.
.
Amid its throngs of stunned worshippers, Enamorus drew a ruby-encrusted scimitar, glaring with amber eyes at Cobalion. "What is to be done now, messengers of the Original One? Do you come to fight outside of the borders of your little land of Unova? I am the Elohim of this land, and cannot be assailed!"
Cobalion gave his answer by springing a great shining blade of pure crystal energy out of his noble brow, and the light of the brilliant armament illuminated far-off dells and wastes. "That may be, but we are under the authority of He Who Is Greater, and He Who Rules The Whole World. And neither the desolation of this place nor the evil of your shrine will be a poison or bane to us, for we are Bene Elohim, Sons of the Original One, beings of a higher order than mortal Men or Pokemon. And it is you who shall fall, Ba-al Enamorus!"
Virizion and Terrakion both drew their own Sacred Swords, and the glory of their weapons was increased threefold. "I shall overcome the Pokémon of this ruinous place, and free the captives that lie in fear," Virizion said. "And I will slay the wicked men!" Terrakion spoke aloud. "Then we shall slay you, Enamorus!"
Cobalion turned to his followers. "No! This foe is beyond any of you. I will duel it myself, and I expect no aid. As I fought it in the heavenly realms, I will now cast it down in the earthly. The Dark Lord's thralls are found not just in the south. Enamorus, my old foe! Come out of your slinking, furtive hiding and duel with me!"
"So be it, Arceus-spawn!" Enamorus spat, before it rushed at the Iron Will Pokemon. Cobalian ran before Virizion and Terrakion, and although they pursued him, the great lord outpaced them. After him followed his companions, but Cobalion was ever before him. The roar of his glorious charge crashed upon the Cultists like breakers on a dike that men once thought was secure. Fey he seemed, and the battle-fury of Arceus was in him ran like new fire in his veins. He looked like a god as he ran o'er the fields that fought in the battles of the Powers when the world was young. And lo! Enamorus was overtaken, and the two Elohim flew like dust in the wind into the dark night, but it was made blazing with scarlet and azure light as they fell away.
And the cries of the Golden Company and Virizion and Terrakion rose like new thunder as they charged the madmen, and the hosts of Enamorus wailed, and terror overtook them, and they fled and died, and the Swords of Justice cut into them and hooves of wrath rode over them. Iscan and Adaman sang as they slew, for the joy of battle was upon them. Akari's bow was singing, and the sound of her cries which were fair and terrible came even into the Mirelands. And Rei felt at last, beyond doubt, a new light that came over his heart. For morning had come, morning and a wind from the mountains, and darkness was removed.
Rei slew a Cultist, and he felt the terror of battle chill his veins. He slumped. Some great mass barreled into Rei, plowing him through the air. The new war-chief was running in madness to an old brickwork building upon the edge of the culvert of mireland that the village had been built upon, where he wished to slay Rei for some reason unguessed.
Crying a prayer to Arceus, Rei spun his dagger and thrust the Blade of Easternesse into the war-chiefs thinly-armored forearm. The madmen howled and dropped Rei with a start, but then gave him a hard shove, sending him plummeting through an open doorway, into the rotting house. Winded from the blow, Rei stumbled around the strange dwelling, sending his Pokémon back to their Poke Balls from far away.
Rei was about to send out Sneasler, but a swift cut from the wounded war-chiefs curved blade severed the Apricorn devices off Rei's belt, scattering the two devices on the dirt floor and leaving a smarting gash under his clothes. The blade would be venomed, whether Cyllene or Laventon could cure it Rei did not know. Evading another frenzied blow, Rei flew up unsteady steps to the second loft of the hovel, lifting his dagger high.
...
Cobalion swerved around, and cut deep into Enamorus's shell. In its Therian form, the being had grown a hideous plate that looked like the armor of a turtle upon its back, or perhaps it was the demon's hideous hide. The Elohim did not waver, and changed back into its Incarnate Form, swinging wildly with fell bolts of daemonic energy emitting from its dark blade.
Not deterred from his holy purpose, Cobalion struck back and increased his endurance with an old Elohim-spell that he had known ever since the world was young. If Men or Pokemon could give a name for it, perhaps they would call it Calm Mind. Enamorus turned back into its Incarnate form, and used much of its own witchery against the Iron Will Elohim.
"Hyper Beam!"
"Protect!"
"Fairy Wind!"
"Metal Sound!"
"Defense Curl!"
"Sacred Sword!"
