The Lady Knight

Chapter 8

The trio packed up Alex's camp and soon departed. Trudging through the bush, Archer explained the events after the horrific first battle.
"After the attack at the head castle, King Orpheus brought us together and we found refuge in Traiton, one of our beloved fallen cities. We use the main parliament castle as our base. Since the city had been abandoned in such a rush, there was plenty of food for us to survive on. Beware, though, the place kinda stinks," Archer explained, waving his hand in front of his crinkled nose.
Henry snorted, "The place mostly stinks because Archer is such a pig."
"Hey!"
Alex rolled her eyes but didn't bother hiding the small grin on her face. Seeing the goofy twins bicker back and forth lightened the mood, making her silence comfortable. Dawn would break soon, and Alex could tell that the twins' energy would slowly diminish. She took a deep breath of woodsy air and motioned for Nightmare to walk alongside her.
Feeling a sudden change in the air, Alex halted. Henry and Archer, not paying attention, nearly crashed into her back but Nightmare reached back with his tail and lightly whipped them in the face. The twins sputtered, shaking their heads while grumbling at the horse. When they saw Alex's rigid back, their amusement instantly faded, replaced with alertness.
"Alex?" Henry whispered.
Alex could feel a dark presence close by, so dark that it seemed to infect and spread terror wherever it went. She had felt this darkness before, but she had absolutely no fear for it now.
She gritted her teeth and whispered back to the brothers, "A Dark One."
The twins immediately unsheathed their swords, as did Alex. The three were silent, not wanting the vile thing to find them first.
An eery, dark mist coated the ground, reaching as high as Alex's knees. She tilted her head to the side, already hearing the creature's haunting whispers. The trio blinked, and there it was.
Standing at about 7 feet tall, the Dark One hovered a few meters away. A hood covered its gruesome, sunken face. A filthy black cloak concealed its frail body and those bony, skeleton-like arms. Unfortunately, the worst part of the creature could still be seen: its teeth. Almost resembling that of a shark, its teeth were long and pointed. The blood of the Dark One's victims stained the tips, turning the razors into a disgusting blackish color. It had a slimy, pointed tongue that would occasionally come out and run along the horrific teeth.
Alex stared, disgusted at the horrid thing in front of her. She clutched her sword in one hand and glared, daring the creature to come closer. Archer went to move in front of her, but Henry put a restraining hand on his shoulder and shook his head at his twin. Alex needed to prove herself. This was her perfect opportunity.
The creature laid its eyes on Alex. Pulling its mouth back into a haunting smile, it spoke in a slithering, demonic voice, "You shall be first, it has been a while since I devoured a woman's soul. I will save the males for last, they tend to put up more of a fight."
That set her off. Alex let out a battle cry and charged the Dark One. Henry and Archer could only stare in shock. She must be insane.
Raising her sword, Alex jumped into the air and prepared to bring her sword down on its head. Smiling evilly, the Dark One waved one hand and a dark wave of energy crashed into Alex, throwing her back. The twins cried out, calling her to return.
Alex flipped in the air, landing in a crouched position. Smirking, she stood.
"Is that all you've got?" she taunted.
This irritated the Dark One. Clearly it had not expected her to land so gracefully. Releasing a demon-like screech, the creature rushed her. Still smirking tauntingly, Alex prepared. Henry and Archer looked away and restrained Nightmare, not wanting to see her death.
The Dark One's bony arms reached out, its claws clearly visible. As it reached her, the brothers looked back at her, unable to help themselves. Alex spun at the last second, raising her sword.

Off came its head.