Chapter 24: When Darkness Falls
Danielle snatched the revolver from her belt, firing a shot that merely reflected off his shield. But something curious happened. Red light shot from Pious to a space behind him, making the Claw of Chattur'gha appear. "The Claw is the Essence, the source of Pious's power from Chattur'gha…" Her eyes widened. "Alex, destroy the Claw! That's the only way to get rid of this shield!"
Alex nodded and ran to strike the Artifact. Danielle ran at Pious, kicking at his face in an attempt to knock him back. He caught her foot with ease, throwing her down to the ground. She grunted as she hit the floor face down, the revolver clattering down a few feet in front of her. Pious planted his own foot on her back, pushing down hard and trying to crush her spine. Danielle gritted her teeth against the pain and reached out her hand towards the revolver, but ended up screaming as Pious plunged his staff right down into her hand. His cruel laughter rose over the sounds of her screams, but it was quickly cut off by a grunt. Pious staggered sideways, pulling the staff out in the process. Alex helped Danielle to her feet, looking at her bloodied hand.
Danielle's body was shaking, and she couldn't think straight. Her hand just hurt so badly, and she felt like she was going to be sick. She didn't even notice Alex tearing off a piece of her shirt and winding it tightly around her hand to staunch the flow of blood. "Focus, Danielle! Stay with me!"
Danielle looked up at her sister, still trembling. She could also see Pious coming up from behind Alex, ready to swing his staff at her head. "B-behind…" was all she could manage to whisper, but Alex got her warning. She spun around, bringing up her sword and blocking the staff.
"Danielle, go!" Alex shouted over her shoulder. Danielle gripped the railing near her with her left hand and made her way to the lower section of the platform, panting with the effort and extremely light-headed. She looked over towards her sister and saw that she was striking at the Claw.
I… have to help her… Danielle thought, staring down at her hand. She closed her eyes, trying to focus on the spell she wanted to cast instead of the immense pain in her hand. "Narokath, Santak, Chattur'gha…" As the spheres of light flew into her body, she hissed through clenched teeth, feeling a pain like fire spreading through her whole body. It took her mind off her hand, if only for a second. It still hurt, but nowhere near as bad as before. Danielle staggered over to the shotgun lying on the ground, picking it up with her left hand. She positioned it to where her right hand was supporting the barrel and her left was around the trigger.
Lightning flew by her, and the Claw appeared by her side. She quickly looked back towards her sister, but saw in her place the ghost of Ellia. "Danielle!" she shouted as Pious moved towards the lower platform.
Danielle narrowed her eyes. "Go. Get the Artifact, Ellia," she ordered, but her voice sounded weak instead of determined like she meant for it to be. She fired a blast at Pious, knocking him back a bit more. Ellia darted past her without even a sound and struck the Artifact, being replaced by Alex.
"The others! They're helping us, Danielle! They're helping us to fight against Pious!"
Danielle glanced at her out of the corner of her eye and nodded, then focused on Pious once more. "Please, Alex. Be quick… I can't manage this much longer…" Her breathing was heavy, and her vision kept on losing focus. It wouldn't be long until she lost the small amount of strength she had gained from the Recovery spell and was at the mercy of her opponent.
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In space, the battle between the Ancients raged on. Chattur'gha opened his right claw, and a red beam shot from it. Ulyaoth brought up two of his tentacles and conjured a blue portal. The beam entered it and reappeared behind Chattur'gha from yet another portal, striking him in the back.
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Danielle sidestepped a staff strike from Pious, but barely. She fired another blast at him to push him backwards, but it didn't do much good. As she reached for more shells, her injured hand seized up in pain, making her drop most of the shells. She muttered under her breath, inserting one of the shells she managed to keep a grip on. She was dimly aware of Karim landing a blow on the Essence of Chattur'gha.
