Chapter 15: The Strike of Midnight

The sun beat down on a small village in the middle of an arid desert grassland. There was a large river that ran past, the only reason that life could be supported in this otherwise barren landscape. People were milling to and fro, going about their days work with an avid determination.

By the river, a few children were playing and taking advantage of the cooling effects of the water. They screamed and laughed as they splashed and chased each other. On the bank nearby, Garrick smiled as he remained vigilant, watching over the kids while also keeping an eye on one of the main entrances to the village. He was currently puffing contentedly on a small pipe, one of his guilty pleasures in life.

One of the children that had been playing came running out of the river towards him. She was no older than seven summers, with long pale blonde hair, bleached from the sun. She stopped about ten metres from his position.

"Daddy!" she giggled. Garrick gave a soft smile, and turned towards her fully. "Hello dear. Need my help? I won't splash the other kids for you, you know" he replied. The young girl shook her head. "Daddy, you need to go now, or you'll be late."

Garrick gained a confused look on his face. "Late? Late for what dear, I'm stationed here all morning you know." The girl shook her head, never losing her smile. "Daddy, you need to go now, or you'll be late" she repeated. Garrick was starting to get concerned. Her behaviour was unusual after all. Before he could reply again, however, a different voice interrupted him.

"Yes...you wouldn't want to be late now, would you…" came from behind him, making his eyes widen. He turned, to see a humanoid figure. He couldn't make out any features, as they were cloaked in darkness. But that voice…

"You wouldn't want to be late again. Look what happened the last time…" The figure then raised a metal weapon and pointed it towards the little blonde girl, who simply continued to stand there smiling. A revolver. Garrick yelled "No!" and attempted to run in between the two.

*BANG*

Garrick awoke with a gasp, his heart pounding and cold sweat dripping down his brow. He swiftly sat up, taking in his surroundings. He was in the same tavern room he had fallen asleep in the night before. Slowly, his breathing and heart rate lowered, and he pushed the covers off him and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. "...Just a dream...a nightmare."

He looked to the end of the bed to see that Karasumaru was still asleep, his actions not having disturbed the bird at all. Garrick rose and started to don his clothes once more. No way was he getting any more sleep tonight after that. As he was finishing putting his jacket back on, he heard a shout from outside that made him pause. The shout was indistinct due to its distance, but it sounded panicked.

Turning to the source, Garrick frowned as he saw that the soft light from the magic lamps in the street coming through the window had been replaced with a flickering warm orange light instead. Stepping swiftly towards the window, his eyes widened as he took in the sight below.

Down in the street, numerous fires had erupted from boxes and even nearby buildings. In the middle of the street, several figures were fighting each other. The towns guards were scattered about, all shouting orders to each other and attempting to rally a defence against their adversaries. Adversaries made of swirling black mist and only vaguely humanoid in shape…

"Shadows" Garrick gasped. He then spun and sprinted from the room, grabbing his bow, hung on the nearby chair, as he went. As he ran down the corridor to the stairs, he knocked heavily on each door he passed, hoping to wake their occupants. Whether they contained his allies or not he was unsure, but better that the occupants be awake to defend themselves than at the mercy of Shadows while asleep.

When he descended the staircase, he took note that the bar was entirely empty except for a single figure. Varus was crouched by the bay window, looking out at the fighting occurring with his usual mild curiosity. Garrick crouched and jogged over, dipping down next to him to look out the same window. Varus barely spared him a glance.

"So, going to try to play the hero again, old man?" Varus commented. Garrick looked out of the window, notching an arrow ready and trying to see how the fighting was going. By the looks of the various bodies lying in the street, it wasn't going in the guards favour. "Maybe. I could just sit back and watch, but it seems you've got that part covered already" Garrick returned.

Varus scoffed, "Never heard of scoping out the situation? Might save you one...look out!" he called, ducking and giving Garrick enough time to dive to the side as a figure crashed through the bay window they had been beside. A quick look revealed it to have been a guard, at least once. It was now a desiccated husk, with the same pale visage that they were familiar with from the Shadow attacks in Grayben's Bay.

