DotA One vs One Character Battle: Chapter 1
Inspired by Mantis from the forums. Normal face is one character, italicized is the other character. Enjoy!
Sweet Revenge
Mortred walked through the damp halls of a dungeon on the outskirts of the fallen city of Dalaran. The underground dungeon was not the most pleasant of places to be, the dungeon smelled of sweat, mold, blood and rotting matter. Bones of those forgotten lay there, sometimes in positions as if they were alive. The screams and anguished wails of the long dead prisoners still seemed to echo through the halls, bursting from the ghostly lungs of their long dead owners. But the phantom assassin had experienced more than her fair share of unpleasant places and determinedly walked the dank flagstones with a purpose. Rumors had it that a weapon, used to punish the vilest criminals that had been captured, was left here when the city fell to the Burning Legion those many years ago. Upon hearing the news, Mortred had quickly journeyed towards Dalaran to find it, the fabled Stygian Desolator. On the way, nothing more than rouge bandits and petty animals, driven wild by the scourge had come between her and her task. These were quickly dispatched by her far superior skills, so quickly in fact that she was almost wishing the trip had been more of a challenge.
“grrrrr…”
“What in Sargeras’ name…”
‘I was a fool to trust her.’ She thought while she watched with narrowed eyes as the cloaked figure in front of her turned around slowly, almost lazily to face her. The circular blade, sharper than any blade known to man and even deadlier in the hands of a skilled warrior like Mortred, she would know, she had felt the edge of that blade bite into her skin once before. The mask that obscured the outcast elf’s features, a cape, long and flowing hanging on wide shoulder pads that hid Mortred’s slender frame giving her the illusion of size, and power. At last, the phantom assassin had fully turned around, and even behind Mortred’s mask, she saw her eyes widen in horror and recognition. ‘Good’ she thought, purring in satisfaction ‘She knows…’
Mortred gazed in disbelief, stupefied at the dark, cloaked figure that had stealthily followed her into the dungeons. Even ethereal and spectral, there was no mistaking it. The eyes, dim and hollow burned with a hate so intense that even the phantom assassin felt her skin tingle.
“Shendelzar…” she whispered hoarsely
Snarling, the vengeful spirit lunged at Mortred covering the distance between them in the blink of an eye and swiping at her hated enemy with shadowy claws. Mortred snapped out of her trance a split second before Shendelzar would have landed a killing blow and deftly evaded the blow, sliding back again putting some distance between her and her former friend. Summoning nether energy, the spirit threw her essence forward, a mirror image of herself, woven from pure hate shot towards Mortred. Prepared for battle, the assassin evaded that too and detached the rounded blade that hung from her waist. ‘Damn!’ Silkwood cursed at both near misses ‘Her time in the employ of the Scourge has made her stronger than she was, this will not be so easy…’
Mortred grimaced as she thought of the last two close calls. Even dead, Shendelzar would not give her peace. Time in the nether realm has greatly strengthened her adversary’s already formidable skills and added even more to her arsenal of deadly attacks. Coupled with the rage and animosity her opponent had endured these many years, skilled as she was, Mortred knew she had to be careful, for the first time in many years, the thought of losing entered her head.
“You’ve grown strong Shendelzar.” Mortred smirked bravely as she level her blade parallel to the ground “But not enough, you should have stayed dead instead of forcing me to kill you again.”
Shendelzar growled in reply, the hate in her eyes flaring as her lips curled into a cruel smile.
Mortred’s blood ran cold as the specter before her smirked back.
Shendelzar’s smile widened as her trained eyes saw her opponent’s blade drop by a fraction of an inch. Though seemingly meaningless, she knew the Mortred knew, she had seen through her façade. Despite her skill, she knew that even the phantom assassin could not help but be afraid, and now, she was certain. Shendelzar prepared to charge at her foe again but before she could act, Mortred turned around and sprinted in the opposite direction. The spirit began gathering magic energy but thought better of it, at this range, even she couldn’t be that accurate. Cursing angrily, she started after Mortred, almost gilding as she ran, revenge burning on her mind.
