//------------------------------// // Alpha // Story: The God of Darkness // by Synthetic Soul //------------------------------// The dragons all sat in silence, no one daring to speak. Instead, the dragons turned to look upon the Grand Elder, who simply stared at the intruder. The Dragon and the God just stared upon each other, sizing the other up. The Elder knew that, despite his size, the one known as Dark Blade was a danger like no other. And the fact that he knew the language of the ancients only heightened that fact. While the Dragon maintained an aggressive stance, his eyes betrayed his fear. In contrast, Blade stood in a very relaxed stance, a cocky smirk on his face. As the two stood, staring at each other, one particular youngling had had enough of the stare off, and decided to act. “New Alpha? Please, I’ll take care of this freak!” Garble Spread his wings, and rocketed towards the intruder. The Alpha turned his head towards Garble. “NO!” But Garble did not heed the Elders call, instead rearing his claws back, attempting to claw at Blade. But instead of making contact, the red dragon merely fell through the dark ones body, as he dissipated into black smoke. Garble landed on the ground, eating dirt. Meanwhile, the Human Deity rematerialized on top of a rock a few meters away. “Ha ha ha! Is that all you have you little punk?” Garble pushed himself up, turning even redder than before. “Oh, you are SO DEAD!” He used his tail, to spin and reorient himself, and then launched himself back towards Blade. The Alpha attempted to warn him, but the youngling was too determined to kill this intruder. As Garble launched towards Blade, the human merely smirked, and leaped in the air, doing a flip over Garble as he flew towards him. Garble turned around, to view the human, who slowly levitated back to the ground. “You get one more,” said Dark Blade. Garble was now consumed with rage. Garble let out a rage filled roar, as he released a torrent of flame towards the human. The Dark one merely cleared his throat, and then released an ancient shout. “FUS RO DAH!” and like that, the flame that was shooting towards Blade, was propelled back towards the red dragon. The fire shot strait into Garbles mouth, shooting down his lungs, and into his stomach, igniting him from the inside. He fell to the ground, screaming, as he was roasted from the inside. The elder gazed upon the dragon that would one day take his place. He just watched as Garble clawed at the air, screaming in pain. For, he knew there was nothing he could do to save him. As the dying dragons suffering came to an end, all the dragons who had witnessed the event, now looked to the killer, and their alpha, to see what would happen next. The Alpha looked to Blade, and spoke in his deep voice. “You killed my son,” growled the Alpha. “I know, I was there,” said Blade as he examined his nails for dirt. “You may not remember me, but I remember you…Dark Blade.” “Ooh, someone who remembers me, how nice!” said the human, while feigning surprise. “Yes, and I remember how you slaughtered many of our kind. Why have you come back?” “Oh, well you see, I’m recruiting for my army.” “And you think we will join you?” “Oh, I know you will,” said Dark Blade with a smirk. “Not as long as I’m here,” said the Alpha as he clawed at the dirt. “Ah ha ha! Well, it looks like you’ve lived long enough. I’ll gladly put you out of your old age!” the dark god took an attack stance, taking this fight slightly more seriously. The two began circling each other, while the other dragons observed the two, not daring to interfere. “I see you remember the language of the old ones,” said the elder. “Indeed…uh…I’m sorry, I don’t think I know your name.” “You’ve heard it before, when you killed my parents. IT’S MOLATAK! AND YOU WILL REMEMBER IT IN THE AFTERLIFE!” Molatak spread his wings, and took to the air. Blade merely laughed, and materialized his own draconic wings made of darkness, taking to the sky himself. As the two reached their climax of height, Molatak blew a ball of fire towards Blade. Before the fire could reach him, Blade uttered another shout; “FEIM ZII GRON!” his body became transparent and ethereal, making him immune to the fire, which passed strait through him. He then shot himself strait towards Molatak, and did a backflip kick, knocking Molataks head upward. The dragon shot upward, but used his wings to steady himself. Blade held his hand up, and shot forth shadowy chains, intent of wrapping the elder dragon in their binds. As a response, Molatak closed his wings, causing him to drop like a rock, out of their path. When he had made a decent descent, he opened his wings, and flew towards