Chapter 6: Demons of the Dark Forest
Brightblade
The Knights were in the midst of all the chaos, fighting desperately against a tide of darkness creatures. There were hundreds upon hundreds of Demons, and even though me and my brothers were still stronger than them, we were bound to suffer defeat sooner or later.
There were far too many of them and only six of us. Once the exhaustion kicked in, we would definitely be in trouble.
I soared into the sky and landed in the middle of the battlefield, cleanly beheading a nearby Demon, but before i could react, two more were upon me.
I did not waste a single moment. I crouched down in an awkward position, avoiding the incoming attacks, and delivering one of my own. The Demons were still taller than us, but that did not matter.
We were stronger, faster and more resilient.
I dug Moonlight deep into the gut of one Demon, all while slamming the back of my sword on the knee of another, shattering the knee joints. As it kneeled on the ground shrieking in pain, I was already upon its head.
Moonlight was still embedded in the torso of another Demon so I used my hands instead. I jumped and landed on its shoulders, my hands wrapped around the giant crimson horns. I pulled with all my might and felt something snap under my grip.
I soared into the sky again, using its momentum to throw me in the air, causing the Demon to plummet towards the ground. The world was spinning from all the exhaustion and fatigue, but even a small moment of rest could cause me my life.
So I sprinted towards the staggering Demon and pulled Moonlight out of its torso, and simply cut the creature in two. I did not even wait for the Demon to fall down, I was already running towards the incoming ones.
I did not even spare a second to look around me, and I was pretty sure my brothers had not noticed that I had entered the battle either. But that was okay, I could just tell them that my first fight with darkness creatures was a huge success. But first we had to survive.
Unlike the ravens, the horde of Demons were not endless, so they could be defeated. But the only problem was the numerical advantage they held against us. But I could also sense their numbers dwindling steadily under the onslaught of my brothers.
That gave me hope. Even if it was the tiniest glimmer of hope, it was enough.
I slammed into the chest of the Demons running towards me, and I felt a few bones crack under my armored shoulder. Its ribs caved in and the Demon swayed and let out a pained cry.
It only lasted for a heartbeat though because soon after that, its the upper part of its head: from the jaw upwards, was already rolling on the ground. And I was already running towards the next target.
All around, sounds of battle shook the earth, and dozens of darkness creatures fell under our blades. Hundreds more were next. I flashed Moonlight in the air, its pale silver light shining dimly in the moving darkness.
I caught a large fist flying towards me, twisted my body to the side and delivering a furious attack of my own. My fist landed right on the guts, completely destroying the stomach. I gutted the abomination and hissed as dark crimson blood splashed all over my face.
Without even cleaning my face, I lunged at an approaching abomination and dug Moonlight deep where its heart was supposed to be. I unceremoniously pulled out Moonlight and simultaneously kicked it in the balls - or at least where they were supposed to be.
Cutting off the arm of an especially menacing Demon, I twisted my torso and delivered a devastating kick on the side of another one. It staggered back, dazed for a few moments, but I did not allow it to regain its senses.
I grabbed the one horn it had and bent it down. My knee violently met its face and most of the bones exploded. I threw it to the ground and looked around at the remaining Demons. Still posing a threat, but not as high as before.
My brothers must have been killed as twice the Demons than I was.
I tried running but I felt a sharp pain on my left knee. It was not exactly a huge obstacle, but it still meant i could not run or kick anymore. I would just have to rely on my fists and Moonlight from then on. Maybe planting my knee on the face of a Demon was not a very good idea.
Sadly, there was nothing time to reflect on my bad decisions. So I had to keep on fighting with a limp knee.
So I jumped up with my remaining functioning knee, and planted Moonlight into the throat of another Demon. The earth shook under the attack.
#
Starborn
The battle was chaotic. Hundreds of Demons had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and descended upon me and my brothers. But that was okay, I had anticipated this would happen.
I fought my way into the horde of darkness creatures, losing the sight of my brothers. I knew they were still alive though, because i could feel their presence in the battlefield, as they unleashed their wrath upon the Demons.
I felt the wind change and the world was enveloped by a familiar cold, oppressive presence. Small shards of ice and snow danced in the air as a lethal blizzard descended upon the enemies. Frostguard was just as lethal as i remembered him.
Rustling sounds of swords could also be heard in the midst of battle. Swiftblade moved with incredible speed such that I could not even keep up with him. Everytime he confronted a certain tide, he left only devastation in his wake.
Dawnshield was nerby as well, although he was not doing as good as we were. That is why I had to make things a little less taxing for him. He was worn out and exhausted from defending the reer when we escaped front the Unkindness.
He was still a manice in the battlefield though. His presence not diminished even one bit.
We left Brightblade behind with the horses in order to keep him safe. He was by far in the worst condition amongst all of us. I had really hoped he was doing fine, even though I still feared he might not have been.
But deep down I knew i had nothing to worry about.
My greatsword, Kingslayer, danced in the air, shining with a bright incandescent light. The purpose was to draw as much creatures towards me, so my brothers, especially Dawnshield, could have a little less weight on their shoulders.
But I knew it was pointless because they would do the same as well.
As strong as I was, i was well out of my source element, so my powers were dwindling at a very startling rate. My soul energy was not easily conservable anymore, decrease faster than I could replenish it.
I channeled the last of my flames to Kingslayer and in turn to my armor. Both my armor and Kingslayer were burning furiously with crimson flames. But there was a rather fatal flaw with my magic, just like all magic did. Even though it was a pretty uncomfortable topic to bring up.
All magic were tied to a certain source element, usually a certain environmental condition or event that favors you. My magic could be described a the [Flames of Judgement], but i preferred [The Fire] though.
My source element was the desolate region south of Kingdom Aethermoor, shrouded with eternal flames. There dozens of active volcanoes and rivers of flowing lava everywhere. It was truly a paradise for me.
That is where I went if I wanted to train and replenish my soul energy.
While I weilded incredible Magic, it still came with a rather cruel flaw. Even though my magic allows me to channel flames, I was not immune to them. I remember the first time I tried channeling my magic, I almost turned a large portion of the Kingdom to ashes.
That was because I lost control of my flames due to the cruel suffering of my flaw. Everytime the flames touched my flesh, it would burn terribly, just like a normal human would. That is why the best smith in all the 12 Kingdoms crafted Kingslayer and this armor for me, to help me channel my flames without suffering as a result of the flaw.
Just as potent and stalwart the armor was, it was still not strong enough to block my flames. It could only delay the inevitable by at least a few hours. It was not destructable too, which made it a win win situation, well sort of.
I buried Kingslayer deep into the chest of an approaching Demon, burning the whole area. It slid out of the mangled chest like butter, and decapitated another abomination. The smell of burning flesh assaulted my ears but it did not last long, because I was already upon another one.
I twisted my torso the side and dodged a fist flying towards my face, cutting the whole arm off in the process. I planted the hilt of Kingslayer on the Demon's face, and a moment later, I was lunging towards another one.
Dozens of abominations fell to my blade and then is when I felt it, another presence in the battlefield. It was familiar, but not as strong as I remembered it perhaps. I crushed the head of another creature under my boot, and I used those few free moments to look around.
In the small distance, amongst another tide of Demons, I saw a pale silver light shining dimly, as if on the verge of being extinguished.
A small smile found its way to my lips because I knew exactly who it was.