Ginji wiped the tears still lingered on his eyes, blade flashed, covered in more and more blood with each swing against the mutated beast-men that have infested the temple ground. Around him, the escorts that have been teleported there fought against wild goat headed humanoids with unmatched ferocity alongside the contingents of magi and their forces that have been sent here to study the ruins and keep the beast-men populations under control many months ago. Still their combined strength weren't enough to make quick works of the rabbles, the energy leaking from the temple's core have attracted herds of beast-men here and allowing many Unbirthed to manifest.
- Push on! We're almost there! - The high elf barked, cutting down a score of goat-headed abominations as he dashed through them.
Behind him dozens of high elves, dark elves and blood elves fought fiercely, along with the valkyries and Anacondrai, they started to make progress. Inch by bloody inch, they pushed through hordes of beast-men and Unbirthed. Years, decades, possibly centuries of neglect have turned the overgrown sections of the temple grounds into the spawning grounds of herds of beast-men, there must have been thousands, if not tens of thousands of the crazed beasts here. Ginji scoffed, lobbing off the head of a goat-headed beast-men, his eyes fixed upon the broken pyramid glistening in the late autumn's sun, so close yet looking so far behind seemingly unending hordes of cloven hoofed beasts. Hails of arrows zipped through the air, their crystalized shafts glittered in the light, dazzling the elves' enemies before ripping through them. Magical attacks rained down from the dozens of magi from many orders of mages that have been sent here, each obliterating scores of the vile beasts. And still they kept coming, for each of them brought low, two more seemed to took its place.
- We have no time for this! The Emperor will be upon us soon! - Ginji roared, shredding through dozens of his adversaries, even at this place many miles away from the conflict, he could feel the Dusk Bringer's slowly being overwhelmed by the Emperor. Shaking his head to clear the thought, he barked at one of the adept mages that have been charged to look over the garrisons: - Unleash your power and open a blood path to the pyramid! Now!
- We can't! - The dark elven mage of shadow roared back, sending several beast-men flying with a eldritch blast of shadow magic, before cutting down another two with the sickle blade of his staff. - The warding!
- What?! - Ginji squeaked, before quickly raising his sword to block the crudely forged sword of a beast-man. With swift motions, the high elf twisted and turned his entire body, letting the sword and its master falling forward and slashing it, before furiously turning to the mage. - You mean to tell me you didn't deactivate the warding all this time we're fighting them?!
- We can't, m'lord! - The mage shrieked, sweeping away several beast-men and Unbirthed with his weapons covered in dark violet magic, rending at his enemies' flesh and souls. - If we do, stronger Unbirthed will appear in greater numbers!
- That's an unbelievable huge load of bullcrap if I've ever heard one! - Ginji hissed at the mage, not noticing the towering form parting the horde of Unbirthed and beast-men as it make its way toward him, shaking its massive bull-like horns in maddened bloodlust.
- Look out!
The high elf turned, two colored eyes widened in horror as the massive two handed axe of the gigantic centaur's brought down on him, the beast's so close to him that he thought it a giant mountain has blocked out the sun at first. Ginji sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the beast's crudely forged axe, so close was it to hit him that he thought he saw his reflection on the side of the massive weapon, the fearful expression became distorted and warped almost beyond recognition by the beast-men's clumsy metalwork. Metal plates bent and stones shattered as the beast's axe bit deep into the ground like a shovel, before being brought into and upward swipe that sent Ginji and a few others flying.
The minotaur lifted its axe above its horned head, maw full of bone crushing molars filed into vicious cones opened wide as it let out a terrifying challenging scream. The other beast-men that were not engaged chimed in, filling the air with their orchestra of wild and maddened braying, cries of war aimed at the intruders as they charged into the frays, cloven hooves stained red from trampling their fallen kin. The elven spear was halted in its track, one moment ago they were cutting down beast-men and Unbirthed by the dozens, now they themselves were being pushed back into phalanxes and shield walls holding the choke point at one of the many gates of the temple.
- Push! Push forward! - Ginji roared, his efforts increased ten folds just to keep himself from loosing any more ground, now that the hordes of beasts were joined by towering minotaurs three meters tall.