Blade, firing another blast of fire at the dark god. Blade merely spoke another shout in response; “FO KRAH DIIN!” Blade sent a blast of ice, matching the fire, causing an explosion of lights and colors. As the light died, Molatak kept himself steady with his powerful wing flaps, while Blade did the same with his wings of darkness. “You’re not that bad. You actually have skills as a warrior,” said Dark Blade. “I have one many battles over the millennia, it is why I am the Grand Elder of the Dragons.” “Still, you have no chance at defeating me. Perhaps if you knew the language of the ancients, you might last a bit longer.” “You assume that I have lost my knowledge of the ancient tongue, but I haven’t forgotten it completely. VEN GAAR NOS!” with that shout, a cyclone of wind started whipping around, attempting to tear Blade from his spot, and whip him around violently. But before the wind could do any harm to the dark god, Blade uttered his own shout. “LOK VAH KOOR!” and just like that, the winds died down, clearing the skies. “Well, well, well. It looks like you do remember a bit of the old language,” said Dark Blade. “Indeed. And I will use every shout I know to stop you!” “Honorable. But futile. You see, I have been toying with you, testing your power. And indeed, you are an imposing opponent, at least for a mortal. But I believe it is time I end this. “JOOR ZAH FRUL!” as this shout was uttered, Molatak felt his wings become impossibly heavy. No longer able to sustain flight, the dragon fell to the ground with a thud, rumbling the entire mountain. Dark Blade continued to hover in the air, and raised his right hand above his head. Five feet above him, five dark, long shard like spears materialized. The human threw his hand down, causing the shards to plummet down, piercing the dragon’s wings, pinning them to the ground. Molatak cried out in pain, as Dark Blade slowly floated down to the ground. Once his boots touched the ground, his wings dissipated, and he began walking towards the dragon. “You’ve shown your skills as a warrior. I am impressed. If your underlings are half as ferocious as you, then they will make a fine addition to my army.” Through deep and ragged breaths, the dragon spoke. “I’ll take some pride in the fact that it took the God of Darkness to kill me.” “That’s a fine way to rationalize your death. You shall die with your honor intact.” Then, Blade spoke the final shout of the battle; Soul Tear. “RII VAAZ ZOL!” the shout caused a blast to tear into the dragon, ripping his flesh from his bones, shattering his very soul. Molatak let out a pain filled scream, as he was torn apart. As he died, he saw flashes from his life; his childhood, his parent’s death, his many battles, and his ascension to Alpha of the Dragon hoard. The last thing he saw before he died was the image of his parents looking down upon him, in a background of white. And then he knew no more. The dragons all stared in shock as they saw the mightiest dragon of all, fall at the hands of this intruder. They watched as the flesh was stripped away, leaving only the skeleton of their leader, as visible winds rushed from his corpse into Dark Blade, with his arms spread wide. The Dark god breathed in, feeling his power grow, with the absorption of a new soul. Once this action was complete, the human walked to the edge of the volcano, and looked upon the other dragons. Then, using his magic to amplify his voice, he spoke. “Dragons! As you have seen, I have destroyed your Grand Elder, the most powerful among you! Hear my words now, for I offer you a choice. Join me in my conquest, or meet the same fate as your leader!” The dragons were silent, until one spoke up. “We dragons may be ferocious, but we are not monsters! We will never follow one as evil as you! You may have beaten our leader in a single fight, but together we are strong! We will stand against you!” The other dragons roared in confirmation, signaling that they would die before following the dark god, who merely chuckled in response. “Well then, it looks like I have no choice. GOL HAH DOV!” This shout was known as Bend Will. This shout gave Dark Blade the power to control the minds and will of the dragons in the hoard. As soon as the shout was spoken, the dragons felt their consciousness drain away, being replaced by the will of their new master. This was the fate of all the dragons. Blade just stood there, with his hands behind his back, smiling at his victory. “Now then. Who do you serve?” As a unit, the dragons answered as one. “Hail Dark Blade!” Blade smiled, as he now controlled the most powerful race on the planet. “That’s one down. I wonder if the ponies have acquired their own