TERROR wrought itself among the warriors. Each fell in pain from the onslaught of darkness. The aether held them in its hold, and they struggled to free themselves. Screeches assailed their six long ears. And they each wailed, as the noise ringed great in their cavities.
Exhales of delight passed in the air, and the goading of the enemy to persist echoed about.
They ignored it and freed themselves from the hold of their adversary. They issued their elements. Fire, water, earth, air, and myriads of light coursing from their palms and daggers. The darkness was cleaved and with it, light returned to their eyes.
But the match was not yet won. From out of the shadows appeared the terror of the night, seeming glad over their triumph. It looked to them with menace as it bared its teeth. Its black cloak was stained with blood, and the smell of the dead effused so great that it nauseated the men.
“What more do you hope to gain in this encounter?” it said, moving closer. “I had thought the lord would permit my being here, as I have spent many years in this abode, though now have been given task to collect what rests in its confines. Your men have engaged me for many months and have seemed to have addled themselves toward destruction. For now, the barrier holds and I cannot so much as touch it, but a time will come when I may hold the artifact and bring you detestable creatures to kneel!”
The men riled to action, but the leader of the band halted their movements. He stepped forth, wearing white robes underneath a golden cuirass. His face was dark but his hair was light, and it seemed as if the Moon were shining her light upon his horns.
“We will no more suffer your attempts!” he said. “Ever we shall come to halt your advance! Our line and fortitude hold strong and you shall not find one among us who will surrender. Do as you must, Agent of the Night, but our pursuit shall not halt until your death.”
It laughed, and said, “My death, you say! Long have I lived, and I should think not one of you would be able to fell me. My power is yet restrained, and it is but a miracle that none who have come my way as of yet, for the many years I have held ground, have perished. Be merry, you fine-eared folk! Return and rejoice and be done with the business of hoarding artifacts that are of no use to you.”
“Silence, wretch!” said the leader, now moving his daggers toward him. “We will silence your tongue here and now. No more meaning is there in this discussion. You life will be forfeit!”
The warriors circled their adversary and held their daggers, ready to strike. The weapons glinted under the moonlight and the elements surged across their form. Great winds issued from behind as like a tornado ready to lift their enemy to the skies. But suddenly the enemy vanished.
“Where is he gone?” the leader muttered. He cried, “Show yourself! We will be unhindered by your illusions or tricks. There is no more you can do; desist this futile struggle!”
“Futile?” it said. “Why, I think I have quite the chance at felling the five of you. You have seen what I have done with the many enemies you have sent my way! Why talk as if you have advantage? I know your men to be scared. And they should be, for they have only glimpsed a fraction of my power. Let me show you what it is I have done to those who came before.”
A dark cloud enveloped the area. The sigh of the wind became as murmurs that soon after silenced. The trees, the grass, and all the shrubs and flowers and animals became still not wishing to catch the gaze of terror. The ground then shook and from the soil issued black streams that were like tendrils. Their forms as like the abyss from where—if one peered into them—they would see the nothingness of the void.
The tendrils moved to catch hold of the valiant warriors. Yet these men were able to dodge with ease. Their footsteps light and their movements graceful, able to evade any strike that may come their way. They slashed at the tendrils with the lighted daggers, setting ablaze their dark form. Light returned and they could once more see, but the enemy was nowhere in sight and they called to him to appear, but he would not; for in the darkness of the shadows, he plotted his next move.
It was then that these men heard calls. Voices that called from the deep seeking to pull them to the depths of the earth from where they may never come again. Arms moved from the shadows and sought to pull these men down to wherever they may be, and to that end, illusions were cast in front of them more potent than anything they before experienced. They saw before them damsels that walked through the shadows. Their forms were as like ones they knew. But now perished. And they seemed so real to them that they had nary a desire to escape their hold.
These women embraced and clutched them tight, intending not to let them free. And they whispered words to their ears that were as like distant melodies that one could chance upon in the Heavens. But what the men did not realize was that the words they uttered were as like death coming to spirit them.
