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Chapter 11: The Fairness of the Clash of War

"Banshee! Lower me into the woods; you say that we are about three kilometers from the site, so I shouldn't want them to spot me before I even commence my next massacre." Nightmare stated as they flew over the full and dark green trees.

"Certainly, my lord." The banshee was quite glad to finally let go of him as she dissented them to the now lush grounds. "Just what do you plan to do, milord?" Sharlindra tried to hold her grin in as she knew that Nightmare's information would indeed be useful and since she had the valuable ability of disappearing before anyone's eyes at any second that she wished.

Nightmare paused as he thought up his plan as he let his demonic claws run along his parched blade…

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"Do you see him?"

Taki jumped as Jaina suddenly appeared upon the top platform of the ziggurat. Jaina's eyes were sharp and focused as her gaze swept across the skies now blanketed with dark clouds as she and Taki searched for the dark figure being carried by a ghostly being.

"Unfortunately, no. I thought I saw him in the clouds, but they are becoming too thick for me to really see him. Perhaps a storm is coming." Taki stated as her eyes grazed the skyline. She could feel the oncoming moisture from the storm from where she stood. She glanced downward to see the warriors of the different races forming around the capital, surrounding all sides.

"Here, take this. Surely with your speed you can reach him faster than I." Jaina gave her the deerskin pouch that held the soul-stealing gemstone. "I will need to cast a circle so I wouldn't have time to do it myself. Just somehow place it in his hand and say "In the name of the Light I capture this corrupt soul"." She informed as she handed it to Taki, who was a little reluctant to take it since she was afraid that it would somehow give her another vision. Taki hooked the pouch onto her own red belt.

Sophitia waited by the center of the capital, surrounded by archers, magicians and spearmen. Her eyes were closed as if to block out the constant blather around her although her face and muscles were relaxed as she kept her gleaming sword and shield at her sides.

"Are you trying to sense the demon knight or are you thinking of your lost love?" Tyrande asked as she came up to her while riding Starstrider, who seemed to have forgotten the last incident.

"I'm trying to see if I can feel his aura, Gods know I've felt it at its strongest before." Sophitia stated in a deep tone with her eyes remaining closed. "I didn't loose her by the way." She added in a more serious tone, making Tyrande raise an eyebrow out of intrigue. "She's still with me, her heart still beats and she is well in health, I'm happy enough for that for the time being until I can touch her heart again." She stated broadly yet in a soft tone as she kept her eyes closed.

Tyrande smiled at her and marveled at the confidence this woman had and still she was so young. "I'm pleased to see that you think that way. I have to say something like that to myself many a time whenever my love leaves to cleanse the forests." She openly noted as she directed Starstrider to turn and continue on their patrol. She turned back to the calm and patient warrior with a reassuring smile. "The person Taki once was will return with time, don't let doubt consume you." With that confidently spoken advice, she left to let Sophitia go back into her concentration.

Sophitia opened her eyes slowly and looked at the ground that she faced. "I'll never let it consume me; I love her too much to give up so easily." She spoke in a soft and hardly audible tone as a faint smile formed upon her lips.

'Sophitia? Can you hear me?'

Sophitia's eyes shot up and darted around her surroundings as she heard an echo-like voice in her head. "What? Who are you?" She asked her surroundings as she continued to look for the source of the voice.

'Stop being so shifty! It's Sylvanas. If you haven't already guessed, I speaking to you telepathically, another trick my banshees use to scare or having fun with their living prey.'

"I see." Sophitia raised an eyebrow. 'Well this is new, I feel as if I'm being manipulated in a way.' She thought as she stopped searching with panic but still had her eyes graze the trees around her for any sign of glowing red eyes.

'I'm not manipulating you, I'm telling you some recent information my banshee gave to me.'

'She can read my thoughts as well?' Sophitia pulled back at the idea.

'Only when I'm doing what I'm doing now.' Sylvanas answered simply before she continued. 'Anyway, I have my weapons, although it wasn't easy but I was fortunate enough to slip in and steal them from Maiev's chambers when all the warriors were grouping around this capital.' Sylvanas explained in an annoyed tone.

'What about the information concerning Nightmare?' Sophitia asked in an anxious tone within her head; she thought it would be better to speak to the undead woman this way. After all, it was a little embarrassing for people to think that you're insane and talking to yourself. 'How far is he from here?'

'From what I was told, he should be about two kilometers away from you by now, so warn the other warriors to keep their guard. Listen well for the sounds of death and his armored footsteps as well as trying to sense his aura, although I don't know if you're any good at that but someone who seems so dedicated to the good should be able to sense his demeanor easily.' Sylvanas sounded as if she was speaking to herself, which made Sophitia want to smirk if she hadn't been so preoccupied for searching out Nightmare.

'Where are you now?' Sophitia asked as she lifted two fingers to touch her temple as if she thought it would help in hearing Sylvanas speak in her mind.

Sylvanas seemed to chuckle in her head. 'I can't tell you; if you lay eyes on me and one or more of the leaders see your change in expression, which I know will easily happen, they would surely look in my direction and my cover from the living would be shattered.' She explained in an informative tone as if she was explaining a battle strategy.

Sophitia raised an eyebrow in intrigue. 'I should have thought of that.' She thought as if she was making a mental note in being cleverer with things such as that.

'Yes, you should have.' Sylvanas stated skeptically, making Sophitia's eyebrows furrow slightly in response. 'I will be waiting in the trees and will not leave even when the battle starts. To let you know, this will be the last time that I will be speaking within your mind, so if you have any other questions, speak now.' The hidden archer informed with a tone as if she was barely patient enough to wait for Sophitia to think up a question.

Sophitia resumed her stance for sensing Nightmare's proximity. 'No; I know what I have to do to at least hold Nightmare back.' She could tell when Sylvanas had exited her mind when she was given a reply of absolute silence. 'The sounds of death.' The Greek recalled in a distant tone.

