Rem'Dahr

Smoke crept up the side of his face, a wisp catching his eye and making him squint. He stood on the edge of Prambatar, a barren wasteland of rock. His sword slowly lowered itself towards the ground, its weight starting to assert itself.

The path ahead was unclear and unstable, the shifting currents of the cloud obscured the way ahead. He took time to rest while a path presented itself. Prambatar had the reputation of being a graveyard, not for the people who went into it, as nobody ever dared, but for the unnatural and eerie lack of life, any life. The sun obscured by the mountainous volume of smoke issuing forth from the darkness below gave Prambatar the feel of non-existence, like a place between worlds, an ethereal wasteland. The closest comparison was that Prambatar was a level of hell on earth, with all its inherent foreboding evil and emptiness.

He looked towards the horizon apprehensively, knowing that his destiny would lead him far beyond the limits of his sight, all he had to do was take the first step. The realisation of how far he had come came as a shock to Rem'Dahr, he had not had time to think, let alone stop and rest, over the past week. His headlong rush ahead of the Hoard kept his senses heightened, alert. The chase had been long and hard but now Rem'Dahr had the opportunity to finally escape and reach for his destiny, the only barrier to cross being Prambatar.

Rem slowly looked up at the sky, the sun, making a vain attempt to break the shadowy smokiness, was still hidden behind cloud. The air was surprisingly cool considering the heat of the barren waste ahead. The smell of sulphur assaulted Rem's nose, there was a hint of burning as well. The darkness inside of him welled and he had to fight to keep it at bay. That was the problem of being a DarkSmote, the continual fight to control the overwhelming desire for aggression. It was hard to keep control, though sometimes when he let go it was useful. There had been an increasing number of times lately where his power had saved him and allowed him to continue towards the fate he knew was his, yet couldn't pinpoint enough to say what it was.

The darkness grew inside him again, he could feel it course through his blood, seeping into every sinew of his body, every muscle, every sense. The veins on his head pulsed in rhythm with the pulse of the power. He again struggled to control it, to enclose it within himself. It was getting harder and harder as the days passed, the more he used it, or was forced to use it, the more it welled up and the stronger it became. He knew this was part of their plan. If he was consumed by the power of the DarkSmote he would not be a threat anymore, not able to pass on the information he possessed. Yes he would be dangerous, but not lethally fatal as he was now.

Standing there on the edge of his destiny, the irony of the place did not escape him, the black power inside getting stronger as he reached the fork in the road of his destiny, Prambatar.

He could feel the power rise again, and again he struggled to control it. Its force was too strong, he pulsed with the oozing darkness and finally was forced to let go and give in to it. His veins screamed with the expansion, his muscles exploded with the extra energy, a cloud descended on his conscious mind. He was now fully changed, Rem'Dahr being a vague shadow in the eye of the Smote. The Smote's purpose? Destiny!

And with the change Rem'Dahr the DarkSmote leapt from the edge of the precipice into Prambatar to carry on the journey towards his fate.

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Title and Prose (inspired by the image) courtesy of my good bud *MindPhase man can this d00d write cool dark fantasy stuff

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Well, its been a long, long time since I have felt inspired enough to do a fantasy piece like this. About 9 months to be precise. The change came when I was given a Wacom Intuos 2 for my b'day and what a change that was. After struggling for over a year trying to push my skills with the mouse I came to the conclusion that I would never move on because the mouse it so damn restrictive. The fluidity and ease at which the Intuos allows you to work has blown my mind. Hopefully this is just a taste of things to come.

slight panic: I worked this piece up last night in about 6 hours on my LCD screen and it looked great. But having looked at it on my 21" CRT screen its looking REALLY dark but I'm loathed to tweak it because I dont trust either monitors calibration. So for those of u with LCD screens, enjoy, for thsoe with CRT, turn up the brightness

Produced in Photoshop with the Intuos2.