The Purging of the Sundered Part 1 Shadow's Onslaught

Meh. Blogger won't let me log in for the past 2 weeks.
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The gathered host was of many worlds, of many peoples. Humans stood beside elves, who stood beside dwarves, standing beside orcs who stood beside trolls, Nirvanians, Elendils, Titans, Inferno Dragons, Blizzard Dragons, Storm Dragons and countless others. This gathering, this crusade was formed to counter the renewed attacks of the Shadow's malevolent forces upon the Allied lands.
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-Several months ago-

They poured in a seemingly endless wave of death, demons, ghouls, monstrosities, juggernauts and other horrors in a ceaseless tide of destruction. They fell upon the lone warrior who stood at the pass, slaying all who challenged him.

Cain the Death Knight, ripping away his shackles of the Shadow's curse, held the vital pass in the Sundered realm, preventing the deathly horde from spilling out into the rest of the torn realm. He and three others had held the pass, while his lieutenant Crystal flew off for reinforcements.

Suddenly the ground erupted in a massive explosion, knocking Cain and his knights were blown back by the destructive spell of a demon-mage. Cursing, Cain sent a deathbolt at the mage, who shriveled up and became a pile of ash. Glancing around, he saw one of his death knights beheaded by a Shadow-death knight, as another knight fell, his chest crushed by a deadly blow from a colossus. The last one was devoured whole by an undead wyvern.

Swearing furiously, Cain fell upon the demons, and succeeded in holding the pass against the Shadow's onslaught, for several hours. Then the sound of rapid flapping wings echoed through the pass, and the demon stalkers of the Crimson Circle flew in the ravine, firing energy bolts, volley after volley with their gunblades, then dropping in among the demons and slicing away rapidly.

Death knights rode up in undead steeds, their glittering blades hewing left and right, slaying Shadow creatures all around. Cain dropped in exhaustion, and was eased to the ground by Scarlet. After receiving a heal spell, he commanded the reinforcements, and eventually the Shadow gave up for the time being. Cain immediately sent Crystal off for the remainders of the Crimson Circle.

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-Hours later-
Crystal arrived at the portal, weak but functioning still, to Rursus. It was opened by Cain and several other magic-versed members of the Crimson Circle, and led straight to the underground caverns that housed the original portal on Rursus.

Without a second thought, she plunged through.

When she emerged, she darted up the cave opening, and passed through. Spying a passing merchant on a wagon, she leaped on the coach and brandished her curved dualblades at him. He shrieked pathetically, and whimpered, begging not to be killed by what he was absolutely sure was a demon.

'Where is the Alliance leader?' snarled Crystal, the normally calm demon stalker frantic for reinforcements.

The merchant stammered a reply, pointing at the direction of Stormbane Keep, the new Alliance main stronghold. She hissed and flew off at once.

When she reached the mountain fortress, she was momentarily shocked at the keep. It was spread across seven rings or walls, and the innermost three rings were hovering above the ground.

She rose up to the innermost circle, and headed to the castle in the center.
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Evelyn did her rounds around the queen Felicia's castle. She was sent to be a guard of the castle for three months for training. She highly doubted any training could be found here other than patience training, though, for she was in the citadel of the most powerful city in the world that contained the most powerful defenses and the most powerful defenders.

She was wrong.

A shadow passed over her, and, glancing up, she saw a demon.

'By the creators!' she uttered as she spread her wings, her massive hammer glowing strongly with the aura of the holy power she served. She sped upwards, and with a mighty swing she cleaved an arc in the sky, just barely missing Crystal. The demon stalker gasped. 'Scarlet?!'

'Foulspawn, you will not be suffered to live!' Evelyn cried as she struck again. Crystal parried, certain that this was not the demon stalker Scarlet of the Crimson Circle. But the face...! Similar save for the lack of the scarf that covered Scarlet's fel eyes.

'Cease!' cried another voice, and the queen of the Elendils herself came upon the combatants and forcing them apart with a wind spell. 'Crystal...!' Felicia muttered. 'How...'

'No time for this!' replied Crystal urgently. 'Cain needs reinforcements! The Shadow plans to attack Rursus through the Sundered Realm. He and his Crimson Circle only barely hold the tide. He sent me for aid!' She said all this in one breath.

Felicia considered, gesturing for Evelyn to back down. At this time, Xepher and Kaffleen had come upon the scene, the sounds of combat attracting them.

'Rest easy. I will bring our finest with me as we come to aid you. Return to Cain first. We shall follow once we have mustered our forces.'

Crystal nodded and bowed midair. Then she sped away.

'What was that about?' said Xepher, staring at the dwindling demon stalker in the distance.