Streaks of gold shone through the thick branches of the trees, dappling the forest floor, the pools of lights shifting back and forth as the boughs swayed gently with the wind. The great forest appeared peaceful and calm, thoughtful of it's own beauty. The normal music of the birds and insects, and the occasional howl of a wolf, were silenced this day. The only sound that could be heard was that of metal striking metal, a piercing echo in the otherwise peaceful evening light.<br/><br/>“Yer a dead man.” The voice belonged to one of four men. Three men, draped in thick black cloaks, circled a fourth in a small clearing deep within the forest. One of the three wielded a pair of short swords while the other two held tightly to their single blades and buckler shields. Tension filled the air, ready to break at any moment as the three circled around like predators, trying to spot a weakness to exploit. “Ya shoulda never come to this place. Ya won't find 'er for we do.” The speaker licked his thin, white lips as he continued to speak, his black eyes giving his true allegiance away. “The Great One will put a' end to 'er and those like 'er.”<br/><br/>“Is that so?”<a class="link link--external" data-proxy-href="/proxy.php?link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F377598749990006385%2F&amp;hash=6c31f09f0979fdef9db859814cc7ab61" href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/377598749990006385/" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank">Kallo</a>was standing as ease, his two handed great sword resting easily on his right shoulder as his pale blue eyes scanned the speaker. “I don't suppose you'd just walk away from this, no?” The man stood about six feet tall, covered in well worked metal plates and leather. The leather fit snugly, clearly fitted expertly to his athletic form. Each of the metal plates was worked with the same masterful craftsmanship and fit like a second skin, all smooth edges and slightly curved. Perfect for deflecting an incoming strike. A thick coat from a black bear hung from his shoulders, helping to ward off the chill of the evening air. With a quiet sigh, his left hand lifted to run through his short cropped, black hair. He was the picture of a veteran soldier from head to toe, perfectly at ease with his great sword and tight fitting armor.<br/><br/>“Ya stupid or som'thin'?” One of the other cloaked men spoke up with a harsh voice. “Yer one o' them chosen, ain'cha?” The three continued to slowly circle Kallo, looking desperately for an opening to strike at. They had heard stories of their prey and knew better than to underestimate him, even as he appeared completely untroubled in his current situation. Kallo had indeed earned a reputation, even before his current journey had begun. One of the empires best soldiers, before the empire, and nearly the entire breadth of civilization had collapsed under an angry god's plague. With all that had happened to him during the breaking, this grizzled soldier had earned quite the reputation in his search for, and fight against, that angry god.<br/><br/>“Chosen?” There was that word again. Why him? He wasn't anything special, just a young soldier who had seen too much in his too few years. He hadn't deserved what had been offered to him, he didn't even want it. He had begged for his younger brother's life and soul, offering his in exchange. He had called out to the gods and pleaded for them to lift his brother up and mend his broken body, to keep him from being taken by the darkness and plague. For reasons he would never understand, the Goddess of war had answered his plea, but not in the way he had desired. She instead lifted him up and bestowed her gift upon him, choosing him to be her champion against the plague and the darkness that consumed all. That was the latter part of his reputation, the reason these three were after his head. If they could manage to take his head, their God would grant them his favor, living forever in his darkness.<br/><br/>Those pale blue orbs narrowed, locking onto the one who had called him 'chosen', a slight snarl peeling back his lips. “I don't have all day. Come and take your prize.” Kallo shifted, setting his feet apart and his weight centered on the balls of his feet, hefting the great sword in both hands, as he did.<br/><br/>“For the Great One.” The three men shouting in unison as they charged him from separate angles. The one to his left charged with his shield raised, in an attempt to knock Kallo of his feet for an easy kill. The other two ran forward with the weapons held ready, not willing to miss the chance to take this champions life in the name of their God.<br/><br/><i>'Stupid'</i>. Kallo closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting his senses spread out around him, listening to each footfall, every heavy breath, each creak of armor and flutter of cloth as they charged him. At the last possible second, he buckled his knees and rolled forward, letting his blade trail to the side. The men had committed so fully to their initial attack, they never had a chance to stop their momentum. One man's shield took his companion completely off his feet, but went tumbling to the ground with him as he tried to stop. The dual wielder had managed to miss the collision and spun to meet his quarry, only to realize Kallo had already regained his feet and swung his massive blade. In a panic, the cloaked attacker tried desperately to block the blade with his twin swords, but to no avail. The sheer weight of the blade and the strength in which it was swung, deflected the block and sunk deeply into the man's midsection, catching on his spine. The twin blades fell from his hands as his eyes went wide with shock, just as kallo stepped forward and put a heavy boot to the man's stomach. “Tell your God that I'm coming for him.” With that, Kallo gripped his sword and tore it from the man's body as he kicked him backwards, sending him to the ground in a crumpled heap.