Antithesis, Opposites United
#13 of Antithesis
Alrighty, part thirteen. I hope you enjoy it.
As always, comments are appreciated and requested.
Continued from 'An ancient stage is set...'
The smile upon the lips of the evil creature that towered over the trio faded slightly upon seeing the look of almost beatific serenity that graced Shandi's face. But its hesitation lasted only a moment, its lip curling upward in a snarl, taking a step forward towards them, his powerful footfall shaking the whole room. Knowing now what had to be done, Shandi turned first to Kael, speaking in a quiet whisper that she knew he would catch.
"Sir Knight, can you buy me a few moments?" She asked and she saw the last vestiges of emotion fade from the wolf's face as it resumed the haunting, blank mask he wore when in battle.
"As my lady wishes." He replied, giving a half bow before turning from the white leopard and once more, the proud warrior strode unhesitating into an uneven fight. As he walked, he brought the blade of his rune sword vertical before his face, a last salute to his enemy, the runes glowing like the full moon, growing brighter by the moment. And, when seeing the blade that his foe held, the creature hesitated once more, taking a step back, though the Knight barely came up to his thigh and Shandi knew her guess had been right. The key that had bound it within its tomb had to have been an ancient rune weapon, created with the same magic as the knight's sword. Then, even as it recovered its composure, summoning a pair of heavy black blades to its hands, curved like scimitars, but thicker than Shandi's entire torso, she turned to her dark twin. Shaden examined their foe with an expression of polite interest, as if it were nothing more than a harmless curiosity in a museum, or a glittering trinket in a shop. The dark leopard was clad in his usual tunic and trousers of sable velvet, his long black hair tied back into an elegant pony tail with a thong of dark leather. But more, in his sword hand, he carried a blade that she had never seen before, but she paid it no mind, focused instead upon the knowledge of their destiny, at last revealed, trying to find a way to express it quickly. To her, it was undeniable, for it had always been said among the nobles that twins were one person, split between two bodies and she knew in her heart where her brother's sudden leaps in power had come from.
"Shaden, you have to listen to me." She began, her tone utterly firm and he turned his emerald eyes upon her, the orbs unreadable, a strange gleam within them the only sign of his feelings. "Whatever differences have divided us, whatever problems we have had in the past, if ever there was a time we laid them aside, it must be now." Shandi paused, seeing a slight grin come to his face as she said it. Even as she took a breath to continue, she heard the ringing clash of steel upon steel as the Knight and their foe fought, accompanied by the odd sound of stones cracking. Chancing a glance in that direction, she saw her secret lover leaping nimbly out of the way as one of his foe's blades cleaved down upon the floor, carving a second furrow in the stone near a first, cracks gaping wide through the surrounding stones as the heavy blade passed into it.
Seeing the Knight duck another blow, the shining arc of his rune blade slicing a gash along the towering lion's forearm, a spray of black blood coating the ground beneath it, Shandi allowed a slight grin to come to her lips. Though the demonic lion was immensely strong, it wasn't quick enough to catch him. Still, she knew it would not, and could not last forever. Sooner or later, the wolf's luck would run out, and though he was skilled as no other warrior she knew, no mundane means could destroy it; only magic could do that. Turning her attention back upon her brother, she spoke again, urgency filling her voice, trying to convey everything in the span of a few moments. "My power alone is not enough to beat him. Please brother. Help me." Shaden regarded her with the same odd expression for a moment more, and she feared that he might say no, might refuse to aid her. But then, his face split into a wide grin and he winked roguishly, looking once again, for a moment, like the brother she had known in her childhood.
