Kraid felt the cold air bite at him as his wings cut the morning fog. Below their shadows danced over Brancourt's cobblestones, yet their presence was hardly noticed. As he soared alongside his brother, scanning the streets. The once-vibrant metropolis resembled a war zone.
"What’s going on?" Kraid muttered, his gaze scanning the chaos below. His earlier vengeance for his fallen uncle sated.
Valon looked as perplexed as his brother and couldn’t respond with an answer, instead he repeated his mother’s orders. "We must protect the balance at all costs." His older brother had already dispatched his warriors to establish a protective ring around the court where most of the monsters had converged, yet there was still so many let loose within the city.
But even as Valon's warriors swooped down, a blinding explosion erupted from the University. The sudden burst of light and force seemed to taunt their efforts.
"That can't be good," Kraid shouted, steering towards the rising smoke.
Valon's gaze sharpened. "Move quickly," he urged.
Without hesitation, he veered towards the explosion's origin, with Kraid right on his tail. Both understood the University's importance. Beyond being a beacon of knowledge, it safeguarded numerous white books — manuscripts of immense potential. In these times, with magic's return, these tomes could easily be a prime target.
As they soared above the city, the desperate cries from below pierced their hearts. Kraid's instincts screamed for him to dive down and rescue the innocents below, yet the sheer number of them were overwhelming.
"We must stay focused," Kraid reminded himself aloud. "If we're ensnared into one skirmish, we might lose the chance to protect countless others."
The rapid transformation of the city was unnerving. What had started as a mindless rampage of corrupt officials now bore the signs of a dark hand strategically orchestrating the cities downfall.
This is no mere monster onslaught, Kraid mused. There’s a puppet master here somewhere, pulling strings, directing this insanity.
His thoughts were interrupted as Valon shouted over the roaring wind, "We must protect the books! If they fall into the wrong hands, the balance could shift."
Kraid nodded, fully aware of the stakes. The brothers surged ahead, wings beating in tandem, focused on reaching the University before it was too late.
Kraid's heightened senses, a legacy of the union his ancestors had with the ancient spirits, tingled with unease. He felt a shift in the atmosphere, a change in the very pressure of the land. Glancing sideways, he saw the same recognition mirrored in his brother's face.
Something was wrong.
Drawing nearer to the University, they spotted a large, gaping hole in the roof of the main hall. Inside, Kraid recognized Lina, a spirited student he knew. She was always enthusiastic, her smile infectious and her pride evident by the green sash she always wore. But now, that vibrant image was shattered. Lina was injured, blood staining her side, her sash discarded, and a pained expression replacing her typical smile. One arm was visibly broken, while the other clutched a white book tightly.
Spotting the Kraven brothers, Lina's eyes widened in panic. "Help!" she rasped, her voice strained with pain and fear.
Landing swiftly within the hall, Kraid surveyed the scene as the brothers transformed, blades appearing in their hands. His eyes locked onto the immediate threat: three hulking monsters slowly approaching, their faces twisted. But what truly caught his attention was the stooped figure guiding them, seemingly coordinating the chaos within the hall.
The stooped figure, his features concealed beneath a heavy robe, clutched a black book that contrasted starkly with Lina's white one. He fixed a piercing gaze on the brothers, a glint of malicious pleasure playing in his eyes in the shadow if his hood.
Valon, taking the lead, stepped forward and demanded. "Who are you, and what do you want?"
In response, the robed man let out a chilling laugh that echoed eerily in the vast hall, a sound that made the very air around them grow colder. The inhuman cadence of his laughter made it clear that whatever controlled him was not of this world.
Kraid's sharp eyes darted around the hall, noticing the terrified students hiding in the corners, some injured from the explosion, others just paralysed with fear. Amidst the devastation, Lina's resolve shone brightly. She was the lone defender of a treasure trove of knowledge and power.
The figure pointed a bony finger towards Lina, his voice raspy and deep, "Move aside."
But Lina, with newfound determination, defiantly shook her head. "I won't let you harm anyone else or take the books."
A surge of admiration rose within Kraid for the young woman. Against daunting odds, she had harnessed the energy of the lesser tome in her grasp to shield the other books from a much stronger force. And in that moment, he connected the dots, suspecting that the earlier explosion had likely been her handiwork. Around the crater he then noticed the remains of a fourth monster Lina must have taken out herself.
Valon whispered to Kraid, "We need to stop this now. That book..."
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Kraid straightened, feeling a tension ripple down his spine. The power emanating from the black tome was making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, clearly alien to this world and seemingly crafted solely for dark deeds.
The hunched figure tilted its head with a snap. The movement was so unnatural, sending waves of nausea through them all.
Without warning, the three monsters sprang forward as one. Yet Valon moved faster. Before anyone could react, one of the monsters found itself disarmed, its severed limb crashing to the ground. An instant later, Valon appeared behind the creature. However, the element of surprise was lost, and he was forced to retreat quickly to evade the creature's massive, razor-sharp claws.
The figure's laughter came as a raspy echo, as it watched.
Then he drove his fingers into the tome and from its shadowy recesses pulled a dense, black tar oozed. As it dripped onto the marble floor, it burned and etched away the surface. Suddenly a colossal vine grew from the tar. Massive thorns pierced its surface curing to deadly points as it wriggled free of its master’s control.
