Darkness Falls Chapter 20
By Gemini83
The smoldering fire tainted the cool blue of the room, tingeing it with a blood red haze.
If Xizor had looked gaunt before, he looked absolutely skeletal now. There hardly seemed to be any skin left on his blood red face. He was a mockery of life.
“Doesn’t anybody stay dead anymore?” quipped the Planeswalker.
“I could say the same about you Kaede,” answered the harsh voice.
Kaede looked around the room before facing the Sleeper again.
The Planeswalker glared at Xizor, “This is why they are coming, isn’t it, for this technology?”
Xizor remained silent.
“The question is, will they be able to use it, or will it destroy them?”
The Sleeper snarled at Kaede, “we cannot be defeated by the likes of you!!!!”
From behind his back, Xizor drew a staff, with two blades on either end. He rushed at Kaede, attempting to catch him off guard, while the Planeswalker was still recovering from the previous blast.
Kaede jumped backwards, avoiding the attack. Pirouetting on one foot, he smashed the back of his fist into Xizor’s face as the monster attempted to follow up the attack.
The demon responded by releasing a blast of fire into Kaede’s face, momentarily blinding him...
Outside, Bahumet warred with the evil dragon known as Tiamat. The two circled each other as they snapped their jaws.
“Bahumet,” sneered Tiamat, “do you honestly think you will win?”
“When I am done with you,” snarled Bahumet, “you will wish you had never been spawned. You have betrayed us for the last time.”
“Hast thou forgotten the old days brother?” said Tiamat in mockery.
Bahumet remembered well the last words they had spoken at their parting, so long ago...
“Thou art no brother of mine.”
Tiamat grinned once more before ramming headfirst into Bahumet, pinning him against the ground.
“Enough talk!” he fumed, “Now, ‘King of Dragons,’ you die!”
Fire billowed from Tiamat’s mouth as Bahumet was engulfed in flames.
He felt several powerful blows land as Xizor expertly jabbed his pressure points, sending him flying through the air. Steel and marble shattered from the impact as Kaede crashed into a wall. Dust flew in all directions. He slowly opened his eyes to see that Xizor had not continued the attack. Rather, the monster had turned back to the machinery, attempting to engage some sort of communications array.
Kaede grabbed a sliver of broken steel and sent it flying through the air. The shard skewered Xizor’s hand against the metal of the array. The monster grunted as he pulled his hand free, throwing the shard to the ground.
Why hadn’t Xizor continued the attack? He had been down, vulnerable to the Sleeper’s attack.
Something clicked in Kaede’s mind, “You are trying to contact them, aren’t you? They don’t know about any of this, do they?”
Xizor raised his weapon again as he glared at Kaede, “What are you talking about fool? YOU KNOW NOTHING!!!”
Kaede continued his interrogation, “No records have ever hinted at this, no planet has ever been so rich in power...this ‘mako.’ But the Drahk don’t know the full capabilities of this planet.”
Xizor screamed as he ran forth to attack Kaede. The Planeswalker merely dodged the blows.
“I will enjoy killing you!” screamed the monster.
He flipped backward, jumping away from Xizor, “no, the pleasure of your death will be mine to cherish.”
The Sleeper snarled, eyes full of wrath.
“Come,” taunted Kaede, “it’s time you paid your debt to me.”
Xizor let out a great cry as he ran towards Kaede.
He continued to speak as the master Sleeper attacked.
Kaede ducked under a swipe to the head.
“Remember the prophecies?” asked Kaede
He jumped over a foot sweep.
“The Key to the Light will be found,” he continued.
Xizor screamed as he plunged his blade at Kaede’s midsection.
Kaede jumped in a spinning cartwheel, kicking the advancing Xizor. The demon flew back against the machinery.
“You found something the Drahk hadn’t planned on,” finished Kaede, “and now it scares you. What are you so afraid of?”