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After what seemed like hours due to anticipation of the coming battle; Sophitia felt a familiar chill course through her at one side. 'He's nearby.' She thought in a low tone as her gaze swept suspiciously around the surrounding lands. Her conclusion came seconds before a long, horrible and painful-sounding grunt from a male throat was heard from a far end of the capital.

"Lord Kael'Thas! A healer has been slain!"

Kael'Thas ran through the crowds the sound of his brother blood elf's call while pushing passed all those who were didn't move out of the way fast enough or didn't move at all. When he came to observe the corpse his ruby eyes widened as the healer with blood stained robes had a huge eye-shaped hole in his torso that ran all the way through his flesh. The Blood Mage ran a hand through his golden locks in a nervous fashion, ignoring the many sorceresses who spoke among themselves about what may happen next. 'Who could have killed him so horribly and yet have nobody see him?' He wondered worriedly as he kept his sunlit pupils on the healer's corpse.

Attention quickly turned as a female warrior at the edge of the forest nearby let out a cry of pain that was soon followed by another that sounded as if she was being tortured. As most chose to gather around the source of the screams, Kael'Thas only turned in their direction but didn't move so that he could keep an eye on his side of the forest even though it was difficult through the darkness of the night that slowly enveloped the horizon.

Two Night Elven warriors—an archer and a dryad—lay motionless upon the leaf-covered grass in front of the edge of the forest's trees. Much to the observers' horror, the dryad's body was in halves on the ground as it was sliced through at the abdomen while the archer lay on her back with a long, jagged and dangerously deep wound that ran from the lower right of her gut to her left shoulder. To Tyrande's surprise, relief and much worry, the archer was still gasping for her last breaths although she still held a horror-stricken expression on her face as if she could still see her attacker in front of her.

Tyrande got off of Starstrider, ran to the fallen elf whose life was hanging on by a thread and cradled her gently into her arms so to not cause pain as she tilted the archer's head so that their moonlit eyes could meet. She noticed that the girl's hair that, much like the other Night elves, normally held star-like sparkles when the moonlight shined upon it was slowly fading as fast as her life was.

"Ease yourself my sister. What happened? Who did this to you?" She asked in a soft and soothing tone as not to rush the profusely-bleeding archer.

The unevenly gasping warrior seemed to have difficulty speaking as her life was slipping away. "P-priestess…" She started in an uncontrollable and parched throat. "Ge-get away from th-the trees." Her voice slowly became lower. Tyrande pulled back at the archer's request; how could their beloved trees be harmful? "He… He's w-waiting for you… in-n the shado-."

Before the archer could even finish, Tyrande had already heard a 'clank…clank' of heavy armor that became louder and louder from behind her. After she slowly lowered the archer that was now in the hands of death, she chose not to turn and face the possible 'Nightmare', fearing that she might provoke him. "You are the Azure Knight? The 'Nightmare'?" She asked in a calm tone. She heard a deep and evil-sounding chuckle.

"Heh heh, glad to see I'm so famous in these worlds."

At the feel of a sudden rush of wind from behind, Tyrande jumped towards her fellow Night elves and narrowly missed a swing from Nightmare's massive and living blade that he now laid upon his shoulder as if he hand no fear out of them.

"I came for the blood of a sentinel. Bring her to me! Bring me Sophitia!" He demanded loudly, his bloodlust slowly increasing with every word. He had be firm now; after all he didn't trust a soul now because he was left to the shadows of the trees by the banshee. 'Better that she's gone now I'm sure; she would've become a nuisance if she had stayed.' He thought logically to himself as he stared the elf down.

Tyrande just shifted the weight on her legs and crossed her arms over her chest as her eyes observed his armor, sword and demonic arm. The warriors didn't move; they wouldn't until Tyrande gave them the order to do so. "You wish to take her life? Well, you will have to go through a few obstacles to get to her." Tyrande seemed to grin confidently before it suddenly went serious. "Release your arrows, sisters!" None hesitated as they let their purple feathered arrows reign upon him. By the orders of their chieftain, the troll spearmen tossed their spears high into the sky before it dropped upon Nightmare's path.

Nightmare growled in annoyed rage as he threw himself forward and swung his thick blade into every warrior it could reach, which unfortunately was many as Sophitia and Tyrande's eyes went wide in horror as to how many warriors he could slice through in mere seconds. The spears and arrows only seemed to make mere scratches upon his armor as it was protected by Soul Edge itself. Blood elf spellcasters used 'throwback' spells against Nightmare, but to Nightmare, it only felt like a semi-harsh push backwards.

Jaina had already left to begin casting her 'circle' in the center of the capital since it would be most doubtful for him to reach the center so quickly even if he was well skilled at his gigantic blade. Taki watched the battle from the high platform with anger and soon leapt from it, landed on a level halfway down and finally landed upon the ground paying no hesitancy as she ran through to confront Nightmare.

Until she came, annoyed Kael'thas and Thrall threw their best attacks upon him; Kael'thas conjured a magic circle around Nightmare that soon erupted into a pillar of flames while Thrall used his 'Lightning Chain', summoning lightning from his mighty mallet to strike upon the possessed knight. Thrall's attack was more effective against the knight as the Kael'thas' fire burned his skin but soon healed due to Soul Edge's demonic influence.

In blind rage, Nightmare repaid their insolence by ramming his sword into all the blood elves and orcs that would cross his path. At least one warrior/beast whatever race they may be would fall to the ground after being either maimed or murdered by the lava-eyed knight that slowly had a wicked and menacing grin spread across his face as he drank in the souls that flooded within.

"Time to stop you NOW!"

