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Rekkdyr

A great cold filled the room, and even I struggled to peer through the darkness, despite the excellent nightvision my species posessed. It could not have been natural darkness that drowned the frightened prisoners and battle weary combatants.

"Aklys." the deep, raspy voice boomed, slamming into my chest with the force of thunder. There was a great power to its words, one I couldn't feel at the glade with the death willow.

"Tell me were the remaining seals are, and your deaths will be swift." the voice demanded.

My eyes slowly started to adjust to the light being cast by Silvernights runes. I could see the shapes and forms of many creatures around me. At the far end, just before the staircase leading to what had to be the outside world, stood a lone form, hooded and masked. The voice seemed to come from this creature, who stood the size of an average human, though with the body language of a king.

His face was shrouded from view by an expressionless black mask, missing both eyes and a mouth. I forced myself to grip Silvernight, despite the extreme pain that shot through my heavily damaged forearm.

Riddaris Rushed forward, thrusting with his large spear.

In the blink of an eye, the creature burst into action, chopping with a bastard sword, blasting the weapon in two, before slamming forward, right into the centaurs throat with the hilt.

Riddaris stumbled backwards, gasping for breath as his brother, Hestross, leaped for the robed figure.

The creature raised a hand aloft, launching a black torrent of energy from his palm, blasting the centaur squarely in the chest.

Never had I heard the creature make such a terrifying cry of agony. He collapsed to the ground, falling still and silent.

Growling against the pain, I rushed forward, chopping Silvernight awkwardly with my one hand, grip weak and clumsy upon the hilt.

A quick swipe with his own, jet black blade, and my weapon was cast aside, clattering to the cold stone floor.

The creature was partway through a slash aimed at my head, when a small elf dove in the way, single edged sword catching his blade, and turning it aside. Ivaylis pushed me back, just as the creature wailed a terrifying cry. A blast of shadows originating from him slammed into everyone in the room, toppling them to their feet. All but the Snow Elf.

The creature turned to the nude elf.

"You truly believe you can face me, Druid? I am the Harbinger of Destruction! The Champion of Malmyrkris!" the voice hissed from beneath his mask.

"Your words cannot frighten me, wraith." She growled, almost wolfish. A strange bluish hue began to glow from her silver eyes, further piercing the darkness.

"Come then." the man said, sheathing his sword on his hip. "Let us see if the magic of nature can match that of the Realm of Shadows."

With that, he suddenly stepped forward, thrusting his hands toward the elf. A bolt of shadows launched forth, passing harmlessly through the druidess, who was already chanting a spell of her own, launching a glowing ray of fire at the creature. He quickly brought his arms together before himself, crafting a black ball of deep darkness before him, which seemed to absorb the flames.

The ball of shadows quickly turned to a dancing purple and black ball of fire, which suddenly launched itself at the elf.

Eluniss summoned a large orb of water from nowhere, which collided with the shadowfire to create a sudden burst of black steam. Diving aside to avoid another bolt of shadow, she muttered something, causing vines to snap from the stone floors and walls, bypassing all the onlookers, and launching themselves at the robbed man, who thrust his arms out, sending a wave around him. The vines immediately withered and died, dropping in heaps to the floor.

He then directed the wave of energy into a ray of his own, aimed at the elf. She quickly thrust a wall of stone from the floor, which blasted apart from the mans attack.

It went on like this for a minute, each exchanging blows, seeming to have an answer to the others attack, each time thwarting or dodging, only to launch a new attack at the others defenses.

The cold in the room was taking its toll, it seemed, as I felt the strength drifting from my limbs, and a darkness seemed to grow in my vision. I could not see most of my companions any longer, and many of the prisoners had already used the distraction of the battle to escape through the stairs across the room.

All I could make out clearly, however, was the two combatants, launching fire, ice, and shadows at each other.

And suddenly, I was falling through ice and darkness. A cold so complete, I could not breathe. my vision blackened, and the sound of battle faded across a great distance.

Aatu

A strange collection of scents drifted up from the doorway, accompanied with the sound of foot steps. Suddenly, the small door burst open, sending both of my bipedal companions on alert, each aiming their arrows at the opening. It was a collection of unarmed individuals, almost all of them women, of many different races and species. Most seemed to be with child.

"What's happening down there!" Ciara asked one, lowering her weapon when she saw they were unarmed.

"There is fighting, many wounded!" a shocked human woman said collapsing against the rocky foundation of the wall. Her swollen stomach seemed ready to give at any moment, and she rested her fingers on it gently.

