//------------------------------// // Chapter Seven // Story: A Dying Light // by Nobrains //------------------------------// Chapter Seven If only they could fight at the same time. If that was the case, then this battle would have been over with in a fraction of the time it was taking now. In fear of hurting one another, Titus and Starswirl had to back off for one another when engaging the gnome. The only problem was that it was a near stalemate this way as the the Death Knight didn't falter in the least bit or needed to take a break. Lyra was watching the whole thing with a distraught look, hoping that they would find someway to win. The fighting suddenly stopped as the sound of laughing echoed and bounced off the tunnel walls. “Oh! Oh! I think we're getting close!” “Excellent.. excellent..” Those that had been in conflict were standing still now, looking down the tunnel the way the sound had come from. They heard ragged breaths mixed with muttering of words, the occasional shout and laugh broke the steady stream of sounds. The source of it all finally came into view and Starswirl's mouth dropped from the sight. “Oh.. oh my.. no..” The starstones were ingrained into his flesh, but what really disturbed him was what was extending out from those stones now. Shadow like beings, reminiscent of the ones from the encounter beyond the Everfree forest, extending from the starstones on him, save for the one directly under his horn. His robe had been torn to shreds and he looked as if he was the walking dead at this point. “By the Light..” Titus muttered, watching the being stumble and fall over. He got up only laughing harder at what had just happened to him. “He's gone...” Starswirl said sadly. “He's just a vessel now..” “Calm yourself, Polaris. We must speak with these individuals for a short time.” The shadows twisted and turned with each word being said. They were like extra appendages, but with their own idiosyncratic mindset. “Yes.. Yes! Very well! Ha! Go ahead then!” Polaris said with inane. “What is this?!” Starswirl called out to the shadows the twisted and turned around Polaris. “This... this is power. This is what the starstones were made to do. This is what you tried to prevent, but it was all in vain! We are tools for destruction, and that is what we will do... Polaris here...” “That's me!” The harebrained unicorn snorted. “That's definitely me!” “Yes... Polaris here seeks recognition is all... we aim to make his dream a reality... but to do so.. well.. we'll have to take care of a few potential pitfalls.” “They mean you!” Polaris called out in glee. He looked at the Death Knight, and a glare formed across his face, returning him back to a more habitual like behavior. “I'll be taking care of you first. I should never have even though that I would need another to succeed. These friends are all I ever needed!” “Very much so... very much so..” The Death Knight didn't seem to be impressed with what he was seeing. “If that's so, then you can most certainly try, beast.” “I've had enough of being called that! You'll pay for all this trouble you caused me!” “Oh dear... it seems you're first... prepare yourself if you can, for this will not be like the last encounter.” The gnome didn't say a thing, instead he moved forward at an uncanny speed, attempting to slash at Polaris' throat. One of the shadowy tendrils dissuaded that approach however, and threw him and his weapon back. “Such a thoughtless approach will get you nowhere...” “You heard them!” Polaris laughed. “Nowhere!” “We'll see.” The gnome said again, jumping forth. Again, he was thrown back, this time with a bit more force. With this new development, Lyra was tempted to leave the spot she had been waiting at. This thing looked bad, and Titus was still there near it. Each second that passed made her want to cry out, but she feared that by doing so, she would be risking herself and forcing Titus to take action in her defense. The attacks kept coming from the gnome, and Polaris just kept defending himself handily against them. Eventually Polaris went on the offensive and shot forth the shadows. They lunged out in all directions, hitting the side of the passageway and bouncing off the surfaces. This forced both Titus and Starswirl into the combat as well as they were forced to defend themselves as they came crashing by. The Paladin sidestepped the shadow and tried to bring a boot down upon it, but it retreated back to Polaris before any damage could be done. Starswirl simply protected himself with wards against the outreaching shadows and sighed in sadness and disgust. “Human.” The gnome called out. “It appears we have a common enemy.” “So it does...” Titus' eyes were on the wreck that was