Firefall

FireFall

A bird flew high in a distance, its shadow dawning upon the ground under the hot sun of the Cannes Summer. It then began to lower its altitude, landing upon a branch at the edge of the forest, overseeing the city that stood high atop the hills beyond…

The City of the North, known by many as NorthStar, is the most prosperous city in the Northern Regions of the Empire. Being situated near to the famed battlegrounds of Talador, where a thousand years ago a great battle was fought between the forces of the Empire and the Ravager’s Horde, resulting in the loss of 3 million lives of the Empire’s soldiers, the city has a historical value. With walls almost 2 hundred feet tall, and turrets big enough to accommodate 20 archers or riflemen, the city was basically a fortress. Ever since the great battle a thousand years ago, all has been well for the Empire, except for a few uprisings and invasions. With major advancements in both technology and magic, the Empire has now evolved into a superpower, which employs both technology and magic in its defense against its enemies. However, now, the shadow of the past is fast encroaching onto this bustling city, its inhabitants unwary of their impending doom…

The bird flapped its wings a little, trying to get moisture out of its black coat, its eyes darting about, eyeing movements in the forest, something was amiss. Meanwhile, in a distance, beyond the forest, a tall mountain stood taller than the rest of the mountains. The mountains were known as the Spine of the World whereas for that mountain, it is known as the Frost Spire. The forest was as quiet as can be, its tranquility somehow disturbed, shadows lingered in the darkness of the thick woods, bearing ill intent.

A tall man stood in the solace of the darkness of the woods, a sword hung loosely behind his back. Dressed in simple clothing with a chainmail over it, the man, with hair feet long simply smiled. ‘Soon I will have my revenge on those humans…soon,’ the man thought as he smiled once again, showing gleaming teeth. Eyes as red as scarlet flashed. Behind him, inhuman eyes gleamed in the dark.

The bird has had enough. Flapping its jet black wings, the bird tries to soar upwards into the sky, suddenly, a claw lashed out from the darkness, snaring the bird from midair, leaving only feathers behind and growls of satisfaction followed the bird’s demise.

Yawning as loud as he could, Captain Jiggs tried to resist the temptation to take a quick nap. Being standing guard for almost 16 hours now, he is desperate for a deep sleep, however duty calls, as the price of peace and freedom is eternal vigilance. Steadying his halberd, the captain looked onto the landscape that surrounds NorthStar. To the north of the city, lies the ancient battleground of Talador and also FrostSpire that was the product of the climatic encounter. To the south was the dark forest of Auril, home to many creatures but hostile to humans. The eastern and western fronts of the city were however hills that served as a bolster to the city’s defenses.

The captain’s stupor was abruptly cut short when suddenly, birds flew right out of Auril forest in flocks as if frightened by something. Curious, the captain quickly turned to the telescope to see what’s frightening the birds. What he saw jolted him… Beastmen!

Streams of beastmen began to line up at the edge of the forest, brandishing weapons of wicked design, their numbers seem to fill the entire forest and even more. The beastmen, the arch-nemesis of the Empire, was a constant threat to the Empire. Being originated from the cold North, the beastmen are by no means good fighters compared to those of the Empire saved for brute strength, however the beastmen has an advantage over the human forces…their numbers which are baffling even the greatest scholars of the Empire. With their superior numbers, they are capable of overrunning the entire empire, luckily what they lack was leadership and brains, so with both technology and magic, the Empire has always managed to thwart off their raids. This time however, it may proved to be a bit too daunting for the defenders of NorthStar…

Alarms began to ring throughout the city, breaking the hustle and bustle of the city and bringing the daily activities into a halt. Minutes later, thousands of soldiers began to rush onto the battlements, fully armored and armed to the teeth. Archers, riflemen took their respective positions on the walls, cannons were brought to the fore fully loaded. Trebuchets, ballistas were readied by the forever working engineers and oil was being boiled to the limit. In a matter of minutes, with great efficiency, all was ready for the advancing horde. Even the lord of the city, Lord Lothar was brought to attention regarding the horde. Coming up to the walls with his two sons, Richard and Luther, all fully armored and armed, the man being a war veteran, took his men to task.

“Riflemen! I want you to form three files, each file will fire according to my command! Also, prepare bayonets!”

Upon his command, riflemen began to form three files, which is actually three long lines, and attached long bayonets onto the rifles for melee purposes.