Mortred took a quick glance back and knew that Silkwood was gaining. ‘No matter’ she grinned inwardly as she saw the doorway in front of her ‘Running away has never been my style.’ Leaping through the open door, she quickly landed on her feet and whirled around, facing an angry Shendelzar. The two were now in a large circular room filled with debris, bones and puddles of water. Now, there would be room for fighting. After taking a short breath, Mortred charged.
‘So this was her plan all along’ Silkwood mused as she saw the phantom assassin rush at her, blade flashing ‘She knew she couldn’t win in that corridor.’ A flurry of quick swipes was easily blocked by shadow claws but all of her counters were just as easily avoided and parried by the phantom assassin. Years of fighting together had given both accurate knowledge of each others fighting style and just when it seemed that neither of them would be capable of landing a blow, Mortred whirled around unexpectedly and the assassin’s blade came down, hard and fast, as if meaning to slice her hand off. But Elune had granted Shendelzar claws harder than tempered steel, and sharp as daggers and she used those very same claws to block and tangle the elaborate blade. With her free hand, she swung at Mortred with a blow that should have disemboweled, if it had struck, her opponent saw it coming and leaped high into the air over Shendelzar. The momentum nearly threw the spirit off balance and she was forced to let go of Mortred’s blade. The assassin quickly put some distance between them again.
“Close, Shendy, very close.” Mortred praised as she repositioned her blade in front of her
A low growl…
“Too close in fact, that you’ve forced me to get serious.”
Shendelzar snarled.
Before her very eyes, she watched as Mortred began to blur, becoming ghostly, translucent, and finally, transparent. This was the first time in her many years fighting the Scourge that she had seen this trick. Obviously, Mortred had honed her skills over time. ‘Not good.’ The vengeful spirit thought as she glanced around for her hated enemy. ‘She’ll be much harder to hit now.’ Though the assassin hadn’t turned invisible, Shendelzar now had to rely on her ability to sense Mortred’s presence, as well as the occasional times when her opponent wasn’t blurred enough to see and place her position. Suddenly, she felt Mortred’s presence disappear. ‘What the-‘
Slash!
A deep gash opened on her back, and it would have been fatal and sawed through her spine, if she had one. The wound did not bleed and the spirit hissed in pain, no, it would not kill her, but she could feel the pain, and she could feel her energy draining. ‘How ironic.’ Shendelzar half-smiled, half-grimaced.
‘Well… that didn’t work…’ Mortred thought as she jumped back and prepared herself for another blink strike. Her last blow had been a mirror image of the one she had used to slay her partner years ago. She strafed around the wary spirit, careful not to stay in the same place too long for she knew Silkwood could sense her presence. Gathering her energies, she blinked again and prepared to cleave her opponent, this time, aiming to slice on of her arms of. The same trick would not work twice however and Shendelzar was prepared for this once, blocking with a claw, she once again entangled Mortred’s blade within her sharp fingers and took a swipe that almost beheaded the assassin. However, unable to see the blurred assassin, the spirit misjudged the positioning of her head and instead left four deep gashes in one of her protective shoulder pads. It took all of her strength to wrench her blade from Silkwood’s grip and she once again turned visible. Once again, she composed herself and began to blur. Her opponent was ready for her blink, however, she smiled as she felt a dagger fall from her sleeve and into her hand, she would not know about this.
Shendelzar took the initiative this time and charged at Mortred with an overhand slash with her left, her opponent quickly rose her blade to block but as soon as her claws hit with a resounding clang, Mortred parried the blow, not allowing the spirit to entangle her blade as she twice already done. Her other hand delivered a blow from the side and Mortred instinctively raised her unarmed hand to parry it. Suddenly, sharp pain wracked her entire right arm and she looked to see a small dagger, its blade oozing poison protruding from somewhere around her wrist. It hadn’t been so unarmed after all. The spirit howled in pain as she grabbed the handle of the dagger and pulled it out. Before her, Mortred seized the opportunity and raised her killing blade high, and brought it down in a mighty attack. The vengeful spirit blocked it with her left hand, fully intending to entangle the blade but let loose another howl of pain as she heard the her hand crack and shatter leaving her left hand a broken mess. The phantom assassin had struck with a blow four times more powerful than her previous ones.
