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Read this file after completing "Lord Draven's Estate"

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His heart raced with anticipation as he approached the Sword of Darkness where it sat set within the stone. Here was his chance to recover the blade before any more damage could be done. His mistake could now be finally corrected. He raised an open hand and reached for the hilt. But as he closed his hand, he felt as if he were grabbing nothing but emptiness. What the? he gasped. He opened and closed his hand repeatedly, but his sense of touch does not deceive him.

Wait a minute! he said to himself. He extended a finger towards the hilt to touch it. To his horror the finger passed through as if it were air.

Could this be a trick? An illusion? He rubbed his eyes as if to clear his vision, but his sight was not deceiving him either. He could do nothing but watch in silent astonishment as the sword itself vanished into thin air as if it had been smoke in the wind.

He stood there in shock at what he had just witnessed. Had this been an elaborate trap set by the Scourge to trick him? And had he been stupid enough to fall for it?

Hello Logan.

His eyes widen as he gasps in horror at the sound of that voice. It was the very same voice he heard from the Sword of Darkness when Revelin claimed it. The same voice he heard before Garibaldis death. The hairs raising on the back of his neck alert him to a sudden presence behind him. He is no longer alone.

That voice! His voice trembles with dread as he spun his whole body to face his foe. That...thats impossible...it cant be!

Before him stood a man with a head covered with thick ebony hair, yet his face below the forehead is hidden behind a steel mask molded in the shape of a winged ravens head. He is clad in a long sleeved black tunic with matching pants, his torso covered by an ornate breastplate with spiked pauldrons. A magnificent bronze colored cape is draped over his back. Silver colored gloves cover his hands and brown leather boots are on his feet. Around his head is a silver circlet with obsidian twin raven wings above his ears. Twin golden crescents join together at their lower point upon his forehead. In all, his majestic appearance is enough to inspire awe within Logan.

The stranger stepped forward towards him. Ive been waiting to meet you face to face for a long time Logan. When his foe was several feet away, he stopped and stood still. Upon his breastplate, Logan saw the intricate pattern of a large raven with outstretched wings. From the look of the crescents decorating the center of his circlet, it appeared that they were designed to hold something in place, a piece that was now missing.

Youre Draven, he said, trying his best to sound unintimidated and unafraid. 
You were the greatest knight this world had ever known before you fell from grace.

The wizard pulls off the raven mask revealing a face that appears to look quite young, perhaps still in his mid-thirties or early forties at the time when Lazarus had fatally wounded him in battle all those years ago. There was no way the Scourge could have resurrected an old man to look so young. A short beard black as midnight with a mustache to match surrounds his mouth

Once, he said as the muscles around his jaw tighten as if in anger. But that name and nobility have not meant anything to me for fifteen hundred and four years.

Logan reminded himself to stay alert in case danger was close by. If there was danger it would not come from the wizard himself as his own bloodline gave him protection from any magical spell, something he learned during the confrontation with Garibaldi two months ago.

Then what name do you go by now?

The wizard formerly known as the knight Draven shook his head in disgust as he folded his arms over his chest. Have you learned nothing in all the time you spent in this world? Well, allow me to reduce your ignorance on the matter! As you probably already know by now, it was I to whom Garibaldi sold his soul to for great power in order to attain what he believed he deserved.

Power that you decreed in the end he was not worthy to wield. Logan could still picture the visage of Garibaldi with a sword driven through his chest from behind. He could still remember the disgust and contempt in the voice of his master as he was stripped of his powers and his soul returned to him.

Dravens eyes narrow at the mention of that familiar name. His failure is inexcusable. So much power and he still could not finish what I began.

Thousands of people were killed when the Scourge invaded cities all over the Earth! Logan pointed out.

Perhaps. Draven softens. I admired Garibaldi for gathering together an army of thousands to support him. People who like myself and him hardened by their experiences who now desired revenge against the world that wronged them. People who lost everything they loved and how society turned their backs on them. Women who were embittered from life in societies where they had no rights. To these kinds of people the Scourge opened a window of opportunity the world never would give them.

And then there were people like you. He glared at him with a look containing nothing short of disappointment and disgust. He folds his arms over his breastplate covered chest. People like you who ultimately chose to ally with the enemy. It was because of your treachery that the Scourge failed. Garibaldi himself could not eliminate you.

