Chapter 5 ( Thibideaux Reads a Story)

One thousand years later……..3341 AD

There was a cold chill to the air as the children ran about Rage Gale Keep. The children, grandchildren, cousins and friends of the Armies of Allied Forces ran around the throne room playing tag. “Treenie! You’re it! OH no! Don’t knock over grandfather’s books he’ll grow angry, you know how he gets.” The young half elf, half human said as she grabbed the book to keep it from falling just as her mother walked into the throne room. 

Alyssa Rehnquist Wife of Uther Stormyst looking strikingly like her mother Janice Pridewell and somewhat like her older brother Father Thomas who was a holy battle priest of the Order of the Crimson Rose. Alyssa chose the path of the Paladin to follow in her father’s footsteps. “Children your uncle Thibideau will be here shortly, please take care your shenanigan’s don’t disrupt his conference with your father and grandfather.”

All the kings and queens met once a month with all their children and grandchildren so they could teach them the histories of what they had endured and what the earth had gone through. All the children stopped running and spoke in unison almost,” Yes Mam!” Then took their game of tag into the war room, running around the conference table and watching great warriors and Battle mages, Paladin’s, Shaman’s, Priest’s and renowned hunters and rangers discussing battles they had with evil forces of Lucifer. Alyssa and Uther’s youngest child, Dazmon came towards her and tugged on the sleeve of her robes. Looking down she smiled at her young son and Heir apparent to the throne of Lorthramar.” Yes Dazzie, what do you want?” 

Smiling up at her, the tiny canine teeth of his Elvin side could slightly been seen. “Mommy, I think, I think I want to be like great grandfather Valudus! I want to be a druid.” See look! I can turn into a tiger!!!~ The young boy flicked his little fingers and dropped into the cutest tiger cub anyone had ever seen. Then  also very much like his grandmother, he went completely translucent, unable to be seen entirely.Uther walked into the room as he heard his young son speak the words and smiled to himself. The boy was only three years old but knew what he wanted better than his older sisters did. However, being the son of a Paladin and grandchild of a true warrior of Hashem literally garbed in the armor of God with Michael’s flaming sword. It would be tradition and life would be remiss if Thibideau did not train the lad. He would be taught Paladin spells to add to his Druidry and Roguish nature.

 Turning to his father he smiled brightly and yelled aloud across the throne room.” Father! When are we gonna see Old Drow’s son again? I like to hear his stories about your grandfather.” He said as he toed the floor randomly having come back to his normal form.

Just then a Booming voice came through the doorway,” Stories?! You want to hear stories young one? Well I have some stories for you.” Said Old Thibodeau as he walked up to Uther and grasped his hand shaking it fast. Pulling the king into a hug he said, while bidding them come to him with his hand imapatiently.. “Children! Come here and settle down and listen to your old uncle Thibideau.” Uther leaned over and spoke into Thibideau’s ear saying,” YOU need to teach him to sanctify the ground to lend his Druidry more power.”

 The grizzled old man cracked a smile and nodded his head. Whispering back to him. I’m gonna need your help with that one. Really kick it up a notch for him. BAM! It’ll stick in his memory forever then. So right when I have him stomp down, I want you to be behind him and do it at the same time. He will think he created a bomb of sorts.” Uther smiled and nodded and snarkily replied." You know my grandfather hated it when father used this spell." He mused with slight humor.

Just then the royal announcer’s voice spoke loudly,” All hail the king and queen of Rage Gale!” King Slayde and Queen Miralania came into the room they were gathering in with their six young daughters, their hooves clicking lightly on the tile floor. The Beautiful Miralania was a Faun or satyr and her children were just as beautiful as she was. All the children sat down in front of the great hearth and its roaring fire to wait for the adults to finish talking and to hear the story that was bound to come. The young girls tucked their little hooves under their bums and leaned back on the pillows that had been thrown around the floor so the children could relax and enjoy the wizened old man's story.

