Star Trail gasps for breath, and opens his eyes. In contrast to his now usual ‘resurrections’, he remains lying on the cold, stone bench for a short while. He can hear the clicking of bones as Arcane Hex walks around whatever this new place is. Eventually, he stands up, realizing he’s in a body that could loosely be called his own, and that the thing he was lying on isn’t a workbench but something like a stone altar. The only other thing in here is a black, circular mirror reaching from the floor to the ceiling.
“What happened?” he asks Hex who is currently busy arranging clumps of crystals around the dim, empty room, “Where are we?”
Arcane Hex, without stopping, replies:
“One of the secret cellars in the Crystal Castle left behind by king Sombra. After his defeat, I wanted to do some research about how the shadow king got so much power even when necromancy was much weaker than these days, but Celestia wanted the whole castle cleaned and purified, foolish mare. The king was so far ahead of everyone in the wizard orders in terms of knowledge. So, I simply didn’t report finding this when we were creating the new protective spells.”
“And?” Star Trail pokes the mirror. It’s smooth and not at all sinister as one would expect.
“And what?”
“Did you discover something about Sombra’s power? I wasn’t part of the recovery effort due to being in prison, but I heard about it from the few friends I retained after… after the changelings got me,” Star Trail’s usual spite is missing from his voice.
“I know things that would make my ex-colleagues tremble in their robes,” Arcane Hex chuckles, “That’s how I learned about the inner workings of divinity in the first place. You see, Sombra wasn’t a pony at all. He was what some ancient texts refer to as ‘Umbrum’. And do you know what both Sombra and Umbrum refer to?”
“No idea.”
“A shadow.”
“Wait, like those from the rifts?”
“Exactly. I used them to spy on Cromach in Manehattan, since they can possess minds. The stronger ones can even warp them like we did with the changelings. Sombra was something else, something above them. I explored the restricted section of Canterlot library as well as Sombra’s personal one here before the ignorant barbarians burned it, and I found a reference to some entities called dark travellers. Energy draining, instilling fear, mind control, those were all Sombra’s signature things, and the strengths of the shadows I can summon. Still, I could rescue only the bare minimum of knowledge from this place after his destruction.”
“I see,” Star Trail frowns, “What do we do now that your lab isn’t usable, though?”
“I’m running out of time, I can feel it,” if Arcane Hex could scowl, he would, and he rubs the necklace once again hanging around his neck. It’s much easier to withstand the soul-ripping pain with the phylactery on him, but with the powers he’s attacking, it’s too dangerous to have it with him all the time, “Last time, I was trying to avoid harming Celestia as you wanted, but that’s not an option anymore. We have to kill her.”
“What?” Star Trail blinks in surprise, “What about the others? Luna, Cadance, Novo, that Cromach guy of yours.”
Arcane Hex walks over to the mirror, and taps it. The glass resonates, and ripples spread like on the surface of a pond.
“No. They are all too weak. Celestia is the only one with enough raw power to sustain me.”
“We can’t do it anyway,” objects Star Trail, “We don’t have castle energy to draw upon anymore.”
“That’s true, we don’t,” Arcane Hex nods. His horn flashes, and something akin to a smoky tentacle darts out of the mirror, tasting the air, “But we have a void rift crafted by the original Umbrum. We just need to lure Celestia here by causing trouble no one else will be able to stop.”
“Mind being a bit more concrete?”
“We use this to open a major void rift in the Crystal Empire, and let the shadows devour everything. Sooner or later, divinity will be the only way to close it, and Celestia will have to come. Then we use the mirror to orchestrate the most powerful draining spell the world has ever seen, and suck her dry.”
“And kill her,” Star Trail just wants to be sure.
“She’ll either turn into a mortal pony with no powers, or she’ll die outright.”
“And what’s going to stop the shadows already here? What’s going to stop Luna from becoming the sole ruler of my Equestria?”
