En-In watched as a wave of energy from the Abad's massive form struck Firtz. An instant later, he and the others were hit by the black energy too. He was thrown back. The air erupted from his lungs when he hit something hard, and for a moment, everything went black.

When he came to, he saw that only A-Nis still stood. She was desperately shooting arrow after arrow into the shadowspawn, but the great being barely seemed to notice them. Its feathers had reappeared in spots, and now that it could focus solely on her, it blocked most of the arrows with its great arms before they struck. Its feathers had largely returned to its upper body and legs, though not its wings, which were a mess of feathers, scales, and burned flesh.

En-In's breath caught as he watched the woman. She was the very pinnacle of beauty, grace, and heroism in this dark, miserable world. The woman leaped over and dodged around every attack from the monster, her movements somehow faster than the god she fought. He struggled to look away, watching as the monstrous being that decided to descend to this mortal plane struggled against a goddess born of it. He would never be worthy of her.

A nearby groan pulled his attention away. He shook his head and turned. He found Firtz lying face down in a pool of his blood. The man was out cold. Nearby, Shani was lying in a heap as well. Near her, Kjormur groaned. The man was awake, but his leg bent the wrong way. He couldn't see Zethari or the other fey'ra that had been helping them. However, a few howls in the distance sounded like them. He didn't know. He could only hope.

Turning back to the monster, he watched as it gained ground. She was tiring, and her quiver was looking lean.

A terrible thought bubbled up in him. He tried to resist it, but it disregarded his wishes.

It was all up to him now.

He braced himself against the rock he'd struck and wobbled to his feet. He wiped his hand across his forehead, which came away covered in blood. He tried to steady himself, but his vision swam and his body shook. He was scared. This was far outside of his skill set. However, when the beast screamed and charged at the woman that he... toward his friend, he moved without thinking.

"A-Nis!"

[Insibility]

The woman's eyes met his for a brief instance before she winked out of sight. The monster roared and swiped the air, but no sound emitted from the blow. He'd saved her. He breathed a sigh of relief until it turned its beady eyes toward him.

"Oh no."

He wasn't built for this sort of fighting. He should be lounging on a comfortable bed in some court right now. Flirting with noblewomen. Being scrubbed by some serving maid that he was in the process of wooing. He shouldn't be here.

He lifted his hand and channeled some mana into a spellform he'd recently learned.

[Ice Lance]

A spear of ice shot out of his hand and struck the monster's face. It shattered on its skin, doing nothing. En-In blinked. Nothing. No dent. No scratch. Not even a mark.

However, as the monster gave him a cockeyed look with its beady black raven's eyes, its beak working and wings pumping as it considered him, En-In realized he had actually done something.

He'd pissed it off.

But, in doing so, he gave A-Nis time to get away. He heard footsteps retreating into the night. He sighed. That was good...

The monster took a step toward him. Then another. His eyes widened.

"Oh shit." He turned as fast as he could. The ground shook as the creature closed the gap with every step. He knew he wouldn't make it to safety. He ran toward some rocks near the riverbank. Luckily, they were big enough to conceal him. He jumped behind the nearest, crouched, and cast another spell.

[Invisibility]

He watched his body vanish from sight. For an instant, he breathed a sigh of relief. He leaned against the rock, shaking. If it couldn't see him, he'd be able to slip away into the night to safety. Maybe he could heal the others. He wasn't as good at it as Kjormur, but he was glad he'd learned how. It came in handy and took some of the burden away from the noble dwarf. If he got away and healed the others, they could regroup and try something new. He would be a hero. He'd save everyon—

A thunderous impact brought his attention back to the present. Rocks rained down upon him, and the air was filled with dust. He coughed as the panic set back in.

"Shit!" That was stupid. Why'd he stop?!

He darted out of from behind the rock just as a massive taloned hand crashed down onto it. He felt shards rain on his back as godlike being behind him picked up the remains of the stone and crushed them. He tripped on a stick, then quickly crawled back to his feet. The creature followed, likely following his footsteps. He was so dead.