Xizor rose to his feet, glaring at Kaede. Then, turning to the machinery, he pushed a button, sending a blaze of light and sound coursing through the machinery. Massive shockwaves shook throughout the entire city.
“We fear nothing!” answered the Sleeper.
Fighting against the tremors, Kaede rushed towards Xizor, bringing down his sword. The demon jumped away from the attack, but the machinery was destroyed under the blade. He was momentarily blinded by a flash of light, then the shaking finally stopped. Kaede managed to see one last message on the screen of the machinery. They were Cetra characters, but translated, it read:
‘...COMMUNIQUE INCOMPLETE...PERCENT TRANSMITTED...’
Then the array went completely blank.
Kaede stared at Xizor, “What have you done?”
“Too late Kaede,” laughed Xizor, “Now the Drahk will know everything about the Fortress of the Ancients.”
The Planeswalker was unfazed, merely staring at Xizor.
“Not all of your message went through,” grinned Kaede.
“Bah!” answered Xizor, “Once I have killed you, I will send it again!”
The Planeswalker raised his sword at the Sleeper, “I can’t let you do that.”
Bahumet closed his eyes as the fire hit him. True, the flames would not do him much harm, but his scaly hide would not protect him for long. Bahumet batted his wings into his adversary’s eyes, disorienting Tiamat. He then released a powerful blast of energy from his mouth, smashing Tiamat against the wall. Bahumet attempted to continue his attack, but was thrown to the floor as tremors shook the structure.
Soon, the shockwaves subsided. The two dragons slowly rose to their feet, taking stock of each other.
Tiamat grinned at Bahumet, “It is done, you have failed.”
The King of Dragons glared at Tiamat, “What?”
“The Drahk will come, and you will all suffer the very torments of hell!”
Tiamat flew at Bahumet, rushing at him with full strength.
“Big mistake,” said Bahumet, raising his wings.
Bahumet flew above the attack, as Tiamat crashed against the marble wall behind him. It was a testament to Cetra technology and engineering that the structure held. Broken pieces of marble fell to the floor from the impact, but there was otherwise very little damage.
Tiamat quickly regained his footing, flying into the air after Bahumet, the demon was growing careless as he blindly attacked Bahumet. The King of Dragons bulleted through the air, circling around and slamming into Tiamat repeatedly.
The beast crashed to the ground in a thrashing mass of scales.
Bahumet looked down at the fallen dragon, “you were one of our best Tiamat, but you allowed your greed and your thirst for power to corrupt you.”
The beast slowly stood up, blood running into his eyes, as he glared at Bahumet, “Then see what power my greed has bought!”
Like a blaze of lighting, Tiamat disappeared. Bahumet turned to follow his movement. He was sent reeling as Tiamat slammed into him. The demon was moving too quickly to see, and Bahumet was wracked with more pain, but still he did not fall.
The King of Dragons roared as he spread his wings, sending shockwaves of energy whirling about him. Tiamat was forced back. Bahumet regained his wits, and the two stared at each other in mid-air.
“Now,” screamed Tiamat, “we finish this...DARK FLARE!!!!”
A dark and terrible beam of energy sprang forth from the demon’s jaws. Bahumet answered with his own attack, a shining ray of light to Tiamat’s darkness, and the two great energies seethed and fought for supremacy. Tiamat threw forth his all his powers into this final attack, letting the hate consume him as the released his final energies...
“If I die,” screamed Tiamat, “you die with me!”
The King of Dragons fought hard to stave off the attack. Tiamat had gained great power from the Drahk, but his was a strength built on weak foundations. Bahumet had stronger obligations. Remembered his duty, his will, and brought forth his inner strength to battle against the attack...he couldn’t give up...
The two powers warred only a little longer before a great explosion engulfed the hall in smoke.
Kaede and Xizor fought with unbridled ferocity. Their blades were a whir of sparks and sound as the weapons clashed. However, Xizor had an advantage, for his weapon had two blades, to Kaede’s one...
