Faded Shadows

Chapter 11

"This is too easy!" yelled Azure Phoenix as he plowed through another griffon rebel. "That makes 17 for me!" he called to Agliss.

"You're getting cocky." replied Agliss as he parried a spear thrust from the rebel in front of him. He then returned a strike which disarmed the soldier, literally. "Because you'll never beat me! I've got 23!"

"How!?" asked Azure as he easily dodge an oncoming rebel. "You've barely swung that sword!"

"Magic." replied Agliss in a simple one word answer as he reached out with hand and sent the earth beneath him at the nearest enemy.

"And here I am trying to keep the playing field leveled!" yelled Azure as he set his wings alight.

Agliss rolled his eyes as he took another soldier down. It looked like that there were only a few left in the area.

"Azure!" called Agliss. "Let's finish this up. Leo is probably waiting on us!"

"Gotcha!" replied Azure as he sent a pillar of flames at the remaining rebels in front of him. Agliss looked over to see that the only remaining forces was one rebel. The two descended upon the helpless soldier like lions hunting its prey.

With the area now clear, the two took a moment to catch their breath.

"I wonder how Zhane's doing?" Agliss asked as he looked up to the castle.

"He's probably fine." replied Azure. "I know he can handle himself."

"I just hope no rebels made it though." said Agliss. "I'm not too sure how well he can handle himself against a great number of enemies."

"Don't worry about it." said Azure. "He has some kind of way of not dying. It's like the bastard's invincible."

"I just hope Zhane doesn't think that he actually is." replied Agliss.


I had no idea that something so big could be so fast.

"That's bullshit." I said as I saw the giant wolf loom over me with his sword ready.

I quickly jumped to the right in anticipation of the attack. My anticipation was correct and I was rewarded with more time to live. I let loose a sigh as I regained my footing.

"You quick." said Solomon as he pulled his sword up. "But you can't run forever!" With that, he dashed at me again with his sword ready. This time, I watched the way he held his sword. I had a hunch that was probably a stupid idea. It looked like he was going to swing horizontally which meant I wouldn't be able to side-step this one. Through the process of elimination, there was only one other place left to go.

As soon as Solomon reared back to swing, I dashed for his legs. He wouldn't be able to hit me at this close of a proximity, plus I can get some hits in. I ran under him, in-between his legs, while sliding my sword against his leg. I looked back to see that I had made a clean cut. I also saw that Solomon had spun around with his sword overhead.

"Oh shit." I said to myself as I launched myself to the left to dodge the overhead strike. The blade missed me by inches as I rolled out of the way and made it to safety. I turned to see Solomon examining the wound on his leg. He let out a slight growl which was followed by a large, toothy smile.

"Solomon has not faced something that could keep up in a long time." he said with his smile still present. "Solomon guess that it time to get serious."

The large gnoll lowered himself onto all four of his limbs and placed his in his mouth.

"Oh!" exclaimed Melody. "I haven't seen Solomon get this serious since the first time we fought together. This is a rare sight to behold. Like a flawless win in any game."

Solomon began to slowly circle me, looking for a chance to strike. Once he made one go-around, the gnoll rushed me at greater speeds than before. Even at that speed, his attacks were still telegraphed easily. The only problem was the fact that there was no place to dodge this time. With Solomon so close to the ground, there was no place to go to avoid the strike. I swallowed hard knowing that the only thing I could do was block the attack.

I brought up my sword and placed the flat end against my arm. It was the only thing I could do. I just hoped that he wouldn't slice right through my sword. The gnoll began his swing and I readied myself. It was like the world went into slow motion at that time. I watched as Solomon's blade met mine and the sparks flew. The force behind the blade was tremendous and as the blade began to push against me, I lost my footing and went flying. As I flew through the air, a small tang of regret popped into my mind as I started to hate myself for picking the fight. I hit the wall behind me with a loud thump. The impact caused all the air in my lungs to leave only leaving pain and a shortness of breath.

"Zhane!" yelled the High Priestess as she heard me hit the wall. "Guards! Assist him!"

"I wouldn't do that." replied Melody as her horn lit up. A large green barrier appeared in front of the group of griffons, keeping them from interfering. "Solomon doesn't like it when his fights are interrupted."

I sat up against the wall to see the High Priestess and her guards pushed back to the far wall of the study. I winced in pain as my entire body ached. I looked up to see that Solomon was watching me intently.

"Get up." he said. "Get up and grab a weapon."

I looked at him in slight confusion.

"Solomon refuses to fight tiny human while that has no weapon."

"What?" I whispered to myself.

"Solomon!" yelled the unicorn. "Don't start with this again. Just grab him and let's go."

The gnoll growled at the unicorn and ignored her order.

"Solomon will not deny this human's chance to fight for freedom."

Melody frowned as she looked at the gnoll.

"Fine!" she replied. "But if you lose him it's on you!"

Solomon smiled and looked back at me.

"Retrieve your weapon and stand."

I propped myself against the wall and stared at the large creature. Was he really allowing me to rearm and have a chance to beat him? I swallowed hard and started to lift myself up. Although my back hurt all the way up, I still managed to stand and remain that way. I looked around and spotted my sword a couple feet away from me. Upon closer inspection, I saw that my weapon was in two pieces. I frown when I realized how much control he had over the situation. However, I could use my injury to my advantage. If Solomon thought that I was slowed by that last hit, he would let his guard down. My back still felt like it was on fire but I could push through it for now

I smiled, if what I was about to do would work, I could easily turn the tide of this fight or just piss off the giant wolf. I bent down and grabbed the broken sword. I then turned and faced my giant attacker. The instant Solomon saw the way I was walking and what condition my weapon was in, he creaked a smile.

