//------------------------------// // 4. Death of an Empire // Story: The Paladins of Light-Prologue // by Cobalt Bristle //------------------------------// Sandrick opened his eyes to see a vibrant green landscape looking back at him. Just as before, none of his armor or weapons were kept by him when he wasn't human. It appeared that the same had happened to Crion and Kirileth. Kirileth had turned into a slim red mare with a charcoal black mane and tail. Unlike Sandrick and K'rand, she had a cutie mark. It was a bow forming an x with a dagger. Crion had taken the form of a copper colored stallion. His mane was yellow and Sandrick would compare its look to a pine tree. It was messy, almost to the point where it would be impossible to fix it. Kirileth woke up next, and it was obvious that what she saw made her seething at Sandrick. "Where is my weapon you lowlife!" She shouted at him. "Whoa, calm down. For whatever reason, whatever we have when we change forms is temporarily taken from us until we take that form again," Sandrick attempted to explain. "What do you mean change forms?! Last time I checked, I was hum...." She abruptly stopped when she noticed that she didn't have a hand, but a hoof. Her eyes continued to widen when she realized that Sandrick was also equine. "You should really be more alert," Sandrick remarked, meriting another annoyed glance from the assassin. Around this time, Crion had gotten up, and he didn't look too pleased at what he saw. "Sandrick, where are we?" He asked, his voice holding a confused tone. "We're, uh, in Equestria..." Sandrick replied, a nervous chuckle at the end. Strangely enough, Crion reacted in a different way then Sandrick would've expected. He had been expecting a confused glance from the warrior, but he instead got more of a knowing look. "We're in Equestria? As in the realm of sentient equines?" He asked Sandrick. "W..well y..yes," Sandrick replied, his voice stuttering. "I never thought I'd live to see the day when someone created the means to traverse the dimensions, but it seems that you have found a way," Kirileth observed. At this point, Sandrick was speechless. When he had entered Equestria, none of the natives had known about the other realms, but these two did. Sandrick came up with two reasons for this. First: Crion had evidently been a leader of the shattered empire Sandrick had stumbled across. As a result, he knew about them because of the possible threat. Second: Crion had researched a possible way to escape Kirldan. While the second was not likely, anything was an answer for the paladin at this point. "Interesting. Which of the seven do you hail from Sandrick? Judging by the armor you were wearing when you arrived at out final sanctuary, I would say you were from either Earth or Riyara. Since Earth is further ahead technologically, I would assume you come from Riyara," Crion asked after a few seconds of silence, stunning Sandrick. "I do." Was all Sandrick had to say, his voice shaking. "If you are wondering about Crion's knowledge of the realms, then join the many who don't. He never even told Black Wolf or Shrub, nor has he told me. The only other person I know he trusted with the information was Rah'zalt," Kirileth explained. Sandrick looked at his surroundings. There was a dirt trail in front of them that cut between trees leading into a forest. Looking down the other side of the path, it seemed to go into the town of Ponyville. The only distinguishable building that stood out from the rest was a building looking more like a spire. It started out as white, but it was topped with brown. "You do know what your device there has caused, don't you Sandrick?" Crion asked him. "A way to travel to different dimensions?" Sandrick replied, confused. "Not exactly. Because a way to traverse the dimensions has been created, it has weakened the barrier between them. This will allow the shades to slip more easily through the worlds," Crion informed the paladin. "You mean they can get here?!" Sandrick shouted, before quickly going silent. "That's precisely what I mean. We need to prepare. Kirileth, stay behind with him. I'll do what I can to get us some weapons, but you need to warn the residents any way you can. They need to be prepared. After you finish with that, I need you to go talk with whoever's in charge of that town." With that, Crion vanished in a blur. "Well, I guess I'm stuck with you now," Kirileth jested. Sandrick didn't dignify that with a response and simply lead her down the road into Ponyville. * * * Kirldan was in ruins. Shades had orders to get any remaining humans and bring them to their leader, where they would be converted themselves. The few beings left who could fight them were low in morale, their numbers waning. One such leader after the departure of Crion was Aylmer Wolfe, former lieutenant in the Empire's military. A horseman rode up to Aylmer at a gallop, as if he didn't have much time. He didn't say a word, only handed it to the lieutenant. After a brief skimming of the parchment, he nodded to the horseman, got up from his seat, and rushed over to one of his trusted warriors. "Hey Aylmer!" He called out, perhaps a bit too loud. "Quiet down Hejgur, you're being a bit loud," Aylmer stated, getting a small chuckle from Hejgur in return. "Maybe I am, but there's always a reason to celebrate. When our victory comes, you'll see what I mean," the stout man replied cheerily. "Hejgur, I doubt this has a reason to celebrate. Look at this," Aylmer ordered, handing the courier's letter to him. "We're the last base? How did this happen? I thought Crion's defeat was bad enough, but this is terrible. We only have around 100 men here, none of which have seen a battle with odds stacked against them so badly. It's the Battle of Wolf Ridge all over again, but more severely outnumbered. At