It wasn't long till the weapon joined me again. It slithered up my back to rest in its wrapping again. It had grown heavier so my body grew a little to accommodate for it. I went forward from there. My strength had increased exponentially since the last time I was here. As I pa.s.sed the village gates I heard whispers and turned to see many shadow people standing in the dark. "You all... want revenge dont you?" I said. Many of them nodded as their haunted whispers echoed through the air. I held the weapon out to them. If you wish to experience killing the king join with the weapon and at his death be released. If not I will help you move on." A few of the spirits came forward and turned into whisps of black that entered the weapon. They kept coming till only a few remained in the shadows. I nodded at them and they nodded back. I formed a circle with my hands and began to chant the words that sent them to the other side. A white halo appeared around them as the ground beneath them turned into a white disk. In only a moment they were released from this world.

I sighed heavily and continued onwards. Gluttony suddenly got talkative as we went on. / Your job can be upgraded now./ "To what?" I asked in slight amus.e.m.e.nt. / You have 2 options. Lord Of Shadows is one while Lord of Blood is the other./ He said. I grunted "What do they do?" / Lord of shadows amplifies your stealth and compatability with the dead while Lord of Blood just increases the destructive capabilities you posses along with plague powers. Blood can then be controlled and if you wanted to you can even make blood minions./ I thought about it for a moment. "Is there a way to combine the two? I like my stealth abilities but I know that plague is able to add a final touch to my abilities." I heard it rustle in my mind and the voice of pride began to laugh. /You certainly found an interesting one Glu. Not many have the pride neccesary to ask you to make something new on a whim!/ I grinned a little. Suddenly I felt a wave pa.s.s through me. / The job has been upgraded to a combination of both t.i.tles. Lord of Vengeance has been obtained.

Description: The shadows of the wrongfully fallen cry out to you. The dead would walk and follow you for the blood of those who have wronged them. Make use of them you must to satisfy your own thirst for blood and justice.

Abilities have been amplified accordingly.

Pa.s.sive: Blood control Novice lvl. Able to control pools of blood to form minions or weapons.

Shadow Blood puppet: A soul enters a puddle of blood to create a minion which will serve you till the blood dries and disintegrates.

Shadow a.s.sa.s.sin: A soul enters the shadows and creates the perfect stealth minion. It will a.s.sa.s.sinate any the user views as an enemy then absorbs their corpse into the shadows without a trace.

Shady Field: A Field type ability which covers the area in shadows and the smell of blood creating a horrifying scenery that causes most to quiver in fear and lose hope. If puppets of any kind enter this place while under your control they will be enhanced wih superior speed, strength, and durability./

I listened to the description and despite it's grim natured abilities I was actually fairly impressed that Gluttony could do such a thing. I heard Pride whistle. /Still haven't lost your touch I see. But if you had I would have kicked you out of this body. Only he best in this place for me./ I coughed. "Gluttony... You can kick him out if you want. If he gets to be too much of a pain in the a.s.s." I heard Gluttony laugh in my head while pride started throwing a small tantrum.

I shrugged and went ahead through the gate of the village. I ventured between village after village finding the same carnage everywhere.

I started to question everything. "Why would the king destroy his own people? What is there to possibly gain from all this?" I asked in horror at the scenes I beheld. All were treated the same. Every village on the north was slaughtered and burned till it was but ash. Hundreds of souls I released or placed within my blade. I decided to do one last thing on my travels. That was to visit the Carnac estate. I had asked some of the shades or ghosts about it as I pa.s.sed through. Some gave me news of betrayal of the crown and a bunch of traitors that were destroyed. Others said they were wrongly accused and had been murdered by the king. I flew quickly southward past the forest I had once lived in for years. Many monsters felt my presence and began to flee in terror. I even spotted an old friend. The scaled tiger that had left me with my scar so long ago gazing at me in horror as it's Cubs cowered behind it seemingly begging for its protection.

I flew onwards. It was beneath me now to attack such a weak being. When I arrived at the estate it was not what it once was. It was a building reduced to rubble and its orchards and maze burned to ash. The existence of the home I had once loved and adored was nowhere to be seen. I stepped through the gates which had been replaced after I had melted the previous ones. But instead of the strong polished steel that they should have been I saw dented, broken, and smoke marked metal sc.r.a.ps. I pa.s.sed them to see the rest of our home. Seemingly needing to confirm for myself what I had heard about with my own two eyes. The bricked were marked by fire and the chimney collapsed into a pile. I walked through the bones of the house. Some beams still stood like pillars of a ruin. The only thing left untouched was the smithy. I heard a scrambling and metal hitting the ground. I approached it as quietly as possible. As I approached I heard two voices. One female while the other was male. I peaked through a crack in the wall hiding my aura to my utmost.

