Alia lets out a terrified yelp at the sudden darkness, tightening her grip on Alexander’s hand.

“That’s it! You are the most dramatic person I’ve ever met Stell! Stell?” Aria yelled.

Stella Solare could not answer, she was frozen in fear. Though it was pitch black, she could make out the feeling that something large was standing right behind her.

“Get some light in here NOW!” Aria yelled with some shaking in her voice.

“There’s s-something...” Stella tried to speak.

Alexander immediately let go of Alia’s hand and started sprinting to the sound of Stella’s voice. Sensing something was among them, he grabbed his shield from his back and unsheathed his sword. Then the air shifted quickly.

“Stell! duck!” Alexander roared.

She immediately ducked down to the floor, not knowing what was going on. Just then she felt a gust of wind swipe above her. Something huge had just tried to strike her, and it was right behind her.

Alexander threw his shield through the darkness at where he thought the unknown creature might be. A loud clang was heard. Whatever it was, it was incredibly hard.

“Right there.” Alexander had thought to himself.

He lunged high into the air, and struck the creature as hard as he could with his sword. Massive vibrations went through his body, causing great pain in his arms.

“Stone?” he said as he fell to the ground.

The air had shifted again, this time much faster. Not knowing where his shield had landed, Alexander knew he had to dodge blindly. He winced; one unlucky move could mean death. He was not afraid though, he heard Alia’s footsteps rushing to his aid from behind.

“Alia! It’s big, use my hands as a boost!” He yelled.

He jumped backwards, and clasped his hands together. Hoping that Alia would land on his hands to jump even higher to strike the beast. Instead, she landed her boot on his face.

“My face!” Alexander yelled in pain.

“Close enough!” Alia yelled back down to him.

She flew into the air and swung her warhammer with great force, hitting the beast. A cracking noise echoed through the room. The beast let out a roar of pain, confirming her strike. All the while Stella was still on the ground, relying on her hearing to understand what was going on around her.

“They’re fighting in complete darkness? They're amazing.” Stella thought.

Just then, Alexander used the basic spell “Fire Ball” and cast it towards the sound of the beast with his hand. The light produced by the fire revealed it’s cracked stone body.

“A gargoyle.” he said in awe.

Gargoyles are legendary beasts thought to be extinct. They were magical constructs created by hevarian mages centuries ago. Their purpose was to come alive during the night and defend Hevarian cities from attack while the sun was down. One mysterious night, every gargoyle went on a rampage, killing a total of 500 Hevarian’s across the country. When the sun rose, the gargoyle’s turned back into stone and were promptly destroyed. This event became known as the infamous night of strife. To this day nobody knows why this happened, some say the stone beast’s gained minds of their own.

The light from Alexander's flame spell faded, and dread took its place. Suddenly, deafening footsteps were heard coming directly at the two. It was coming.

“It’s fast!” Alexander shouted.

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Alia just let out a nervous laugh.

“I knew we should’ve left.” she said lightly.

She felt a hard push on her left shoulder, if it wasn’t so dark, she’d know that Alexander shoved her out of the way. She fell to the ground and a large crash was heard.

“Alex!” Alia screamed in terror.

He was now pinned to the ground, beneath the gargoyle’s foot.

Meanwhile, Stella was still frozen in fear on the floor. Her mind was racing.

“Are my friends going to die?”

“This is all my fault.”

“They were trying to save me.”

“What should I d-”

Her thoughts were interrupted by a desperate scream from Alia.

“Somebody help us!”

Stella’s mind had gone silent, she could only hear her own heartbeat. It took a few seconds for her to realize she was sprinting towards the sound of the battle. She silenced her mind yet again. Her body was going to have to win this fight. She unsheathed her enchanted rapier Luci Sopra, and ran behind the beast. She felt an attack coming from her left.

“Its tail.” she thought instinctively.

She quickly ducked down, and when she felt the air right above her shift, she stabbed up with her sword. An explosion came from the tip of her rapier when she felt the impact, followed by a loud thud behind her. She had just destroyed its tail. Now was no time to revel in her accomplishment, she wanted to kill this thing.

“Alia, hit it with everything you got!” She yelled.

In a moment's notice, Alia struck the beast in its center, making it stumble backwards. Freeing Alexander. Stella instantly slid between the gargoyle's legs and turned to face it.

“Cover your eyes.” she said softly.

Her friends did as they were told and covered their eyes with their hands. Stella gathered all the magical strength she could, and welled it up to her hands.

“stultus cæcus!” She shouted.

Just then a light emmited from her hands. It was so bright that Alexander and Aria could see the bones of their hands through their covered eyes. It was pure, uncontrolled sunlight. The gargoyle had instantly turned into a statue. Her friends were now safe.

Alexander and Aria stood dumbfounded as Stella relit the sunlight torches. Here they are, looking at the “weakest” student in the knights academy. Who had just defeated a legendary gargoyle in a matter on seconds.

A minute of silence passed.

“How did you do that?” Alexander asked in wonder.

“I’m not sure, I just acted on Instinct.” Stella replied.

“I didn’t know your rapier could blow things up.” Alia interjected.

“Yes, I can channel my magic energy into the Luci Sopra causing an explosion on impact. It’s very lethal so I haven’t used that on anything until now. Oddly enough, I was able to use a high-level sunlight spell: stultus cæcus. I’ve never been able to use it properly until now either.”

“Stel- umm Princess I’m sorry about what i said bef-” Aria tried to say.

“No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t ever treat you guys that way, you're my friends. I was stressed because this was the only way I could become a knight.” Stella interupted.

“Are you kidding? If you fight like that during the next combat examination the council will have no choice but to deem you a knight. Stell, you are worthy.” Alexander exclaimed with a hand on her shoulder.

This statement brought tears to the princess’s eyes, nobody has ever said that to her before, not even her own father.

“Thank you Alex, let’s get out of here guys.” Stella said with teary eyes.

“No way! We have to see what’s behind the door. Alia laughs.

In all the commotion, Stella forgot about the ancient door. They all turn to look at it, to see it’s wide open and filled with darkness.

“That’s true, the ancients wouldn’t use a seal like that for one gargoyle. It was guarding something.” Alexander said.

The trio continue into the door with a sunlit torch. After walking down a long hallway they enter a circular room. Skeletons lay on the floor. In the middle of the room, a man is laying still on an altar, surronded by black roses. The three friends approach him.

His eyes are open, but glazed over, and he appears unresponsive. To the trio, this man looks otherworldly. His species unknown. He’s tall and very fit, and has pale skin and black hair. His ears are pointed like an elf, and he has hypnotizing violet eyes. He wore a lightly armored black robe. No elf they’ve seen have a combination of traits like these.

“Is he dead?” Aria asked while hiding behind Alexander.

“No, this place has probably been sealed for centuries. He must be under a spell keeping him preserved.” Alexander said.

“How old is he?” Aria asked.

Stella approached his body, and pressed her fingers into his cold wrist to check for a heartbeat. As she did, she felt her heart skip a beat, and immediately after she felt a pulse in him.

His eyes opened wider and he began look around, his vision wandered to the trio. He looked up at the princess’s tear stained face, and matched hers with his own.