Nightmare turned only to be kicked in the side of the face twice by the balls of Taki's hard heels. He staggered backwards but soon regained his balance of course only to lose it as he felt a powerful force slam against his back so hard that it made his back shake briefly. He looked behind him to see his original prey standing broadly with her shield raised and eyes narrowed vengefully at him before she ran up and harshly swung her shield that was trembling with power by her own will against his stomach in a upper-cut and creating a loud 'boom!', sending him high into the air but before he crashed to the ground, by Sophitia's will and faith she made her sword glow a brilliant white before she struck him harshly at his side. He could only smirk against the pain as he stood himself up from the ground that he rolled across after Sophitia's strike.

"My, my. Haven't you grown to be a spitfire? Donating your soul already?" He chuckled menacingly before he saw Mina running at him head-on with the butt of her Zanbatou aimed toward his stomach. He growled annoyingly at the pest and let her come but dodged her thrust by moving to one side and grabbed the collar of her amber skirt and raised her off the ground as he sneered at her struggling form. "Relax now and give me your blood as you deserve." He demanded in a rather mocking voice as pulled out his dagger that he kept hooked on his belt on his back and was more than thrilled as he thrust it towards her stomach.

"Don't mind me!" A hyppogryph rider shouted sharply from his right side and dove down along with her huge bird and opened out an arm and she swooped Mina in and raised them back into the air.

"I don't deserve this either!" Mina stated with panic as she looked down and held tightly onto the elven rider as they soared through the air.

"Getting yourself into more trouble are you?" The rider grinned widely as she turned her eye that wasn't covered by her long bangs towards Mina as she pulled her up onto the hyppogryph. "Hey, try not to ruffle the feathers like you did last time." She smirked then suddenly shrieked with pain as she grabbed her right elbow joint as Nightmare's dagger was lodged through it. She sharply turned to his laughing form and glared at him vengefully as she felt Mina pull the dagger out slowly, making her cringe in pain.

"Ha! How disappointing for you that I my aim is more valuable than your flying skills!" He mocked as Maiev ran up and jumped high above him and rage fully slammed her circular, bladed weapon hard upon his head, making a loud 'cong!' rumble within his helmet as he grabbed both sides to make it stop.

"Starfall!" Tyrande summoned what looked like a reign of white and blue rocks as if they were stars upon the unknowing knight. He grunted and growled loudly against the pain that brought him to the ground over and over again as the 'stars' strummed against his armored back. Once it was done, Tyrande could see the fiery anger in his eyes before he jumped and pushed her off of Starstrider and pinned her against the ground.

"That's IT stubborn elven WENCH! You're soul is as good as MINE!" Nightmare proclaimed angrily as he held the priestess down and stole her dagger that she kept at the hip of her belt and raised it high above her heart.

"Demon! In the skies!"

An Orc informed before Nightmare brought it down. To his own curiosity he looked up when a dark figure land next to him in the corner of is eye, only to be kicked with such power that it surely dented his chest plate at its side and was sent off of Tyrande and against a nearby tree, creating another dent but not as deep as the first. Nightmare shakily looked up only to be gripped by the neck of his chest plate by the horned, black demon with solid red eyes that had a glow that dripped upwards along his brows. Its stone-hard face scowled at him before he harshly tossed him into the air, causing him to soar into a wall of a ziggurat, creating a wide crack within its side.

The tall and brute, winged demon laughed heartily at the condition Nightmare was in, although it seemed to contain two voices that sounded quite demonic with their deep tones. "Seems that your human host isn't that durable." It mocked with a smirk as it waited for the knight to stand on his feet.

"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT?" Nightmare boomed as slowly staggered up to stand on his hands and knees as he cursed the intruding demon. "I can't help it if the boy's absolutely useless!"

"That's not true! Siegfried was twice the warrior you'll ever find even without your possessing him!" Sophitia suddenly retorted, making all warrior's turn to her in surprise.

Nightmare seemed to pause as he looked at the Greek blonde. "Heh, stupid little girl. You'll pay dearly for your comment!" He threatened as he continued to get himself upon his feet.

"Do you think your sins have been redeemed demon?" Maiev suddenly shot at the dark demon as she ran up and horizontally swung her circular weapon against its chest, making it grunt at the burning sensation of skin being torn open but however slowly closing as a dark mist wrapped over the wound. Maiev's eyes widened as she saw Taki come up and ram both her now-fiery blades into its back and ripped them all the way down its back, making it howl with pain. "What do you think you're doing? This demon's mine to slay! Go find a demon from your own world!" Maiev shot at her as if Taki's sudden action was an offensive one on Maiev's account.

Nightmare meanwhile could be heard as he gasped for breath as he got to his feet. He suddenly lashed his claws against his dented chest plate, ripping apart the brown leather bindings at the sides and letting in a huge gasp of air as he took it off, revealing his muscled chest that was half normal, half demonically deformed like his right arm and covered with flesh. Apparently the dents in his chest plate were so deep that he couldn't breathe. His gaze dropped to Sophitia and looked at her with fierce eyes filled with insane rage. 'Bitch of a woman is more trouble than she's worth!' He complained in his head.

Taki was about to retort Maiev's 'suggestion' when both huntresses were thrown back by the demon's muscled arms and wide wings. Maiev landed and rolled against the ground while Taki hit a nearby tree at her side, making her yell out in pain as a loud 'crack' was heard before she fell and grunted in her throat as she hit the ground.

Sophitia's worried eyes were immediately upon Taki's staggering form that slowly rose to her feet as she cringed slightly and bent over slightly to recover from the pain. She turned and scowled at the winged demon, who glared angrily at the two evil purges.

"Nice try, stubborn and conceited Warden, but even thinking that you could defeat me is a waste of your self-absorbed thought, not while I'm in this form." It stated in a harsh tone which made its dark voice even more threatening. The heavily-armored elf rose herself to her feet as she staggered slightly due to the weight of her upper armor. Her glowing green pupils stared daggers into its red and yellow misty-like glowing eyes as they pierced through the darkness of the night.