“Who cares?” Hex shrugs, “I will be immortal by then, and thus able to properly research the nature of existence. Why should I care if fodder dies? All we need to do is make sure the shadows don’t devour the whole world and reality, that would be counterproductive to my work.”
“I see...” Star Trail sighs, “No golden goddess protecting ponykind, maybe no ponykind at all. No Equestria, the shining beacon of hope. Nothing but wars and struggle all over again. Only death and destruction.”
“You’re being melodramatic. Life will stabilize. Kingdoms and rulers are temporary anyway. Knowledge is the only worthwhile goal of existence. And who knows? Maybe the new world will be without those changelings you hate so much. They run on energy, and void creatures will go after those first.”
“No...” hisses Star Trail.
“I’m sorry, what?” Arcane Hex turns towards the ex-paladin standing next to him.
In a flash of light, the lich feels himself awash with a bout of weakness, and when the light subsides, Star Trail is holding his phylactery - the necklace.
“I am a paladin of Equestria,” Star Trail growls, “the best and brightest place on the face of Equus. I swore to defend my land and its protecting goddess,” lightning crackles through the necklace, and the gold starts melting, “When I joined you, you promised me we would get rid of threats to Equestria. But this… this is betrayal of the country that gave you everything, you psychopathic ingrate!”
Arcane Hex’ horn flashes, but whatever the spell was supposed to be, it fizzles in the pulsing light of Star Trail’s horn.
“Don’t even try it, monster,” Star Trail punches the lich, making him stumble backwards, “Alicorn amulet didn’t control or corrupt me, and neither have you at any point. How many paladins have you fought? I’m certain it’s zero, but how many liches and other undead do you think I destroyed?”
An arc of energy surges from Star Trail’s horn to the necklace, making the gem shatter and the gold melt and pool on the stone floor.
“You… you...” Arcane Hex stumbles towards the mirror.
“I was wrong, and Bright Star was right. Not all along, that easily trusting fool, but in the end, and that’s what matters. The most dangerous monsters threatening my princess and my country weren’t the changelings. They were you,” a blast of gold light shatters Arcane Hex ribcage and part of his skull, “and me.”
He rears for another spell, but just as he casts it, Arcane Hex pulls the mirror in front of himself. The bolt of light partially melts the ornate frame, but most of the energy drains into the pitch black surface of the ‘glass’.
Star Trail teleports behind Arcane Hex, the glow of his telekinesis envelops the lich’s head, and he rips it off of the rest of the body.
“Your body, your soul,” Star Trail looks into the eyes of the hovering skull, “Neither wil return to this world ever again.”
With one final wave of golden light of the banishment spell, Star Trail erases Arcane Hex from existence.
The undead unicorn hangs his head low, but looks up quickly as he hears the mirror on the floor rattle.
Again… and again…
***
“This is the fifth train in less than an hour going the other way,” I furrow my brows, looking out of the window, “Is it just me, or is that weird? Don’t look at me like that, it’s a valid question. I’ve been on a train only twice in my life.”
“I’m not looking at you like anything, it is unusual,” replies Cromach, pushing past Astray to the coupe window. He gasps as he looks into the distance, “It’s gone. The protective barrier around Crystal Empire is gone.”
“Could it be just… maintenance or something?” I ask, receiving another set of glances the first idea of which is that I might or might not be brain damaged.
“No, your Majesty,” Astray answers my question, “The barrier never goes out. I spent a lot of time in the Crystal Empire, and the barrier has gone out only when faced with the darkest threats that could break through. It’s powered directly by the Crystal Heart itself.”
I focus on the beating of the Crystal Heart, the pulses of love supposedly affecting all of Equestria. It turns out to be of no use, because Three’s loving glow is too strong to sense anything else.
“So, no chance of this being a benign occurence...” I sigh.
“There’s always a chance,” Cromach smirks, “It’s just not going to be one. Better get your hooves ready for anything.”
