Close loomed the castle above; the fog from before rolled in at my advance… and I’d wondered when the thralls would find me again. Ever, though, I pushed on, if only in spite.
It’s a wonder how the void reaches out to you; it’s pitch-dark embrace longing to be filled. It pulls at the back of your eyes, filling your sight with its horrors. Whispers… again, of familiar voices beckoning, ceaseless and unnerving.
Finally— I had arrived at the entrance, a large courtyard-like area of dead trees, a far cry from the vibrant upper city, likely untouched since it was inhabited. The castle structure met the ground here, pillar-like in form, and ornately carved. An archway seemed to lead inside… but with no stairs. The whispers here were quieter now; could the power hidden here be responsible for this newfound quiet? Or could this be to lower my guard?
Slow footsteps fell upon the ground, echoing through the fog as before, deeply, like a dark vibrato. The contemptuous clap of incorporeal hands pierced my ears like glass.
“So far… you have come.” The same shadowy figure stepped from the mists.
My heart pounded again.
“étienne should be very close now, and I’m afraid I must cut your time short.” A pitchfork-like weapon formed from the shadows around him; its sheer presence seemed to consume all hope—a truly wicked armament.
With what was left of my will, I conjured my Magispear once more. “I won’t fall easy.”
The fog around him drew back like a curtain, revealing two mangled corpses on the ground, my heart sinking at the grisly sight. “A… Amicus— Amoria!” Their eyes were lifeless, skin flayed, torn… a tortured death. “I… I…”
“This is the fate that befalls all who tamper in our affairs.”
“Who… whose affairs? Why would you do this?” I screamed in tears.
He grew taller, much like a shadow cast by light. “Who indeed. I will delight in your ignorance as you die, and I shall ensure eternity in every blissful agony. I am Terror… you shall know me in the end.”
He approached, hauntingly, the darkness he left behind, seeping into the ground like disease. The air became hard to breathe, and all I could see was… their bodies, limp and lifeless; how could I continue now? How could I know Halcyon, Tarrien, and the others were not already dead? “It is over,” he said, his voice invading my mind. “Give in… give up.”
A light… faint and veiled, shone through the mists behind him as he raised his weapon. Each instant passing, it grew brighter, like daylight purging the dark of night. Through it, fire burst like a nova, falling upon their bodies with rage.
Terror itself turned to gaze upon the sight; their bodies disappeared instantly as if having never existed. “Sebastien,” I heard, a voice muted by the fog, “It isn’t over… they aren’t real!”
In my heart, I knew what that meant… They weren’t dead; it was fake, just as Halcyon was. This coward, he toys with the mind. My eyes grew ablaze with rage, reinvigorating my resolve. In his distraction, I thrust my spear into his dark, ethereal body, piercing his chest. He screeched, unholy and demonic, “You… what is the… meaning of this?
Amoria burst through the fog, thrashing him with bolts of fire, one after another. I ripped my spear from his chest and doubled back as she blasted him again, this time sending him back a few feet and to a knee.
“Damned fiend,” she shouted, her hands ablaze; the fire changed color, brightening to a gold-tinged white. A holy flame. She tossed toward him with great speed, but it missed just shy.
He sneered, attempting to stand once more, but the clangor of fire against metal rang from directly beside him. Amicus appeared from almost nowhere, his sword ablaze with the white flame, and descended upon Terror, meeting his body with a hallowing ring. It slashed down his shoulders and chest, stopping just before slicing him all the way through.
“Amicus!” Amoria yelled. The knight ripped his blade out and withdrew back to us. Terror screamed in agony for a moment while we regrouped.
“Thank the gods,” I said. “You’re real…”
“Yes,” Amoria said, casting a stamina spell on me, “Perhaps this will help; you look exhausted.”
Amicus supported my arm over his shoulder while she cast her spell, “After you left, the thralls attacked mere moments later. I held them off for what felt like hours, but when Amoria awoke, she realized they were illusions almost immediately!”
Stolen novel; please report.
“Better than I,” I said glumly. “It took me… far longer than it should have.”
Terror continued to writhe, but the slash began to heal, stiching itself together. “We cannot let up; once he recovers, we work together and bring him down… There is no other choice.”
“I have… overdone it, Amoria. My abilities—I don’t know how well they’ll serve me right now.”
Her expression changed to worry and then to steeled resolve. “Could you muster something? Anything?” She asked. “Perhaps with your help, I can unleash greater magic, like when we fought.”
“Greater Magic?” Amicus questioned. “Truly, in a place like this?”
She ignored him, “I’ll capitalize off of whatever you can give me!”
I had no doubt of her ability; maybe it would be what we need to defeat this monster. “I… can try,” I said.
“Perfect!” She smiled.
