Heir to the Empire

Prologue

The metallic taste of blood filled the mouth of the terrified priest as he anxiously dragged himself across the cold, hard surface of the temple. The smell of death and the piercing screams of his fellow clergymen sent chills through his aching bones, and the trail of blood that followed his movements brought only one thought to his mind: death would soon embrace him.

Just moments before, he had been enjoying the company of his colleagues as they feasted on their evening supper. Succulent boar, grapes, and honeyed apricots had been the main course. 'Not a bad final meal', he thought, but at the time, he had no idea it would be his last.

A little over twenty minutes ago, a group of rogues began to sack the temple, tearing it apart inch by inch, but with no purpose or plan. It seemed that they were not interested in valuables or information, but in pure bloodlust as they brutally slaughtered anyone they could find.

It was only a couple of minutes later when a tall, towering knight in battered, dented armour entered the temple that the meaning of the encounter became clear. The Necromancer's forces were on the move.

As the cold steel entered through his ribs and pierced his right lung, the priest thought these would be his last moments. Instead, he was left to crawl along the floor like a worm. He didn't want his life to end this way, but his destiny had been written from the moment he entered the order and joined this monastery.

As a member of the Sacred Order of Elements, he was one of the few tasked with maintaining the balance of the six spheres of magic: Earth, Fire, Water, Air, Life, and Death. With the Order's numbers dwindling, they had left a dangerous, unchecked threat: the Necromancer. It was now imperative that he kept the Order's biggest secret hidden—the whereabouts of the one destined to restore that balance.

Aware of the threat, the Necromancer had dispatched one of his most dangerous and feared agents, the Death Wraiths.

"Aex-Igh."

The priest heard the rasping sound of a broken voice in his ear. Struggling to turn his head towards the noise, he saw the heavy, black, metallic boot of the knight that had pinned him down. As the foot moved forward, the clanging of metal on metal, followed by a mighty stomp, struck fear into the priest's heart. Despite his desire to unburden his soul and end his suffering, his understanding of the consequences and his devotion to his duty meant that his secrets would remain unspoken.

"Uh... uh... uh, I don't know what you mean," he stuttered as the towering figure stood directly in front of him. The knight grabbed hold of his head and made him watch as one of his colleagues was doused in oil and set alight. The man flailed wildly as his body burst into flames. The smell of burning clothes to burning flesh was sickening as his colleague eventually fell to the floor lifeless. It was impossible to distinguish his features as his skin peeled away.

The priest wanted to turn his head away but was unable to break free from the grasp of the knight. He found himself drawn to the void that was once his colleague's eyes. If there was a soul, it was no more.

The priest felt a pool of urine between his legs and couldn't control the spasms his body was experiencing. The pain and fear made it very hard to concentrate, but he had to do what he could to remain focused. He must not reveal anything.

"Aex-Igh," the rasping voice breathed again from the blackened-shaped helmet of the knight.

Tears started to roll down the priest's eyes. "I... I... I can't help you. I know that they were executed by the Emperor sixteen winters ago. They're all dead, they're all dead!" He wheezed.

The knight instantly raised his hand for the rogues to pick their next victim to endure a similarly horrific fate. "No!" The priest struggled to scream out the words, and despite how pitiful he sounded, he had briefly stopped the knight from taking his next victim.

The knight bent down and grabbed the priest's head. His grip was powerful, covering his whole head. Lifting the priest to mere inches from the knight's helmet, the rotten stench of death seemed to envelop his nostrils. "One lives," the wheezing sound rasped from his helmet once more.

With all his strength, the priest spat at his helmet. "Go to hell!"

His phlegm slid down the side of the knight's visor, but the knight didn't even react. Eventually, he reached for his helmet and slowly lifted it, revealing his scarred and lifeless face. Showing the right side of his face, his skin was peeling and diseased, his pale greenish complexion and matted dark beard showed a lifetime of sorrow and war, and his grey-speckled eye showed no remorse for what he had done or was about to do.

"I already have!" The knight struggled to say. Slowly turning his head, his lifeless eyes looked at the priest as if it were piercing the very soul of his existence. As his skin turned to muscle, turned to sinew, turned to bone, it was apparent that this knight was not a creature of the living but had long embraced death.

The knight gave out a loud sigh before deeply inhaling the soul of the priest. The priest started to convulse, his muscles began to atrophy, and his skin turned pale and dry. Within moments, his life force had been stripped away from him, and all that was left was the distorted look of fear and anguish that contorted his face.

Seeing the priest's body slowly come to a standstill, the next victim looked up at the knight with tears welling up in his eyes. For years he had spent training and preparing for something like this to happen. The forces of the Necromancer and his predecessors were well documented, but nothing could prepare him for the reality of facing this Death Wraith.

He knew he was about to betray everything his order stood for, but he couldn't endure what the other priest did in his last few moments on this Earth. "Please forgive me, Lords of the Andel's, but I can't endure this anymore," he said before turning to the knight, who slowly placed his helmet back on his head. "Greenhaven."

With that, the knight gave his instructions to the rogues, and within moments, they slaughtered all who remained, before burning everything in sight. Without hesitation, the knight raised his broadsword to his back and started to stride towards the exit, with only one word escaping his mouth. "Greenhaven!"