"My dear Shandi," He said, and a ripple seemed to pass through his features, the illusion spells with which he had hidden his altered form falling away from him. Shandi drew back from him as they faded away, for the picture before her was very different than the brother she had known her whole life. His raven-like wings became featherless and leathery, spines of bone on each joint, his eyes fel crimson upon black and his grin became like to a snarl, showing pearly white teeth to his sibling. Shandi barely restrained a shiver from passing down her back at his sudden change. She recognized the signs of a user of dark magic when she saw them. So it was true then. Until that moment, she had held out a tiny flickering hope that she had been wrong, that the fate told by the ancient scroll wasn't hers. But, as she commanded the power of light, so did her brother command the darkness. The prophecy was confirmed. "You had but to ask."
Turning as one, the twins faced their foe, united as they had once been in their youth, coronas of magic gathering about their hands, bright white and light leaching black. And not a moment too soon. Even as they turned, Kael flew past them, landing beyond the second row of pillars and bouncing twice along the ground, his shining armor producing a loud clank each time, his flight the product of a glancing blow upon his armor, most of the blow having shattered one of the first row of pillars into tiny chips of stone. But, moments later, the knight was on his feet once more, the cold merciless anger in his eyes, quickly running back past the twins to rejoin the fight, Fal-cotha's runes blazing bright white in anger. Touching her twin's mind with her own as the knight charged past her, his howling war cry echoing in the open space, Shandi poured an image across the link, an image that made Shaden smirk. The light around their hands grew brighter as their power gathered, spells prominent in their minds. And, just as the Knight sped towards their foe at full sprint, a magnificently bright figure in the reflected moonlight, they loosed their power, a bright blast of light surging from Shandi's hands, a beam of darkness from Shaden's.
Faced with a sudden new threat as the twins announced themselves, the towering lion crossed his swords in front of him, catching the mismatched beams upon the blades, deflecting the energy as it reached him. The energies of light and of darkness, scattered by the enchanted weapons, crackled and danced before him, violently clashing around his swords. But, even as the beam spells faded, Kael was there, his rune sword dancing inside the creature's guard. And the dark beast screamed as the knight's weapon bit deeply into one of its legs. But, though the wound trailed a torrent of black blood upon the ground, as with its earlier wound, the beast was not hampered in the slightest. Instead, it only seemed to enrage it, and Kael barely avoided its return blow, the strike passing over his head like a gale, very nearly clipping his ear. And then, realizing that it faced a threat it had not encountered before, the beast stepped back, and, speaking aloud words that made the flesh crawl, it drew upon its powers, an aura of utter black suddenly pulsing around as it drew forth the dark energy that ruled it. Pointing one sword at the twins, it loosed dozens of bolts of black lightning upon them, springing from the point like a web, the other blade coming around to bat aside a strike from the Knight with such force that he was nearly thrown off his feet by it, not even looking in his direction.
Working with a speed that she had never needed before, Shandi summoned a barrier of magic before her, a disc of brilliant white like a circular warrior's shield, the barrier flaring when the dark lightning touched it, the thunder of the magical opposites reacting almost deafening. Shaden used a wholly different approach, catching the bolts with one hand as one might catch a thrown spear with the same ease as if they were solid, turning with the impact and throwing them back upon their owner. Even as he turned, Shandi twisted the shield spell with her mind, throwing it like a discus, the edge sharpening like a blade, the magic flaring like a sudden flame in darkness. But the towering beast wasn't fazed by the response, deflecting the shield with the ease of one shooing a fly away from him, the magic disc barely missing Kael on its way past. But, distracted by her spell, it reacted just a moment too slowly to Shaden's reply, the dark lightning wreathing it, passing through the aura of its power. The creature grimaced as it played over his flesh, singeing off whole sections of its fur, and then, with a wave of its hand, it banished the spell, the crackling energy fading in an instant. Before it could cast again, Shandi called to mind another spell, stomping forward a step, brilliant alabaster flames springing up from where her foot fell, leaping like snakes along the ground towards the lion.
