Darren recalled his Knight's Armament and led the trio through the energy barrier in front of them. As soon as he crossed through the pressure on his body lifted and the smells that permeated the bridge assaulted his nose abruptly. He squeezed his nostrils closed with his fingers, disgusted by the overwhelming mix of odor and fragrance, of beauty and decay. His companions stepped through immediately after him and had much the same reaction he had to the stench.
The assault on their olfactory senses was so powerful that they didn't even notice all the Duskborne in the massive portal room they'd just entered. The entire area was still and quiet as all eyes bored into them. Dozens of the Duskborne filled the space, outfitted in much the same way as the initial party they'd met, and killed. One of the creatures dropped something heavy, sending a resounding thud echoing through the giant stone room.
A rasping yell rang out from somewhere on the other side of the large group of monsters, in a language Darren did not understand. Suddenly, though, the entire atmosphere changed, and all of the Duskborne in sight brandished their blades and ran straight for the human warriors.
Immediately Hardy began firing his rifle with surprising effectiveness, felling an enemy with his first shot to its head. To his right, Kaycee began firing arrows, slowing and killing Duskborne one by one. Darren, knowing his role in this battle, jumped forward into the fray. He rapidly absorbed all the energy he was able to, and imbued it into his Knight's Armament. The blue-green blade crackled with electric POWER as he began slicing into his enemies.
He was not typically a very violent man, but this was life or death. These Duskborne were intent on invading his home to do only God knew what. He couldn't let that happen. So he stepped deftly between the creatures as bullets and arrows sped into them, wielding his sword expertly. He stabbed one, pulled his sword free and spun to decapitate the next. Two more were dismembered and bleeding profusely in the blink of an eye.
He tried to not to sink too deeply into the group of enemies, as he knew that it was Kaycee and Hardy that were protecting his flanks. If he pushed too hard he'd leave their protection behind and be encircled and, most likely, dead. Even though he was aware of a possible loss here, he fell into an electric rhythm. With his sword imbued with POWER, neither the armor, flesh, or bones of the Duskborne gave any resistance to it.
In the space of a minute, and with his warrior companions' help, they'd dropped over a quarter of the dozens of Duskborne before them. The quick deaths their comrades were met with, and the lack of injury on their attackers, caused the creatures to balk momentarily. It was then, as they failed to push forward, that they were forced out of the way by a creature taller and wider than any of them.
Darren took in his appearance quickly, which appeared to be a he, as did all of the Duskborne he'd seen so far. This one, however, was clearly more than were the warriors around him. He was tall, taller than anyone else in sight, and quite muscular, with alabaster skin and hair as black as midnight. Red and black veins spread across his body and his eyes glowed the color of amber, flickering like dying embers. The creature was close enough for Darren to see both cunning and menace in those eyes.
A series of jagged, silver scars ran across both of his exposed forearms. He wore a higher grade armor than did the other Duskborne in the expansive room. His armor appeared to be made of the scales of some kind of serpent, and it was a deep black.
Darren was shocked when the creature spoke in words he understood. "Hellowww, Human," the creature said. His voice was gruff, and raspy, and he dragged the last syllable of "hello" out in a menacing way.
Darren readied himself, keeping his sword prepared and his mind on the reason for their coming to this dreadful place. The Duskborne continued speaking.
"I am Bloodddddd Captain, Kaelen Veyl," he said. "I am the leaderrrr of THIS! WAR! BAND!" Kaelen Veyl continued to oddly drag out certain words beyond when he should have. He yelled the last three words as he looked around at the other Duskborne, who all growled and yelled at his proclamation. His speech was halted, too, as if he had to think about each word before he said it.
Darren didn't really care who he was, though. "And?" he said.
The Blood Captain looked shocked at Darren's lack of regard for his station. After a moment, Kaelen Veyl said, "I thinkkkk I like you, Humannnn. We are the Shadowfang Warbannnnnd, of the Nightfang Tribe. We are the first warbannnnd to enter the Earth realm, and battle for glory and conquessssst."
"So those other monsters we already killed were part of your warband, too?" Darren asked.
"Indeeeeed, they were, as were all of these fallennnnn, here," he said, gesturing to the dead bodies littering the floor. "You are a warriorrrrr of great strength. However, I, too, am a warriorrrr of great strength. I have SLAYED! THE! DREAM! WARDEN! As is evidenced by these feathers worn by myyyyy people." Kaelen Veyl gestured to feathers that were hanging from his shoulders, as well as from the armor pieces of several of his warband members. Darren hadn't noticed them before, but now he could see that almost all of the warriors had at least one of the feathers.
Kaelen Veyl continued, "I led the Silent Massacre. I have survived the Challenge of the Cresent Moon THREE! TIMES!" Each time Kaelen Veyl yelled, his warband cheered louder and louder. "I will kill you, nowwwww, and regain my warband's honorrrr."