It suddenly shot its attention to Nightmare, who kept his burning eyes upon Sophitia. The Azure Knight seemed to ignore the spears, arrows, thrown axes and glaives as they merely scratched his exposed flesh that was as tough as leather thanks to the human flesh of others that he had gained long ago upon himself and continues to do so. "Here this, filthy supporter of Arthas…!" The dark demon called as he pointed his clawed finger at Nightmare, whose narrowed eyes snap to its own. "Do what you wish to the races; dark magics know I don't give a damn about them. But keep your blood-ridden claws off of Priestess Tyrande." It threatened harshly before he turned open his wings and leap into the skies, knowing that it was gaining a lot of unwanted attention from even warriors far off. Tree roots suddenly shot from the ground and entangled the demon's limbs, pulling him down at the silent command of Tyrande.

By now everyone, surely apart from the Night elves since this seems to have to do with them, were beyond bewildered by this intrusion and interaction of the flying demon that was now yanking itself against the roots that were tightly coiled around his limbs. Sophitia's eyes were now more focused on finding Taki and her condition, only to see the very woman run towards her at full speed.

"Look out!" Taki pushed her towards the ground, making her see the hawk-like eye of Soul Edge pass over the both of them as they landed on the ground followed by their tumble after they had fallen on it. They both heard Nightmare roar loudly with rage and frustration after Taki made him miss. He glared menacingly at the two still on top of each other and Taki seemed to be cringing as she held her side where she had hit the tree some minutes ago. He grinned widely as he noted that he could kill two birds with one stone with this, or in his case, two annoying, self-righteous warriors with one swing. The knight merely took a step forward before Kilik and Mina, who had landed minutes ago to let the rider who she had known to treat her wounds, suddenly jumped at him swung their rods at him every which way. He growled as he concluded that it would be more of an advantage to do away with the pests before he carried on without any more intrusions.

Since Nightmare was busy, although Sophitia hated taking advantage of her friends' lives, she took the time to check on Taki's condition since she appeared to be in pain and had trouble getting to her feet. "Taki, thank you for saving me from his sword, but don't push yourself so hard; I think you have a broken rib, please don't overdo it." She pleaded in a soft, sincere tone.

Taki's eyes suddenly snapped fiercely to hers as she leaned on her arms slightly and raised herself above the concerned blonde who suddenly pulled back in surprise. "What did you think you were doing? You should just stand around like that; your eyes should be on Nightmare! He wants to kill you remember?" The huntress scolded the girl below her harshly.

Sophitia's eyes flooded with surprise at Taki's words; she had never spoken to her in that kind of tone before. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly before she began to speak in her own defense. "I know quite well that he's after my soul, but… I was just so worried… especially when you become impulsive… about you when that demon-"

Taki's eyes snapped tightly shut as she shook her head slightly as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "My health isn't what you should be concerned about; you should be concerned of your own!" She stated with an almost angered look in her usually soft, deep brown eyes. "Why do you choose to care for me so? What business do you think you've ever had with me?" She asked in a tone as if she knew that they had absolutely no relations before even though Sophitia only wished that she could tell her but remained speechless. "You follow me around like a lost puppy begging for attention. Are you just picking me as just something to cling to and nothing more as you think you're here all alone?" She asking in a testy voice and narrowed eyes as she waited for the girl's answer as she strived against the pain to hear it.

Of course, the more Taki said, the more Sophitia felt her heart turn inside-out. "H-How…?" In complete surprise and shock, she had trouble getting words out of her mouth. "How could you think such a cynical thing? That I'd be so cold as to do that? Were you always this way before you met me; so willing to drive others away and not wanting anyone near you?" As she was actually just wondering out loud while still shocked but quickly covered her mouth with her palm as she realized that her words accidentally slipped out.

Taki's eyes slowly went wide and hurt-ridden as she listened and turned away as she snapped her eyes shut when she finished as if to wipe the 'comment' away. Sophitia's eyes widened at the expression on Taki's face and was about to reach a hand up to the hurt woman's cheek and correct her horrible mistake when they were interrupted by a 'Th-wong!' sound next to them.

Both turned to find a black feathered arrow with blood red tips planted diagonally into the ground and dangerously close to Sophitia's neck. The reminder of its purpose brought the several 'Clang!' sounds of engaging weapons, 'T-wang!'s of released bow strings and grunts of pain and anguish from the now-heaving Kilik and Nightmare while Mind seemed to now lay unconscious on the ground nearby.

The darkness of the night was disrupted as a blue beam of light appeared before them then slowly faded as Jaina emerged from it. At the sound of a hard 'clang!' from behind her, she turned only to have her eyes widen as they laid upon the savagely fighting knight whom she didn't even need to assume was Nightmare. He was currently trying to rip through the fast-parrying Kilik as well as any warrior of a different race who dared think that he or she could face him head-on. She quickly turned to the two still on the ground. "There's no need to stall for time now; the magic circle is complete and is being protected and powered by my staff." The cloaked woman who now held nothing within her hands informed broadly.

"It's about time!" Taki groaned as she held her throbbing side and cringed briefly. Jaina's eyes furrowed as she noticed this.

"What happened to you?" She asked the Asian in curiosity. She didn't seem to notice the many arrows that were the same as the one that nearly hit Sophitia's neck as they reigned over and passed herself and onto Nightmare, strangely catching on fire as they lodged into his flesh, making him howl with pain as he tried to rip them out of his flesh.

As Sophitia sat herself back up, she gently rolled the huntress onto her back as the older woman held her bruised side. "She was thrown against a tree." The aventurine-eyed blonde informed as her gaze dropped to Taki's pain-ridden ribs.

"I can give you something that can help with that, but it'll have to wait until we get this settled. So Taki, if you could please give Sophitia the gem so that she can do it for you?" Jaina suggested as she turned to gaze at Nightmare's rage full form. "Even though I don't have my staff, surely there are some hand-spells that could restrain him until you're ready, Sophitia." The sorceress explained positively before she ran to help Kilik, who was becoming slower due to exhaustion even though the Blood Elf sorceress, Tasia helped him in the meantime by casting what was called 'Slow' upon Nightmare. The name of the spell certainly spoke for itself as the knight would suddenly move in slow-motion when the golden ball of light hit and surrounded him until the golden mist faded.

