Part Four: Arachne
Daius knelt in front of Narcissia's altar, unconsiously twisting her golden ring around his finger. Everyday since he had left Dragonglory he had trained with Narcissia's spiritual guidance, preparing for the day he would have his revenge on the Dark King and his kingdom. Every so often, a soldier of the Dark King would come for him, and he would dispose of it quickly and efficiently with his tarantula dagger. He had an impressive collection of weapons left behind by the imposters.
As always when he prayed, he reminisced as well. Daius thought about Equinox and her betrayal, his mother's turn to the dark, and his father who was dead. He thought mostly of Kisla, though, and their early adventures in the Xammas forest. He remembered listening to the nymphs, and his mother's advice to respect the forest always.
He rarely heard the nymphs anymore.
Daius spent his days exploring the forest, making trails, traveling in the immense canopy of trees. There was so much for him to see, so much for him take in, he often thought to himself that, after his revenge, of course, he could stay in the forest forever, never wanting, never needing.
He was wrong.
Getting revenge on the Dark King was all well and good, but Daius wasn't stupid. Even when revenge consumed all of his waking thoughts, he never even considered going head on, alone, into the Dynasty. That, he knew, would be playing right into the Dark King's hands. Daius knew the Dark King wanted him in the Dynasty Army, and Daius wanted to slow the Dark King as much as possible.
He got his revenge in little ways. Narcissia periodically appeared to him, telling him of plans of the Dark King. And Daius listened, plotted, and stopped the attempts of Talpa's conquest.
Daius knelt in front of his deity's altar, praying for guidance. A golden light blasted through the shrine, fasing to reveal Narcissia in all her splendor. "Goddess, I ask of you--"
"I know what you ask, Daius. The small village of Moonglow requires your assistance. I shall take you there."
"When will I be free, Narcissia? Free from the hate I feel? From the deception? Will I ever feel freedom?"
Narcissia remained silent. After a moment, she cleared her throat. "Come, my spider. Innocents need you."
Moonglow was an extremely small village, smaller than even Dragonglory. Even with Narcissia's magical teleportation, Daius arrived in the middle of a battle. He scoffed as he observed his surroundings. Hardly a fair fight, he thought to himself. Small time farmers armed with pitchforks, against Dynasty soldiers.
Daius felt a tug on his doeskin breeches. He looked down, noticing a young woman, she couldn't have been older than twenty, covered in blood. He knelt down, but the icy look on his face didn't change. The woman tried to speak, but only coughed up crimson blood. She tried again, this time successful. "You... god... you are a god... help us please... god of light... help--" The woman's plea was cut off as an armored foot crushed her skull.
Daius' head whipped upwards, his white hair floating down to settle on his shoulders. His eyes flared. A scorning voice came from a man in maroon armor. The armor was thin and unprotecting, suggesting the man relied on other skills in battle. His light brown hair was thinning slightly on the top of his head. No other signs of aging seemed to touch him. "God of light, hmm? More like god of Illusions..."
"W-who are you?" Daius asked, his tarantula dagger drawn in a flash.
"I am Rolias, Sorcerer of Illusion. And you, Daius, my apprentice, come to me..."
A sarcastic smile creased Daius' handsome features. He expertly threw his tarantula dagger for the unprotected area just below his throat. His aim was true, and Rolias made no move to stop the gleaming weapon. Daius' smile increased when the dagger plunged into the sorcerer's throat... but the smile faded entirely when it passed clean through Rolias, who vanished.
A hard kick landed soundly on Daius' side, effectively sending his five feet towards where the illusion had been. Daius turned his head, to see the sorcerer standing there, laughing. "Nothing is as it seems, boy. All victory is won through illusion..."
"That's where you're right, sorcerer. Nothing is as it seems, including the notion that I'd ever join the Dynasty!"
Rolias smiled evilly. "That will change, Daius. You will see. The Dynasty is the only that is real..." The Sorcerer of Illusion vanished, a Dynasty soldier charging through in his place.
Daius reacted quickly, rolling to the side. He snatched up a glaive from the ground, not knowing or caring where it came from, swinging the polearm around to slice the soldier in two. He retrieved his dagger, sheathing it, in favor of the glaive. It's pole handle was made out of polished obsidian, the oddly curved blade out of a bright silvery metal that seemed to reflect all different colors, giving the weapon a mystical quality.
Daius charged into the main fray, immediately taking out five soldiers with a broad swing. The villager that Daius had saved with the blow looked at the glaive-wielder gratefully, running back to his thatched hut to protect his children. Daius didn't care about the villagers, though. He was beyond caring. All he wanted to do was do eradicate the Dynasty. This battle would do for today.
