"Zia, Sedris, you shall accompany me in facing the one with the crimson sword. Inform the other reavers to confront its minions."
“Understood, princess.” Sedris acknowledged.
“You think we stand a chance against that thing?” Zia asked aloud.
“Maybe, maybe not.” Rhea said, “but either way, we cannot sit idly by and let it kill us.”
“You know what? That's fair.” Zia replied, shrugging her shoulders.
“Ready?” Rhea asked.
“As ever.” Sedris said, hoisting his wraithbone glaive.
A grin formed on Zia's lips as she brandished her twin wraithbone axes, anticipation evident in her voice.“I’m ready to spill some blood, or whatever it is those shadow creatures spill.”
Rhea nodded in approval, "then let's go.”
The princess led the charge, her sword held high as she sprinted towards the approaching shadow beasts. The Red Reavers were right behind her, their weapons drawn, roaring for battle. In response to the display, the largest of the shadow beasts, the monstrous winged abomination, let out a shriek that echoed loudly throughout the underworld.
With a single beat of its massive wings, the winged creature lifted itself off the ground, soaring towards the Red Reavers, yet, its eyes were fixed solely on Rhea. The princess braced herself for the impact, but before she could react, the winged abomination had snatched her up in its jaws. Rhea kicked and thrashed, struggling against the monster’s grip, but it was no use. She was carried away, trapped in the grasp of the winged monstrosity.
“That thing just took the princess.” Sedris mentioned, his breath heavy from combating several shadow beasts, “what do you think we should do, sister?”
Zia was far too engrossed in battle to offer a coherent response to her brother, “Kill!” she exclaimed aloud. Fully consumed by Morak’s Frenzy.
“Good point.” Sedris commented, before stabbing another of the shadow beasts with his glaive.
Rhea was carried by the winged shadow beast for several minutes before being unceremoniously dropped to the pale sands below. The creature gave the princess no time to react, as it raised its crimson blade in an attempt to cut Rhea down then and there.
As Rhea hit the ground with a thud, her instincts kicked in. She rolled to the side, narrowly evading the devastating swing of the shadow beast's crimson blade. The sheer force behind the strike sent tremors through the ground, stirring up the pale sands into whirling clouds.
Rhea quickly regained her footing. She gripped her own wraithbone sword tightly, and with a defiant battle cry, the princess lunged forward, her sword cutting through the air. The clash of blades echoed through the desolate expanse of the underworld as the princess engaged in fierce combat. Each swing of the winged abomination’s crimson blade was met with Rhea's own skillful parries and counterattacks.
The monstrous shadow beast moved with an uncanny grace, its wings fluttering ominously in the darkness of the starless underworld sky. It matched Rhea's every move, mirroring the princess in a deathly stalemate. Rhea weaved between dodges and strikes, her movements matching the beast’s own uncanny speed. The sand beneath her feet shifted and swirled with each step, as if the underworld itself was watching her.
However, slowly but surely, Rhea knew that she could not keep up with the monster she faced for much longer. While the shadow beast was content with hurling its crimson blade at her with wanton abandon, the princess’s breath became more beleaguered by the moment, her movement’s becoming slightly more sloppy, her blade’s edge seemingly becoming more dull by the second.
You are losing, princess. a familiar voice echoed within Rhea’s mind.
“Shut it you.” Rhea replied, desperately parrying the shadow beasts’ attacks.
I can help. the Night Terror said.
“I don’t need your help!” Rhea exclaimed aloud. But just as she said those words, the shadow beasts’ crimson blade shattered Rhea’s sword.
"Just my cursed luck," Rhea said through gritted teeth, her body weaving and ducking to avoid the relentless onslaught of the winged shadow beast’s devastating blade strikes.
But the moment when the winged abomination poised to strike Rhea down, a sudden surge of invisible power sent the creature hurtling away with a violent force. It was hurled so far into the distance that Rhea could no longer see where it went.
"I thought you might need some assistance, Princess of Ishgria," a thunderous voice boomed from above.
Turning her gaze toward the source of the voice, Rhea felt a wave of relief wash over her: Vhael, in all of his unholy splendor, had arrived. His twin pair of blackened wings were spread out in a majestic display, as if they could swallow all the sands of the underworld whole. His six pale arms shimmered with a vibrant red glow, mirroring the hue of the crimson moon hanging ominously in the sky. And yet, the princess could not help but feel something stirring within her.
Kill the harbinger. A voice echoed within Rhea’s mind, soon blaring aloud such that she could not hear anything else.
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Vhael appeared unsurprised, the deathbringer knew what had become of Rhea, “You must fight, princess, do not let it overtake you!”
I believe it is too late for that, harbinger.
“I was afraid it would come to this,” the myriad of runes on Vhael’s pale arms shimmered and flickered, pulsating with an otherworldly, pale light. With measured determination, the harbinger brought his six hands together in a seamless sequence, their movements fluid yet purposeful. As he completed the sequence, he slowly unfurled his hands, revealing blades made of blackened flames nestled in each of his palms.