Enamorus deflected the energy by turning back into its Incarnate form and soaring away, and circled through the air, trailing a wide stream of red light. "Ha! Lord of the Host of Heaven, how long can this battle last? I am mightier than the servants of the False One, in my own land nonetheless! All my adherents still praise me. I can feel the thrumming of their chants and cries in my very body! How can a strong man be defeated in his own house?"
And then came the epiphany in Cobalion's mind, for he knew that this was true. Enamorus was the greatest being present, and although Cobalion and it were equals in terms of strength and order of Elohim, Enamorus was in its own land, and Cobalion was in the domain of the Enemy where even the very rocks cried out curses toward the servants of the Original One. And the ability for Enamorus to Form change through some terrible devilry was a dreadful advantage that Cobalion had not known that it possessed...
Could it be...perhaps! That was the way!
Enamorus thought that Cobalion would perhaps wither, bow his head, and turn away back into the night,
Cobalion telepathically messaged Terrakion and Virizion, sending crystal strands of brilliant thought that told them to destroy the graven pole in the very center of the village without fail. Enamorus launched another Hyper Beam, and Cobalion fought once again as he soared above the roaring attack, praying a prayer beyond a prayer.
...
Terrakion heard the plea from Cobalion. After bisecting another madman who had struck him with a crudely-fashioned spear, he ran at the carven pole, and swung his Sacred Sword with all his might. The noble blade surged with holy power, and a firey light followed it through the stench-filled air. It collided with the idol, and he pole shattered into faint mounds of grey dust, carried away by a faint breeze.
...
Enamorus was secure in its Therian form, as attacks fell off its shell like rain on the mountains. "This is who the False One has sent?" Enamorus mocked. "And my opponent is one that I may resist and slay with little effort? I am merely toying with you, Warrior of the Heavenly Host!"
Then it was torn, torn out of its Therian form back into its Incarnate in a sudden whirlwind of constricting black tar. Reeling in sickness and agony from the horror and terrible shock of the dreadful change Enamorus tried to transform, but could not. The source of its power and fastness had been destroyed, and it would no longer be able to change between a form of defense and offense to aid itself.
Cobalion saw his chance. With a cry, he swung his blade into the side of Enamorus. The demon screamed, red smoke and dun pitch pouring out of the wound. "It is done!" Cobalion said, as he readied for another blow, fire flickering down the contours of his fair blade that sprung from his brow.
Instead of ending Enamorus, the blade fell upon nothing but air. Seeing a trail of red vapor in the air, Cobalion bounded after the escaping demon that rocketed like a jet-crimson missile through the air, moving for the last race, faster than the wind, swifter than wind in a meadow as he flew into over the mirelands.
...
Terrakion was still fighting the dwindling cultists, who now number but a third of their former strength of arms, when he saw the signs of a scuffle through the shattered windows of an old brickwork house. Smelling blood and slaughter, the Elohim sped along, wishing to destroy whatever menace lurked there in defense of the Golden Company.
...
Rei stood still till the war-chief had charged up the stairs, heavy footsteps resounding through the gloom. Drops of blood from the man's wound dripped, dripped, dripped onto the floor. He gave a bestial grunt with every step, and he walked with a halt.
The vast bulk of the bone-covered brute dimmed the faint light coming through a window hole. Rei threw the dagger, making it twist through the air, creating great pirouettes of afterimage as it embedded itself into the war-chief's vitals. The madman stumbled backward, laying against an unsteady wooden rail.
...
Upon looking inside the house as his great horned head bowed low, Terrakion saw two objects made of an Apricorn fruit, attached to the shreds of a dark belt by thin but strong ties. He dextrously moved them in his hooves, and as he did so a yell was heard from upstairs, and a massive weight crashed to the floor.
...
Cobalion flew across patchy islands, puddles, land, water, trees, bush, ruin, and desolation as he followed Enamorus. It was a maze of flight, and Cobalion quickened his speed to keep up with the wounded demon. Enamours saw him coming up from behind, the Elohim shot swiftly ahead with a sudden burst of pace, and then dropped without warning and sharply into the Earth itself as it assumed an incorporeal form.
Cobalion did the same, the darkness of the neverending labyrinths of stone and magmatic heat enveloping him. Turn, turn, up, turn again, then pull up, then through a cavern, up again, turn back, follow that smoke, through another cave, follow up a ravine, dip through the Earth again, rush along. The only way to navigate through the second earth was to focus on the thing that he was pursuing, Enamorus. He could feel the hatred and fear of his enemy, rising like the pounding terror of a stricken beast. No! Enamorus thought. I will not be sent to the Abyss!