Meanwhile, the horde was still standing at the edge of the forest and beyond, their bloodlust suppressed by the fear of the man that stood among them. The man, with a smirk on his face, walk through the horde who paved the way for him till the front line. His hand reached to the sword at his back…

An unusual ringing sound echoed in the wind, ricocheted by the hills around as the man drew out a very long sword. The sword in shape looks like a snake, slithering upwards like a kris but much longer like a sword. Arcane and demonic runes ran along the blade, but moreover, the blade itself seemed to be emanating yellow light. It is a weapon that can never be forged by mortals… it’s… HellSing! Being one of the five legendary weapons, it is gifted in the power of the flame. Mythically forged by the devil in Hell, designed to aid the demonic hordes in their eternal battle against the angelic hosts of Heaven, it is a formidable weapon to behold. Muttering words that is alien to humans, the man, raising HellSing high, bids the horde to… Attack!!!

Battlecries filled the air, as beastmen streamed out of the woods like angry ants, their numbers unfathomable towards NorthStar. Soon, the entire horizon was filled with the beastmen, their thundering charge shuddered the earth beneath them as they make their way right into the defenders’ line of fire, making their way right into their…doom.

“Fire at will!” shouted Lord Lothar to all his men. Deafening claps followed as the defenders let loose hails of bullets, accompanied by the cannons, right into the midst of the charging beastmen. The barrage of cannonball and bullets was so intense that many beastmen died, their flesh ripped apart from the velocity of the bullets. Limbs flew and gut spew forth by the shrapnel cause by the cannons. However, the beastmen charged on, ignoring the danger of the gun and cannonfire.

“Second file… to the fore and… Fire!”

Another barrage was fired onto the advancing horde, the bullets hit with terrifying force, homing onto targets within split seconds. As more bullets were fired, more of the beastmen died as they edged closer to the walls.

“Men, this is it, all riflemen! Fire at will! Archers, crossbowmen! Support the riflemen! Everyone! Proceed at your own discretion!” Ordered Lord Lothar as he took cover behind the wall when taking fire from a wave of the beastmens’ arrows and spears. The siege of NorthStar has just begun…

Despite losing many beastmen to the two barrages of bullets, the horde push on, laying siege to NorthStar.
At first, the beastmen with their inhuman strength showered the defenders with arrows and spears. The defenders however retaliated with their own barrages of arrow, boulders and bullets, splitting and crushing many a beastmen apart. As more missile weapons swished here and there, each claiming an unfortunate victim of their own, many warriors of both sides died in the siege, their bodies riddled like pincushions, their faces contorted by both surprise and pain as they die. It was a terrible sight.

The exchanging of missile weapons by both sides soon died down as the horde somehow *produced ladders and hooks among their disorganized ranks. Placing the ladders and hooks onto the edges of the walls, the horde began their ascend to the battlements but were met with heavy resistance by the defenders.
Boiling oil was poured onto the beastmen as they climbed the ladders and hooks, causing screams and yelps of pain as many beastmen writhed agonizingly before dropping to the ground below, killing them instantly. The stench of scalded hides, blood and boiling oil filled the air as many beastmen fell victim to the boiling oil, there was confusion among the ranks of the horde, however that did not stop them from ascending to the battlements above the walls…

After suffering many losses to the defenders of NorthStar, finally the horde managed to scale the top of the walls into the battlements when suddenly a shadow dawned upon the horde, bringing death with fire from the sky…

A huge flaming ball of fire descended onto the unsuspecting horde, totally wiping out the front line of the horde. The effect was tremendous, as what were left of the front line were the charred remains of beastmen scattered all around, vapors billowed from the blackened land, leaving behind a trail of devastation. All was silent for a moment as both sides glanced up to where the ball of flame come from, only to find a black figure standing atop a tower, his arm raised.

Coming to the defenders’ salvation was a black robed man, his head concealed beneath a black hood. Wielding a long black staff with a black opal embedded onto the tip of the staff, the man began to draw symbols of arcane and magic in the air while muttering a language not known to anyone. It was an archmage! The archmage, being the elite of the Magi Conclave that help defend the empire from its enemies, are well known for their prowess on the battlefield. Despite the fact there are a few of them, they are still capable of wiping out entire armies with their devastating spells, leaving trails of destruction in their wake. Even more so, there are other mages of lower rank that are also effective in their own way. All the mages formed a Magi Conclave, a body that handles all mages’ conduct, training and assignments. This Conclave is the magic against the enemies of the empire while technology serves as the steel.

Magic against magic, steel against steel!