Turning back to Varus, Garrick saw him looking to the body in confusion. "I think that's our cue…" he said, before hopping out of the broken window. Varus sighed, "Well, at least this will be interesting" before giving the body one last curious look and following suit.

As Garrick emerged into the street, he was quick to duck behind some rubble for cover. Looking around, he took in the situation with practiced efficiency. There were numerous Shadows, totalling around four. There were many more members of the Astorian guard, all wearing the same tabard with the silver embroidered tree upon them. While they held the numerical advantage, it was clear that they were struggling with the Shadows.

Swords and shields were inflicting little if any damage upon the smokey mass that made up the Shadows' bodies. Swords and arrows simply passed through, some displaced smoke the only indication that the weapons were doing anything at all. Shields were unable to block the majority of their attacks, the Shadows limbs simply passing through them to attack the guard's bodies directly.

Garrick narrowed his eyes, and then looked to the side where one of the numerous fires was currently burning its way through the remains of a cart. Reaching out, he lit his arrow on the flames. "Time to see if they burn better than they cut…" Garrick thought. Hearing a pained gasp to the side, Garrick looked to see the familiar form of Denrick, fallen to the floor and desperately trying to crawl backwards from an advancing Shadow.

Decision made, Garrick drew his bow and fired his flaming arrow. It struck the Shadow in the mass of its body, displacing a good amount of smoke as it passed. Far more than a regular arrow had. The Shadow writhed a little in apparent pain, but was quick to reform and turn its attention to its attacker.

"...Well, that got its attention at least…" Garrick grumbled, quickly notching and firing arrows at the slowly approaching Shadow. As he expected, regular arrows were doing far less damage, but they were slowing it down. When it was starting to get uncomfortably close, an arrow flew past Garrick's ear to also hit the Shadow. A quick side glance showed Varus also firing arrows as swiftly as possible at the threat.

Now, with twice the projectiles, the Shadow was losing more and more smoke from the impacts. Almost as soon as it reformed, another arrow hit. It began to retreat, getting pushed back along the street. Eventually, it spun around and floated back along the street rather than attempt to attack them.

Garrick breathed in relief as Varus came to stand beside him. "That many arrows, and still it did not die…" Varus grumbled. Garrick shook his head "True...but fire was more effective." Varus nodded stoically "So, magic then. Know any magic?"

Garrick sighed. "A few spells. Not many offensive ones though. You?" Varus just shrugged. However, before he could reply, he frowned as he looked to the Shadow that had retreated from them. "Wait...what is it doing?" Garrick looked to where he indicated, before his eyes widened in shock.

Down the street, the Shadow had managed to take a guard by surprise from behind, where it had proceeded to drain him in the same way as all these Shadows seem to attack. This is not what had shocked them. It was the fact that, once finished, the corpse fell and another shadow rose from the body. That was worrying.

"Interesting" Varus muttered. Not the word Garrick would have chosen. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Wait, if that's where Shadows come from, what about?" He spun around, looking back to the window he and Varus had jumped through. There, starting to slowly float out, was another Shadow. One that had clearly just emerged from the corpse that had been thrown through it earlier.

Before he could raise his weapon to fire at it, however, there was an almighty bang from within the tavern, and the Shadows head was blown clean off. The remaining body writhed as the head reformed, floating a little way out to reveal the figure of Rogon in the window. His revolver was pointed at the shadow, a scowl firmly on his face.

"Stinkin' Shadows! Why won't you just die!" he growled, before aiming his revolver at the mass of smoke once more. This time, he raised his other hand to the top of his weapon. The reason why became clear as he fired all three remaining pellets in quick succession while fanning the hammer, the impacts blasting the Shadow into wisps of smoke. They did not reform.

Grunting in satisfaction, he stepped out of the tavern fully. Behind him, Alistair, Indira and Na'ish were also rushing to join the fray. Alistair jogged to their side, "You weren't thinking of starting a fight without us were you? For shame!" he joked to Varus, who simply scoffed. Garrick had not said a word at their arrival, as he was currently staring at the weapon that Rogon was currently reloading. His fists were clenched and he was gritting his teeth, as if he was holding himself back from doing or saying something.