Karim…? But I thought it was Anthony who was just there… Ah, forget it… I can't recall anything right now…
Pious's face contorted in range as he rushed at her, swinging his staff. She ducked and sidestepped, nearly losing her balance as she fired another shot. Maximillian rushed by her to the Essence, striking it with his ghostly sword. Danielle could tell that the Claw was starting to crack, which meant that it would soon be destroyed. Just a few more strikes would do it…
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Still smoking from the failure of his attack, Chattur'gha brought up his left claw and thrust it at Ulyaoth. The Ancient of Magick swiftly intercepted the claw with a portal. When the claw was halfway through, the portal closed and severed it. Chattur'gha stared at his damaged claw, which was trailing red energy, and let out a roar of pain. Off in the distance, the remnants of the claw appeared and drifted through space.
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Danielle was on her last few shells, still trying to keep Pious at bay. Paul attacked the Essence, which was even more damaged than before by now. With her revolver on the lower section of the platform, she was unable to go after it. Now, the only way she could fight was by using the now empty shotgun as a melee weapon. She grunted with the exertion of swinging the shotgun at Pious, but landed a hard blow on his shield, making the Artifact appear. Danielle sidestepped another blow, but Pious must have predicted her evasive move, for the staff cut across the right side of her face. She put her right hand over the injury, crying out in pain. But at that moment, Roberto hit the Artifact, and it shattered into pieces.
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Chattur'gha roared defiantly at his opponent. Ulyaoth created a portal above him and shot down a beam at Chattur'gha's right arm. He was knocked down from the force of the attack, and the beam sucked his arm into oblivion. Chattur'gha roared in pain and attempted to crawl away. Blue lighting enveloped Ulyaoth, empowering him. He created a massive beam that sucked up all of Chattur'gha's body except for his head and severed claw, instantly killing the Ancient. The globes around Ulyaoth's body spun about, and a final portal vacuumed up the remainder of Chattur'gha.
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Pious roared in agony and anger, attacking Danielle in a blind rage. Somehow, deep inside, she knew the source of his anger. Chattur'gha was dead. She jumped backwards, then gripped the shotgun with two hands despite the massive pain in her right hand. She let out a cry as she thrust the shotgun into Pious's face so hard that his head was jerked back and he fell to the ground. He didn't get up again.
Danielle let the shotgun drop from her hands as she turned to face Alex, a weary and pained expression on her face. "You did it, Alex!" she managed to shout hoarsely, forcing a grin of triumph. Alex nodded and smiled, about to say something, when she suddenly screamed Danielle's name. She felt a burst of pain in her stomach, and she could hear Pious's soft laughter behind her.
Danielle felt Pious withdraw his staff, and Danielle staggered around to face him. A grin was on his face as he righted his staff, which was dripping with—
Blood… Danielle thought dimly. My blood… I turned my back on him… I did the stupidest thing of all… And I guess this is what I get for it… Guess I really was destined to die… at his hands…
Danielle's eyelids suddenly became heavy, and she couldn't breathe through the liquid in her throat. She tried talking, but the words were barely understandable. "A-Al-lex… So…rry…" As she closed her eyes, she wasn't even aware of falling to the ground. She wasn't really aware of anything other than Alex's voice crying out her name. That was the last thing she heard before her heart stopped.
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Alex trembled with both rage and sadness. Danielle had fought against all odds to help Alex, even when she was in great pain. And now she was gone. No one could survive a blow like that. The final look on Danielle's face would forever haunt her. It was filled with fear, pain, sorrow, and regret…
Pious's laughing only served to fuel the fire blazing inside. Never before had she been so angry. For the first time, she felt pure, unwavering hatred for someone. "You killed her… You killed Danielle… YOU MONSTER!" Before Pious could react, Alex had charged him and cut deep into his side with the Gladius. Pious screamed from the magick that surged through the sword and dropped his staff, receiving another blow to his side. Alex continued the onslaught until Pious collapsed to the ground.
"How the mighty have fallen," she muttered, picking up his staff and standing over him.