Much to their protest, Zangulus was locked up in a cage near one of the tents that made up Darius’ camp. Lucia had had her wrists tied up and she was brought into what was said to be Darius’ tent. She was placed on some soft pillows, and told that Darius would arrive soon to pass judgement on her. Angrily, she cupped a magical fire in her palms and began burning away the ropes around her wrists. ..

Seconds later, a tall, handsome man, clad in black armor entered the tent. He saw Lucia and smiled. She, of course, did not. Instead she asked, “You are Lord Darius, then?”

Darius bowed. “At your service. I suppose you are my prisoner-and a rather fetching one at that! You call yourself “Lucia”, I am told.”

“And what of it?!” She shot back hotly. Darius’ smile grew larger. “You know, I have heard much of you. You and your deeds have almost become as legendary as those of Lina Inverse!”

“You lie! I did no great deeds. And even if I have, tell me what you want with me? What do you plan to do?! Let both my companion and myself free, or so help me…”

“My, such spirit! Indeed, you most certainly are the one I am seeking!” He strode over to her and cupped his hand under her chin. “You know, I have srved the ancient God of War, Torak, and in return he has promised me power, power that will be obtained through the human incarnation of his daughter, the Goddess of Destruction, Arakia! All this killing was my sacrifice to Torak, and at last, he has fullfilled his promise to me! I now see the incarnation of Arakia, my bride, before me!”

“What the hell are you babbling about?!” Lucia cried angrily. Darius chuckled. “My dear, what I am saying is that you are the human form of the Goddess of Destruction-and my bride!”

“Like Hell I am! I’m an ordinary human girl! And I won’t be your bride! My heart belongs to another!”

“Ah, silly lady! You possess the ability to create magic more powerful than that of the Gods’! Why do you think that is?! Now come, my dear, and kiss your husband-to-be!” Darius leaned down to kiss her, but at the same moment, the ropes on Lucia’s wrists snapped, and she shoved him off her. He landed with a thud on the ground.

Lucia grabbed a dagger on a nearby table an held it to Darius’ throat. “Listen, pal-I’m not a goddess, I’m not your bride! And unless you don’t want me to carve you a second mouth, tell me where you put my companion!”

Darius knew he was in a tight spot. Very much fearing for his life, he stammered out the reply: “He…he’s locked in a cage outside of the third tent next to mine!” But then he regained a bit of calmness. Grinning, he added, “But you need a key1 I’ll never give you that!”

She dug the dagger deeper into his gut, dangerously close to cutting the skin. Darius felt it and sqwaked in fear.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t just kill you now!”

“Because, I know magic…and I’ll knock you out!”

“What?!”

That moment of hesitation gave Darius the chance he needed. He cried out, “Diem Wing!” Instantly, a powerful gust of wind blew Lucia to the floor, knocking her hard. Darius rushed at her, but she rolled out of his way. In pure agony, Lucia hopped to her feet and turned to attack him with the dagger. Darius, too intent on capturing her, neglected to see the dagger. He fell on it, gored. He collapsed to the floor with a thud, and lay bleeding and motionless before her. Lucia bowed her head out of respect. “Farewell. You deserved what you got, though!” She raised her head, and turned away from the corpse and raced off to find Zangulus.

Zangulus struggled to break the lock on his cage. When it didn’t work, he growled in frustration and tried to bend the bars. “Dammit! I’ve gotta get out of here! Who knows what that bastard is doing to Lucia!”

”I think it’s more like “what Lucia did to him!”!” Lucia stepped forth. She raced to the cage, her worries rising to the surface. “Oh, My Love, are you alright?”

“Lucia! I’m fine. Just a little bruised, that’s all! What about Darius?”

“Dead.” She replied, picking the cages’ lock. The door swung open, and Zangulus hopped out. He stared at her, amazed. “You killed him? But he was so powerful! And by the way, nice lock-picking job!”

“Thanks. I told you I was a theif for a little while, Trick of the trade. As far as Darius, he might possess magic and an army, but in the end he let himself be vulnerable to a woman’s charms!”

Zangulus raised an eyebrow. “What?!”

“He tried to convince me that I was the daughter of his phony War- God, and his destined wife, or some crap like that. What a moron! I ran him through. He lies dead in his tent.” She added sarcastically, “what a pity!”

“Indeed it would have been, had that really been me!”

Both warriors turned to see Darius standing before them. Lucia gasped. “What the Hell?! I just kicked your butt!”

“So you thought! In truth, it was a copy of me that you slew. I wanted to see how powerful you are. I have heard tales about you, Gen Arcane, from small towns to the west, claiming that you are skilled at swordplay, and possess magic to rival even that of Lina Inverse!”

“Well, then if you’ve heard the stories, I suspect you know that I will destroy you, for I have power that can whup your butt!”

“So I hear. A pity you did not display your skills on my copy, but, then, I have the pleasure of learning of them firsthand!”

“Tell me something, Darius-why do you want to take over this world? Do you honestly believe I am your destined wife?”

“My dear, the War-God Torak came to me in a vision one night, and told me to kill all those who did not worship him. When I purged the land of the nonbelievers, I would be granted imeasurable power, power beyond what I now possess. And this power would be obtained by a powerful sorceress-you-that would allow me to rule supreme. You, my dear, shall wed me, and I shall assume that power!”

“You speak of madness! I will NEVER be your wife, and I will not allow power of such magnitude to fall into your corrupt and evil hands! You killed my family and my beloved Zangulus’ kingdom, wife, and family! You have hurt the innocent! You must die!”

Darius let out a wicked peal of laughter. A purplish light brgan to rise around him. “Well, if that’s the way you want it, then fine! I shall drain all your magic power from you! I will use it to destroy you and your lover!”

“You unspeakable bastard!” Zangulus had had enough. He unsheathed his sword and charged at Darius. The mage laughed, amused, and blasted Zangulus with dark magic, Crying out in pain, Zangulus fell, lifeless, to the ground!

“ZANGULUS! NO!” Lucia cried. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she started at Darius. “You will pay dearly for this!” No sooner had she said this than an aura of white light rose around her body. She began to levitate. Lifting her hands, she began to chant.

Darius smirked and shot another blast of magic at Lucia. An orb surrounded her, and began to drain her power. She fainted, weak, inside the orb. Darius screamed, “YES! The power will be mine!”

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