Legends Of Zyconia Part 6

In a place of great darkness a meeting of evil took place. Where and what this place was didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was the evil that transpired there. The area was dimly illuminated by a brazier of coals, which were situated on the center of a round stone table. Above the brazier of coals. a strange glowing mist hovered. Within the mist was the image. Four individuals stood around the table and another stood nearby.

The first had long dark hair and wore a patch over his eye. An enemy had tried to kill him once: he escaped the killing blow and lost his eye. Now the skull of that enemy rested on a large oak pole in a death field on Wicketai (The Island of Evil), his body lay at the bottom of a flooded quarry. The man's features were hard and sadistic, and one would believe his eye could burn a hole into a stone wall. He wore a combination of chainmail and leather armor with a strangely symboled sash over his shoulder. His name was Murack, leader of the Warlocks.

The second was an older man but his age lead no one to believe that he was feeble. He had very deep evil powers and was not someone to oppose. When he was ten years old his parents sold him as a slave, his master and others pitted him and other young boys in knife fights and bet on who would win. He had never lost. The only visual sign of that past was a scar along his jaw where another boy had come close to slitting his throat. The man had very rugged features and wore little armor under a large blood red robe with the wicketus symbol on the front. His name was Colar, leader of the Sorcerers.

The third was a Soothsayer, an apprentice to the vicar. This man had a huge body and was over seven feet tall, though his back was bowed in a massive hump. His face was twisted into grotesque deformations and his body was so massive that for most of his lifetime he had been forced to live with a group of minotaurs. When he lived with the wild minotaurs he acted as they did and ate what they ate, his nails grew very long until they were like claws and his deformed teeth were long and sharp.

Once he fought one of the Minotaurs for dominance. He won, killing it by tearing out its jugular with his teeth. Of these first three he was the most powerful in the dark arts. He wore ragged clothes, which exposed his overdeveloped muscles. His name was Keldar.

The fourth was a mystery. The others had never seen his face but never opposed him or challenged his leadership. Like Keldar, he was very tall and he wore a robe as black as night. a large hood covered his head. Large, glowing, yellow eyes peered out of the hood. He was the leader of all evil in Zyconia, nearly everyone knew who he was but almost no one had seen him. He was the Grand Vicar.

The last man close by in the shadows also stared at the glowing mist. Although not as important as the others. he had his own special powers and a band of evil followers. He was leader of the assassin army in Zyconia. His name was Celarus.

The Vicar had summoned him.

Everyone gazed up upon the blue mist.

"SO YOUR ATTEMPT FAILED." the Vicar rasped in an inhuman rumbling voice.

"Yes," came a voice from the mist as the person's image lowered it's gaze away from the Vicar.

The individual in the mist slowly lifted his gaze.

"My next attempt won't. I assure you," the image replied.

"It had better not. Terrek is the one man in Zyconia who is capable of destroying us," Colar said menacingly.

Murack turned towards Colar, a look of disgust on his face.

"It will take a lot more than one good swordsman and a ragtag army of villagers to take down the Dark Circle. You must be growing weak if you actually believe that," Murack sneered.

"I'll show you who is weak Murack," Colar said angrily as his hands began to glow of red light and his eyes glazed over glowing green.

Murack took a defensive position.

"ENOUGH!" the Vicar mared.

Both Colar and Murack drew back in fear.

The Vicar gazed directly forward not moving his view as he spoke, "IS TERREK THE ONE FROM THE LEGENDS?"

Keldar. who had said nothing until now, stared off into the darkness.

"I have had visions of your overthrow my lord, but the future isn't written in stone. There are as many possibilities as there are stars in the sky. Terrek can be stopped. Terrek can be beaten. Terrek can be killed." Keldar's eyes beamed brightly emphasizing the last phrase as he moved off into the darkness.

"TERREK WON'T LIVE TO FIND ALL THE CRYSTALS. LET ALONE OVERTHROW ME," the Vicar rumbled.

"I WANT THE DEED DONE SOON," the Vicar said addressing the person in the mist, "AS PROOF OF HIS DEATH, I WANT YOU TO BRING ME HIS HEAD."

"His - his head," stuttered the person in the mist.

"YES. HIS HEAD. DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT?"

"N - no. it will be as you say, my lord." the image replied bowing its head.

"CONTACT US AGAIN WHEN THE DEED IS DONE!" the mist faded out as Murack and Colar moved off into the darkness.

"CELARUS," the Vicar rasped.

"Yes, my lord?" Celarus responded as he stepped forward from the darkness.

"I DON'T COMPLETELY TRUST OUR TRAITOR. I WANT YOU TO TAKE SOME MEN AND TRAVEL TO TERREK'S ARMY. ONCE THERE I WANT YOU TO KILL TERREK. WITHOUT LEADERSHIP THE ARMY WILL COME APART IN DAYS," he said.

Celarus betrayed slight loathing in his face.

"YOU HAVE BEEN NEGLECTING YOUR DUTIES SOMEWHAT IN THE PAST FEW WEEKS CELARUS." the Vicar said.

"I have become tired of this, of the Assassin Army." he answered.

"DO YOU REMEMBER LENK, THE FORMER LEADER OF THE ASSASSIN ARMY? DO YOU REMEMBER HOW HE COMPLETED HIS TIME WITH US WHEN I ALLOWED YOU TO KILL HIM AND TAKE HIS PLACE? SOME OF US MOVE ON. AND OTHERS SIMPLY DIE." the Vicar said.

Celarus lifted his eyes to the Vicar and thought about what he had just said.

"GO! ASSASSINATE TERREK." the Vicar finished.

"It will be done, my lord," the assassin replied in an even tone.

Celarus stood there a couple of moments and then turned and disappeared into the darkness.

TO BE CONTINUED...

TO READ FROM THE BEGINNING GO TO: LEGENDS OF ZYCONIA PART 1

TO READ THE PREVIOUS PART GO TO: LEGENDS OF ZYCONIA PART 5

TO READ THE NEXT PART GO TO: LEGENDS OF ZYCONIA PART 7