The Search for Power

[Strazio Rockwell]

Sleep came slowly for the Prime, his arm ached and he had to stretch it every few minutes so it wouldn't cramp up. He really overdid it or he was much weaker than he used to be, but more likely some combination of both. It wasn't so much the pain that kept him awake, but rather his overactive mind kept sleep at bay. The olive green cot was stiff and he shifted about often, trying to find a comfortable way to rest. Every little itch felt like a centipede or some other nasty creature crawling across his body. He clutched his cloak tightly and rolled over a couple of times, making a cocoon out of the blankets covering him. Eventually, after a few hours Strazio found himself asleep.

Strazio was wakened by Cork shaking him. Strazio looked up at the mountain of a man and groaned. Cork tore the blankets from Strazio and helped him to his feet. The mage rustled his own hair before pulling his hood over his head. "Hey, calm down buddy I'm up, I'm up. Jeeze, we got any food? I'm starving" Cork pointed upstairs and Strazio sighed. He noticed Dmitri was asleep on a cot nearby, Cork must have been the only one on watch for a while. Reluctantly Strazio climbed up the ladder and was greeted by suppressive drear of the moors. A small table and two chairs were set up and a small plate of food was set out for Strazio. Bread, water, and sludge that he assumed was porridge of some kind. The thought of using Omnilium to summon a feast crossed his mind, but he pushed it to the side he needed every scrap of power he could get. The meal left him unsatisfied and grumpy for the morning. He secretly hoped that a target would appear on the moors, he felt like taking some frustrations out.

Time passed slowly on watch duty, nothing to watch expect for the slow roll of the ever-present clouds. After a few hours Dmitri climbed up the ladder with a guitar strapped to his back. The mage glanced over his shoulder to acknowledge his commander and Dmitri simply waved at him as he tried lighting another smoke. This time his lighter flared to life and ignited the cigarette. Strazio stretched across the ramparts and raised his eyebrow as Dmitri sat down and began to play his guitar. Through a crowd of smoke Dmitri began to play a slow upbeat tune. Strazio had never heard anything quite like it, he furrowed his brow and lowered his hood at Dmitri continued to play. Strazio closed his eyes and listened to the light strumming of the guitar, it was some folksy song that made Strazio smile. Dmitri finished the song and Strazio turned and looked at him.

"Who died?" the Prime asked.

Dmitri laughed and asked "No one died, what are you talking about?"

"You played music, where I come from we only play music at funerals."

Dmitri shook his head and smiled through a cloud of smoke. "That's kind of depressing actually, where I come from music is more than just an expression of mourning, I play that song for my Mirna."

"Your Mirna?"

"My wife Mirna, she loved that song. I play it every so often in hopes that she'll somehow hear it, kind of silly I know" he took a pause to take a drag from his cigarette and looked longingly in the distance. Strazio thought of Mara and shook his head trying to erase the thought.

The prime looked at Dmitri and smiled "That's not silly, we have to keep hope somehow. I liked your music, can you keep playing for a while? It'll make the time pass quicker."

This was how most of their mornings went, Dmitri played his guitar and Strazio listened pensively. Cork hardly ever slept and would often pick up the slack when neither two could stay awake. Except for the occasional creature encounter things stayed quiet, boring Strazio to no end. Day in and day out Strazio found himself withering away due to inaction, asides from the occasional conversation with Dmitri there was little to stimulate the poor prime. Monotony was never more a fitting word than Strazio's two week stay at the watchtower. It was during the thirteenth day of his stay that Cork came upstairs early. He sniffed the air and looked out across the moors, Strazio looked at him and asked.

"Something wrong big guy?"

"Mrhm" Cork spoke the first actual words Strazio had heard "someone is here. I can smell them."

"Wow you can talk. What do you mean someone is here?"

Cork sniffed the air again and his ears twitched "Mrhm, I can't see them, but their scent. Their scent is thick in the air." The dog-man stomped around for a few minutes before finally shrugging and climbing back downstairs. Strazio sighed and continued his vigil I wonder if the stagnation is getting to him, we haven't seen anything for the past few days. Dmitri is nice company, but I think I'm going to head back to Darkshire in a day or two. Hopefully Dobson will give me something with some more action, this quiet life might be acceptable for Dmitri and Cork but I need action. He heard something move behind him and he turned around, coming face to face with a ghost of his past he gasped out loud. There she was Mara in the flesh, her shoulder length hair was fiery and red. Across her throat was a pale scar and her body was covered in heavy armor. She looked terrifyingly angry and raised her longsword.

