Hello everyone! :

How do you write an appropriate final battle for a story of such scale (almost 17000 words by now)? This was the question that bugged me in the last weeks. I had some unsettled nights dreaming about our heroes and their quest. I stared helpless at a blinking cursor on an empty sheet and waited for inspiration. After many hours of thinking and writing, rethinking and rewriting and MANY cups of coffee, I can finally present you the next-to-last part of our epic story.

IMPORTANT NOTE! The last part will contain the download link for the eBook! I'd like to use some of the artworks, I featured but I need your agreement for that! Please let me know, if it's OK, that I use your work to illustrate the book.


If you missed the previous parts, read them here:

Part 1: somnambulist-aisle.deviantart.…
Part 2: somnambulist-aisle.deviantart.…
Part 3: somnambulist-aisle.deviantart.…
Part 4: somnambulist-aisle.deviantart.…
Part 5: somnambulist-aisle.deviantart.…


Cast:

- Eric - Wandering Deviant
- Lord Luis - mighty and brave Leader
- Mage Jim - master of magic and sorcery
- Lady Suzanne - crazy but nice witch
- Mistress Heather - enchanting and cheeky Huntress
- Holly the Craftswoman
- Knight Kelley - dark and misterious Horseman (horse: "Nikki")
- Knight Ian - loyal but cruel Swordsman
- Razvan the Engineer
- Apprentice Zoki - young and talented sorcerer
- Christine - mysterious woman with strange powers
- Stein the Barbarian
- Lady Brenda - kind and helpful Healer

- Gawrila - cruel and evil overlord, destroyer of the world


With special appearance by:

- Trece - The Mouth of Gawrila

- Dave
- Majid
- Stefy


- Chapter 13 - Portal -

We sit around a small campfire in the depts of the cave. Half the night, we talked with each other, espacially with Christine and Stein, our new friends and comrades in arms. Master Jim and Lady Suzanne are convinced, that these are the last two remaining descendants of The Creator. "Destiny brought us together at last." Jim said. We all witnessed their powers and skills and we agreed with him. He explained them our quest and told them about the prophecy. Both of aceepted to follow us, because they suffered greatly under the darkness, Gawrilas armies brought to our lands. Christine hasn't said much, and sat nearby the Nomcats most of the time, watching them mesmerized and stroking their soft fur. Cookie fell asleep while cuddling with Christine and her big head rests on the lap of the misterious woman. She doesn't even notice the weight of the heavy cat and fondles her smiling. Stein on the other hand, seems to await the battle with grim pleasure. He sure looks ready to split a skull or two with his axe! I feel the fatigue of this long day crawling in my limbs. I think of Brenda and I remember Lady Suzannes words: "She is the last warrior and our only hope to defeat the darkness. We have to save her or our world will perish.". With her words in my ear and Brendas face before my mind's eye, I doze away in a unsettled sleep.

I'm awakened by voices and distant sounds. Still drowsy, I look around and I see the others packing their gear. Heather and Holly gathered every arrow and bolt, they could get and their quivers are full again. I see Suzanne and Zoki wrapping up some equipment and magical essences for the battle. Razvans grenades dangle on their belts. I get up and pack my stuff, too. Ian stands nearby, fully equiped already and stares in the distance. I just wanted to talk to him, but in this moment, Jim and Luis come out of the shadows with sorrowful faces. "What's wrong, dear friends?". I ask them. "We explored the cave and found the portal, I told you about, not far from here. I spent the last two hours in front of it and I tried every spell I can imagine, but it won't open. I don't know what to do." Jim answers hopeless. Christine, busy attaching a saddle to Cookie, suddenly looks in our direction. She must have heard us. With a smile, she walks past us. "Opening this portal? Piece of cake.". We follow her to a large structure. The portal is made out of skulls, bone and blood and the horrible sight sends chills down our spines. Christine doesn't seem to be afraid as she kneels down and starts to draw weird circles and swirls in the dust again. For a few moments, nothing happens. Suddenly, the portal starts to glow in the same, misterious blue light we saw already in her drawings. With a loud bang, a struck of lightning emerges from the inside of the portal. We protect our eyes from the brightness. As I dare to look again, I can see the portal, still glowing, but it has changed. Where the solid stone wall of the cave once was, there is a vast plain of black rocks and rotting bones now. We can see in Gawrilas realm! We stand together in front of the portal and look into the abyss of desolation and darkness. Razvan stands next to me and mutters "It's like looking into hell.". Nobody replys to this, but we all think the same.

