Heroes of the Fall

[The Succubus]

The Summons

Alone.

The desert stretched in all directions, the sun mercilessly scorching the sand and the forlorn figure crawling on it.

Alone.

Hunger and thirst had robbed him of his strength and soon would rob him of his life as well.

Alone....

Khalen had often spent much of his time away from his siblings while they lived together in the White City but that wasn't true loneliness. If he had wished to, he could have sought out his siblings at any time. Now, in the endless sands, far from the sheltered realm of Baz'Auran, far from his siblings and far from aid, Khalen finally knew what it meant to be alone.

The wind howled across the towering dunes, carrying with it sands that stung his eyes and scoured his flesh. His eyesight began to fade, darkness creeping in at the edges of his vision and finally the last of his energy was gone. Khalen ceased to move and his eyes shut for the final time.

The hunger and thirst began to fade as the darkness surrounded him. He felt weightless, yet as though he was gently falling. Was he dead? Was this all that waited after the spirit had left the body? Yet the darkness was soothing and comforting compared to the pains that wracked his body while awake and he continued to sink deeper into the void. After what seemed like an eternity, or could have only been a couple of minutes, Khalen felt himself stop. The floating feeling had ceased and he felt as though he lay on some unseen floor.

From out of the darkness a piercing white light fell on him. Brilliant against the gloom, it shone directly over him but there was no warmth to it, nor could he look directly at it to determine its source.

“The Accused will rise.”

A cold, implacable voice filled the void, seeming at once to come from everywhere and nowhere.

“The Accused will rise,” the voice repeated and a horrific twist of pain shot through Khalen. As he slowly got to his feet, another light shone out of the darkness and a figure slowly stepped out of the shadows and into the centre of it. Khalen felt a chill run through his body as he saw the figure slowly lower its hood. It was an exact duplicate of himself! No....not exact. It wore what looked like a stone circlet, or what might be a crown.

From the left another spotlight shone and another doppelganger stepped forward. This one wore manacles on its wrists and had a chain drapped across its body.

“You will answer for the crime you have commited....”

A third spotlight appeared to Khalen's right and a thired doppelganer approached. This one carried a staff with a lantern on the end of it. The light from it glowed very dimly in the piercing whiteness that surrounded it.

“...for which the sentence is death and oblivion.”

The first doppelganger spoke again.

“Let the trial begin.”