When the spell reached it, the flames encircled their master's foe, ringing it with white fire, rising into an inferno many feet high, contracting inward like a vice. But, then, even as Shandi grinned in triumph, the flames darkened, turning leaden grey as clouds heavy with rain, and then, all the way to a black so dark it wouldn't have looked out of place in the midnight sky. Then, before Shandi could comprehend how the creature had done it, the flames surged back towards the twins, burning the stone floor to black as it raged. The inferno was coming far too swiftly for a counter-spell, and the winged leopards threw themselves apart, the flames surging between them, Shaden's new sword clattering to the stones as he abandoned its weight. As she landed and rolled back up to her feet, Shandi tried to banish the flames that separated them, but found to her surprise that the spell was no longer under her control.
Separated from her brother by a wall of darkened flames, the magus looked up and found the point of one of the creature's swords aimed right at her, the very tip glowing with dark power. And then, even as the beast's spell surged along it, a bolt of energy as black as pitch leaping along the summoned blade, a figure dressed in bright armor suddenly leapt into view, colliding full force with the lion's chest. As strong as the creature was, as tall as it stood, even it couldn't withstand a warrior in full plate crashing into it. The black lion toppled backward, its sword leaping upward, the spell lancing suddenly at the second floor of the library behind where Shandi stood. Instinctually raising her magic in a cloak around her, the young magus braced for the worst. A heartbeat later, a whole section of the balcony exploded, a hail of great stones the size of Shandi's head and bits of wood and scrolls filling the space around her. Luckily many of the stone pieces missed her, but some did not. Wincing, Shandi saw a quartet of stones suddenly freeze in mid air, bare inches from her, the sudden drain of a portion of her strength causing a wave of dizziness to wash through her as her magic kept her safe. Letting the shield spell drop, Shandi shook her head, clearing it of her confusion. The explosion had let loose a mighty cloud of dust through the room and, hidden for the moment from her foe, a current of thought passed through her mind.
The creature was so powerful, so learned in the dark ways that the magic of light could not touch it, could not even get close to it. The flame spell she had used, a spell first created long after the lion's tomb had been sealed, should have enveloped him in flames made of pure light energy, something that would be devastating to a creature of darkness. Instead, it hadn't even touched it, the creature's own power subverting her control of the spell, corrupting it, changing it until it was a thing of evil. Which also meant that many of her spells would likely have about as much effect as that one had. There was only one spell in her repertoire more powerful than the flame spell, a spell most ancient, so powerful that she had never before used it. But she sensed that even if she could get close enough, it would not be enough to destroy it, even if the creature hadn't seen it before. And even that was a dubious chance, since the demonic looking lion had faced down dozens of powerful light magi, and had slaughtered them all apparently without effort.
And then, even as she despaired, helplessness washing over her, she remembered a detail of magic, a fundamental fact of all the orders of magic, something so basic that she hadn't thought of it since she was a novice, accepting it without question, as did all magi. And finally, the true meaning of the words of the long forgotten Antarian king dawned on her, a meaning so profound, so wildly impossible that she had never considered it. No magus could wield two opposing kinds of magic at the same time, not without them destroying him as he drew upon them. And then, as if coming from a source that she had never before encountered, a possibility of how it might be done entered her mind and she understood at once that it was the only way, and that it would take much of her strength to accomplish. It had to be done soon, while her strength was still at its peak. Every spell she used in fighting this thing drew a little more from her, making it that much more likely that she wouldn't have the strength to use that final, most powerful spell, the spell that had the ability to destroy it.
But, even as the knowledge coalesced in her mind, the dust that shielded her cleared and a horrible sight met her eyes. The beast was back on its feet once again, its swords nowhere to be seen, but this time, Kael was caught in its powerful hands, its claws screeching as they dragged upon his armor, the wolf struggling as it raised him to eye level, his arms pinned. The lion snarled angrily at him and its fists began to contract around her love. Shandi reacted without thinking, reaching out across the link she shared with her brother even as her hand came up. The bolt of energy that rushed from her hand was one of the most simple offensive spells in the history of magic, a small globe of pure magic energy like a miniature fireball that any magus beyond the rank of novice could deflect without so much as a shield, as the creature would well have known. It didn't even bother to shield itself as the spell raced from her hands, knowing that even if the spell hit it, it would do little, light magic as it was. And so it would, if Shandi's spell had been aimed at the creature; so it would had not Shaden obeyed his sister's thought at the same moment.