Charging through the abyssal dark, racing through the unyielding depths, Cobalion finally burst out of the Earth and saw that the residual smoke from Enamorus's wound was floating around an old military ruin in the mire, once home to the fair folk of Hisui in years long past. Cobalion flew upward, and then dove down through the roof, the tarred black surface changing from the size of a small stamp to as much as the eye could see. Cobalion phased through the roof to finally send the demon into the Outer Darkness once and for all.
Assuming physical form, Cobalion saw no sign of the fallen Elohim. Then, there was a rustling...
Impaled!
Cobalion nearly broke under the cruel sword. Enamorus had withdrawn the blade, specks of aether and blue hide dotting its rubied surface. "Well done, Warrior of the Heavenly Hosts! I am wounded, and you are as well. We shall see who is truly stronger under these equal terms..."
...
The great war-chief lay still on the damp wooden floor. Rei withdrew the dagger and saw that Terrakion had stuck its head into the house, the behemoth Elohim's shoulders straining at the weedwood door. "Sir, the chief is gone. What about your other noble friend?"
"He has gone to duel with Ba-al Enamorus, as you saw," Terrakion said. "Here, we will triumph. Very few of the madmen are left, and their Pokémon are losing the strength to fight. Little will was in them to aid their tormenters even before we laid the sword of justice upon them. In the end, another great evil will have been eradicated, and the power of the Enemy will be lessened. Any denial of evil, no matter how slight, must be a victory."
"Thank you for helping us, sir, but why have you come, and from where?" Rei asked. "And what are you to do with us once this battle has met its end?"
"We have come from a land where wicked men abuse the other Children of Arceus, which are called Pokemon in your tongue. This land is known to you as Hyarmoronie, Unova, or Southernesse. We have been summoned here at His will, the Orginal One, and we are willing to forsake all bonds and ties to our old lands at his command and to journey to distant parts such as these and waylay the servants of the Enemy. Once we have achieved our aims, we will bring you to the very foothills of the Ered Engrin, and no further. Your supplies and Pokémon have already been accounted for...Master Rei! Behind you!"
Terrakion gave a cry and Rei turned at the sound. The still-living war-chief had grabbed Rei by the back, wrenching his arm so that the dagger fell out of it. Rei yelled and went hurtling. Terrakion swung his Sacred Sword, but his strikes were cumbersome and the war-chief was filled with the wrath of a dying man that allows him to crush steel bars.
Terrakion threw the Capture Balls at Rei, sensing the faint aura of the Pokemon within them. "Use these, Young Master!"
...
Enamorus swung its blade at Cobalion again and again, while the other warrior barely could block every blow. Dark azure and crimson sparks sputtered and danced around the room. With every frenzied strike, Cobalian's head fell a little lower.
"May the Orginal One rebuke you!" Cobalion managed to say.
"Where is the Original One?" Enamorus taunted. "I see him not!"
...
Rei was not able to seize the Capture Balls. They rolled up against a wall of wattle and daub as the war-chief thrust the boy against a grey masonry chimney. "You...are lesser..." The man rasped, blood flowing from the corner of his mouth. "Ba-al Enamorus...will endure..."
With the most precise effort, Terrakion lightly pressed the opening button of Typhlosion's Poke Ball with the sheen of his holy blade. The ball opened, and Typhlosion leaped into the foray. Seeing his adversary, the war-chief released his hold of Rei, and faced his new foe. He wants to die, Rei thought. He knows what is going to happen...
The war-chief faced another Pokémon for the last time.
One flash in the eyes of Typhlosion, and the chief was a shrieking blaze, a jumping, smoldering creature, no longer human or beast as Typhlosion poured one great burst of liquid fire out of its mouth. There was a hiss like a piece of butter hitting a heated pan, and Rei covered his ears to be rid of the sound. The chief flopped over and over and over, and at last twisted in on himself like a charred wax doll, and lay silent.
...
Enamorus felt the death of his greatest servant through the faint echoes of his shrieks that echoed even into the far reaches of the Mirelands. The demon stopped its assault for a moment, and lost its fair guise of a Pokémon. It now appeared as a hideous, scaly abomination, saliva-covered yellow fangs bared and leathery wings spread, red smoke still oozing from the wound on its side. Cobalion got up, trying to regain his strength. He swung his Sacred Sword again.
...