:thumb326804490:

We extinguish the fire and gather our gear quickly. Kelley stands next to Nikki and stokes his mane. "This is not a place for you, my dearest friend." he says with a tear in his eye. "You are free now. Wish me luck!". With this words, he sends his faithful horse out of the cave. I can't surpress a tear myself. Only minutes later, we stand together in front of the portal - the gateway to our fate. Luis and Jim stand in the front. After a few moments of silence and thoughtfulness, Luis turns around to us. "My brave companions. We stand on the doorstep to the realm of our enemy. I fought in many battles and stood besides many great men and women, but I never saw such a magnificent group of warriors! I am proud, that I met all of you and I feel honored to fight side by side with you.". With a stout face, he continues: "We won't let darkness and grief take over our towns and cities! We will save our friend Brenda and we will save our world! We will bring the fight to Gawrila and we will rain flames, thunder and steel upon him! Before this day ends, he'll crawl in the dirt and beg for the mercy of a quick death! We'll fight him with sword, bow, axe and spear, with the fires of hell and lightning from the skies! My brothers and sisters in arms, have no fear! We will defeat him - united as friends!". Without waiting for a reply, he turns around and steps through the portal.


- Chapter 14 - Voice -

Within a blink of an eye, we are through the portal and are breathless for a second. The air here feels like acid and ash rain from the sky. We stand on a wide plain, covered with rotting bones, decay and cinder. Not a single tree can grow here and the only vegetation are black vines with razor-sharp thornes. No bird can be seen in the murky sky, not even the sun can go through the blanket of smog and dark clouds. Not far from us, we can see a large tower, which is as black as the ground. Fires glow at it's flanks with an unholy light. After a few moments of silence, Jim raises his voice: "Come on, my brave friends! I think, this tower is our goal!". The Nomcats shake the ash from their backs and we approach the tower carefully.

:thumb305408972:

As we come near, a huge gate comes in sight. It's as black as the rest of the tower and apparently made of bones. I grab my sword steadier and try to surpress the fear, that grabs my heart with an iron fist. We only are a few stpes away from it, as suddenly, the gate opens slowly. We stop right in our tracks and keep our weapons ready. Kelley stands right next to me and seemingly noticed my dread. "Whatever comes through this gate, we will tear it to pieces!" he says. With a short look to me and a faint smile, he adds "Together.". The door is now half open and we can look inside the tower. We wait for an army of undead monsters, but we only see one tall shape in the darkness. Slowly and calm, the figure walks towards us. It is clothed in a black robe with a hood. We can't see it's face completely - only a mouth with rows of deadly teeth. A foul and rotten stench emerges from the creature and almost makes me throw up. It showes not the slightest inclination to attack us, but we stay ready to release death and destruction upon it. After some endless seconds of silence, the figure starts to speak.

"Hear me! I am Trece, voice and ambassador of Gawrila. My master welcomes you in his realms.". His voice echoes in the passageway behind the gate and sends chills down our spines. Lord Luis answeres, still the sword ready to strike. "We came to destroy your master and we will not hesitate to kill you too, if you hold us back! Step aside!". The creature smiles, reviealing even more gruesome teeth. "Your reason for coming here is well known, Lord of the mortals. My master sent me to offer you your life in exchange of surrender. In his great generosity, the mighty dark emperor will spare your little, pathetic souls. You only have to kneel before him and praise his greatness!". Luis yells to the creature: "Never! We will defeat him and save our friend!". "Aaah. You are speaking of the female mortal being, the mighty Gawrila choose to accommodate here. She belongs to my master now and she will kneel down before him just like you will!". The mention of Brenda makes my blood boil. I can't take this filthy beast anymore and we waste precious time here! I rush forward, surround the baffled monster and give him a kick in the back of its legs. It falls down on its knees. I stare in the rotten face of the creature and say "You are the one to kneel now!". With a single strike of my sword, I behead the creature. Drenched with the black blood of the fiend, I turn around to the others. "Enough jabbering! Let's go inside!". For a brief second, I can see Kelley smile.