Right in front of the creature's head, just beyond the aura that protected him, the two balls of energy, one brilliant white, the other as its reflection in a dark mirror, met, both aimed at the same spot. For a moment, the two magics swirled around each other like wispy smoke, repelled by their opposite natures, refusing to meet and then, forced together by the will of their castors, they finally touched. In the briefest moment, the twin spells canceled each other out, disappearing as if they had never been.
And then, after a moment's hesitation, the air rippled outward like a wave, the deafening crack of thunder marking where the opposites had annihilated each other. Since the wave was not magic per say, but nor was it purely physical, the beast had no counter in place. Thrown backward by the impact, the lion impacted the stone wall behind it, shattering the mirrors that lit the space in which the magi were fighting and collapsing the corridor that led back to the library. Shandi knelt swiftly even as the lion toppled backward, canting her snow white wings before her like a breaker wall, bracing against the impact that came like a thunderclap, driving the breath from her lungs. But even as she struggled to refill them, she rose to her feet, hurrying to where her twin was recovering from the blast, one leathery wing held like the edge of a cloak before him, the magic flames that had separated them having been snuffed out by the wave.
"Impressive." The Lion snarled, rising into a kneeling position as she approached her brother, the knight it had been squeezing nowhere to be seen and apparently forgotten. "Not even the arch magi of old thought of that." Ignoring his thundering voice, Shandi spoke in an urgent tone to her brother, her thoughts explaining her words with images that crossed the link between them in an instant.
"Shaden, I know what we have to do to defeat him." She said, and he regarded her with a skeptical expression even as the images played out before his mind's eye. "It is the only way."
"I never expected such ingenuity from two who are so young." The lion continued, standing once more, his crimson gaze fixed upon Shaden. "You, dark one, why do you fight me? Why not join me instead? Serve me, and I can teach you magic the like of which you have only imagined."
"Tch." Shaden sneered in reply, turning to regard the creature with contempt. "Why would I serve you? I, who have pushed of the power of darkness so far, I, who conquered every challenge that has confronted me. If anything, you should serve me."
"Shaden, don't listen to him, he is trying to distract you." Shandi said, grabbing her brother's arm.
"Not serve then." The lion said, a half grin forcing its way onto his face. "But why be at odds? We want the same things, you and I, I can sense it. Together, we could take anything we wanted, and who could stand against us?" This time, Shaden's sneer turned thoughtful as he pondered the creature's offer. Shandi tugged on her brother's arm, making him look back at her, and she saw the indecision on his face. He was sorely tempted by the evil creature's offer, but something was holding him back, something that lay hidden beneath his outward gaze when he looked at her. "Come come, young magus, I haven't got all day."
And then, suddenly, just as Shaden looked back at the creature, when it seemed as though it might win Shaden's internal conflict, a shape suddenly came between them, a shape clad in battered, but still shining plate armor, his white head raised high, rune blade in hand and the creature snarled fiercely at him, rage burning bright in its crimson eyes. Swiping a hand at Kael, long, razor sharp claws bared, the black lion shouted aloud, his voice filled with unending rage, breaking the persuasive spell of its words. "Thrice-damned Antarian!! Can you not be trusted to die?!"