Thibideau Forging came into the room  and walked towards his old overstuffed dark maroon wingback chair. He smiled broadly making the scars on his face looked even more haggared . He pulled the sword from his armor and took off his chest plate and dropped them by the side of the chair. Unstrapping his gauntlets, he placed them beside the chest armor. The old man contined to get more comfortable then Turned towards the fireplace, walked three steps  to the mantel and turned around. "HMMM, have you been good? He said looking at the mothers for their assent the children had indeed been good in his absence.

 He smiled and reached out and  pulled a large red leather bound tome from the mantle above. The children sat scattered around on cushions they had brought from the corner. Old Thibideau was haggard and worn, no longer the young spry man he was in his early days. His face bore a scar where the tip of a zombie rogue’s dagger had caught him slightly. His Bald head scared and he had a beautiful deep southern draw from the marshy lands of Calpurnia which used to be the states of Louisiana and Mississippi. He was tall with broad shoulders, and he had a slight limp due to his hamstring being injured during a skirmish on the border.

Young Dazmon sat upon his mother’s lap as Thibideau sat down in his special chair and smiled as he crossed his leg over his knee and rested the large book there and paused a moment before opening the heavy cover. Taking a deep breath he looked up at the children and spoke,” In order for me to tell you of your great grandfather, I must first tell the story of your grandfather Valudaz Plaguemyst. This is a story fraught with danger and death and much sadness, but in the end honor wins out children. Some things in life are never fair, but how you rise above that unfairness and come out on the other side that’s what tells of a strong soul.”

He said as He looked at Uther and young Dazzie knowing the loss they had suffered to the core of their souls. Speaking softly,” He has eyes and ears and watches you from afar M’ Lord and your mother is now at his side. He is no longer alone in his journey. Ok now children, sit down and get comfortable we are going to be here for a while.”

The old man looked down at the leather bound tome in his hand and began to read as he puffed on a large black pipe, crossed his legs took a breath and began to read.

“The screams of people filled the air as smoke billowed from the chapel’s small windows. The tall druid and his wife hurried to the doorway. Looking at the woman by his side and leaned forward and kissed her quickly and speaks softly,” Never forget how much I love you Shellia. Now let’s stop him, we can’t wait for the others to get here.

The couple entered the doorway and saw Lucifer plunging his sword into a young woman, pregnant with child. Ishellia gasped for a breath as she took in the horror of the scene before her and the Angel of light turned, the frost blue eyes shining through the slits in his helm. With almost a cackle he sneered at the beautiful mage before him,” You’ll be next Lady Stormyst.” With a flick of his wrist Valudus shifted to his owl form and hurriedly cast a Moon shard bolt and Ishellia quickly threw a frost glacier to stop him.

 However, the glacier didn’t work and Lucifer advanced towards her, knocking the pews out of the way smashing them into the wall. The woman backed slightly as she called forth her water pet and began to summon her frost bolt as Lord Valudus began pummeling the large man with a wrathful star bolt. The great angel laughed maniacally and hastened his way to the mage as she backed further towards her mate still firing as fast as she could, barely doing any damage to the Devil’s armor. “ Why, won’t you just die!” She screamed as she summoned up a glancing ice cycle that pierced the darkened metal of his armor. 

His gauntleted hand broke it off and left the rest melting in his chest. She struggled to stay ahead of Lucifer’s advancing steps but somehow in all her years as Arch Mage , never had she come across such a deadly opponent. He was definitely formidable as she pounded him relentlessly with a blistering cold blizzard that had razor sharp ice shards that pounded into his armor with a ferocity he had never seen seen from the mage before. He had been friends with their son for many years while he hid in plain sight .

Valudus yelled through the smoke and din,” Shellia! Get behind me!” Just as she moved to get behind him, Satan grabbed her by the throat and began to strangle her lifting her in mid- air. The mage struggled to free her throat frantically as she was flung about in the air. She clawed at his gauntlets and stabbed at his face with her dagger as she summoned Ice shards to stab at his face. One Ice shard caught his cheek and she raked it heavily across cutting a jagged line across his cheek up to his eyebrow before it was shook loose from her hand. 

