force.
"Grant them strength in death... Purge the weakness that afflicts their blood by shedding it..."
Lauro didn't feel anything after killing the group. Not a single emotion. Maybe his emotionless mask really was unbreakable. He had killed the people with ease, after all.
After hearing another command, he just followed it. He already considered the voice as his new lord. He always listened to his lords, even if they wanted really strange things. The realm is more important than yourself, he always said.
So he walked down the way and finally reached the ill children. He didn't feel empathy. Most likely he was unable to feel it. He just took his sword out again and swung it easily. One of the was cut in half and others became scared, like the people on the street did.
"You will die for the lord, so fear not," he said with a calm voice as he killed the other two children. It was an easy task, because the children's parents didn't see anything. Probably they were outdoors.
"What do you want me to do next, my lord?" he asked.
Veskos laughed, the evil tones echoing through the empty realm he inhabited. He was glad he had found a champion.
"The church nearby... Burn it to the ground, along with anyone inside! It is evil..." He would present himself as something of a necessary evil to this knight, as it was the smartest route when deceiving. Present oneself as something that needs to be followed to keep balance. Keep the servant innocent but his actions corrupt.
"I will await your success my champion..."
"I will not disappoint you," Lauro said to his new lord. Even though the new seemed a bit wrong, he never questioned his lords. And that's why he headed to the church. The church was beautiful and hard to burn down. But he had to do it some way.
In the church, there had to be candles. When he reached the door of the church, he stepped in and looked for the nearest candle. He found it near the entrance. And it was enough. He took the candle and walked to the door again, shut the door loudly, so everyone in the church could hear it and then set the door on flames. Actually, he ignited most of the wooden parts of the church.
Oddly, the fire quickly spread and soon, the whole church was on fire.
"Well done..." Veskos manipulated the fire, borne out of what was technically a violent action, to show an image of his mask to Lauro, the mask itself shaping into a grin.
He would give the knight enough information to make the choice of whether Veskos was evil or not,so he was dropping hints.
But he was lying too.
"That mask is evil. That mask is your enemy. Find the replica of that mask in the museum and destroy it." Veskos couldn't afford for the replica to be found, so destruction was the best option. The replica held his power. When released, his realm's subjects would return.
Lord Lauro looked at the mask and knelt, even though his lord wasn't there. "Everything for my lord." Then he stood up and started walking towards the museum. Everyone on the streets was looking at him. They were scared. A guard or someone similar blocked the knight's way, but Lauro didn't let anything distract the task, so he just pushed the man away. Even without magic, the knight was very strong and so the guard flew pretty far away.
The museum was a beautiful house. Not as beautiful as the church had been, but still... Probably it was the hardest task he had ever had from the mysterious voice. Museum was guarded and there were many people. But he had to find a way to do it safely.
He started looking for the mask.
"They call it a relic... It will be their doom..." Veskos felt that relaying the eventual plan to this knight would be good for possession. Understanding led to weakness. Understanding of the plan, would lead to weakness.
"Hurry. A guard is looking for you."
Lauro looked around and saw, that people were worried. They hurried around the museum... Because of Lauro. He walked to a stand, where a relic lied. It was the mask that he had to find. Luckily, he had a bag on his belt, so he put the mask in the bag and started throwing it against the floor, hoping to destroy it. Indeed, a guard came and stopped the knight.
Veskos was annoyed that this guard was there.
"He has been influenced by the mask... Cleanse his soul through death. It is the only way..." The mask was nearly destroyed, and a few of the being from Veskos' realm were back, but only a rabble of about 10 demons.
"You must kill him then destroy the mask. I can only protect you from it's influence for so long!"
Lauro looked at the bag and then at the guard. He decided to hit him with the bag and that's exactly what he did. The guard fell down because of it and now, Lauro had a moment to kill him. It was the first time he felt unsure about his actions, but he still speared the man's body. He was dead and now, no one could stop him anymore. For a moment.
Lauro took the bag and threw it against the floor, against the walls, against other things. He didn't know, how much the mask was destroyed, but he didn't look either.
However many times he smashed the mask it only creeped closer.
"Hit it with your sword. I will boost your protection as much as I can, so that you can touch it." In reality, he was stopping his subjects spewing into this knight through sheer power inside the mask.
Lauro nodded, left the bag on the floor and took a sword again. "Are you sure, master, that the sword will destroy it?" he asked. He didn't want to question his master at all, but this time, he felt like it's needed. The mask seemed really durable, after all.
"Do not question me, just obey. This mask can be destroyed by sword..." Veskos snarled, keeping the sound in his throne room as his subjects crowded round him, curious as to whether it was the same ruler as when they were imprisoned in the mask.
