Shades of Silver: Final Chapter
Silver stood in the middle of the field with his blades drawn, dark energy swirling about him as his hair and fur darkened, his silvery eyes changing to a deep red hue.
"Who else wants to fuck with me?!" The blade in his right hand, a dagger, was glowing bright red, feeding on the energy he was giving off. It slowly grew to the length of the long sword he held in his left hand. '
'Yesss.... Give in to your dark side. Give me more power....' A familiar voice spoke in his mind, that of his blade. 'Aria hasn't protested. Give in Silver...'
Silver quickly sheathed his long sword and held only the dark blade. The steel blackened and twisted, creating a truly horrible sight to look upon, as he looked down at the ground.
A battalion of soldiers rushed out at him, blades drawn, arrows flying towards the Neko. He raised his head and casted a sideways glance at the nearest soldier. The soldier immediately froze in fear as dark wings sprouted from Silver's back. He charged at the man and cut him down with ease, the twisted blade slicing through him. He fell in two, his blood spraying Silver in a red shower, adding to his appearance.
'Yesss..... Anger. Use it. Anger is your ally.' Silver sprinted to the next group, using his new wings to boost his speed. He leapt into the middle of the group as the arrows arrived. He held his blade in front of him and a bubble sped out from his body, throwing the soldiers like rag dolls and redirecting the arrows at each of them, striking them through the chest each time.
As each soldier neared him, he dropped them in an instant, soaking himself in blood by the time he was done with each one. More and more arrows fell on him, each one deflected with the same shield as he used before, casting them at another soldier near him and killing that one through the heart.
He reached the backside of the infantry and found himself faced with heavily armed troops. Hardened steel plates protecting them, spears for weapons, heavy tower shields. He smirked.
"Too easy." His voice was that of the one that spoke in his mind. He charged into them, breaking their front line with a blast of dark energy from his blade. The ones in the direct path disappeared, torn apart from the blast, as the others flew into their comrades, some impaled on the spears and others lucky enough to escape with some broken bones. Silver charged into their side, not giving them time to recover as he hacked every one down that got in his path. His wings beat and he knocked some down with an evil wind, pushing them back again. He laughed as he cut down every one of his foes, some of the infantry he had neglected even getting hacked into as he mercilessly killed every soldier in his path. Human and Neko didn't matter to him anymore, if they were in his way, they would die.
He destroyed the heavy infantry and moved on to the archers perched on the hill top. He took off using his wings and flew to the hill, arrows flying about him, deflecting the ones with the same bubble shield as he descended upon them. When he landed, he broke the center of their ranks and knocked over the twenty surrounding him just from the force of his impact. He raised his blade and chanted a spell, sending a bubble of dark energy from him that disintegrated everything within its radius, killing the soldiers around him and a few more rows.
He dashed into the archers on his left, not leaving a second for them to draw their daggers as he hacked through four at once, their lack of armor making it easy for him to kill multiple enemies.. As they began to swarm him, he stabbed his blade through the stomach of one, sending it into two behind him. He twisted the blade inside each one and pulled hard to his right, slashing through two more rows of three, cutting them in half cleanly.
He did this until all the archers were slashed into pieces, leaving a blood soaked field in his wake. He continued on his path to vengeance, his hair lightening to a silvery color and his wings disappearing. He blinked a few times and his eyes returned to silver as well.
'Silver... That was well done.' Arian spoke to him. 'I'm very proud of you. You've mastered your dark side since we've last fought together.' Silver ignored the blade's compliments and continued on his way to the round city.
It was two days before he arrived there, his old home. He walked straight through, everyone moving out of his way for he hadn't cleaned the blood from himself. He made it through the city with ease, the guards, who usually stopped him, didn't think twice about hurrying past him. They didn't question him as he left out the north gate either.
His path took him to the heart of the Barrier Mountains, right to the castle hidden amongst the twisted peaks of the dark range. He strode up the path, not bothered by the cold or the wind. He found his destination and stopped when he set his eyes upon an army that was waiting for him at the gate.
"Aria... Be my light. Help me defeat my enemies." He unsheathed his long sword, a bright blue light emanating from the blade. His hair quickly turned snow white and his eyes changed to a sapphire hue. He gazed peacefully at the soldiers as they marched towards him, blades brandished and ready to kill him.
