Darksiders: Deathly Aura (Book 1)

Chapter Eight Battle of the Vale

Despair thundered through the remnants of the forest at lightning speed, following the Guardian's path of destruction.
Trees lay trampled into the earth. Some still stood, but as mere stumps. Piles of rubble littered the base of the cliff face that ran along the forest's edge.

As they tore through the pass that led to the vale outside Tri-Stone, Death pulled on his mount's reins, willing him to slow down a fraction.
When they broke out into the valley however, the rider pulled sharply on them, bringing the undead horse to a sudden stop.

Standing before Death, Carina and the others was the Guardian, corruption flowing through his core. Confronting him was a Maker who had at least a thousand lifetimes under his belt- Eideard.

The elder stood with his arms open wide, holding his staff. His lips moved in unreadable words as he chanted a spell. A healing magic surrounded the towering construct from Eideard's outstretched hands. It was strong, but as their audience could quickly see, it wasn't enough.

Carina and Soren were first to dismount from Despair's back. Acting on sudden impulse, the Auralin made a run for the old Maker.

"Eideard, wait!" she shouted, but was drowned out by a sudden roar from the Guardian.

Before any of them could react he brought the haft of his hammer crashing down on the elder.
Carina skidded to a halt, eyes wide., breath caught in her throat. Soren's grip on her shoulder seemed to slacken.
Even Death stared, unblinking for a few seconds.

As the dust cleared however, they could see a shimmering barrier of magic had been formed around the Maker from his own hand. It was enough to save him, but Eideard didn't go unharmed. Blood gushed from his broken nose and one of his eyes, painting his platinum beard crimson.

"...Maker's bones...that hurt" he remarked between breaths.

Not wasting time, the elder raised his staff up high. A pulse of magic rippled from it, creating a force field that surrounded the vale entirely.

Once he did this, Eideard teleported near Death and Despair.
"He's beyond my help, Horseman... Do your worst"

The rider didn't have to be told twice.
After taking Carina back up onto his mount's saddle he flicked the reins and Despair was off.

"We need to destroy the Heart Stones. That should deactivate him" Death stated, raising his voice to be heard.

"Right, and how are we going to do that exactly?" Carina questioned.

She chanced a glance up at the construct towering over them just in time to see him swing his hammer down.
It sent dust and chunks of dirt into the air, leaving a small crater where it hit. He'd missed his attackers, but only just.

A voice suddenly rang in Carina's head. It was Soren.
Look up there! On his shoulder blade!

Both looked up to see shadow bombs lining the back of the Guardian's shoulder. Death saw them also, giving way to the formation of a plan. One that had no guarantee of working, but was worth a shot.

"We'll have to divide and conquer! I'll target one Heart Stone, you take the other. We'll worry about the last one later. Can you reach those shadow bombs?" the rider asked without looking back.

"Yeah I think so" Carina answered with a nod.

"Alright, this is what I want you to do" Death continued.

With tainted eyes, the Guardian watched the Horseman return to his sights. Focusing his attention on him, he made another powerful swing with the hammer.
But once again, the galloping horse made sure they evaded it.
The construct bellowed in both frustration and pain as something on his shoulder exploded.