Taki cringed for a longer period that usual as she pushed her torso upwards to unhook the deerskin pouch that she placed on her belt at her backside. Sophitia shifted so that she leaned on her knees and glanced on and off of the older woman nervously due to the little disagreement that they had seconds ago. Taki went to open the pouch's leather twine.

"Here, just jam it in his clawed hand and say the words "In the name of the Light, I capture this corrupt soul", understan-gasp!" Taki suddenly stopped as she seemed to be frozen. Sophitia sharply leaned forward as worry flooded her eyes when she noticed that Taki's eyes were very dilated as they stared into hers motionless. Sophitia saw nothing wrong with her; the only thing Taki was doing was holding the gem between her fingers.

"Sophitia! Quickly! He's a little harder to control than I would've liked!" Jaina called as she hand deep blue orbs in the palms of her hands and seemed to be having control over Nightmare's fists even though he was thrashing his arms against her magic, he had dropped his monstrous blade so that it was merely a few feet away, but much to his aggravation, Jaina's magic wouldn't allow him to reach it. Kilik was over at Mina's side, shaking her slightly and calling her name in a low tone, eventually her eyes wavered open as she ground and seemed to rub the side of her face in pain with her eyes tightly shut as she did so.

"Ah-I'm coming!" Sophitia fumbled as she looked at both the gem then back towards Taki's glazed expression. She quickly took the gem from Taki's hand as she still seemed in a daze as she ran the back of her hand down Taki's cheek as she was nowhere near reality to feel it. "I'll be quick." She assured in a low tone before she ran towards Nightmare with haste.

Nightmare meanwhile was continuing to thrash against Jaina's invisible bindings. Jaina growled and grunted against the strength of his thrashing while maintaining her own strength. Nightmare grinned evilly beneath his helmet as he had an idea thanks to Tyrande's dagger that he held all through the winged demon's brute strength. He could only swing his arms once every few seconds. Knowing this, he grasped the beautifully crafted dagger firmly within his human hand and used his one chance by horizontally slicing into the exposed flesh of her abdomen. She shrieked in pain as she reflexively pulled back, hunched over and wrapped her arms around her bleeding stomach. Nightmare chuckled gleefully at his own wits as he was now free from his bindings and came toward the cringing sorceress, grabbed her head with his clawed hand and brought the dagger to the side of her neck.

"Wasn't it me that you were hoping to kill?"

Nightmare smirked as he knew the girl who contained that voice as well as the soul he desperately wanted to taste. He turned only to be kicked square in his exposed chest, howling painfully as he felt the woman's metal heel of her long brown boots dig into his chest as he fell to the ground by loss-of-balance.

Sophitia sneered as she looked down at the lava-colored eyes that bore into her own as he heaved through her weight as she was standing slightly on him. She shot out her leg and leaned it again his human hand as she bent down to grasp his demonic hand. The arrows, axes, magic 'throwbacks' and spears slowly dissented in numbers as this interaction that was going in the right direction continued.

"I won't be yours so easily." He proclaimed yet he didn't move as he sneered at the Greek.

"Oh really? Well, let's just see who's really stronger; you or Siegfried." She slowly leaned forward just enough so that she could even see his dark red hair lay over his face slightly beneath his helmet. "Also, I don't need a second chance to think; your German host, with some small help from me will force you out!" She proclaimed proudly as she opened Nightmare's clawed hand with all her strength and placed it within it and held it there with her right hand while her left kept his demonic arm from twitching and moving. "In the name of the Light, I CAPTURE THIS CORRUPT SOUL!" She yelled at the top of her lungs as if her normal tone wouldn't be enough in capturing the Azure Knight as the now red-white gem slowly became increasingly bright through his clawed hand. It eventually became so bright that it could've been used effectively as the light for a lighthouse. Sophitia let go and backed off of him when she felt an odd phenomena occurring. She could tell the others felt the same way as they began to observe in awe.

Nightmare growled and grunted as he tried to drop the gem from his hand, but it was stuck it place; it wouldn't budge. He suddenly felt strange; he felt weightless and yet couldn't move. To his horror, he watched as the claws of his hands began to look like grains of sand and spiraled around the gem as they became absorbed by it. His roar and struggling increased with each passing second as he felt the rest of his body soon follow and as the last of his dust-like form was swallowed by the brightly glowing gem with a mere echo of his booming voice that was replaced by the rustle of leaves caused by the nightly breeze. The arrows that were still embedded within this thick skin fell to the ground with a soft 'tick'-like sound of wood falling upon the wood of tree roots.

Sophitia and the other nearby warriors that could see watched as if in slow motion as the gem hung in the air then dropped into the grass with a 'bump-rustle' as it rolled on the ground briefly. It soon set itself still in the dirt yet had a dim glow emitting from it as though it was still active.

Sophitia's jumped as she heard Taki gasp loudly and slowly began to move. The Greek ran to Taki's side, lifting her head onto her lap as she noticed that the Asian's eyes still didn't seem focused. When Taki's landed upon the concerned green ones above her, she gasped again as she pulled herself back against the blonde's thighs as if startled by Sophitia's presence. After realizing who the person above her really was, she soon settled her rapidly beating heart and her body relaxed back down to the ground as she let out a breath.

"Taki, what happened to you?" She asked in a low tone as if she didn't want anyone else to crowd around them in their own curiosity.

Taki merely shook her head as she held back her cringe as the pain in her side came pack. "Nothing… nothing happened." Taki answered in a distant tone that Sophitia didn't need to hear to know that she was holding her real answer back.