Lauro sighed and speared the mask with his sword, believing, that it will release some magical energy or something like that. "Is it enough, my lord?" he asked. He was afraid of magic and that's why he was scared to look into the bag.
The mask screamed in agony as the replica was hit, and Veskos let the psychic scream rip through space and time. In several places round the dimensions, a few people died from the sheer strength, and their psychic sensitivity.
But the worst was directed at Lauro. who was still under the established mental link. Along with the scream came an image of the mask screaming and cracking under the pain of the energy release. It wouldn't kill the knight, as the knight wasn't psychically sensitive, but the strongest psychics died from it. And several thousand demons were vaporised at the same time.
When the scream relented, a crack was across the mask, and the mask was newly blood stained.
The guise, Veskos had to keep up the guise.
"You did it. Look at the condition of our foe now." Veskos beamed an image of himself over, with the look of pain in his eyes. He had never felt something quite that excruciating before.
After destroying the mask, Lauro felt really strange. He... he heard a voice. A scream. It was so strong, that he almost showed emotions. But he couldn't. He didn't know how to have emotions. He wasn't able for this.
"Is there anything else to do, my lord?" Lauro asked a bit later, when his lord showed himself to the knight.
"One final task remains. Open the bag." Veskos would possess this new champion. He would turn all his thoughts to one emotion.
Violence.
Lauro sighed and then opened the bag. Strong energy came out and covered the knight. He sensed emotions, but didn't let it change him. He didn't want to have emotions because that would make him weak. He had had so many enemies, who wanted to surrender, wanted to live, wanted to manipulate Lauro... They all had emotions. Lauro didn't. And that's why he always killed everyone he had to.
Even though he didn't let the emotion change him, he felt something. It was like an order. It ordered him to... destroy everything.
"Give me your body... You are my puppet... Give in to me..." Veskos tried to possess the man, his maniacal laughter filling the mans mind, and the horrific images flooding the knight's vision.
"You were but a tool for me... A foolish knight, who was stupid enough to obey the whims of a demon... And now you will become my champion, my mortal instrument..."
"My lord... You... you fooled me. You are not my lord. You are a demon, a devil!" Lauro yelled, but not angrily. He was still emotionless. But now he had another lord. The lord was not a person. It wasn't a being. It was violence. That's what ordered him now, though his previous lord's manipulations still worked on him.
"Muahhhahahahahahaha! You don't see past your own, limited, human wits... I can see into your mind... You are untrained in mental defence... You think that violence is your master... I AM VIOLENCE!" Veskos made a show of himself, warping across dimensions to stand right in front of Lauro.
"Fight me, and if you lose... Your soul becomes part of my army..." Veskos drew his sword, and the cracks on the mask healed, the mask smiling and a low growl emitting from it.
"I don't fight with fools unless my lord orders me to do that," Lauro commented as he turned around and started walking away. He was already halfway to the main door when he stopped and turned around. He wanted to fight with the illusion or... force... or person or whatever it was.
"And if I win, you will free my soul!"
Veskos smiled at this man's desire to go free. "You may go free if you win..." Veskos twirled his sword, and set himself in a stance, ready to fight.
"Begin..."
"I am a lord. I never start a duel against a fool," Lauro said. But he still went closer to the being and swung his sword a few times. Yes, he was still too far away from the being, but he did something like a warm-up.
Veskos decided that a sneaky first strike was the best, so he used Torak's teleport ability to send his sword for a stab at the man's chest, appearing just centimeters in front of the knight. If Lauro was quick, he could react.
Lauro parried the attack with a single swing. "You should do a better job. Don't underestimate me... I got my title rightfully." He walked closer to the being. "Who are you, after all?"
"I am Veskos. I am a demon. And you obeyed my orders, freeing my subjects. Let us see them show their gratitude..." A portal opened and out stepped a monstrous demon of rather odd proportions.
"Lauro, meet Tzeela. Tzeela will be your opponent. You are now beneath me." Veskos' mask opened with a grin. "Now now, Tzeela, don't be rude..."
The demon in from of Lauro was a humanoid shape, with a gut like a boulder, and naught but midget legs. It had one huge arm, which carried a mace, and one small arm, which wasn't doing much. It's face was minute but it's actual head was huge, and proportionate to the body.
It's gut was see through, and it presented to onlookers, the image of whoever got eaten last. And there was a lot left of this one. It's tongue hung from it's mouth as it growled.
"I... Tzeela... I... Gula's champion..." The beast muttered at Lauro, before letting out a violent burp. It was around three times the size of a normal human, and about as slow as a toddler.
"You two have fun now. I must, leave, have to find Nierce." Veskos teleported away leaving Lauro and Tzeela to fight.