Terror’s paid screams turned to maniacal laughter, his body twisting and writhing… and from his back grew two large wings of jagged black. He hissed like a demon, “I will suffer this no longer. Mortals are doomed to die by nature! I wished to revel in your suffering, but now I shall make it quick. Be thankful for my mercy… FOR YOU DESERVE NONE OF IT!”
“Ready!” Amicus said, each of us readying ourselves.
“Get back,” I said, Amoria moving behind us. Terror's assault came down upon us heavy as Amicus and I blocked together, supporting each other’s defense.
“His strength is… Godly!” Amicus gritted his teeth.
Amoria cast a quick strengthening spell, helping us to push back against his power. With one strong press, we forced him backward, dodging out of the way as Amoria outstretched her hand. She let out a warrior-like yell, sending a shattering force from her hand, destroying the ground, and rending the air, sending the demonic being into a tailspin.
He caught himself, balancing out in the air with his wings. Already, each of us was breathless, but the monster would not let us recoup. He raced back down toward us, sending slashes of shadow our way.
They split the earth around us, striking fear as we dodged. Though Amoria stood steadfast, “Oh Darkness… abide me.” She said the mists under his control shifted toward her. “Contain my foe. Subjugating Dark!”
She stretched her hand toward him, and the darkness flowed like a spider’s webs entrapping its prey. An orb of darkness held him, suspended in the air, Amoria’s clawlike grip straining to hold the spell. “This magic… It’s like tendrils under my skin; I can’t contain him for long. Even now, he tries to wrest control. We have only moments, maybe seconds!”
“What should we do…” Amicus asked, as they both looked at me.
My mind was in a haze; I had to be quick!
“My grip is weakening,” she strained. “If we do something, we need to do it now!” The orb, which held Terror, bulged and warped as he tried to claw his way out from within.
“Amicus,” I said, “come to me and be ready when I say!”
He came to my side, blade at the ready. “Of course.”
Amoria strained; the force of Terror wrenching back control weighed on her, but she would not falter. She let out a yell as the orb seemed close to breaking open and slammed her hand on the ground with such force that the orb came crashing down, breaking the earth.
In its descent, Terror’s ungodly screech pierced the air, stopping briefly as he collided with the earth. I breathed deep, watching as he rose from the liquid-like darkness, angered and impatient. There were no words, but his gaze was harrowing—a frustration in his eyes alone that could kill.
“Now,” I shouted with a hand on Amicus’s shoulder, “Godspeed!” The effect spread to him, invigorating his body and mine with energy. We blitzed forward toward the shadowed monster, Amicus almost stumbling but regaining his composure with an assured, confident grin. Upon him we came in a flash of lightning and fervor, his reaction time thrown off by Amoria’s prior assault.
Amicus was first; he lit his sword aflame and raged a blazing combo upon Terror, overwhelming him with more strikes than even I could count. The beast's ethereal black blood poured into the air, and Amicus backed away. One more attack, just one! Terror regained his stance, his wounds beginning to heal. His pitchfork veered down to me, piercing my shoulder.
I groaned in pain, choked by an instant agony from his unholy weapon. “Fall,” he screamed like some howling demon.
“I… will not.” I slammed my palm against his chest with reckless abandon, calling upon a greater force. Scattered began to gather, “Converge!”
Terror inhaled harshly, a small light having gathered within his shadowed body. Its rays shone through the gaps in his flesh, each one like a sword stabbing him from the inside out. “What… what is this!” His weapon disappeared as he doubled back.
“Amoria,” I yelled. Already she was prepared, her feet lifted from the ground and magic runes and circles floating around her.
The light within his chest continued to grow as he desperately tried to contain it. His breaths grew ragged, and his tone separated, growing incoherent with each pant.
“I implore thee, O’ Divine Light, break open the gates, and shine unrestricted! Let your rage flow!” Her eyes lit with an unforgiving brightness. “Empyrean Light!” The runes and circles burst with a blinding radiance, and the orb within Terror grew like a nova.
He wailed in pain, trying to keep control as his body seemed to lose its will to resist. “I… am Terror! I cannot be destroyed!”
I stood back up, looking upon the sun as it began to swallow the dark. I held out a hand, my eyes fixed with conviction.
“Collapsing Star.”
His cries were silenced as the air began to vibrate and ring like glass shattering endlessly. The orb within him grew unstable, trying to escape his body.
“We must move now!” Amicus said, instinct seeming to take him over as he grabbed my arm. But my body grew limp. “No… no, no. Amoria,” he shouted, “Come help me. He’s passing out!”
In my faintness, I could feel the rumbling and a bright light blinding me. They picked me up from the ground, my arms over their shoulders. A warmth blazed across my back, and then came darkness.
Why… why is it always darkness?
A voice came to me, though, a hand stretched to me, bathed in an ancient light, “Rest a moment… and then wake. For I shall see you soon.”
What awaits then now, with étienne so near?
