Old Hatred

Old Hatred is a part of Tales of Arkain.

## Synopsis

Ornasion was confronted by Ebira (or just her projection) after he killed Hesrathion, Souleater Legion's tactician.

## Story

Ornasion stood victorious. Hesrathion laid dead to his feet, Ornasion had torn out the spine of the Souleater scum and had strangled him with it - and then set the corpse ablaze in demonic flames. He was truly dead. The tactician and right hand of the traitor Kersidar was gone. Neither his armies, nor his tricks nor his tactics or his magic could save him. The aged dreadlord had fallen before the might of the powerful Ornasion. Another step towards vengeance was done.

Ornasion had become a powerful lord of the dead, his Kezzar Nexus only grew in power. More and more dead Demons joined his ranks. The cooperation with the other nexus also went well and his allies were more reliable than any demon ally he ever had in life. It was ironic. In life he had fought for the glory of his people. Now, he tore them apart, one by one. And he was not done yet. Ornasion looked around. He was inside the ruins of a castle that had been destroyed by the Orcs not too long ago. Here he had made his first step. The days of the Souleater Legion were numbered. The Watcher himself wanted them defeated - and Ornasion was more than happy to oblige. "So, it is true. Ornasion the Destroyer, lord of the fearsome Blooddrinker Legion, leader of our great invasion and harbinger of destruction itself now serves some lich as a mindless puppet. How the mighty have fallen!" he heard a voice behind him. He recognized that voice all too well. He quickly turned around and threw flames in the direction the voice came from - but it had no effect. Ebira had not arrived herself. It was just a projection. How typical for a spineless coward.

"The whore of Kersidar herself! Still deluded enough to believe that you are untouchable? I have destroyed your forces, slaughtered your best tactician, I can destroy you too!" he declared. She seemed to study him with her eyes. For a mortal, her looks were irresistible. And her voice itself was like magic, turning those weaklings into sobbering dogs, willing to do whatever she wished if only for the slightest sign of recognition. Only the most strong-willed could resist her, many Demons also fell for her charms. She was a true succubus - and a black-hearted treacherous worm that Ornasion would have crushed if she was here herself. "I have never had any doubt in your abilities as a fighter, Ornasion. It would have surprised me if that fool Hesrathion could have defeated you somehow. It is your intellectual capabilities that I have doubts in. Tell me, how does it feel, being just the tool of some bone creature?" she asked him after moments of silence. They were alone, the undead forces had already left, Ornasion had stayed behind to savor his victory. She tried to provoke him. Ornasion pointed at her with his right hand.

"For someone so full of boasts, you prove your cowardice by your absence from the battlefield and by sending an image of yourself rather than actually being here. What do you want from me? Make my life miserable? I am dead now, your lies can no longer harm me. If you wish to settle matters, then come here yourself so I can finally tear you apart, rip your black heart out and feed it to Kersidar so I can make him choke on it before I completely break his mind when I get my hands on him." he demanded. She replied with an arrogant smile and crooked her head. "You have nothing that I could possibly want from you. And you wish you ever had caught my heart. Whether it is now or before your death, you never were in my league." she said. Ornasion snorted. "So, I assume your precious Kersidar sends you? What does he want from me? Or are you even still with him? Maybe you found a new master, already feeling that he is about to die? It is hard to tell, you are changing your allegiances faster than any dreadlord." he replied. She looked up, still smiling and chuckling to herself before looking back at Ornasion. Apparently she found his claims rather amusing.

"My allegiance lies with my race, Ornasion - YOUR race, the very race you are now fighting against! Unlike you, I am fighting FOR it, not against it! I have come here to see it with my own eyes because I didn't believe that an army of undead Demons was fighting our forces. It seems I was wrong. Despite your shortcomings, I had expected your mind to be too strong to be dominated. I expected you to be a champion of demonkind. I am quite disappointed to see that I was wrong." she explained. Ornasion felt anger. Lots of it. She DARED to say that she was DISAPPOINTED?! SHE?! Out of all pathetic creatures on this world, SHE believed to be in a position to judge HIM?! Ornasion could not control his anger, he formed a fireball and threw it at her, even though it had no effect on her projection - it DID cause quite some damage to the wall that was hit about a hundred meters behind her, however, causing it to tremble and fall. "Disappointed that I fell?! Whose fault is this, I wonder? Who stabbed me in the back? Who forced me to banish Lisara? Who helped Kersidar betray me at the height of our invasion? Who allowed the Undead to take me? You know the answer. This is all on you, Ebira. Every. Fucking. Thing. It is all your fault and you DARE to come here, mocking and blaming ME?!" he shouted. Her smile slowly disappeared. She seemed to ponder on what he said, but Ornasion did not care. He made a step forward.

"Pray that we never meet on the field of battle, for if we do, I will tear you apart and then get the necromancers to put you back together, turning you into the most disgusting, repulsive and monstrous creature this world has ever seen! And then I will tear you apart again to be put back together once more! You will not be able to recognize yourself long before I am done with you! You will die so many times that even your tormented spirit will be so disfigured that it will be repulsive to even speak your name! I will ruin everything you have ever worked for and destroy everything and everyone you love!" he continued to shout at her. This was followed by moments of silence. Ebira did not say a word, neither did Ornasion. He had screamed all his hate at her. She looked to the side for a moment before she looked back at him.

"And here I thought you were going to be civilized for a change. I should have expected this. I pity you, Ornasion, for now you are an undead savage beast rather than just a savage beast." she said. This was all she had to say. Ornasion should have known. He grunted angrily, realizing that this would lead nowhere, and then walked away, leaving Ebira's projection alone in the dark ruins of the destroyed castle. Ebira watched as he left and then, when he was gone, she sighed and looked on the ground. "I really pity you, Ornasion. Not for who you are but for what happened to you. The Demons lost a true champion when you died. And for that, for your death, I apologize. And Lisara... Who knows, perhaps I have gone too far?" Those were her last words before her projection disappeared.