Fan Fiction ❯ the last immortal ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Standing on the back of the phoenix, he stared into the distance, wondering what would become of him for where ever he went pain and darkness followed.

 

He was an immortal, the last immortal, and the product of a dieing race that chose their own destruction rather than the destruction of everything else. Standing at just over 6 foot tall, his dark hair covered his heavily scared face leaving only a pale mouth visible, his body scared from battles long since fought was covered by a black cloak torn and battered, his legs barely covered by the remains of black trousers, his only possession was a battle scared sword given to him by his best friend and mentor. The hilt of the sword in the shape of wings of a phoenix spread away from the blade and the silver handle emanated from the rear of the wings, on the end of this handle hung a chain with a steal rectangle attached, on this steal rectangle where the words “we live together, we fight together, we die together” an oath once cherished but now nothing more than a memory. The blade of the sword burst out of the hilt like a flame curving upwards towards the sky, it was once a silver blade but countless battles had stained the blade red many years ago. He chose no name, he had no need for one, for he never stayed in one place long enough to give it to anyone and the darkness that followed him would leave none alive to remember it.

 

A tear ran down his face, glistening in the moonlight and reflected of his sword and turned to nothing as it landed on the bright fiery back of the phoenix. The phoenix slowly lowered from the skies to the earth. It landed on the soft wet grass and let the immortal off its back, and then as if it where never there it disappeared into the night sky, the only evidence off its presence was the slightly scorched grass. A soft voice came from the immortal “until we meet again, goodbye old friend”. The silence returned once again as the immortal walked slowly across the field that he had just arrived in, dark clouds now covered the moon, nothing could be seen, yet the immortal knew where he was going, he sat down next to a small pile of rocks placed at the base of a tree, carved into the tree just above the stones where the words “ A man cut down before his time, goodbye my old friend”. The immortal took his sword and put it in the ground next to the stones. This was the one place that he felt comfortable, he rested against the tree and stared into the night, he slowly lowered his head and fell into a soft sleep.

 

Not even in his dreams could he be peaceful, for every time he closed his eyes he saw memories of his past, the battles he had fought, the friends he had lost. He recalled the day in which he had received the sword from his friend.

 

It was a normal day in a small farming village. His mentor was a blacksmith, but also a master swordsman and the wisest man in the village. He returned from his shop to an eager young face. It was the immortals 15th birthday and had been promised a special gift from his mentor, he had been waiting with excitement all day and now the time had come. He said nothing but followed the blacksmith with eager eyes, the blacksmith smiled as he knew what the young immortal was thinking, he went into his room and emerged with a long package, the immortal's excitement overtook him and as he was given the parcel he tore the wrappings away without hesitation, when he saw what lied beneath his eyes widened “ that is the phoenix blade, my father gave it to me when I was your age and now I give it to you, this blade will grant the power of the phoenix to those who need it the most, take care of it”. As the blacksmith finished talking there was an earthshaking crash and explosion, both the blacksmith and the immortal ran towards the door, what greeted them was the sight of the village in flames, and in the centre of the smouldering remains where several men all dressed in white armour surrounded by white flames, the men in armour walked towards the blacksmith who drew his sword he said quietly “run into the woods and escape, no matter what happens here I will find you” with these words the young immortal ran into the woods holding the sword he just be given tighter and tighter, he could hear the sounds of a fierce battle being fought behind him and then the thing he feared the most, he heard the scream of his friend and mentor as he was struck with a fatal blow. This scream echoed in the young immortals soul driving him to run faster and faster into the woods, deeper then he had ever been before. He continued to run, fuelled by unnatural powers until nightfall, he found a hollow tree and hid in the bottom of it. He rested his head against his knee, he could no longer contain himself, he let out a scream of pain from his soul tears began to emerge from his eyes, he looked down at his hands through blurred eyes, they had been cut as he held the blade of the sword while running, he tore a piece of his sleeve off and wrapped it around his hand as a bandage to stop the bleeding, but in his mind he did not care what happened what happened to him, everything he ever knew had been taken away from him in an instant, it started raining heavy rain drops thudded on the dry ground and trees. A clap of thunder was heard over the rain followed shortly by a flash of lightning, he curled up into a ball on the floor wishing everything would go away, he tucked his head further into his knees as he cried himself to sleep as the endless rain echoed inside the tree trunk, the storm of events that had happened during the day now being reacted by the weather.