"Mara... is it really you?"

She glared at Strazio and swung her sword downwards, forcing Strazio to jump back. Another swing pushed him against the ramparts and he cracked a smile. The third swing came inches from slicing his throat open and he growled at his assailant.

"I guess not, if you were the real Mara I would've been dead by now. Who are you?"

Mara took a step back and a shroud of darkness began to consume the tower. She smiled wickedly and her eyes began to glow red. The visage of Mara began to dissolve, replaced by an armored man wearing a gas mask. Three red eye holes burned lights in the darkness and Strazio's arm started to glow with bright white light.

The attacker's voice was low and rumbled with contempt "I am fear Strazio Rockwell, I am Nemesis."

Strazio released a bolt of energy at his opponent. Nemesis's figured dissolved and faded into the shadows, dodging the attack. Strazio began charging another attack as Cork came scrambling up the ladder. The howling darkness began to shift and form into images of skulls and screaming faces. The mage fired another bolt, trying in vain to but through the darkness. Dmitri climbed up the ladder as well, his rifle was ready and he looked panicked.

"The radio isn't working, what's going on?"

"I'm not sure, some kind of shapeshifter. He dissapeared, I think."

Cork shook his head and sniffed the air "No, he is still here. Mrhm I smell him." Without warning Nemesis materialized mere feet from Cork and swung his black blade diagonally, slicing a deep gash across Cork's chest. Dmitri yelled out as his friend fell backwards. Almost a second later the gash erupted with malicious energy, the slice tore itself open and sent blood spraying across Nemesis. Before Strazio could react Nemesis faded back into the shadows. Dmitri rushed over to Cork and tried to stop the massive amount of bleeding. Strazio watched in horror as the blood began to morph into skittering bugs. He yelped and pressed his back against the ramparts and tried to kick the blood bugs away.

"What the fuck is happening?! Where did all these bugs come from?" he shouted in fear.

"What bugs? What are you talking about? Come on Strazio help me out!" Dmitri was desperately trying to patch Cork back together, but the wound was deep and torn wide from the apparent magic of Nemesis's blade. Strazio shook his head and rubbed his eyes, the crawling bugs dissapeared. He tried to move forward, but Nemesis appeared in front of him. Beetles crawled out from under Nemesis's mask, causing Strazio to stumble to a halt.

"Are you scared Prime?" Nemesis laughed and swung his blade horizontally at Strazio. He ducked to avoid the slice and he thrusted his hands forward, pressing them against Nemesis's stomach. Two blasts of energy wracked Nemesis's body, sending him stumbling backwards. Strazio charged forth again, trying to tackle the opposing Prime to the ground. Nemesis side-stepped Strazio and sliced his arm in passing. Strazio yelled out in pain as the wound erupted with the familiar red burst and sent blood splattering across the ramparts. He clutched his wounded tricep tightly and gritted his teeth against the pain. Nemesis pointed his sword downwards and pointed to the glowing red line running along the blade's length.

"Darkfire, pretty nasty stuff. It reacts with blood to produce a volatile explosive, tearing apart your flesh like it was nothing" Nemesis chuckled and pointed at Strazio's wound "you might want to look at your arm."

Strazio glanced at his wound and to his utter horror all manner of cockroaches and beetles began to crawl out of the wound. He screamed in terror and tried to smash the skittering insects. This isn't real, this can't be real. He shut his eyes, hoping that when he opened them the crawlers would be gone. The bugs weren't the only things that disappeared, Nemesis was no where to be found. Dmitri can't protect himself while taking care of Cork, I need to get this guy away from the tower. This'll be a gamble, but we don't have much choice.