Terrakion told Rei what he had to do. Running out of the ruined house to his companions, Rei yelled so loudly that his words echoed off the vast wastes miles away. The cry was echoed by the members of the Golden Company and the two remaining Swords of Justice.
"Enamorus, may the Original one rebuke you!"
...
Swing its blade at Cobalion's head, Enamorus's sword missed its target. Enamorus flinched, and in that one moment, Cobalion cut his Sacred Sword upward. Enamorus screamed as red smoke and rushing tar and a black miasma of strange internals spilled out. Keeling, the demon dropped its sword.
...
The Golden Company cried aloud the rebuke once more.
...
Cobalion felt a new strength inside of him, while his foe began to fail. Enamorus was pressed against the wall, drooling acid and pitch. Curls of smoke sunk into the floorboards. "But for you...and your...but for you and your praying saints!"
The blade-stroke of Cobalion fell.
Red smoke.
It was over.
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The entirety of the madmen had been slain, and once Cobalion returned, Rei knew that their leader had been toppled as well. A new glory rested upon the Mirelands, and perhaps their defilement could be cleansed in time. One day the Mirelands would be a green land, full of flowers and heavy fruits. Perhaps not in this age of the world, but the next or others that would come long after the Golden Company and their deeds had passed out of memory.
Virizion had placed all the enemy Pokémon under a deep sleep, giving them a meager bit of rest from their tormented life. "Perhaps they can be healed. I will take them with me, to a place where they can live without fear, in a faraway land. But the arts used to enslave them run deep, and there are foul things branded on their bodies which Mannish eyes cannot see. I will do all that I may, but perhaps they are even beyond my healing. You, Young Master Rei, are not. Your venomed wound is healed." The cut on Rei's side healed, the pain ceased, and the clothing mended itself as Virizion spoke faint words of power.
After a short hunt amid much celebration, the Company had recovered all their confiscated supplies and rations although the only real loss was Lian's magnifier, as the lenses had been cracked by mishandling, and they could not be repaired by any means that the group had. Terrakion salvaged it as much as he could, but the precise art needed to bring it back into working order was beyond even the Elohim's abilities.
Then the Swords of Justice bade the seven to climb upon their backs. "This is a greater honor than even kingship," Cobalion said. "For we rarely suffer the second Children of Arceus to ride us like common pack beasts. But you are the Golden Company, chosen by Arceus to fulfill His will, and the wishes of the Original One are ours. Climb aboard, and breathe the free air again! The keen vapors of Deep Heaven still remain on our hides."
The Golden Company sat upon the Swords of Justice, who accommodated them as well as they could. The other Pokemon of the Company were seized with strong hooves, and although there was no room that remained on the three's backs for the Pokemon to ride upon, the Swords of Justice were strong, terribly strong. They would carry them unhindered.
"I will bring you out of this land and to the base of the Ered Engrin," Cobalion had said. "But no further. The Original One has ordained that you are to make that great road of your own power until you find what was intended for you to discover. And there is a Power in the mountains, a sleepless malice that even we cannot pass through. A dark will shall not have us pass into its realm."
Cobalion turned to the other captives, who were still lying in terrified shock. "We shall return in a little while. Do not dismay, for you will be brought to your own lands upon the hour of our arrival. May the Peace of the Original One ransom your perdition, and lead you to Paradise!"
The Swords of Justice lifted into the air, and the wet grass shone to new life in the glow of their bodies. The seven and the three rocketed north, passing out of the marshes, and the waste. Rei grabbed his hands about Cobalion's neck, with Akari behind him as they rode, The cloud cover was still without any opening, giving no glimpses of the Sun or Moon or Heavenly bodies.
There was a fair blossoming of fragrant odor. The Swords of Justice halted, and lay upon their legs. "Now, my children," Virizion said. "Close you eyes, and behold the mountains where all seems dreary and cold. We can go no further. Attomatar atano menelessie Beulah Arceaun, nai airitainiéva esselya! Now may your folk be hallowed in the name of Arceus of Heaven, and His desire be done through your actions!"
Rei had shut his eyes when he was lowered upon the ground, lightly standing up the pale green grass that skirted the foothills of the Ered Engrin. When he opened them to behold the Iron Mountains, the Swords of Justice were gone, having returned to the Scarelt Bog to finish their errantry. But reaching far, far above the seven in the vast celestial airs like many-hewn pillars of snow were the Iron Mountains in all their glory, with Mount Coronet standing in all its glory within the deep night. Even above those, like a great wheel, were the glimmering stars.