Chael's eyes narrowed.
One of the purple-robed figures slowly lifted its staff and raised it high above its head. The crystal atop it pulsed with a cold, blue light and sent a faint shimmer through the air.
The figures Chael had killed began to reappear.
One by one, they faded back into existence, their bodies reforming from the mist and taking shape once more.
Echidna's eyes went wide with horror. "No… no, that's not-"
But there was no mistaking it. The creatures were coming back and this time, their movements were faster.
No matter how many Chael cut down and no matter how many times his spear sliced through their hollow forms, they would not stop. Their bodies shimmered and faded out of existence, only to reappear moments later, crawling back from the shadows like nothing had happened.
Chael's breaths came out in ragged gasps and his body burned with exhaustion. His broken arm hung uselessly at his side and throbbed with a constant, pulsing pain, and his other arm was starting to go numb from overuse. Every time he struck, a shock of agony ran up his shoulders and his fingers struggled to maintain their grip on the broken spear.
He was getting slower while they were getting faster.
Echidna was barely keeping up.
Her movements were wild and desperate with her knife flashing through the air as she slashed at the creatures with all the strength she had left. But it wasn't enough.
These things weren't just ghosts or spirits. They were solid with their forms tangible and unyielding. Their limbs moved with an unnatural strength, their bodies radiating a cold so intense it burned.
Echidna's breaths were labored and her shoulders heaved as she swung her knife again, the blade cutting through another creature's neck. It let out a hollow and echoing screech as it faded away, the black mist pouring from its mouth spiraling through the air.
Echidna slashed at another one, her knife barely cutting through its body. Her arm was trembling and the sheer force needed to slice through them straining her muscles. They were too solid and too heavy. It was like trying to cut through iron with a piece of glass.
She gritted her teeth, her eyes wide with panic. "I can't… I can't keep this up. They're too strong. And those… those bastards at the back…"
The taller figures in purple were still standing at the base of the stairs, their icy blue eyes glowing beneath their hoods. Their skeletal hands were lifted high, gripping their staffs with the jagged shards of ice at the top pulsing with cold light.
"They're controlling them," Echidna hissed. "They're the ones… they're the ones bringing them back."
Chael had already figured this out.
The shorter, black-robed figures were nothing but puppets. They seemed to be hollow vessels being manipulated by the taller ones. That's why they moved so unnaturally and it was also why they kept coming back no matter how many times he cut them down.
Because they weren't the real threat.
The masters were.
Chael exhaled slowly and his mind raced. If he could just get to the purple-robed ones…
His thoughts were cut off by a low, rumbling sound.
It came from everywhere at once. It was a deep vibration that shook the very ground beneath them. The air grew colder and heavier with the temperature dropping so rapidly that ice began to form on the stone floor.
Chael's breath froze in his lungs.
The black mist was growing thicker.
It poured from the mouths of the fallen creatures. The air around them was soon stained with the black mist. It was quickly spreading across the courtyard in spiraling tendrils. It swirled around their bodies and clung on to them as if it was seeping into their skin.
Chael tried to move, but his limbs felt heavy and his head spun.
The black mist was in his lungs.
Soon, a new change began to appear.
The world began to twist.
His vision blurred as the reflection in his spearhead warped and bended. The ground felt like it was shifting beneath his feet, the shadows stretching and dancing in impossible shapes.
His fingers trembled and his breath came out in ragged gasps. He felt like he was falling and his body was growing weightless. His mind slipped further and further away from reality.
Then he heard a voice
"You… let them die…"
Chael's heart stopped.
He knew that cruel voice.
It belonged to his father.
Chael's blood ran cold. He spun around with his eyes wide behind the black cloth covering them, his breath catching in his throat. There, standing behind him, was his father. His eyes were hollow and his face twisted in anguish, his body covered in blood.
"You let them die," his father repeated, his voice broken and harsh. "You weren't there… you weren't there to protect them…"
Chael stumbled back. His chest tightened. "No… no, that's not…"
"You abandoned them. You abandoned your duties like the coward you've always been." His father's face twisted in fury. "You couldn't even protect her - your own mother!"
Chael's breath shallowed and he started to rasp as another memory resurfaced. It was of a woman with silver hair walking into the depths of a snow storm one step at a time.
His father's body contorted and twisted unnaturally, his bones cracking as his arms reached out with his fingers stretching like claws. His mouth opened wide and a hollow screech poured out, his face melting into something grotesque and monstrous.
Chael's knees buckled. His head was spinning and the world was fading in and out. He couldn't breathe nor could he think.
The black mist was everywhere, curling around his body and slipping into his mind, dragging him down.
Beside him, Echidna was screaming.
She was thrashing, her knife slashing at the air, her eyes wide and unfocused. Her voice was raw and her words were tumbling out in a frenzy.
"No… no… not again… please… stop… make it stop…"
Her body trembled violently and her face was contorted in terror, her eyes fixed on something only she could see.
The black mist was in her mind too.
And all around them, the creatures were closing in, their hollow sockets glowing with cold light and their bodies moving in eerie synchronization with their mouths hanging open and black mist pouring out.
There was no escape. The black mist was everywhere.
It slithered along the ground and curled up Chael's legs, crawling beneath his clothes and seeping into his skin. It was so impossibly cold and it clouded his mind and twisted his thoughts into dark, spiraling shapes. The world around him felt distant and unreal, like he was watching a nightmare unfold from within his own body.
His head was spinning. His chest felt heavy. His limbs grew sluggish, his movements unsteady.
Then, his own perspective brought him back to reality. It was a flash of reflection showing the position he was standing on, and it closed in rapidly.
Chael barely had time to react. He moved on instinct and his broken spear clashed against the blade inches from his face. Sparks flew as metal scraped against metal, the force of the impact rattling through his already-aching bones.
He was crossing weapons with Echidna.