The garrison forces held, yet gained no more ground, even the high elf's elite cracked troops and the escorting warriors didn't help turn the tide, there were simply too many of these rabbles, too many for their warriors, too many for their meager, hampered magic. They needed real magic. The commander grinded his teeth and raised his sword high above his head, channeling magic into the blade, making it glow, the air around it shimmered and turned cold. He could feel it, the magic here wasn't enough for a real offensive magical attack, forcing him to drain his own life source to enforce his attack.
With a painful grunt, Ginji swung his blade down and forward, as he did, he tasted blood in his mouth, gushing from his internal wounds, the sudden shock of pain forcing him onto one knee. Yet at the same time, his desperate gamble paid out, as blinding, freezing magic leapt from his sword and into the hordes, directly at the first minotaur. Ragged spikes of ice jabbed upward from the frozen ground in a straight line, ripping through the heart of the approaching beast-men armies, sending bloodied corpses flying or impaling them. In a mere instant, their advance was halted, the entirety of the horde froze from the sudden lost of their vanguards to just a single one of the puny invaders, with several of them being closest to him turned into statues of ice.
- My Lord! - An adept fire mage called out, his staff seemingly shaped from hardened magma drew a trail of fire as he rushed toward Ginji kneeling and coughing from his own spell.
- Your staff! - The high elf barked, turning his face toward the approaching mage and reached out his arm. - Give it to me!
- Wh-what? - The mage stuttered.
- Just give it!
Another shriek from Ginji, along with the braying hordes of beast-men and Unbirthed urged the mage to obey. The dark elf mage grunted, clutching at his staff, before bending and throwing it at his commander. The high elf seized the magical instrument and spun it in his hand, using the swirling magic and the staff's own momentum to drag himself to his feet.
- Magi! Channel your magic to me! - Ginji roared, crossing his sword to the fire mage's staff, ice and fire magic churned and circled around him.
Without hesitation, adept magi of all lores of magic pulled their magic and redirected it into the high elven commander, themselves being strengthened and protected by scores of battle magi still lobbing bolts of magic into occasional beast-man or Unbirthed. The air around him shimmered as Ginji felt magic coursed into him, along with the pain that came with it, as the magic-hampering wards and seals put on this site pushed down against him, threatening to break him, unleashing the energy into a magic backlash.
Was this what he's been living with? Ginji asked himself, his teeth clenched and hands gripping at the weapons to tight they drew blood, as he tried to keep the magic from imploding. It's horrible, every single second passed inflicted indescribable pain onto his body, if not his very soul, only increasing as more and more magi channeled their power into him. He felt the weight of the wards and seals pushed down on him, the more he took in, the heavier it get, until the high elf felt like he was holding an entire mountain. And Quetz lived under the effects of wards and seals ten times this powerful for years.
Ginji shook his head, focusing more in the task ahead rather than the lingering, distracting thoughts, lest he fails. Even now when the hordes were cautiously advancing toward the source of great magic, invisible concentrations of raw reality warping energy manifested in the middle of their ranks. The ice spires shifted ever so slightly, minute changes too small for the simpleminded beasts to notice or even comprehend, shaping themselves into shapes of bows and arrows nocked and drawn fully, readied to be released.
With a cry, Ginji wrenched his arms apart, unleashing the fury of magic into their foes. The traps were sprung, the invisible orbs flashed into pulsing balls of magma that imploded outward like miniature floating volcanoes. Most of the beast-men and Unbirthed didn't even feel the molten rocks washing over them, so sudden and violent was the outburst of heat and magic that it boiled them alive from the inside instantly, the closest beasts being reduced to ashes before the onslaught of fire. Flaming vortexes whipped themselves into existence buffing up scores of goat-headed monstrosities, towering minotaurs and shrieking Unbirthed, sweeping back and fort, surrounding the panicking and fleeing hordes, before exploding upward.
Ashes drifted in the steamy ruins, falling down like black snow, patches of them clung to the armors and clothes of the garrisons and escorting forces, ranks upon ranks of soldier stood still, eyes bulging and mouth agape as the sight before them. Where once there was only a narrow path leading to the main temple complex, surrounded by dense forests and teaming with beast-men and Unbirthed, now there's but a great, black, shallow crater, with a charred trenched leading toward the pyramid itself. They could still hear the braying of the surviving beast-men, the few lucky survivors that were at the outer most range of the fiery destruction cried out, outraged and horrified by the lost of so many of their kind. They roared and hurled their weapons at the small army in challenging gestures, yet not daring to approach any further, lest they're wiped out completely.