Another fireball sprang forth from the symbol the archmage was drawing in the air, hurling itself forward in the air toward the horde, the air around it shuddered as it flies past with velocity. All was silent until it happened…

A huge noise erupted like never before throughout the battlefield as the fireball hit home, taking a large portion of the horde with it, leaving burned bodies in its wake. Fear begun to spread amongst the horde, never before have they witnessed such raw power from the empire. Weapons began to drop as many beastmen ran for their lives, seeking the refuge of the Auril Forest.

“Sigh, guess beastmen are not as reliable as I thought,” Standing far away from the battlefield by the edge of the forest, the man with HellSing shook his head while overlooking the entire battle.

“Well, guess its time for me to take center stage now…”

Flames began to swirl around HellSing as the man readies the sword for his move “Hell Fire!” Almost instantly, tongs of flame rush up into the sky toward the archmage. The archmage in the meantime took notice and managed to conjure up a shield of air in front of him. The tongs of flame rammed into the shield, totally buffed out by the pressure of concentrated air conjured by the archmage. However, the presence of such concentration of air swept up the hood of the archmage, revealing the face of the archmage. With sunken cheeks, baggy eyelids that is the result of heavy reading, a pair of spectacles, the archmage looked ordinary, however it is the eyes that separates the common folk and the archmage. It is the eyes that ignited lore of great depth, being immensed in the eternal sea of knowledge, it is the eyes of a sagely man that has seen many things. It is the eye of greatness!

Eyes blazing, the archmage turned to the direction of the newcomer, ready to make the newcomer pay with his life. However, he was shocked at the sight of HellSing that is wielded by the man. “What the heck is the Blade of Hell doing here? It is not supposed to exist!” The archmage exclaimed while conjuring up another powerful spell. This time, sparks of lightning began to trickle forward from the symbol before evolving into a flash of light, so bright that onlookers had to shield their eyes from the light. A wave of silence covered the entire battlefield. Suddenly, without warning, the silence was shattered as a huge thunderclap was heard and a lightning bolt was hurled towards the man. The lightning bolt hit the man right on and a dust cloud kicked out right on the spot where he stood, sending the nearby onlookers for cover…

As the dust cloud settles, a large crater was found where the man last stood, while there was no trace of the man anywhere, except…

“Behind you…” a deep coarse voice behind the archmage said.

“What the…”

Before the archmage could say anything more, a wailing sound was heard as HellSing make its way through the air towards the archmage’s vulnerable body…

By using uncanny speed that rivals the ten times of sound, the user of HellSing is able to move to any point near his unwary opponents while simultaneously hacking into them with such force in the air that it causes the wailing sound in the air. The wailing sound ironically heralds the end of their opponents, as this is last thing they will be hearing in the land of the living before the blade strikes home. This is the move that wails, “Hell Wail”.

However, the archmage’s body began to blur as the blade continued its journey, all seemed to be in slow motion. Slash! The blade instead of claiming its victim, bit into thin air while the archmage was gone, out of sight, out of mind…

“Behind you…” The archmage then began to materialize from the thin air a few feet behind the man, his mouth chanting the words of a spell upon the completion of his teleportation that saved his life from the onslaught of HellSing. Cold sweat flowed profusely from his forehead. The archmage had his hand extended towards the man.

“Huh…?”

The man was shocked. He had underestimated the power of the archmage and he had to pay the price for it. Trying to make up for his mistake, the man swings the snakely blade to the back, attempting to kill the archmage but to no avail. The archmage had completed the spell. A rush of air greeted the man as he spun around only to feel an unseen bolt of air rushing up to him. As the bolt was conjured in point blank range, combined with its speed, there is no escape from the bolt of air. Smack! The bolt of air slammed right into the body of the man, sending him flying over the wall and crashed into the courtyard several hundred feet below. A huge crater was formed by the impact of the fall, sending dust aside. Feeling certain that the man would be killed in the fall, the archmage then turned to the retreating horde, continuing the slaughter…

Surprisingly, the man suffered only intermediate wounds despite having to fall from several hundred feet up and to take full force from the archmage’s force bolt. A mortal would have died from the mere impact of the force bolt let alone the fall. However, as for the man, he was special, in some way. With the support of HellSing, the man managed to rise to his feet, his eyes looking at the commotion around him.

Scores of heavily armored footmen surround him, broadswords drawn and their polished tower shields held up in a traditional stance. Their eyes glazed behind the faceguards of their plumed helms. With a battlecry, the footmen lurched forward towards the man, ready to hack the man down on the spot. The man had enough, calling forth the anger from within and adding it to HellSing, the man sent a blood-curdling scream into the air as he executes… “Hell Ring!”

