//------------------------------// // Chapter Six // Story: A Beacon of Light // by Nobrains //------------------------------// Chapter Six A crack, a scream, muffled... but still a scream. There was Eleii. In the forest he had fallen in earlier, but something was wrong, she was hurt. She seemed to be wondering in the darkness, shadows criss-crossing over her. She was oblivious to all that unfolded around her. Nothing was going right, nothing at all. Then, she tripped and fell, but not onto the soft forest floor, into the darkness. A crack, a scream, muffled... but still a scream. The scream was not just one of pain or terror, but of calling. The words were hard to make, but it echoed, it echoed violently. “TITUS!!!! HELP!! ME!!” A crack, a scream, muffled... but still a scream. Titus awoke screaming, flinging the blanket away from him. He looked around in a cold sweat, and found Lyra looking at him with concerned eyes. “Is everything okay?” she asked softly. Titus stood up and quickly grabbed his armor. “I need to head back into the forest.” Lyra got out of bed and came to him. “What? Why? Did you forget something?” “Not something, someone.” After he got everything on, and strapped his hammer down to his back, he made his way to the door, but found Lyra blocking the way. “You're not going without me.” She said firmly. Titus tried pushing her out of the way, but found the green aura enveloping his hand and pushing it away from her. Obviously there wasn't a way he could force his way by her. He would have to reason with her. “I don't want you to get hurt. I don't know what I'll be facing out there.” “I don't care, I'm coming with you.” She said, with finality. He'd lost. Women, he thought. Eleii had the same way of ending conversations like that. He could slaughter hordes of demons, single-handily purify the Plaguelands, or defeat a giant beast, but when it came down to a woman, in any shape or form, he always lost. “Very well.” He slumped in defeat. She smiled and opened door. Stepping through first, to make sure Titus didn't try anything funny. He kept his slumped posture and followed her out the door. Due to his slumped figure, Lyra took advantage of it and hopped on his back, wrapping her hooves lightly around his neck. “Okay, now we can really go.” she said happily. If it was anyone else, Titus would have thrown them right off his back, but he felt that this might be the only way to really make sure she stayed out of trouble while he doubled back to the forest. So there was no objection from him, even though he swore he felt her nuzzling his neck for a second. It simply gave him goose bumps, and he was forced to deal with it during the long march towards the Everfree Forest. As they approached the forest line, he felt Lyra's hooves tighten further around his neck, nearly to the point of choking him. She must have been really scared, Titus thought. He wondered why she would put herself through this just to accompany him. There was no time to worry about other people's intentions right now, however. Eleii must have been somewhere inside the forest, in need of his help desperately. After a quick breath, he pushed through the foliage, for he had no idea where the road into the forest was. He was reverted back to cutting between trees and bushes, but this time he was doing this for two. The thought made him feel more protective than usual to his green friend, for she had no way of really defending herself, especially against whatever shadowed force had somehow taken Eleii. The forest was a different place at night. The sounds of life were still there, vibrating through and around the trees, but with a lower octave. The place was haunting, almost as haunting as Duskwood, the once thriving forest just south of his home in Elwynn. This world had its similarities to Azeroth it seemed. Eventually Titus came to a clearing, after what seemed to be hours of wandering through Everfree forest. Light from the moon poured down onto patches of dead grass that seemed to twist and turn. The sight was horrifying for Titus and Lyra but he knew he was getting close, and he'd be damned if some unseen force was going to stop him. He turned to Lyra on his back. “Hey, stay back here. I'm going to go see what in the Light is going on here.” “What?! Are you crazy? NO!” she cried back at him. Titus gave her a stern look and she backed off. She got off his back and stayed outside of the dead grass near the perimeter of the clearing. Titus laughed inwardly. He'd actually won against a woman for once, and all he had to do was use the same technique they used against him: acting with Finality. He made sure Lyra was back, who was watching him with concern. He took careful steps as he went into the patch of moonlight, where the grass twisted and turned. Every fiber of his being wanted to go back and grab Lyra and get out of this Light forsaken place, but he reminded himself why he was here, for Eleii. He reached the center, and he looked around. Nothing. He looked over to Lyra, who seemed to be aching from the suspense. She simply wanted to go home, Titus should have made her stay, but her stubbornness had dragged her right along right with Titus. He gently smiled, wanting to reassure her that everything was going to be okay. She didn't smile back, but gestured wildly for him to return. He looked up to the bare stretch of sky, and saw the moon, its bare white light a gentle beacon in the sky. It was hauntingly beautiful, and Titus didn't want to stop looking until a yell from Lyra brought him back to reality. “Titus!” She cried. He turned and looked at her and she was gone. He started to move, but something caught his leg and tripped him. He