Ginji panted heavily, almost falling to his knees has it not for the staff still humming its song from the magic it's unleashed, before slowly silencing and falling into stillness. The high elf tried to adjust his breaths, chest rose and collapsed as he tried to stand up, yet his legs felt heavy, stiff and unmoving, like rocks. With a defeated grunt, the blond fell to his knees, one hand cutting itself on the jagged shaft of the staff, while the other twisted, jabbing the sword into the charred earth to keep him from falling any further. He coughed out blood, the bitter taste filled his mouth as the crimson liquid that is lifeblood splattered on the charred earth.
The staff slipped from Ginji's hand, landing onto the ground with a large thud that sent out sparks that quickly fizzled out. The high elf panted heavy, having barely enough strength in his arms to support his weight. He heard the frantic cries of his soldiers rushing toward him, a quick glance to their direction confirmed it. Yet he felt something else apart from their concern for his wellbeing, fear, he thought, they're afraid of something, a low rumbling from the distance that's getting closer and closer by the seconds. Grunting and clenching his teeth, Ginji pulled himself up, already he could feel the tingling sensation of a baleful sun blazing down on them. The Emperor is coming, the realization caused his heart to tighten and skip a beat.
They have fallen.
Lucious has fallen.
The sudden pain shot through his body, giving the blond elf only enough time to cover his mouth as blood gushed out. Once again Ginji found himself on his knees, one hand clawed into the ashen ground, while the other still keeping any more blood from coming out. Yet it was futile, as trickles of crimson liquid leaked from the cracks between his fingers, tickling his skin, before dripping down onto the black soil, still so infused with the unleashed magic and spared from the still buckling effects of the wards, that tendrils of dusts and ashes reached up to catch the falling droplets, splattering them like crimson flowers.
As the energy of the wards slowly stabled, Ginji felt the burning gaze of the blue sun lessened, they all did, the ethereal flames stinging their skin and psyches alike like a rain of needles slowed and stopped, leaving behind a chill colder than the void between the stars themselves. The blond shivered, shaking off both the dreaded sensation and the physical pain alike, his eyes shot upward, staring intensely at the pyramid, their destination. Still too far away, but not far enough that the Emperor could catch them.
A glowing orb of light manifested inside Ginji's palm, the high elf commander felt its warmth slowly seeping into his skin, reknitting his snapped muscles and cracked bones from his effort of casting the devastating magic. Without hesitation, he slammed the orb into his chest, the healing energy coursed through his body, causing him to shuddered and staggered back. He grunted as cracked bones and snapped muscled fibers were reknitted, it wasn't true healing per se, but it will have to suffice.
- Commander! - A high elf rushed toward Ginji.
- Report. - The blond coughed, wiping the blood still lingering on the corner of his mouth as he spoke quietly.
- Some of the troops were injured, but we took no casualty. - The other said quickly, eyeing the sky where the low rumblings could still be heard. - Not yet…
- Snap out of it! - Ginji grunted, holding onto his side and panted, feeling the tickling sensation of sweats dripping down from his head.
- Sir! - The elf cried out.
- Don't bother! - The blond hissed, pulling himself straight up, his red and blue eyes staring at the pyramid, gleaming in the light of the winter sun. - We still have a long way to go… - He quietly mumbled, before turning to his subordinate. - How's the young lord?
- He's…fine. - The elf nodded. - But…there's something sir.
- There's nothing. - Ginji snarled, sword swinging in a wide arch before pointing the tip at the pyramid. - Listen up! - He turned to his soldiers and bellowed. - We still have a long way to go, but not long enough that we'd be caught by the thing that's coming! We can reach it in time, if we move quickly.
- But sir! Our wounded! - A dark elf mage protested, stepping toward the high elf commander from his warriors.
- Leave them!