I scented the air again, trying to sort the myriad of scents that assaulted me. Elf, man, orc, goblin, it was much to take in. One of the scents was familiar, but I couldn't place it right away. It invoked thoughts of comfort.

"Did you see another halfling?" Ciara asked, stepping forward.

"Yeah, the centaur had one on his back, along with an antlered orc, and a large gnoll." she huffed.

"Wolves?" I asked the woman, who gave me a horrified look.

"N-No wolves. A couple elves. One dressed in fine armor, the other with silver hair and skin as white as snow." she stuttered.

I raised my head, stepping closer to the woman, much to her horror.

"This silver-haired woman, tell me of her eyes." Livillios and Ciara both gave me strange looks.

"Y-yes!" The woman was almost flat against the wall now. I hardly noticed. I remembered the scent now. It was different, but somehow, the same. I cursed myself for not recognizing it instantly.

Without another word, I turned for the small entrance.

I heard Livillios call after me, but I paid no heed.

I bolted through the darkness of the corridor, rushing down a staircase, and coming to a sea of shadows. It drifted about the room below me like a solid gas.

The sound of magic could be heard emanating somewhere from within.

"Vindr!" I growled, sending a frosty gust into the darkness. The wind spell had little effect. The scent of my mother was strong here, as was the scent of blood.

Fear gripping my heart, tensed my legs, before releasing, casting myself into the darkness below.

Ivaylis

"Vindr!"

"The voice called through the chill of darkness. I could only picture the words coming from Hestross lips, as they were spoken in that druidic tongue.

I fought against the shadows, hearing the calls of battle drifting from a great distance. Wind gust across my face, and I forced myself to sit up, opening my eyes. If I wasn't so certain I was under the effects of a spell, I would have assumed I was blind.

"Hestross!" I called out. There was no response. My heart sank. I was certain the centaur had cast that wind spell.

I could feel what seemed to be dead vines all about me. Something landed with a thud beside me, a furry brush sending me reeling back.

"Tunglskin!" the voice called again, right where I felt fur. It was different, though. More guttural, throaty. Like some form of beast given voice.

A sudden globe of silver fought against the darkness, startling me. It was as if somebody lit a candle instantly before my face in a cavern far from the sun.

The silver light flickered, fighting against the oddly solid shadows that drifted around us. The shadows made each breath a battle against suffocation, and the air was colder than that of the northern tundra's.

Shivering, I peered at the light, the sole object I could see. Two large black and white eyes peered from beside it, separated by a fur that reflected silver in the light of the orb. A massive wolf.

His eyes met mine, and he moved forward, just as a sudden eruption of wind gust the room again, this time knocking me, and the wolf prone.

The light flickered from existence.

"Tunglskin!" This time, it was a woman's voice, and it echoed with all the authority and power of a blizzard. The room exploded in silver light, as if the moon itself had flooded it's most potent rays directly upon us.

Blinking against the sudden onslaught of visual stimulation, I glanced back at the wolf, who was sitting before me. The creature was massive! Easily the size of a large horse.

He glanced over, and I followed his gaze, turning to see Eluniss, who was now drawing forth an orb of silver flames before her. As the ball collected, the silver light that filled the room dimmed, and I could see the masked man rising from the ground, clearly worse for the wear. This woman was a caster unlike that I'd ever seen before.

The ball of silver fire launched at the man of shadows, and he suddenly drew his bastard sword, catching the magical attack with it's blade. The magic instantly dissipated, clearly being drawn into the black steel of the weapon.

The weapon seemed to hum suddenly, as black tendrils seemed to reach out from the blade, clawing and grasping at the surround air.

With a blink, the man was gone. Eluniss gasped, drawing my gaze back to her.

The cloaked man stood behind her, and the blade was protruding from her stomach, tendrils of shadow grasping against her white flesh.

"NO!" the wolf next to me roared, causing me to snap my attention back to it. A look of ferocity was displayed upon his face as only a wolf could manage.

Teeth bared as he blasted past me, muttering "Bolrunis."

A large orb of fire appeared behind the masked man, and slammed into him almost instantly, just as the wolf leaped above the falling form of Eluniss.

The man spun, his flaming cloak instantly being dowsed by shadows, spinning the blade around to slam into the leaping wolf, though the attack was more of a deflecting defense then an actual assault, and the wolf slammed into the wall, a gash of red drawn across the scruff of extra fur and flesh on his flank.

He forced himself to rise, growling through obvious pain.

The man raised his palm to the wolf, obviously preparing another shadow bolt.

