Chapter 3

Varzoth led them through the corridors of the castle, avoiding certain passages and stairs. They eventually came to a staircase that led into the forges.

“Down here! The forge will be down here.” Varzoth said, just then a huge figure crashed through the wall next to them. “Quickly now!” They ran down the staircase, some of them falling down.

Varzoth heard the thunderous voice of the Emperor echoing through the halls of the castle, “Little demons! You don’t know what you're dealing with!” Varzoth didn’t understand what that meant, and didn’t really want to figure it out. He ran through a long hallway, where once he was enchanted by the eerie darkness and energy of the place. Now, he just saw the burning metal, the smell of sulfur, and the silent whisper of death. Unlike the Emperors of course. “The power of the forge is rightfully mine!” Yelled the Emperor.

Varzoth turned around, “Keep going until you see the sigil of the Emperor, that should be it.” Varzoth turned back to the problem at hand, not even listening to the calls of Lilith. He gripped his blade, as he heard the cracks of rocks and the smell of death approaching.

“Cowerds! You shall be the first to die! The End starts now!” Varzoth didn’t like the sound of that. A huge chunk of rocks burst from the staircase overpass, until only now Varzoth realized that the Emperor couldn’t have been there in years. He’d always claimed to be the guardian of the forge, but truly he must’ve been lying and leaving that to the false Forgekeeper. The Emperor was at least a foot taller than Varzoth in their emperor forms, and he seemed stronger than him as well. He could feel the Emperor radiating anger, “I thought the ‘Next Emperor’ was a strong fighter, we thought you were loyal to all. I guess I was wrong.”

Stepped back to prepare for the emperor's next attack, “Like you were loyal, using magic to control your own people.”

The Emperor snarled, “A small price to pay for peace.”

“Peace, or control?”

The Emperor roared and swung his claws at Varzoth, not hitting him, but somehow he was pushed back from the strike that never even hit him. Varzoth swung with his sword, and hit the face of the emperor. It stuck making lava splash against the wall.

The Emperor grunted, and backed off. “You are a skilled fighter,” The Emperor grunted again, and the wound healed. “But not good enough.” I stabbed by blade into the side of the emperor, knowing it would do nothing, but hoping to buy his friends time.

“Varzoth! We found it!” Lilith yelled, Varzoth stopped and stabbed his sword into the ground creating a shockwave of heat and earth. The Emperor fell back, and Varzoth used the opportunity to run to his friends.

When he finally caught up they were in a giant room, and in the middle of it the forge, the size of a moon was there. My mouth literally dropped open, but I quickly shook it off. “Come on, I can destroy it. Just get out of here, all of you.”

Lilith grabbed his wrist, it obviously burned her, but she kept holding his hand. “We’re not leaving without you.”

Varzoth nodded, “I’ll live, but you won’t if you stay down here.” Said Varzoth, not actually knowing if he’d survive. Or if Romania itself will even survive. Lilith nodded, Varzoth nodded back. “To the right is an exit to a level where you won’t be affected by the blast.” Varzoth turned to the forge and started hearing roaring again. “Go.” He didn’t see them leave, but hoped they did. The emperor came into the room, and smiled.

“Ah, you see now. This is what you're up against, and is the original forge. If you destroy this, you destroy the powers of myself, you, and might even kill hundreds if not thousands of demons.” The Emperor smiled, “What do you do, traitor? Obviously the demons can’t be defeated!”

Varzoth turned around, “Maybe the demons need to be defeated for once.” He turned, ran, and jumped. Landing on the huge forge, burning his hands. It pulled at him, the forge forming within him. He felt all the forge’s power, and knew it would kill him. Unless he used it quick. He turned to the Emperor, still engulfed in the forge’s magma. “You’ve been kicked out of office.” Varzoth raised his hand and a swirl of magma and power surged from the heart, and around the Emperor.

The Emperor gasped, “NO! This is MY POWER! NO!” Within a few seconds the Emperor began to shrink, being killed by what once made him powerful.

Varzoth turned around, and lifted his hand. The forge began to solidify, and implode. It grew until it started breaking the rocks and pipes that once used it. Varzoth motions for the forge to be dispelled, and as soon as he did it stopped moving. It started to blow away in the wind, and Varzoth landed in the center of what once was the true forge. Yet he still felt the power, he felt it inside himself. He turned to the now drained of power Emperor. When Varzoth finally saw him, he was stunned. Laying on the ground was an old man, much older than Azazel.

The man looked up, and in a raspy voice said, “You are a child who knows nothing of what he’s doing, you don’t know the power you now hold. The power of the forge goes to the closest power source most like it, you.” The man gasped, and Varzoth understood. The Emperor was dying, he was using the power of the forge to live longer. Now with the forge gone… To be honest, Varzoth kind of felt bad for the Emperor.

“I do, I hold the power to change the world, and I shall use this for good and not for controlling. Like you did.” Varzoth heard the ceiling rumble, “And now you shall die from what you have created.” Varzoth ran out of the room, with no complaints from the Emperor. Varzoth ran to his friends, his family, but he couldn’t find them through the tunnels. Then when he found the exit to the castle, he saw all of them standing there. Looking around, until they say Varzoth.

“Var!” Lilith yelled running to him. She went into a hug, then looked at him. “Has your healing kicked in yet?”

Varzoth nodded, and kissed her. Afterward he said, “We’re ok.” He looked to his friends, who were now looking away from them. “Thank you all for helping me.” They all nodded, and joined in in having a big group hug. Until the  ground started to shake. “We should run now.” They all ran, as the castle started falling into a giant hole. It didn’t cause much damage structurally, but it was leaning a bit. “Ok, now we’re ok.”