Saros

by shortskirtsandexplosions

The Book of Saros

From the sunlit side of the moon, the three Rune Guards could see the pale-blue column of light surging off into space. Stellar gaped in horror as the two guards mumbled fitfully behind him. They all watched, helpless to stop the beacon. As it pierced the furthest reaches of space, the Captain thought he could spot four distant stars—brighter than the rest of the constellations—flashing in response, pulsating, and darting out of their cosmic formation. In a blink, they dissolved from his view of the celestial sky, and he could no longer focus on anything. He could only feel a deep panic, like an icy chill, creeping over every square centimeter of his battered figure.

"Impossible..." Stellar whimpered. "We... We had it... We had it!"

"'By her beauty, we art given spirit...'" Myrk's voice sounded strong all of the sudden.

Gazing down, Stellar realized why. He gasped, for in his shocked reaction to the blue beacon, he had neglected to notice the looming onset of night.

The guards rattled in their armor as the sun disappeared past the furthest mountains. Before them, within a stone's throw, the pitch black horizon of lunar evening was seeping over the craters, surging towards them like a menacing curtain.

Myrk hissed, his breaths growing longer and angrier as his skin was no longer burning. "'By her righteous fury, we art given strength...'"

Stellar stumbled backwards, his blood freezing within his veins as the sands dimmed all around him. The powder cooled like ice around his hooves. A sheen of frost formed along his battered helmet and scimitar.

"'A new night falls,'" Myrk hissed. As the inky curtain shrouded his features, the last visible thing was the menacing glint of his fangs. "'And let all who dread Her glory tremble and quake.'"

Myrk disappeared, as did the entire lunarscape. Stellar and his two guards stood on a solid plain of pitch black nothingness, surrounded by the mere echoes of their panting breaths. Their horns glowed between them, and yet they could barely see a few centimeters beyond their own muzzles.

Stellar blinked. In swift order, he stabbed into the ground with his scimitar several times. He struck nothing but pebbles and dust. Myrk was gone. Cursing under his breath, he spun around and gazed across the darkness. He was beginning to hyperventilate.

The guards alongside him were no less scared. "C-Captain?!"

"Captain Pierce, we n-need orders!"

"Everypony, stay alert!" Stellar said, but his growling resolve had long gone. He gulped and practically squeaked forth, "J-Just keep close. The Empress has entrusted us with power of timeless sorcery. Let us find our way back to the ventilation sha—"

A body blurred by them, black and leathery.

"Elektra alive!" one guard spun about, brandishing his sword and sweating profusely within the glow of his horn. "Captain—!"

"I said stay alert!"

Another shadow darted between the three.

The guards spun and slashed at each other. Sparks flew from their blades as the two stumbled apart, gasping. Suddenly—in a flurry of black powder—one was slammed onto his chest from behind and dragged out of the sphere of the other two's light.

"Captainnnnnnn!" he shrieked until his terrified voice was drowned in darkness.

"Corporal!" the other guard stammered.

Stellar was speechless. His scimitar hovered shakily in his telekinetic grasp. A flurry of wind kicked at his mane.

Beside him, the second guard's body disappeared within a cocoon of leather wings. "Gaaaaaaaaaahh—" His shrieking voice dissipated as he was lifted like a missile straight up into the stars.

Stellar spun, pale as the ashes of Consus. He was alone. His armor rattled. His breath came in timid little vapors.

Just as swiftly, the guard's scream returned, this time hurdling down like a comet. He landed directly on his neck. With a sickening snap, he tumbled dead at Stellar's hooves.

The Captain stumbled back from the body, waving his scimitar back and forth and trying not to retch. Just then, something blurred by and clamped onto his sword with metal horseshoes. The scimitar was yanked from his magical grasp like a torn leaf.

Stellar panted, whimpered, and transformed his breaths into a furious, all-encompassing yell. He protruded the manarifle from his shoulder and fired madly into the darkness, chanting over and over again until veins popped from his sweat-stained neck: "H'rhnum! H'rhnum! H'rhnum!"

He stumbled back until he tripped over the edge of a crater. He fell back onto his spine, winced, and looked straight up. For the briefest of moments, he thought he spotted two orbs—blacker than the blackest reaches of space—and then they were followed by the bright flash of ivory fangs that lunged at him through the emptiness.

If the Captain had one last breath to give, it would have been a sob.

Myrk plowed into him, fangs digging deep into the unicorn's twitching neck. A pair of onyx eyeslits narrowed on the Rune Guard. As Captain Pierce Stellar bled out, he and his nemesis shared a lasting stare, and it wasn't the sarosian who blinked.

Stellar twitched once, twice, and fell still under Myrk's jaws. With a lasting shutter, his horn grew dim, and the life left his body on the heels of pathetic anger.

True darkness fell. Myrk stood in the center of the ring made by the corpses of his enemies. He winced, hissing into the shadows as every centimeter of him screamed from burns and lacerations. He tried to take wing, but the energy simply wasn't there. He trotted a few meters forward, teetered left, teetered right, and collapsed in a groaning slump.

Dust flew up and settled around him, bathing him in the soothing frost of lunar night. Myrk lay there, on the edge of the crater, alone and paralyzed. As his panting breaths grew further and further apart, he wondered—prayed—that the beacon had accomplished its purpose, that the four stars—the holy sisters—would come to aid his patron goddess in her time of need.

With a lingering thought, Myrk tilted his face up. The last thing he saw was the blue column of light: the shimmering beacon burning its way into the blackness of space in all its strength and glory.

Comments

[Csquared08]

Epic nighttime Myrk is epic.

[Lordmiak]

Dat horror scene ! So awesome !
It's my favorite scene in the movie yet.

[Yami Vizzini]

With a lingering thought, Myrk tilted his face up. The last thing he saw was the blue column of light: the shimmering beacon burning its way into the blackness of space in all its strength and glory.

[Revan]

And then night fell...

[AppleTank]

Dank black eyes

[FOXTrot2]

The guards rattled in their armor as the sun disappeared past the furthest mountains. Before them, within a stone's throw, the pitch black horizon of lunar evening was seeping over the craters, surging towards them like a menacing curtain.

Where is your precious light now?

"Captainn nnnnn !" he shrieked until his terrified voice was drowned in darkness.

That's some horror movie stuff right there.

With a lingering thought, Myrk tilted his face up. The last thing he saw was the blue column of light: the shimmering beacon burning its way into the blackness of space in all its strength and glory.

R.I.P. batboi, you're the greatest thestral to ever live.