their adversary. “I assume that means our battle is over then?” “For now.” “Very well.” Titus clenched his hammer tighter. “Good enough for me.” “Ha! Do you see this?! They think that banding together can help them! Hilarious!” Polaris was gasping for breath now between manic fits of laughter. “Quite amusing yes... we shall see how far it takes them then.” “Yes! Yes we shall!” Polaris' horn began to spark with electricity and glow red, indicating a spell in the works. The sheer power being concentrated into one area was causing quite the draft through the tunnel and Titus could feel some of the hairs upon his head blow steadily in the new found breeze. “One spell! All it will take! Goodbye all of you!” Polaris laughed. Starswirl knew what was coming. As the magical current shot from Polaris' horn, Starswirl began his own spell while hopping in front of both the Beacon and the Death Knight. A reflective barrier formed in front of him, taking the gruff of the impact, but Polaris' spell was ceaseless it seemed and Starswirl was struggling to just keep the spell present against it all. Titus realized what would happen if Starswirl lost his strength. “Hold on!” He called out. He had the craziest of ideas, but he was sure it could work even factoring in the strength it would sap from him. “I'm trying Beacon! If you're going to do something, hurry!” Tears from the effort being strained through Starswirl's body were beginning to show. Titus nodded and shot a glance back to the onlooking Lyra. He gave her a smile and nodded, mouthing the words that would be the only thing holding her back from running after him. “Don't worry about me. I'll worry about you.” “Oh no...” Titus sighed and turned around, beginning a prayer. A shield formed around him, making him impervious to any form of damage for awhile. “Divine Shield..” He hadn't used this since the icebringers, he hoped it would be enough. It reduced the strength of his blows, but hopefully the unicorn wasn't made of the tough stuff. He ran right through the barrier Starswirl had up and began to run right down and through the brunt of the magic that Polaris was shooting forth. The mad unicorn had no idea what was about to come. Polaris cackled and laughed, but soon found his vocal cords being cut off as a fist wrapped itself around his neck. He choked and gasped, the spell breaking off causing Starswirl from behind to finally cease his aegis and fall to the ground, exhausted. The unicorn's eyes focused in on the Beacon whose face only showed bitter resolve and desire for it to end. The shadows around him attempted to attack at the human, but bounced off the shield around him. Everything went white and a resounding 'crack' was heard as Titus smashed the side of the unicorn's head, sending him flying into the wall. The shield faded from Titus now and he soon found that what he had done had not been enough. Polaris struggled up, growling and laughing at the same time. It was hard to see, for he clearly had suffered some damage from the blow across the face. The side of his face was caked with blood, but he didn't seem to notice the damage even though he could only keep one eye open now. “A good try there, Beacon! Quite the resourceful one, eh? A pity all that was for naught!” The shadows began to slowly stretch outward from Polaris. Titus swung at them, but they twisted right around his blows and wrapped themselves around him. A shot of agony rippled through his body, causing him to cry out in pain and drop his hammer. Lyra had to cover her eyes through the whole thing and only peeked when she heard Titus cry out in pain. She yelped in pain in fear at the sight of him thrashing about in pain as Polaris' shadows enveloped him. “Not again...” Memories of shadows surrounding them within the ruined castle beyond the Everfree forest filled her mind. She had felt so helpless then, and she felt hopeless now. “This can't be happening.. this can't be happening..” Those cries of pain, they were tiny wounds into her heart. She wasn't sure how much she could take, and why wouldn't it stop?! Tears swelled upon around her eyes and began to run down the side of her face. Titus was trying to fight through the pain, but couldn't get a focus on anything around him. He heard voices, he was pretty sure they belonged to Starswirl, which meant that they were more than likely empty words of assurance that he was doing everything that he could to stem his agony. The others were of Polaris and the shadows he commanded... or commanded him? He wasn't sure. Then, when he thought it would never end, his reprieve came. The gnome had cut through all the shadowy tentacles that had held him. Sense outside of pain came back to him in a