 

He woke up abruptly, it was morning now but the sun could not be seen, it had been raining throughout the night and he was soaked to the bone, he looked up into the sky not even flinching as the raindrops fell onto his face and into his eyes. He slowly got up from his resting place and removed his sword form the floor, he walked slowly away from the tree onto the top of the hill, the village in his dreams had been rebuilt and had evolved into a large city, the only memorial to the tragedy that befallen this place was a small fountain in the centre of the city, but most of the residents where to young to remember what had happened. He walked slowly down into the busy streets. The roads where narrow and over crowded and the smell of waste was ripe in the air, the poor and the ill lined the streets begging for money, thieves hid in the shadows seeking there next target. However the busy the streets were everybody avoided the immortal, he was known as the bringer of death by those who had managed to escape the darkness and told others. As he approached the fountain, the city guard approached him “you have been ordered to leave this city immediately, that or we are to arrest you”. The immortal did not have time to listen to threats off these people, he drew his sword and pointed it at the leader of the town guard “if you want anybody in this city to live they must leave now, for the darkness is coming and I cannot help you once it arrives” the immortal said in a calm gentle and yet firm voice.

 

The guard saw this warning as a threat and knocked the immortals sword to the side and swung at the immortal to disarm him. The immortal just stepped to the side as the guard threw all his weight behind his attack and stumbled past him, the immortal took the chance and attacked plunged his sword through the guards armour and into his back. The guard fell to his knees as blood dripped through the pierced armour, the immortal removed the sword from the guard as the guard slumped forward onto his front. For a moment the other guards stood staring in disbelief at how easily their leader had been struck down, an eerie silence crept over the city as a pitch black shadow approached.

 

The silence was pierced by the sound of thousands of screams as the shadow began to consume everything in its path the very foundations of the city where being ripped to pieces, the panicked people ran past the immortal and the town guard did not hesitate to follow them. The shadow continued to consume the city until it reached the immortal. It stopped a few meters away from the immortal who was now the only person left alive in the area. A man walked out of the shadow, he looked exactly like the immortal except he had white hair, his sword equally damaged and battle scared as the immortals own phoenix blade however his blade was very different, the hilt of the blade looked more like smaller blades, extensions of the blade that conversed in one at the handle, this handle was black and had a chain on the end of it just as the phoenix blade did, but on the end of this blade was a small metal carving of a skull. The blade of the sword shot straight out of the hilt and thinned near the top to give a deadly point at the end.

 

The man stepped forward out of the darkness even more. The two men stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, “shadow, it took you longer to find me this time” the immortal spoke with a small smile on his face “I think your losing your touch”. Shadow smiled back at him “perhaps, it was a clever move by you immortal, coming back to this place, but you know there is no place you can hide from me”.

 

With this exchange of words the two men charged towards each other, both of them swung there swords at the same time and collided in mid air. Metal shards came off both of the blades, “the phoenix blade is weakening immortal” at this Shadow jumped back from the fight but as he did he slashed the immortals face, blood dripped to the floor as the immortal dropped to one knee in pain, he held his eye as it had been cut and he could no longer see out off it, blood streamed down his face as Shadow walked towards him. Unlike the immortal Shadow didn't have a scar on his body, the immortal had never been able to land a hit on him no matter how hard he tried. The darkness once again approached the immortal; Shadow looked down at the immortal “perhaps now you will understand, you can never defeat me”.

 

The Darkness rolled forward consuming everything including the immortal, This was not the first time he had been consumed by the darkness, he stayed motionless gripping the phoenix blade as hard as he could so he did not lose it. He closed his eyes and heard a familiar voice in his mind “However long the night, the dawn will always break”.

 

When he woke up he was lying on the back of the phoenix, he could once again see out off his injured eye but he had gained a new scar, tears emerged in his eyes, once more he had failed, once again he was back at the beginning starring into the distance wondering what will become of him, wondering will he ever be able to defeat Shadow, will he ever be able to break the darkness