"You okay?" came the voice of Indira from beside him. He tore his gaze from the weapon to look at her. She currently was giving him a concerned look, looking from him to Rogon in turn. "Now is not the time" she whispered to him. He closed his eyes and took a calming breath, before giving her a firm nod. She smiled in relief.

He stepped forward, regrouping with the rest as they looked out at the remaining fighting. Varus and Rogon were shooting at any nearby Shadows while Na'ish was inspecting a downed guard, shaking his head shortly afterwards at the unasked question from Alistair. Before he could join in the fighting however, a harsh "Get down!" from Rogon had him hitting the floor.

Good job too, as a large streak of fire soared over their heads to impact the nearby building, blowing a large portion of the wall out and instantly setting it ablaze. Sitting up and coughing from the dust that had spread from the impact, the group froze at the sound of a voice echoing from above them.

"So...we have some interferers, do we…" Turning to look at the source, they saw a humanoid figure standing at the top of the building across the street from them. Unlike the Shadows, he was clearly solid. His entire body was covered in a large black robe, tied at the waist and with a hood covering his head. His face was swathed in shadows, making it impossible to see any distinguishing features. Only his eyes, glowing slightly with a grey light, could be seen within.

"What hope do the five of you hope to accomplish, when the amassed might of the Astorian guard couldn't even fight back?" the hooded figure chuckled ominously. Garrick gained the slightest of frowns. "Five?" he asked himself, before taking a very subtle look at his companions. Sure enough, it appeared that Alistair had seemingly disappeared in the recent explosion.

Rogon scowled up at the figure still looking down at them from the rooftop "So you're the one behind these attacks then are ya? Why don't you come down 'ere and we can have a friendly chat like." The way he was holding his revolver suggested the chat would be anything but friendly.

"Now why would I do that, when I've got Shadows to do my bidding for me?" the figure said, before gesturing with his hands and causing a new Shadow to form down the street, which immediately set about attacking a nearby guard. Indira held her hands to her chest, tears forming at the cruel sight. Rogon growled at the sight. "Amazing things aren't they...almost impervious to damage. How can you hope to defeat all of them?" the figure stated, holding his hands out to them in a grandiose gesture.

Na'ish stepped forward, appearing calm despite the situation. "They are fearsome, for sure. But you...you are not a Shadow. And thus, you can be beaten." The figure uttered a harsh laugh. "You are welcome to try!" The group needed little more encouragement, and Varus, Rogon and Garrick were swift to unleash a hail of projectiles towards the figure.

The figure simply raised a hand, forming a dome of translucent dark purple energy in front of him, blocking all the projectiles. Rogon's pellet made an almighty crack as it ricocheted off the obstacle. Once the barrage had finished, they dropped the shield and gestured towards them with a snarl. Indira screamed as something cold clasped strongly around her ankle. Looking down, she saw a skeletal hand sprouting from the ground, its grip holding her in place and hurting her with its icy grip. Unable to move despite tugging at the restraint, she looked up in horror as the figure started to point towards her.

However, in his enthusiasm to attack, the figure had failed to notice Alistair, who had managed to climb the building in the nearby alley during the commotion. Alistair charged the figure from behind, grabbing him and preventing him from casting any more spells. "Don't you dare!" Alistair scowled, pushing at the figure who was strong despite his apparently frail appearance. "Get off me you peasant!" the hooded man scowled as he struggled.

During their struggle, neither of them had noticed how close to the edge of the roof they had strayed. Suddenly, the figure took a step onto nothing but air, causing both of them to tumble into the street with a shout of alarm. The group in the street watched in horror, as the pair fell in what felt like slow motion. Alistair, being the more agile, managed to position himself so that the robed figure hit the ground first.

