Chapter 21 Echo of the Past
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Thousands of years ago

"Get up now, boy!" The tall figure clad in a flowing purple robe pushed a small child out of the ornate bed that he was sleeping on. The child hit the floor with a slight thud and let out a groan.

"The High Elves have arrived?" The child spoke as he rose steadily to his feet. He was wearing a dull grey form-fitting outfit. He had a small set of six storm grey wings that hung from his body proudly.

"Yes, son. However, you will not fight this day." The tall Nephilim told him as he grabbed a small bag and started stuffing it full of various items.

"What do you mean, father? I want to fight them." The young Nephilim told his father as the bag was handed to him

"You will not. You will hide and wait for an angel named Malek. He will take you under his wing and protect you."

The young child started to raise his voice towards his father. "No! I will not run! That will only bring dishonor to our race."

The father backhanded the child and sent him sprawling to the floor. " No. This is my fight! Not yours. My word is the law, and you know this." The child tearfully nodded as he understood what his father was saying.

"I understand, father." The child said as the large man knelt before the child and rested his forehead against his.

"I want you to find an Angel by the name of Malek. More than likely, he will come to find you soon. Just remain hidden. You need to survive this day."

The child let out a small sniffle, "I understand father. I will do as you ask." The man nodded his head and stood up and pulled a simple ring off of his worn hand. The ring was black band with a small raven engraved onto it. The child gazed at it with reverence as the father handed it over to him.

"Lucifer, this ring is yours now." The child's mouth gaped as the ring fell into his palm.

"Father, I can't take this," Lucifer told his father as he tried to hand the ring back.

"You can. You are the heir apparent. This now belongs to you, along with this." The man presented a small satchel that had runes embedded on the surface that glowed a faint green in the light.

"What is it?" Lucifer asked as he took it in his small hands.

"That is the regalia of the Emperor. My final gift to you." The boy froze and pulled it to his chest, and the tears started to flow from his eyes. "Stop those tears, child." The father rested his hand on the boy's small shoulder and gave him a soft pat.

The boy gave a weak nod, and the man turned around. "Wait here for Malek. He will be arriving hopefully soon—Goodbye son. " The man elegantly glided out of the room and gave the child one last look before he pressed a button, and the door hissed closed, leaving the child alone.

The man let out a sigh as he brought up a screen and put security measures in place around the room that Lucifer was residing in. He took another breath and padded down the long hallway. His footsteps echoed in the empty hall, and he closed his eyes as he came to a door that had small mana veins lacing the surface. He placed his hand on the surface and sent a short pulse of mana through it, and the door slowly opened, revealing a large chamber. Crystal chandeliers dotted the ceilings and small torches that radiated a soft blue light lined each pillar that seemed to be crafted meticulously.

The man walked along the marble floor and quickly approached a single throne that two figures flanked and sat at the end of the staircase. The throne was a simple one; the cushion was a light red and was inset. The back of the throne was gunmetal grey and had twinkling lights that oscillated down from top to bottom and a simple staff set next to it. The man sat down in his chair and brought up his screen.

"Azrael and Abbadon. You two are the last remaining members of my honor guard, and the last of my ascended. I hereby grant you the mark of the Administrator. Upon your death, you are to find Malek and serve him as you serve me." The man quickly typed something into his screen, and a wave of mana washed over the two forms, briefly revealing them.

They both seemed to drip darkness from their flesh and had wings that were as black as night. They both wore a cloak that had a single screaming raven emblazoned on it and was painted bright white over the jet back cloak.

The light quickly faded, and their forms became obscured once more as darkness wrapped itself around them. One drew a scythe from thin air that stood taller than a human male. The other drew a pair of pistols that had small mana veins crawling across the surface. The forms shifted as the man brought up another screen that had an extensive series of numbers that was rapidly decreasing. As each number drew smaller, the man started to look older. His once vibrant black hair grew whiter. His red flesh started to lose its color and wrinkles began to appear. His robes that once hugged his flesh tightly began to hang off of his form as it rapidly became emaciated.

His face slowly started to darken, and a trail of tears began to appear as the once large number finally ticked down to only a few hundred thousand. The building started to shake, and small clouds of dust floated down from the ceiling. "Our time has arrived. Protect me as I prepare this spell. It has been an honor knowing you two." The man's once-powerful voice was now raspy and quiet.

