“ Master…”
But Garath interrupted. “ I know, my disciple, I too feel Kortez’s presence. Go and find out the reason behind his being here. But, please be careful, my disciple, because Kortez is evil and very powerful”.
“ I will do as you wish, my Master”.
Thus Ifrit set off from his Master’s tower in search of Kortez. He gathered his will and slowly released it, using his mind to probe for Kortez. He found his mind and searched it.
Simultaneously, Kortez was looking for Ifrit. Ifrit found this peculiar because Kortez also knew the will and the word, and was effectively able to stop his mind from being read.
To cover a wider range, Ifrit left the vale, to probe the surrounding land with his eyes and mind, when suddenly from behind, Kortez struck him with a crushing blow to the skull. Ifrit lost his consciousness, almost instantly. When he came to, he could see and feel the will and presence of Nafarius and Kortez. They were both looking at him with disgust.
“ What shall I do with him Master”? Asked Kortez.
“ Make him suffer, but DO NOT KILL HIM”, replied Nafarius with a slight tone of pleasure in his voice.
“ As you wish, my Master” Kortez said showing a sign of arrogance.
It was then that Ifrit realised he had been chained from his arms and legs. He felt drained and could barely open his eyes. Kortez has spiked up black hair and a black raster. He is a very tall, broad man, with an enormous amount of power.
“ Well Ifrit, let’s compare my will against yours” he said with some pleasure.
Ifrit felt Kortez’s will build up. Kortez then struck out his hand, his palm facing Ifrit.
“ FIRE” Kortez commanded and before he knew it, Ifrit was in inexplicable pain. He was being burned and felt the pain, and yet his body wasn’t actually burning.
“ My Master said make sure you suffer, and not kill you. Can you feel the pain?” he said mockingly with a smile on his face.
“ I thought you were strong Ifrit, but I guess I was wrong. You’re a weakling”. Kortez said this maliciously.
After an hour of burning and freezing Ifrit, Nafarius came to Kortez and said malevolently “ that’s enough fun for a day, Kortez, feed him the leftovers of your meal and leave him chained up for the night”.
Nafarius had short curly black hair and red eyes. He also had an aura around him; his aura was red and told all who saw him that he was evil.
It was snowing gently in the vale of Garath. Garath was weakening because Ifrit was being tortured. He knew his disciple had been captured. Garath, with his mind, started to probe for Ifrit’s mind. He couldn’t find it, which meant he was unconscious.
“ My disciple has been captured by Nafarius. I will smite my brother and make sure he pays for this”. Garath said to himself. He suppressed his rage, but the aura around him was blazing brighter than the sun in a hot summer day. Garath lifted up his sword the Damascus from the table, and put it in its sheath. He strapped it to his waist and set off. He knew where Nafarius’s tower was therefore knew where Ifrit was.
“ Master, what shall I do with Ifrit”? Kortez asked his Master.
“ Leave him for now, I sense my brothers anger. He will soon come here and this will be our final confentation.
“ Get my sword”. Nafarius said with malice in his voice. Nafarius’s sword was called the Abomination. It was black and was forged from his own evil life force.
As Garath was walking across the waist land in which Nafarius’s tower was, a lightning bolt struck him. It had no effect on him because the power of the lightning bolt was weaker than Garath’s power. He also knew that Kortez was behind this, Garath was so angry that the aura around him was so powerful that the rocks around him seemed to be defying gravity itself.
Garath had reached his brothers tower and shouted
“ Nafarius hand my disciple over or you shall pay the ultimate price for it”.
“ A threat”? Nafarius said mockingly “ your disciple stays with me, after I have done with him you can take his ashes”.
“ NAFARIUS you shall pay, I WLL destroy you”. Garath said this as if he was about to explode.
“ Remember, a God cannot die, BUT I have found a way to banish you forever. After I have nearly defeated you I will cast a spell, which will send you to THE NEXT DIMENSION”, hissed Nafarius.
“ We will see, brother mine, once I destroy you, and I WILL destroy you”! Garath said with utmost hatred for his brother.
“ Stop talking and let us fight. You seem to be all talk and no action”. Said Nafarius, eyes blazing with anger.
“ I have been waiting for this day since I willed myself into existence, big brother”.
Angrily, Garath unsheathed the Damascus sword and ran towards Nafarius. Garath swung his sword but Nafarius was too quick, and parried it with his sword, the Abomination. Garath countered this and struck with a mighty blow to Nafarius’s face, which considerably weakened him.
Meanwhile, Kortez was laughing at Ifrit.
“ Pathetic”. He spat.
