Life is harsh, then you die. Most feel it is what you do in life before your end. However, for every warrior, it really depends on how you go out. Slayer was one such case. He didn’t love his life as much as he loved his friends. They were all now dead, massacred by The Butcher, Dante, Keeper of Earth.

“Do you really think that you can still defeat me? The greatest champion of all time?” Dante jested from the stairway. He was soaked in blood, and the entire area reeked the stagnant stench of a thousand soldiers spilled blood.

Roketh looked at him coldly, a gaze that even made The Butcher quiver slightly. Galin and Moonshadow were a bit dazed from the previous battle, but Dadge had just arrived, bringing his one man army with him.

“Stay back, all of you.” Roketh said, moving nothing but his mouth.

“Huh? But, Roketh...” Dadge began to plead, but then quickly decided not to tempt the enraged dragon, “Lets get out of here fellas, I know a place in the Papas we need to go. As well as someone you need to meet. We should be safe there.”

With that Moonshadow sprinted up the path towards the Papas as Dadge took flight in that direction as well. Galin stood there, staring at the back of Roketh, who continued to stare at Dante.

“Leave now, Galin. Your too strong to have your blood spilt this early in our saga.”

“Roketh, promise me...” Galin said with one step back, “He better pay, not just for Tiny, Tsunami, and Slayer, but for all of these dead. With that, Galin took after Dadge, since he could not see Moonshadow in the foliage.

Now it was just them. Dante, The Butcher, Keeper of Earth versus Roketh, Lord of the Eight Lords.

“Ah, finally I have you again, Roketh.” The Butcher said as his left foot went down a step. He outreached his hand towards Roketh, “We could’ve been huge.”

“I prefer to serve and protect.” Roketh answered as he began walking slowly towards The Butcher.

“Why? What do humans offer anyway?” The Butcher asked as his right foot landed next to his left, half-turned to face Roketh, half-turned to face his fleeing friends, “You know that I’ll hunt them down, right?”

Roketh stopped in his footsteps. The thought of Dante hunting them down and killing them one by one. The flashes of gore that bounded into his mind were many and furious. Roketh would not let this happen, rage built in him. He returned his downward gaze up to the passive fiend on the steps.

“Yes, yes. I’ll skin the Tiger, he’d make an excellent fur coat. That human’s head would be a nice trophy. Perhaps I’d stuff that Dragon. What do you think Ro-” As he turned his head to face Roketh, he saw a mere blur and felt pain throughout his helmet. Dante hit the steps rather hard. As he spun on his back, he saw Roketh looking down on him, his right claw balled into a fist, pointing in a downward direction, obviously the one that just nailed him.

“You will never harm another being as long as I draw breathe.” Roketh said as he stood upright.

“Well then,” The Butcher said with a hint of laughter, “Well just have to stop that, won’t we?”

Dante stood slowly, now eye to eye with the Dragon. Roketh was slightly taller, yes, but The Butcher was up a few steps. The sword of Dante was held lazily at his side. He was in his customary, passive position. The two eyed each other intently.

Then, Dante’s sword went up and came down furiously. Roketh’s scythe materialized in an instant, but still barely arrived in time to block the attack. The Butcher was a bit stunned, but still pressed down.

“So, you met Azurian? I heard about Bloodlust and Denemaur, but Azurian?” The Butcher laughed crazily, “I wanted a rematch with Bloodlust, too.”

“Trust me, Dante,” Roketh sputtered out, “You got your dirty little hands full with me!”

Roketh threw up his scythe, slinging it and the sword upwards. Dante glanced up as his sword went higher and higher. As he returned his gaze to Roketh, a massive foot shot Dante in the chest. He flew up a few more steps and landed on his back.

The scythe and sword landed into Roketh’s waiting arms. The Butcher only looked on in disbelief.

“You really should take me more seriously, Dante.”

The sword shot from Roketh’s hand and returned to Dante’s before he screamed, “I’m not Dante anymore! It’s The Butcher.”

With that, Dante threw himself towards Roketh, who grasped his scythe with both hands. The fight was on. The Butcher and Roketh traded and blocked shots up and down the steps of the desecrated temple.

“Impressive indeed, Oh mighty Lord, but I....AM.....STRONGER!” Dante screamed. As he did, he swung his sword upwards. It caught the scythe and pushed it upwards. Roketh was then hit by a wave of phantom energy, whose presence was only noted through the flying dust. Roketh was on about the 20th step, but this attack sent him flying backwards, scythe in hand.

