It was 10pm when Harley hit the bed. This left Gusion in complete control of the TV.
Gusion lay sprawled across the sofa, watching IT for the thousandth time when a scratching noise came from the door. Snapping back to attention, he leapt off the sofa and headed for the door, twirling the dagger in his hand. He looked through the peephole and found no one. Frowning, he turned around when the scratching noise resumed. Heart thudding, he slowly kept his hand on the cold metal doorknob and swung it open.
A black cat curiously peered up at him. "Miaow?"
Gusion sighed.
And the window to his right smashed into smithereens.
Gusion slashed wildly with his dagger as a Monster Crab crawled in, shrieking at top volume. On pure instinct, Gusion threw himself to the floor as two darts whistled through the air above his head. Looking up, he saw a Scaled Lizard standing in the doorway as it roared. Gusion hurled his dagger at the Dartspitter and it collapsed. The Monster Crab barreled towards and Gusion sidestepped, grabbed a nearby photo frame and hit the Monster Crab on the head with it. The frame shattered as the Monster Crab screamed furiously, now wearing the photo frame on its neck like a weird garland. Gusion reached outside, snagged his dagger from the reptile's corpse and stabbed the overgrown crustacean through the jaw as it lunged.
Slamming the door shut, Gusion ran to another broken window, hurling two magic daggers through the opening, hitting a Spiderling and a Crammer.
Enraged animals noises sounded, and the walls began to shake.
Harley, Gusion thought, and ran upstairs.
The midget mage had been roused from his sleep and when he saw Gusion, he asked "Wuzzhabenin?" in a drowsy voice.
"Creeps. The house is under attack." Gusion spoke in a terse voice.
Harley's eyes widened. "Can I help?"
"No," Gusion spoke. He pushed open the window. "Get out, go to my house. It's next door, take the long way." He continued dropping the keys in Harley's hands.
"I'm not going to jump! Are you-" Harley never finished the sentence as Gusion picked him up and threw him out of the window. Harley hit the ground. Gusion looked down, worried. Harley scrambled to his feet, looked up, and made a rude hand gesture that would have earned him an earful from Lesley.
Gusion simply waved back and closed the windows.
A roar sounded from behind him. Gusion whirled around as a Fiend pounced on him, knocking him to the ground.
Gusion stabbed it and threw it aside. Blood pounding in his ears, Gusion went out of the bedroom, closed and locked the door from the outside as a horde of Creeps surged behind him.
Gusion's senses went into overdrive, nimbly leaping and cartwheeling around the monsters as he hit them with magic daggers and sliced at them with his own knife.
An icy chill hit him as he dispatched the last of the current attackers.
"Imbeciles," a raspy voice spoke from directly behind him. Gusion whirled around, throwing a magic dagger at thin air.
"You cannot catch me," the voice spoke again, this time at the bottom of the staircase.
"Who are you?" Gusion spoke.
Suddenly, the shadows coalesced in front of him and formed a new opponent. "The last thing you will ever see," the creature spoke, and slashed at him with a claw. Gusion barely dodged the long claw and looked at the organism.
It had 4 sharp claws and 1 "thumb" shaped like a sickle. It wore a dark cloak, and its limbs were purple. Beneath its cloak gleamed its eyes. A long tail with barbs on it ended with a sharp stinger, not unlike that of a scorpion.
Gusion suddenly recognised the creature from his father's books.
"A Shadowbringer," he breathed, almost reverently. "But you're supposed to be extinct."
The Shadowbringer snarled and pounced. Gusion backed away and stabbed forth at the Shadowbringer, which advanced on him, slashing with its bigger claws.
Suddenly, the Shadowbringer dissolved into shadows, and Gusion whirled around as five purple stingers burst from the tail of the creature and into his chest.