Daius swung the glaive again, saving the lives of several children, taking out three more soldiers. He smiled grimly as the glaive whistled through the air once again, slashing through the soldiers' armor as if it was cloth. The area around Daius became a circle of noxious black smoke as the souls departed from the armors. Villagers scattered, afraid to be caught in Daius' deadly circle. They watched from their huts in wonder at the mysterious being who had appeared from nowhere -- their very own God of Light.
From a his vantage point in the Dark King's antechamber, Rolias chuckled, noticing Daius abandoning his usual weapon, a symbol of his faith, the tarantula dagger, for the more deadly, more evil, Glaive of Illusion that Rolias himself had put there before the battle. Talpa laughed along with his vizier. "Good work, Rolias. Daius is as good as ours."
Rolias turned from the scrying window to bow to his lord. "Talpa, you have nothing to fear. Daius will be ours within a few years, at the most. The Glaive--"
A new being shimmered into the antechamber, interrupting Rolias' report. The being shimmered in the candlelight, the golden flickers reflecting off of her. "My lord," she said, kneeling.
"What do you have to report?"
"My spider will be yours, lord."
Rolias arched an eyebrow at the newcomer. "Your spider? Am I sensing emotion in your voice?"
A gasp could be heard from the shadowed figure. "No, Rolias. Of course not. Talpa, the boy took the bait."
"You aren't my Sorcerer of Deception for nothing, Arachne."
At Talpa's silent command, light shone on Arachne, the Sorcerer of Deception. Like the Sorcerer of Illusion she was clad in thin maroon armor. Unlike the middle-aged Rolias, Arachne looked young and vibrant, emerald green hair tumbling down her shoulders to the small of her back. Around her neck was a rainbow colored pendant that shone mystically in the low candle light. It glimmered in time with the glaive in the scrying window.
Rolias scowled at her. "Yes, Arachne, what have you been doing lately? Letting me do all the work?"
Arachne looked at Rolias with a "where have you been" look on her face. "I helped you create the Glaive, didn't I? And I've been observing him for sometime now. He wouldn't never abandoned the dagger if it weren't for me."
"Ah yes, your alter ego. How is that going, anyway?"
"I will not reveal my plans to you, Old One."
"Shapeshifting and impersonation, Young One. You've made no real progress."
"ENOUGH!" Talpa shouted, his tone forcing Arachne and Rolias to their knees. "I will not tolerate rivalry between you. Between Warlords, maybe, but not you."
The two Sorcerers hastily apologized. "Talpa, I will keep you updated. I must take my leave," Arachne whispered quickly, vanishing soon after.
"I must take my leave as well, my lord," Rolias said when Arachne had left. "I have work to do. The Glaive will be perfected soon, and Daius will turn to us-- to you."
"Good." Talpa chuckled. "The pawn will soon be useless. Have you prepared for that?"
Rolias was taken aback by the sudden change in subjects. "Must she die?"
Talpa looked at the sorcerer severely. "She must. And if you have doubts, you must die as well."
Rolias stiffened. "Do not worry, lord. Lunasia will die."
____
Arachne grimaced as she spied on Talpa's and Rolias' private meeting. Lunasia will die. Rolias' words echoed through her head. She glanced down at her rainbow pendant -- a gift from Talpa when she had enlisted, so long ago. The pawn will soon be useless. Tears formed in her eyes.
Must she die?
She must.
And Rolias... he had blessed her pendant, had bound it to the Glaive.
Do not worry, lord.
They had been plotting all this time? The pawn... Arachne ripped the pendant off her neck, crushing the metal beneath the heel of her armored foot. She would show them. She would get Daius all on her own. Lunasia will die. She had masqueraded as Narcissia for so long, she would convince him.
Have you prepared...
Arachne swallowed hard. If she didn't get Daius to turn... like in a game of chess, pawns were the decoys, the first to be sacrificed to win. Was it because she felt too much? She remembered her slip.
My spider...
Do I sense emotion in your voice?
No, Rolias, of course not.
Arachne looked down at the crushed rainbow metal, it's luster fading, turning gray. She wondered at her change in feelings. The pendant was an attachment to the Dynasty to her... now she had forsaken it... just as her Daius had chosen the Glaive instead of his dagger. Do I sense emotion...? Arachne shook her head as more tears rolled unbidden over her face. She had never cried before, when she was in the Dynasty... another word echoed in her head -- Daius had said it to her when she had deceived him into thinking she was Narcissia. Freedom. Am I free? Free from Rolias, from Talpa, from the Dynasty?
She had to tell her Daius the truth.
Lunasia will die.
No, she wouldn't.
Arachne of clan Lunasia vanished from her vantage point near Talpa's antechamber.