Roketh landed with a loud thud as the reddish dust flew up around him. He closed his eye, not wanted to be blinded by the blood desert. As he opened them again, he saw the sun, with a shadowed figure in front of it. By the time he realized it was Dante, The Butcher had already begun his falling spin. Roketh rolled quickly to his right, and the sword landed exactly where he was, barely missing his wing. As he rolled up to his feet Dante, still in his Rolling Slash position shot his head to face Roketh and extended his leg into Roketh’s right knee. The pain and surprise buckled Roketh, and he fell to one knee. The Butcher stood quickly and attempted to take his head off with one, clean swipe. As he swung, Roketh managed to hold up his scythe. The sword hit the scythe with massive force, knocking Roketh over again. He was now on all fours, with his scythe in his left hand, laying flat on the ground.

“Time to die, dear, dear Roketh.” The Butcher said as he walked towards the fallen Dragon.

About the time he got to Roketh, Roketh swung his scythe upwards, knocking The Butcher’s sword upwards. Behind the scythe and Roketh’s left hand came flying a right fist. It hit with a massive force of the entire Dragon’s bulk lunging upwards. He caught The Keeper of Earth in the jaw, going up and slightly to Dante’s right, Roketh’s left. The Butcher spun wildly in the air before his feet hit the ground. When they did, they twisted around themselves and the Durahan hit the red dirt with the force of a meteor.

Roketh took flight in the same motion of his swing. He had circled around and was diving at The Butcher. The Durahan stood, and saw the Dragon barreling towards him. Roketh hit true, busting Dante with two, balled up fists. As he went over though, The Butcher slashed at Roketh’s right wing, and hitting. The thin, leatherish wing flapped helplessly in the air as Roketh crashed from the air. He landed and rolled into about nine wooden poles, throwing their carcasses in all directions. Roketh broke about three of them as he crashed through them, and one broken piece slammed through his left shoulder. It missed the bone, but not by much. When he stopped rolling, a horrid roar of pain lept from his jaw. The reddish debris flew into the air, as it floated into his shoulder and his wing. It burned, terribly. Roketh pulled the half-spike from his arm, knowing that he may very well have one through his heart at this rate.

As Roketh stumbled out from the spikes, blood, and dust, Dante could not help but to throw in one more pun, “No stepping on the flowers there, Mr. Grace.”

As The Butcher laughed histerically at his own joke, Roketh saw his opening. The spike that was in his shoulder was now in his hand, and he hurled it at the back of The Butcher. Dante stilled laughed as it flew strait towards his back. WHACK! The wooden spike broke in half, and cracked down the middle. The Butcher spun and looked down on the piece of wood. He then glanced up at Roketh, who looked on, stunned.

Naturally, Dante broke out in laughter again, “Ever impale iron on wood?”

Dante turned his back to Roketh, trying to humiliate him as well as beat him.

“You talk too much.” Roketh sputtered out, as blood trickled from his busted lip.

“Oh, why yes I do. You see thats because my father was-” As he turned, all he saw was Roketh’s mouth open and a stream of fire heading towards him. Dante’s first reaction was to hold up his buckler, which he did. When he realized that this in no way would help, he attempted to dive to his left. He only got the top half of his body out of the way, and his legs were scorched. Not only his legs, but the stream of flames hit with such force to spin him in the air. As his legs were hit, they were tossed out, and his top-half shot in. Now, the fire carried his entire being a short distance away. Roketh halted the attack and went to one knee, holding his injured arm with his good one.

Dante stood very slowly, smoking worse than when Slayer hit him with his signature move. He leaned on his swords to help him balance. As he looked towards Roketh, he had a sinking feeling at the realization that Roketh, was gone. He looked to his left, then his right, then up. About the time he looked up, one, massive right arm reached around his arms and chest, grasping him in a vice-lock of immense proportions. The mighty Dragon spun twice before releasing the Durahan, letting him fly like a weighted catapult shot, right back into his ruined temple. He landed on the steps again, this time with enough momentum to break three of them this time.

Dante slowly lifted his head, shaking slightly. His gaze managed to fixate on a large form, walking off Dante's plain of death. He heard him mutter something he could barely make out.

Dante leaned up slowly before asking, “Decon Ware? Whats that?”

Roketh spun quickly, and fear ran rampant through his hollow armor. The red, net-like structure had covered Roketh’s mouth, and The Butcher knew exactly what he was doing.

“You wouldn’t dare, Roketh,” Dante sputtered out, past his astronomical pain., “You still need me.”

