"Ssitheros, go join the infirmary's defense." Ivory bid his companion, the chief god of the Guardians, honorable snake like humanoids. Ssitheros nodded and silently departed. Ivory put his helmet over his head and grabbed his massive two handed sword. Shadows darker than night seeped into the Council Citadel's main chamber, a large domed room that was easily thirty feet wide and fifty feet tall and was magically capable of expanding.
"Hello Ivory." A singsong voice echoed through the room, bouncing off of the walls. "We've come to do what Mother could not."
"Where Onyx failed, so shall you. Many have tried, all have failed."
Another voice spoke. "Is that…. Pride? Come now, Ivory. You can't submit to something so petty. It might just destroy you." The ceiling shattered and the pieces floated up.
"Arcanus!?" The mage sneered and directed what remained of the Council Chamber's ceiling down at Ivory. He seemed unperturbed with every miss. An arrow bounced off of Ivory's armor, near his shoulder joint. He cursed, but couldn't take his attention away from the mage above him. He carved through yet another bombardment easily. "I know there are others with you, Mage."
"We made it obvious. Or at least I thought so. What do you think, Sister?"
"I agree. Let's see how long the God of Light lasts against Umbral's best assassins." Ivory twisted sideways as one of two blades cut through the air, aimed for his neck. He brought his sword up to block the other and kicked his attacker, Saeralai, in the knee. He brought his sword down to end her existence quickly, but she vanished in a black cloud of smoke. Twin sets of laughing voices played at his ears, reflecting off of the walls, seemingly magnified by something, probably a spell cast by Arcanus.
"You're too used to fighting what you can see and hit!" Arcanus sneered, appearing within Ivory's reach. The armored warrior wasted no time and his sword severed the oddly calm man's head from his shoulders. The robes fell, empty and several exact copies walked up beside it. The all spoke. "Your meager efforts at swordplay are useless against me."
"An illusion." The god growled. "Arcanus! Your games won't get you anywhere!" Ivory crouched as an arrow flew through the air. It would have struck him in the eye if he hadn't moved. The dual wielder landed behind him and jammed a dagger in between two of the plates in his armor, right in the back. The blade didn't pierce the mithril mesh underneath, however. He swung his sword behind him, turning with it. It glowed a bright white and barely slashed the incorporeal form of the assassin. She solidified a few feet away, holding her side with one hand.
"Now you're beginning to get amusing. I wonder… what happens when we play God in the middle?" The archer materialized in front of Ivory cutting the string on her batleth and Arcanus let the illusions fade. He was to Ivory's left. He stood back up to his full height and settled into a defensive stance. The assassins streaked toward him, bladed weapons ready to pierce his armor or sever his head. He spun around the batleth and blocked one of the dual wielder's swords. The other clanged against his armor. The polished metal began to corrode where the blade had touched it. Arcanus waved his hand passively and the little light left in the room was completely extinguished. Ivory's sword only illuminated a three foot radius and the darkness swallowed his opponents. Light glinted off of a blade and Ivory quickly dodged it. The spiraling, teasing and maddening laughter returned, echoing all around him It was impossible to tell distance and direction. He had began to sweat, not from the fight, but from something else.
"Yes, Ivory. Good. You're beginning to understand. You are going to die. Alone. Helpless." Glowing red eyes flared angrily around him. "Afraid." A dagger plunged into his stomach through the hole in his armor. He caught hold of the attacker's arm and hit them in the head with the hilt of his sword. He staggered backward, regaining his balance from the blow. A searing pain shot through his veins, he snarled almost like an animal and his sword crashed through two columns as he swung it. Arcanus flung him into the wall with a spell
He stood weakly and was met with a boot. "Sister, shall we let him see our face before the final blow?'
"No." Saiemae walked over to wear the god's sword had landed when Arcanus threw him and carried it over to where Ivory was now. "You were disappointing, Ivory. I've fought plenty of mortals who put up more of a fight than you did." She split his head like a melon with his own sword and shoved it into the wall. She stretched and looked at the other two. "That was really boring. But, the job's done."
"N- not yet." Ivory grunted as he pulled the sword out of himself and the wall. His body faded into a human shaped light.
"Oh? Don't disappoint this time. Your physical form was pathetic." Saiemae drew her batleth, Saeralai her swords and Arcanus began drawing a magic circle with glowing red runes.
Saiemae and Saeralai leaped toward Ivory, their physical bodies melting into shadow stuff halfway there. Ivory met them and the force of the impact of their weapons' collision sent out a shock wave, destroying everything in the room except Arcanus and a ten foot radius around the mage. Ivory's swordplay was vastly greater without the physical encumbrance of his armor and body.
"Animarum… obscura nocte… venit luxem... RELEGANT!" Ivory dropped and propped himself up with his sword as the spell finished. He struggled into an upright position. Saiemae was coming toward him in plain view and Saeralai was flying towards him from behind, Saiemae on the left, Saeralai to the right. Their blades were blacker than the darkest shadows in Umbral. Both of them were moving impossibly fast. Ivory's sword fell from his hands as his head rolled off of his shoulders. Saiemae and her sister skidded to a stop on opposite sides of the fallen god. Arcanus sighed in disappointment. Saiemae kicked Ivory's head across the room, where it hit the wall with a satisfying wet crunch. The sounds of battle in the other parts of the citadel and outside in the rest of the Inner Haven ceased and High General Scadem walked into the remains of the council chamber. Saiemae bowed dramatically.
"Save the formalities, Revenant."