least we had a battalion then," Hejgur ranted after reading it, his hands waving around like a mad man. "The odds look grim, I know, but we have to press on. We're what's left of the Empire, so we have to make what we have count. Remember what Crion always told us: we will prevail when times are tough," Aylmer comforted, but it didn't seem to comfort the legate. Around this time, an elven woman dressed in leather armor entered. "Lieutenant, we got a situation. A shade patrol found us and one got away. I'm not sure we can hold out against all of them at once," she reported. Aylmer's eyes widened. "Thanks for the update Sh'ragya. Get what's left of our archers under cover and ready to fire," Aylmer ordered. "Rodger that Lieutenant." She replied before exiting. "I hope you're ready for a fight Hejgur, because it's a fight we're gonna get," Aylmer warned, right before he heard the sound of arrows colliding against trees. He looked over at where their clearing started to see several purple armored soldiers firing from black bows. They had a jet black dagger hung at their hips and a heavily guarded chest. "Surrender to me and it won't have to go the way it's about to Imperials," they all droned at once, the eerie monotone unsettling Aylmer. "Which one? There are quite a few of you out there. I mean, it could be you on the left, or you there, or any of you really," a soldier joked with his sword drawn, staring down the shades. All of them laughed at once, but not at his joke. "None of these hosts are who you should surrender yourself to. Dusk Storm is the one you should serve," they clarified. Alymer strung the small crossbow he had in his sleeve, aiming it at the heart of the center shade. With one word, he knew he could attempt to dispatch some of the strongest shades in the current Kirldan. For these are the shades that overtook the capital at the beginning of this disaster and left Crion virtually friendless. "Fire!" Aylmer screamed, right before firing his own bolt. A volley of arrows was fired at the creatures of darkness, but they bounced harmlessly off of the armor. "If it's a fight you want, so be it!" They screamed, right before their bows were replaced with average sized swords. The soldier that had jested at the shades rushed forward in an attempt to protect his allies, but was soon counteracted. Aggravated at missing his shot, Aylmer reloaded and aimed at a shade that was about to strike down one of his soldiers. It managed to pierce through most of the thick armor, but just fell short of hitting the heart. Even though it was not sufficient to kill, it managed to put the shade's balance off just enough to give the soldier enough time to parry the shot. Meanwhile, the jesting soldier was finally knocked to the ground. Just as the killing blow was about to be dealt, the shade was kicked aside by none other than Rah'zalt. A look of surprise was put on the shade's face, right before a gleaming sword found itself in the shade's heart. The soldier was equally stunned. The entire camp had received word that Rah'zalt had been captured and that Crion and Kirileth had disappeared. "Get up, you'll do no good on the ground," the elf ordered, and the soldier complied. "How are you..." the soldier started, but was cut off by Rah'zalt. "You'll all learn later. Just fight valiantly and without doubt. I sense the strength of the Empire here," he replied, before rushing to aid another soldier. Aylmer's crossbow had run out of bolts, prompting him to pull out his shortsword. He hung back for awhile, waiting for a good opportunity to rush in. Unfortunately for him, he never got the chance. A purple arrow pierced his heart, causing him to fall to the ground. After this, the battle turned around in the favor of the shades. In the end, the Empire was down to Rah'zalt, the jesting soldier, and Sh'ragya. "Well well well," a voice sounded from behind the four of the seven shades that had come. "What do you want Dusk? You've already won, we all know that. Come to gloat?" Rah'zalt commented, spitting on the ground in front of him. "Not quite what you'd think. I'm actually here to offer you a choice. You can either surrender and work for me willingly, or I can make all of you shades. Your choice," Dusk replied, her inky black form walking around the trio. Right as Sh'ragya was about to voice her choice, half of the elite shades were viciously knocked aside by a gleaming warhammer. While it did not kill them, it was effective in keeping them unconscious. Dusk was evidently surprised by this attack, as she turned her back to armed enemy soldiers. Sh'ragya pulled the last arrow from her quiver and fired at Dusk's heart, barely missing. While shades cannot die unless their heart is pierced, they feel every bit of the pain. "How brave of you. To harm a leader of the force that has overwhelmed you. I gave you a choice to live, but I guess that will be..." she didn't have a chance to finish as the same warhammer that had hit her soldiers knocked her aside, causing her to dissipate into tiny black squares. "Stupid shades! They stole some of my gold!" A dwarf yelled, an enraged expression on his face. Rah'zalt immediately recognized who was in front of him, and quickly rushed over to him. "King Shrub! My apologies, but I thought you to be dead," Rah'zalt hurriedly remarked, followed by a scoff from the dwarf. "I don't know what happened honestly. One moment I'm sitting in the palace, the next I'm in the middle of some road without my warhammer," Shrub replied, an angry expression never leaving his face. "Did this road happen to be next to a cave?" Rah'zalt further questioned. "It did, but I didn't go inside once I realized that I didn't any gold on me. I've been tracking these ones for awhile," Shrub commented. "I think I know why you're here then," Rah'zalt told him.