fell face first and quickly began to push himself up, but he caught sight of his shadow under the moonlight. It wasn't his. He turned to look above him, but there was nothing to see. He turned back in relief, but the shadow was there on the ground, and it had formed a dark and twisted face. With red glowing eyes, the shadow began to cackle, and Titus shot up to his feet in surprise. The shadow moved across the clearing and even into the dark, but was still distinguishable. The laughing continued as it finally found a resting place on a tree. Titus looked at it in horror as the silhouette it formed was that of a man. But not entirely, for the figure was distorted, its shoulder blades pointed to an edge, and its legs were nowhere to be found. Titus was about to run and find Lyra, when the figure finally spoke, its voice chilling and raspy. “There's no hurry. Your little friend is fine... for now.” “What did you do with her?” he shouted, “and what did you do with Eleii?!” The shadow quickly closed in on Titus and was soon under him. Titus wanted to stamp it out, but it was a shadow, not a being. It circled around him slowly. “Oh so there are two of you...? Do tell me about this other one....” What was this thing playing at? “You know damn well who I'm talking about!” The shadow recoiled in hurt. “Why do you think I'm lying to you? I have no reason too..... I may have guided you here... but that was for another reason...” Titus pulled out his hammer, readying in a fighting stance. “What exactly do you want from me, Shadow?” The form began to cackle once more, and span around Titus with increased speed. “Why it’s simple... you seem aware of your abilities... a light shines in you... like a beacon... the only light I have ever seen here... at least of this magnitude...” The shadow suddenly stopped. “A light like yours... could be problematic...” The shadow suddenly crawled up Titus' leg. “Like a candlelight.... you need to be snuffed out...” Incredible pain shot through Titus' body as the shadow stretched across his body. He cried out in pain. It was all Titus could do to keep standing. The stabbing pain.. it hurt so bad.. why didn't he just give up? It would be so easy to submit to this creature, to end this madness. He could finally join the Light itself in eternal rest.... Lyra. Eleii. They shot into his mind like an arrow. No, he was not going to die here, he had to save them. It was his duty as a Knight of the Silver Hand, but it was also personal. He cared about them. Both of them, and it wasn't going to end here for him or anytime soon. Titus' instincts kicked in, everything he had learned as a Paladin, trying at the abbey, at the Cathedral of Light in Stormwind, began to work on habits built into his mind after years of dedicated practice and failure. He called to the Light, and the Light answered. His body was enveloped in Light as he activated his seal. The shadow stretched across his body recoiled off of him in pain, screaming violently. He wasn't done yet however, his hand rose into the air, calling another favor from the Light. The land began to crack and crumble, as light began to emanate from the ground he had just consecrated. The shadow further recoiled back onto one of the trees in front of Titus. Titus roared and charged at it with his hammer, smashing right through the shadow and meeting the tree. The tree was lifted from its roots from the sheer force of the blow, falling over with a loud thud. Titus looked around and found the shadow trying to scurry away. Oh no he didn't. Titus' free hand began to glow as the Light filled his very palms. He shot forth the Light like a dart and pinned the shadow in its place. He kept his hand extended as he used the string of light to close in quickly on the shadow pinned to the ground. “Now tell me what you did with them!” Titus demanded. “Your little friend... is near the road.... probably dead... As for the unseen one... perhaps the master knows...” Titus furthered his grip on the strand of light, causing the shadowed being to cry out further in pain. “Where is your damn master then?!” He said behind gritted teeth. “At the end of this forsaken forest.... Good luck getting through... Beacon.” Titus clenched his fist until it was almost about to bleed, releasing torrents of Light on the creature. It screamed as it fizzled away. Titus smiled. His deed to the well being of all that was natural was complete for now. But now he needed to find Lyra, and fast. He dove right into the nearest foliage he could find; ready to find her at any cost. *************** Lyra felt skeletal hands drag her throughout the forest, and out into the open. She wanted to scream, but found no breath to do so. Too much was happening to fast, she wasn't even worried about herself, she was worried about Titus, she had seen the shadow follow after him into the circle of dead grass, he was strong and every ounce of common sense in her told her that Titus would be fine, but she couldn't stop worrying. She was then thrown onto a dirt road by the skeletal hands. She landed roughly and looked up at her captor. What she saw was horrifying. A skeletal form stood over her, but the bone structure was not of anypony, it was of a human. A faint eerie red light was seen far in the back of the abomination's eye sockets, it seemed as if it was grinning. A human skeleton? What was going on here? There were never any humans in Equestria before Titus! How could this have happened? She wanted to get up and run and never stop, but she was glued in place from terror. For the first time in her life, there was something human related that she did not want to have anything at all to do with. The skeleton closed