Gusion tried to move to his feet and it suddenly felt like his muscles were turning to jelly and Dyrroth hauled him up and smashed an elbow into his gut before readying his arm for a final punch, and Gusion could see how the bronze metal caught the light from the lightbulb.
And then the Shadowbringer hurtled out of the darkness, shrieking and clawing and Dyrroth dropped Gusion, his hands full with the new opponent.
Gusion watched as an elegant purple light split into five and burst right through Dyrroth's neck, and Dyrroth's head snapped back and yet his hands were still moving, trying to grip his enemy.
He finally grabbed the purple cloak of the creature and hurled it away and the Shadowbringer was behind him in an instant, and Dyrroth turned only to be jabbed in the abdomen with the Shadowbringer's tail.
Dyrroth growled and charged at the Shadowbringer and hit him fiercely, sending him crashing into the wall.
Gusion stepped in and Dyrroth fired off a circular ridged object which Gusion managed to barely dodge, and then Dyrroth somersaulted in the air and a huge circular razor hit Gusion on the shoulder. His shoulder throbbing, Gusion backed away and Dyrroth's tail flashed, doing some fancy move.
And then the world went dark, and for one second Gusion thought Dyrroth had killed him until he saw the same purple stingers dimmed from the shadows burst from a tail and cut into Dyrroth.
The shadows suddenly flickered once and then disappeared, just in time for Gusion to see Dyrroth do a backflip, catching Gusion's newfound ally right under what would have been his chin, knocking him back.
Dyrroth's left shoulder was nearly split from where Gusion figured the second wave of stingers had hit him, and claw marks were visible on his chest and arms as black blood spilled, pooling around Dyrroth's feet. The gold gem on Dyrroth's chest was marred with a jagged scratch, and only half of Dyrroth's neck was still holding him head up.
The Shadowbringer, on the other hand, was only sporting a cut on his left foreleg from where Dyrroth's circular razor had cut into it. Gusion could see the purple blood dripping from Dyrroth's razor.
Dyrroth snarled fiercely at them. "You will regret this."
Before either of them could move, he pressed the orange gem on his chest and the ground swallowed him whole.
"That's a neat trick," the Shadowbringer muttered as he used his small palm to wipe the blood off his arm.
"How was he still living?" Gusion asked. "You fired 5 stingers into me and nearly killed me, and yet he managed to take 10 of those?"
"It is difficult to kill what's already dead," the Shadowbringer said. "Dyrroth wasn't always like this."
"What do you mean?" Gusion asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.
"Dyrroth wasn't always one of the Abyss," the Shadowbringer explained. "He was once known as Prince Aurelius."
"Silvanna's brother? The lost prince?" Gusion's breath caught. "He's dead."
"He is," the creature agreed. "They killed him, and filled him up with the essence of the Abyss. He returned, not as the vibrant baby prince that was the pride of the Land of Dawn, but as Dyrroth, Prince of the Abyss."
"Who did that?" Gusion asked.
"Alice gave the order, but it was Thamuz's fire demons that took him," the Shadowbringer said. "He learnt from Alice and Thamuz, and was Alice's trump card. She chooses her generals for certain abilities. She first started off with Zhask, for his extraterrestrial army, and then Zhask allegedly saw the light after 13 arduous years and defected. She then hired Yve, for her army. Now Dyrroth, for the Abyss."
Gusion tried to process the information handed up to him. "Who comes after Dyrroth? And can we kill him?"
"I don't know who comes after Dyrroth, but yes, we can kill him. Decapitation kills everything," the Shadowbringer said.
Gusion frowned. "How do you know so much about Dyrroth?"
The Shadowbringer hesitated. "We have history." It turned to Gusion. "Were my stingers laced with venom?"
Gusion recalled Dyrroth explaining the dreadful effects of the toxin to him. "Yeah."
"Do you want an antidote?" the Shadowbringer asked, their left leg drifting to the back of their leg and they withdrew a corked vial.
Gusion took the vial, uncorked it, and swallowed it whole. Almost immediately, he felt it pulse through him, and then his world went white for a second.
When he came to, his chest was no longer on fire.
The Shadowbringer stood there as Gusion realised he was on the floor, and he stood up.
"Any problems?" it asked, and Gusion shook his head. "A word of advice then-watch out. Dyrroth now holds a grudge against you and your friend with the rifle."
"Lesley?" Gusion asked, his heartbeat spiking.
"Yes," the Shadowbringer said. "He is very particular about that, and will hunt you down at all costs. He will also now come after me, so it is best that I leave. I'll be off then, if that's alright with you."
"Leave?" Gusion stammered. "Why?"
The Shadowbringer cocked his head. "What do you mean?"
"You said it yourself-we're both on Dyrroth's list. We might as well stick together!"
"And where will I live?"
Gusion gesticulated wildly. "There's plenty of room here, no reason why you can't take some of the rooms."
The Shadowbringer seemed to ponder the idea for some time. "I tried to kill you."
"Not of your free will," Gusion countered. "Besides, you did save my life-from Dyrroth and the venom."
Slowly, a smile stretched across the creature's face. "I do suppose I could use some lodgings."
"Yep," Gusion said. "You might need to hide when visitors come around, though. By the way, do I call you he or she? Do you have a name? Or do Shadowbringers not have names?"
It blinked. "Oh no, we do have names. And I'm male. I think. Also, my name is Helcurt."
