Dark Body, Light Soul (Or the Tale of the Stalfos)

by Garino

23: Risk: Necro City

Chapter 23 Risk: Necro City

You know how the dead are just about easy to kill in whatever game you play? Yeah, I wish that was true. But nothing could be further from it. How King Highwind managed to get this many soldiers on his side, or better yet, how they somehow KEEP ON COMING AT US, was beyond me. I now understand why Wisp had wanted to move our collective rears and get out before we got surrounded.

Which is also why, during our fight with the guards, he would not stop rubbing it in my face.

"Did I not tell you? DID I NOT TELL YOU?!?" the pegasus shouted as he sent another wave of guards to the ground.

"Okay, I admit! I wasn't moving fast enough! Can you drop it?!?" I yelled back, swinging my hammer with hopes of sending poor sods flying out the window.

"If you two don't stop arguing, MY NEXT FIREBALL WILL BE AT YOUR HIDES!" Drac cut in, using his magic to freeze multiple guards in place.

Melody had taken to hiding. Where, exactly, I have no clue. After all, I was busy, Wisp was busy, Drac was busy, and none of us bothered to ask her afterwards.

"Guys, if they keep dragging this out, we're not gonna make it!" I pointed out. "If either of you have a plan, now would be a good time to put it into action!"

"No idea right now," Wisp replied. "I'm more focused on what's in front of me. What about you, big guy?"

Drac didn't say anything at first. A huge gryphon (I didn't know what type) had started spinning in place, turning himself into a dangerously chaotic tornado. When he got close to us, though, our vampiric unicorn simply stopped him by grabbing his weapon with magic. By the time he realized this, the gryphon was already a smoldering pile of ash. The idea clicked pretty fast.

"Dan! Grab your weapon, keep a grip, and DON'T! LET! GO!" Drac commanded. Honestly, if you were in my cloth boots, would YOU deny him? I did as instructed, holding on to my warhammer as if it would smash me to tiny bits if I didn't keep a hold on it. It started to glow blood red, as if to say, "Get used to this color, because you're gonna see a lot of it." The hammer extended as far as it could before suddenly turning to the closest enemy.

Drac's magic forced me to start spinning. Guided by the aura, I slammed into a guard, sending her right into two of her allies. But I didn't stop there; I kept spinning, hitting guards and sending them into others like dominoes. I heard laughter as the number of foes started to actually diminish.

When the last soldier had finally been defeated, Drac did the smart thing and actually slowed down my spinning instead of stopping it outright. I eternally thank him for this, because I don't think my skull would have stopped with my body had it been a sudden stop. Still didn't stop by bout of dizziness, though.

"Is...is it over?" Melody asked, emerging from wherever she had been.

"I think so, but my spin hasn't stopped braining," I slurred. "I'll get batoalnfsdake." (I wish to point out, for the record, batoalnfsdake was Drunk for 'back to you on that' and didn't know it at the time. I read that in a book, as none of us are fluent in Drunk.)

"It's over for now, Melody," Wisp assured her. "But we need to keep moving. Where should we go?"

I removed my skull and shook it to get the dizzy out. As I reattached it, Drac voiced his opinion. "The quicker we get to Highwind, the sooner we can overthrow him. I suggest we get to him as soon as possible."

I thought about reminding everyone that I really wanted my shield because I felt safer with it (when in actuallity, I just felt like Cap), but Melody and Wisp were nodding. No point in arguing in a fight I can't win. Wisp opened the door to the next room, glanced inside, then closed it back.

"We don't want to go in there," he deadpanned.

"Why not? It's the only way out of here, right?" I asked.

"Well, yeah, but..." Wisp opened the door fully to reveal...well, three of the other four Honor Guard, and a group of dangerous-looking high-ranking soldiers. All with a nerve-wracking smile.

"I just don't think THEY want us going this way," Wisp finished.

---

Infirmary

The door to Shiira's room broke open. The guard responsible for its destruction, a gryphon with a grey crest, walked in, sword ready. It was simple to get into the city. Just act like a vampire, consuming a blood pill a day, and fight to get into the guard. He would have loved to be an Honor Guard so he could assassinate the king that much more quickly. But alas, it couldn't be helped.

He reattached his arm band, crimson in color with CRD in gold. The dead were just as dumb as they said. But they were strong. He remembered the pegasus that took the tournament by storm, soundly defeating that newcomer. If she joined the Honor Guard ranks, his mission would be that much more difficult. What better time to burn that bridge than when she was incapacitated, unable to defend herself from an assailant? There were only two problems with his brilliant scheme. The first was the other guard that had been assigned to the exact same room. That was cured with silver across the neck for decapitation.

The second problem, however, was that the target wasn't in bed.

Pulling out the same sword he used to eliminate the guard, the assassin clenched his teeth, looking for possible hiding spots. Not ones he could use; ones that the pegasus could use. She was awake. She knows we know the location. Out loud, he said, "I know you're here, monster. Come out and face your redeath like the corpse you are."

Now, most of us would believe a pegasus would make a hiding spot up high. Because, y'know, few creatures can even REACH those spots. Which is why, instead of coming from ABOVE, like the fake guard believed, Shiira crawled out from under the bed (the ONLY place that wasn't investigated), snuck behind her assassin (who was preoccupied with looking up for her), and slammed her hoof into the back of his neck, causing him to lose his grip on his sword.

