A test of loyalty.

The light of the orb began glowing with a glistening magical aura, someone had finally answered. 'They’re closing in!'  He immediately yelled, not knowing what else to say. 'What do we do? Should I do it?' He rushed out. The sound of explosions slowly began creeping through the castle halls, reaching even the basement he hid in. The distant screams of his allies and enemies locked in battle could be heard whispering behind them. There’s no way we can defeat them without it, he thought, They must allow us to proceed. He saw a large figure come into view on the orbs' perfectly smooth surface, obscured by the room's darkness. 'Hello! Can you hear me? This is Osim of Silurnia.' He initiated with. 'Yes, hello Osim; explain the situation for us.' The figure said in a placid tone as it walked into view under the light of their orb. Osim knew this man, Eldor, his grey beard was contaminated by the purple of the orb, turning it into a tangled murky mess of hair. His large and filled frame eclipsed the orbs surface as he sat down to listen. 'M’lord, the Nomads have joined with the rebels we told you were attacking earlier, they’ve breached our wall and t-there’s no stopping them!' Osim explained, trying to give as much information out as quickly as possible. An explosion from cannon fire in the distance caused an ensuing sound of shattering glass to follow it’s boom echoing around the entire castle. Damn, my refinery was hit, they really want us gone don’t they. 'Hmm, You are one of two places with such a weapon at your disposal, we can’t risk wasting it.' Eldor responded slowly, his low voice merging with rumblings of the walls Osim was confined by. Osim was taken aback by this response, 'Are you a fool? We can’t win without it and we can’t let them have it to use against us!'

  'Hmm yes, I’ll consult Lamorak.' Eldor responded, he rose from his chair with a grunt and shuffled away with minimal urgency.

Damn him! Surely Lamorak would want us to stay a part of his united country? He thought, feeling his frustration with the situation rise. He was practically chained to his desk whilst his friends were struggling against the foolish force that attacked his home. He heard spells being flung around with crackles above ground as they clashed and destroyed various parts of the great house’s home that had stood for hundreds of years. Swords clanged as he heard the voices of men both known and unknown struggle and fall due to various unidentifiable causes. He could do nothing but listen to their echoing voices of pain and despair infiltrate and invade his skull. Please please please, let me put an end to this. 

The fumbling and clashing of warriors and mages continued until a loud crashing sound shook the earth, the sound even for Osim in the bowels of the castle was unbearable, he covered his ears. A really powerful weapon or spell had been used? The vibrations subsided slightly and he released his ears. Thunderous thuds of a falling wall could be heard, each piece of debris shaking him and everything around him, books fell before being followed by the shelves that held them. As the rumbling subsided, he heard a powerful voice yell 'Go! Let’s bring this place down.' The familiar yet nomadic sounding voice sent him to search his memory. He delved through the memories of Nomads he had met and couldn’t figure out who it was. Who was leading this final charge on the house of Vedras?

Charging footsteps followed the call of the man, this storm of men swallowed the combined forces on the battlefield and the sound of Silurnian soldiers falling began to far outweigh that of the nomads. They don’t just want to defeat us, they want to tear this place down! Maybe even the entire city. This thought brought a sinking feeling to Osim, even if he was given the go ahead, the destruction caused by this army would be too great to recover from. House Vedras and Silurnia were gone, forever. However, he still longed for the order to pull the lever that lay on the wall to the left of the orb. He wanted justice for the Vedras name, whoever took that which he worked so hard to attain would pay with their lives. Come on, come on, he thought, shaking his leg under his dark purple robe. He watched the orb intently, waiting for someone to come back, each second struggling past.

Eventually, he heard a door creak open from the orb, the shuffling of Eldor returning before he came into frame and sat down. 'Osim, you’re still there, yes?' His weak voice leaked through the orb. 'M’lord.' Osim responded in a slightly elated tone, the wait was over. 'Yes, uhh, I had a word with Lamorak,' He began, Osim felt his excitement begin to fade after hearing Eldor’s starting tone. 'You are not to use the weapon, it now serves a purpose other than to protect your house.' The words pierced Osim in the heart, he felt this was a betrayal, Lamorak was going to leave all these men to die for nothing and he’s going to let one of his first allies crumble for some greater plan? He brought himself into composure, holding back tears 'And what is this new purpose?' His voice pitched in an overly high and friendly tone. 'We need all these enemies in one place, the weapon will keep them there and we’ll be able to take the house back.' Eldor stated. 'Take the house back? There will be nothing left by the time they’re done!' Osim screamed. 'Don’t be so dramatic Osi-'

'It’s true, they’re going to leave this house in cinders.' Osims voice invaded the soundscape. Visibly frustrated with Osim, Eldor responded plainly, 'Well if that’s truly the case, you will be remembered for your noble sacrifice.' The orb switched off, leaving Osim in the darkness of the room. He felt the walls begin to crush him as the reality of his circumstances set in, was he really to listen to everything he had earned fall without pulling the lever to spit at whoever had brought him to such a fate?