With a voice laced with somber resolve, Vhael spoke directly to the presence that had usurped the princess's soul. "I know who you are, Night Terror, and I will not allow you to continue to possess the princess’s body."
The Night Terror smiled, slowly warping Rhea’s form, now: a pair of bone white wings sprouted from her back. You are a hypocrite, deathbringer, I remember the first days of your exile here well, after you had sworn to never again tamper with the essence of life and death, and yet. The Night Terror paused briefly, their scarlet eyes locked onto Vhael’s skull visage far above, You tried again, to save someone from escaping their destiny.
Vhael swiftly descended onto the ground, his wings blasting away clouds of sand, he then slowly walked towards the Night Terror, readying his six blazing blades, “If I didn’t answer the princess’s call, you would have, and I do not dare think of what could have happened to her if she met you instead of me.”
Pillars of pale lightning struck the surrounding sands as the Night Terror’s influence over Rhea grew ever stronger. The princess’s form had warped even further, growing as large as the harbinger himself, now hosting a pair of hardened hooves which left deep crevices in the sands wherever they threaded, it would have made things much easier if you hadn’t meddled in the underworld’s will, harbinger, but alas: your interference ends here.
As Vhael now stood only a few feet away from the Night Terror, he steeled his resolve. The task set before him was a difficult one, he needed to excise the monster which inhabited the princess’s body while leaving her mostly intact. Then again, he hadn’t much choice.
Seizing the initiative, the harbinger unleashed a flurry of strikes, his six obsidian blades slashing through the air with lethal precision. Yet, the Night Terror evaded his onslaught with uncanny agility, leaving Vhael's blade strikes to miss their mark, hitting the pale expanse of the desolate sands instead. As he lifted his swords, the sand beneath them formed into glass, etched with the imprints of his failed attempts.
Are you sure you wish to save the princess, harbinger? Your blades are better suited to disintegrate her in my humble view. The Night Terror taunted, now having manifested its claws, it licked at its talons while its gaze never left Vhael, not even for a second.
“You are a durable creature, I’m sure you can handle it.” Vhael voiced out sarcastically, twirling his swords and raising them to readiness once more.
How kind of you. The Night Terror retorted, before lunging head first at the harbinger. Vhael swiftly sidestepped, narrowly evading the creature's monstrous assault, before countering with a swift upward slash, his blades leaving trails of sizzling black flames in their wake. The Night Terror twisted in mid-air, its lithe form contorting to avoid the deadly arc. Its claws raked the earth, sending shards of glass-like sand scattering through the air.
The harbinger pressed forward, he aimed a series of rapid strikes at the Night Terror's flank, trying to create an opening for a more critical blow, but the creature’s movements proved far too elusive. Each swing of Vhael's blades was met with uncanny agility, as the Night Terror twisted, spun, and leapt, evading the onslaught with supernatural grace.
Time seemed to warp as the two adversaries fought, their clash becoming closer to a blur of swirling forms. Each strike unleashed a wave of kinetic force, sending shockwaves rippling through the surrounding landscape. The sands of the underworld shifted and parted under the weight of their titanic struggle, bearing the scars of their relentless combat.
Give up, harbinger, I will only become stronger the longer we do this. The Night Terror taunted, all the while dodging Vhael’s attacks with ease.
Vhael did not dignify the Night Terror with a response, still focused on ending their duel when the time is right. His rune-scarred arms still moved in rapid succession, maintaining a steady rhythm of attacks.
Soon, the princess’s form had become even more corrupted, its visage now reflecting the true form of the Night Terror: that of a wicked, demonic bat. This was what Vhael had been waiting for. It had taken slightly longer than he had anticipated, but he finally managed to draw out the Night Terror completely.
While the Night Terror was too focused on dodging and parrying Vhael’s black flame blades, the harbinger unleashed a powerful kick: knocking the creature prone on the ground, “I hope this doesn’t hurt you, princess” Vhael said aloud, charging towards the Night Terror who was still trying to regain their balance.
The princess is go-AAARGH. The Night Terror screeched and reeled in pain as one of its wings were decapitated by one of Vhael’s blackened blades: leaving a charred stump where the infernal sword connected. The Night Terror desperately flailed and thrashed against the harbinger, yet: its scything claws could never seem to touch Vhael’s form. Instead, the Night Terror let out another blood curdling screech as Vhael cut off their last remaining wing with another strike of his blade, and then one arm, and then the other arm: until the Night Terror only had their head and legs remaining.
Seeing his chance, Vhael dissipated a blade from one of his hands and immediately used it to grasp the Night Terror’s head. “By my will you shall be scattered back to the darkness where you came, I am Vhael: harbinger of ruin, and you shall heed my decree: Vax’eri, ob’sineratus.” And with those words, the Night Terror’s form began to dissipate.