Dark and light: Blood Moon - Chapter 6
Authors note: omigosh! So sorry! I can't believe I almost forgot to post this! It's so late its ridiculous but at least I'm posting it now hehe (yawn) sorry about that. Anyways I hope you enjoy the chapter^^ please leave a review you know I always love them^^ okay night night- see you in two days^^
He didn't even attempt to guess a figure- all he knew was the sky was flooded with them. Emerging from every minuscule crack, crater and hole- the effect was that the entirety of the moon's surface was an erupting geyser. What were these things?
They looked like- well, they kind of were- light. Literally- numberless, streaming balls of light, with a comet tail trailing it like a serpent. They were (like everything on the moon right now) a dark, malevolent red. Like miniature versions of the core- but many, many, times less powerful. In fact, no- they were more like the bolts of chaos he used to be able to throw out of his...weapon, at a single whim. But, what were they? And how many were there?! He could barely pick out a single patch of black, the sky was so thick with them!
North cursed.
"Moonbeams!" He yelled, eyes wide as he saw (what Jack assumed had once been) their allies, corrupted and turning on them. From that point on, things went crazy.
The huge mass of beams dived at them, but Sandy was quick to created a large assortment of various sand animals no use to spread the force of the beam's attacks. It worked- mostly. Many were momentarily distracted with taking down the sand creatures, giving them a chance to recover their senses.
North fearlessly ran straight towards the wildly flying beams of light, and they were onto him in seconds, approaching him from any, and all, angles- and if North were any less skilled a swordsman, he would've been overrun instantaneously. But even he struggled to hold his own again so many opponents. Tooth flew up into the mass of enemies- the long, curved blades of her swords pointed into an arrow above her head as she shot through the air like an arrow, obliterating everything in her wake. Sandy vanished amongst his sand animals, whips flying wildly.
That left Bunny and Jack, who remained where they were. Bunny, it seemed, was judging his moment to enter the battlefield, throwing a few well placed exploding eggs into the mix. He cursed under his breath.
"No effect, whatsoever!" He growled. Jack turned and managed to catch a glimpse of the dark core- not even scratched! All the effort they put behind that attack and they had nothing to show for it! He couldn't look at it for long though, as the moonbeams required near constant attention. He dodged to one side to avoid one, as Bunny tossing a pink egg into a large group of the moonbeams- but it was hard to tell in the plume of coloured smoke that followed whether it made any impact or not.
Jack would've been the first in there after North, but for one thing. He didn't have the faintest clue what these things were- or how best to destroy them- he didn't know anything! So he hung around Bunny to get some answers.
"So, what exactly are these things?!" He shouted across to Bunny, as he rolled to avoid another of the masses of red streaks.
"Moonbeams!" He yelled back. "Not too hard to defeat on their own, but there's a lot!" He replied. Jack hit the ground extending a shield of ice from a nearby ridge for cover.
"How many's a lot?!" He shouted, transforming the ice above him into a spike, which shot towards the attacking beam. It swiftly avoided the attack. He glared up at it- damn it! These things might not exactly move at the speed of light, but they move quick! And they changed direction faster than he could blink.
"Couple 'a million." He heard Bunny mumble.
"What?!" He screamed, flinching as he saw an explosion go off right next to him. He threw an arm up against the glare, and by the time he lowered it again, Bunny was gone. Great- he left without him. He looked at the thousands of corrupted moon agents swarming above him. Couple of a million huh? He thought, picking out Tooth and a dozen golden animals above him. He better get started then.
He gripped his staff, and shot up. No way were they having all the fun without him!
He slammed into the nearest moonbeam, hitting it hard with his staff. It got knocked back by the blow, but within a second it had recovered, and dashed at him- and by then some of its friends had realised they had a fresh target amongst them. Whilst he was distracted with the first, he narrowly missed a second beam diving for his head- but he didn't spot the third one approaching upwards. He cried out in pain as burning pain scorched his calf, but he swept it away- three moonbeams were still attacking him, he had to think quickly. He swung his staff in an arc over his head- this time infusing the ancient wood with ice. It worked. His staff cut through one of the red lights immediately- dispelling it into thin air, so that not even a slight glow was left behind. He took down two of the things with that attack, but one of them managed to dodge it. His staff was too low to block it, as it charged for his chest.
The fight for him could've ended there and then, but, ever since he became a Guardian, he'd been learning how to fight better. He had more than a few tricks up his sleeve. A thick, triangular spike of ice thrust from his staff, and pierced through the moonbeam. It vanished.
He almost let out a breath of relief as the rapidly formed ice returned to his staff, but for the next moonbeam attack. He avoided it, but it passed painfully close to the burn on the back of his leg. He needed to do something about that- fast.
He focussed briefly on the pain in his calf- dodging another wildly charging moonbeam on instinct. Relief touched him, as a cool film of ice spread across the raw wound. Thank goodness it was burns, he thought. He could deal with them. They hurt like crazy (especially for him- they were excruciating), but he could freeze them over the moment he could spare the mind power. It wasn't like a fire burn- they weren't made of fire- and it wasn't like an electric burn either. It was like a rapid, concentrated sunburn, that split the skin the moment the moonbeam touched him. They weren't necessarily more vulnerable to his ice, but it seemed to be effective nonetheless, he thought as he beat his way through comet after miniture comet.
But, something wasn't right about these moonbeams and the way they were attacking. There were thousands of the things everywhere- they filled the airspace, and yet they only attacked one by one. Weaker beings like these were far stronger attacking, and charging, as one- it was a method the nightmares favoured. He was grateful they weren't swarming like that, or else theyd be overrun in an instant, but why weren't they?
There was no method or coordination to their attacks- and they seemed so confused. They flew round each other like a panicked crowd- wildly zigzagging about until they spotted a Guardian; then, they attacked... Because, there wasn't anything connecting them, he realised. The darkness was linked together like a single entity- but, though the moonbeams were corrupted and overcome with the dark power, they weren't darkness enough to be a part of the main consciousness of shadow. They were lost- not quite belonging to the dark enough to form coordinated or remotely effective attacks, but rather following crazed instincts to attack the Guardians. Not that it mattered- their numbers alone were threat enough.
He had to up his game. What should he do next? He had a lot of things he could do with ice- but would any of it be enough? Maybe if he threw everything he had into a single, huge ice attack... He considered it... But, no, that wouldn't be a good move. As he thought, he swung his staff back forth like a blunt spear- blue/white crystals flying as the ice magic struck each moonbeam: his presence was becoming known. A giant ice attack wouldn't be enough- wherever he aimed there would be more in other directions- and he wasn't sure it would take out a decent number to be worth it. Plus, whenever he'd tried something like this before, the effort left him unconscious- or else incredibly weak- and with the attention the attack would draw in, they moonbeams would be onto him in seconds.
He'd be happy to do it, though, if it would help rid the Guardians of these demon lights- but there was one last thing that stopped him. If he did strike out with such a massive attack, there was a large chance he would hit one of his friends. They could be anywhere in the swarm of moonbeams surrounding him. He couldn't risk that. No, he decided (diving over the top of a charging red comet and smashing it with his staff as he did so). A huge attack was out of the question... But he had plenty of tricks he'd taught himself over the three years he'd been a Guardian.
He could do a lot more than just make hasty blades of ice stick out from his staff- and now that his wound was covered, he could go back onto the offence. He wasn't an expert at fighting, or a seasoned warrior, but he was determined- and a sneaky, annoying trickster.
He'd been experimenting with all kinds of neat, little ice tricks.
Time to put it into practise.
