*Chapter 11*

He moved quickly; more quickly than my simple human reflexes could possibly track. In a flash of black he knocked me to the ground and pinned my arms under his knees. Kenziner dug painfully into my shoulder blades as I cried out. I looked up into Saints' eyes. My immediate wish was that I hadn't. What I saw there, was unlike anything I've seen before. There was hardly anything human about his gaze, the gleam of humanity was lost to some mania-driven severity. In his mind, I'm sure he needed to do this.

Suddenly, there was another flash, and the weight of the dark planeswalker was lifted from me. I sprung to my feet and saw that Gideon had come to my aid. "Angell," he said. "This is the one you…"

"Yes. It's him," I confirmed to him. I drew Kenziner and adopted my fighting stance. Saints was definitely here for something, what it was I'm sure we would find out not too long from now.

Saints, not unlike some kind of animal, was on his hands and knees. He was muttering something under his breath and he looked to be shuddering. My heart was pierced by a sudden thorn of grief. My best friend…what had the black order done to him? "Jura…" he growled. He fixed Gideon with a dark-as-midnight gaze. "You will do…" The power of his spark intensified as he shuddered more violently. His eyes completely blacked over, the whites seemingly lost in the dilation of pupils.

I moved to engage him before his power could grow anymore, but Gideon halted my progress with an outstretched arm. "Stay back, Angell. it's me he wants." Gideon calmly produced his Sural and slowly approached Saints.

"Gideon if you think I'm going to stand by and let you fight him alone, then you are mistaken," I said.

Gideon turned to look at me. There was something about the way he looked at me, it carried some sort of sadness and finality. Though his voice was even when he spoke, I could see the emotional maelstrom in his eyes. "I don't think you'll have much of a choice."

What did he mean? Why would he say that? Surprised confusion kept me rooted to the spot, but it was only when Gideon turned his back did the realization come over me. He charged at Saints, his Sural held high, white mana exploding from his body. Saints snapped back to his feet in an instant, and in the very split second before their sparks collided, they both vanished.

I ran to the spot that once held the two planeswalkers, which now only held empty air. I sank to my knees as tears escaped my eyes. "Gideon…what have you done?" It seemed then that my need for him intensified. I realized how much I needed him at my side; how empty and savage the world seemed without him; and how much I loved him. Then I knew that maybe we weren't so far apart after all. I closed my eyes and cleared my head. And in the depths of my mind I could feel them. They were still on Terra-Fausta, engaged in terrible conflict. All I had to do was hone in on their sparks. A local planeswalk should be no trouble for me.

I was all set to depart when there was the sudden rush of footfalls and the metallic clinks and clanks of armor and weapons being readied. I opened my eyes and found myself surrounded.

The whole of Lu-Restia's peace keeping unit had descended on me; there were easily over two hundred of them, standing in a formidable circle around me, with more still pouring in from the streets and ally ways. "On your feet, NOW!" barked the apparent leader. "And don't think you can fight your way out of this, mage-bane. We've all hex-proof armor and enchanted munitions at the ready!" The part about the enchanted armaments unsettled me. I remembered Gideon's words: 'People are not without their ironies'

I slowly, very slowly got to my feet, clutching Kenziner in my right hand. My eyes swept over the force before me taking in the spears, swords, and bows all primed in my direction. I sheathed Kenziner and slowly put my hands in the air. I tried to look and sound as disarming as possible, after all, I was not really their enemy. "Please," I said to all of them. "I am not your enemy. I fight in the name of peace; in the name of the white order-"

"Silence!" roared the peacekeeper captain. "It matters not who you fight for. You evil wielder of magic, you will meet your end as I see fit!"

There was obviously no talking him out of this, but I was far from worried. All I had to do was take a tiny step forward and be gone from here in a flash. I focused my mind again on Gideon's spark, but found something that blocked my attempt. I knew what it was. It was the dark aura that we originally followed to this city, but it was much nearer this time…very near.

"Everyone, listen!" the captain barked at me to remain silent, but I needed to warn them. "Please! There is a great threat approaching! If you don't act now-"

It was too late.

Before he could give another order, the captain's head was separated from his shoulders. A ripple of alarm went through the unit as the man's body slunk to the ground and writhed in it's final involuntary spasms. And then just as quickly, another man was decapitated, then another, and then another. Panicked screams rose from the soldiers as many of them turned to flee. Blood and bodies littered the square as the invisible force killed scores of men. Kenziner was in my hands as I whirled around desperately trying to pinpoint the invisible killer before they targeted me.

And finally, when the last of those lucky enough to have escaped cleared the square, the assailant finally revealed themselves. In a blur of black they appeared about ten yards from my position. It was a woman, her dark aura pulsated viciously. She wore a slim black cloak that fit easily over her light leather armor. And then I saw her weapons. Wrist-mounted gauntlet blades, four feet in length and dripping with crimson. She turned her sly, calculating face to me and said, "At last we meet, angel of destiny."

I regarded her coolly as I said, "So, you're the one we've been chasing all this time? All finished playing hide and seek?" I adopted a nonchalantly superior tone, letting her know that her little show of mass murder hadn't unnerved me at all, when really I was planning to make her pay for each of those deaths a dozen times over.