Never once did Valudus stop pummeling the angel before him. Gasping for air, she feigned death and Lucifer picker her up and flung her into the wall of the chapel shattering the stained glass window as she made contact. The druid could audibly hear her bones breaking and he winced as he continued to attack the angel. Yelling at him wildly, “Lucifer! For that you will die!” As he shifted again, this time into the form of a great Siberian Tiger. With a quick flick of his paw and extension of claws, star shards began pelting the angel making him stumble slightly in his advance. Quickly! He cast Storm, picking up the epitome of evil and cast it back from him. Silently, Shellia summoned her elemental creatures of all four elements to assist her husband while she lay still as she possibly could trying to catch her breath and fight through the pain that wracked her tiny frame. She then summoned her blizzard once again to circle around the angel and pound him from all sides mercilessly. Looking up at the stained glass windows she telepathically linked with her son. “ Help!”

Young Valudaz fighting the undead zombies at Dragon Keep their family home, defending it with honor stopped mid-swing of his sword and felt the faint call of his mother. With but a quick whistle he called his steed to him and sped across land as fast as he could with the weight of his paladin armor. Within minutes he made it to the giant eagle master and embarked across the skies to the Chapel of Light hoping against Time that he would make it to his mother. Being a Holy Paladin he could raise her from the dead if he got there in time. A cold chill crept across his chest as he felt a dread he never felt before closing in on him. Something bad was going to happen he just couldn’t see it this time.

Valudus was distracted as he cast his battle trees and tried to heal his wife quickly as he backed towards her. Lucifer took advantage of this act and cast mind freeze and stopped his spell in its tracks. The druid tried to cleanse the spell from himself to no avail, all he could do was watch for the few moments it held him fast.

Struggling for a breath, Ishellia moaned slightly but remained still, growing ever paler as she felt the pain of her broken bones. Shallow rasping foretold a rib had punctured her lung making it even harder for her to breathe. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth and ran from her nose but she still fought him through her pain. As often as she could she froze him to the spot where he was to slow him if not for just a few seconds to allow her husband more time to fight the beast.

The devil advanced on him and struck him hard with the edge of his blade knocking him into the same wall as Ishellia had been. Falling just inches from his wife he could hear her whisper shallowly, “Camouflage! Val? Camouflage!” He did as she said and lay as still as a mouse barely daring to breathe. Lucifer Boomed loudly! ”Druid!!! Where are you!? You will not survive the day, I swear it!”

Just then! Young Valudaz‘s eagle landed and he rushed to the door of the chapel his plate armor clanking as he neared them. He entered the doorway hearing the Devil screaming for his father. Looking around he did not see him anywhere and saw his dying mother holding onto something unseen and he assumed it was his father’s hand. 

Looking up in deep anger he screamed,” LUCIFER!! GOD is pissed at you and I am here to see that you die!” Satan turned and looked at his best friend drawing the legendary Excalibur of the ancient kings of Britain and Lorthramar from his back. With a stomp of his foot his Purification spell rocked the foundation of the chapel spreading up the angels legs. As he stomped he screamed,” The power of Shit Cunts compels you!,The power of shit cunts compels you! The power of shit cunts compels you!” White light exuded from a candle that had been thrown from Daz's Gauntleted hand onto the floor already lit as if my some divine stroke from the heavens above. 

In return Lucifer cast decaying rot and Valudaz jumped quickly to avoid it over several pews and landed in front of the huge man that had become the bane of the earth. In a flash, he stabbed Lucifer between the pieces of plate on his chest as he cast the seal of judging simultaneously, rocking the evil incarnate to his knees momentarily. With a flash he unleashed his army of zombies and they advance on the young Stormyst. These weren’t just any zombies they were riddled with nanobots .With a raging cry of the paladin bolts of lightning begin to spark out of Excalibur casting a web of chain lightening all around him dispatching the army of ghouls that surrounded him. Looking down at his best friend he spoke in harsh anger,” How have you become …This, this evil that you are? What would Janice think if she saw what you have done Lucifer! Stop now, come to your senses, I’m giving you a chance to defeat Dah’nah that evil bat once and for all right now!”

