A/N: This story is what was originally planned to take place at the end of HFWF, which I'm sad to say I have to discontinue.
I wrote it on an impulse and it showed; it was very sloppy and inaccurate so I'm sorry to anyone that actually liked it. I'm not going to take it down, it'll stay up on the account for anyone that's curious.
As a forewarning, this story in particular will cover some very dark themes! As always, I'll put warnings for each individual chapter under the author's note as an extra precaution.
I hope you enjoy reading!
Warnings: Major injury, blood, intense violence
The attack came out of the blue. They thought it was O'Kahsis at first from the loud explosions, but they would quickly find that wasn't the case.
Garroth bolted out of the guard tower first, looking around in alarm. He expected to see a ship at the shore, firing at the village, but he saw nothing. Laurance and Dante nearly bumped into him in the doorway and the group headed to the plaza, which seemed to be where most of the sounds were coming from.
Aphmau met them at the fork in the road, seeming just as confused and surprised as they were. She told them Zoey had taken Levin and Malachi to the basement and they were safe, which came as a relief to the guards, then they hurried down the path to find the source of the chaos.
What they found was what they least expected.
Garroth thought about seeing Zenix again often. He thought about where he was and if he was alright, even though he knew he shouldn't be concerned. Zenix was a shadow knight. And now, seeing him standing in a crater at the center of the plaza, that much was obvious.
His body was tense, his shoulders raised, eyes red, and he was holding a sword that looked to be twice his size. A purple light swirled around him. He had seemed to have caused several holes in the ground around him and had taken the corner of Molly and Dale's house out. Garroth found himself silently hoping the couple and their daughter were okay.
"Zenix!" Aphmau gasped, raising her hands to cover her mouth. Though it was something no one ever said, they had all assumed he had been killed somehow after his revolt against the Shadow Lord. No one had seen or heard from him in months.
"Stay back!" Laurance shouted and jumped in front of her. Dante inched closer and Garroth could see the flicker of fear in his eyes; he had never dealt with something like this before.
"...Zenix-" Garroth began, but this only seemed to trigger a negative response from the man. Zenix growled angrily and lurched forward with surprising speed, slashing the air with his sword.
He didn't want to fight him. Not again.
Garroth backed away to avoid the blow and held up his own sword to keep the shadow knight at a reasonable distance. Though he had his own issues with fighting Zenix, Laurance and Dante didn't. The guards ran at him, intending to take him down while he was distracted.
Zenix was much faster than he had been before, even when he attacked the village during Aphmau's absence. There was a dark power within him and it was giving him superhuman abilities. When he swung the sword, Laurance dove out of the way, but the blade caught Dante's shoulder and sent him to the ground in a halo of blood.
Garroth felt like he might faint. Zenix was going to kill them all.
Laurance regained his balance and ran at him again, to which Zenix responded by catching Laurance's sword in his palm. It didn't cut his skin; Laurance stared at him in stunned confusion, but the hesitance was all the shadow knight needed. Zenix's sword tore into his arm. Laurance shouted in pain and fell a few feet from Dante, who had yet to get up or move at all.
"Aphmau! Run!" Garroth ordered as he finally found his voice and forced his feet to move. He wouldn't let Zenix hurt her again. He could see on her face she wanted to argue, but he was thankful when she kept her mouth closed, turned, and ran. He turned his attention back to Zenix, who was leaping toward him again.
Their swords clashed together. Blood glistened on the sharp edge of the shadow knight's, black in the moonlight. Now mere inches from each other, Garroth could see the insanity in the younger man's eyes.
"Zenix, I don't want to hurt you! Just stop!" Deep down, he knew reasoning wouldn't save him. But he had to try.
Zenix grunted in anger and drew his sword back to strike his opponent, but he was met with the same result as Garroth raised his own to deflect the blow. Garroth hissed furiously and raised his arm, closing his eyes are he brought the blade down as hard as he could onto the other's shoulder.
He didn't expect it to faze him. But Zenix let out a high-pitched, strangely human shriek, then the dark aura about him was gone. His knees hit the ground and he collapsed, the sword falling out of his grasp. Garroth stared in silence at the display, shocked and confused.
"G-G...G..." Zenix was shaking and clutching his shoulder now, choking on sobs that were caught in his throat. His voice was quiet and strained and tears rolled down his face behind his helmet. Garroth dropped down beside him and grabbed his shoulders, helping him sit up,
"Zenix?" he murmured under his breath. He pulled his former apprentice closer, feeling his body tremble against his chest.
"Garroth, are you alright? Wha-?" Aphmau was suddenly beside them, kneeling down to see what had happened, but he didn't cast her a glance.
"...A-Aphmau, fetch Donna and Dr. Doctor. Hurry."
The rest of the night seemed like a blur. The doctor and his niece were more than happy to attend to the wounded guards, but neither seemed pleased to do the same for Zenix, who was clinging to Garroth's arm so tightly, Garroth was beginning to lose feeling in it.
Aphmau helped move the wounded guards to the old guard post where they could rest and recover, then she came to where Garroth was sitting in the plaza with Zenix. She stood close by for a while before she finally decided to approach them.
"...Zenix...? How are you?" Her voice was soft and compassionate as she bent down to look at him. Garroth glanced at him, curious if he would reply, then he looked away.
"He hasn't said a word to me. But he needs to be tended to by Dr. Doctor nonetheless. His armor took the brunt of the attack, but he's still bleeding," he explained quietly. Aphmau looked between them for a moment, then reached out and touched Zenix's hand. He gasped and jerked his hand away in response, never letting go of Garroth's arm.
"Zenix. Go with Aphmau. She'll help you," Garroth encouraged. When the man didn't reply, he carefully pulled him up to stand and to follow Aphmau, but he still refused to release the guard. After a moment, Garroth gently shook Zenix's grip off and stepped towards Aphmau. "Come on."
Zenix didn't move his feet, but he finally raised his head. It was then Garroth noticed his eyes. They were glazed over and staring ahead, but not focusing on anything in particular. He seemed to be staring straight through them.
"...I-I...I-I can't s-see."