“Sir-” Astray reaches for his pistol.
“I know, you had no time to rearm properly. You’ll be a second set of eyes more than anything,” Cromach nods.
“Yes, sir.”
Silence falls on our overcrowded coupe for the next twenty minutes that it takes until we stop at the Crystal Empire train station.
It’s full. I’m not being metaphorical. All platforms are packed to the brim with ponies and yelling Crystal Guards trying to control the situation.
The intercom crackles, and the voice of the train announcer says:
[Dear passengers. We’ve just received information that the Crystal Empire is not safe at the moment. The nature of the problem is still a mystery, but the Crystal Guards don’t recommend getting off. By their orders, in the next ten to fifteen minutes, we will be taking in as many passengers as we can, returning to the last stop on the way here, and helping evacuate whoever we can.]
“Oookay, that’s all I needed to hear,” Cromach grabs the backpack he packed for the trip, and rushes out of the coupe, “Move!” we hear his voice.
While we get outside and push through the crowds towards the exit of the train station, I see Cromach grab a Crystal Guard and shake him.
“What’s going on? What happened to the shield?”
“Please, sir, remain calm. We ask all civilians to-”
Cromach slaps him.
“Ambassador Cromach, special task force for fighting against dark forces. Report, now!”
Whether it’s Cromach’s demeanor, his company, or just the crystal pony’s desire to get rid of the griffon, it makes him reply:
“Something is happening in the castle plaza, and there are these strange shadow creatures everywhere around the city. We’re holding the train station and gradually evacuating the Crystal Empire to near villages. Princess Cadance is in the ticket office, tending to the wounded. Prince Shining Armor is organizing the rescue efforts,” he points towards the big building in the center of the vast station.
“Thanks,” Cromach nods and yells over the panicked cacophony of noise filling the station, “Crystal Heart plaza it is then. Astray, I need Bubbles with me, but you can stay here and assist Shining Armor.”
“No can do, sir,” Astray smirks back, “We both need Bubbles now, so where she goes, I go.”
Cromach frowns.
“You’re right. You, Anvil, and Bubbles will stay here,” he raises his voice when he sees three mouths open, “That’s an order. You know how I hate using those, so take this one seriously.”
The three salute.
“Gem, I want you to stay here,” I contact her via a hive link. It’s way better than yelling.
“Dad?” she asks, confused.
“We don’t know what’s going on. You’re not a fighter. Find Cadance and help her with the wounded. Take Eleven. He’s barely used to his new mode of self-control, much less so if he has to fight a swarm of shadows.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I am. Cryo?”
“Ready and trying not to stomp on the crystal beards!” she answers slowly with some concentration.
“Your changelings will stay here with Gem.”
“What the beard?! They are strong. We fight for you, we live for you, we die for you. Anything less than that is us not giving our all.”
“And I’m tasking them with protecting my daughter. She needs a wall of chitin around her.”
“I am strong too.”
“And you’re coming with me.”
“I understand.”
Did I ever say that I really like Cryo in tight situations? On some level, she knows perfectly when there isn’t the time to argue. Proper warrior changelings are gold. Without a word, her four changelings push through towards Gem and surround her. I didn’t mean the wall of chitin literally, but there will be time to explain things later.
We finally get to the closed wrought iron gate of the train station held by Crystal Guard unicorns occasionally firing a bolt of magic into the street.
“Let us out!” orders Cromach.
The crystal unicorn leading the gate group faces him, and says:
“No can do, hot shot, because then I’d have to risk my ponies trying to bring you back here when you realize how unsafe it is out there.”
Cromach’s beak drops open. Seeing her boss redden and prepare himself to launch into a speech and possibly the unicorn into the sun, Anvil pushes through and waves a silver badge in front of the guard’s face.
“Order of the Silver Sun, captain. We’re here to stop all this.”