<br/><br/>The two men who had fallen in a tangle to the ground had gotten back to their feet. One stopped to stare in horror and their leader, laying in a pool of his own blood, nearly severed in two at the waist. He quickly turned to run as the other cloaked attacker stepped forward to send an over head slice of his blade at Kallo. The overhead slice was poorly executed, giving Kallo ample time to leap to the side, the missed strike sinking the man's blade several inches into the ground. Dipping his shoulder as he leaped, Kallo deftly rolled back to his feet and brought his blade to bear, using the momentum of its weight, he spun on the balls of his feet and sent his sword sailing towards the man who chose to run. He'd be damned if any of these filthy plague bearers would get away. The massive, bloodied blade spun through the air with a heavy thrum and caught the fleeing man in the back of his knees, shearing his legs completely off. With a blood curdling scream, the man fell to the ground, grabbing at his severed limbs as he writhed in pain, his life draining away with every pump of his heart.<br/><br/>Having the confidence of years of training, Kallo had turned back to the attacker who had swung at him as soon as he let his great sword fly from his hands. A predatory smile creased Kallo's lips as he stepped towards the last attacker standing. With a heavy grunt, the man finally pulled his sword from the earth's grip, stumbling a couple steps backwards with the effort.<br/><br/>“This ain't fair... this isn't how it's supposed to end.” Black eyes darted back and forth, looking for an escape. “The Great One promised me...” His mouth continued to move, but his words were mere whispers as he cursed his God. Death was coming for him and he knew he couldn't avoid it. “I won't let you get away with this.” Quickly throwing his sword and shield to the ground, the cloaked man took a small black vial from his belt and poured the viscous liquid into his mouth. Quicker than Kallo could react, his attacker screamed in agony as his muscles twisted and bulged unnaturally. One of the Great One's gifts. His plague would twist and mutate any living creature, giving it unnatural speed and strength.<br/><br/>Taking a few steps back, Kallo quickly looked to his sword, then back to the unnaturally twisted creature that now stood before him. The creature still had the aspects of the man it had just been, but now it had a mouth full of razor sharp teeth, slitted read and black eyes and long bony talons that had burst through the tips of it's fingers. It easily stood head and shoulders above Kallo now, even as it hunched under it's own weight and muscle. A snake like tongue slid out of it's mouth, caressing it's razor like teeth as it stared hungrily at Kallo.<br/><br/>“Fuck me.” Pale blue orbs locked with sickly black and red orbs as Kallo's mind raced, trying desperately to figure out a solution to his current problem. He had faced these twisted mutations before, but not without his sword, and more importantly, not on his own. He was in serious trouble, and he knew it. Even with the boon of the Goddess of war, this creature was still faster and stronger than he could ever hope to be. His only chance was to use his wits. The heart. That was the weakness. He had to find a way to get a blade into it's heart. There would only be one chance to do it. Before he could puzzle out how to get to one of the blades lying around the clearing, the grotesque creature sprinted at him. With blinding speed, it was on top of him before he could react, the claws of it's left hand tearing through the leather covering his midsection, splitting him open. In that same moment, the creature gripped Kallo's head in it's right hand and flung him across the clearing to crash into a large tree with enough force to shake leaves from it's branches. As Kallo landed at the foot of the tree, blood seeping from his stomach and dripping down his chin, he saw his answer, his salvation from this creature. With the last bit of fight he could muster, he snatched the broken limb from the ground and turned to face the creature as it charged him one last time. They both knew it was over, but the creature never saw the makeshift weapon Kallo had grabbed. At the last moment, just as the creature sunk it's claws into his shoulder, Kallo struck out with his arm, stabbing his broken piece of wood into the creature's chest, piercing directly into it's heart.<br/><br/>The creature's death shriek could be heard for a mile or more, black ooze spilling out of it's mouth and chest as it stumbled away, tearing desperately at it's chest. Laying on the ground, kicking and scratching and screaming, it refused to acknowledge it's own downfall. It's black and red eyes locked onto Kallo as it struggled against the inevitable, until finally it was still and quiet fell back over the forest.<br/><br/>“Blind luck. That's all that was. Blind fucking luck you idiot.” Choking on his own blood, Kallo slowly got back to his feet, clutching at his stomach to staunch the flow of blood. “Gotta find somewhere safe to put myself back together.” One of the benefits of his Goddess' boon was regenerative properties. He would survive this, but he had to find somewhere safe and out of the way to rest and heal. He would be at the mercy of anyone, or anything that found him while he healed. Clenching his teeth in agony, Kallo stumbled over to his sword, picking it up to use as a walking staff. His pale blue eyes scanned through the tree to look for any kind of shelter he could find.<br/><br/>Another clearing could be seen through the trees, dominated by a giant tree, it's canopy far above the rest of the forest. Maybe part of the trunk was hollow, or it's roots were large enough for him to crawl under and dig out a small patch of earth to rest in. It was the only thing within eyesight that he might make it to before he passed out from blood loss. With his goal now in mind, he began his slow shuffle towards the giant tree, blood pouring out of his stomach and shoulder, and dripping down his chin. He would leave a clear trail for anyone to follow, but he simply didn't have a choice with his current situation. As much as he wanted to just lay down and die and be done with it all, be done with being a God's champion, be done with fighting the darkness and the plague, he simply didn't have it in him to give up. Kallo would fight to the bitter end.<br/><br/>Glancing down at the blood soaking his clothes, his foot caught a dip in the earth that sent him straight to the grass. He was within a hundred yards of the tree, but he simply didn't have the strength to get back up. With a painful grunt, and his last bit of will, he rolled himself onto his back and stared up at the darkening sky. A slow smile spread across his lips as he laid there, a serene look on his handsome face. “At least I'll get to see the stars one last time.” The first stars of the night twinkled like diamonds in the sky as he began to lose consciousness.