Calmy? My mind is irrationally excited for a moment. No, it's not calmly the wingless dragon. This drake is much bigger and a lot calmer than Calmy ever was. I'm not sure if that fact comforts or scares me.

The calm drake is calm for only a moment before it ignites with freezing cold energy. Ice wings extend from the frozen beast, and it begins to take flight. I can't believe what I see; this is unreal and awesome. Ice begins to hail down. My blades begin to swing all around again, keeping me safe from the showering icicles.

A frost attack beams down from the ice lizard, forcing me to dodge out of the freezing ray's path. From my left, lightning shoots at me. The source is a crystal golem gorilla. At the gorilla's side is a pair of shadow cats that instantly disappear. The cats are so cool.

I continue to dodge attacks as I let my perception find my target. Blending into the trees is a dryad summoner. The slender stick figure of the woman blends perfectly with the tree she is standing beside. Her life aura is dim, yet I can feel the power radiating from her. Unlike the eerie dryad I faced with Fen, this one looks much friendlier with a hint of dangerous, 'I will kill you' vibes.

Bo is swinging like my life depends on it. In a sense, it does. Just not as much as my actions make it appear. I wait for the right opening and for my shot to align. I dip into shadow dodging the cats and boulders as the ground freezes beneath me. Five steps to my right, I step out again, only to be forced back into my shadow. The next time I appear, I bat the ice shards away and line up my shot. The dryad's pets are no longer between us.

I pop out of shadow with a bow and arrow drawn. As soon as possible, I release the arrow aimed at the dryad and pierce her into the tree. Before she can escape, I shoot two more arrows and bring her to an end. With her passing, the summoned beasts attacking me disappear, and a pocket of light is again blackened.

I can feel a difference in our fight over light and dark. The pockets of light closing on Bones are already cut in half, and the overall influence of the light pushing against Fury's dark cloud seems to be weakening.

Three of the shadow demon commanders are down. That leaves three more. I've no clue how these demons got so organized. When we last saw them, they were in a frenzy from the first commander that I took down. Then with Gene wiping out three of the dryads, the demons were even more out of control. Instead of a united force, they were more willing to fight and kill each other, giving us a moment of rest. Now the demons are once again organized.

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Now I'm hunting for a light paladin commanding the demon army's rearguard. I slip back into my shadow and sprint through the forest, dodging trees, ducking branches, and jumping over the bushes that crowd my path.

If the paladin senses my presence, she has no time to react. Five perfectly shot arrows race through the sky. The first arrow rams into the paladin's light barrier, exploding with enough force that the commander is knocked back a couple feet.

The second arrow lands just as the first arrow booms through the forest. The second arrow explodes on contact cracking the barrier. The third arrow completely shatters the protective shield. Before the paladin can get her guard back up, my fourth arrow destroys her body armor, allowing my fifth arrow to bury deep into the paladin's chest before exploding.

Credit to the massive warrior, she still stands even with her body being destroyed. I keep peppering her with arrows as I close the distance, keeping her from getting her shields back up. When I am in striking distance, I disappear into shadow, avoiding the massive swing from her hammer. Her momentum takes her a step forward, allowing me to step behind her. I appear back into the living realm and stab through her back, aiming for her heart.

My senses urge me to duck, avoiding the swinging hammer lined up with my face. A long sword of black iron scales is summoned just in time for me to parry another hammer strike. My blade rattles, and a shock pulses through my hands. Despite the discomfort, I don't let my offense slip.

I stab with the sword twice, piercing the paladin both times. When the hammer comes crashing down, I step to the side. However, my senses send my body into a panic. I find myself throwing myself backward and rolling away from the threat of another sweeping hammer blow.

Light as bright as the sun begins flashing all around me. My vision is blurred. Light keeps flashing, and now more paladins are on the field. Not only that, but the commander has also called her soldiers to her side. Ten burly soldiers in thick plating wielding swords and shields and ten paladins in thick armor surround my position.

My vision and senses begin to betray me. I'm back on the beach, relaxing under the warm sun. I'm battling dragons trying to avoid their devastating fire. I close my eyes, trying to escape the false realities, only to find myself back in a cave facing a massive bear. As the bear bites into my face, I let out a scream of panic and pain.

Danger is all around me. I'm acting erratically and still determining whether I still have my face. It doesn't matter. I dodge all the seen and unseen dangers, tip-toeing on the edge of disaster. When I can get a clear thought, I pull myself into shadow. The illusions still play with my mind, and it is hard to know what is real. However, my senses are no longer sending death and gloom signals allowing me a moment to regain my focus.

The safety of shadow runs out as light lances begin piercing into my realm, and I find my senses urging me to fight them off. I picked a fight with a paladin, and now I'm fighting nightmares.