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Hano ran up the path leading to the Temple of Umberlee, armor clanking as his steel boots pounded against the moist earth beneath him. The salty sea air burned through his nostrils as he gasped for air, but he could not stop himself. He had to keep going -- For he knew what awaited him in that temple.
Meeting Kathryn at the doors, they exchanged a few words before they pushed their way in. Stepping into the temple to meet him. They stopped and stood there, just inside the entrance, looking around the dimly lit temple. Searching for him, searching for any sign of anything ... Dead, awkward, silence.
However, before could Hano feel secure that it was a mistake or simply paranoia -- The man stepped into view. The Dark Armored man whose face was unmistakably the same as Hano's. He tried to convince himself it was simply a wizard or a cantrip of sorts, but there was no mistaking it. It was him. It was himself.
He could feel it. He knew it all along, even as he tried to rationalize himself into being wrong. He had to be sure. He had to try to reject his intuition and that feeling deep inside him that tied him to the man before him.
"...What are you...?" Hano called out to his twin while instinctively reaching behind his back for the scabbard that held his blade. Without a second of hesitation, his dark self responded, "I'm you, Hano, that is not bound by his God or oaths. Created by your darkness, the darkness that resides in us all."
He then mocked Hano with his laughter, but sadly his arrogance was not in ignorance. As Hano's evil self drew his blade and looked to the Paladin and the Sorceress, he stripped them both of their power. Rejecting Kathryn's ability to manipulate the weave, stripping Torm's favor from Hano.
It was all torn away from him. With such ease, such power. Standing there, before himself, and watching what he could have been... What he might have been. What he could be. Watching his dark self tear Torm's might and graces away from himself. Standing there, no longer as a Paladin, but a terrified child.
He could feel it once again, feel what he had lost. Remember what he had forgotten.
One of the single most important components to human existence; fear. So... Intoxicating. All these years, protected by Torm's divine touch, incapable of trembling, incapable of wavering even for a second, and it all came rushing back into him in one horrifying flood.
His dark self continued to mock him, raising his blade and calling out to the Paladin, "Lets see how you do against me without your God. All you have is his blade now."
Hano trembled before his evil self, and even as he raised his God Blade against his evil self... He had already lost. His dark twin lashed out at him with his blade and Hano fought back, but it was only out of instinct, only out of the fear of dying.
Franticly, Hano swung the God Blade around, forgetting all his martial training, all of his collected wisdom and experience. Through it all, thinking only one thought, "I do not want to be all alone."
"...I've never felt so alone... Even when I am not with my allies, I've always had Torm there to guide me. To protect me from the world and more importantly, myself ... what am I to do now? What can I do without Him?"
It took little time before the battle had ended. His evil self plunging his blade into Hano. Tearing through his flesh, bone, and organs, though his fear and bewilderment desensitized him from the pain... There hadn't been a moment where he felt so insecure, so helpless in his life.
The world began to dance about Hano in its true colors. For that one brief moment as he fell to the ground while his evil self pulled his blade from Hano's flesh. He could finally see. In his darkest moment, without his God to protect him, he could see.
See how weak and powerless he was. How, through all this time, he was simply a man with a dream and no power to see it brought to life. A terrified child that wanted to be a man, but simply could not be. He could never have a life or family with Tamryn.
He could not even protect her the night she was taken by the Ill'Koresh, the night she lost her gift to carry a child. He could not even keep his Brothers, Sisters, and friends safe and secure. He had lived his life in ignorance, a string of failures, one after the other. Too weak to protect what was dear to him and to weak to protect even himself.
As quickly as it came to him, he fell to the ground, clashing into it with a loud clank, his blood spilling out of him and across the temple's floor. He tried to speak, but his lips refused to move. He tried to cry, but his fear denied him a single tear.