Darren looked at Kaycee, then at Hardy, who now stood to either side of him once more. "I don't think we're going to be okay with that," he said humorlessly.
"Even so, whattt must be done, must be donnnnne," the Blood Captain said, drawing twin crescent blades from his back. The blades were as black as night and seemed to emanate a dark energy that made a chill run up Darren's spine.
"Something is wrong with those blades," Kaycee said quietly.
"Yeah, no kidding," Darren replied. "Well, it was nice knowing you, large creepy monster." With that, Darren and Kaelen Veyl charged at one another. Darren didn't just run, though. Before their blades struck, Darren bolted forward, striking the Blood Captain with hundreds of millions of volts of electrical POWER.
Kaelen Veyl, strong as he was, was not immune to electricity. His body seized as Darren passed through it in the form of lightning. He reformed his body behind the Blood Captain, facing the creatures back. He swung down with his blade, striking Kaelen Veyl on his right shoulder.
"Damn!" he swore aloud. He'd been aiming for the Duskborne's neck, but he could swear, somehow, Kaelen Veyl had moved to the side at the last millisecond possible in order to save his life.
Darren heard gunshots being fired and the sharp thwang of Kaycee's bowstring as she let loose arrow after arrow toward Kaelen Veyl. The Blood Captain was quick, though. Despite the relatively deep wound to his shoulder, Kaelen Veyl twisted the two blades together and dropped into a defensive stance. A swirling mass of dark energy emanated from the blades, surrounding Kaelen Veyl completely. It was clearly a shield of some kind, as Hardy's bullets simply struck it and bounced off harmlessly.
Kaycee's arrows pierced the energy shield, though, but were slowed so much that they just fell to the ground inside the shield. The shield itself was somewhat opaque, but Darren was still able to see the creature. It was kind of like he was looking through dark sunglasses.
Suddenly, a surge of dark energy burst forth from the shield around Kaelen Veyl. None of the human warriors expected it, and they were not prepared to defend themselves. The energy wave struck them all, sending them flying in opposite directions from one another. Pain erupted in Darren's torso where the wave hit him. A moment later he felt more blinding pain as a sword blade sliced across his back.
He'd been knocked back right into the other Duskborne warriors, who hadn't wasted this opportunity to get the jump on Darren. He screamed in pain and anger and in the blink of an eye before his enemies could do any more damage, he bolted across the room to Kaycee's side, who was trying to pull herself back to her feet.
Darren fell to one knee, trying not to bend his torso to prevent the pain from getting worse. "Are you okay?" he managed to ask Kaycee. She stood straight and shook her head before speaking.
"Yeah, I think so," she said, looking at Darren, "Oh God, are you okay Darren?" her expression went from one of pain to one of concern for him. Kaycee put her hand over the wound on his back and whispered, "Flash Heal." Suddenly, an icy sensation shot through the deep gash and Darren swore he could feel it closing up.
A moment later the pain had subsided to a dull ache. "That's not a full heal, but it's all I can do in the middle of a battle."
"Understood," Darren said, "Thank you. Can you check on Hardy? He appears to be knocked out." Kaycee nodded as Darren stood, eyeing Kaelen Veyl's blades warily. His body, though still in pain, felt well enough to get back in the fight.
Electric energy crackled in the air around Darren, arcing from his body the floor intermittently. His vision had a blue tinge to it and he could feel the power causing his eyes to glow menacingly. He realized then that he could amplify this electric field if he chose. Static Aura, he thought to himself. That would come in handy.
"Ah," Kaelen Veyl growled. "You like my bladesssss, do you?" he chuckled gruffly. "These are my twin crescent blades, Duskfang and Nightpiercerrrrrr. They were forged with Nightmare Essence, and they have manyyyy special abilities. Like this!" The Blood Captain shouted and swung Duskfang through the air. A crescent wave of dark energy burst forth from the blade straight toward Darren.
Doubting his ability to block Kaelen Veyl's attack, Darren bolted high into the air before remembering that Kaycee and the unconscious Hardy would be directly in the line of fire. He instantly appeared next to them just before the wave of energy reached them.
With very little time to consider his next move, Darren reacted on instinct. With himself between the oncoming energy wave and his companions, he threw his hands out and willed the POWER surging through him to form a dome over them all. Instantly, he felt an immense amount of energy leave his body and shape itself into the dome he'd been envisioning. The entire dome looked like solid, violently surging lightning.
Kaelen Veyl's attack struck the dome and, while Darren felt the pressure of the attack, his defensive tactic had worked. Not only did it defend Darren and his friends, it also went on the offensive. As soon as Veyl's energy wave struck the dome an insanely powerful lightning bolt, at least 500,000,000 volts if Darren could hazard a guess, zapped forward and hit Darren's enemy. In a short moment of reflection, Darren thought he would call this new ability Stormguard.