"Are you ready?" he asked. I simply nodded in return. Solomon pulled his sword up and began to approach me. I could see that he was confident that he would win now. I couldn't blame him, it felt like he broke my spine with that last hit. If I'm not successful this time, I'll probably die.

Solomon steadied his sword and raised it above his head. He was going to strike downwards, a perfect chance to make my move. A moment of silence passed as Solomon kept his sword raised over his head. He was seeing if I would attempt to dodge or block the oncoming attack. Once he saw that I was standing still, he grunted and swung his sword. I watched as it made its way down towards me. It was either now or never.

I quickly sidestepped the attack just as the sword came down. Through all of my pain, I pulled the broken sword up and aimed for the spot in which I knew would damage the gnoll, his eye. The downwards strike brought his face closer to the ground and tricking him into thinking that the last blow affected my speed was my plan. I knew the plan was a success, not just by my actions but also, by the squish sound Solomon's eyeball made once pierced by my broken sword.

It took only a second for Solomon to realize what had happened. He instantly backed away from me, letting go of his sword and bringing his large hands to his eye.

"Solomon!" yelled Melody as she saw her large friend double over in pain. She then turned to me with a furious look. "You'll pay for that!"

Her horn lit up and before I could react, I was sent back towards the same wall I had hit before. A sharp pain shot through me body and I hunched over. Something had to have broken that time. I looked over to Melody to see her right next to Solomon.

"Solomon, are you okay?" she asked the gnoll. Solomon screamed in response.

"It hurts!" he screamed. "It hurts so much!" The blood of coming from Solomon's eye started to pool on the floor. I was surprised to see that he was still moving. I thought that I had pierced his brain.

"Don't worry Solomon." started Melody. "Once Scarhide makes it to the castle, we can get you some help."

"Just use teleport spell!" screamed Solomon. "Take us back to boss!"

"We can't leave here empty handed." replied Melody. "I have no idea how the boss will react. Plus, that spell takes time to cast."

"Solomon do not care!" yelled the gnoll. "Do it!"

Melody nodded and started to focus magic into her horn. Because of this, the power of the barrier that she put up started to falter.

"This is an excellent chance to take out the unicorn." I thought to myself as I started to pull myself up. At this point, I was having trouble keeping my own eyes open. All the adrenaline that was coursing through my body was keeping me awake and veered towards one goal. Killing that unicorn.

I looked over to see that the tip of my sword still rested on the ground to my right. I hobbled over and grasped it with all the strength I had left. I slowly began to walk over to the concentrating unicorn, who at the moment was too busy with her spell to notice me. I got closer and closer until I was practically standing over the unicorn. I raised the blade tip back and aimed my strike for the unicorn's throat.

Before I was able to strike, I felt something grab my leg and pull me away from the unicorn. I looked to see that Solomon had grabbed me and brought me up to his face. He turned my right side up and trapped my arms inside his grip. The only thing that I could move were my feet.

"Solomon should kill you right now!" exclaimed the warlord.

I looked at Solomon's injured eye and got the best idea.

"How are you gonna do that if you're already dead?" I asked.

Solomon gave me a weird look.

"Solomon has you trapped." replied the gnoll. "You are helpless."

I didn't reply, I just brought my foot up and kick the sword further into the eye of the beast. I had kicked it so hard that the hilt of the sword had now disappeared into the beast's eyeball. Solomon's grip instantly loosened and he dropped me to the floor. After I hit the floor, a loud thud followed from what I assumed to be Solomon.

This thud was enough to make Melody open her eyes. She gazed upon the site of her partner laying there with wide-eyes.

"Solomon?" she said as she walked straight past me and over to the gnoll. "The spell is ready. Are you okay?" She walked around the other side to see the warlord's face. There was a gasp and a small cry as she gazed upon the now dead gnoll with a sword lodged into his eye. It was at that moment, the barrier around the High Priestess had faded and her guards moved forward to finally help me. Most of the guards surrounded Melody, who was too awestruck at her companion dying to notice the guards. The rest, including the High Priestess and Bloom were at my side, pulling me away from the battle.

I looked over to the unicorn to see that she was now staring at me.

"We will keep coming after you, Zhane." said Melody in a very angry tone. "You will pay for what you did to Solomon."

With that, the unicorn vanished in a blast of bright light which I assumed was the spell Solomon talked of. I gave sigh of relief. I honestly didn't think that I was gonna live through that. With the battle done, the adrenaline in my body began to fade and with it, so did my consciousness.


"Scarhide." began the flickering shadow before him. "Report."

"We were forced to retreat." began the General. "They are too strong to fight head on."

"Has Solomon's death been confirmed?" asked the shadow.

"Yes." replied Scarhide as he looked over to Melody who was slumped over in the corner of the room. It was obvious that Solomon's death hit her hard.

"That is troubling." replied the shadow. "We might have underestimated Zhane. Back off for now and regroup for now. Zhane has become a secondary target. I want this war as top priority."

"Of course." replied Scarhide.

"And Melody." said the shadow. "I would like for you to return to me. We will let Scarhide handle this war for now."

Melody gave no retort nor did she argue.

"Yes sir." she replied without hesitation.

"That will be all." said the shadow as he disappeared into thin air.