Demon's Oath

Disclaimer: I don’t own Riviera or it’s characters.

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Demon’s Oath

I am Isher. I am a demon.

I now take part in a war against our kind and that of Angels, a war called Ragnarok. Utgard is resolute on the fact that the Retribution must take place in order for our kind to survive. They claim that the Angels and Gods are evil beings with no heed of our suffering. You see, Utgard is slowly dieing, and the Retribution’s power may be able to spark life in it once again.

Despite their claims, I see no evil in the eyes of our enemy. They fight to protect the Retribution’s power, which stands in the promised land of Riviera. We have fought there many times, and the Grim Angels have always tried to protect the Sprites whom live there. How could an evil being care for innocents in such a way that they would sacrifice their own lives to see them safe?

…I am torn between my own thoughts…but there is no time to dwell on these now, for now I stride with a mighty army towards yet another battle. We march in profile up the spiritual steps of Utgard, through Hel’s Gate, and approach Riviera’s soil. This is where my story begins…

Chapter 1: Battle At Ulduma Plains

I took a deep breath of Riviera’s clean air as we continued to march. It was a welcomed change to all of us, for the land we call home had not produced clean air in a very long time. I also noticed the lush grass beneath our feet; I had not seen grass since our last bloody feud.

Our commander raised a fist to signal for us to halt. We had arrived at the great Ulduma Plains, with Grim Angels waiting for us on the other side. I let the wind blow through my dark blue hair one more time before putting on my helmet.

Our commander turned to us and spoke, “Brave warriors of Utgard! Today, just like any other battle before us, we fight for the existence and well being of our kind! We gathered power. We gathered an army. Do you know what the Gods did?”

We all knew.

“They fled!” He continued. “They fled and left their Angels here to fight for them! We now stand on the land in which they placed their power before they vanished. All we need to do now is take it!”

We all shouted and cheered, as if it were really that simple. Our commander could get a rally started no matter what the odds.

The commander turned back around and signaled for us to get prepared. I had never been in the second row before, and I had been so wrapped up in my thoughts that I never realized that my life was on the line.

As I drew my sword, one of my comrades turned to me, “There’s only about ten Grim Angels over there. Did you know that the demon population outnumbers the Grim Angel population by about thirty to one?”

“So?” I asked.

He gave me a dirty look, “So why haven’t we won this war yet?”

“Because we fight with fangs, claws, and steel swords,” I replied. “And they have Diviners.”

My attention was quickly diverted, however, as I looked over the enemy before us. Then one of them caught my eye, it was a female. She had long, silky blonde hair and casual, gray Angel attire. Their kind are all of course considered ‘good looking’, but this one was beautiful. Ravishing, even.

The same soldier started to snap his fingers in front of my eyes, “Hey, they’re Angels, remember? Let’s shed some blood!”

Before I had time to answer, the group had started running full force towards the enemy. I closed my visor and kept up with them. At the same time, the Grim Angels were charging and taking flight towards us. I looked up and saw the Wyrms flying over us and after the Angels in the air.

A few moments and our groups collided. The first line plunged in with their weapons, but they were cut down by the heavenly Diviners. I pulled up my sword and started to hack away at one of them, but their Diviner glowed and burst out with energy. It happened so suddenly, and I was sent flying backwards, off to the side of the battlefield. My armor cushioned the force of the ground, but I was dazed for a few seconds.

I grimaced when I came to my senses and looked over at the battle. The demons, my friends and fellow soldiers, were being slaughtered by the dozen. They tried to defend themselves, oh how they struggled, but the Diviners were much too powerful. I had to help them. Why was I still laying here?

As I rose to my feet, I noticed the wyrms falling from the sky. Victims of the superior grace of the Angel’s wings. A shadow formed over me, and before I could react, I was knocked down once again by the corpse of a very large wrym. I cursed it’s weight as I tried to push it off, but it was no use. The body blocked their view of me, but my fellows were being massacred while I remained unnoticed.

After an excruciating amount of time, hearing the screams of anguish from the demons, there was silence. The idea of using my sword came to me, so I started to slice chunks of heavy flesh out from it’s body. I put every ounce of strength I had into it, and managed to lift it’s body up just high enough to slide out from underneath it. I looked over and felt a sickening feeling in my gut.

The ground was covered in blood and lifeless bodies, as if shrouded in a blanket of death. The demons were all dead with only four Grim Angels killed as well. I almost vomited. But as I noticed them, the Grim Angels noticed me. They approached, but one of them stopped the others. It was the one I had noticed earlier.

“Stay back,” she said. “I want the last one.”

She walked towards me, slowly.

I panicked. I was dead. This would be my final resting-place, and Utgard would fall to the mighty Grim Angels. All was lost.

She had a Diviner, and I had a piece of steel. I might as well have had a rock to fight with. In a ditch effort to defend myself, my mind forced me to pick up a rock and throw it at full force. To my surprise, it hit her hand and sent her Diviner spinning backwards several feet because of her light grip. This was my chance!

I lifted my sword and ran as fast I could at her. She knew there was no time to retrieve the Diviner, so she reached down and picked up the sword of an expired demon.

Our blades clashed, raised up, and clashed again. I wanted to swing my sword at her and just keep attacking until she was taken down. I wanted revenge. But that would not be the way to win, I needed to put strategy and technique into my swordplay.

The swords kept clashing; it was all very uniformed. Even though she was used to having the Diviner’s power, she knew how to handle a weapon with skill. It was all I could do to keep up with her, I had nearly exhausted my strength with the wyrm.

Finally I missed a swing, and she cut my arm. My sword dropped to the ground and she knocked me down with the back of her handle. I held the cut; she had made it fairly deep.

One of the other Angels threw the Diviner back to her, “Bree!”

She turned and caught it. The sword was tossed to the ground, and I found myself with a Diviner pointed at my neck.

I closed my eyes, “I am Isher, a knight of Utgard. I have no regrets, for I fought with honor.”

There was a pause.

I opened my eyes to find a puzzled look on her face. Her hand was unsteady.

“Regrets?…Honor?” she seamed to be struggling with this concept. “Why…but this doesn’t make sense.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

She shook her head, “You’re not…acting like a demon.”

Now I was confused, “How am I supposed to act?”

“What’s going on?” the others called.

Another pause.

“We’re…leaving,” she called back.

They stepped forward to protest, “But he’s…”

“Don’t argue with me, damn it! We are leaving,” she shot back.

The others said nothing more of it and left without a fuss. They were gone soon with me still trying to comprehend what happened. Not long after, a small scout group from Utgard came by.

They were shocked by the sight of the battlefield, but I walked up to them as if the fight had not mattered at all, “Take me back to Utgard.”

“Sir Isher! This is horrible! How are you still living?” the leader asked.

“Just take me back,” I replied. “I’m done with questions, now I need answers.”

To Be Continued...

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I wanted to try something new from the main cast of characters, so I did this. And no, I didn't spell Hel wrong, I meant to spell it that way.

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