Silence followed that cry, as the entire army and the air itself were appalled, shocked and baffled by the words, and the emotions roiling in it. Ginji panted through clenched teeth, eyes darting from one horrified expression of his soldiers to another, the horrific realization of what he's just said slowly dawned in his mind. Unthinkable, the thought raced through the blond's mind, he slowly stood up straight, having bent over toward the mage when he barked out those words, the tensed features on his face softened as he took in more and more of the confused and terrified faces of his men. He could see it on their faces. Fear, anger, disbelief, how can he suggest such a thing, to leave the wounded soldiers here and continue? Yet what choice did he have? What choice did they have?
- Leave them. - Ginji quietly said, turning away to hide the doubting expression on his face. - Split up, take the wounded to safety, the rest of you follow me to the pyramid.
- Insane! - Another mage shriek, not of outrage from the commander's previous order, but from his later statement. - The inner temple is still swarming with those beasts! Already the survivors are regrouping in there, I can sense it! If we split off our forces, your wing will be overrun! Y-you…you'll never make it!
- What choice do we have then? - Ginji snarled bitterly, hand clutching at the hilt of his sword so hard that it shook. - We have no effective healing spells, and healing each of the wounded will take too long! Split up, or be caught by the Emperor, at the very least, we can open a blood path through the hordes.
- But… - The mage sputtered, horrified by the notion and scenario his superior has suggested. - …how?
- Perhaps I can be of service.
A voice rang from the near by growths of dense trees, causing Ginji and the warriors nearest to it turned around, their eyes fixed upon the general direction where it's came from. The voice was…familiar, yet tried as they might, none of them could remember where they've heard it. And it was…vague, near impossible to pinpoint where it's came from, even with their keen elvish sense of hearing. Whoever it was that has spoken out, they could only tell that it came from an elf. A dark elf.
A dozen minotaurs roared and charged through the tree lines toward the disarrayed ranks of elves, Anacondrai and Valkyries, catching them off guard. Ginji lifted his sword, his closest troops followed, spears and swords raised, their cries rang across the ashen fields, preparing for an ambush. Yet it wasn't an ambush, not entirely, for a split seconds, Ginji realized non of the charging beasts was carrying weapons, and their braying was that of terror, not a war cry.
The bull-headed monsters ran pass several groups of warriors, suffering minor cuts yet did not stop to engage, their massive hands raised to cover their head. Smoky dark tendrils made of pure amethyst magic rushed from the trees, impaling the minotaurs, as the dark energy bore into flesh, they sapped away at the very life force of their victims. Just as fast as they moved, the tendrils exploded into small clouds of darkness, reducing their victims to dried husks, drained of all life. All save for one.
The last beast roared out in horror as it saw the fate that has befallen its kind, tears and saliva dripping from its head as it ran faster. But was for naught, in an instant, faster than the eye can blink, Ginji felt a presence so wrapped and shrouded in deathly magic that, for a moment, he thought it was a bolt of pure energy that has been shot at the beast. It was not the case, it was an elf, a dark elf swordsman shrouded in cascading dark magic has rushed from the tree lines and appeared just above the minotaur.
His great sword flashed wildly, rending the beast into several pieces flying with each stroke of his vicious blade. The swordsman landed gracefully on his feet and swung the blade to clean it of the tainted blood, sheathing his sword which was longer than the average sword of the foot soldiers by at least two third the length. He bore neither shield nor appropriate plating armors for protection, on a ragged cloak and haphazardly strung together fragments of star metal plates and scales around his waists and shoulders. An Ebon Blade, Ginji's eyes widened at the thought, a breed of dark elf warriors that he thought has gone extinct since…
The newcomer turned and nodded at the high elf, the lower half of his face and his left eye shrouded under tattered cloths seemingly sharing the same origin of his clothing and billowing cloak. Even in its ragged state, the dark cloak still gleamed darkly in the pale sunlight, impossibly dark, bearing runes, symbols and sigils of his home world.
- It can't be… - The high elf commander sputtered. - You…you're from…
- Tiama'Tai, yes. - The Ebon Blade nodded. - I'm a survivor, a refugee. And today I'm a warrior again. - He took steps toward Ginji, every step made the deathly magic cascading from this cloak, his violet eye positively glowing. The dark elf stood in front of the blond, hand gesturing toward the direction of the still unconscious white haired boy. - I've come to help you escort my Lord to safety.