Praeter
Ch. 5
Author: Miss Lizz
Rating: R for everything from the last chapters
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
No notes this time.
The Splendor FallsThe splendor falls on castle walls
And snowy summits old in story;
That long light shakes across the lakes,
And the wild cataract leaps in glory.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying,
Blow, bugle, answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.
O, hark, O, hear! how thin and clear,
And thinner, clearer, farther going!
O, sweet and far from cliff and scar
The horns of Elfland faintly blowing!
Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying,
Blow, bugle, answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.
O lover, they die in yon rich sky,
They faint on hill or field or river;
Our echoes roll from soul to soul,
And grow for ever and for ever.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying,
And answer, echoes, answer, dying, dying, dying.
--Alfred, Lord Tennyson
They found him. Her. It. Gender was impossible to determine in the flowing blackness but it wasn't overly important to know. This thing had to be stopped but neither of them realized that it would be so unbelievably enormous. When they came upon it, everything seemed to condense and darken and all around things got colder. It did not seem pleased to gain unexpected visitors, for it roared, opening its maw an unimaginable width and launching itself toward them, scythe upraised and black robes billowing to blot out the sky.
I'll take you too! Its voice was the hoarse, frightening sound of burning paper and windblown leaves on a wet winter's day, whispering towards the two heroes along the leaden breeze that picked up without warning, rolling in black, pendulous, and writhing clouds that bellowed thunder and screamed lightning. It was near impossible to tell from whence it ended and the atmosphere began. If indeed, there were edges.
J'onn drew his broadsword, thankful for it now since it appeared his vision had little effect on this creature, and, after a quick 'stay here' to Diana, hurtled at the approaching harbinger of death like a comet all the while hammering at its mind with psychic blasts as powerful as he could create. He normally loathed doing it but this time there was no other way. From behind him he heard Diana unsheathe her own sword and knew she was about to come in after him. Then he heard her scream his name and the clash of metal and dared a glance behind him. She was being attacked by… something else, more than one somethings that looked for all the worlds to be goblins or demons that had descended on her from everywhere.
And he couldn't help her. Damn this all!
He continues the mental assault while jarring blows from his blade glanced off the Reaper with seemingly little effect. It was all he could do to dodge the wide swipes of its scythe. For something so large, it was amazingly fast and agile and he wasn't able to dodge all the blows aimed his way. What few met his flesh caused an agony he never thought possible to be, but he could not afford to stop this brawl, the world and possibly beyond depended on its outcome. He had no choice.
That scythe was deadly, and much sharper than it appeared, easily carving through the mail tunic covering his chest and tearing into the skin deeply to cause an arc of deep red blood to follow the blades sweep. Did this creature have any weakness? How was he to defeat something he could barely get to? His psychic blasts were not doing enough damage and if he spared any more focus to the attacks, he would end up gutted before anything came of it. His sword was next to useless against this creature, yet even if it was not how much could he truly do with it? He had no skill or knowledge of swordplay. But he could not give up.
The battle raged for hours it felt, though at most only an hour and a half elapsed since that first suicidal lunge. Now blood the colour of dark wine covered his body from few but deep and grievous injuries and he was physically exhausted to the point where all he could do was dodge the majority of the swipes from the inexhaustible Reaper's scythe. But majorities did not mean all, for he was repeatedly hit as more and more of his blood spilled forth. His strength reserves were near exhausted, his physical and mental attacks taking their toll along with the terrible blood loss.
From somewhere behind and below his right he heard Diana scream, sounding like a gunshot in the dark. That had been no scream of war or victory; it had been a scream of pain and fear. He gritted his teeth, hating himself for not being able to look back and help her. Damn it, he couldn't help her! It tore at him that nothing could be done, but this Reaper being must be stopped. Now, before all was lost.
He didn't even dare to glance back, certain that if he did, he would stop fighting the creature before and fight those attacking Diana.
J'onn growled, this confrontation had gone on long enough, too long. It had to end. Too much time had been spent already and the more time was lost, the more powerful this creature would ultimately become. He stilled, focusing all the strength he still possessed to one last major blow with his mind in a last ditch hope that it would stagger it enough so he could end this. The blast left him weak and a little dizzy but…
It worked.
The Reaper was staggered greatly, enough for the manhunter to hurl himself in one last desperate dive toward a faintly glowing, amorphous, white amulet-blob where its neck vertebrae became enshrouded in black. Plunging his sword to the hilt into this structure, its surface shattered.
Subconsciously, J'onn must have known it to be the Reaper's power well; why else would he have gone so unerringly for it? Perhaps it was a part of his dream he did not remember. He did not know, all he knew was that it succeeded where everything else he had tried failed.
Millions upon millions of souls taken by force from their paths fled the death-thing in an enormous wave of power. It arched back and roared wordlessly as the power exploded out of its body, causing it to revert, to shrink, to dissolve back to what it was meant to be. It did not go calmly.
End ch 5
The battle's not over yet. Is anyone interested in seeing how this thing plays out? Or what J'onn might have meant with those three little words he whispered last chapter?
And for those who want to know, this is about the only battle action there is in this story. Sorry. There'll be more drama and romance next chapters though if that makes it any better.
Please send lots of reviews, thank you,
Miss Lizz