Instantly, a ring of fire rose up surrounding the man. The ring of fire then extended further and further away from the man, engulfing the footmen as they charged. Screams of pain and the stench of burned flesh filled the air as the flaming ring ‘swallowed’ the footmen. Its metal melting heat was so great that even blood evaporated. Soon, the forms of the footmen wilted away in the flames, leaving behind piles of black ash and molten metal.

“Party’s over.” The man said, gritting his teeth while touching a bruised lip. His scarlet eyes flared with anger that knows no bounds. With the land around him darkened, its soil scorched with hell fire. The life essence of the land was fast leaking, all leeched by the power of HellSing, another magic property granted to its user. The more the burning, the more powerful it will become.

“Lets finish this once and for all!” the man soon headed to the main gate of NorthStar to finished what he had started… to capture this city!

As he walks towards the gate, the man had many enemies coming straight for him. Some with swords and shields while others with rifles. All whom he dispatched with a single swipe of his sword, sending waves of hell fire into the ranks of the enemy.

Finally he reached his destination, the main gate was a wonder itself to behold. With a drawbridge made out of the sturdiest oak, a steel door and a portcullis, the gate was virtually impenetrable even with the use of a huge battering ram. But all will soon to be reduced to dust, the man thought to himself while the flame that surrounds HellSing began to intensify. The man then released… “Hell Blast!” A heavy burst of hell fire sprang forth from his sword towards the gate, ramming into the gate with an inhuman roar. The gate was stubborn at first, refusing to budge, but then the intensity of the hell fire projected by the sword began to take its toll on the gate. Firstly, the center of the gate began to looked red in color, then it melted away under the intense heat of the sword. With a final heave, the gate finally gave way, crashing down onto the earth. The earth beneath shuddered with the impact. Seeing its chance, the remnants of the horde outside streamed into the city…

As the horde rushed into the city, the siege soon became a firefight as local militia began to engage the horde in street to street battle. Though valiant, the local militia stood no chance against the onslaught of the horde. Slowly, inch by inch, blood spilled, the local militia were beaten back as the horde advanced to the heart of the city. Soon, the entire city was filled with fighting as the men fought desperately against the horde. Fall is approaching. The yellow of the sky had turned into shades of gray as the fighting continues. The grayness of the sky however brightened as the city was soon in flames. The man laughed maniacally as he witnessed the burning in the shadow of the ruined gate.

“Burn! Burn! Burn everything to the ground!” He shouted, gleeful of the destruction.

“Not so fast, my friend…” A figure suddenly materializes behind the man. It was the archmage. The archmage looked as if he has aged a hundred years, with wrinkles all over his face and panting with tiredness.

“I was waiting for you, what took you so long? This time it will be my turn to return that debt I owed you, this time a hundred fold!” In an instant, HellSing flared up as the man readied the move, “Hell slash!” Crescent blades of fire swirled in the air, heading towards the archmage, slicing everything in their paths into tiny bits of pieces. The archmage though tired, his face was filled with calmness as he teleported away to a safe place from the blades.

“I will kill you for the destruction you cause today…” Upon speaking the words, the archmage with his palms outstretched began to mutter the incantations of another spell. A symbol of a circle with a star in it appeared under the archmage. It was a summoning spell. The man stood away from the archmage, HellSing ready to meet any challenge the archmage threw at him. The earth began to rumble as a figurelike form made entirely of the earth stood up. It was an earth golem!

Standing about 9 feet tall, the golem was a sight to behold as dust bristle down the great bulk of the golem. Artificial eyes ablaze. The golem looked at the man intently, in an earshot, gave an inhuman roar before coming down onto the man, its trunk-like arms swishing. The man dodged the golem’s blows easily but failed to get close to the golem. Soon, the man was on the defensive as the archmage joined into the fray with bolts of energy blazing away from his palms, the magical bolts of energies homing onto the man with great efficiency.

Frustrated by being forced to dodge both the earth golem’s blows and the archmage’s magic missiles, the man intensified HellSing once more and unleashes another wave of hell fire through the move, “Hell Blast”. The huge intensified wave of fire quickly engulfed both the archmage and the golem. Though the archmage had defenses of his own from the blast, the golem stood no chance against the volley of fire. The golem instantly wilted away in the flames, all was left was a pool of liquid. As the volley of fire died down, the archmage still stood his ground, surrounded by a globe of energy. He was lucky to survive from the blast.

“Looks like I have underestimated you, my friend, however time is not on my side as I got an extermination to do in the city. So, now can’t we just get things over? Shall we?” the archmage said as the globe of energy subsided.

“Very well then, I shall let you die satisfied!” was the reply from the man.