Not even the minotaur is enough enough to persuade the unicorn, but he seems to recognize the Silver Sun badge, and lets us out through a small reinforced door a short way off of the main gate. Anvil quickly turns around and heads through the crowd. Being over twice the size of everyone around that’s not Cryo makes it easy.
“Good luck,” he says through a small slot, “As far as our patrols are reporting, the outskirts of the city are mostly safe, but the closer you get to the castle, the more shadows there are. They aren’t particularly dangerous to someone prepared, but there are a lot of them.”
“Thank you for the information,” says Two politely as we exit into the mostly empty street.
In the distance, I see several guards leading a group of ponies towards the station. Our goal lies elsewhere, though, namely exactly the opposite way. It seems the guards have finished evacuating the center of the Empire and are now focusing on the safer outskirts.
Over the next hour and a half, I, Cromach, Two, Cryo, and Three riding on me make our way the crystalline streets and the ever-increasing amount of shadows. I don’t know if it’s a testament to our power, skills, and cooperation, but with the energy restoration caused by Three as well as the weak beating of the Crystal Heart now within reach, we progress through the long avenue unharmed and fresh despite enemies thrown our way. The only strange thing to note is that the closer to the castle plaza we are, the less the shadows resemble those snakelike clawed things, rather taking shape of ponies, minotaurs, and griffons. Why? I have no idea. What is much more worrying is that something is wrong with my hive links. I can’t connect to Gem or Eleven anymore at all, and I sense interference even when touching Three, Two, or Cryo. I have never felt anything like that.
However, with the tip of the crystal spire in view, some weak presence touches my mind.
“Boss, boss?! Thank holes you’re here.”
“Hundred and four?” I toss Three at Cryo who takes on the task of crushing the consistent flow of shadows from the back while Cromach and Two are in the front, “What are you doing here? And where are you? I can’t sense anything properly.”
“Just a second-” replies the infiltrator.
The door of the nearby house gets kicked open, letting out a solitary changeling followed by a group of five dwarf guards wearing covered hoods in addition to the flamethrowers and black platemails.
Cromach hacks the nearest minotaur shadow in half with one swing, and readies his axe as the dwarves pour out followed by about twenty crystal ponies.
“What’s going on?” ask Cromach.
“They’re ours, they’re ours,” I say quickly.
“And now you explain to me what’s going on. Why are the dwarves here?” I press One-Four, slowing down the hive link time.
“The council said - better public than eaten. We’re pretending to be earthponies with some griffon tech, boss,” the warrior replies, “We’re helping evacuate the citizens via the underground tunnels. There are four groups around, led by One-One through me. Those shadows really don’t like flamethrowers or bullets, it’s just about figuring out which is which.”
“Good job,” I say, “Keep doing that. We’re on the way to the source.”
“Will do, boss. Need any help?”
“Nothing. By the way, do you know anything about One?”
“No, boss. She was in the hive few days ago, and then everything went to hole after Five came back.”
I just sigh. Then an idea comes to mind.
“Did Five share what happened? I can’t do any mental stuff for some reason.”
“Yeah, there’s something weird in the air. I can’t contact anyone from here. I couldn’t even sense you until few moments ago. As for Five, she didn’t share any details, but she, One, Seven, and three weirdos left the hive to see where the shadows were coming from. They fought some mage, and only Five came back, saying Seven and One sent for Six and were supposed to stay here in the Crystal Empire while she organized help because shadows were sprouting everywhere.”
“So, Six is at the train station, Five is in charge of the hive, Seven and One are holes know where, right?”
“As far as I know, correct,” One-Four nods.
Well, if One isn’t at the center of this mess, I’ll be shocked.
“Then keep evacuating the city. I’m going to the Crystal Castle. It seems the trouble is coming from there.”
“Sure thing, boss.”
The whole conversation in reality took only a brief glance between two changelings, so One-Four doesn’t miss a beat as he leads the squad of dwarves and civilians through the street recently cleared out by us while we advance through the shadows approaching from the front.