Roketh stared at him, the gaze that would melt a thousand suits of armor as he began to fill the bag with the hellfire that he had become famous for. The net expanded as the flame filled it, and the demonic form Dante recognized sprouted forth.

“N-no, not you! Anything but you!” He recognized the beast all too well. It was the same move that defeated him all those years ago. The Butcher tried to crawl up the stairs, but he scurried no where. The pain in his back was too great.

The demon then detached. Dante braced himself, but then he saw the impossible.

Up? It was flying upward. As his eyes trained on it, and followed it up a short ways, a massive form blocked his vision. He saw Roketh plummeting towards him. The Dragon landed on Dante with the strength and vengeance of all the ones he’d killed. He pinned The Butcher’s arms with his claws and planted his knees into his waist. The Durahan gasped slightly as he looked up. Roketh stared down on him, and behind him the demonic form was plummeting, quickly.

“You are an ulcer to this world, Dante. You were once noble, and a friend. Your greed consumed you, and you tried to make it consume us all. Thats why I defeated you all those years ago. Now, your a beast of burden, and only know how to inflict suffering and death. For these, I condemn you to this fate, after I take back something of mine.”

The Butcher could only look on as Roketh’s hands began to emit a slight, brown pulsing.

“No...not again!” Dante screamed, but to no avail. He felt the energy being pulled from him. He struggled but it was useless.

The demon was almost on top of them, now, and Dante pulled his last trick out of the bag. He grasped Roketh’s arms as he looked into the Dragon’s eye, “If I go down, I’ll die being remembered as the one who destroyed Roketh. I’ll not lose again, as since I can’t win, I guess we’ll both die!”

Roketh darted backwards, taking The Butcher with him. As he landed, he saw the demon was about to destroy the temple. He grasped Dante with both hands, as much as it hurt him physically and emotionally to do this, he said, “Goodbye, old friend.”

“NOOO!” Dante screamed as he was thrown back between the temple and the demon. As he flew, the demon caught him and slammed him into the temple’s top, then crashed itself into the top of him. The ensuing explosion was atomic to say the least. With each knew acquisition to Roketh by the Lords, the stronger he became, including his trademark attack. The corpses and spikes were all caught fire as Roketh ran madly from the area. The force sent him flying into the jungle. Roketh then blacked out from either the stress of the battle or the force of the blast.


Sometime later...

When he woke, he stumbled out from the brush. The only thing left where the theater of death had been orchestrated was a massive crater. Roketh looked at his arm. It bled and hurt plenty,
probably paying him back for over using it after its injury. Roketh looked about, only one or two bodies were left. Roketh incinerated them since he didn’t have the strength to bury them. It was the least he could do for them.

He had done it. Avenged them all, but one more detail needed to be sorted out.

About 7 hours later...

Roketh was walking up the path, slowly due to his injuries. Behind him, in the crater, 4 headstones were set up. They read as follows:

-Tsunami, Graceful warrior Undine, met her end at the hands of The Butcher-


-Tiny, Strong warrior Tyrant, met his end in the final bout with The Butcher-


-Slayer, Proud warrior Naga, died in the last battle with The Butcher-


-Dante, Noble warrior Hercules, fell during the major battle with The Butcher-


(Roketh has done what needed to be done. Even though he had became a vile creature, he was once Roketh's friend. Roketh would not let anyone remember him for what he had become, only for what he had been. Now, with the power of Earth, he heads towards the Papas, perhaps to find answers, perhaps to find death.)


Enjoy! CHB Stay Tuned

your trademark battle scenes are becoming better as the chapters continue. i enjoyed this chapter very much.

Thanks Torey

wow CHB your a very good writer. I haven't read much of your work but just by the little bit that i did it makes me want to read all of it. It's very inspirering, i guess it's the things like this that made me start my novel, but my novel isn't based this subject. I thank you for taking your time to make this because i really enjoy it.

YAY! Another good bedtime story....

I'll keep posting bedtime stories for you John23, under one condition...


You must N-E-V-E-R refer to me as Nana, Mama, or Grannie.


Ever.

lol, deal. when is next chapter though??????

I recently checked under the story section of this cirte and i find it realy amazing that so many people have actually went out of there way to make (in quite a few cases) extensive writings.
Especially those ones under the Epics section that such go on for 12 chapters. I dunno maybe I'll start one i mean this is the kinda stuff i need to do to figure out if i'm actually a good author. Sounds fun. Also CHB, keep at the writing.
-Nicholas D. Wolfwood-