"...it's getting colder and I...I do not want to be all alone right now...", he thought as he reached out to Kathryn standing just beside him as his dark self approached her. He wanted to help, he wanted the strength, but he could not. Not without Torm. His vision faded shortly followed by him losing consciousness.
Meeting Kathryn at the doors, they exchanged a few words before they pushed their way in. Stepping into the temple to meet him. They stopped and stood there, just inside the entrance, looking around the dimly lit temple. Searching for him, searching for any sign of anything ... Dead, awkward, silence.
However, before could Hano feel secure that it was a mistake or simply paranoia -- The man stepped into view. The Dark Armored man whose face was unmistakably the same as Hano's. He tried to convince himself it was simply a wizard or a cantrip of sorts, but there was no mistaking it. It was him. It was himself.
He could feel it. He knew it all along, even as he tried to rationalize himself into being wrong. He had to be sure. He had to try to reject his intuition and that feeling deep inside him that tied him to the man before him.
"...What are you...?" Hano called out to his twin while instinctively reaching behind his back for the scabbard that held his blade. Without a second of hesitation, his dark self responded, "I'm you, Hano, that is not bound by his God or oaths. Created by your darkness, the darkness that resides in us all."
He then mocked Hano with his laughter, but sadly his arrogance was not in ignorance. As Hano's evil self drew his blade and looked to the Paladin and the Sorceress, he stripped them both of their power. Rejecting Kathryn's ability to manipulate the weave, stripping Torm's favor from Hano.
It was all torn away from him. With such ease, such power. Standing there, before himself, and watching what he could have been... What he might have been. What he could be. Watching his dark self tear Torm's might and graces away from himself. Standing there, no longer as a Paladin, but a terrified child.
He could feel it once again, feel what he had lost. Remember what he had forgotten.
One of the single most important components to human existence; fear. So... Intoxicating. All these years, protected by Torm's divine touch, incapable of trembling, incapable of wavering even for a second, and it all came rushing back into him in one horrifying flood.
His dark self continued to mock him, raising his blade and calling out to the Paladin, "Lets see how you do against me without your God. All you have is his blade now."
Hano trembled before his evil self, and even as he raised his God Blade against his evil self... He had already lost. His dark twin lashed out at him with his blade and Hano fought back, but it was only out of instinct, only out of the fear of dying.
Franticly, Hano swung the God Blade around, forgetting all his martial training, all of his collected wisdom and experience. Through it all, thinking only one thought, "I do not want to be all alone."
"...I've never felt so alone... Even when I am not with my allies, I've always had Torm there to guide me. To protect me from the world and more importantly, myself ... what am I to do now? What can I do without Him?"
It took little time before the battle had ended. His evil self plunging his blade into Hano. Tearing through his flesh, bone, and organs, though his fear and bewilderment desensitized him from the pain... There hadn't been a moment where he felt so insecure, so helpless in his life.
The world began to dance about Hano in its true colors. For that one brief moment as he fell to the ground while his evil self pulled his blade from Hano's flesh. He could finally see. In his darkest moment, without his God to protect him, he could see.
See how weak and powerless he was. How, through all this time, he was simply a man with a dream and no power to see it brought to life. A terrified child that wanted to be a man, but simply could not be. He could never have a life or family with Tamryn.
He could not even protect her the night she was taken by the Ill'Koresh, the night she lost her gift to carry a child. He could not even keep his Brothers, Sisters, and friends safe and secure. He had lived his life in ignorance, a string of failures, one after the other. Too weak to protect what was dear to him and to weak to protect even himself.
As quickly as it came to him, he fell to the ground, clashing into it with a loud clank, his blood spilling out of him and across the temple's floor. He tried to speak, but his lips refused to move. He tried to cry, but his fear denied him a single tear.
"...it's getting colder and I...I do not want to be all alone right now...", he thought as he reached out to Kathryn standing just beside him as his dark self approached her. He wanted to help, he wanted the strength, but he could not. Not without Torm. His vision faded shortly followed by him losing consciousness.
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