BALLAD OF THE ORC PALADIN

Beneath the Dark

The voice reverberated off the stone walls of the catacombs, sending a cold chill through Kaito's body. The towering figure emerged from the shadows, cloaked in dark armour etched with symbols that pulsed with a malevolent light. His face was hidden beneath a helmet adorned with jagged horns, and his eyes—glowing a sickly red—locked onto them with a piercing gaze. Behind him, more figures emerged from the darkness—warriors clad in similar dark armour, their faces obscured, their presence oppressive.

Grushak stepped forward, his axe gleaming in the dim light. "Who are you?"

The armoured figure didn't answer immediately. Instead, he took a step closer, his heavy boots echoing in the stone chamber. His voice, when he spoke again, was low and resonant, filled with malice. "You are trespassing in a place long forgotten. These catacombs belong to the ancient ones, and your presence is an offence."

Kaito tightened his grip on his dagger, his heart racing. Something about this figure was wrong—his very presence radiated dark power, something old and twisted, like the creatures they had encountered before, but far more dangerous.

"We don't want trouble," Kaito said, trying to keep his voice steady. "We're just passing through."

The armoured figure tilted his head, almost as if considering Kaito's words. Then, he laughed, a low, hollow sound that sent a wave of dread through the chamber. "Passing through? You cannot simply walk in the shadow of the ancient ones and leave. You have stepped into the heart of darkness, and now it will consume you."

Before anyone could react, the warriors behind the armoured figure surged forward, their weapons drawn. The group barely had time to raise their own weapons before the clash of steel echoed through the chamber.

Grushak roared as he swung his axe, meeting the first attacker head-on. His strength was immense, but the dark warrior was fast, parrying the blow with supernatural agility. Sylvara moved like a shadow, her bow loosing arrows with deadly precision, but the dark warriors seemed almost impervious to the damage. Borin's hammer crashed into one of the figures, sending it staggering back, but it recovered quickly, its eyes burning with fury.

Kaito found himself face-to-face with one of the armoured warriors. The figure moved with unnatural speed, its sword slashing toward him. Kaito barely blocked the blow with his dagger, the force of it sending a shockwave through his arm. He stumbled back, heart pounding, as the warrior advanced, its red eyes locked onto him.

The air around them seemed to hum with dark magic, the oppressive energy making it hard to think, hard to breathe. But as the warrior raised its sword for another strike, Kaito felt the warmth inside him stir again—the same light that had flickered during their fight in the fog.

He didn't have time to think. He focused on that warmth, willing it to the surface, and just as the warrior's blade descended, Kaito thrust his dagger forward. The blade glowed with a faint light, and as it connected with the warrior's armour, the dark figure let out a terrible shriek. The light burned through the darkness, and the warrior dissolved into black smoke, its form disintegrating as if it had never existed.

Kaito stood there, panting, his heart racing. The light—it had worked again. But he didn't understand how or why. All he knew was that it was his only chance of surviving.

The battle around him was chaos. Grushak fought with a fury unmatched, his axe cleaving through one of the dark warriors with a brutal swing. Sylvara moved with grace, her arrows finding their mark, while Borin and the mercenaries held the line, smashing through the attackers with brute force.

But the dark armoured figure—the leader—stood untouched, watching the fight with a grim satisfaction.

"You fight well," the figure said, his voice dripping with contempt. "But you cannot win. The darkness in these lands is older than you. It has waited for millennia to rise again, and you are nothing more than a fleeting moment in its path."