To his surprise, Logan saw a the slightest signs of a smile spread over the lips of the wizard. Yet even in spite of everything, I do not see you as my enemy.

What? To Logan, this was almost as unexpected as mercy from Revelin.

Logan, the majority of my anger lies not at you but at Garibaldi. Though he raised a powerful army his soldiers are still human and easily fall in battle when the odds are even. His troops see the death of their companions in this war as a disgrace upon themselves but I see it more as exposing weakness. And I really must thank you for what you have done!

There were flaws in his plan and he underestimated the power of the human spirit, blind to all but his own desire for vengeance. He underestimated you. I will not make the same mistakes that pompous fool had! You may have bested my disciple but you still have the master to contend with!

Tell me something I dont know, said Logan, his patience growing thin.

The wizard snorted disgustedly. You dont even know who I am do you? Perhaps you are more ignorant than I first believed. Do you recall the history of my battle with the wizard Lazarus, he who had stolen from me the Obsidian of Souls? Does any of this ring a bell inside that skull of yours?

That lit a candle in Logans memory. He had read about Lazarus recovering such an artifact of great power from being misused by another wizard. Lazarus had written down the wizards name. He felt his blood run cold with horror and recognition that he was standing before that very same wizard.

Raven Dark? He struggled with the words as if his very soul would not accept what his eyes and guilty conscience revealed to him. In response the smile upon the face of the wizard formerly known as Draven grew.

But thats impossible! said Logan shaking his head. Youre supposed to be dead! Slain by Lazarus himself!

So I was! said Raven Dark. But I was not exactly dead to begin with. My body may have died but my soul lived on, imprisoned within the Sword of Darkness to cheat my fate and await the time of my rebirth. And as for Lazarus, only he was claimed by the grim reaper and brought to the realm of the dead. He never had the chance to bask in the glory of his deed. Nor is he in any condition to oppose me.
Which is why I am here! said Logan putting a fist to his chest.

You have no idea what you are dealing with, do you? asked Raven Dark. Garibaldi was nothing but a deluded fool whose greed for power led to his undoing. I on the other hand am a true dark wizard, second only to my father, and humanity should consider itself fortunate he is still powerless and sealed away at the moment because of the intervention of Lazarus. I should warn you Logan, as it happened with Garibaldi, your impulsiveness and recklessness may lead to your own downfall.

Raven Dark replaces the mask over his face. Until we meet again Logan. For now, there is much work to be done to prepare for the Scourges final victory. Where Garibaldi failed, I shall succeed! After all, you are not the only one who has unfinished business to attend to here in this world!

Pointing two fingers, one from each hand, down towards the floor under his feet, Raven Dark was engulfed in a brownish orange cloud of smoke and dust that momentarily takes the shape of a raven. Calm but sinister laughter taunts Logan as he quickly shields his eyes and clasps one hand over his tightly closed mouth to prevent inhalation. Even in spite of his attempts, several coughs escaped his mouth as the cloud vanished.

For now it seemed the Scourge were still one step ahead of him. The Sword of Darkness was still in their grasp and they had a new master, one who would have given Garibaldi a run for his money.

He had failed in his mission to prevent the resurrection of Draven. Now he would have little choice but to journey into enemy territory itself.
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The boat carried him to an island about ten miles from where it had waited for him. It was an island Logan had hoped never to return to after his resignation from the Scourge. He knew that somewhere within the heart of this rocky terrace lay the very fortress where he had evolved from a simple man into a skilled soldier.

As he drew closer to his destination, Logan saw the towers of stone reaching up from the ground to the sky. Pine trees grew from the soil adding a second sense of beauty to the landscape. And waiting at the docks was the familiar vessel that the Scourge had transported him and Murlock to where he had recovered the Sword of Darkness.

Readying his weapons, Logan climbed out of the boat, prepared for his next task.
One that would pit him against incredible odds.

Knowing that if he failed, this world and the rest of humanity would not stand a chance against the Scourge.

For now it was time for him to re-enter familiar territory. A place he once called home among the Scourge. A part of his past just waiting to be erased from the history of the world.