Dirge of the Afterlife - Chapter 7 The Siege of the Shadow

Felicia brought the soul warriors back to an ancient castle, owned by her, to the surprise and astonishment of them, Sieghart included. There she left the warriors, old and young, those of the old world and the new world, and went out to get supplies to feed them.

The mage hunters gone, they had nothing to fear anymore, and lived contentedly. Some left for their homes, some remained in the castle. Some went out, helping the populace, while still some more trained in their magical arts, martial prowess and mental acuity.

Yet they would not know, not even Xepher or Felicia, that the army of darkness began to grow beneath the earth of Rursus. Weiss had strengthened his spellworks so powerful to penetrate the wards of the Ellyna. It did not matter that the tree was perfectly healthy.

Soon, the lesser units of the Shadow's army came through the portal, corrupted men from countless worlds, lesser demons and other weak mortals in the thrall of the Shadow's powerful mistress.

Several weeks had passed, and already a sizable amount of shadowlings were congregated in the massive cavern systems. Weiss received a message from his mistress's right hand, Raphael, to proceed on with the invasion.

And so he did, flexing his flaming wings, he glared at the tons of rocks separating him from the surface.
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The clouds rumbled.

The heavens roared.

The winds shrieked.

The earth shattered.

Like a phoenix, Weiss rose through the sundered ground, burning wings flaring akin to a beacon in the darkness. The stormy night raged as he let out a scream of exultation.

And below him, from the crevice poured forth creatures of nightmares, abominations, juggernauts, and the humans, elves, dwarves and more of countless other worlds, corrupted by dark magics. These joined in Weiss's unholy chorus, sending fear through even the insentient plant life.

And with a shouted command, the tides of endless darkness surged through the night, covering the land...
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Xepher awoke to screaming.

Not that he never heard such a horrible scream, laced with intense terror. But that he heard it here, in the Guardian Tower, a section of Felicia's castle, stunned him.

He darted from the niche in the clock tower where he slumbered, in a standing position propped against a column. Dashing to the nearby balcony overlooking the plains before the castle, he beheld...

An endless horde of dark beings, corrupted mortals, walking dead (both freshly dead and mere skeletons), demons of all shapes and sizes, and more stretching to the horizon - all bent on destroying the castle's front gate, and at the forefront loomed four ogres, hefting a massive tree trunk, it's branches shorn off clean to form a crude, if effective, battering ram, which was doing a fine job smashing into the magically enhanced adamantium gates, supported by immense bars across the inner side of it, forged from pure mithryl; the spellcasters in the dark horde cast spell after destructive spell at the gate, wearing down it's magical defenses, yet getting slain by the rebounding spells when their concentration slipped, but they had numbers to spare; for every one that fell, another rose to take his place, with three more beside him, snarling and casting their own spells...or calling in even more reinforcements from other parts of the dark army, by means of teleportation as moving through the massive exodus would be nigh impossible, and any who were so unlucky as to trip over and fall were crushed instantly by the endless trampling feet of the marches of the demons; above, wasn't particularly safe either, clouds of corrupted Sentinels, swarms of airborne demons, corrupted dragons and fallen archangels, creating a horrific sound as their wings beat in harmony following the bellowing of the demonic generals, who in turn conveyed the orders of Weiss himself, hovering some distance away from the castle, doom incarnate as his fiery wings incinerated the very zephyrs wafting past him in a motion of convection from the ground, the air around him warped from the raw energies flowing through him, mystic might crackling around him madly without rhythm or reason, his shining runeblade Immortal Bane flaring like a beacon against the backdrop of the dirty, dark sky.

[Requiem: Gasp! Actually did that in ONE sentence!!! Comment XD]

To make a conclusion, Xepher uttered a single, four-lettered expletive.

Drawing Cypheria, he quickly rushed to the highest pinnacle of the large castle, seeking Felicia, who's aura he sensed there.

Indeed, she was there, already casting several lightning blitzes at the nearest flock of flying creatures, immolating them instantly. Upon seeing him, she shouted a command that brooked no hesitation:'Get down to the gate and defend it now! Rachel, Ristaccia and Kaffleen are already there, but they won't hold much longer!'

Xepher nodded, and with the gracefulness of a Guardian, dove off the tower to plunge straight down towards the front of the gate. During his fall, a swarm of flying demons wielding curved blades attacked him. He briefly disappeared in their midst-

-and sliced through them, leaving bloody pieces falling behind him as he dove downwards still.
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Kaffleen, Ristaccia and Rachel held the gate with a basic defense position, an arc, with Kaffleen at the tip, Rachel at her left, having grown in power and skill, and Ristaccia at her right.

Just then, a massive demon rammed headfirst into Kaffleen, throwing her to the ground. She managed to slice off it's head, but was stunned. A quartet of nasty looking demons gathered in a pack, preparing to charge through the breach.

Xepher dropped in her place, blade slashing as he dropped in a defensive stance. The group of demons held back for a moment, surprised by the appearance of their new opponent, then growled, and charged as one.