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[Deacon Drake]

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The Long and Winding Road, Chapter VI
as told by Excelsius

Nearly ten years ago, the long and winding road of Steel Skye came to a fork... on one side went Steel, and on the other, his nemesis and rival, Lucius Dar'Talon, the Dreamer. Though Skye's road met its end only a couple months ago, Dreamer's road continued, shadowed and quiet. But the path of Lucius Dar'Talon is beginning to crumble into scattered rubble as his life meets more and more difficult obstacles.

Dreamer was more than happy to hear about the crumbling of faith in Oblivion on Sosaria, and the disappearance of the spectre, Aras A'Coult, put the icing on the cake, as they would say. However his joy was ruptured one day when he discovered that his nemesis was NOT who the Dreamer thought he was.

Lucius Dar'Talon discovered the truth about Steel's heritage before he even met the young man in Trinsic over twenty years ago. The Phoenician bloodline, the ancient clan that lived in the city of Montor. In his studies he discovered the mysterious power that the Phoenicians had. They held faith in no deity or divine being, only one idea, one concept...

Chaos.

Determined to end the bloodline, he sought out to find the one person who held this secret, and finally cornered him. He was but a boy, the son that Steel had failed to kill six years ago. The boy was living with the Meer in the town of Lakeshire. He waited until the dark of night when the Meer were not around, and the boy was hopefully sleeping.

If only he had known that the boy didn't sleep.

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"Vas Flam!!!!" screamed the boy in a rage fueled by sheer terror. The man's black robe caught fire, and the man howled in pain as he felt his skin searing from the flames. Impossible... he's only a boy, he cannot be this strong!

"Who.... who are you!?"

The man lunged at the boy, a long, slender, runed dagger in his hand. He grabbed the child by the neck of his tunic and lifted him up, pinning him against the wall. He looked down when he felt something heavy graze his hand. The boy was wearing a medallion... it was a Chaos sigil, seemingly crafted from bone and stone. It was cracked through the middle but still in one piece.

No, do not hesitate, this is finally it! The man lifted the dagger and prepared to slide it into the boy's chest. He gathered himself through his rage and set the tip between the child's ribs, causing him to scream in pain. He ignored the intense chill running down his spine, thinking for once, he was actually nervous...

But the chill was not his spine.

"Lucius..."

The man nearly dropped the dagger upon hearing the whisper behind him. He whirled around, dropping the boy on the floor. The child was still screaming and crying in pain, not realizing that it was only a scratch. Dreamer ignored the boy, his eyes wide open in shock at the sight before him.

In the doorway of the run-down shack was the most horrifying thing he had ever seen. A massive creature seemingly comprised of the shadows themselves hovered inches above the floor. Long black tendrils slithered through the air all around it, some appearing from nowhere and some dissipating into nothingness. Two piercing, glowing white eyes glared out from what might have been a head. The being had no face, but the Dreamer recognized it almost immediately.

Dreamer couldn't hide his terror. A wraith... impossible! He tried to take a step back but faltered. His eyes widened beyong human proportion when he saw one of the tendrils of shadow moving slowly toward him. No, please, no.... he thought.

"Begging now, are we, Lucius?"

The voice was all too familiar. But his terror blinded him. He couldn't cower, he couldn't run... he could only stand there when it happened. The tendril flicked against his chest, causing him to wince in pain from the severe cold that overcame him. The tendril shot through him, hovered, then retracted, leaving no visible wound on his body as it collapsed.

Lucius hit the floor hard with a thud as his heart stopped.
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