The assassin grinned widely as she watched her foe scramble back, her left hand a mess and her right hand sporting a large hole on her wrist. As it stood, Shendelzar was already injured and with both claws hurting, and the poison beginning to take effect, Mortred now got a lot more confident that she would come out the victor in their battle. She would however, leave nothing to chance. She sprinted towards Silkwood, blade prepared to land another Coup de Grace that would finally end the battle. She watched as Shendelzar lifted her head up and let loose a terrible cry. The sound was so evil that it amplified the wails of the souls that had died in the prisons, spreading their pain, their anguish, their anger and their hate. Mortred’s vision began to flash and she felt her legs weakening, and her grip on her weapon getting loose. Her eyes flashed once and she saw a mirror image of Shendelzar coming towards her, the same projectile the spirit had used earlier. ‘Damn, I forgot about that!’ she thought, too late as the projectile slammed into her and nearly jarred the weapon from her grip. She managed to keep her grip however as she fell hard, on her back, and used the momentum to tumble backward and back on her feet. ‘Damn’ she winced as she felt fire in her torso ‘Must’ve broken at least two ribs with that one…’
Shendelzar stood up and got on her feet the same time Mortred did and flexed the fingers on her right hand, her left hand now completely useless. Her earlier injuries had sapped much of her strength and the poison in the dart was slowly spreading through her body further weakening her. However, she knew that her last blow had broken bones at least, Mortred may have been one of the best killers the Scourge had, but she was far from being as sturdy as Leoric or Slardar. ‘Thank Elune she was unprepared for that howl’ Shendelzar growled in satisfaction ‘Considering everything, the next blow will decide everything, one last blow, and this is over.’ Watching her opponent, she saw Mortred begin to blur and position herself offensively.
‘Damn Silkwood knows the next one will decide everything.” Mortred thought as she raced though plans in her head as she blurred. It was time to pull every trick out of her book. Without warning, Mortred blinked.
Shendelzar realized her opponent’s tactic just in time and quickly raised her good hand to block the incoming blade. She quickly realized her mistake however as all she caught in her hand was one of Mortred’s many poisoned daggers.
"‘She fell for it!’ Mortred thought triumphantly as she appeared a few feet behind Shendelzar and swung her blade forward with everything she had. She watched as if in slow motion as the blade made a beeline for her opponent’s neck and suddenly, she felt nauseous, as if she had just been dragged through a tunnel at high speed. She had cleaved empty air, and she felt Silkwood behind her. The assassin snapped her head back only to see bright blue light in front of her face.
At the last second, Shendelzar had realized her mistake, and used the last move she had in her arsenal, the Nether Swap. In the blink of an eye, she and her opponent had switched places, saving her from being decapitated and setting Mortred up for a close range magic missile. Summoning pure nether energy, a missile of power struck her opponent square between her shoulder and produce a satisfying crunch, sending her flying eight feet through the air and into a pile of rusty weapons and armor. As the clanking of falling spears and helmets stopped echoing over the hollow walls, Mortred’s body lay on top of a hill of twisted metal, motionless.
‘You win.’ Were Mortred’s last thought’s as she felt the impact of the projectile break every bone in her torso, instantly killing her. Her last sight was a picture of Shendelzar’s face, the hate in her eyes gone, replaced by a look of accomplishment, contentment and pure bliss.
Her mission accomplished, Shendelzar looked to the ceiling of the dungeon expectedly. Seconds later, the light of the moon, by some unknown property, shined through stone and cement, encasing the vengeful spirit in an enchanting blue glimmer of light. The light continued to shine as Silkwood faded out as she returned to the nether world, her soul finally able to rest in peace.
Mortred’s lifeless body began to glow an eerie shade of red. Under the phantom assassin’s lifeless body, was a majestic shield, covered by decades of rust and mold due to decades of disuse. However, legend had it that the shield was once owned by Roshan the Immortal, and that it had protected him from all dangers…