"A-Anoron P-Pilin!" I cried, throwing my own arm up. Nothing happened. I was so drained that I couldn't even cast a single Light Arrow spell.

Suddenly, Shadows blasted forth, slamming into the place where the wolf had stood. The animal had managed to leap aside, rushing forward again. The man prepared another shadow blast when an arrow with white fletching on a shaft of black wood struck him in the chest. He stumbled back, redirecting the blast at the newcomer.

I recognized those arrows.

Ciara sprang forward, narrowly avoiding the necrotic blast as the wolf had, rolling up to launch another arrow. The man knocked it aside with little effort, just as another burst of fire erupted from the wolfs muzzle, catching him in the face. He spun about, targeting the wolf again, only to have another arrow slam into his shoulder.

"Enough!" He roared, sending a shockwave of darkness forth, rippling reality as it traveled through the air. It blasted me in the chest, slamming me back into the stone floor. It had a similar effect on Ciara and the wolf.

"A halfling child, and a druid whelp cannot possibly defeat the Harbinger of Malmyrkris!" His voice hissed through the entire chamber. His words caused despair and anguish to wash over me in waves, and I could hear a hissing voice in my head, as well as the surrounding air.

"Filth of this World! Decay shall be wrought over the course of eternity!"

I was slammed back with a new wave of pain. I managed to glance up as the man raised his sword in a two handed grip, momentarily held skyward, before suddenly slashing downwards at diagonal angle against the air.

To my utter shock, a gash was left suspended in it's wake, and darkness seemed to rip forth from the tear.

"This world shall be consumed in darkness!"

The pain was so intense, I almost missed the soft glow, accompanied by a sudden rush of movement. The light was emanating from the runes on the blade of Silvernight.

Rekkdyr

I could feel the cold gripping at my chest, sucking the breath from my lungs. I gasped against it's onslaught.

Then suddenly, the bright silver light exploded, blasting the room into focus. The darkness fell away in an instant.

A sudden rush of air flooded my lungs, and a gulped it down greedily. I rolled, seeing the snow elf gathering a ball of silver flames before her, before casting it at the shadow man. He caught it with his sword, drawing the energy into his blade, before suddenly flickering out of existance.

I blinked, seeing him suddenly blocking the small elf from view. He slid the blade through her back, letting her drop to the floor.

I tried to push myself up from floor, but the stump of an arm screamed in pain. My other forearm, the one with a remaining hand, was badly mangled from Drangis' spear.

I glanced back, watching as the wolf and Ciara launched alternating attacks at the the man.

Then darkness shot forth from him, passing through me harmlessly. I glanced about, seeing my various comrades, all writhing in agony. My pain was great, but was clearly from my many preexisting injuries.

My eyes returned to the man, who had drawn his blade across the air, slashing into the fabric of nothingness.

Black tendrils sprang from the wound left behind, grasping out in every direction at once. The image made my stomach roll violently, and I feared I would lose it's contents.

The rip was growing, slowly consuming the room around it. I heard his wicked laughter.

"This world shall be consumed in darkness!"

Fear gripped me. My allies, the only beings I had ever felt any form of true acceptance from, where in violent agony. The line of shadows drew close to consuming the prone form of Eluniss. I couldn't know for certain if she still drew breath. It wouldn't be long before the tear consumed the others near him. I had to act.

Somehow, I found me feet, my one good hand gripped the hilt of Silvernight tightly, despite the pain in my forearm. I blocked the pain from my mind, focusing instead on the man, who's back was still to me. He stepped back from the growing wound in reality, laughing maniacally.

The ground of the chamber moved swiftly beneath me as I rushed forward, only moving on reserves of energy I didn't even know I possessed.

The runes of Silvernight grew angrier and angrier as I closed the distance, until they hummed fiercely as they glowed bright silver in contrast to the darkness coming from the abyss before me.

He didn't notice.

I thrust the point of my blade deep into his back right between his shoulder blades, driving it to the hilt with the sheer force of my momentum. I continued forward, unable to stop myself with the last stores of energy completely drained.

We crashed forward, into the grasping tendrils of the abyss. Darkness consumed my vision, and I could feel the grip of Silvernight rip from my grasp. I was falling, much further than the floor of the chamber would have permitted.

Darkness grew, ripping and shredding at me from every angle, clinging and ripping at my fur, feeling it claw and crawl it's way into my eyes, ears, and mouth. Any possible entrance it could find, it utilized, tearing into my body, ripping me asunder.

I could feel it in my chest, the very essence of shadows plucking me apart from the inside, as well as the outside, and all the while, a deep, menacing laughter booming from beyond my sight.

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