Soon, the long avenue crossing the whole Crystal Empire finally opens into the Crystal Heart plaza swarming with shadows packed so tightly it brings back stomach-turning memories of Twisted crawling through the underground tunnels. The Crystal Heart is still beating, I can feel it, but the air feels strangely still, and there’s a huge shadow of something black in the sky obscured by the crystal spire. The part of the castle visible from here seems to have crumbled as if hit by a meteor.
“-”
Cromach opens his beak, but nothing comes out. He looks at me, and tries again. Nothing. I open my mouth too, and I can feel myself speaking, but I’m silent. Come to think of it, there is no sound at all.
“Two?”
“I have a theory and I wish someone told me I’m an idiot, because if I’m correct then I’m about to goop myself, dad!”
Okay, so hive links still work, although it’s a strain. I tap Cromach’s shoulder after he cleaves three shadows with one wide swing, then my mouth, shake my head, and then repeatedly point from my horn to Two’s while nodding. He scratches his head, and evenutually nods as well when he gets the idea.
Cryo isn’t even trying to talk. She’s completely busy stomping and kicking shadows swarming around us, and fairly successfully thinning their numbers. I point towards the crystal spire. Through the shadows, I see something blurring that contrasts with the sea of black shapes.
“Out with it, Two!”
“Well, those shadow things absorb energy, right? And noise is just kinetic energy passing through the air, same with love, and maybe with our communication too. That’s why it’s all quiet and the Crystal Heart muted. And… that huge black shit in the back… I think it could be a void rift.”
Oh holes… she’s right.
“Let’s get to the Crystal Heart and see what’s going on.”
Strangeness and shadows aside, it’s nothing we haven’t dealt with before. Overwhelming amount of unintelligent and feral enemies doesn’t mean much to regenerating stamina and incomparable speed and power. The shadows are stronger than before, but it’s still nothing compared to us.
Finally, we fight our way to the shimmer at the base of the Crystal Heart spire, the area underneath which is perfectly clear from any shadows. In fact, whenever one of the hundreds constantly trying to get closer reaches forward, it explodes.
The ‘protective circle’ isn’t magic. It’s One, moving around faster than even my eyes can see, obliterating the shadows with her hooves. She and Seven sitting next to the Crystal Heart are the two huge drains on all the love from the crystal responsible for the power being barely possible to sense anywhere else. Seven’s attention, though, is elsewhere, namely on beams of energy he’s aiming past the black and white unicorn standing at the edge of the spire nearest to the castle.
I pull at Cromach as he hesitates to enter what for him must be area protected by some invisible barrier of magic, and One lets us all into the circle. Contradiction doesn’t react either. It’s just Seven.
“Glad to see you’re back, boss,” he says, voice exhausted despite the Crystal Heart right next to him, “Now please tell me you’ve got a miracle in your leg hole.”
“What kind of mira-” I walk closer to Contradiction, and look up at the partially ruined castle.
My jaw drops.
A massive tear in reality is cleaving the sky above the castle and presumably its lower half is obscured by the ruins. Unlike all the small cracks encountered before, this one is open like a vertical eye, with half of an enormous torso sticking out, and two gargantuan arms ending in round boulders. The torso looks like a ribcage spread open with a swirling, dark purple mass in its center. Above all that is a head covered in comparatively small tentacles, each easily as long as a street lamp.
The arms are busy trying to crush the crystal spire. Their progress, however, is always stopped by see-through tentacles the color of sea water fighting back against the humongous monstrosity. Occasionally, the gigantic shadow rears back as beams of energy cast by Seven close a microscopic part of the rift like threads filling a hole. It never lasts long, as the shadow pushes ahead, ripping reality apart elsewhere. Seven is losing the battle, and the best that can be said is that he’s losing slowly.
“What the hole can we even do?” I whisper, unheard by anyone.
