The guards were all shaken with the inhuman horror that they'd just witnessed, but now that this thing had spoken, none dared to move on it. "I do not have time for this," it said, gauging the distance between each guard.
With a flash of violet, it went from guard to guard, decapitating or sundering their torsos in two, leaving nothing but bloodied stumps behind as it reached the entrance to the palace. It looked out behind it, and saw that many of those who had been chasing it slowed down once they noticed that even the royal guards couldn't kill it.
"Fear really is a beautiful thing," it rumbled as it went toward the great hall.
Anwill, however, was already inside waiting for it.
A precise spear of fire mana shot right past its temple, cutting into and searing its flesh and forcing it to shift its course. Another spear flew, this one of earth, and again it shifted its course. A third flew of water, forcing it to reel a little more, but continued to progress towards him.
Fine, have it your way, Anwill thought, his hands beginning to crackle with energy as his irises glowed an intense, pale blue.
He brought his arm downward, striking the creature with a bolt of lightning from a modified Kyr spell. This time, it stumbled and had to regain its footing.
It looks almost human, but the thick plates scales and deep violet eyes are all but screaming another story, Anwill thought as he noted its visage.
"I see you're not like the others," the creature began, wiping a thin line of blood from its mouth. "Neither are you if you have the capability of speech," Anwill replied.
"Having the ability to speak is something many in this realm, I've noticed, take for granted. They often use it to incite idiocracies and spread falsities, or anything bereft of any real value, to either make themselves feel better or control the masses. Whichever the case may be, it is, and always has been, astounding to me that some still have the gall to believe that everything they say is correct without challenge," it said in a harsh tone with extraordinary eloquence.
"Unfortunately for me, this… form is incomplete, making the need for verbal speech necessary in the first place," it said, gesturing to its own body.
Anwill's interest peaked.
"Why are you here, then? Why not just stay hidden until your form is complete?" he asked.
I have to buy time for Aurae to make it to safety, he thought, readying himself for any sort of surprise attack.
"Mincing words will not delay your death, elf. Since I know you're stalling for time, I would suggest you do better," the creature said, readying its claws. "You will not defeat me. Do you think you can?" Anwill asked, drawing his sword.
"I wouldn't have come here if I didn't think I could," the creature replied with malice dripping from his voice.
To a normal human, it would have appeared as though the two had vanished into thin air, leaving only shells of broken sound-barriers, air pockets, and dust clouds in their wake. The two moved so quickly, it would've been nearly impossible for anyone outside of a select handful to keep up with them.
Blow after blow, deflection after deflection; the two were interlocked in a dance of strikes, parries and slices that sent the sounds of battle resonating through Myrdin's halls. A blow came for Anwill's side which he deflected, retorting with a strike from the pommel of his blade that landed squarely between the creature's eyes. It backed away for a split second, before coming in for yet another barrage of strikes.
Its speed is no joke, but I can tell it's beginning to tire. I need to end this thing before it reaches Aurae. What would Thoma do? Anwill thought.
Having spent ample time with him, Siraye, and the others during their daily training, his own repertoire of moves had also expanded drastically. At that moment, he recalled a specific move that Thoma had tried once before.
Let's hope that little monster was onto something, Anwill thought.
He parried another few strikes, backing away as he deflected the last of them to get into a better position. His eyes glowed pale blue once more, only this time, something was different. The creature, having recognized the color of his eyes when they first began their encounter, started to dodge at a much faster rate.
Anwil, however, had planned for that, having sent out hair-thin tendrils of lightning mana into the air around him, feeling every movement his opponent was making.
With the creature darting around at an increased rate of speed, trying to disorient its prey, Anwill stood with his sword held above his head, leaving his torso greatly exposed. "Fool," the creature muttered just before making a final lunge at his target. The muscles in its arm flexed and swung the clawed hand at the elf, cutting through the air hissing between the fingers.
Suddenly, the sensation came to a halt, as an entirely different feeling began to creep into the creature's mind for the first time since it first left its confinement chamber in Valdis.
Fear.
Realizing its mistake far too late, it had fallen for Anwill's trap. As its claw was about to make contact with the elf, he suddenly vanished from its line of sight. The creature, now feeling a strange crackle of energy at its back, tried to turn to face it but realized that the other half of its torso was going in the opposite direction. A bubbling hiss resounded from where the other half of its throat should have been, as the second half of its face appeared some distance away; the only violet eye remaining faded into a dull, gray sphere.
"Sunder," Anwill said aloud, not bothering to look at the creature as he sheathed his sword. The creature's halves fell to the floor in a heap, creating a darkened pool of violet blood beneath it.
"You can come out now," he said over his shoulder. Aurae stepped out from behind one of the pillars, pulling aside her cloak that, until then, had made her invisible. In one of her palms, there were twin spheres of swirling mana ready to be launched as a quick spell in the event she had to protect herself.
"You had me worried for a moment there, old friend," she said, finally relaxing her stance a little as she noticed the still-twitching halves on the floor.
"I was a little worried myself, but it seems Thoma's Sunder technique has proved to be useful against this kind of enemy. Not to mention that the Night-kissed Mantle did true wonders at hiding your presence," Anwill replied, flicking the remaining blood from his blade and returning it to its sheath. "Strange, though, isn't it?" Aurae said, stepping in a little closer to the felled creature. She read the marks that riddled its back, arms, and whatever was left of its face.
Suddenly, her mismatched eyes widened.
With a whirl of her hand, she conjured twin vortexes of air to hold the two halves upright and conjoin them to get a better view of the runic writings. "It can't be," she said, holding a hand to her mouth in shock. "What is it? Do you recognize these markings?" Anwill asked, moving over beside her to see what she was seeing.
"It's… an alternate," she said almost breathlessly. "A what?" Anwill asked. "An alternate form of self. A mirrored edition of one's soul. The dark to the light, the Ethereal to the Underworld, the earth to the sky," Aurae said, barely even flinching her head to look at Anwill during her explanation. "But these markings…" she trailed off, running her finger along a runic pattern that wrapped around its torso.
Her face paled.
"What are they?" Anwill asked. "Something that ties them to this realm. They're not supposed to be here, not like this," she said, walking around to the other side to observe its nape. "Who do you belong to?" she asked almost to herself, squinting her eyes and trying to decipher the split runes that found themselves in the path of Anwills blade. Her mismatched eyes began to glow more intensely as she drew mana from the Ethereal, infusing it into the marking.
The mark itself didn't respond, but the flesh that once held it did, reverting back to its natural state and displaying its runes proudly.
"Anwill," Aurae said, her hair falling in front of her face, covering her eyes. "Did it have the ability to speak?" she asked, her tone dropping darkly. Anwill was taken aback by her sudden change of demeanor. "It did, but what does that have to do with anything?" he asked cautiously. "Because this wasn't just any alternate, my old friend," she began, turning her head to look him in the eyes. "Whose was it, then?" Anwill asked, being almost fearful of the answer.
"It was the alternate of Liagon, original bearer of the Benevolent ring. This ring," she said, holding up her right hand, putting the golden ring inset with a glowing, blue stone on display.