"Of course." Her overly dramatic attitude didn't fade. She smirked as the incubus general tensed his muscles to refrain from attacking her.
"The Haven is ours. The Oath Keeper Alliance has retreated to the Mortal Realm." Zurim materialized in the center of the room and instantly everyone, even Scadem, knelt down.
"Good. High General." The Incubus looked up as he was addressed. "Take a force to assist the Ilumnai front. Aemeira is proving obstinate." The Incubus stood and left with his soldiers after a salute. "Excellent work, you three. Even Onyx herself could not kill Ivory. The Havens in the Mortal Realm continue to prove resilient, even against multiple fronts. Saiemae, Saeralai, bring them down from the inside. Leave Elendeth for last. I wish our final confrontation against the mortals and their allies to be interesting. Arcanus, I've made some modifications to the Verthite Weapon. Feel free to use it." Zurim faded into a cloud of smoke and vanished moments later. Saiemae and Saeralai departed for the Mortal Realm and Arcanus returned to the Verthite Weapon's resting place. The silver hedron floated, suspended by two opposing and powerful magnetic rings.
"You're goin' to hell!" Duenor screamed as he slammed his stubby finger into the button. The hedron whirled to life and spun faster and faster. The curved etchings glowed a bright gold. Tiamat herself crashed through the wall of the castle.
"It's not working!" Eluniir yelled, carving the head of the nearest dragon clean off. A bright flash and an explosion left everyone on their backs. Arcanus sat up, Duenor was unconscious and Eluniir was nowhere to be seen. For that matter, neither were the dragons.
"It worked." The mage sighed, relieved.
Arcanus methodically went through the procedure to turn the hedron on. It whirled around and around, in the opposite direction it did when first used. The roar of a dragon echoed throughout the ruins of the Crystal Castle. "It's been a long time, Tiamat."
"You, vermin, dare speak to me?" The Dragon Queen moved to swallow him whole. He didn't flinch.
"I do actually. I have released you from your prison, and just you and your kind. The Aslians, Tae'Rin and Suri are still trapped within the hedron. And with them, most of the Dragon Slayers."
Tiamat paused and regained her composure. "I want Aemeira's head. No. I want to sever it myself. We are allies until that condition is met, then-" She let smoke blow out of the nostrils of one of her many heads. Arcanus nodded, understanding full well the Dragon Queen's threat.
"Evacuate the Infirmary! We're routed!" Calathel, the field commander of the Oath Keeper Alliance's 23rd Legion said. "Saraqael, get those that can fight out first. Orders straight from Lucellius."
"No. I'm-"
"We don't have time for banter! Do it."
"I'm not leaving anyone to die here. Izura! Contact the Lotus, we're filling up their hotel." The demon nodded and took off. "Amaryllis, no enemy gets through that doorway." The Slayer walked nonchalantly to the only entrance and leaned against the door jam. Calathel looked at the head medic of the Inner Haven like she'd gone mad. She looked around at everyone in the infirmary. "Well? The hell are you doing, let's get the wounded out of here!"
Ssitheros approached the doorway and stood silently behind Amaryllis, who regarded the god with passive interest. Calathel went over to a Reflection and helped them stand. Their leg was all but severed.
"The Lotus have opened up. The door's to the south." Izura informed them as he ran up. The demon resembled a skinny teenage boy with short reddish brown hair and light skin. He then turned and led the way. Fighting erupted in the doorway as the infirmary was being cleared out.
"Dawn! He's choking!" One of the Lotus yelled, holding the head of a Lantern.
"Prop his head up higher!" The chief medic of the Black Lotus Assassins yelled back, throwing a healing spell to an angel whose arm had been shredded. Calathel set the Reflection he was helping on an empty cot and looked around. Lucellius and the main force still hadn't come through the interdimensional doorway into the hotel. Amaryllis stumbled through, holding her side and bleeding. The door way vanished shortly afterward. Calathel walked over and offered his assistance, but she ignored him and shambled deeper into the infirmary.
"Ssitheros fell to the horde." She informed Calathel, Izura, Saraqael and Shadow as she removed her armor so she could get medical assistance. She smiled a little. "I think I killed more than he did." Shadow tore the Slayer's tunic off and wrapped her up in bandages.
Lucellius walked in with his own wounded. He approached Shadow. "Thank you again for your assistance. Medius and Hasianna vanished near the end of the battle. I fear Ivory may be slain."
Amaryllis choked on a chuckle. "His snake headed friend certainly is."
Saiemae walked in to the Black Lotus Hotel, hands up and empty. Instantly, the guild of assassins was ready for a fight. She stopped, smirked and looked each of them over. "I carry a message. Please do tell the rest of your…. Alliance." She rolled Ivory's head along the floor and grinned madly at the gasps of surprise and disgust. The sun eclipsed behind her. "That's all for now. I really do wish we could all dance, but, duty calls." She vanished in a cloud of smoke and disappeared.
"Ivory's… dead?" Multiple Luxaeus beings and a few Guardians murmured. Lucellius searched the Hotel for Rheah. She was standing next to the cot upon which most of Carliel's body rested. Lucellius bit his lip in an effort to keep his composure.
"Rheah. The Alliance is going to need a morale boost. Ivory and Ssitheros have both been killed." The archangel said. "Carliel is in good hands." He added, regarding the Avenger's anger. "I would, but my record as a leader is…" He paused, searching for the right term. "Not as clean as I'd like it to be. The Alliance will listen to you."