:thumb262334840::thumb328092071::thumb310359167:

The interior of the tower looks even more frightening than its outside. Careful and wary, we make our way through the a huge hallway, big enough to fit a house inside. At the end of the passage, we can see a faint light. As we approach this, we can see a enormous room with hundreds of torches on the massive stone walls. Many passageways and corridors branch off this huge place. As we step inside, we can see a giant throne at the other end of the room. It's made out of human skulls and on it sits, his hands folded ... Gawrila! He is nearly 2 times larger than the projection of him we saw and his voice sounds much more terrifying, as he starts to speak. "Well. Here you are at last. It was a very foolish decision to reject my grateful offer!". Suzanne raises her voice "Your time on this throne is over! We will end this right here!". Gawrila stands up from his throne ans shouts "You pathetic, ignorant mortals! My patience with you is exhausted! I will destroy you and THIS will remain my possession!". With this words, a pillar of flames and smoke emerges next to him and a large stone appears. On this, an unconscious person is chained up, covered in scratches and wounds. "Brenda!!" I hear myself shout. "YES! She will be mine for all eternity and she will suffer every second of it! Just like you will, worthless insect!". His words are not faded away completely, as we feel a faint vibration in the massive stone floor. It increases with every second and we can hear inhuman sreams and the sound of heavy footsteps. The Nomcats arch their backs and look around alarmed. Gawrila is back on his throne and smiles at us. "Your doom has finally arrived.". As the evil overlord said these words, we can see the first monsters running out of the hallways.

:thumb328406028:

- Chapter 15 - War -

We are stunned by the scene we have to witness. A innumerable army of filthy creatures flow out of every entrance to the throne room like a dark and deadly flood. Swords, clubs and axes in their hands, the fiends rush towards us. "Form a circle, back to back! Quick!" Luis shouts. "Stand tall, my faithful comrades! If we have to give those bastards our lives, WE'LL GIVE THEM HELL BEFORE WE DO!". With this words, Luis' sword slices the the nearest monster in half. The fight has begun! We fight with merciless fury and dozens of creatures disappear in dust and smoke in the first few seconds. Jim and Zoki use some of Razvans grenades to make room for the spellcasters and the warriors with ranged weapons. In the dust of the greande, a huge number of monsters stand and scream in agony. Blind, suffering and helpless, they are an easy target for Heathers arrows and Hollys bolts. Fortunately, the room is high enough for the Nomcats to get airborne! They come down to the creatures like death itself and rip them to bits with horrifying rage. Razvans boomsticks smash in the lines of the attackers with tremendous force and leave only gunpowder, blood and humiliated bodies behind. A large group approaches the wizards. As I try to warn them, Lady Suzanne turnes around, just like she had sensed the threat. "It's cane time!" I hear her shout. A massive ray of lightning emerges from her staff and cuts through the enemy lines like a hot blade through butter. Zoki and Christine shoot blinding balls of pure energy, swirly mist and color to the monsters and burn them to ashes imediately. Jim even hurls down flaming rocks on the attackers, which seem like meteors. Only ashes and debris remain. Stein and Luis fight back to back right next to me. The Lord slices through dozens of enemies with unbelievable ease and Steins massive axe lets some creatures flee in fear. Not one stands a chance. Kelley just impaled one of the fiends with his spear, as he turnes around to Heather and yells "Watch out! There is one behind you!". Heather takes a quick look around and spotted the monster, which rushes right towards her. Holly also notices this, but she's too slow to help her friend. In the very last moment, the sword of the enemy already near her head, Heather lets the blade snap out of her special boots and kicks the creature right where it hurts. The monster moans in agony and suffering and falls dead to the ground. Heather smiles at me very short, but in the next moment, she's back into battle.   

We kill hundreds of enemies, but it seems futile. More and more monsters come out of the corridors and for every creature we kill, three new ones appear. "I'm almost out of bolts!" I hear Holly shout. "Same here!" Heather answeres. The spellcasters look exausted and I don't know, how long we can defend ourselves against such superior forces. But we fight on, brave and without fear! Suddenly, a huge monster appears near me. It's almost twice my size and hurls a massive club. Exausted and surprised, I can't avoid the vigorous hit completely. The impact sends me flying towards the entrance and the collision with the massive stone wall nearly knocks me out. Still dizzy and muddle-headed, I can see dark figures above me. I try to raise my sword to keep them away from me, but strong hands grab my arms. My fight seems to be over.