in on her slowly, its face seeming to grin in an even sicker manner than before. She didn't want to be here anymore, she wanted to be back home... with Titus. She just wanted Titus, he would hold her and protect her from all this. He would save her like he did that night, and he'd hold her and rub her with his hands. She was brought back to reality as she noticed she was crying. She was acting like a child, a little filly. She wasn't helpless, she had her horn! She'd make Titus proud by defeating this undead creature all by herself! She stood up and took a stance, ready to charge. What happened next was a haze of tackling and magical possession. She had managed to pin the skeletal being down, and was bonking it on the head with a nearby branch she had found on the roadside. It didn't seem to be doing any damage, but she still felt like she was making progress. It’s not like the thing was fighting back, it was just growling in irritation with the repeated blows to the skull. “Yeah! Don't like a taste of your own medicine, huh?” she called down to the prone skeleton. The being simply growled, trying to flail about violently to get her off. She was holding the thing down for dear life when she finally was thrown back into a tree off the road, hitting the ground hard. She scurried back onto her hooves, but tripped. The creature loomed over her like a cloud. Its bony pale face indication of what was too come. She didn't want to die, not now. So much had happened since Titus had shown up in Equestria... and she didn't want to be separated from him so soon, or in her preference, ever. But there was no hope when a skeletal being was about to tear you apart, piece by piece. She cringed and covered her face waiting for the worst. Crack!!! She opened her eyes and found she was unscathed, and that the skeletal being had become headless. The arms of the skeletal body searched desperately to find anything above the shoulders, but found nothing. Then, another crack! And the body flew into a tree and burst apart in an explosion of light. She was shaking violently from the situation but found Titus standing over her. She presented outstretched hooves to him, and he picked her up gingerly. He tried to put her on his back, but she had none of that. She wrapped her hooves around his neck and buried her face into his plated chest, careful not to hit her horn on anything. “I knew you'd come and save me...” she sobbed. “I knew you would.” She felt hesitation, but then he held her back. She didn't know whether if it was more for her or for him, but it didn't matter. She was with him now, and she wasn't going to leave his side ever again. She couldn't stop the stream of tears, but she tried to sound as dignified as she could. “W-where are we?” She said, choking back tears and finally looking over Titus' shoulder. She felt the Paladin's hand pat her on the back, and her world began to spin as Titus' studied their surroundings. “Looks like we found the road,” Titus said, trying desperately to look around behind Lyra's mane. “Good.” She said, “We can get out of here now!” Titus tried pulling her back away from his body, to her protest. He had tried and tried, but she had already decided that she would not let go for the maelstrom. He sighed. “Look, I am going in even further. Hopefully out to the other side.” He said sadly. “What?! Why?!” she asked in confusion. “My friend might be out there, and I have to at least check.” There was a pause. “I'd prefer you stay back for this one.” There was a silent moment between the two after that. She was just enjoying his presence for as long as she could, grateful that this wasn't the end, at least for now. Several minutes passed, and she had finally made up her mind. “Let's get going,” she finally said. “What do you mean? You can't come along, something worse could happ-” She bonked him on the head with her hoof. “I'm going so let's get going and save your friend!” Titus slumped back over in defeat, and she wrapped around his back, so he could have his arms and eyes free. She promised herself she wouldn't let go for anything this time. Titus walked over to the skeletal being he had smashed apart. Groaning could still be heard from its remains, and he quickly stomped out any large pieces remaining of the thing. “Strange,” he said. “What?” Lyra asked curiously. “This looks like a human skeleton.” He caught himself. “It did... I mean. But it was like a good two feet shorter than me.” Now Lyra was baffled too. Was this thing once a pygmy human? Or some other form of life before Ponies had inhabited these lands? So much was happening and she just wanted to get this over and done with, so she could go back to her house hopefully with Titus, where she could teach him more about life in Equestria, and other such things. Titus began walking down the road, further into the forest while Lyra continued to think about home and life with the Paladin. It wasn't even the human he was anymore that fascinated her, it was the person now. He was like her guardian, protecting her time and time again from all the horribleness out in the world. She couldn't imagine a life without him, even after only a short while. Her stomach knotted up all over again as intimate thoughts of them together filled her mind. But she still wondered why. Was it the wonder he presented? Or the reliability? Or was it simply the fascination she had with his race? No, it wasn't anything so complicated. She wanted to push the thought to the back of her head for now but the thoughts lingered back into her mind until she couldn't push it back in the recesses anymore. It was love, as simple as that. The silhouette had been right the whole time.