"Alright you bastard! Show yourself and I'll go easy on you!" he sounded much more confident than he actually was. Strazio backed himself against a rampart and kept his eyes peeled for any movement. He kept energy coursing through his legs, ready to dodge anything that Nemesis might throw at him. The hunter appeared in front of Strazio and swung horizontally, forcing Strazio to leap onto the rampart behind him. His foot slipped and he tumbled backwards. His hands reached out and he managed to grab the edge of the wall. He looked down and saw a teeming mass of maggots and bugs squiggling and squirming. Above him Nemesis stood, chuckling softly. Now is my chance! he pumped energy into his upper body and with a burst of force he lifted himself up high enough to reach for Nemesis's leg. Strazio let go of the edge and gripped the hunter's leg tightly, dragging Nemesis along with him.

They both fell and during their rapid descent Strazio charged an attack. He let go of Nemesis's leg and fired a shockwave blast into the ground, hoping the force would soften the impact. The attack did slow his descent, but the impact still hurt like hell. Strazio groaned and rolled over, forcing himself to his feet. He noticed that Nemesis was still reeling from the impact of the fall, he didn't have anything to slow his descent and ate the brunt of the impact. Strazio charged a breach attack and fired it at his opponent. The white hot bolt struck Nemesis dead center and his body exploded into a swarm of insects. Another fucking hallucination. He tried to collect himself but before he could Nemesis appeared in front of him, sword raised high and ready for a downward slash.

Focus, I can't dodge this in time. If I screw this up I'm dead.

Time seemed to freeze as Strazio moved to intercept the strike. He raised his left hand upwards, palm parallel to the blade. As the slash came down he fired a burst of energy to knock it off course and at the same time he stepped forward, placing his other hand on Nemesis's chest. A miscalculation caused the blade to carve into Strazio's left arm, cutting a line of fire and blood.

"Shatter!"

A white hot burst of energy ripped into Nemesis's chest, forcing him back. Moments later Strazio's fresh wound exploded and he screamed in agony. Once again Nemesis dissolved into the shadows and left Strazio alone.

"So Strazio, I see you've abandoned your allies once again. WIll Dmitri end up like Mara I wonder?" Nemesis cackled from every direction, his voice blending in this the shroud.

"I'll kill you"

"Just like you'll kill Damien? You couldn't protect Mara you couldn't protect your family and you certainly couldn't protect Valerie. Tell me how someone weak like you could hope to kill fear incarnate?"

"Shut up!" Strazio yelled and fired a breach bolt into the darkness, his anger was peaking. Nemesis laughed and continued speaking.

"You're like an open book Strazio, so predictable."

Damien Alabaster materialized in front of Strazio and began laughing at him. The apparition was met with a breach bolt, dispelling it into a puff of smoke. Another hallucination of Damien appeared, followed by another and another. Each one was greeted by a breach bolt and each one was another damn hallucination.

"Stop fucking with me!"

From the shadows stepped another Damien, but this one carried Nemesis's sword. Strazio began charging another bolt, this time allowing the energy to sit on his arm and grow. The facsimile of Damien dashed forwards, with his sword ready to strike.

"Are you afraid Strazio? Are you afraid of your death?!"

"I am Strazio Rockwell! The avatar of rage! and I am not afraid, just fucking pissed!"

The two charged at eachother and collided with destructive force. Nemesis slashed Strazio across his chest, not a particularly deep gash but brutal enough. Strazio followed through with his attack and released a fully charged breach bolt into Nemesis's chest. The beam sent Nemesis flying backwards and tumbling across the ground. Strazio laughed as he watched the body tumble away. He felt the blood drip from his chest and then was knocked on his ass by the resulting eruption. Oh god, this hurts. He rolled over onto his side and pressed his hands against the chest wound, trying to stifle the bleeding. The shroud had been lifted, but he saw Nemesis still squirming about. Come on, this isn't over. Move body, dammit move. He crawled to his feet and stumbled over to Nemesis who kneeling on his hands and knees with his head in the dirt over a pool of blood.

"Its... its over Nemesis"

The hunter tried to laugh but ended up devolving into a coughing fit "I just figured it out Strazio."

"What are you talking about?"

"Your greatest fear, I figured out what you are the most afraid of."

Strazio grabbed his shoulder and turned him onto his back. To his astonishment he was face-to-face with a cackling mad copy of himself.

"You're afraid of yourself Strazio"

Strazio yelled into anger and gripped his doppleganger's neck, squeezing as hard as he could. A blast of energy, a simple shatter attack punctuated the end of the battle, tearing a hole in Nemesis's throat. Strazio was left with pain, silence, and anger.