He sprinted to the river, not sure of where he was going, but a massive flap of the monster's wings sent him soaring. He scrambled in the air, feeling weightless for the first time in his too-short life. He tried to grab something, anything, but there was only air. So he did the only thing that came to mind. He flapped his wings. It didn't work.

He plunged into the river, which was far too cold for his refined tastes. He pushed his prissiness away. It wasn't the time! He didn't know which way was up, so he chose at random. Three strokes later, he touched the river's bottom. He spun underwater and kicked off the ground, emerging just as his lungs started to burn. He sucked in a breath of air, but the screech of the shadow monster pulled his eyes back to the shore. It was following him up the riverbank, using its hearing or sense of smell or something to track him. Wait? Didn't Abad usually track people by their essence? Could this thing do that too? How much of Abad was left inside of it? The terrible thought struck him like a bolt between the eyes. He looked at the monster. Its black eyes weren't directly on him, they weren't far off. Its senses were keen.

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"Shit shit shit." He took a deep breath and dove beneath the water's surface again. He let the river take him. Once he'd gone as far as he could on a single breath, he surfaced and looked toward the shore. The beast was still where he had been, clawing at the water to get to him. En-In was relieved. It seemed as if Abad's intellect wasn't present any longer. The elf would have never fallen for such a stupid trick.

In the distance, En-In could see the weird purple orb thing in the sky behind it and shuddered. It was no longer a smooth sphere any longer. Instead, the energy rippled and danced. He knew that wasn't good. It wasn't good at all. However, when the bird monster turned its head toward him, he realized there was nothing he could do about it and let the river take him. He was just a simple musician and amateur mage. How could he possibly do anything about it?

He emerged farther downriver. His invisibility hadn't worn off yet. He thanked the Goddess for that. It didn't take much damage to make it fade. The monster was still searching for him upstream, so he carefully swam to the riverbank and pulled himself out. He was about even with the smoldering village now and gave it a long glance. Only a few houses were still burning, the rest either abandoned or destroyed already. The battle was still underway between the fey'ra and the undead, but by the looks of it, the fey'ra were handily winning. Despite being fewer in number, the fey'ra were far more powerful. As he watched, he saw the beastkin using superior tactics and terrain to their advantage. They had corralled large groups of undead together and circled them. Darting in and out of buildings and between rocks and structures, the undead's slow and unthinking responses couldn't keep up with the hit-and-run tactics of the beast people...

He had an idea. He dove back into the water and swam to the other side. As he pulled himself out of the water, he heard a noise from the monster upriver. It had found him. Heavy footsteps filled the air as he took off running. He reached the forest's edge, turned to find the creature had already caught up to him, nearly screamed, then disappeared into the trees. His invisibility had worn off. Running ten or so trees into the burning forest, he was struck by a wall of smoke and ash. He coughed violently, but a deafening screech filled the air. He could hear movement, then the flapping of wings.

"Oh no no no no no!"

En-In didn't know Abad's nightmare wings were for more than show. How could they possibly carry him through the air? He was massive. He turned and ran deeper into the trees just as a massive impact rocked the forest. The trees around him cracked and shattered as the monster crashed down beside him. He screamed and ran the other way. He prayed that the creature wouldn't be able to take off again amid the trees, and maybe, just maybe, they'd slow him down.

When he'd run twenty, maybe thirty trees deep, something roughly grabbed him and pulled him to itself. He screamed again, but a hand covered his mouth.

"Quiet." The voice, a woman's, was deep and familiar, but he didn't want to take any chances. He bit her hand, but it didn't budge. "Funny one, do not do that. I will let go. Do not shout."

He nodded. "Zethari?" He mumbled through her hand.

"Yes," she whispered. "Come."