With a nasty crunch, the hooded figure stopped shouting as he impacted the cobbled street. Alistair had a slightly softer landing, as he had landed on top of the figure. It had still winded him considerably, and he rolled off and down the street slightly due to his momentum. "Alistair!" Indira screamed, and went to move towards him. However, her leg was still being gripped by the skeletal hand!

The cloak that covered the man twitched, before the figure painfully rose from the ground once more. "...Pay...you shall pay!" the man screamed, before throwing his arm out towards the still prone Alistair. A loud bell chimed out, causing him immense pain. Despite holding his hands over his ears, the sound was not lessened at all.

Rogon roared, and began to charge at the figure. Another gesture, and the desiccated corpse that they had seen the Shadow rise from earlier, grabbed his leg as he passed, forcing him to fall to the ground. Rolling over, he desperately tried to train his revolver onto the writhing figure that was attempting to bite him.

Before the figure could gesture once more, an arrow thudded into his chest, courtesy of Garrick. "You think this is enough to stop me!" the figure yelled, but the smirk he saw on Garrick's face made him pause. The arrow that was still stuck in his chest suddenly sprouted numerous ethereal green vines. The vines wrapped around the hooded man's body and pulled taught quicker than he could react. Despite struggling, he was unable to get his arms free from his bindings. What was worse, the vines had large thorns that dug into his flesh.

His screaming was cut short when Na'ish charged. Being unable to dodge due to his restraints, he could not avoid the stab delivered by Na'ish' sword. The figure gasped as the sword plunged into his chest. All was quiet for a moment, the figure looking at the sword in shock. Then, he started to laugh, the sound weak and wet due to the blood starting to trickle from his mouth.

"Hehe...you may have beaten me...but you will not beat our Shadows!" the man snarled. Na'ish withdrew his sword and swung it once more. The swing cut clean through the man's neck, causing his head to roll onto the street. There were a few seconds where everyone held their breath, before the body slumped to the ground. It did not get back up.

Varus had jogged over and stamped on the reanimated guard pulling on Rogon's legs, forcing it to let go. Rogon was quick to capitalise on his freedom, aiming his revolver without the risk of hitting himself in the foot. With a sharp bang, the guard's head disappeared in a squeal and a shower of gore.

Indira, now free of the skeletal hand, ran over to where Alistair was still lying in the street. "Alistair, are you ok!?" Alistair gave a gesture for her to quiet down, still holding his hands to his ears. Slowly, he lowered them and revealed they had bled slightly from the damage they had sustained. "Yeah, just having trouble hearing at the moment."

Indira breathed a sigh of relief, then grew a frown and slapped him on the shoulder. "Hey! I thought you cared!" Alistair exclaimed, rubbing the offended arm. Indira scowled at him "If you ever do something as stupid as throw yourself off a building again, the last thing you will be worrying about is a slap from me!" she said, but was still struggling to hide her relieved smile.

Alistair gave her a small smirk. "No promises." he replied, before accepting her offered hand and regaining his feet. Garrick stepped forward at this point, "We're not done yet. As he said, the city is still full of Shadows. It sounds like there is more fighting occurring elsewhere." Sure enough, the few Shadows nearby had turned their attention towards them, almost ignoring the continued desperate attacks hitting them from the Astorian guardsmen.

Then, as one, they all turned and floated rapidly up the road towards the center of the city. It seemed the defeat of the figure had been the trigger for something. "Go! Follow them, we must not allow them to breach the tower!" shouted Denrick. Despite having some minor injuries, the guard had apparently survived mostly unscathed thus far.

As the remaining guards gave a war cry and chased after the Shadows, the group all exchanged looks. A few nods, and they all came to the same conclusion and began running after the guards with the intent to help however they could.

As they sprinted off down the road, a figure on top of the tavern roof, opposite where the hooded figure had attacked them from, stood up. It was impossible to make out any distinguishing features, silhouetted against the bright moon as they were. What was apparent however, were the large glowing wings behind the figure. The wings were formed from a purple energy, with darker streaks moving around languidly.

The figure gave several large beats of these wings, taking off to the sky and flying in the same direction as the group.