Because Nafarius became weakened, this instantly affected Kortez’s physical condition.
“ My Master is weakening. This should not be happening”! Exclaimed Kortez in a frightened tone.
“ So your Master is weakening”, said Ifrit with malice, “ now is the time for your demise. Are you ready to face your fate”? Mocked Ifrit
Kortez shot an unexpected fireball at Ifrit’s unprotected chest, winding him almost instantly.
“ My Master WILL prevail! And I will be there to witness his victory over his pathetic little brother”.
Kortez left Ifrit unguarded, and ran to watch his Master triumph over Garath.
With a sudden burst of fury Ifrit tore away his manacles and with the last ounce of strength, he summoned all of his will to perform ‘The Final Right’. ‘The Final Right’ can only work between disciple and God. If Ifrit were to successfully complete this rite, he would re-energise himself and his Masters will and strength, tenfold. If Ifrit failed to perform this rite correctly, he would die and turn his Master into a mere mortal, with no chance of ever defeating a God. Ifrit began the chant for the rite, knowing full well that just one mistake could result in his demise, and his Master’s downfall. With every ounce of his strength and will, he concentrated on the incantation Ifrit began to struggle to remember the correct gestures, and found that he was weakening. Despite all of this, he carried on valiantly, even as he felt his life force slipping away.
Meanwhile, Kortez feared his Master’s defeat as Garath was striking Nafarius with dominant blows to the sternum. Nafarius backed away to regain his composure. Kortez took this opportunity to consult his Master about the implementation of ‘The Final Plan’.
“ Master you are weakening, I can feel it”! Said Kortez with concern.
“ Do you not think I know this, fool” spat Nafarius.
“ Master shall we not put ‘The Final Plan’ into action”?
“ My disciple you may have a point. Do what you must for it will benefit us both, and that fool Garath will not realise what hit him”!
Kortez began the incantation that would allow him to merge with Nafarius’s sword, the Abomination, thus making Nafarius stronger. Garath tried to stop this, and ran for an attack against Nafarius, but was thrown back by the immensity of Nafarius’s power.
Back in the dungeon, Ifrit felt the blast of pure energy that bowled his Master over, and faltered in the incantation for ‘The Final Rite’. He could not afford to falter in this incantation again. Otherwise he would surly bring about his Masters downfall. After several minutes of labouring, he finished the incantation but he felt nothing. This meant he had failed the incantation of ‘The Final Rite’. After another tense minute of waiting, Ifrit fell to his knees gasping for air. Suddenly, he felt his energy rise rapidly. He had never felt power such as this before. Its immensity was uncontrollable, so uncontrollable that the raw power itself brought down the building around him.
Nafarius was laughing at Garath’s puny attempt to stop the transformation.
“ You puny weakling. I am ashamed to call you brother”! Scorned Nafarius.
At this point, Garath’s aura flared as violently as a dormant volcano erupting after thousands of years of sleep.
Almost instantly, Ifrit peered out of what was left of Nafarius’s tower, and saw that the battle was going on not far from him. Nafarius seemed to be cowering from Garath. ‘The Final Rite’ had been successful! On an impulse, Ifrit ran to his Master’s side.
“ You took a big risk my son”, said Garath, “ but I thank you greatly. I am proud to call you my disciple”.
As fast as lightning Garath struck Nafarius’s face with a valiant blow, using the Damascus sword. Nafarius screamed in pain. But how was this possible? He was a god! Nafarius fell to the ground, holding his marred face in both hands.
“ You are beat brother mine”, said Garath over his brother’s cry of pain.
Using all of his will, Garath cracked open the ground below him, and sealed Nafarius within a rock, cursing him to a life of solitude and despair. This was a fate worse than death, seen, as Gods are ageless and immortal.
Garath turned to Ifrit and then smiled.
“ My son, the battle is over. Let us seek peace in the vale. Our task is complete. Let us now live as we did before in peace and harmony with the rest of the world”.
Ifrit couldn’t have said it better himself. So both disciple and God left the battlefield and headed towards the vale, forgetting one thing. What of the sword, the Abomination?
After Garath and Ifrit had gone, Kortez’s very being separated from that of the sword. A voice from above said:
“ My son, do you know the meaning of the word Nafarius”?
“ Master is that you”? Said Kortez in shock.
“ Nafarius, my son, means ‘many forms’ and my fool of a brother has just cracked and broken the shell to my true form. In this form, I have power beyond anyone’s comprehension”!
At this Kortez seemed to be surrounded by laughter, a scorning laughter that could only be his Master’s. And he knew they had not yet been beaten. The war was not over yet…