She pulled him deeper into the burning forest. Trees crashed in the distance, but En-In was relieved that they did seem to slow the monster down. Once they'd gone a ways, a man stepped out from behind a nearby tree. He was a fey'ra, but he'd reverted to his human-like form, which he could only assume was to hide better. The man had long, thick grey hair, a short beard, and wolf ears. En-In felt envy. He was made of nothing but muscles and handsomeness. The bard could see other sets of glowing eyes in the forest around them. The man gestured for them to follow. As he did, another tree shattered in the distance. A short distance later, they entered a small opening in the trees, and two dozen fey'ra of all types stood within. The man turned to En-In as other fey'ra bled out of the trees. The bard's body trembled. He knew the stories. He was going to be eaten.

"Do not be afraid, friend of my mate." The man said calmly. "I am sorry we do not have time for formal introductions, but I am Rennar." The man nodded his head.

"En-In."

"Well met." The man frowned as another tree shattered in the distance. "I do not remember much from the past months. My mind is a haze. However, I remember that sod'ra, that horrible witch, speaking many times to me. I was..." he scowled, "... her prized pet. I was privy to much, though I understood little."

"Anything would help now, Rennar. What do you know?"

"The witch spoke often about some ritual. She said the stars are uniquely aligned this year. She planned to use this event to perform her magic. To do so, she claimed many souls. She would have claimed ours as well, but we have been spared that fate by the other sod'ra. In doing so, it seems he lost himself."

En-In knew for certain then that these fey'ra were the cause of the disappearances that Abad had spoken of.

"However, she was too weak to perform her magic without more essence, and she was waiting for the Long Night. It seems that the other sod'ra, the Nightstalker as my mate called him, does not have her limitations. He is stronger than the witch. He accomplished what she could not, but I fear that he now threatens us all."

"What do you mean?"

"I do not know much. The ritual was to summon a being to this world during the Long Night. She would absorb its essence and become a goddess. Yet somehow, the other sod'ra has usurped her plans, and now the ritual completes itself. She spoke of this being a possibility and was careful. It seems she was not nearly careful enough."

"What does that mean for us?"

"The ritual is reaching completion." He pointed to the sky. Within is something more powerful than even the Nightstalker's true form. A god in the flesh. A bringer of death. A world eater. And it will have no master."

"But how'll we beat that?" En-In asked, trembling.

The wolf-man placed a hand on his shoulder. "We won't. We need to buy our pack mates time to escape. When it is born, we will all die. We can only hope to save as many as we can. My people have caused enough harm. I would see some good be done before I die."

"Rennar, you should run with them. I will stay and fight. The Nightstalker is my oath-holder. It is my duty to fight for him, even if he has rejected me." Zethari said.

Rennar growled. "No. I will not leave you. Not again." Something passed between them.

"Then we will die together, my mate." The wolf woman smiled at En-In. "And you too. You will fight." Zethari's voice left little room for argument.

En-In's heart pounded. A bead of sweat rolled down his cheek. His fingers twitched. His heart screamed for him to run.

"Tell me, do you think you can harm the Dark God?"

"The... Dark God?" He murmured. "No. Not at all."

"Can any here?"

He shook his head. "No, none of us can... except..." Kjormur. If anyone could, a servant of the Goddess could. "My companion is chosen by the Goddess. I've seen him harness her power. Maybe..."

"I have seen his power as well. The Bright One rests in his spirit." Zethari added.

"Good, then bring him to us. We will hold him off until he arrives." Rennar commanded.

En-In shook his head. "No. Let's lead it to him." He saw the resistance on their faces, so he added, "Plus, Kjormur's injured. It's the only way I can see it working. And if he's going to pull off something big enough to hurt Abad, then maybe it'll affect the thing in the sky too."

"A good idea, En-In." Zethari placed a hand on his shoulder.

"That is what we will do." Rennar transformed into his war form and howled. The noise changed pitch and tone as he did. En-In realized they could communicate complex ideas through their calls. A hundred howls returned his call, and he watched as the other fey'ra changed shape before their eyes disappeared into the trees. A moment later, he was alone. En-In didn't like it, but he was trapped now. It wasn't like he could escape.

With a deep breath, he turned and ran after them.