Sophitia sighed as she closed her eyes as if slightly disappointed in Taki's stubbornness before she turned towards the glowing crystal that was now in Jaina's hands as she observed it; it now had a black, red-orange, and much to her intrigue, white to gold-colored cloud-like smoke circling within its center. "Where's Siegfried?" Sophitia asked as she noticed that the German was nowhere in sight and yet she thought that the purpose of the gem was to extract the demons from him. She also noticed that there was a blood-stained blue sash tied around her abdomen.

"Siegfried himself will be extracted from the jewel in the magic circle. I have no idea what condition he'll be in though since he was possessed by such a manipulative demon." Jaina noted as she took the gem towards the center of the capital, trying not to look at the dozens of dead corpses, Orc, Night and Blood elven alike with limbs cut off and huge gouges in their bodies caused by Soul Edge. The pools of blood that overtook the scattered puddles of water were enough to make any warrior turn away at the sight. As if it could help, the rain began to sprinkle then pour from the steel clouds that passed overhead. Sophitia looked up, letting the droplets crash upon her face then back down to Taki, who still seemed a little dazed but not nearly as deeply as before.

"You can go." Taki suddenly spoke up, turning her gaze to the side towards the thick grass then over to the groups of warriors mixed within each other's races as they either gathered their next orders from their leaders, walked aimlessly through the damp fields of grass and observed the dead, or just stood or sat in the rain and let the water refresh their minds and bodies.

Sophitia sharply turned to her. "What do you mean?" She raised an eyebrow at the woman who chose not to look at her.

"You can go see if Siegfried will successfully make it through. You believed so much in him so it's only fair that you do so. You can just leave me here and give me whatever Jaina was going to give me whenever you get it and are able to come back to me." Taki spoke in a careless voice that made Sophitia look down at her with seriousness in her eyes, which soon went to a raised eyebrow.

"I think I have a better idea." The younger girl stated as she turned to Tyrande who stood a fair distance away and seemed as though she was lost within her own thoughts as she held Starstrider by her reigns. Then another thought hit her before she could say anything. 'What every happened to that demon?' She thought as she looked around to find it nowhere in sight then turned to notice Tyrande's form that seemed rather fragile at this point. Sophitia blinked. 'Maybe I shouldn't ask about it just yet.' She concluded in a thoughtful tone in her head.

"You two okay?" Sophitia and Taki turned their heads to their side to find Naisha on her coal-black panther as she looked down at the both of them with her head cocked to one side, making the streams of water drip from the top of her small, vine-like detailed helmet to one of its two parted edges at the bottom. Her plum dress robes were damp and slightly blood stained in some areas however her ice blue moonlit eyes and long turquoise hair with leaves and star-like sparkles within it stood out more than her stained appearance.

"Yes, we're fine, Taki may have a broken rib, but we need Jaina to give her a healing potion or something or other." The now damp blonde noticed that Naisha had a type of brace on her right arm around the elbow. "Hurt in battle?" She asked as she nodded towards the white brace.

Naisha looked down at it for a second then back up as she smiled slightly. "Oh yeah, heh, basically. Moon Well water won't help the joint heal as fast as it would on flesh wounds, so my glaive-throwing days are cut just a little short." Naisha's attention turned to Taki's body that hardly moved but had her eyes open and Naisha could tell, even when the Asian was facing away from her that she was miserable and in pain. She turned back to Sophitia and sighed before she got off of her trained battle-cat. "I trust walking will be difficult for you Taki, so you can ride my panther into the center square to where Jaina is. In fact, you can use him for the rest of the night if you wish; I won't need him tonight." The sentry stated as she pet her panther on the shoulder bone.

Sophitia smiled gratefully; she was originally going to ask Tyrande to lend Starstrider to them, but since Naisha was so willing already, the Greek couldn't help but not pass up the chance. "Oh, thank you so much, we'd really appreciate it." She stated as she helped Taki off of the ground and into the seat of a dark blue wool blanket upon the panther's back. "I'll make sure not to loose him." She assured as she took the leather reigns.

Naisha chuckled slightly. "Yes, see that you don't." She smirked as if she really didn't care what they'd do with her just so long as her battle-cat came back alive. The elf came over to Sophitia and leaned close to her ear. "There's a piece of land south of here, there's quite a bit of debris there; ruins of old Elven bases. Hardly anyone ever goes there because the land is insignificant despite its beauty. Perhaps you could try going to that place for privacy. Just look for lanterns and follow them until you see weathered walls." Naisha suggested with a small grin.

Sophitia pulled back and blinked in surprise at Naisha's suggestion; she didn't think that anyone would be that… helpful in helping their relationship. She nodded timidly but enthusiastically. "Uh-sure, I'll take a look at it." She smiled.

88

Sophitia was relieved when they finally made it to the center square of the capital; the further you went in, the busier it was even though it was nearly deserted this night due to the bloody battle. The blue light that she caught a glimpse of at the corner of her eye gave away the position of Jaina and her magic circle that held white runes around its circumference. Sophitia watched as Jaina held up the jewel to the sky then placed it within the glow of the circle.

"In the name of the Light, I summon thy rays to hold back the shadows of all demons and release thee who'st been chained to the darkness and blocked away from thine glory." Jaina spoke in a soft tone as Sophitia and Naisha's panther that carried the ninja that chose to shut her eyes just to relax them and it seemed to help against the pain caused by the constant movement of the black beast's body as she walked next to her temporary master. Sophitia was glad to find out that she hadn't come late and that Jaina didn't start without her; she wanted to know if Siegfried could really be freed from his years of imprisonment to Soul Edge.

Sophitia watched in awe as white and golden mist-like vapors glided out of the jewel and rested upon the center of the magic circle, gathering up into a human form made out of light although the features of the person couldn't be seen just yet because of the mists' heavenly glow. It took perhaps two full minutes until the mists finally came to a stop and melded in with the overall form that slowly became more defined as the seconds passed: hair could be seen upon and around his shoulders as its golden hue came through along with his youthful complexion then soon his exposed and rather taut chest, his arms, both of which were human—no claws in sight, much to the two observers' relief—and finally his legs which were covered with dark brown and baggy pants with torn hems.