Come with us; be not afraid of the dark from which we arise. There is more to see and more to experience beyond the realm of the mortals. You have already witnessed our deaths and though we passed away peacefully, we now return asking, ‘Will you join us?’ No more will the throes of your suffering put distance between us again. Come with us our loves and let us rejoice in the abyss.
The men loosened their hold and were ready to plunge into the aether. But then the glint of their daggers reflected the fire of the tendrils and pierced their eyes as like a needle, causing them to squint. The women who appeared beautiful above all else now morphed before them into dark, decrepit corpses, animated by the deceitful assailant.
“Men!” cried the leader. “Hear my voice. Fall not to this illusion. Awake! Let the light guide you!”
The men heard their leader, and they broke free from the arms and clutches of the dead. They circled the perimeter and ran as fast as they could to escape the arms. The corpses continued to call, but their voices would no longer reach.
The warriors covered themselves in earth, and from the exterior issued great flames that covered the entire dome of darkness. And using space, they expanded the flames and burned all within. The dead screamed. The warriors covered their ears and closed their eyes.
Their screeches soon deadened, and the darkness left its hold.
Then they opened their eyes to be met with the scenery from where they were. It was now calm and peaceful, and all seemed normal. But it was strange. For their minds were clear and they could not remember why it was they came here. They looked to the ocean and to the trees, then to the stones and saw not a trace of what they sought. They sat on the grass and wondered many things. Their eyes tracked the clouds above as they drifted into the distance. They knew there was something to be found here. But what was it?
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They rose and looked about. And from the corner of their eyes, they could see a dark presence slowly closing to their position. They evaded and their sight hazed once more into darkness. Each of them was caught, and they could see themselves suspended by black needles whose form seemed to shine against the blackness.
The dome lifted, and they saw that they were in the air. Before them stood their enemy, its cape of darkness swaying in the wind. But now there was nothing they could do.
“It would have been better had you left before,” it said, grinning, “but now that it has come to this, well, I suppose there is no choice but to show you the true terror of my form!”
The cape of darkness elongated in all directions. From the ground, to the sky, to the horizons about, their vision was covered in its night. The moon, stars, and clouds were blotted from their view, and all light was extinguished. Now, they became afraid, and this specter of malice grew great its teeth, and sharpened its nails. Its stature grew to be as like a giant’s and from its form amassed aether so terrible that it made them cower at its sight. The dark element covered the enemy and under its direction, swirled about, till it was covered in its hold.
And as like a cocoon, it emerged, its form now terrible to behold. They saw its gnarled armor, and its tusked teeth and crown of horns that were as like the descriptions they heard from tales of old. The ancient enemy appeared before them, and from its issuance, a great force pulled them from their height.
They felt as if their limbs would tear, their bodies being stretched beyond the periphery of their view. They wailed and screamed. And at last the leader cried, “Stop! Let not our minds be ruptured! We will give pardon to you, so let us be free!”
But the knight of darkness said:
You cast away your chance, fools! Now suffer under the weight of my malice from where you may never recover. My aether will enter and crush your minds so great that it will become no more than the dust in the wind. No light or medicine will ever let you experience solace again!
They were forced from the air down toward the surface, and their muscles and bones tore and cracked. Blood issued from every pore and they screamed and wailed at the onslaught afflicted upon them. The noise stopped, and they fell to the cool grass below. They panted in exhaustion, unable to move. And above them appeared the terror of the night. And all at once, they became silent. The duress silenced their consciousness, and their minds went asleep.
The enemy released its force and sighed.
I was hoping that you may have escaped this attack, but alas! truly it is difficult to find worthy opponents in this forest of ghosts and miseries!
It looked to the side and saw a single warrior who was left alone, cowering in fear.
You! Return with these men, and show them to your people that they might not bother me with such ill-prepared weaklings. I desire one who can test me to my limits, and bring forth this power that has been so long contained! Next time, if there is to be one, if they cannot hold against my fury, then they shall surely die! Let this be known to your lord.
The coward scrambled and took the men away with him as fast as he could. There were others in the distance hiding behind the trees. The party ran into the woods and they vanished without a trace.
