//------------------------------// // Divinity // Story: Where I am Needed // by Saviour From The Dark //------------------------------// Where I am Needed Chapter 9, Divinity His mind was full of images of the Queen of Changelings and his thoughts went over how they conversed or better yet how she had approached him. The sensation which traveled along his spine when her breath met his flesh, so new and alien yet no other feeling could have felt more natural. Not too long after leaving the Changeling village he pulled his bandana back over his red eye, again not wanting anyone to see it. Now that he thought about it the last time he was outside it was night time…..Twilight and everyone must already be searching for him knowing them. He planned to find traces, if anything, of whatever he saw and then return and keep his promise to the Changelings. Ahead of him was a clearing in the forest….the suns light was showing Salvatore his escape of the dark forest. Getting closer to finally leaving the melancholy forest his pace quickened as he was growing inpatient. Unable to see anything beyond the glorious light which was of no doubt his way out the Human began running. He was just about out… Only a few more steps… The run resulted in leaping forward in a dive as he flew between two blades, one underneath him and the other just nearly cut of the tip of his nose as he spun in mid air to evade any further attacks. Without a chance to breath he threw himself to the right and rolled only to bring himself to his feet, adrenaline began pumping through his body as his body and mind prepared for battle. Not even getting a chance to see his attackers as another blade came to pierce his flesh yet it was deflected by his own. Now he would gain his advantage taking a deep breath he dropped into a stance, shifting his right leg behind him and pointing it away from him with his left leg facing the attacker. His eyes caught sight of many shinning blades and golden glints as sparks flew between multiple blades, to others he was just spinning in a beautiful dance as fireworks added to the beauty of its performance. It was clear from the amount of attacks per second and the enemies battle method that there were three attackers furthermore they were working with sharp and quick strategy. Having assessed his targets a swift parry was made as Salvatore slipped into the attackers guard and delivered a significant slice, leaving a bleeding wound leading from the lower left of the abdomen and leading to the right pectoral. 'Two more, apply Viper's Fanged Tail form'. The thoughts swiftly flew through Salvatore's head. The merciless swordsman changed his stance so now he was facing forward with both legs with a little more bend in them whilst he spun his sword around so that it was being held in a reverse grip, with the blade facing down rather than up. For any spectator the battle ground was indeed beautiful as the battle was taking place on a steep hill with gorgeous lands of bright grass and many flowers of more colors the sky was perfectly clear and the lightest blue you could have ever seen. Wind made the grass sway slightly in a dance to avoid the titanic movements of the clashing forces whilst birds chirped and watched the scene with interest. Now that Salvatore had disabled one of his enemies' comrades they stood still whilst most likely taking glances at their incapacitated friend. They were wearing full suits of golden armor, which gleamed due to the suns light however as beautiful as it looked it was practical for finding a weakness in a hinge or a strap proved impossible, and wielding blades of the like he has never seen before, strange curved blades which had hand guards and alien markings along them. Yet most importantly…..they had wings…..white wings which were tucked behind them…. Regaining his focus Salvatore lunged forward and spun the blade deflecting any possible strikes before sinking low to slash at his enemies' ankles before rising upward in a spinning jump which created a tornado of razor steel. Once done with his assault it was clear that only one of them had a shredded foot yet their hands and arms were bleeding and left mangled from the attack…..Gushing through crimson wounds…..It was everywhere….BLOOD! The blood upon the ground began to stir as if being awakened by some strange force. It was then Salvatore noticed that his veins began glowing again….this time a deeper red than before!? Like spears they pool of blood shot at him like lightning, he was unable to even take a step to avoid the malevolent weapons. As the blood was absorbed by his body the patterns grew darker and seemed to grow another layer?...he watched this whilst in absolute agony as the system expanded across his body giving him the appearance as though his skin was cracked. Then slowly the dark patterns began to flicker from the dark crimson to a fiery ruby red and as it did a glow began to emit from the newly formed network of blood, a visual representation of what was happening within his soul. A strange ruby red aura began to form around him as he screamed in agony. As he did however the strange attackers watched…..out of horror or any other reason to be silent whilst seeing such a sight both were unknown to the Human who's body was struck with tidal waves of torture over and over again…. "Arghhhh!" Crack! For a split second the pain stopped….then Salvatore's tortured eyes expanded to horrifying size right before two bloody stumps burst from his back. Tendrils shot from these stumps and wound around one another over