Markos held the butt of his rifle tightly against his shoulder. Stillness settled around them. Shadows shifted as the moon hid its face behind a thick grey cloud. Even the snowfall stopped. His heartbeat thudded in the deafening silence that followed. His body tensed as he strained to peer past the sheet of darkness that wrapped around them.
A biting wind rose up and tore at their clothes, their cloaks whipped up into the air around them as it tried to drive them back. He couldn't see beyond the edge of his rifle. He sensed the templar just beyond. Even the glow of Iliana's eyes were consumed by the inky blackness. His throat burned as he struggled to breathe.
An icy tendril bit into the fabric of his gambeson, tightening around his neck at the edges of his Maraium armor. It yanked him forward as panic rose up in a throttled cry. Markos fought against the instinct to drop his weapon and claw at the unseen entity that was choking him. He leaning back, he counted to three.
A corona of light exploded from the muzzle of his rifle. In the moment of illumination he stared into the hollow spectre of a hulking maw. To call it a man or a beast didn't fit. It was a living mass of shadow lost within the natural darkness of the forest. Its gnashing maw glittered like obsidian in the afterglow of his shot inside of its jaws. His eyes widened in horror at the aphotic that was trying to consume him.
His ball of shot punched through the thick shadows, and brought with it the thundering boom and the noises of the forest that had been stolen by its presence. A high pitched shrieking howl echoed with the jumbled wails of despair of the dead.
Markos fell backward into the snow as it released him.
A warmth flooded over him as Iliana advanced on the creature. A veil of light pulled down over the area and the aphotic screeched. More holes exploded outward from the hulking form from the percussion of Caelyn's rifle. The return of the sound brought Markos back from his fear.
He quickly packed the next shot. His muscles keenly remembered the task even if he could barely see in front of him. He gratefully sucked in frigid air, grateful to still be alive as the rifle flipped back up to his shoulder.
Iliana spoke in a language he didn't understand. It carried with it a tone of pity and regret. The creature wheeled on her. A foul stench of rotten meat and bile filled the air as it bellowed. Its rage directed at the anithesis of its existence. It was the avatar of death while the Ember was the avatar of life.
She cast off her cloak and stood before the beast. Magic flowed through and around her, making her glow more brightly than any bonfire. Her jaw was set as she raised her arms. Her hands were empty. She wore no armor and held no weapon save her magic.
"Stay focused! We're almost there!"
Markos and Caelyn fired two more volleys into the beast and it barely slowed down. The men moved in tandem, flanking the aphotic and drew their swords.
It crashed with a wail of pain into an invisible barrier in front of the Ember priestess.
The air grew hotter for a moment before all heat dissipated around them. Its tendrils glittered as their swords smashed into it, shattering it like ice.
A strange warmth bubbled up from the base of Markos's throat and burst from his mouth, "Back to the undeath from while you came!" The strange words reverberated and sent the beast back. His intention made tangible by his will and magic.
Together, the templars drove the beast away from Iliana and cornered it at the edge of her magical barrier. It flattened against the wall of light, sparks flew and it convulsed like it had been struck by lightning.
Each sword swing whittled the creature down into a mote of obsidian.
Iliana appeared between them. They instinctively stepped back as she put her hands on either side of the mote. A blinding explosion of light boomed from her and left them reeling.
Markos's ears rung and sweat curled down the back of his neck and froze. His hands cramped around the hilt of the borrowed sword. His body tingled. When his vision cleared, Iliana's was panting heavily and her clothes clung to her, heavy with sweat. She was pale and trembling as she hugged a large egg shaped piece of obsidian to her chest.
Caelyn moved away and checked the edge of the clearing, beckoning for Markos to do the same. He reluctantly went to his task as moonlight illuminated the clearing once more. He tasted copper on this tongue. Crimson blood covered the entire clearing. He glanced down, sticky blood coated his sword and cuirass. 'The tendrils were more than just shadow?'
He searched for the remains of the thing they had fought. He followed the bloody trail to a distinct edge, he suspected was from the shield. A putrefied corpse with a shattered skull, was curled in a ball. He peered closer at the mucked up clothing and saw a clean piece of vibrant orange. He plunged his sword down into the remains with a quick prayer.
It squelched and moved no more. 'Isn't that the same color as Iliana's robes? No one else in the country wears those colors except for the Flamen...'
He glanced up to see Caelyn steely eyes staring at him. "We need to take her back to the wall. The Whisperers will come by and clean this up."
Iliana limped to them and touched their arms. "I've done all I can for her. It's up to Mara now."
She shivered, rubbing her arms from the chill. Markos pulled his cloak from his shoulders, wrapping it around her. 'She's not accustomed to feeling the cold. What happened?'
She stumbled into him. Markos reached out to keep her from falling into the bloodstained snow.
Caelyn watched with an almost pained expression. He nodded. "Help her get back. I'll pull rear guard."
Markos steadied Iliana and slowly guided her back.
'Iliana said, 'her'. Was that aphotic an Ember once? What was that egg she held?'
Iliana was quiet, her eyes dull as she limped alongside Markos. When a root nearly took the woman off her feet, he gathered her up in in arms.
"No, I'm.."
"It's okay. You can rest now. I'll get you back." Markos interrupted. "I won't be offended if you sleep." It surprised him with how light she was. He'd have sworn that she was made of air. Her head settled against his shoulder.
"..thank you."
He lost track of how long it took to reach the wall, he was too preoccupied with not jostling Iliana too took as he listened to her soft breathing over the whispers of the winter wind. A owl hooted off in the distance as it felt like life returned to the forest once more.