Chuckling maniacally he responded still on his knees,” Your problem is your goodness always has been, I am Dah‘Nah. I am Evil. I am darkness revealed. The problem is Young whelp; you are trying to reason with someone who no longer exists.I have hidden who I am for over a thousand years since I was released from the bonds of Hell! Do you even comprehend what it was like being stiffeld by that heat? My wings singed, acrid smell in my nostrils all the time, all because my father is worse than a petulant child! He threw me to the wolves to fend for myself because I didnt want humans to have free will.” Daz looked at him. in all his two thousand years of existence never once did he realize the person who had become this thing in front of him was the malfeasance that Ya threw out of heaven. The Elves were angels some with wings and some without but no one knew that. We were the watchers left here to keep the Earth safe. but now...

With a snap of his wrist he brought his frosted fire blade up quickly and stabbed upwards finding the separation between the plates near the young man’s heart. With a gasp Valudus and Ishellia watched their son die at the hands of the monster before them. : Now silly paladin, your soul belongs to me!” An ethereal blue glow surrounded the young elf and wrapped around him in chord like bands as The Angel of Light opened a sickening green portal and cast him and his sword through. 

Turning to the beautiful, deeply hurt mage he cast the strangulation spell, a deep purple ethereal strand of slithering light jumped from his fingers and wrapped around her throat like fingers grasping tightly, once more pulling her to him from the floor like a rag doll. Valudus grasping her hand trying to pull her back to him could not hold on to her and keep his cover. He pulled so hard he revealed himself but the Angel was only worried about the mage.” I told you I would kill you for your insolence mage, Now, you die!” with one last gasp for air she struggled,” Valudus! I Lo” and her neck were snapped before she could finish her statement. The druid dared not move or break his silence as he watched his everything die in the grasp of the man he had known all of his life and vowed somehow, someday Lucifer would die He would find a way to kill an angel.

With a flick of his finger the green portal opened and the angel stepped through with Ishellia still held by the throat like a rag doll and disappeared into nothingness. He left nothing but the stench of death behind that emenated from the portal hole he had gone through.

Lord Stormyst shook himself and told himself to move but couldn’t for some time. Shock and pain clouded his senses. His only son and his beloved wife of almost five thousand years taken from him. Then somehow from the depths of his soul he managed to port to the temple of Gaia in Avalon. He spun through the worm hole and landed with a thud at the feet of the High Priestess who was about to cleanse herself in the moon well at the feet of the Goddess. Breathing heavily, and wounded badly all he could do was scream a primal scream and shift to tiger form and roar with the rage of a mourning hurting soul.

 The Priestesses looked up and ran to him knowing instantly something was wrong with the arch druid. “Hold still M’ Lord, she said as she looked over his tiger form and determined he was injured quite badly. There were slashes and gashes along his torso and neck line. blood seeped into his fur and stained the white a bright red. Pain from his soul caused heavy breathing as large fat Tiger tears rolled down his muzzle. Several of priestesses swirled their hands simultaneously and healed him with the force of a hurricane. In his sorrow he lay there in tiger form not moving as the High Priestess laid his feline head in her lap, stroking his white and black fur and crooning something unknown from a place deep within the well of her soul.He could not put it all together, his thoughts were everywhere. He could not even speak if he tried. No sound would come out of his mouth it was probably better he remained in Tiger form. Telepathically, he showed her what had happened for he could not speak. Big huge tears fell down his furry face and he turned and roared loudly at the statue of the Goddess.

 His mother Madeline heard the ruckus and made her way to see what the commotion was bidding Andronus to follow her. As they entered the temple there her son was in animal form laying on the floor.His fur still stained bright red and in need of a hot bath to cleanse him throuroughly.  Ishellia no where in sight, Nor her grandson, Daz. Instantly she knew the tides of balance had shifted and something was very wrong . Val sensed his mother and barely lifted his tiger head and his body slumped down his shoulders heaving in great sobs. The high priestess told her telepathically both Ishellia and Daz were dead. The old woman crouched down and ran her fingers through her sons hair and motioned for Andronus to pick him up and carry him to her house. The great tall elf bent down and picked up his younger brother and carried his weight with ease. Crooning," Shh, now, I know. Shh. Take your time, take your time. lets go get you cleaned up."All Valudus could do was raise his paw up slightly to touch the upper part of his brother's arm.