What I saw brought questions. It was a woman standing there with a fair sized dragon about the size of a horse. The dragon was growling at the her. "Megan. You know we cannot stay here forever. They will find us just like your family. If you leave me you can survive!" It hummed out. The woman turned on him. "I have been with you for over 8 years! I'm not leaving you now! Nor will I ever desert my friends! You should have learned that by now Clement." I opened the door very slowly with my tail catching their attention. The woman grabbed a poker from the forge which had gone cold long ago.

"I come in the name of Samantha Von Carnac! Are you friend or foe to her?" I rumbled out from behind the wall. Best to play ones cards close to the chest as they say. I didn't want to use my abilities till I knew whether these two were friendly. "Samantha was an old friend but long since gone. Who dares to say they can speak for the dead!?" She called. I grabbed the wall and tore it from the smithy to make room for me. I couldn't fit through the door obviously so I had to make it bigger. The woman stared at me in horror as her dragon had smoke pouring from its mouth. As I stood there in the sunlight with the dragon in plain view I saw it better. It had large black plates across it's back and it was a deep blood red. It felt like I remembered it somehow. I examined it for only a moment before I turned to look at the woman before me. Her hair was red like a rose with skin that seemed like it was made of ivory but was covered in soot. She had a dress on but it was torn excessively in places. Her right shoulder was exposed and had what appeared to be claw marks on it. The dress had obviously meant to be for a ball of sorts but didn't get the memo about the following war. I looked at her with a slight blush before I pulled off my cloak and handed it to her for her to cover up. "Before we talk can you please cover a bit more. It seems clothes are hard to come by with an insane king in power." I rumbled. She looked at herself realizing how she looked and quickly covered herself with my cloak which seemed to be 2 times her size.

"Again... How do you know Samantha?" She asked her voice sounding brave but her eyes clearly saying she was afraid. I bowed down so she could clearly see my forehead. "Look and see." My familiars mark still tood pale against my skin. "You will know why." She searched and found the mark. "Isnt this!...But it was black before! Why is it white now!?!" I hummed a bit. "Perhaps you should tell me who you are and why you're here first." I rumbled out as I straightened once again. The wind began to howl as I stood there. My back was completely exposed to the wind and wings rustled restlessly against my back. I twisted my wrist and pointed my pointer and middle fingers upward with my palm facing up. The ground formed a dome connecting into the smithy wall I had torn apart. It created a perfect wind blockade and trapped the warmth nicely. The woman opened the window to let some air through as I lowered myself into a sitting position on the ground. She began to pace a little as she got ready to explain her story. "My name... is Megan Forsythe. I was friends with Samantha before she dissapeared. My friend Clement was originally a familiar I recieved from my father. He is now my closest friend. But in much of my regrets I originally thought of him as a female and named him Clementine. A dragon whom you originally had a small bout with. When you were a small salamander if memory serves." She said as she suddenly stopped pacing and looked at me. "What are you now?" She asked with curiosity at my new form.

"My name." I accentuated the name part of that. "...is Ignatious Soulsmith. I'm her friend. Closer than any before. I have been through h.e.l.l with her. We left Weremar due to the kings blackmail. I looked after her and cared for her like no other. Defended and destroyed for her. Even when word of her false charges and death of her family reached her ears." I rumbled. I felt heat rise in my chest as anger rose. Smoke poured from my mouth in thin streams and out the window.

"She's been catatonic ever since. King Kylisius of the dwarves was protecting her while I was on an a mission. When I came back the King had attacked and left the city a waste. His guards starving the people. And his only reason for doing so... Was her." I growled. The weapon on my back hummed in response to my rage. I noticed Clements mouth was smoking nervously and I realized my aura was leaking out. I quickly drew it in and forced myself to calm. "Now I come for the kings head. I dont need to destroy a country that is being destroyed by it's own ruler." I grunted.

Megan's face had turned to one of anger. It was like looking at a j.a.panese Oni mask. Horrifyingly enraged. Her teeth were bared and Clement lightly tapped her shoulder to wake her from her anger. Her face took a moment to return to the soot covered beauty she was. It was after a moment that she spoke. "Do you know if she is dead?" She asked with a restraining calm. I looked at her with some tactics running through my mind.

"No leader I know would lead an invasion just to take a corpse. She's alive. For how long I do not know." I rumbled. She sighed in relief. "I knew she was alive!" Tears began to roll from her face. I knew she didn't do anything wrong but I had no evidence to show for it!" She kneeled on the ground and just wept. I looked at Clement in sad fascination. "So... this is what became of you after all these years." I said. He glared at me. I smiled a little. "I hope you stopped breathing fire at the first thing that looked your way." He grunted out a smoke ring at my comment. Obviously that was not a good memory for him. I nodded and listened to the wind. It still continued to howl and then I heard crunching. Megan quickly and quietly peeked out the window. Her face paled slightly. "What is it?" I whispered. She pointed to the east of where we were. I slowly moved to see out the window. Standing there was a grey and brown gryphon. Just like how I saw it the first time. "Morgan?" I grunted at it's head spun in our direction. "Who's there?"