and over again slowly constructing twisted spires from Salvatore's decimated body. Finally they ended in a sharp and pointed tip which were at least six-foot tall each however a slight bend occurred in the middle of each spire as they slowly dropped until at a ninety degree angle…It had stopped…the pain had stopped! Salvatore was panting heavily yet nevertheless he managed to plant his sword into the ground and use it to support him as he slowly managed to make his way onto two feet. He inspected himself….the two layers of blood veins seemed more like the tattoos of a warrior….or the wounds of one who never fell no matter what wound. The aura around him felt…powerful…..enraged…protective? Looking onward towards his foe's Salvatore felt a control over the power he did not have before….it felt like euphoria. Taking steps forward towards the enemy he felt like making them see just why they should run….slowly he pulled up the bandana so that the red eye which now was glowing very brightly with the same ruby red made the armored warriors stumble back slightly. "Ugh!" A grunt of pain escaped Salvatore….or was it fully him? As multiple sharp blades formed from blood erupted from the bent spire it instantly became clear to Salvatore the purpose of this as images and words flashed through his mind. As if from no where the two remaining warriors mustered all their courage and began a charge towards the malevolent power before them. The demonic wings spread wide open so that they could be seen and feared, this made for a much more terrifying Salvatore. Before the warriors could even get close to Salvatore a gust of wind surprised them all as a Boom! Was heard and Salvatore fired off the hill and traveled in a straight direction awhile before falling towards the earth… Meanwhile upon the hill where the two warriors stood there was now a third figure that was taller and of a larger build furthermore his wings were much larger than those of his comrades. Also unlike the others he did not wear a helmet and was a man of dark skin with closely cut hair with a neatly trimmed beard upon his face. His dark brown eyes watched the foe which was sent sprawling as if he was a hawk, never moving his gaze no matter what was heard or seen. His comrades approached him in a respectful manor and bowed their heads lightly to show respect to a higher ranking Angel. "Captain Xander? We thought you had returned to the Gateway". One of the Angels questioned, his voice echoed slightly due to the full helmet. "I did however I sensed a dark presence and returned as fast as possible". His voice was wise and experienced; this Angel had seen many battles and led many into battle. "Sir we have one gravely wounded. What should we do?" The second asked. "Take him back to the Gateway and get him immediate attention from the apothecaries. I shall clean things up here….and you" He addressed the second one who stood firmly awaiting command. "Assist your brother". That was the last thing he said before his powerful wings propelled him into the air and towards the demonic force which would soon be dealt with. As he soared over the land he searched for any sign of the strange enemy who he sent flying with a blow to the solar plexus. Suddenly the light was blocked out and as Xander twisted around to see what had happened only to receive a ground breaking blow to the jaw from a flying Salvatore, The force sent him plummeting to the ground at high speed. As Xander fell from the sky Salvatore made sure to get as many strikes in as he could before the Angel recovered. After at least five more blows had struck Xander recovered mid air and just as Salvatore flew closer for another blow he delivered a powerful elbow strike to Salvatore's right temple. For a few moments the twisted Angel was shocked from both pain and surprise which turned to rage as he bared his blade and propelled himself like a bolt of lightning with his blade pointed forward towards the foe who would soon die. Just as the blade was about to hit its mark…unfortunately for what little bit of Salvatore remained Xander shifted to the right which let him apply a vertical punch towards Salvatore's oncoming face with a mighty BOOM! stopped him right in his tracks which was followed up with Xander striking the back of his enemies head with his fist striking like a hammer. The force sent the enraged Salvatore at mach 1 towards the ground… BOOM! CRASH! Despite the creator which he was now face first buried in Salvatore still wanted to get up and destroy the nuisance which was quite a powerful Angel. Attempting to rise on one leg resulted in being a much more strenuous task than previously anticipated yet he tried until blood burst from the flesh on his legs in the form of tendrils and made more holes in his ragged pants as they reinforced his legs to assist his damaged body. Just as he got to his feet and looked to the sky he saw!... Nothing…. A light breeze was felt before a firm yet gentle strike hit the side of his neck from behind. Then like a sack of stones he collapsed on the ground… Overlooking the body was Xander who had applied a chop to one of the many pressure points found in most Humanoids. He sensed the evil power reseeding as he saw the tendrils and wings recede into the flesh. What also interested Xander was the tattoo like patterns which were underneath his flesh…. Knowing what must be done he summoned a blade of sapphire blue magic which was steadied at Salvatore's throat…right before it was lifted…..the mark was undeniable a clean decapitation… "Huaghhhh!" Thud…