As Kael ducked the creature's blows, dancing in and out of reach, forcing the towering lion to turn aside from the twin leopards, Shandi locked eyes with her brother, releasing his arm and holding out her hand to him, offering him the choice. She knew, as surely as she had realized the prophecy told of them, that he must make the choice for himself for it to work. She could not force him to comply. And, as their foe let out a bellow of rage as the elusive knight darted past its hand once more, rune blade carving a shallow cut just behind its knuckles, she saw her brother waver, saw the paths being weighed behind his eyes. His lust for power was at war with his bond with her, and both tugged upon his heart with equal strength. And then, with the irresistible power of a flood breaking a dam, she saw the conflict shift. Finally, Shaden's dark paw came up, and clasped her own tightly. With their eyes locked, the twins nodded to one another.
Drawing a deep breath as one, the winged snow leopards, one as black as the night itself, the other as bright as day, so different and yet so alike, tapped their magic, delved deeply within it, submerging themselves in their power. And then, energy kindled about their joined hands, brilliant white and pitch black, twining together, touching and joining as if they were one and the same, not bitter opposites. Then, as the twins closed their eyes, drawing yet more magic to the surface, the two conflicting powers suddenly became brilliant gold, as bright and beautiful as sunshine after a long night. The golden light surged up their arms, covering their bodies, growing in intensity, a light brighter than any other. In that moment, both the Knight of Antaria and the ancient evil became aware of them once more, both turning, shielding their eyes from the light. As they watched, the outlines of the twins began to blur, obscured as a magic as ancient as the gods themselves was invoked. And then, with a brilliant flash that dazzled the eye, leaving them blind for a moment, the spell was completed...
***
Shaking his head, wincing in pain as the after image of the flash seared his eyes, the ancient and twisted lion castor felt the first trickle of fear run through him, a feeling he had not felt for many millennia. He knew of all forms of magic, all powers that any could use. He knew the counters to endless spells, had seen countless innovative powers, but this was one he had never before encountered. Forcing his eyes to open, the beast looked out on the place where the golden flash had burned into being, and lo, a single figure stood there, a figure that was his equal in height. Wrapped in grey feathered wings like a cocoon, it was impossible to discern its features at first, and then, the wings uncurled and the Lion gasped, for he recognized the shape now, though he thought he would never see it in person.
The other figure was a snow leopard, its fur black-spotted, sleek silver that shifted in shade as one watched it, patches becoming almost white and then almost black in turn, spanning the spectrum of grey in between. It was not quite masculine, nor was it quite feminine, but seemed to be both at once, clad in garments that shone like the sun itself but he could feel its power pulsing in the air around it, more power than he had ever perceived in another, a power equal to his own. And then, when it opened its eyes, he saw at once that what he had guessed was true. One eye was blue, blazing upon pure alabaster, alight with the powers of good. The other was crimson upon black, pulsing with the same power that lived within his own body. And he knew, as the mismatched eyes narrowed, he looked upon an incarnation of Unisus, a god in mortal form, wielding both good and evil together.
Forgetting all about the Knight that had so infuriated him, the black lion faced his new foe and snarled. Here at last was his final challenge. And he knew that half of its power would not affect him, the dark aura that surrounded him keeping him safe from the light, and the powers of darkness that could touch him through it would not harm him, so in tune was he with that power. He would win, of that he was sure. But the foe before him showed neither joy, nor fear, nor anger, its face emotionless, blank like a mask.
Raising his hands and setting in a stance as if he were about to enter a fist fight, the black lion tapped his magic, allowing it to swirl about him, watching his foe carefully, waiting for it to make the first move. It wasn't long in coming. With a swift motion like a wave farewell, the god incarnate summoned power, brilliant gold as the light that had spawned it, and, as if casting a spear, it threw the spell forward. The ball of energy that surged towards the lion was pitch black, the mark of the dark powers, but it seemed strangely luminous, like liquid obsidian in the sunlight. For a moment, the lion magus stayed still, knowing that dark magic could not harm him beyond the barest injury, and then, too late, he realized his mistake. The ball of glossy black magic crashed into him with the force of a boulder racing downhill in the mountains, the dark magic merely a shell. As it touched him, the shell broke as it penetrated the aura, and suddenly he was burning, a scream tearing from his lungs as the pure light magic contained within burst upon him, wrapping itself around him like serpents, their touch an agony to his dark soul.