landslide. He could now discern meaning from the cackling of Polaris, the cold words of the Death Knight, and Starswirl's promises to not fail in their righteous mission. “Oh ho! Look who finally decided to pull some weight for the team over here!” Polaris laughed. “You've gotten away too many times. Steel yourself.” The gnome stood near Titus who was still struggling back to full cognitive function. “Very well, but I doubt I will need the warning.” The unicorn retorted in a drab tone. What he wasn't expecting though, was for the ground below him to begin to bubble and become violently active. Pain shot up through his legs as the corruption below him bubbled continuously. “Leave... leave now.. move!” The shadows surrounding him called. He followed their instructions, but tripped onto the ground, and he screamed in agony as the corruption continued to eat at him. “You're a fool... a fool!!” “Help! Help!” Polaris cried out. The shadows picked them up and threw them all away from the corruption, where he smashed into the side of the tunnel once again. He didn't get up this time and the shadows that had once extended from his form retreated back into their respective starstone, and the gnome scoffed. “Typical.” Titus struggled back to his feet and picked up his hammer. He shuffled over to the side of the tunnel and fell down, sitting against it. He began to word a prayer to the Light, hoping its warmth would heal him, but as soon as he uttered the first word, a familiar green mass hopped right onto him, causing the Paladin to grimace in pain. “Don't do that! Don't do that ever again!” Lyra buried her face into his chest, causing him to both gasp from the pain and the touch altogether. “Heh, heh.. you know... no promises..” “Oh knock it off!” She laughed behind the tears into his chest. “Could you...” Titus began, finding it hard to speak behind face full of mane he was getting from the mare that still was softly crying into his chest. “Would you let me have a bit of space..?” He finally managed to say. No response. “A little help here?” Titus called out expectantly. Starswirl walked over to them slowly, his eyes still on the unmoving Polaris and the gnome that just stood there. He finally gave them a glance and understood what the Paladin was asking. “Ma'am? I believe he needs a second.” “No!” She called out. “He's not leaving me again!” “Oh, please. It's just for a second.” She didn't budge and Starswirl gave Titus a shrug. “You and you're fatuous emotions, so pathetic.” The Death Knight walked up to the group. “Beast, he needs space to restore the internal damage he has sustained. Surely you know of this if you are so intimate with him?” “Oh... yeah..” Lyra said crudely, reluctantly stepping off of the human. “I'm sorry..” “It's fine.. just a sec..” Titus closed his eyes begin to make the silent prayer. “Such a pathetic host in the end... and now... just an empty shell... how fitting.. it was what he was destined to be it seems.” Everyone looked to where Polaris had been, but instead of the power hungry unicorn, they only found a dark silhouette that was left of him. He had been completely swallowed up by the shadows, and that was left was his shape. “It's always nice when there's less work involved in an already corrupted individual.. hmm..” “So it seems you were consumed by the very powers you wished to control. Pitiful.” The Death Knight brought up his weapon once more. “I grow tired of this constant fighting, I will purge all that commands your body.” “Words. They're just words.” The dark figure began to float motionlessly, as if it was still standing on the ground. The Death Knight turned to Titus and surprisingly, nodded through his helmet. With a step towards the idle form, the gnome summoned all his strength to him, a pale light gently glowing in his hands. In an instant, the Death Knight found himself on the ground however, a shadow had left the core body and had disarmed him and brought him to the ground. He rolled out of the way before the thing could strike however and quickly got to his feet, scraping up his runeblade. Pale blue eyes were intent on their target and he shot forth, slashing at the tendrils that would have caused him to fall once again. He was a mere foot away when the figure dropped back slowly out of range and erupted violently in a flurry of darkness. The shadows were everywhere and this time when they bounced of the side of the tunnels, vibrations rippled through the passageway. Before anyone could do anything else, the tunnel caved in. Titus looked up just in time to put his weak arms up in a futile attempt to keep from the rubble falling on top of him and the unicorn next to him. If only he had had time to heal himself.