Two and Cromach are staring as well. Cryo is simply sitting on the floor, waiting. She knows that thinking isn’t her job, and that One has the security covered for now.
Three lands on my back.
“That’s a biiiiig baddie...” he comments, “I wonder how hard I’d have to hug it to make it like us.”
“That thing is a bit out of your league, I feel,” I reply absent-mindedly.
Although… I mean… Three is my little cheat code.
“Must... try… hugging...”
I grab Three and throw him at the Crystal Heart. Hug that.
“Hug your heart out.”
He latches onto the crystal, and both start vibrating.
To be completely honest, I wasn’t expecting that. I just wanted to keep him occupied in case he really wanted to hug that monstrosity in the sky.
Green, almost solid flame engulfs them both, and all of a sudden our sphere of safety expands. One is just green light and energy, erasing shadows from existence while Seven’s occasional beams transform into one continuous stream of green power stitching the rift closed at vastly faster rate.
“Power of the throne, ready!” I hear a new voice inside my head, and look backwards at-
Can I say holy holes enough times?
-Five leading rank after rank of Silversmith mechs, all aiming their energy weapons at the rift and firing at once.
The ‘hands’ of the black colossus in the sky stop fighting Contradiction’s telekinetic and divine tentacles, focusing instead on widening the rift against Seven’s relentless stitching. With the situation around calming down a little, I put my forehead to Seven’s so that I can avoid the energy draining interference, and start reading his mind as to how he’s sealing the rift. It turns out to be simple, as it literally consists just of beaming power to the right places, namely to the edges of the rift which aren’t as stable as its center. Seven might be better than me at it, but I am a much more powerful battery, and thus able to channel the energy of the Crystal Heart coupled with Three now being slowly released by One gradually slowing down.
Shortly after, there’s only the colossus recoiling at the assault and us. Shadows are gone, and so are the previous minor rifts spawning them.
However, it seems that not focusing on opening the small rifts allows the colossus to fight more effectively against our attempts at closing the big one. It’s working, but slowly.
Contradiction’s tentacles rear backwards, and merge into one. Like a glacier, it swings forward, directly into the pulsating… blob in the center of the colossus’ spread ribcage thing. The usual ‘hit the big, glowing spot’ strategy.
Sheer titanic force pushes the enemy through the rift, which Seven and I use to begin closing from both sides at once.
Almost…
A minute or two is all we need.
The rift is only as wide as one of the crystal castle turrets when tentacles shoot out like grappling hooks, and wrap around the spire above us. I can’t hear the glass and crystalline masonry crack. One notices, though, and the sensation of wrong from her makes me look up as webs of fractures spread through the spire.
She grabs Seven and me in one motion, running away with us slung over her back. Cryo does the same to surprised Cromach and runs. Last, Two pounces, snatching Three who lets the Crystal Heart go from shock. Contradiction just uses one tentacle to throw herself away from the crumbling structure.
We all get out in the open as the crystal spire crumbles behind us, leaving a cloud of shards scattered around by a shockwave that scatters us around the southern quarter of the plaza. The shards settle, and from the northern part I can still see red beams firing up into the sky where the colossus is reopening the rift at speed.
What’s worse, there is no multiplicatively amplified Crystal Heart energy feeding us anymore, there’s just Three himself still held against Two’s chest.
“Cryo, rubble, Crystal Heart!” I mentally call out, and feel tremors as the stomping ancient queen runs off towards the ruins. The base of the spire survived along with its four legs, but it’s still covered in the crumbled remains of everything else.
With the rift already open to its previous size, the void colossus resumes pushing itself into our reality.
Cromach pats Connie’s head, rears on his hind legs while spreading his wings for balance, and points both forelegs against the hole. Green lightning arcs from his talons to the edges of the rift, and as he pushes his forelegs together, the edges begin squeezing the colossus again. Seven stumbles back on all fours, and sends a weak beam towards the rift which disappears even before reaching it. Without the Crystal Heart, he’s just too weak.