Agony so intense that it overwhelmed his sight ripped through him as the energy arced across his chest. He was burning, his corrupted flesh smoking as the terrible purity washed into him. He cried in agony, a deafening roar that ripped his throat raw as the lion fell to one knee before his enemy. Desperately, he raised a shield before him, a shield composed not of the darkness, but of pure arcane power, a spell he had not needed since he was a boy. Just in time, the barrier of blue-white energy swam into being, barely intercepting his foe's second spell, the barrier shuddering as it withstood the onslaught of the powerful magic. The effort to maintain the barrier drew off so much of his strength that the lion gasped, panting for breath. The creature that fought him was so strong, more powerful than anything he had encountered before. He was barely its equal, but, as he crouched behind his shield, it poured spell after spell upon him as if it were freshly rested, while his own strength steadily drained, drawn off by the shield. Desperate, he gathered more strength to his spirit, forming it into a powerful spell of his own creation, a spell so unlike any other. And then, as the arcane shield that protected him, deprived of the energy that sustained it, crumbled beneath another spell, he forced himself to his feet, throwing his own spell at the creature that faced him as the barrier failed completely.
The spell, a weapon he had prepared long ago in case he encountered a foe that was powerful enough to challenge him, was akin to an all out assault, drawing off much of his strength, staggering him as it filled the air before him. Bolts of lightning, balls of sable fire, sharp shards of dark ice, and tendrils of choking darkness, all carved of dark magic, flooded the space between them, the combination more than enough to overwhelm any castor. But, to his surprise, no fear crossed the face of his foe. Instead, it simply raised a hand, and a wall of brilliant gold thrust suddenly upward from the floor. The lighting crackled over its surface without effect, the fire burst upon it and dissipated as if it were a wall of stone. The shards of ice boiled off before they touched it as if the wall were made of flame, and the dark tendrils that chased the onslaught of dark power withered and died as smoke in the presence of a prevailing wind. The black lion, his strength depleted, sank to one knee, drawing shaky breaths as despair welled within him, the golden barrier falling at once as its owner dispelled it. And his terrible foe approached, its face beatific in its solemn seriousness, magic coursing about its powerful limbs in motes and trails of gold.
His body urged him to flee, for he could not seem to harm this foe, and his instincts urged him to fight back, to resist to his last breath, to die within his magic. Summoning his rage once more, bringing with it a last burst of strength, the lion gathered all he had left for a last spell, raising his hand even as the god-like foe came within a pace of where he knelt. But, even as he started to loose the last spell, his last act of defiance, he felt his foe's hand close about his wrist, vise-like in its strength. And lo, the magic faded back into his body, forced back by the will of the beast before him. And then, the powerful figure reached out with its other hand, and as gently as one would caress an infant, it touched the side of his head, a delicate embrace, the dark aura that should have protected him doing nothing against it. And then, the creature looked him square in the eyes and at last, emotion swam to the surface of its mismatched orbs, but it was not the emotion he had expected.
The lion had expected anger, elation or at the very least, triumph, but instead, only one thing was in its gaze. Pity. It pitied him, his lust for the power to challenge even the gods, pitied his greed for more, greed that would never be sated. And more, it pitied his arrogance, pitied the ambition that had led him to try to conquer the known worlds. And, at last, even as he felt the tingling energy of a spell beginning to flow up the arm of the snow leopard before him, the lion found to his horror that the creature's pity was more terrible by far than its wrath could have been. And then, the creature's hand that caressed his cheek began to glow, brilliant white light surging from it, pure energy flooding him. And he knew what the spell was it was drawing on, an ancient and powerful spell of the light magic, the only one that required physical contact, a spell that he had feared above all from the moment he had learned of it. And then, as it broke upon him fully, he cried out in terror and pain and then the pure light became his world, a world of agony in the face of something so pure. Even as his scream rent the silence, his eyes filled with white light and he knew no more...