Jaina and Sophitia just stared at the 'Azure Knight' now in his true, pure form as he seemed to sleep soundlessly upon the wet ground and his clothes and hair became just as soaked. The sorceress slowly walked up to him and knelt down by his side, brushing away his long locks out of his eyes. Her eyes caught sight of his long but light scar running down his right eye. "This is him?" Jaina asked out loud as she turned to Sophitia, who looked back at her and nodded. Jaina's royal blue eyes went back to him. '…Handsome.' She thought in a light voice. Suddenly she felt the jewel jerk in her fist, making her eyes snap to it as she rose herself to her feet as it began to shake and jolt so violently that she had to use both hands to hold it.

"What's going on?" Sophitia asked as she came to the cloaked woman who was holding the gem firmly against her stomach as her hands jumped around it.

"I was afraid of this; this demon has a more powerful will then many other demons that I've encountered. It's as if it trying to break out!" Jaina stated as she pulled the jumpy rock away from her stomach and opened her hands to take a look at it but holding it firmly at it sides.

Sophitia and Jaina looked at the thick, black, orange, and deep red swirls within the gem for a few seconds; the swirls seemed calm. Then they began to gather more deeply until a horrible creature-like fiery eye with a pitch black vertical slit snapped open and stared at the both of them with deep, ominous yet nightmarish intent. It was as if it was whispering infamous vows to the both of them as it stared them down, never blinking. Both gasped at the horrible chill it sent down their spines and both wrapped their hands back around it, just to stop the horrible stare.

Sophitia slowly looked up to the ragged-breathed blonde. "It's going to stay in there right? There's no way of it coming out." She had to make sure since it seemed so vengeful in the way that it stared at them.

Jaina took in a breath then hastily shoved it into another pouch that she kept at her side. "It will, as long as it doesn't break. It's not so fragile that simply dropping it on a stone floor would make it shatter, crack maybe, but not shatter. It just can't be slammed against a hard surface, such as concrete." She informed as she held the gem against her hip. "I'll store it and lock it in a box in my quarters. I'll see if I can find a spell strong enough to disperse it."

Sophitia nodded, then looked down towards Siegfried for a few seconds. "What of Siegfried? What'll happen to him?" She asked with concern as she looked back to Jaina, who shrugged slightly.

"He should most likely return to his normal self." She paused and took in a breath as she looked over to the sleeping knight. "I'll take him to my quarters and watch over him until he awakens. You have enough on your hands as it is with Taki." She stated as she looked towards Taki's relaxed form on top of the panther, which was currently laying on a patch of grass as it waited for Sophitia.

As Sophitia looked at Taki, her condition rang into her head again. "Uh, before you go, Taki's rib is really starting to hurt her. So if you could-?"

"Oh yes, I almost forgot about that." Jaina interrupted as she pulled out a vial of some strange thick, peach-colored liquid that seemed to radiate a small amount of light. She reached it out to Sophitia as she took it and looked at it curiously. "Just basically lather it on the entire side of her ribcage that hurts and make sure it sits overnight with something warm wrapped around it." She explained simply although the requirements had Sophitia a little nervous; she wasn't sure if Taki would go along with her 'lathering' her up on her side. She was finicky enough the last time she was given the chance to help her with her wounds. Sophitia nodded obediently then walked over to the panther, which stood up as she came, making the nearly unconscious Taki groan slightly at the movement.

As she took the reigns, Sophitia turned to Jaina, who had her hand placed on Siegfried's chest. "Jaina." She addressed, waiting until Jaina turned to her in response. "Take care of him, he'll really need it when he wakes up." She informed, watching as Jaina simply kept her eyes on the Greek, blinked, then nodded softly as she let her shimmering light surround her as she teleported to her quarters along with Siegfried.

Sophitia sighed as she turned to Taki. She gazed at Taki's calm yet slightly pain-strained face as gently stroked her arm's length with her fingers before she led the panther toward the direction of the place where Naisha suggested.

88

The Greek could tell that she was getting closer due to the slow change in atmosphere: the air was thick and moist with dew at it surrounded the mossy lands that were rather lifeless apart from the beautiful stags and ever-watchful and alert owls that populated these forests among other beasts. The bright papered lanterns that held blue and golden hues of light could attract the eyes as they were evenly spaced a fair distance away from each other, hung on the limbs of mossy trees. As the blonde warrior hung her small shield on the hip of her wide, brown leather belt along with her leaf-blade sword, she noticed that this forest had a rather strange demeanor to it as her gaze swept across the leaves still upon the tall trees. It was somewhat dark and more lifeless than it seemed yet it gave a rather pleasant feeling to it, like it was made to please those who enjoyed being isolated.

Eventually, Sophitia found what she assumed was the place that Naisha spoke of; it had weathered rocks the size of boulders, thick yet flat on there sides as they seemed to protrude out of the rather dry ground as they were spread apart as if to be pillars. She kicked the rotting planks of wood scattered across the ground out of her way as they came to a boulder large enough to lean your whole back upon. It was good timing as Taki just seemed to be waking up with a long groan as she rubbed her face with her hand and looked around while still being on the patient panther's back.

Taki winced as she eased herself off the panther's back and onto the ground near the boulder that Sophitia stopped at. Sophitia helped her into a sitting position as she went into her own, while of course the panther just stretched his entire body then groomed its ruffled, dark fur on its back with its tongue.

The Asian woman groaned within her throat in aggravation as the searing pain in her rib took up her side. "Damn demon, I think it broke the rib." She grumbled as she tried to find a more pain-bearing position while Sophitia just looked at her briefly before going back to helping Taki position herself. "I hope there aren't others in this world that have his height and strength. He's almost as pretentious and annoying as Gel-O-Fury in Japan." She noted as she spoke mostly to herself, lifting her brown eyes to a small parting in the full willow-like trees' leaves to the dark, star-spotted night sky.

