Eulogy of Forgotten Souls - Chapter 9 Twisted Souls - Chaos and Death

'Welcome.' Candace uttered, grinning at the five as they entered the doors, which promptly slammed shut and vanished.

Xepher didn't waste a single second, firing a bolt of raw magic at the last crystal, which was shattered as quickly as glass before stone. Candace narrowed her eyes. 'You may have shattered my crystals, but my personal power is still more than enough to best you.' She brandished her forceblade, akin to Felicia's save that it was of an ebony hue.

Felicia shook her head in sorrow, then steeled herself. The others followed suit. With a cry of hatred towards the Shadow's corruption, Felicia charged faster than light, with Xepher, Kaffleen, Rachel and Ristaccia right behind her.

They clashed against the corrupted Elendil with force akin to that of the gods' wrath, yet Candace held, parrying and striking with unerring aim and incredible speed, not to mention with godlike strength.

Rachel was the first to fall, her inexperience causing her to miscalculate a powerful thrust, piercing her in the stomach. The dark blade pulsed as Candace grinned wickedly, and a massive explosion blasted Rachel to the end of the room, where she smashed against the wall and fell in a crumpled heap, unconscious.

Raising a hand hooked like a claw, Candace uttered several arcane words, and swung her hand to the side, forcing Ristaccia and Kaffleen to the other side of the chamber. They were encased in an ominous red hue for a second, and were rendered unconscious too. Felicia cried in anguish and struck the first blow that drew blood, across Candace's right shoulder.

Candace leapt back. 'Well struck, sister. But look! Three of your miserable party of five are out of the game, so soon. I want to see you defeat me now!'

Xepher grimaced and staggered. Candace and Felicia whirled on him. With a guttural cry, he fell to his knees and chaotic energies warped the air around him. His plate armor was twisted, turning into some sort of seemingly impervious skin. His wings flexed and twisted, his hands becoming demonic claws.

'Chaos.'

Felicia stepped backwards in astonishment and horror. The power within Xepher was too much for him to control, and now, overcome by righteous fury and hatred as he was, he could not hold it back.

With a blinding flash, Felicia and Candace were blasted away, although Candace recovered quick as lightning, while Felicia was stunned momentarily.

In Xepher's place was a being of utter Chaos.

The monster glared at Felicia, then at Candace, and stalked towards the latter, and the closer of the two.

Candace gave a challenging shout, and dove at Chaos-Xepher with mad fury, striking everywhere almost simultaneously. Chaos easily fought back, parrying and thrusting and slashing and hacking without pause. Candace was struck twice with glancing blows, stunning her. She could not recover fast enough to avoid a deadly piercing stab to her midsection, impaling her to the hilt of the quicksilver sword. She gasped as blood and some unholy essence poured from her.

And with the unholy essence, the evil, fatalist look within her eyes vanished. The Shadow was exorcised from her unintentionally, without the crystals to keep their hold on her.

Felicia, seeing this, immediately sent a lash of energy at Chaos, drawing him away. Releasing Candace, he turned on Felicia with devastating power and skill. But now there were two against him, the twins united in a struggle against Chaos.

And the slashes of their blades were too fast to be countered, and Chaos was weakened. Seeing the opportunity, Felicia cast an exorcising spell to seal Chaos. He screamed, the raw power of his roar rippling the air around. But it was too late. With a final shriek, Chaos was sealed within Xepher, and he fell to the ground, drained from the exorcise.
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Outside, the foul mists abruptly vanished, leaving a sky of pure darkness. Raphael screamed as the dark essence flowed from him, and collapsed. The demons shrieked as their very souls were eradicated, their bodies falling apart in pieces.

Then, from unknown heights descended a horrible scream, echoed by a wrenching grinding from deep within the earth. The world was being torn apart, the Shadow having left it. Nothing was left but corruption, and so the world had no substance left. It was being shattered, tearing itself apart like a beast mad with pain.

Azure and Sieghart glanced at each other, and signalled the retreat. They could only hope for the best for the warriors at the dark castle, as they fled the sundered world.

Behind, a dark pillar appeared in the horizon, darker than the utter blackness around. It spun like a tornado, drawing land and even sky into it as it expanded.

Madness.