Swirls of white energies began to form around the archmage as he prepares his last finishing spell whereas the Hellsing began to intensify again as the man swings the blade around in the empty air in a series of footwork. Then in a cry, the archmage sent an enormous bolt of white energy towards the man. The white energy flashed through the distance between the archmage and the man, its white color illuminating the sky as nightfall approaches. The spell that was casted by the archmage is a powerful one, by converting a little of all living things’ life force into a physical force, the spell could ripped basically anything apart. It is like water itself, being tiny in force but a force to be reckon with if united. The bolt of white energy howled along as it makes its way towards the man, shards of earth rose up into the air, all sucked into the twirling bolt of energy.

The man was fast finishing his countermove, his swinging of HellSing looked much like a firefly dancing in the dark with the snakelike blade glowing with added intensity. Then he executes… “Hell Dragon!”

Almost simultaneously, the blade seemed to grow longer and longer, the tip of it turning into a head that of a fiery dragon. With a battlecry, the man directed the energy dragon into the bolt of life, by the archmage. The blade seemed to continue extending as the energy dragon made its journey towards the bolt of light. A titanic clash is imminent. Then, it occurred…

As if with a life of its own, the energy dragon gave out an inhuman roar as it gapes open its huge maw to greet the bolt of life. A sound never heard before rang throughout the entire city as the two powerful energies clashed together. The clash was so powerful that even air was forced out from the entire area, city blocks were leveled while anyone that was unlucky enough to stand in the area was killed instantly. All blown away in terrifying speed. Soon, a void filled the entire area.

The two combatants stood face to face, their faces filled with absolute concentration as they willed their respective energies into each other, totally ignoring the pandemonium around them. One small flaw could prove fatal to neither one of them. Suddenly, the archmage gasped with disbelief.

“What is this? No, it couldn’t be…”

The fiery dragon had its huge maw opened, swallowing the bolt of life portion by portion and using it as part of its own. Soon, the size of the dragon began to increase as more of the bolt of life was taken on as its own.

“Yes, it is time for you to meet your maker, but before you do, feel free to ask till your heart’s content, I don’t want you to die unsatisfied.”

“Who are you?”

“You don’t know? Well, let me enlightened you then, see this? Tell me what you know of this.” The man said while pointing to his eyes.

“Your eyes… they are of the scarlet color, no kidding, no…it couldn’t be…”

“Yes, now you understand, I am Drolfgar, descendant of the Ravager! I have come to take revenge for my ancestor and to conquer the entire world! This is but an opening phase of my campaign, don’t worry, I will make death come swift upon you,”

The archmage was shocked upon knowing the identity of the man, however it was too late, his folly had costed him. Death indeed came swiftly upon him. The last thing the archmage saw was of the energy dragon snapping its jaws upon him, the world before him faded as he plunged into oblivion.

The fire took three days and two nights to finally died down, almost everything was destroyed. Drolfgar stood in main hall of the lord’s keep, three heads decorated the blood soaked walls. They were the heads of Lord Lothar and his sons. It took Drolfgar great pleasure to hear their screams, as they were tortured, their fingers chopped off, and their ribs forcibly pulled out one by one and of course Drolfgar’s favorite method, the pulling of their guts from their bodies. Drolfgar was thrilled at the sight of their faces as their torturers ripped their guts out. However, there are more important things at hand.

A lizardman clad in black armor with spikes adorning the shoulder-guards strode into the hall, a horned helm rested upon his shoulders. Trident in hand the lizardman headed straight for Drolfgar, the lizardman then gave a salute before saying, “I come bearing newsssss…milordsss,”

“What is it, Nesta, any trace of it?”

“We have found the main entrance to the ruinsssss, but it will take more time to have it fully
excavatedssss…” said Nesta, the lizardman as he shifted uncomfortably in the presence of his lord.

“How long will it be?”

“Yearssss… 10 yearssss at leastsss…” the lizardman estimated.

“Then hurry up, as though I have the time of the world,”

“I will have my brothersss to see to it that the excavation would be completed as soon as possible,”

“Very well, get back to work then, also have others to fortify this place up, I have grew fond of this place and it will be my HQ in times to come.”

“Very well, as milord wishessss…”

The lizardman gave Drolfgar another salute before leaving the hall, his claw-like feet clank upon the marble tiles of the hall as he left the forsaken place leaving Drolfgar alone to admire the heads that hung on the walls.

“Now, what shall I do to occupy myself in these 10 years?” Drolfgar said to himself while staring into the lifeless face of Lord Lothar.

“Why don’t you tell me, Lord Lothar?”

There was no answer, only silence.