Drawing deep from within herself, Lina called the events inscribed in her tome. "Bright fire!" she cried, and a beam of cleansing light shot out. It blazed through the vine, turning the corrupted sections it touched into dust. Astonishingly, the severed parts of the vine displayed an almost sentient ability, twisting and turning to avoid the beam while relentlessly advancing towards the concealed cache of books.
Kraid, caught amidst this deadly dance of light and shadow, found himself confronted with another hulking beast. Without hesitation, he commanded the magic hidden in his ring. Instead of his usual feathered transformation, the emerald stone allowed him to merge with the shadows. Feathers, imbued with magical energy, shot out, obscuring the monster's view, confusing and disorienting it.
Taking advantage of the momentary chaos, Kraid's blade emerged from the flurry of feathers, striking with swift and lethal precision. Each stroke found its mark.
The mocking laughter of the hunched figure echoed eerily, growing louder and more deranged as the chaos around them swelled. A cold realization dawned upon the brothers: the monsters and the vine were merely a means to divert their attention.
Engrossed in their struggles, they had allowed the stooped man precious moments. With an almost ritualistic manner, he reached deeper into his black tome, his hands moving as if he were bartering with the very fabric of the void within. A grotesque trade seemed to occur, for the book bitingly severed the figure's arm. Simultaneously, an ominous crack spread across the floor, from the crater's epicentre.
Lina, already weakened, couldn’t maintain the event. The protective beam of light she conjured vanished. In its absence, the dark vine seized her, wrapping its charred tendrils around her legs and hoisting her into the air, her skin sizzling upon contact.
She screamed.
Kraid soared upwards, slicing through the malicious plant in an attempt to free Lina. But the vine, even when severed, acted with a mind of its own. It continued its relentless assault, winding tighter around the young girl, marking her skin with every twist. As she plummeted, the vine pursued, latching onto her face, threatening to smother her.
From the corner of his eye, Kraid saw Valon swoop for the dark mage only to get blindsided by the last of the monsters, sending him crashing into the pillars of the hall. He yelled out for his brother, anxiety gripping his heart, but he couldn't afford to be distracted.
Lina needed him now.
But as he grappled with the relentless vine, the mutilated figure behind him moved undeterred. Approaching the widening chasm in the floor, the figure extended his remaining arm, fingers outstretched, greedily beckoning to the pile of white tomes that lay beneath.
The air grew thick as the hunched figure growled out a series of syllables in an ancient tongue, dark and menacing. Their meaning might have been lost on them, but their intent was clear.
Having managed to pry the persistent vines away from Lina's face, Kraid was momentarily taken aback by the sudden burst of blue light pulsed from the fissure in the floor. An echo of footsteps commanded their attention as the formidable figure of Master Theodoric, his robes dirtied and dishevelled with a cut over his forehead, but his eyes burning with an indomitable anger.
By his side was Master Parlin, who, in her singular focus, sprinted towards Kraid. A lurking monster lunged at her, but before its teeth could find purchase, the creature transformed into water, splattering harmlessly onto the ground. Kraid couldn’t help but be impressed by the event Master Theodoric had invoked, his blue tome shimmering as proof of his intervention.
The stooped figure, seeing the two masters, hissed in rage, darting towards the older man with murder in his eyes. Yet, just as he began to close the distance, the figure halted abruptly. An unspoken dread washed over him, and for the first time, the shadow of fear crept over him.
Before any could comprehend the sudden shift, the unthinkable occurred. With a swift, silent force, the figure's head toppled from his body, landing with a muted thud on the marble floor. The hall fell eerily silent as all eyes turned to the lifeless form of the man that had moments before seemed overwhelming.
As the dust settled from battle, the group warily approached the spot where the hunched figure had stood.
The figure's form began to disintegrate, crumbling into a fine, inky powder that seemed to be carried away by an unseen wind. It was as if the very essence of the being was composed of darkness, and once defeated, was destined to return to the void.
Kraid bent down, trying to touch the remnants, but his fingers only met the cold marble floor. The dark residue, upon contact with the air, faded away like morning mist.
Master Theodoric's voice, hoarse from the battle, broke the silence. "We have volume of books detailing the myriads of creatures and powers in this world, yet none of them have ever touched on what we have witnessed today."
Lina, still visibly shaken, looked around, her eyes wide with realization as she cradled her broken arm. "The books!" she exclaimed, scrambling to her feet. They all turned to the fissure; the previous explosion having revealed a secret vault that housed numerous white tomes.
Master Parlin rushed to Lina’s side, placing a protective arm around her. "We must secure them," she whispered, glancing at the still-smoking crater.
Valon, picking himself up from where the monster's blow had thrown him, nodded. "We have a new task ahead. We need to safeguard these and ensure that no force, be it of this world or another, gets their hands on them."
As they spoke, the ground beneath them suddenly quaked, sending vibrations through the air. An overpowering surge of dense energy engulfed the entire space from beyond the walls, pressing down on them like a tangible weight. Kraid felt an invasive shadow pierce his mind, immobilizing him, compelling obedience. He fought back, clenching his teeth in resistance.
But it was no use. The power had them all in its grip.
Desperately, he lowered his gaze to the very objects they sought to shield. The pristine white tomes, previously closed and protected, now lay bare and vulnerable. This unseen force bound them all, rendering them helpless spectators to the unfolding horror. A cold rage tried to surface within Kraid, but it was swiftly drowned by an overwhelming tide of fear.
His attention was inexorably drawn to the books. To his growing horror, he watched as their once-white covers began to darken.