All of a sudden, I feel a burst of frost behind me, and I immediately lunge forward just in time to avoid…
...a shadow version of One, or a shadow copying her shape.
Real One immediately attacks it from the back, but it takes the blow, and even swings its hoof back at her. A quick recap reveals that three of these appeared out of nowhere, one currently having chunks of rubble thrown at it to very little effect by digging Cryo, and one quickly approaching me.
“Hold the big guys off. Cromach seems to be slowing it down again… somehow,” I order. I’m not about to speculate to what degree Cromach is able to use his own divinity.
“We need energy!” I hear One inside my head and know it’s a broadcast, “The kinetic energy from the blows isn’t enough to fill and destroy these.”
“CRYSTAL BEARD!” Cryo exclaims, pulling out the Crystal Heart dropped by Three. It’s weak. The crystal spire must have been acting as an amplifier itself. Without it, the Heart is nowhere near as powerful.
“Keep it to fight those big shadows off!” I order and point at One, “Three, power her. She’s way more effective than me, and I still have reserves.”
As I avoid the wild swing of the shadow attacking me, I realize it might be much less than I thought. Those damn things don’t even need to hit to drain energy. Better to just keep it occupied until One and Cryo can deal with their targets.
Damn, that means Two can’t even get close.
“Two, go help Seven! He’s at the end of his rope.”
Without a word, she spins around and stops running towards me.
I need to draw that damn thing away from them too just in case. I need to be a tasty target. A burning love chair that I summon hits shadow One, making her recoil. In the next moment, she lunges at me, which I deftly avoid and move a bit further away. They really aren’t fast, but they don’t need to be. If we weren’t all changelings or crazy divine creatures, a touch of these would be lethal, and their simple presence would eventually do the same.
The windigos.
It’s Seven’s memory, or maybe that of the thing inside his head. Creatures sapping all energy including heat, immune to kinetic damage, and eventually banished by love, by something we’re running out of.
I back away again, and stumble as I lose feeling in my left hind leg.
I’m… out? What? Did I completely misjudge my reserves?
Not entirely, but I’m running out quickly. A quick look around shows that I did manage to lead the shadow away, but since Cryo and One haven’t destroyed their opponents yet, it also means I’m too far away from any help.
Damn it… that’s why I ran out so soon. I moved much closer to the castle and the big rift.
It’s freezing…
I can’t even feel anyone’s links even though I can see them.
Shadow One rears in front of me, and this time I know I will have to block the blow...
...and I know that it will knock me out, drain me completely.
Crap.
Despite the knowledge, I punch against the approaching foreleg.
Golden glow flashes through me, and I feel the impact. What I don’t feel is energy leaving me. I back off, tired but not progressively weaker with each instant.
Some kind of magic?
Two, Seven, and Contradiction are busy sealing the rift and fighting the colossus in the sky each, so…
Experimentally, I block another blow, and punch the shadow’s head, making it back off.
Yep, I can definitely fight it. But why? It’s not energy replenishment, it’s just…
Having a moment of time as the shadow stumbles, I look around for the source of this strange magic, and eventually my eyes fall on the ruined castle and a solitary unicorn figure limping towards me, its horn glowing golden.
Out of all the surprises today…
Out of all the improbable nonsense we could have encountered here…
Out of everything the world could have thrown at us…
Nothing could have prepared me for this. Though Bright Star did say that paladins were experts on negative energy protections, because undead mages often use those lifeforce-sapping spells, but that he wasn’t able to teach it to Ten in time.
That determined expression, that pure hatred, that bloodthirsty grin, and none of it, for the first time, is aimed at me.
With a nod, Star Trail points at the shadow about to get its ass oblitera-chaired.
Baddies are now goodies.
Holes damn it, Three. You were right all along.