:thumb322329725:

But instead of the expected suffering and painful death, I feel, that the arms are helping me to get back on my feet! My view clears slowly, and I see a man and a women, both eqiped with heavy armor and weapons. "Are you all right, man?" the man asks me. His face is friendly and generous and his voice calms my troubled mind. "Who are you?" I ask dizzy. Instead of him, the woman at his side answeres. "His name is Majid and my name is Stefy. We are the soldiers and guards of the Somnambulist Aisle. We followed our king to this mysterious place to help him.". The man called Majid continues: "We almost lost your track from the cave on, but a faithful horse awaited us and lead us to the portal. But there is no time to answer questions! Our king stands alone!". Before I can reply, another tall man appears in the entrance. "Not anymore. Somnambulists - ASSEMBLE!" he says with a deep voice. What follows is beyond my understanding. Dozens ... no - HUNDREDS of brave men and women in full armor, equipped with sword, bow and axe stand right at the doorstep of this forsaken place. The men in front of them smiles at me and says "I am Dave, leader of the royal somnambulist guard. It's time to end the reign of darkness and chaos!".

:thumb297574099::thumb164275796:

Following their commander, the soldiers set in motion. They charge in the throne room and hit the fighting creatures completely surprising. I see Garila standing up from his throne. He stares at the new situation irritated and startled. The army of the brave Somnambulists cause unbelievable havoc in the lines of the attackers and rip the monsters apart like beserks. Lord Luis and his knights turn around baffled and after a few seconds, they start to realize. We are not a group anymore - we are an army! With new found hope and strenght, we fight side by side with our friends. A group of archers arrive at Heather and Holly and supply them with fresh ammunition. Heather grabs a few packs of arrows and calls Cookie to her with a whistle. The Nomcats fine ears heard the signal and she lands near her mommy only seconds later. Cookie is covered with blood and bits of rotten flesh and spits out something, that might be a torso. "EEEEEEW! That's icky! You'll need a bath after this!" I hear her say. The blink of an eye later, she sits on the back of the huge cat and lifts off to rain her deadly arrows down on the creatures. Holly is done with reloading her special crossbow. "It's time to try out the automatic mode on this thing!". As she pulls the trigger, a storm of deadly bolts fire out of Razvans invention. Together with Heather and the other archers, she unleashes a horrifying barrage of projectiles upon the terrified monsters. I can see a fiend falling, nearly as high as a Nomcat, spiked with hundreds of arrows and bolts.

I try to spot Lord Luis and his knights. Ian and Kelley fight side by side and one monster after another falls by their blades. Stein stands a bit apart from the others and is surrounded by dozens of foes. I fight my way through the enemy lines to help him, but halfway there, I can see, that there is no need for that. He slashes, cuts and bashes anything near him with unbelievable rage and merciless fury. I understand now, why he is so far away from the others. He just don't want to hurt one of us! One smaller critter manages to get on his back and tries to strangle him from behind. With a nearly casual move, he grabs the head of the foe and rips it off with his bare hands. "ENOUGH!!" I hear a gruesome voice yelling. I see Gawrila standing on the egde of the battlefield with pure hatred in his eyes. "If I have to kill each and everyone of you by myself - so be it! You bugged me long enough!". With this words, he tears a few poor Somnambulists nearby him to shreds with a motion of his hand. From one second to another, all attention lies on him and countless projectiles and spells fly his way.

My heart sinks, as I have to whitness the fury and rage, the evil overlord causes in our lines. He sends men and woman fly through the air and every arrow, bolt or spell just bounce off him without doing any harm. In the corner of my eye, I see Ian rushing towards Gawrila. He shlashes any monster nearby him when passing by with his handy, blade-equipped bracers. Only moments later he stands right next to the dark emperor. Ian swings his sword with all the strenght, he can find. With a noise, that echoes loud in the large throne room, his blade breaks into a thousand pieces. Gawrila stumbles a bit, more than to the surprise than the actual hit. With disgust and rage in his eyes, the overlord focuses Ian. With a move, which is too fast to track, he grabs Ian on his throat and lifts him up. "So. You want to be the first one of The Thriteen, who dies by my hand. I'll gladly grant you this wish!". He grabs the rest of Ians shattered blade and rams it deep into the breast of the knight, cutting through the heavy armor with ease. The motionless body of the knight falls to the ground.

