001 PROLOGUE: WITHOUT A NAME
002 CHAPTER 01: OF GODS AND MONSTERS
003 CHAPTER 02: AN UNLIKELY EMISSARY
004 CHAPTER 03: AN ADVENT TO SHADOWS
005 INTERMEZZO: WHITE NOISE
006 CHAPTER 04: SEEDS OF DESTRUCTION, THE BOY-AVATAR AWAKENS
007 CHAPTER 05: STORM ON THE CELESTIAL CASTLE
008 CHAPTER 06: THE PATH TO DECIMATION
009 INTERMEZZO: THE LAST PAWN
010 CHAPTER 07: EIGHT YEARS AGO
011 FINAL CHAPTER: THE WISDOM FROM FRIENDS
Another three fell before me. I lowered my staff and whispered an incantation of dispelling of psychic threads to the Weave, and exhaled. Looking to my right, it seems that my Dhan comrade has just ended his little frolic with two of the enemy guild's numbers as well.
The leader of our squadron, a Human male no more than a stripling youth, is hard-pressed on his battle with the Captain of the Guard. The singing of steel on steel rang on through the cold, crisp Siemech dawn, with no telltale signs of breaking.
"Do you think we should help him out?" said the Dhan, who was suddenly, stealthily beside me. I have long stopped being surprised and amazed at how silent and agile the Dhans can be. The culture and the ways of their people might be a mystery to the entire continent, but the fact that they are all trained assassins is no secret. Chilling to think about what they go through before they are given leave to explore the walls outside Kowarre, their home country.
"He will not allow it," I said without taking my eyes off the fight. Although I must admit, there is a faint scalding in my throat of a spell of empowerment threatening to be let loose. But our leader made it clear before our assault that he alone will face the Captain of the Guard, and he will brook no interference from any of us. Young he may be, but the potent power in his voice reserved no place for contention.
The battle is mounting. Both warriors have discarded their shields and most of their armors. The glint of their swords in the morning light was a divine sight in itself. It seems they are talking, but their words are lost in the distance.
Quite unexpectedly, our young leader eased his stance and thrust his sword to the ground. His opponent, in contrast, crouched low and brought his sword up. I reached into the Weave in a fit of curiosity and silently spun a spell to sharpen my vision.
The Captain's face was, to say the least, fascinating -- every muscle was stone-still and ice-cold, like the crags of a lonely, desolate cliff. Life has drained from his eyes, as if he'd want nothing more than an honorable death. And, glancing at our leader, it seems he will get it.
"That's it, I'm helping him," the Dhan beside me spoke urgently, clasping the hilt of his katar.
"Stand down, Brother," I said, crossing his path with my staff. "It is almost finished."
And it is indeed reaching its crescendo. The Captain broke into a dash, his sword boiling blood red in the sun. The undulations of the Weave were maddening even from this distance, yet our young leader remained calm. He raised his blood-marred arms at the approach of his opponent as if in welcome, and at the second of impact, there was nothing but pure, white light.
The etheric affinity of Dark Elves to the Weave enabled me to anticipate the onslaught of dissonant magic and I was able to raise a barrier both for me and my Dhan comrade. Even so, it took most of my psychic energy to constantly reinforce and adjust the barrier to the right size and strength every so often to prevent it from shattering prematurely. I ought to talk to our leader about this. Powerful he may be, but the reckless use of force may very well put our squadron's mission in jeopardy.
"Brother," my Dhan comrade said, through the ringing of magic in my ears. "That power wasn't..."
"... human, I know," I finished, through gritted teeth.
And as quickly as it sparked to life, the waves and waves of energy just... vanished. Gone. Like the side of a mountain exploding, leaving a gaping, yawning hole, so did the sudden release of power leave a gaping, yawning hole in the Weave. Yes, it will heal, but with the strain it went through, it will take time.
I lowered my staff but I kept the barrier up. Aside from protecting us, it served to dampen the ambient magic, preventing any other Dark Elf or anything else tied to the Weave from sensing the dissonance that just occurred. I let out an incantation to hold the barrier indefinitely until the Weave manages to heal itself.
Me and the Dhan ran towards our leader, not waiting for the smoke to clear. I knew we weren't really expecting to see him dead; that wasn't our cause for hurry. What we wanted to know was -- and at this point we've reached the epicenter of devastation where our leader was standing, or rather, stood -- why Roha was in the form of a stripling youth, smiling at us.
