Instantly, every single men and woman in the ranks of the Order unsheathed their weapons, not because they had been orderer to, but because of the hate they felt against Ix. J´zar, however raised his open hand, and all of the warriors stopped their charge even before beginning it.
"You are dead" said J´zar with conviction "I saw you die"
"Wrong. You saw me getting dragged back to the Maw by several cosmic tentacles" Ix was sounded cheerful even in the face of death "And even though it was not a pleasurable experience, I did not die"
"¿Why are you here?" J´zar asked, not expecting to get an answer.
"Chaos promised me power. ¡Power to punish those who had trapped me for over nine centuries in a limbo of agony!" the Arch-Traitor answered, to J´zar's surprise "And once I release him... you will be nothing but ancient history..."
"You were a fool to believe him" J´zar affirmed with his voice tainted with frosty wrath "Chaos will kill you as soon as you he gets out of there"
"¿I have to run the risk, now don't I?" Ix muttered, and his finger moved to click the button in the Orb's pole.
J´zar was faster, though. As soon as he perceived Ix moving his shoulder, J´zar reached for one of the knives crossed over his chest and threw it at Ix's hand. J´zar could almost feel the slender blade cleaving through the air and hitting the Orb with almost perfect accuracy.
J´zar had no match at less than ten feet.
The Orb bounced off Ix's hand and fell to the floor. J´zar jumped and purposefully fell on it, trying to grab it, but failed by a few inchs. He quickly turned around and grabbed the Orb before Ix could even react. With equal speed, J´zar retreated, keeping the Orb with himself.
"¡You are done for Ix!" J´zar yelled "¡We absolutely outnumber you!"
"¿What about a re-match?" Ix slowly said "¿For the old times?"
"¿What?" J´zar hadn't understood that one.
Ix didn't answer. He limited to screaming a single high pitched note. J´zar felt the sound producing intense pain in his ears, and he kneeled, grabbing his own head with both hands. But the sound suddenly stopped, and J´zar was he first to stand up, swords in hand, to murder the First Traitor once and for all.
But he also heard thorugh his still hurting ears the thumping of bare feet on rock, and he turned around to see the Banished, the other traitors who had followed Ix into the Maw. Their deformed bodies were covered only by white rags, except for the hands: in place of fingernails, most of the Banished had nails or small blades crudely inserted into their flesh. J´zar raised his sword and made a sideways cut. One banished fell with its throat slit. But the next one leaped at J´zar and pinned him. The creture who had once been a man ripped the Orb off J´zar's hand (who was wondering how could he be so stupid) and tried to tear it open with its teeth, but predictably failed.
"¡Give it to me, you idiot!" Ix yelled to the Banished. The creature looked up at his master and rushed towards him.
"¡STOP THAT TRAITOR!" J´zar yelled his own order and quickly got on his feet. He saw that most men were battling with th Banished, and a few carried out his order, standing in the way of the running Banished, but Ix caught up with them and killed the soldiers.
J´zar cursed inwardly and ran as well, praying to reach Ix before he could activate the Orb. He didn't made it. Just when J´zar was about to reach Ix, the latter pressed the button in the Orb. Darkness covered every corner and structure, and J´zar could not see anything.
When J´zar regained his ability to see, he didn't see anything different at first glance. The soldiers of the Order got back on their feet and reassumed the fight. Ix and Sp´hre were locked in combat at the feet of the palace entrance. J´zar remembered Princess Celestia was missing a hoof, and after finding Buer (the "battle medic" of the sixth brotherhood) fighting in the front line, he guided the doctor to Celestia.
"The Princess is losing blood at a pace slightly unnerving" Buer said, reaching for his backpack and pulling out a bag which J´zar guessed was filled with medical instruments "I need time and space, ¡move!"
J´zar only then noticed that the six mares were gathered around the Princess' body, looking at her. However, they quickly backed off at Buer's command. J´zar catched a glimpse of something strange, and he turned around.
A fiery figure was standing far away in the road leading to the palace, more or less in the place Ix had aimed the orb at. The thing was made of incorporeal fumes, which could be better described as fire made black and very thick smoke. The body of that creature constantly swirled and writhed, it seemed every single piece of it had a mind of its own and every one wanted to go in different directions.
"Chaos" J´zar said.
Chaos had the shape of a man, but his head had no features. It was only a swirling mass of dark flames, like the rest of his body. At the mention of his name, Chaos looked up directly at J´zar. It cannot be said he was "staring" at J´zar, for he had no eyes. It also seemed impossible for Chaos to hear J´zar from such a distance, "But yet again" J´zar thought "Gods hear everything"
Chaos slowly but surely walked towards J´zar.
Or perhaps he was walking towards the palace.
¿Was he looking for the mares?
J´zar couldn't notice the intentions of Chaos, but he didn't care much. It was over. He had failed.
"¡Retreat!" he ordered as he moved swiftly towards the palace gates "¡To the palace!"
Sp´hre and the others heard him. Chosing to trust in her Principal, Sp´hre pushed Ix with the handguard of her greatsword and repeated J´zar's order of retreat, all while retreating herself. Inside the palace, they would have better chances.
Once inside, the few hundreds warriors of the Order joined their forces with the Royal Guard. "They are not so useless as I thought" J´zar thinked "At least we can use them for cannon fodder"
J´zar wanted to meet with the mares, to inform them of the situation and see if they could get a new plan. Of course, J´zar didn't believed it would work. Chaos was invencible and immortal, but J´zar wanted to try everything he could to save his own dimension.
"Chaos is here" J´zar told them as soon as he found the ponies, they were standing near a stair, with Sp´hre in front of them.
"¿What?" Sp´hre asked.
"Chaos is no longer bound to his prison" J´zar repeated "¿Any ideas?"
"¿Do you have any?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Not really" J´zar admitted.
"¡Oh, come on ponies!" Twilight said apparently both surprised and exasperated "¿What has saved us from these kind of things before?"
"¿Are you thinking on...?" Rarity looked excited.
"Yes" Twilight Sparkle took a look of determination on her face "The Elements of Harmony"