Vadid and Lothiag

 Two great armies met on the grassy plains to do battle. One flew glorious banner of blue and white and twinkled in the sunlight. The other raised horrifying standards of red and black and moved like a wave of darkness across the ground. They were massive, they were powerful, and they were equal. The ground trembled as they fought and the sky cried for the dead.

Until, from the red side, a great champion emerged. Standing at a massive ten feet tall, a Demon by the name of Lothiag tore into the blue side so forcefully that they were forced to give ground to their opponents. His roars and bellows made his enemies drop their weapons in fear, his claws and teeth tore through armor and flesh, and his powerful magics obliterated any who stood before him.

At nightfall, the two armies called a ceasefire to lick their wounds and clear the battlefield of the bodies. Despite the many casualties suffered on each side, the armies actually swelled to an even larger size as soldiers joined the titanic effort to capture the empty, now desolate fields.

When the sun rose, so did the great demon Lothiag. Bearing only the blood of his enemies over his skin, he marched to the center of the field and bellowed his challenge. He dared any of the blue army to take up arms against him in a battle of champions. He declared that if any were to best him, then the red army would surrender then and there. But if he were to win, the blue army was to lay down their arms and return to their farms.

The king of the blue forces, face struck with grief for the dead, sent word out to his soldiers that any of great skill and courage was encouraged to accept the challenge.

None came forward.

When the sun reached its apex in the sky, the horns of the red army echoed across the field and the wave of darkness surged forward. The battle resumed for the rest of the bloody afternoon until nightfall, when the armies, battered and exhausted, once again retreated to their tents.

Then next morning, Lothiag stepped forth to repeat his challenge. Still, none were brave enough to challenge him. The armies met, the armies slept, the demon roared.

This tireless cycle continued for thirty-eight more days. The armies still stood at a stalemate in the battle that threatened to end the lives of all of the warriors on each side. The grand causes that brought both armies here threatened to be extinguished by the senseless slaughter, yet neither army could bear to retreat and lose this critical ground. The King of the blue forces desperately called to his forces for just one man to challenge the demon.

Finally, someone stepped forward.

The king, sitting on makeshift thrown made out of a crude chair, looked down at the boy with a combination of dismay and amusement. Not even the golden crown on the king’s head could add majesty to the weary, ravaged face. Still, the king saw the boy’s acceptance of the challenge as laughable at best.

The boy simply stared the king down with fierce eyes, causing the old man to fidget until he was forced to speak. “Why doth thou step forth, when thy elders cower?”

“I have no fear of Lothiag. I have received the protection of Saradomin. I shall accept the challenge and slay this demon.”

“You are but a child, Vadid, and naught more. Your brothers have met their deaths already. Still thou dost not know fear?”

“I have received the protection of Saradomin. I shall slay this demon.”

“Why doth-“

The demon roared out his challenge, its voice shaking the armor of the guards of the king’s tent and causing them to drop their weapons in fear.

Only the boy remained unmoved. “My King, garb me with a blade fit for my size and I shall return with thy enemy’s head. Thy army shall break here if you refuse to allow me to accept the challenge.”

The king sighed loudly, knowing he had no other choice, and ordered a man to fetch the boy a blade. “Go forth now, Vadid, and challenge the great demon. May Saradomin keep you safe, brave warrior.”

The boy saluted his king, received his weapon, and departed from the king’s tent.

The demon, horrifyingly garbed in blood and gore, quieted his roars as he observed the boy who was walking forward on the field, even as the boy sized up the great demon before him. The demon was a mass of muscles and spikes, with two wings and a vicious tail sprouting from his back. The demon’s maw was wide open, revealing rows upon rows of deadly sharp teeth, yet it was his glowing yellow eyes, promising death, that drew in the eye.

Soldiers from both sides gathered around the two combatants gathered, forming a massive circle. The onlookers bearing red howled with glee while the blue silently anguished.

Lothiag’s clawed hands and feet flexed and his neck muscles tensed as he looked down at the boy, who stopped ten feet before the giant. His bright yellow tongue slithered out from between his teeth for a moment, licking his lips, before he spoke in a voice that almost deafened the boy. “WHO ARE YOU? BE THOU THE CHAMPION OF SARADOMIN, SENT TO TOPPLE ME?”

The boy drew out his short sword and pointed it at the demon’s face, five feet above his eyelevel. “I am thy challenger, demon. I have come to slay thee and put an end to this battle.”

“SARADOMIN SENDS A BOY TO BATTLE ME? A GREAT JOKE THIS IS! VERY WELL, CHILD, I SHALL SLAY THEE AND CLAIM VICTORY ON THIS FIELD. PREPARE TO MEET THE VOID, BOY.”

The demon roared and charged, covering the gap between him and the boy in less than a second. A great fist swing down to crush the boy to dust.

Vadid made no move to defend himself, but instead called out in a clear voice. “Saradomin, protect me from his fists!”

The claw opened and came within inches of the boy’s face, but it could not strike. The demon recoiled, his terrible visage reflecting his surprise and outrage. The other fist, the bones of his last opponent still clinging to the talons, punched forward devastatingly.

It too, stopped short as if smashing against a giant wall. The demon stepped back, amazed. “WHAT SORCERY IS THIS? MINE FISTS FAIL ME. VERY WELL, PERHAPS THOU WISHETH TO ENGAGE IN A BATTLE OF MAGIC?”

The demon held out his palm and from it burst a huge wave of fire. It snaked towards the boy, incinerating all of the grass it touched instantly. The heat from the flames caused the spectators to step backwards and shield themselves.

The boy did not move, but instead again called out in his clear voice. “Saradomin, protect me from the fires of his magic!”

The fire stopped just before reaching the boy, roaring in frustration until the magical inferno winked out of existence. Lothiag’s giant jaw dropped at the sight, taken off guard that one so small was somehow defending against his unbeatable attacks with no visible effort.

Vadid, sword raised, walked towards the demon calmly. The demon’s eyes bulged and his hands turned to a blur as he launched wave after wave of fire at the boy. His attacks were to no avail.

The boy reached the demon’s feet and Lothiag instinctively kicked at the boy with a giant, clawed foot. Vadid asked for Saradomin’s protection against the demon’s muscle and the foot found that it could not touch him.

Vadid thrust his blade into the knee of the great demon, piercing it cutting right to the bone. Blood poured from the wound as the Lothiag toppled sideways into the grass.

The boy walked calmly to the demon and severed the head from its body, to the cheers of the blue army and the defeated roars of the red army.

He picked the head up with a large effort and walked slowly back to his king. He stopped within arm’s reach of the king and dropped the head at the king’s feet. The king, in response, removed the cape of his office, a brilliantly white cape bearing a Saradomin symbol, and presented it to the boy with a flourish.