//------------------------------// // Prologue - Dark Skies // Story: The Titans' Orb: Rising Storm // by Mister Horncastle //------------------------------// “My master, the weapons are coming along well, but we are running out of iron.” Hissed one of the blacksmiths. Nah’Lek walked past the blacksmith, and picked up a newly crafted axe from one of the various weapon racks; after stroking the axe’s blade with a curved claw, he threw it at the blacksmith and narrowly missed him, the axe struck a wooden beam and quivered as it lodged itself into the wood. “Then find more iron.” He spoke, all five of his amethyst coloured eyes swivelled to glare at the smith. “We’re trying my lord, but the mines are almost depleted; if we keep mining the caves will collapse!” Without warning Nah’Lek rushed forward and seized the blacksmith by the throat, and lifted him into the air with little effort; he spluttered and gritted his teeth as his lungs began convulsing. “Find… More… Iron…” Nah’Lek croaked. “Yh- Yhs- Yes… My… Lord…” The smith wheezed. The Defiler dropped him to the ground and he inhaled deeply, before coughing loudly; Nah’Lek whipped around and left the smithy without uttering another word. The Demi-God sniffed the air, and picked up a mixture of blood and smoke; it was delicious. To his left, not too far ahead, was a large pit in the ground; where hundreds of corpses were piled together in a horrific mass grave; amongst the corpses were some of Nah’Lek’s minions, the foul insect-like creatures feasted on the rotting flesh of the innocent dead, without emotion or remorse. This planet wasn’t ready for the invasion, nor did the peaceful indigenous race have the weapons to retaliate; their civilisation was somewhat close to the human race but less advanced, and more peaceful; when Nah’Lek brought his army there was no hope for them, it was a brutal slaughter. To his right stood forges, barracks, and other buildings created by his ruthless horde; using the foundations of the native village that once stood there. The new buildings were covered in spikes from the sharpened bones of the indigenous race and were all painted red with their blood. Nah’Lek continued to walk along the path, watching his army grow as he went; he stopped for a moment as he approached an arena, two of his warriors were fighting inside; they were vicious and brutal, roaring loudly as they swung their axes at one another and blocked with their blood-splattered shields. One axe met flesh, and a severed hand flew out of the arena and landed before Nah’Lek; the soldier did not cry out with pain as he lost his hand, but rather flew into a blood-rage. He dropped his axe and launched himself at his opponent, before punching him repeatedly with the bleeding stump where his hand once was, coating his foe in blood. The crowd cheered with excitement as the two creatures wrestled and roared at each other; the battle was finally concluded as the one-handed fighter sank his pointed teeth into the neck of the other, and tore out his throat, and to Nah’Lek’s pleasure, he chewed and swallowed it... These creatures had been bred for war, the urge to shed blood was in their nature, and were the perfect race for an army; corrupting the soul of their ferocious Warchief was a simple task, with the promise of glory and all the blood they could ever want to shed, gaining leadership over them was easy. These monstrous creatures coincidentally came from Nah’Lek’s old home world where he was hatched; his brood lived within the caves of an island made mostly out of ice. One fateful day, the great Holy Titan Appleox discovered The Defiler and took him into the eternal realm of the Titans. That was when he was gifted with immortal powers and was redesigned into Appleox’s son. While the corrupted Titan was now recognised as a threat by the Titan’s Orb and could not consume Equus, he could insert Nah’Lek; and so he sent his son to Equestria, where he began the biggest slaughter any god had ever witnessed. It took the greatest company of heroes Equus had to stop him; Princesses Celestia and Luna, Discord, and Starswirl the Bearded banded together to fight Nah'Lek. The battle lasted for days, and even then, The Defiler was winning. That was when the valiant Stardust Moonshimmer was chosen by the legendary Titan’s Sword and allowed him to wield the weapon in combat; and with the sword, Nah’Lek was defeated, and sent to the deepest depths of Tartarus to pay for his crimes. Time went on, and Stardust eventually passed away from natural causes. Nah’Lek was forgotten about over the years, while he slowly killed the other dark inhabitants and souls and absorbed their power, secretly regaining his strength. Until he finally escaped… And now, he was ready for his revenge… Nah’Lek walked along and soon approached a large flight of stone stairs, he made his way to the top and stood on a large platform that allowed him to look over his army; as far as the eye could see there were fires, smoke, and chants of hate, after decades of waiting, his horde was almost ready to invade… He inhaled once more, before lying to the ground and withdrawing his swords, he placed them down and looked up at the red smoke ridden sky. “Father… You took me from my home world, and turned me into the most powerful being to walk amongst mortals, you made me a god… I swore to avenge you, and I shall; Equus will burn, and the princesses shall be vanquished; blood shall rain from the sky and paint the burnt earth red; your vengeance is nigh…” After a brief silence, Nah’Lek stood up and picked up his swords; he was about to sheath them when he heard footsteps coming up the stairs below, a few seconds later one of his servants appeared and clambered onto the platform, gulping with terror as the tip of a sword was placed at his throat. “What is it?” Hissed The Defiler. “Your grace, the warlock has gathered some information from the broken orb!” The servant replied. “And…?” “The orb shards are being… Well… Collected… Your grace…” Nah’Lek dropped his sword and gripped him by the throat. “That’s impossible, the princess foolishly sent the ponies who represent the Elements of Harmony, who are immature fillies. They could not possibly survive the harshness of Earth!” He growled, his lifeless eyes flickering. The servant gulped a second time before continuing. “They are being assisted by a human… Your grace… A young boy…” There was a loud scream, before the servant’s head rolled off the platform and fell to the ground below. Nah’Lek wiped his blade and made his way to the bottom of his tower, where he was met by another servant; quivering with fear as the dark lord approached him. “Tell Hellscream that he is responsible for the army while I am gone, and bring me two of your finest warriors.” “Y-Yes… My lord…” The servant stuttered, before scampering away. The Defiler looked down at the decapitated head of his previous servant, and looked into his dead eyes. “Nothing will stand in my way… This boy… Is going to die screaming…”