"I regret having to bring about your early deaths. I must get inside." He charged into them, holding his hands out to send out a wave of energy that would knock them over. Silver jumped into the air, white wings appearing to carry him over the troops he had knocked down. When he fell to the ground, he fell on one knee, slowly rising to see another line of troops at blade's length. He charged at them, using a light shield to deflect their blows as he hacked through the first one, then the second. His mindset made him keep his kills to a minimum, only taking those who stood in his way. He finally reached the gate and cut through it, turning to put up a light barrier as the soldiers tried to run in after him.
"Maybe once my battle is finished, you'll understand why I had to do this." He told the ones at the gate. "For now, I must see your master, and kill him." The white in his hair faded back to normal, as well as his eyes, as he sheathed his sword. It was simple to get through the castle, all the guards stationed outside the gates to keep him from getting in.
He remembered the halls like he had never left the place. Left turn, left again, right, left. It brought him right to a giant set of doors. They had the letter 'V' on each one. Silver easily pushed them open and walked into the long chamber where his former Master sat on his throne. His master stood and the room lit up with flames.
"Welcome, Silver. It is time for you to pay the price for leaving me, attempting to kill me, then killing me." A grin spread across the man's face as he threw off his robe, showing his dark armor to Silver.
"I've learned more than I knew when I killed you, Vamishlen." He hissed the name. "I know how to defeat you this time and take you to the afterlife permanently." Silver drew both his blades as Vamishlen laughed.
"You are a foolish one, aren't you? Do you think that I've not learned since our last battle? I've made a deal... With the devil himself." Vamishlen held out his hands and sent red bolts of flame towards Silver. He easily countered with his own blue flames. "Very good. Now how about this?!" Vamishlen sent out lightning through the flames, passing Silver's and striking him. Silver was pushed back into the wall, hitting hard and falling to the floor on all fours. He stood up and growled deeply, a trickle of blood flowing from the corner of his mouth.
"Vamishlen, my former master. You believe that you are irreplaceable. You believe you can live forever. You believe you cannot be killed permanently. Prepare to go to hell, for all eternity." Silver drew both his blades and concentrated. They both gave off their respective glows, Arian growing to match Aria's size. Silver hunched over as wings matching his hair color sprouted from his back. He glowed with a grey light and looked back up to his former master, his eyes glowing with a purple hue. "I'll go there myself and deliver you if I have to."
The two charged at each other, Vamishlen pulling his dark blade from the netherworld at the last second to meet with Silver's two blades. The sound of steel crashed through the room as Silver held his blades above his head, pushing back against Vamishlen's, who was swinging downwards. Despite having the more awkward position, Silver easily managed to push back, forcing Vamishlen to remove his blade from the lock and swing around horizontally. Silver used a shield to block that strike and swung both of his blades diagonally from his right and down, Vamishlen using the same shield tactic against Silver.
This continued for what seemed like forever to the two combatants until they finally locked blades again, Silver's in a cross and Vamishlen's in a vertical strike.
"It seems as though we are at an impass, Silver." Vamishlen grinned.
"Far from it." Silver answered.
"I should have never trusted Thariel with your body those years ago; I should have killed that girl, Violet as well all those years ago. Those are mistakes I will not repeat." He motioned with his head and a cage lowered from the ceiling, one holding a Neko with purple hair. She was unconscious in the bottom of the cage. "Are you prepared to see your love die again like all those years ago?"
"You leave her out of this. I killed you; she had nothing to do with the result of our battle last time." Silver hissed.
Vamishlen, in the blink of an eye, raised his hand to the cage and shot fire at it, engulfing the steel and melting it. Silver's eyes darkened black and his body grew ever darker, his wings changing black and his eyes eventually taking on a yellow glow.
"You... Killed... Her..." His voice sounded like it could barely speak common, but he struggled with it so Vamishlen would understand him. "Now... You... Will... Die...' His blades pushed through the steel of Vamishlen's sword and cut it in two. Vamishlen took a couple of steps backwards and raised a shield of dark energy.
"You seem to forget, Silver, that your darkness cannot penetrate my own." Vamishlen grinned behind his shield as Silver struck it with his blades, no sign of letting up. Vamishlen laughed as he watched the cage fall to the floor. The sound of the steel smashing into the floor was enough to startle Silver from his rage and made him turn. His eyes softened and he ran to the flaming wreck, his body returning to normal as he put out the flames with his white magic. He found the body of his love, her skin charred and her hair singed. He picked her up in his arms and shook her very gently, trying to wake her.