The two forms nodded and descended from the staircase that the throne was sitting on and slowly approached the large double doors that sat at the end of the large room.

The man closed his eyes and started to murmur under his breath as the doors began to rattle. The form with the scythe ran his hand over the blade, and it flickered before the grey blade turned ice blue. The other raised his pistols, and the light blue mana veins turned into a vibrant purple.

The door shook once more and flew open, revealing a blood orange sky. Meteors fell and impacted the planet causing massive earthquakes to shake the building. Sounds of gunfire and swords clashing in the distance started to echo in the room from the outside.

Standing in front of the now-destroyed door stood a form that wore bright golden armor that had deep red splatters across it. A winged helm sat on the forms head and grasped firmly in its hand was a large glaive that had a long blade that tapered off at the end.

"My my. Look at how far you have fallen, Emperor Lorian." A melodic voice rang out smoothly across the vast expanse causing Lorian to twitch. The armor-clad form took a step forward, and the figure with the scythe took a step forward in turn and swung, causing a large swath of ice to form in the air. The ice shot across the room only to be cut in half by the glaive. The other form jumped sideways and started to fire his pistols. Continuous streams of light shot out from his guns that were quickly dodged.

This went on for quite some time, as both sides were equally matched. Ice would shoot out, and the pistols would fire, continuously keeping the opponent on edge, but eventually, the two defenders fell. Both impaled on the edge of the glaive.

Lorian stood from his throne and grasped a staff in his gnarled hands. He started to radiate green energy, and his voice was amplified and started to regain some of its former strength, "Aylwin! You have defiled my home and killed my people."

A small grin flashed across Aylwins face as he quickly flicked his spear. "I did. I want your power, Lorian. I want to rule this galaxy. I will do whatever it takes." He called out proudly to Lorian. "I've killed your people. You no longer have the strength to fight back. Give me your power, and I might just let you live."

Lorian slammed his staff into the marble floor, and a beam of green light shot through the ceiling and encased him. A scream ripped through the air, as vaguely humanoid lights started to appear from the air and flow into Lorian. Thousands of lights started to pour through the door and rushed to Lorian.

Aylwin saw his chance and quickly lunged towards the king only for a great sword that appeared from thin air to block his glaive, throwing him backward.

"Even in death, the Nephilim serve their king. You will never have my power Aylwin." Lorian started to transform and regain his former appearance. His eyes became a black void, and green energy cracked light lightening around him as he took a step forward.

"If you will not give me what I desire, then I will take your son. I will get what I want one way or another!" Aylwin spun his glaive around and started to circle the throne, his golden eyes watching Lorian closely.

"My name is Lorian Vestarus, Emperor of the Nephilim. I will be your opponent today." Lorian told him as he waved his staff, and a large sword appeared, composed of green mana. Seven grey wings extended from his back, and a burning halo appeared above his head, and he lunged at Aylwin. Glaive and mana sword met, and the clashes shook the building.

Lorian swung with massive sweeping strikes that Aylwin was hard-pressed to dodge. Every time Aylwin tried to roll and slide behind Lorian, a large bolt of green lightning would strike, forcing him to dodge out of the way.

The fight continued for some time. However, Lorian visibly started to weaken. His green aura started to fade, and his strikes began to decline. Aylwin saw a chance, and his glaive slid past Loriain's sword and embedded itself in his stomach. Lorian let out a grunt and grabbed the glaive and swung his sword out, catching Aylwin with the mana blade. The blade sunk a few inches into his chest, but he gave Lorian a wicked grin and sunk the glaive in further.

Lorian coughed up specks of blood and dropped to a knee, his blade dissipated into thin air. "My my, Lorian. You did give me a run for my money. If I had not weakened you by killing off your race before we fought, I doubt I would have won. But it’s no matter." He reached down and grabbed the robe of the dying king, and dragged him to the open door. He grabbed Lorians head and tilted it towards the burning sky and leaned in close to his ear, "Now watch as your world crumbles and becomes mine."

The sky was on fire. Debris rained from the air, and the once intense fighting started to calm. Sporadic gunfire punctuated the silence, and giant buildings that touched the sky were crumbling as they burned. The air was thick with smoke and screams. A look of total despair crossed the king's face as he watched his once-mighty world crumble before his eyes.