The woman carelessly pushed a lock of her blood-red hair from her forehead. "My hiding was no act of cowardice, I can assure you that," she said. "I was not to reveal myself until the appearance of our chosen."

"Chosen?"

"Your beloved counterpart; the chosen of the black sun; the night fallen saint!" She said this with a kind of memorized reverence that made me believe she'd been waiting all her life to say that. "He will awaken the power of the zenith and rid this plane of all the undeserving rats that inhabit it!"

I stared a hole through this woman as I said, "Who are you?"

"I am Koldane, the duskhunter" she said.

Something went off in my mind. "Duskhunter…so that was you who sent those bats."

"Guilty," Koldane shrugged. "You made such quick work of my lovely creatures, even though you weren't the intended target."

"Yes," I said. "And on behalf of the people of Tasla, I will be more than happy to end your life here and now." I began charging white mana into Kenziner.

Koldane began charging her own mana and managed to produce the first spell. "Child of night!" A dark haired vampiress appeared at her side and bared her glinting fangs.

"Accorder paladin!" was my first spell. As the armored soldier appeared before me, I unleashed my next spell. "Honor of the pure!" The familiar golden light enveloped my creature as he steeled himself for battle.

Koldane seemed slightly amused as she called her next creature. "Vampire outcasts!" A pair of ragged vampire nobles appeared at the ready. She sent forth her child of night and quickly followed after it.

I raised Kenziner and charged to meet her. My paladin and the night child had just engaged each other as I cast my next spell on the run. "Skillful lunge!" Granted the first strike, my paladin cut down the night child before she could even lift a finger. Not breaking stride, I continued my charge for Koldane. I swung back Kenziner and slashed for her throat. Koldane easily evaded my strike as she dance gracefully out of range. She sent her vampire outcasts after me and followed with an instant spell.

"Sorin's thirst!" I was brought to a halt by a red hot prickling in my neck. The spell had left two deep puncture wounds there. Hot blood ran down my throat and the outcasts honed in on it. Driven to a frenzy by the sight of fresh blood, they charged ever faster. Luckily for me, their blood thirst robbed them of what little intelligence they had. They failed to remember that they were charging at someone who held a seven-foot sword in their hands.

I waited until they were just in range and in one easy sweep, cut both of their heads off. Their bodies crumpled to the ground as they disintegrated into piles of burning ash. I looked to the vampiric night-mage. "Really, that's the best you have?"

Koldane sized me up with a narrowed glance and, never moving her eyes from mine, she raised her arm and pointed at my paladin. "Deathmark," she said. My paladin was destroyed instantly. "No. That is not the best I have. I was just after a little fun with you before I ended your life." Koldane flicked her arms out and her gauntlet blades sprung with a metallic shriek. "And now, playtime is over." she took a step backwards and disappeared. My eyes darted everywhere around but could see no trace of her. I could still feel her aura so I knew she was still here. My thoughts raced back to the men seemingly decapitated by nothing and no one and my heart rate tripled.

'Where is she? Where is she?' my mind raced along with my thoughts as I whirled on the spot. And then I turned around and there she was, poised to strike. Her right arm drawn back to skewer me through the throat. This seemed to happen on slow motion, though I knew she was moving faster than my reflexes could track. By the time I raised Kenziner, I knew it would be too late.

And just as quickly as she appeared, her head recoiled and she slumped to the ground, lifeless. I found myself again whirling on the spot, trying to pinpoint who it was that just saved my life. And there, in the shadow of the inn's doorway, was Wylis. I should have known. He relaxed his bow and descended the stairs to my position. This was the second time he saved me, and I had a wonderfully breathless speech of thanks for him. I opened my mouth and said, "Dude, you have got to work on your timing."

"Better late than never, I always say," Wylis chattered. He stooped down besides the lifeless Koldane. His arrow had caught her right through the eye. "Definitely one of my better shots, if I don't say so myself." He turned to me and smiled mischievously. "That makes twice now I've saved your hide. I'm feeling like you owe me something."

"Maybe later," I said, raising my head to the sky. I could still feel Gideon and Saints in the edge of my mind; I needed to get to them. "Wylis, you stay here and-" my attention was diverted by movement on the edges of the square. All around us, figures began to emerge from the dark. Me and Wylis put our backs together and readied our weapons, anticipating more threats. But as they drew closer I could see that, instead of monsters, we were surrounded by city folk. They stared at us through timid and dumbfounded eyes, as though they hardly dared to believe what they were seeing.

"Think we got more trouble?" Wylis whispered to me.

I lowered my weapon in response. "I doubt they will cause us any harm now." My mind was drawn back to the battle between Gideon and Saints. Was I imagining it, or did Gideon's spark seem somehow…dimmer? I had wasted enough time here. "Wylis, stay with the people here, explain to them what just happened here, and what they're seeing now."

Wylis turned to me. "Why? Where are you going?"

I took a moment before answering. "To see if I can save someone I love." I took a step forward, and was lost in the flow of time.

*End of chapter 11*