The specter, now as like a man, sighed once more. “So many years I have waited, and yet not a chance has presented itself. I fear for what is happening below. When will my persistence be rewarded?”
From the air, a light issued. It became as like a person and approached the man of darkness. The two conversed, though the man of light did not move his mouth.
“Many things you surely know, and I do not doubt you,” said the man of darkness, “but look to the surface here. It has overgrown and cracked and festered by my power; and it is a miracle that it even holds as it does! The Foremother is surely keeping me in check, but I hunger for more. Not just flesh, mind you, but a power to contend!”
The man of light responded, and the eyes of the man of darkness grew in joy.
“Now, that is indeed good news!” it said as it laughed. “But when can I meet them? You do not intend to make us wait longer now, do you?”
More words and thoughts came from the light, and the man of darkness became sullen.
“So yet more time shall pass before it is done,” it said, as it wiped its face in disappointment. “Let it be, I suppose. I shall do my best to temper myself.” But then it smiled. “But do not think that if my hold breaks that I shall go easy. Perhaps I may even seek to slay and devour this time. You can never be too sure with the actions I or any of my kin may take. But that is the risk you took by contacting me. Regardless, I shall do my best to hold to your expectations.”
The man of light laughed and vanished into the air.
The lone man that was left moved to the stones, and seated itself on them. It looked to the ocean to see the rising sun. It then looked to its clothes, and said, “What a mess.”
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Lines of long-eared folk rushed the warriors to the temple, where they were seated beside many others. Blood flowed from their temples. The dark force had twisted or mangled their bodies. And one would think that a war had taken place. Yet far be it, the assailant had done more damage than the lord estimated.
He looked to the warriors, who were maimed, disabled, and stripped of their pride, seemingly dead from their eyes, perhaps wondering to themselves why they had not died in the conflict.
“This monstrosity that lurks the forest has taken too much from us!” he said, sighing. “But I am at a loss as to what to do. No more can this go on. How much time has passed since its coming, and we are still left without solution to recover the ancient artifact. What more can be done, I wonder.”
A giant wolf approached from the steps of the palace and whimpered to the prince. “I would send you if I could, but you had best remain. My sister is fond of you, and I could scarce look her in the eye should something ill befall you.”
“Then don’t mope and send us, brother!” said a voice from the steps. A woman approached, her slender frame covered by tight, dark robes. Her form similar to her brother’s, yet different in attributes. “Why do you bide your time, sending these warriors who haven’t the means to deal with such a threat? I know them to be soldiers of this realm, but I stand stronger than all of them. Not one has managed to end that Ranger of the Night’s hold and yet you persist in sending them time and time again, only to be marred with their return.”
The soldiers looked to her, and while they held her in high esteem, they could not help but feel disdain at that moment. Their lack of trust brought doubt to their minds as to the purpose of her words. And even in their sickness, their malice ran deep to alert the lord to their thoughts.
“Seek not to put these men to shame, sister,” he said, sitting on the steps, “there is much to be done on this account, and I should think a resolution will yet come. I am just impatient as of now.”
The long-eared woman was curious and asked, “What resolution? I heard no such thing.”
“It came only by chance before,” the lord said. “A sage had come to me some time ago, and we seated ourselves in the garden behind. We talked of many things, but he spoke curiously of ill-tidings that were to pass. One in relation to our adversary, and I asked him what could be done about it. He said that a person should come to deal with this menace and halt the activities of the rest of their kin, but that it would be some time before it came to pass. And now I grow impatient wondering how long he meant.”
“I see,” said the lord’s sister, pondering, “I wonder who this person could be. I should hope that it’s someone that could be more joyous to be around than the ill-tempered sages! I should think it only a matter of time before another is cursed by them.”
The lord laughed. “Well, speak not of evil things. You would not wish your words to be carried to a person of little luck.”
“That I wouldn’t!”
They walked down the steps and made through the winding streets that were clear of people. There were fires in the distance, seemingly set by the enemy. Many hurried to the outskirts to extinguish the flames, but it would be a while before they noticed that it was yet another illusion. And perhaps a warning.
“Let us hope this person comes sooner rather than later,” said the lord.