"Then it's a good thing vampires aren't considered 'dead' around here," she chuckled. The assailant tried to get up, but the pressure in his neck respectfully declined his wishes. "Stay down. You've got a lot of explaining to do."

The unnamed soldier simply laughed. "Dead you may not be, but you're still as dumb as we thought. We know where the entrance to Tartarus is around here. We need only dethrone the leader to get the gem. From there..." He grunted again as Shiira's hoof became heavier.

"You are a fool. The soldiers, while misguided, will stop your friends before they even set foot ins-"

She was interrupted by the elbow colliding with her jaw, sending her flying into the wall.

"You fool,” the soldier chuckled, picking himself up and grabbing his sword. “You couldn’t possibly think the likes of your misfit guards can stop the Dawn’s Light? I’ve been here for months and not one of you has even looked at me twice, how many more do you think are here?”

Shiira snarled a curse and dodged left, just in time to avoid the decapitating strike the griffon aimed at her neck. She wasn’t as fast as she could be, since she was still recovering from her injuries, and so it was that she was unable to avoid the vicious backhand which knocked her to the floor.

“‘The Dawn comes, to banish the Night’,” he cried, piercing the tile inches from her snout as she rolled with the impact. “‘Face thy doom upon the blades of the righteous!’”

The pegasus growled and lunged, aiming to sink her teeth into the paladin’s unprotected throat, but he was ready for her. Her vicious fangs sunk not into soft, tender flesh, but the steel bracer protecting his arm. Pain lanced through her gums, but she didn’t let go. Instead, she beat her wings furiously and brought her hind legs up to deliver a stunning buck to his midsection.

The impact caused the soldier to cough warm blood all over her face, but he quickly spun with tremendous force to hurl her once more against and through the weakened wall. Shiira crashed into the adjacent room in a shower of drywall and rotting wood, knocked momentarily senseless by the impact. The gryphon was moving before she even had time to register the insane strength needed to perform such a feat, his blade coming down from above to slice her neck from her shoulders.

Fire blazed through her veins, raw fury banishing pain and numbness. It couldn’t end like this! She had come too far, sacrificed too much, to be beaten by some child without a name!

With a raw-throated scream, Shiira moved, faster than the eye could see. Springing to her feet, she dashed through his stroke and went wide around his guard, too far to reach. When she was behind him, his movements seeming slow and sluggish through her enhanced speed, she performed a leaping tackle.

The gryphon cried out in agony, bones breaking from the impact as both combatants went down.

“I. Will. Not. Lose!” Shiira growled, and with a murderous howl she sunk her teeth into the soldier’s veins and drank deep from his precious life’s blood. Finally, a real meal.

---

Author's Note: GOD, Shiira's scene was a bitch to write! But, thanks to Forevermore, who wrote the scene...I like how it turned out. I hope you guys like it, too.

And while I'm thanking people, I feel this thank-you is 23 chapters late. Glassed has been prereading this story since I started, and I am grateful for him taking the time to read the beta version before the final version. Seriously, thanks, Glassed.

And lastly, for now, stories don't become popular without readers. For those who stuck with Dan and his friends, even after the ridiculous gong show that was Chapter 21, I salute you. This story wouldn't be awesome without you guys.

Comments

[Forevermore]

Yay I was mentioned!

[RealityDowngrade]

Yay Forever more, in the words of Captain Jack Spar*glub glub glub*, sorry a wave hit me, "You add an agreeable sense of the macabre to any delirium."

And yay, more undead fighting XD

[link4588]

Praise the lord, it updated!

[fire]

awesome cant wait for next chapter

[Garino]

1447580 Sorry to keep you waiting!

[AppleTank]

Is this another one of the group of assholes who are racistspeciestdeadist?

[Doctor D]

.... Shit got real.... Again.

[Garino]

1448741 There are OTHER groups?!? I only knew about the Reverent Dawn being deadist!

[AppleTank]

1450306
You heard of Rorke the anubite skeleton? Yeah, even though Tia has said she trusts him, three ponies still tries exorcising him w/ a holy sword or something.

PS, the ponies died.

[Garino]

1451718 Rorke the anubite skeleton has escaped my attention.

[AppleTank]

1451739
Its okay, I read too much for my own good. No one ever made a easy reference timeline for authors to know what everyone else is doing, is there?

[VericSunseeker984]

This story (in my opinion) needs 2 things but only the first one is important!
1 needs more cowbell.
2 needs more lightning in a bottle.

[revilO]

What is the timeline in this chapter compared to either the show or the chess game universe?

[Mother3Forever]

1451776 I need to read that story. WHat's it called?

[AppleTank]

1461947
Skeletons of the past

[Big-X]

Oh gawd, with a name like "Dawns Light" it can't be good. I really hope that they get what's coming to them.

[the monkey ninja]

So. Paladins. In all honesty, I expected them to make a move an appearance earlier.

[ManWithThePan]

I'm gonna laugh if one of the Paladins is named Leeroy

[draco the flamewing]

3766537 LEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY JENKINS!!!!!

[Black--Soul]

Im pretty confused but i just stick around and enjoy the chaos