Sophitia looked at her curiously, mostly at the odd name she just spoke of. "Who?" Most of her curiosity came from the fact that she had known Taki for a long while and her mentioning a name that she had never heard Taki breathe about really made her want to hear Taki explain it to her.

Taki just looked at her briefly while keeping her head stationary in its position against the slab of rock. "Just a powerful demon that took me quite a long while to permanently destroy." She explained simply.

Sophitia raised an eyebrow, then smiled sweetly as she brought out Jaina's vial. "You'll have to tell me about it sometime." She suggested as she uncorked the vial then unclipped Taki's lower dragonhead-shaped metal pin and exposed Taki's left ribcage. Much to her surprise, Taki didn't protest, she just looked down to the ground in front of her as if she didn't notice anything that Sophitia was doing. Both were unwilling to speak, or rather, didn't know what to say as small talk seemed pointless now. Sophitia leaned forward and smeared the substance on the ninja's cream-colored skin and her eyes snapped to her face and slightly squinting eyes as she jerked upwards and took in a breath in surprise at the contact.

"Does it hurt?" The blonde asked as she tried to caress the skin in a slow fashion in trying to sooth her.

"More of a cold feeling than pain." Taki stated as her body settled. "But it's relaxing in a way, if you give it time." She added in a small voice as if she suddenly thought that her words seemed insignificant. Sophitia looked at her for a moment then looked down, knowing that a period of silence would come back. Taki felt the same as the Greek did. She took in a slow breath then looked down to the ground as she opened her mouth.

"I'm sorry." Both snapped up towards each other in surprise as they heard each other speak in unison. They looked at each other for a moment, smiled, then Sophitia chuckled followed by Taki. Sophitia allowed herself to come a little closer to Taki's form so that they were shoulder to shoulder, feeling more comfortable this way.

"I didn't mean what I said about you wanting attention all the time, I really didn't. I was just so upset that you cared more about my life than you would your own. It's flattering, but…" Taki paused as she looked down from Sophitia's jade eyes and upon the hand that now lifted off from her ribcage, now being slightly disappointed by that action although she didn't know why. "I don't want to see you get hurt on my expense." Taki watched as the panther's wool cover was wrapped around her sides by Sophitia's hands. She looked back up to see the Greek looking at her with soft, almost dreamy eyes.

"I believe that no one would want to have someone get hurt at their expense." She looked to the side, as if to avoid Taki's gaze. "You were right about me, I guess I can overdo things at times and I'm sorry."

The older woman sighed. "You don't need to be sorry. Anybody can be that way. You just want to be recognized for who you are." Taki noted just as Sophitia had finished, making her green eyes come back to Taki'smahogany ones, which slowly drifted away from her own and onto the ground in a rather dreary fashion as if suddenly depressed. "And what you said about my being alone…" Sophitia was about to speak up against what she had said but Taki spoke before she did. "I've been alone for most of my life, so I'm pretty much used to it by now." Taki closed her eyes with her head hung down, feeling the ends of her ponytail brush against her shoulder as they fell forward. "I fear that if I get close to someone, the demons would find the person as my weakness and use them against me. I've… I've been having a lot of dreams about that lately and I don't want that person to go through that, they don't deserve it." Taki's voice became increasingly distant with each sentence.

Sophitia didn't know what to say. The day that they confessed love for each other, Taki was afraid of taking the relationship further, at least at first. She was afraid of demons coming after her Greek mate. Sophitia hesitated as a question nicked at her mind. She opened her mouth once to say it, but nothing came, then she tried a second time and finally found her voice. "Do… Do you ever… picture yourself being in love?"

Taki looked at her for a long few seconds then shook her head as she looked back down. Sophitia wasn't sure whether to be surprised or not; she thought that anyone could picture themselves being in love, especially Taki since she had felt love before and figured that she would've remembered it. "It's quite hard to do so, just because I don't think anyone would be willing to share a life with me, a huntress of demons." She stated inexorably, but Sophitia knew that she couldn't be more wrong. Her attention turned as she felt the warm throe being placed over her legs. She looked up to Taki in confusion.

Taki laughed. "Don't look so surprised; you're still wet from the rain." She smiled. Sophitia blinked at her then smiled brightly in return as Taki leaned herself onto the slab, placed an arm behind her head as a pillow and closed her eyes. The warmth of the dew in the air gradually brought her to a soundless sleep with Sophitia next to her. Sophitia looked at her form until she was sure she was asleep and when she noticed the profile of Taki's lips through her mask, she couldn't help but trace her little finger over them, marveling their softness and missing the feeling of them upon her own.With entranced eyes, she gazedat Taki's closed oriental eyes before she gently laid her head upon Taki's upper chest, loving its warmth.

'How I long for the day when I'm able to taste the sweetness of your lips again, my demon huntress.' She thought in her love-struck tone as she closed her eyes and smiled widely at the sound of Taki's heartbeatwhich lulled her to sleep.

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The Maiev/Taki battle I had to push back for the next chapter because I figured that this one was long enough, I'm making the battle between them have a full or almost full description of their attacks, so it'll be interesting. I hope you liked it. I know the battle scenes weren't that great but I didn't want to ramble on in description since the battle itself was long enough. What'll happen to Soul Edge you ask? Well, you're just going to have to find out for yourself now aren't you? ;P

I also hope you liked the idea of my bringing Siegfried back, I just had to, I feel so bad for the tricked soul. He will play a pretty big roll in the story. Since there are so many main characters in this fic, some may appear more than others in this fic and I'm trying my best to even that out even though it would make the story drag much longer. So I've got to ask you, would you rather have the chapters be shorter and to the point, or descriptive and in the characters perspective while the story proceeds? And would you like the story to keep going and going or be near its end? I'm just wondering just to get an outsiders point of view.