____
Back at the shrine, Daius sat the glaive on the altar, contemplating it. I sliced through the soldiers like a hot knife through butter, Daius thought incredulously. My dagger--
His thoughts were cut off as Narcissia flared into being, floating above the altar, and the rainbow glaive. "Narcissia!" Daius exclaimed, standing quickly in respect for his deity.
"Disciple... I sense you are in danger..."
"What?! Narcissia, what are you saying?" Daius drew his dagger in a flash, a very tried-and-true reflex.
"Deception... you are being deceived..."
Daius scowled. "Don't I know it! That's why I left Dragonglory."
Narcissia shook her head slowly. "No, it's..." Narcissia's tone dropped off at the sight of the glaive. "Disciple, what is this?"
Daius walked forward, picking up the glaive from the altar, twirling it easily in his hand. He offered it to the goddess. "That's what I wanted to ask you."
Narcissia took the glaive from Daius, examining it slowly. As she looked at it, she spoke. "It's been a while, Disciple. I haven't seen you since you gave my ring to Kisla..."
Daius arched an eyebrow at this. "What do you mean, Narcissia? Over the past three months you've been helping me avenge my parents. You've sent me to villages being sacked by the Dynasty."
It was Narcissia's turn to look shocked. "No, Disciple. I would never intentionally lead you to a battle. You are in too much danger from the Dark King."
"Then, who was it who took me there?"
At that moment, another Narcissia appeared in the shrine. "Daius, I--" the new deity noticed Narcissia hovering there. "Oh no."
Daius unsheathed his dagger, throwing it at the imposter. It pinned her golden dress to the wall. Narcissia squinted at the newcomer for a moment, then vanished. "Who are you, and why are you here?" Daius asked, slowly approaching the glaive that had clattered to the ground at the real Narcissia's disappearance. He picked it up, aiming the rainbow colored blade at the woman. "You have two seconds."
"I-I am Arachne."
"Why are you here?" Daius repeated.
"I was sent for the Glaive of Illusion."
"Who sent you?"
"I c-cannot say... I will not say... I've already revealed too much... This'll get me killed."
"You'll die anyway," Daius said, a smirk on his face.
Arachne glanced around the shrine nervously. She looked straight into Daius' eye. "Will you kill me? After you've seen and caused so much death? You can save me, Daius. Keep me here. Keep Talpa away from me."
"Talpa?" Daius said, lowering the Illusion Glaive. "Tell me more."
"My name is Arachne Lunasia. I am the Sorcerer of Deception. My home is the Dynasty, and has been for several decades. My lord is Talpa, He of the NetherRealm. I was sent to retrieve my weapon, the Glaive of Illusion, which you so kindly picked up for me. The Glaive was meant to slowly transfer Nether-Energy to your soul with every kill you made with it. I am Rolias' competitor, and I was to play the part of your goddess to take you to as many battles as possible, so you'd kill more, and the Glaive's magic would make short work of your morals. I came as Narcissia to tell you the truth to show you my true self. Please... save me..." She gazed at the ground, tears in her golden eyes.
Daius threw the Glaive as one would a harpoon, pinning Arachne's golden dress by her other arm. He pulled his dagger out of the shrine's wall, keeping one eye always on the Sorcerer. He gave Arachne a look, and said as he walked back to guard the door, "How do I know this isn't a deception? An illusion to play on my feelings?"
"You'll have to trust me, Daius."
"That's the one thing I can't do."
Arachne felt tears well up again, as they had in the Dynasty. "Why can't you trust me?" she asked through her tears again. "I have told you everything!" She looked down at the Glaive's blade, the luster fading as it had from her pendant. Soon the blade was a dark gray, devoid of magic.
"I can't trust anyone."
Arachne looked up at him, not expecting a soft answer. "Oh, Daius..." She strugged, and the dying Nether-metal crumbled. Her form shifted to her own, only she was in a simple white dress instead of the ornate maroon armor. She sighed in relief, recognizing that her soul had chosen freedom, instead of the Dynasty. Arachne crossed the shrine in a few quick steps, joining her Daius. She wrapped her arms around him comfortingly, and she heard him crying. Daius looked down at the woman, and Arachne looked up at him. He was a good foot and a half taller than her. Daius' look changed to one of compassion -- a look he hadn't worn in months. Arachne's golden eyes widened and she stepped away from him.
"What is that... that look..."
Daius stepped over to her, taking her in his strong arms, into a compassionate hug. "You poor girl... used by Talpa... I'm so sorry..."
Unknown to both, Narcissia reappeared in the shrine. She looked upon the two, who were taking comfort in the fact that they weren't alone anymore. She smiled.