:thumb270152679:

Lord Luis saw all that, too. His scream is full of agony and pain. "NOOOOOOOOOO!". Pushing a bunch of creatures aside, he starts approaching Gawrila like in delusion. Suddenly, one of the monsters manage to hit him. The king trips and falls to the ground. As he tries to get up again, a group of monsters holds him down and attack him with claws and teeth. From one moment to another, I can't see our brave leader anymore. I try to get to him to help, but in this very second, the creatures that pile up on Luis, fly through the air like straw men. Lord Luis is on his feet. Scratched and bruised but seemingly all right! An unnatural fire burns in his eyes, as he walks towards the enemy lines bare-knuckled. He seems to be steaming! Some foes try to attack him, but he slaps them away with powerful punches, like they were toys. After a few seconds of confusion, I understand. One of Razvans inventions saved the day once more! The powers from the mysterious ring gave him strenght beyond imagination. "GAWRILA!" he shouts. "It is time to end this! I'll kill you with my bare hands!!". He arrives Gawrila very fast. The overlord is astonished by such bravery, but he didn't seem to take it serious. The first of Luis' punches teaches him better. The head of the hideous creature flies back by the impact and for a brief moment, he seems puzzeled. "Who gave you such strenght?". he asks with rancor in his voice. Suddenly, Razvan stands behind him and shouts "I DID!". With this words, he fires his boomsticks right in Gawrilas face. The fiend, surprised by this attack, stumbles again. But he regaines his focus in very quick.

:thumb306746439::thumb289773510::thumb299153264:

The battle rages on with elusive fury and both sides don't give each other anything. A hit from a creature knocks me down, but I manage to kill the fiend with a quick strike of my sword. While getting up again, I can feel Razvans gift at my belt. Suddenly, a plan takes shape in my head. I use the confusion of our enemy to fight my way to the monolith, Brenda is chained on. Easier than expected, I stand right next to the huge stone. I run to my trapped friend. "Don't worry, my dear, you'll be free in no-time!" I say - more to myself than to her. The torch lights up and I'm blinded for a second. The hot flame burns through the iron chains incredibly fast and only a few moments later, she is free. I catch her motionless and humiliated body, as I'm done with the last fetter. "Brenda? BRENDA?!" I shout, but she doesn't move. She won't wake up and I feel so helpless right now. Without thinking much, I pick her up and try to sneak my beloved friend away from the battlefield.

Mature Content

Mature Content

A bit aside the raging battle, I place her insensible body on the ground. "Please, oh please. Don't be dead." I say with tears in my eyes. I  try to listen, if she is still breathing, but the noise of the battle makes it impossible. I try to wake her up with shaking and screaming at her, but it's useless. Maybe, her wounds are too severe. I look down on her and all my hope vanishes. I start to cry. Everything, we've been trough, every threat we faced and every life that was given - it was for nothing. Our struggle was completely in vain. We failed our mission and darkness and death will soon rule our lands. A group of monsters approach me, but I'm tired of fighting. I hold the lifeless body of Brenda in my arms and tears run down my cheeks. The creatures are so close now, that I can even smell their rotten stench. I look down to Brendas face. "Forgive me, my dear. I failed saving you. You'll always have a special place in my heart.". I give her a faint kiss on her forehead and my tears bedew her beautiful face. I press her to my breast and await the deadly sword thrust.

Suddenly, a strange tension and heat fills the air. A mysterious glow emerges from me and Brenda. A bright and comforting light, that covers our hearts and minds like a warm blanket. The creatures still verge on us, but suddenly, the feos in the front were hit by a burst of fire. It burns them instantly and even spreads to the other monsters nearby. The light around us gets brighter and brighter and soon, I'm blinded by it. With a bang, that shakes the very foundations of the tower, an enormous burst of flames and energy burst out from us and rises to the ceiling of the room. It flies a short distance and Heater has to avoid it by flying a breakneck maneuver with Cookie. For a brief second, it stops and pulsates right above the battlefield. Gawrila and Luis stopped to fight and the evil overlord stares at the phenomenon with eyes wide open. "No. This CAN'T BE!" I hear him say. After a brief moment, the appearance starts to move again and changes its form. Huge wings emerge from it, then a long, spiked tail and ... a head! The strange light has become the shape of a dragon, made of fire and light. The creature blurts out a bloodcurdling scream, that shakes the whole room. It flies a circle above the battlefield and rays of fire and light burn an uncountable number of creatures to ashes. "NOO! YOU CAN'T UNLEASH THIS POWER! THIS IS IMPOS ...". Gawrilas scream becomes silent, as the dragon goes down on him. He disappears in a pillar of flames, smoke and chaos. An enormous shockwave of fire rushes through the room, burning everthing in it's path to ashes. It scorches in my direction and I can feel it's heat already. I'm allowed to have a last glimpse on all the havoc, desctruction and death, this battle has claimed. Then, everything disappears in darkness.  

... to be continued here: somnambulist-aisle.deviantart.…