***
As the black lion's body dissolved, eroded from the inside out by the powerful white light, the winged snow leopard that had defeated him rose to its full height, and an aura of brilliant gold surrounded it. Then, gradually, it began to broaden, as if it were being pulled in two separate directions. And, then, one side began to grow lighter, the silver becoming white, and the other began to darken towards black. And then, all at once, a seam appeared between the two halves, and the lone towering figure vanished, replaced by two others, each about half its size, one as black as jet, the other as bright as driven snow, blue eyes and crimson closed as if they were asleep. For a moment, the pair settled upright upon their feet, and then, falling slowly as if cradled in a massive hand, they were laid upon the ground, separate once more.
Shaden came back to himself first, rising from the darkness as if coming out of a deep sleep. He remembered the choice that had led to the victory. He remembered the temptation of all that could be learned at the hand of such a master of the dark magic, a temptation made all the greater because practioners of his art were so scattered now that he had never known another. And then, he remembered knowing in his heart of hearts that Shandi was willing to die fighting this foe, that she would never surrender to it. The only way that Shandi would be his, was if he choose to fight alongside her, here, in this place. So he had done what he had thought was impossible. Somehow, through a spell that was so old he had been humbled by its age, he had merged with his sister, becoming one being of unfathomable power. He recalled the feeling of being unstoppable, of two minds working in perfect concert, both thinking the same things at the same time, and yet still thinking separately in the same moment.
Everything had suddenly been so easy. Spells of immense complexity had been at their fingertips, the mysteries of magic that even the greatest of the arch magi had only dreamed of were child's play. The black lion had been so predictable it was as if they were seeing what he would do before he did it. Their own spells had come so quickly and easily, drawn from a seemingly unlimited store of strength, that it was like they had been casting them every day for their whole lives. But, even more amazing, was that he had been inside his sibling's mind, seeing all she had seen, knowing all that she knew. And, though now the knowledge was like a memory of something long forgotten, unrecoverable in its age, scattered images were swimming into his mind, images of things he had never done, never seen. And then he realized he was seeing Shandi's memories, her whole life open to his gaze. But more than that, he was feeling her emotions, feeling what she had felt.
And then, the clatter of steel shattered his contemplation, drawing his attention away from the wonders that filled his mind and he opened his eyes, casting about for the culprit. And there, kneeling beside Shandi with his back to Shaden, was the wolfish retainer, his armor so battered that it was only barely intact upon his body, his rune sword lying beside him, forgotten in the moment. And then, the dark leopard felt something very strange in his heart, a residual feeling, a remnant of his sister that flickered into being when he saw the knight take his sister's hand in his. As she woke, her beautiful blue eyes opening, a look that was not quite a smile on her lips, an image, a powerful memory woke in his mind, blossoming like a deadly flower. It was a memory that was so powerful, so clear and perfect that he knew she had cherished it like a jewel of incalculable worth. And, as it played out in his mind, he felt a terrible rage ignite in his heart, born of betrayal and jealousy. Shandi had given to the Knight, a wolf, a warrior from a disgraced family, what was rightfully Shaden's. She had given herself to him freely, an act that would disgrace them both in the eyes of the nobles and yet, the love they felt for one another was undeniable.
Shaking in his wroth, Shaden forced himself to his feet, his eyes alighting upon the dark rune sword that he had dropped during the fight. This couldn't be. Shandi was his, not some upstart retainer's. When his hand took the hilt and he lifted the sword from the floor, he felt the familiar dark thrill of its power, and he felt the dark flame in his breast grow into a firestorm, amplified by the spirits held within the steel. Turning back, he moved as swiftly and silently as a wraith, approaching the brightly armored warrior, seeing in his mind's eye the weakness in his second hide of metal, caused by an enemy's lucky shot...