Kaede easily deflected the attacks, but he had to end this quickly. If he was to learn about this place before the Drahk arrived, he would have to hurry.
Kaede kicked Xizor away, then ran to follow up his attack. Xizor rolled backwards and brought his blade up towards Kaede’s left chest.
The Planeswalker easily blocked the attack, but quick as lighting, Xizor countered, bringing the other blade to slash through Kaede’s ribs. The Planeswalker fell back as he gripped the wound.
Kaede staggered back, falling to his knees.
“Insect,” said Xizor, “you are nothing. What can you do to stop the Apocalypse?”
Kaede lifted his face to look Xizor in the eyes, “everything I can...”
Xizor snarled at Kaede, swiping his weapon down.
‘Damn it! It won’t end like this!’
With a battle cry, Kaede fought back, slashing repeatedly at the monster. He grunted as he forced his body to fight with more speed and strength. Kaede’s mind willed itself to catch a second wind, ignoring the burning pain in his side. He slowly pushed back the reeling Xizor.
Xizor yelled as he brought down his weapon again. But the Planeswalker countered by slicing upwards, splitting the weapon in half.
Xizor fell backwards as the broken shards of the blade fell from his hands.
Kaede merely glared at Xizor, through cold, emotionless eyes, “and now, you die for your sins.”
Xizor looked up and saw death in those glowing eyes, and he shivered. He grasped behind him, searching for something, anything to fight back. Then he felt crumbling bits of marble and dust in his hands...
“I told you once,” said Kaede, “that I would be your doom. You tortured Aeris, you toyed with human life.”
“If you mean that bi-”
Kaede kicked Xizor away, sending him flying against the wall. The Sleeper’s body landed with a crunching thud as he groaned in pain.
“Slur her name again, and you will beg for death.”
Xizor threw the handful of dust at Kaede’s face, momentarily blinding him. Then the scourge ran forth to follow the attack, screaming curses at the Planeswalker.
Kaede’s eyes opened wide as raw emotions flooded through his body. He glared at Xizor with glowing eyes, as he brought his sword up in counterattack.
Xizor had no time to react as Kaede’s blade slashed through him. The Planeswalker screamed his rage as he attacked the Sleeper. Blow after blow scored the beast with pain, crippling the monster. But Kaede wasn’t done yet...
He rose into the air, gathering his energies into one final slash as he brought the flaming sword down to smite Xizor.
The Sleeper howled with pain as his blood flew through the air. His body on fire, Xizor simply collapsed under the force of the attack. He fell to the floor, broken and bleeding, before his body completely burned to ashes.
When the smoke finally cleared, Kaede stood alone, panting for breath. The fires receded, returning to the room its previous calming shades of blue and green.
“Recover from that you bastard,” he said breathlessly, “I’ll have to thank Cloud for showing me that attack.”
Kaede sheathed his sword as he made his way out of the room. He heard no more sounds from outside, so Bahumet and Tiamat must have ended their duel as well. He entered the main hall to find it completely engulfed in smoke. The Planeswalker slowly made his way through the haze, searching for the King of Dragons.
Then he saw a dark figure in the mists, and walked closer. He heard a familiar growl.
“Bahumet?” he asked.
Kaede jumped back as the glaring eyes of Tiamat stared back at him...
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Author’s Notes: Oy, that chapter didn’t take too long to write, but it did take a lot of thought to plan the fight scenes. I have a long and complicated way of plotting out such scenes, and I really tried to throw in something different here with the fighting dragons. Man, I haven’t even gotten to finishing the last fight scene yet! The last two chapters weren’t even supposed to be half as long as they were! On the bright side, I have that last few fights mostly planned out, so hopefully they won’t be as crappy as these last few were.
Right, in the next chapters I will reveal most of the last bit of plot. I’ll keep a few surprises in store (I’ll try anyway!), but you’ll get the real explanation behind the Fortress of the Ancients and all that stuff...blah, blah, blah. Anyway, same stuff as usual, comments are always welcome.
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