"Si-... Silver..." She was hardly able to speak, her voice raspy.
"I'm here love." He held her tight. "Don't worry. I've got you now Violet. No one can hurt you anymore." Her hand reached up to his cheek and gently caressed it.
"Silver... I'm going to die... I know I am." She smiled softly, the same smile that helped steal his heart. A tear rolled down her cheek. "Silver... Take care of the kids, Lilly and Kael. They need you now..." She closed her eyes for a moment. "I love you, Silver Kronix." She reached behind his head and gently pulled him into a kiss, their last as mortal souls. She broke the kiss and smiled. "You can win against Vamishlen, bring our children peace. Don't let them suffer from him like we did." She slowly relaxed in his arms.
"Vie?" Silver shook her slightly. "Violet! Wake up please!" He cried for a moment into her chest as he heard her exhale one final time, letting her soul escape into the realm of the dead. He cried until Vamishlen interrupted his sorrow.
"I told you she would be easy to kill. Now that you've lost your love again, what are you to do?" Silver turned to him without saying a word and walked to the edge of his shield.
"Vamishlen. I want you to ready yourself for a quick death. More than you gave me, more than you gave her, more than you gave all the others." He held out his hands and a purple blade appeared in them. He stepped through the shield, much to Vamishlen's surprise, and advanced on him. He cast spell after spell at the Neko but each one failed once it reached him. Finally, Vamishlen pulled a second blade that he held up in time to block Silver's own blade as it swung towards him. It only held for a second, long enough for Vamishlen to realize he wasn't going to survive this. Silver's blade tore through the steel like he had before and sliced clean through Vamishlen's armor and body, blood spray following the blade on its exit from him. He stood for a moment, even though cut in two, and laughed before falling to the floor, his torso a few feet from his lower half. Blood pooled between the two parts as Silver turned to pick up the body of his love.
He carried her home, using his magic to preserve her body until it could be given a proper funeral. His path took him through the mountains, through the city, and back to his home on the ocean. His children were not home at the time, and he was relieved by that. He prepared her body for burial and brought her to Sev's castle a few miles away.
Sev spent the night blessing the spirit that had left the body, ensuring it's save trip to the afterlife and charming the body to stay safe from any who might seek to damage it.
Violet's funeral was held at the seashore on a cliff. Silver stood next to the grave with his children on either side of him, clinging to his legs and crying. He patted both of them on their heads, Kael's dark purple hair and Lilly's silvery light purple hair both shifting under his gentle touch. Sev blessed the grave, which looked out at the ocean, while Jet, Alexi, Jacen, Frost, and Ka'era stood around the grave, their heads bowed solemnly as they prayed for their friend.
"I think that Violet would rather have us enjoying ourselves than crying because of her death. She would have us celebrate her life, be remembered because she was alive rather than because she's gone." Silver's voice was a little shaky, crying softly. "She would want us to remember the good times, laugh at the hard times, love the way she touched each of us. I say we go and drink to her life, to hoping that she found peace in the afterlife." He smiled softly as he ran his hands over the hilts of her blades, which hung on the back sheath she used to carry. His own, Arian now a long sword from the use it received, sat in the sheath as well next to her own, leaving all but one sheath full.
He led them all back to his house and poured wine for everyone but his children, who he poured juice for instead. "Here's to the life of a friend, a comrade, and a Love. Violet Kronix, you will be missed dearly by us all." He was the first to drink from his glass, setting his down after finishing it and staring at the glass he poured for Violet out of habit. "A void in my heart has been made which cannot be filled."
Silver lived his life out in relative comfort, watching his children grow and move away from him, having their own adventures and starting families together. He and Sev remained close, occasionally indulging in each other, knowing that their loves wouldn't mind. He lived a long life for a Neko, living to be fifty four. He died on the eve of his fifty fourth birthday, leaving the house to his children. All his friends had died before him, Sev the last to die when he was fifty two. Kael and Lilly buried their father next to their mother, letting the two rest together for eternity by the sea.
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I know I havent written the parts in between the first and last chapter yet, I just felt inspired at the moment and wrote it out. Hope you enjoyed.
So that's the last chapter of Shades of Silver. There's much more to the story that I'm going to work on. Hell... I've gotta bridge the gap between what I've written and what I've got here, which will most likely take me years to do. Look on the bright side; it'll keep me here and posting, wont it?
As always, comments and criticism please.