'You were right, we’re gonna bring this place down to a pile of rubble.' He heard a familiar powerful voice state calmly. He spun to see a group of five mages, the voice coming from a young man wearing a purple coat. The man created a white mage bulb, bringing illumination to the dark room, Osim was now able to see and recognise his face. 'James, it’s you?' He gasped, he never thought he’d see this boy again. 'You guys really thought Lamorak wanted to save this country or whatever didn’t you?' James said, ignoring Osims words. 'I-I’m sorry for what I did, please don’t take down our… I mean, your home.' Osim begged, he didn’t expect the destroyer of this great house to be the one who held the name. 'This house no longer held by a Vedras, therefore it’s existence is pointless and I’m here to take it down as the last living member of Vedras, also, as a Nomad, I’m here to begin my quest to take everything from your glorious Lamorak, just as you both did to me,' James proudly asserted, there was no turning him around. Osims face contorted as his thoughts turned bitter. 'Besides, I can’t stop them now, they’ve already started to have fun up there.' James followed up as a smirk emerged from his face. 'You fool! Then we’ll all die together!' Osim yelled as he lunged and pulled the lever. It clicked once his arm slammed down onto the wall it rested on. The sound of his sudden movement rang in the room until the torturous silence returned to it, only the muffled continuing combat could be heard. Nothing happened? Osim felt a searing pain engulf his body, he looked around to see James Vedras stood directly behind him, the bulb that lit the room was now a sword piercing through his back and peaking through his abdomen. James' voice lowered as he lowered his head so that he could properly peer directly into Osim’s being, his tone reaching negative temperatures, 'Still a traitor even after having tasted it yourself eh?' An icy grin stuck to his face. Osim stumbled to find something he could say to respond to everything happening in this scenario but all he could muster was a 'W-wha-?' He didn’t know what to ask, how did the weapon not work? How was James still alive and why is he with such lowly creatures? His confusion completely captured his consciousness. 'You mean the weapon, right? Yes, we knew of it and disabled it before we even attacked, you’d be surprised at where rebels can turn up when you betrayed those they were loyal to,' James started as he whipped the blade out, Osim fell to the ground, holding the spot and writhing in the sizzling sensation that now crawled through his body. 'You know, I wasn’t sure whether I’d kill you if you didn’t attempt to pull the lever, so thank you for making my choice much easier.' He stated. 

That’s it! Osim screamed internally as he leapt to his feet, attempting to ignore the pain. He reached his trembling hand out and struggled to make a turquoise magic ring appear, it sent a gust of air out, pushing everything in the room and the mages backward. Once the gust stopped, Osim began desperately gasping for air after putting so much effort into the push. He had no time for that. He created another ring in his other hand and moved one hand behind the other, combining the rings and creating a ring that was the same height as the room. The energy it held was so grand that a wind began circling around the basement. Dust, books and broken wood that were being picked up circled Osim. He felt the ring suck all of his magic out of him, but that didn’t matter, Osim reached the back hand further backward before suddenly smacking it into the front hand. It was as if all the wind circling the room was focused into one almighty push. All the young mages were plastered to the wall, save for James who stood with his light dispersed into a translucent wall planted into the ground. Damn. The sight of his primary target standing there unphased, waiting out his attack, sapped him of almost all motivation and hope of seeking revenge; he certainly didn’t have enough to keep this colossal ring active and further damage himself. He closed it and fell to the ground, a dry husk losing it’s little life force as time continued, using such a large ring past his magical reserves had caused his magical being to begin gorging on his body to keep the ring active. 

James approached, a tall purple blur, mixing with the various colours that filled the room. He bent over a near lifeless Osim and breathed, 'Goodbye old friend.' This final gesture of kindness flooded Osim, his memories of serving the family for the decades he did came flooding back, Oh what have I done? The last droplets of moisture in his body left through his eyes as his last remnants of life force exited his mouth in his last wavering breath.