CREED, The Fiery Storm

Tango with the shadows

 

Somewhere outside the city, a man and a little boy were walking at a leisurely pace. The boy was beginning to get frustrated by a journey that seemingly led to nowhere!                                                                                                                                                      

"Dad, why can't I go ahead...I know the place." the boy suggested.

"It's not about that Gorr! It's all about timing!" the man explained to his son.                                           

"That's what you have been saying but I don't know what it means!" Gorr complained. Mikalor had thought of the simplest way to explain his insistence to his little son but it couldn't get any simpler than 'timing'. They had set off from their home several hours back on foot leaving all the horses behind so; the boy's frustration was totally understandable.                                                

"We are almost there anyway..." Mikalor said to Gorr.

"No we are not! You're lying!!" Gorr called him out. They were just a little over halfway through their journey. The rising smoke from the city was visible to them even from where they were. Mikalor had not lied, the meaning of his statement had just been lost in translation!-they were indeed almost there.

The vast majority of the red queen's rogues ended up against Djen and Soycoss! For some reason, all of the shadows seemed to have followed them too!                                                                                             

"Did any of the others get anyone to fight?!" Soycoss asked.

"Shadows are formed by light and everyone seeks to return home. And of course power beseeches power... " Djen responded. Understandably, Soycoss didn't understand a word of what was spoken. Djen moved her eyes about from point to point-she was counting.                                              

"There's a missing shadow!" She declared in a frightened tone. There was a time for anything else!-all their more than sixty opponents attacked at the same time. Djen swung her blade and black soot off its edge washed the flesh right off the bones of many of the attackers but it just wasn't enough. The surviving rogues kept advancing and the shadows were totally un-affected.                                              

"Cover me!!" Djen screamed. Soycoss immediately expanded her protective force field to shelter Djen too. Once they were both inside, they were protected but they couldn't fight back.           

"What do we do now?!" Soycoss asked. Djen didn't have an answer to the question for a while-she had no idea what to do.                                                                                               

"I don't know... " She finally responded, "But we can't stay in here forever."

"Can't you do your mind control from in here?" Djen suggested.

"No, not unless I put the field down!" Soycoss answered. It was a perfect case of being between a wall and a hard place. Djen gave a deep sigh.                                     

"You should do that-" she consented.

"What?!" Soycoss exclaimed-it was a very insane idea what Djen was suggesting.                                  

"We don't have much of a choice, I doubt they'll just give up and go away!" Djen explained her reasons. However much she didn't want to, Soycoss obliged and brought down the field. As soon as it was all down, she froze all the rascals and the shadows in their step. Djen was surprised.                  

"I didn't know you could do that!" she exclaimed.

"Neither did I" Soycoss answered, "I learnt it from Reyson."

Djen raised her blade to strike them all down...

"Stop!" Soycoss pleaded, "If they die, a bit of me dies along with each of them."                                    

"Huh! Another barricade..." Djen commented as she slowly put her blade down.                                     

"Then I guess it's a good thing I'm here..." A masculine voice stated from somewhere behind them. It was Chronomus; the person who was responsible for the disproportionate distribution of the opponents!

"I have never known you to have a great sense of self-importance!" Djen teased him.                            

"Well, I'm young now!" Chronomus played along.

"Get your sword out..."Djen said to Soycoss, "We will be doing this the old fashioned way."                 

Soycoss unfroze the fighters and the sword fight began. The biggest challenge was the shadows which had the same abilities as their casters! Chronomus' sword manipulated time and that gave them a little remedy for their problem. He could foresee events and change his reaction accordingly. However, it wasn't enough! Among the three of them, they had a massive amount of power only not quite enough-they needed just a little more. All of a sudden, they felt their power increase; they could no longer feel the pain from their injuries. They had more than enough power to win the fight; they were faster, stronger, more accurate. Their blades did away with their remaining opponents in a glance.