the simple spells he had been taught. The spells that didn't require her presence; only his knowledge and his bond. But fighting demons was his rightful duty as her servant, and he needed far more than just that simple magic. He needed her presence, something he would never have been able to call on before. Had she known his dark mission she would never have permitted it. This though she demanded of her servants, and all thoughts of doing anything other than her work were taken from him.
In a few scant heart beats she filled him with her elemental might and he became her unwavering tool. This was the compact that had been sworn between the first paladins of the Order of the Lady and the Lady herself many centuries before, and it was the same compact that every paladin accepted when they took their vows. He had sworn those same vows, drunk of the blessed water, and stood vigil at her shrine as had all others of his Order, and when he had the need in her cause, he too could ask for and receive her blessing. It was an honour for any paladin, but more so for him when he had failed her so badly only scant moments before, and he thanked her as best he was able.
Of course, no gift came completely without a price, and this was no different. The price was his free will.
Without knowing why, he dropped the crossbow on the ground and drew his now glowing great sword from its sheath, holding it directly in front of him. The Lady didn't just guide him; she controlled him, body and soul. But that too he had accepted long ago, and he had no thought of resistance.
“Arie varin maer van helmsgord.”
Her words came directly out of his mouth without his understanding what they meant, while his sword began tracing an intricate glowing design in the air in front of him. A circle with a flat triangle in the middle of it, a star to one side and a wavy line running right through both on an angle. Yorik had no idea at all what it was, but he quickly found out what it did.
From the instant the sword had finished the last part of the design, a wall of light sprang from it, turning the ground in front of him and all the way to the fallen wizard and beyond into a blaze of glory. The black smoke which had come out of nowhere quickly vanished before the light, and suddenly he could see a putrid green vaguely human shaped figure crouching over Mayfall. Yorik didn't have to ask to know that this was the demon he'd summoned. He even knew its name; Bribak.
There was nothing else it could be. The creature was simply too hideous to be anything created by nature or the gods. Its skin was some sort of oily slime, somehow held together over its equally disgusting bones. Its features were as if a monkey had randomly rearranged the face and even the body of a man, and then thrown in a few more pieces from other creatures, until what remained was uneven and lumpy, and in no way human. Yellow slime streamed from its nose on one side of what he would loosely have called its face, while red slime emanated from holes randomly placed throughout its body. Yorik would have hoped it was blood and that the demon was injured, but he knew that the creature had not been touched. It was horrendously deformed, but not injured in any way.
He knew the truth of its non-injury as he saw the creature raise an evil black staff before it, and holding it flat against the light, create some sort barrier between it and the glowing symbol. That was bad. The creature had surely only just arrived in the world; brought through the barrier between worlds by Mayfall's spell, and it was still bound to him. Yet it was already powerful enough to hold off the power of the Lady. What would it be like in a few hours or days when it had found its full strength? But Yorik wasn't concerned. He couldn’t be because the Lady wasn't.
Instead he watched as his glowing sword suddenly traced a new design in the air immediately beside the first. This one was a giant
In a few scant heart beats she filled him with her elemental might and he became her unwavering tool. This was the compact that had been sworn between the first paladins of the Order of the Lady and the Lady herself many centuries before, and it was the same compact that every paladin accepted when they took their vows. He had sworn those same vows, drunk of the blessed water, and stood vigil at her shrine as had all others of his Order, and when he had the need in her cause, he too could ask for and receive her blessing. It was an honour for any paladin, but more so for him when he had failed her so badly only scant moments before, and he thanked her as best he was able.
Of course, no gift came completely without a price, and this was no different. The price was his free will.
Without knowing why, he dropped the crossbow on the ground and drew his now glowing great sword from its sheath, holding it directly in front of him. The Lady didn't just guide him; she controlled him, body and soul. But that too he had accepted long ago, and he had no thought of resistance.
“Arie varin maer van helmsgord.”
Her words came directly out of his mouth without his understanding what they meant, while his sword began tracing an intricate glowing design in the air in front of him. A circle with a flat triangle in the middle of it, a star to one side and a wavy line running right through both on an angle. Yorik had no idea at all what it was, but he quickly found out what it did.
From the instant the sword had finished the last part of the design, a wall of light sprang from it, turning the ground in front of him and all the way to the fallen wizard and beyond into a blaze of glory. The black smoke which had come out of nowhere quickly vanished before the light, and suddenly he could see a putrid green vaguely human shaped figure crouching over Mayfall. Yorik didn't have to ask to know that this was the demon he'd summoned. He even knew its name; Bribak.
There was nothing else it could be. The creature was simply too hideous to be anything created by nature or the gods. Its skin was some sort of oily slime, somehow held together over its equally disgusting bones. Its features were as if a monkey had randomly rearranged the face and even the body of a man, and then thrown in a few more pieces from other creatures, until what remained was uneven and lumpy, and in no way human. Yellow slime streamed from its nose on one side of what he would loosely have called its face, while red slime emanated from holes randomly placed throughout its body. Yorik would have hoped it was blood and that the demon was injured, but he knew that the creature had not been touched. It was horrendously deformed, but not injured in any way.
He knew the truth of its non-injury as he saw the creature raise an evil black staff before it, and holding it flat against the light, create some sort barrier between it and the glowing symbol. That was bad. The creature had surely only just arrived in the world; brought through the barrier between worlds by Mayfall's spell, and it was still bound to him. Yet it was already powerful enough to hold off the power of the Lady. What would it be like in a few hours or days when it had found its full strength? But Yorik wasn't concerned. He couldn’t be because the Lady wasn't.
Instead he watched as his glowing sword suddenly traced a new design in the air immediately beside the first. This one was a giant
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