"Yes, that is the look I wanted. Maybe I'll just enslave you. That way, I will learn all of your secrets." The green aura started to fade, and his body rapidly began to wither away. A small tisk escaped from Aylwins lips, and he rose his ornate glaive high in the air, ready to deliver a killing blow when a deep voice broke through the sound of destruction.

"Brother, no!" In a flash, Aylwin was thrown from the fallen king and impacted a pillar, causing it to crumble under the impact. A flash of white and gold appeared over the fallen king. A form clad in glowing white armor stepped protectively over Lorian. A pair of twin swords flickered through reality and fragmented and expanded in size as the form shot across the room and cut two deep gouges in once beautifully crafted armor. The sword flickered then vanished from reality, and the geometric helm shattered and flooded back into the armor, revealing the black hair and piercing grey eyes and a burning golden halo of an angry angelic male. He reached down and tore the helm off of Aylwins face exposing his golden eyes and flawless face. His platinum blonde hair came down to his shoulders and sat behind his pointed ears.

The angel reached down and grabbed the fallen elf, and a look of fear crossed his eyes, "No, you were supposed to be dead."

The angel gazed at the elf for a moment longer before speaking, "Well, here I am. Your backhanded schemes will never be enough to kill me. Nor will they be enough to save you." A trail of golden and red fire started to crawl up the angels' arms and started to build up at his wrist.

"I will kill you, Malek, I swear by all my ancestors that I will kill you and your blasted race." The elf screamed as he struggled to escape from Malek's grasp.

"Cinderhulk," Malek spoke softly, and the flame encased the elf causing soul-piercing screams to fill the room. The flames tore at his once beautiful armor, and it crumbled under the intense heat. His hair caught on fire, and his skin started to bubble. Malek threw the burning elf across the room, and he landed in a broken heap. Malek quickly turned over and ran to the fallen king.

"Brother, speak to me." He quickly spoke as he leaned down and tried to staunch the flow of blood pouring from his brother's stomach.

Lorian coughed, and his green aura faded even more. His flesh started to become taunt and translucent as his youth began to fade. "It's too late for me Corven."

Malek shook his head, "You know I don't go by that name anymore." The fallen Nephilim reached his hand up and gave Malek's cheek a soft pat, "You will always be Corven to me." He dropped his hand and let out another wet raspy cough. "I have a few favors to ask before I go."

Malek shifted his brother's body and rested his head on his thigh, "Yes, brother? What can I do?" Malek's voice sounded weak and filled with sadness as he spoke.

"Earth is now yours. I hereby transfer all ownership over all my remaining planets and the last of my people to you. You currently have access to everything that made us great. But I want you to destroy all traces of our people. Without me, they will only fall and be used as slaves. Do not let them suffer anymore, brother."

Malek gave a quick nod as tears started to pool at the corner of his eyes, "I don't think I can kill the last of my race. I don't think I have it in me."

Lorian gazed at Malek for a moment just before another coughing fit racked his dying body. "Do it for me. Don't let them suffer. Our time has come to an end. Let the rest die with dignity. One day in the future, our race will return, and there will be retribution. But for now, just let the others rest."

Malek nodded his head, and Lorians eyes started to flutter close. "Watch over my son. He will walk a dangerous path, but he will be vital to the return of our race." Lorians voice started to crack and grow weaker as he spoke.

Malek choked back tears as he started to feel his brother's body grow limp in his hands, "Corven? Do you think they will forgive me?" Lorian asked as his life finally started to fade, and the last sight he ever had was that of his world burning.

"I am sure they will. It is me they won't forgive. Rest now. I will avenge you." Malek ran his hands over Lorians eyes and closed them and set him gently down on the marble floor.

"Ra." Malek quietly spoke as he leaned protectively over his now-dead brother's body. A gust of wind blew into the room, and a tall being with the head of a falcon appeared. He dropped to one knee before Malek and spoke, "Yes, my lord?" Ra asked as he put his head down in reverence.

"Purge the planet. Give the Nephilim a peaceful death. Make sure the High Elves and their allies suffer through their final moments." Ra stood up and gave a bow, and with the screech of a bird, he shot out of the doorway. Malek watched as a ball of fire started to grow in the sky, and he dragged his brother into the safety of his control room. He laid his brother out flat and crossed his arms and adjusted his clothing and gave him one last smile. "Goodbye, Lorian." Malek told him as he turned to walk deeper into the control room to find his nephew.

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