Chapter XLV: The Thirteenth Watcher (Cont. III)

With that, the six lunged towards Baen, his sword arcing through the air as he caught and parried every single one of the six’s attacks. He moved in and out of the six, spinning them around and confusing them as he leapt through the air, batting their blades aside and striking them with the burning sting of the flat of his blade. He was nothing but a black and gold blur, moving back and forth across the rocky landing, his sword coming around and sending Donovan sailing through the air. He landed with a grunt, staring down at the lava where Laura and Adelia hung slowly drawing further away from it, but only by fractions of a centimeters. He shook it off to turn back as Baen’s sword came down near his head, sending a rock up that cut his ear.

“Close…but I’ll get you next time,” Baen hissed, turning and parrying Samden’s sword and lashing out, striking the elf in the face and sending him flying to the ground. Baen turned and hurled a bolt of fire at Thyrus, who deflected it with a quick whispered word.

“So you do know magic then,” Baen hissed, back-handing Grail and sending her stumbling aside.

“A little,” Thyrus said sweating.

“But I see it’s far more taxing for you,” the Watcher said with dark smirk. The Watcher turned just as West drew close, Baen rising up and planting a foot into the back of West’s knee and then bringing the flat of his blade around and cracking West’s jaw. The crunch of bone was heard as West fell backwards and landed flat out on the ground. Baen’s sword span around as he hurled a bolt of energy that caught Blackheart and hurled him into Thyrus.

“Disappointing,” the demon hissed as he brought his sword around and knocked West’s blade over the edge. “And you’re a Preston? I suppose you must deal in strategy.” Baen turned his sword blade down and prepared to finish his second victim.

“NO!” Thyrus fired off a pike which caught Baen’s hand, his sword crashing next to West’s head, the Preston taking the chance to roll away as Thyrus leapt headlong at Baen. Baen caught the wizard by the throat and hurled him from the platform.

“Foolish bastard.”

“Thyrus!” Samden rose to his feet, held back by West and Blackheart.

“He’s too strong, Samden!” Blackheart clutched at the elf who continued to struggle against the Watcher.

Fior took up a mock stance, “What? You giving up already? One death is all it took? Pathetic….” The crackle of energy turned Baen’s attention to a rising Thyrus, whose head glistened with sweat as he landed on the rocky edge, hurling a bolt of static energy that lifted Baen off his feet. The wizard dropped to his knees as he looked up to see Baen smouldering on the ground.

“I hope that…..hurt,” Thyrus said gasping.

“Sure looked like it did,” Donovan said watching as Baen rose yet again.

Baen’s eyes flared with fire as he rose from where he lay, “You are far more persistent that I expected…..and that does not make me happy!” Shadows began to wrap around the platform as Baen’s eyes continued to flare, blood beginning to ooze from them and from under the fingers of his gauntlets. “You shall all pay now! I SHALL NOT BE DISHONORED LIKE THIS!”

“This does not look good,” Blackheart said glancing at the others.

Baen’s voice began to shift as a chant began to echo not so much from his lips as his mind, “It is time you all take your leave….and I shall help you on your way!” The shadows began to shift to small grains of black sand that began to spiral and cluster around the dark Watcher.

“What the hell…..”

“For every evil act, every thought, every tragedy, sadness, and sorrow…there is a grain of sand….more are added every moment by the thoughts within the world of villains, criminals, heroes, and soldiers. The innocent and the guilty have evil thoughts, have sinned, have given power to me….and all they seek to do is hide what they do. My death will ensure that their secret stays hidden, for evil shall never have existed, or so they’ll say. But never shall it abandon humanity, for they are weak and stupid and guilty of a million injustices that they blame on others……..my purging the world would create a better life…a more devoted and true and faultless world…..and yet you would sacrifice a thousand men for a profit of gold, but not for the profit of soul……..such is humanity and all of you are just as much a part as others……evil begets evil…but what one does not understand, what none but me understand, is that evil can negate evil….only by absolute sacrifice. Tell me now that I am the weak and cowardly one…tell me now that what I seek to do is cowardly and wrong!” Baen’s hands rose slowly, the sand beginning to slowly swirl inwards.

“What do we do now, fearless leader?” Donovan stared at the sand as a fist of it lashed out and crashed into the ground, eating away at the rock.

“I think we die,” Grail said slowly.

Blackheart reached out, the sand biting into his finger and cutting it open, “Adelia! Laura! We could use a bit of speed from you!”

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Laura continued to struggle to hold herself close to Adelia, “Come on, Adelia. Where are you? Listen, I understand your hate….I know what it is to love. I know the feeling and I can’t possibly imagine how much it will hurt when its gone…….and I’m sorry…I truly am. I never wanted him to love me anymore than I wanted to love him….well, that didn’t come out right,” she said with panic.

A spout of lava burst up near them, in perfect time. Laura began to realize that the field of slowed time was beginning to shrink. She glanced up at the swirling sands that roared with thunder. It was the most frightening thing she had ever seen, and she knew that inside, her new friends and her love were trapped, waiting to die. And everything rested on her. What could she say? She knew that she had to plead to Adelia, deep down, in her mind, she could feel a faint thought echoing to her.

Speak to her, she fights from inside, but you must overpower the outer husk of hate. You are the light, the little hole that she must fight her way to. You are the beacon. And with that, the voice, a flicker of red, was gone.