The Fall of the Society

Chapter 75: Unexpected Help

     Rose shone brightly as darkness closed in all around her. She had to figure out a way to get through to him, but how? The time to avoid conflict had come to an end, she would have to fight. She could not let her selfishness destroy the entire world. If Tripp was lost again, she would move forward as he had taught her to do so. Her aura blazed and she shot forward, aiming directly for his chest. He seemed to be ready for the attack, easily swatting her off her course with the swing of his arm. She had not expected him to be able to move so quickly, and her assumption costed her as she smashed into a wall of ice, sliding downward until she recomposed herself back into the air. Looking for an opening, she began to circle, his black eyes following her all the while.

    She did not fully see what happened, but something collided with the figures back, an arm reaching over his shoulder, leaving behind a small dagger, silver in appearance. The dark aura surrounding him, kept the assailant hidden from view, the next moment they were gone. Tripp looked around, confused on what had happened, completely unabashed by the blade in his chest. His dark eyes scanned the room, causing Rose to believe she had an opening, but she was once again mistaken as a massive form of dark energy smashed her back into the wall.

     There was another blur and a flash of silver hit Tripp in the side of the neck. He roared and thrashed toward where the attacker had been, but his arms simply passed harmlessly through the air. In his frustration, he cast another wave of darkness toward Rose, holding her in place. Looking around frantically, his arm held out to his side toward Rose, energy flowing from his hand. Another blur and a silver looking dagger was protruding from the forearm he was using to hold Rose in place, and the energy ceased. Rose slid down the wall once more, caught off guard by her sudden release.

     Who was attacking the figure of Tripp? Looking more closely she could see the blades that were stuck in the armored flesh, and a sudden thought came to her. Was it possible that Sid was still alive? Had he managed to come back to help her? She began to look around for the assailant, nearly mirroring the movements of Tripp.

     A roar split the air as a silver blade burst through the chest of the figure. His black, clawed hands clasped to his chest, before his eyes locked on Rose and he glared. The air seemed to be draining from the area, her lungs and head felt like they were being squeezed in a vice. Pain radiated all through her body. Just as suddenly as it had begun, it all vanished. Everything was silent and nothing was moving. The air around her were still, and darkness spread in every direction. She was no longer on the battlefield; she had been transported somewhere else that was vaguely familiar.

     An expansive and flat landscape surrounded her. A soft sound of a footstep came from behind her and she spun around, surprised by what she saw there. A tall, dark haired, powerful looking woman stood before her, staring, a slight smile on her face.

    "I am surprised he decided to pull you here," Phaze said casually. "Do you remember this place?"

    Rose stared at her for a moment, before regaining herself. "This is where you sent me, that is why I recognized it." She glanced around, "If he sent me here, where is he?"

     Phaze smiled more broadly. "He was unaware of my presence. The purpose in bringing you here was to simplify his fight; he will have greater control of his powers in this realm." Rose gasped and looked back at Phaze, who waved down her concern. "Technically he is not as powerful here, the stronger the entity they possess the more powerful they are in turn. Tripp is immensely powerful so his strength in our world is staggering. We will not have long before he finds us, we should prepare ourselves. I will try to remain hidden to him for a while longer."

     "How do you know so much about this?" Rose asked her. "What is that thing that is possessing Tripp?"

     The smile on Phaze's pretty face faded. "I helped Sid fight one before, it is how I gained so much prestige within the Society. A secret facility we had constructed suddenly went dark. I was unaware of the experiments that were going on there, but I had received the assignment to go and inspect the laboratory. What I found was a massacre, destruction rivalled by nothing I had ever seen. I backtracked a bit and contacted Sid. Even though the entity I encountered there was nowhere near as powerful as this one, I would not have been able to defeat it alone. It is possible that Sid had encountered them in the past, because he did not have to difficult of a time in defeating the one I found, but he never talked about it." She paused and listened to her surroundings, making sure they did not have company yet before continuing. "We will have to work together in order to defeat him, and I brought something for you to use." She reached to her right, and her hand disappeared into a void, before reappearing with one of Sid's swords out of nowhere.

     Rose nodded at Phaze as she took the sword. "Thank you." She swung the sword in a crescent in front of her, a beam of golden flame remained in its wake. The shimmering light fizzled out, leaving a faint trail behind. Phaze placed her hand on Rose's shoulder, squeezing it slightly.

     A loud roar echoed across the empty plain, out of the darkness. "The sword can hurt it, use it wisely. I will support you in the fight, but I have to keep out of sight for now!" Phaze said quickly, before disappearing from her view.

     Standing alone in the middle of the vast open space, the darkness seemed to creep in on her. She felt as though she was being watched from every direction and she could still hear the roars and movement of the massive creature that was now headed toward her. Though she could not see the entity's approach, she could feel the vibration of each of its massive footsteps on the ground. She braced herself as a movement in the darkness caught her eyes. A reflection of her golden aura returned to her off the surface of the creatures massive, glossy black eyes. Her glow illuminated the head of the monstrosity and Rose took a step back. It had two large glossy black eyes on the front of its enormous head, and two slightly smaller eyes set to each side. The beast had a massive maw, filled with nasty looking yellow fangs of all different sizes, formed into three rows on the top jaw and two rows on the bottom. Thick and slimy drool dripped to the ground forming pools wherever the drops landed.

     The darkness pressed in as the creature drew nearer, making the air feel hollow. An ear-splitting roar broke the silence, echoing across the vast expanse. Rose wanted to cover her ears, but she did not want to leave herself vulnerable to attack so she stood fast. Her ears were ringing loudly as the entity's mouth closed, its massive eyes locked on her. Dark smoke seemed to radiate from the massive body of the creature, hiding its enormous form from view. It began circling her, staying just outside of her field of view in the darkness, power emanating from it. An eerie chill filled the air around the beast, but every time one of its massive paws hit the ground, Rose could see an orange glow as they singed the earth beneath. The power she could feel coming from the creature felt different than anything she had ever sensed before, even different than what she had felt in the crater with Tripp.

     She sent a wave of golden fire shooting across the ground and up toward the entity, but it fizzled out into a golden mist before dissipating completely. Her attack barely made it halfway across the empty opening between them before it had failed. Pushing her feet into the ground, she lunged forward with her sword held back by her shoulder, swinging it in a wide arc at the monstrosity, a golden wake trailing behind. The attack passed harmlessly through empty air; the beast having disappeared from in front of her. She barely had time to react as a massive, clawed paw slammed into the ground directly where she had been standing, creating a small crater, sending hard chunks of the ground flying in all directions. Rose flung herself to the right, rolling back to her feet facing the creature that was still mostly obscured by the dark power radiating from its hide. She slid her feet into a defensive stance, her sword held in front of her body, waiting for the massive creature to attack.