章節 15: The Battle in the Shadows
As Elindor vanished into the darkness, Aelion and the others stood in silence, their eyes fixed on the altar. The Faëlis, sitting close to Kaelith, seemed strangely uneasy, its ears twitching at every breath of wind. The minutes stretched on, and the adventurers' concern grew, but they knew that intervening could jeopardize Elindor's success.
Suddenly, a deep rumble echoed across the clearing, followed by a terrifying crack. The altar trembled, and a fissure appeared in the stone, releasing a surge of dark energy. Aelion's instincts screamed at him to prepare for imminent danger.
Before they could react, the shadows thickened around the altar, branching into more tangible shapes. Creatures emerged, their bodies made of black mist and shards of dark light. They took on monstrous forms, half-beast, half-human, their glowing red eyes fixed hungrily on the adventurers.
"This isn't just another trial!" Kaelith shouted, drawing his flaming blades. "Get ready for a fight!"
The creatures lunged at them without hesitation, claws and fangs erupting from their ethereal bodies. Kaelith reacted quickly, swinging his blades in a fiery arc that slashed through the first wave. The creatures briefly evaporated under the impact, but reformed almost instantly, as if the fire had only weakened their substance.
Aelion raised his hands, summoning the spirits of the forest. Roots from the ground began to move, wrapping around the creatures' legs to immobilize them. "Use your fire to keep them from reforming!" he shouted to Kaelith, who nodded and unleashed a concentrated blast of flames.
The creatures shrieked as they burned under the intensity of the flames, but as they vanished, new shadows formed from the surrounding mist, as if the very ground was birthing them. Liraë, seeing the scale of the phenomenon, stepped back and cast a shield of light around the group.
"We need to find the source of this magic!" she said urgently. "Otherwise, they'll keep coming back."
At that moment, a more imposing figure emerged from the mist, its features marked by the same dark essence as the creatures, but with a much more powerful aura. It was a humanoid figure, standing over two meters tall, clad in armor of shadow and wielding a black sword. Its eyes glowed with a crimson light.
"You dare defy the shadows?" the figure growled, its voice resonating like a sinister echo. "You who seek the Light, are you ready to be consumed by the night?"
Kaelith did not answer with words, but with action. He charged forward, his flaming blades crossing in a strike aimed at cutting down the enemy. However, the creature's black sword blocked the attack with unnerving ease. The clash rang out, and Kaelith felt a wave of force push him back.
Aelion intervened immediately, raising a hand to cast an illusion spell. Images of themselves materialized around the creature, disorienting it and forcing it to turn on itself to figure out where to strike. Taking advantage of the distraction, Liraë hurled a spear of light at the heart of the shadow. The magical weapon struck the black armor, creating a burst of light that pushed the entity back a step.
"It affected it, but it's not enough!" Liraë shouted, her hands still surrounded by luminous energy.
Meanwhile, Elindor finally reappeared, emerging from the shadows. He seemed exhausted but determined, and he quickly noticed the chaos around him. "What did I miss?" he asked, his voice hoarse.
"No time to explain!" Aelion replied. "That thing needs to be destroyed before it overwhelms us."
Elindor raised his staff, summoning a whirling wind that swept toward the creature. The magical gust dispersed the surrounding shadows, forcing the enemy to concentrate to maintain its form. "Focus your attacks on its center!" he advised. "There's a weakness in its defenses."
Kaelith, Aelion, and Liraë joined forces, combining fire, light, and illusions to launch a concentrated assault. The creature staggered under the impact of the multiple attacks, its form cracking like glass under intense pressure. Yet it did not surrender without retaliating. Raising its black sword, it unleashed a wave of dark energy that crashed over the group, shattering Liraë's light shield and knocking them back.
As the adventurers struggled to their feet, the black silhouette advanced toward them, its sinister laughter filling the clearing. "You are weak, and your quest is doomed. The Light will abandon you, just as it abandoned this world."
Kaelith, his gaze ablaze with renewed fury, lifted his blades once more. "That's what you think. But we haven't shown you our true strength yet."
He channeled all the fire magic he could muster, his blades burning with a blinding intensity. Aelion summoned the spirits of the earth, reinforcing Kaelith's magic with the energy of the roots and soil. Liraë, her hands again charged with light, cast a strengthening spell to amplify the final attack.
Together, they focused their power on a single point, combining their efforts in a devastating assault. The flames, light, and force of nature merged, piercing the creature's armor and tearing its essence apart. The entity screamed, its form disintegrating under the impact. The shards of shadow evaporated, leaving behind a dissipated mist and a heavy silence.
Breathless but victorious, the adventurers regrouped. The Faëlis approached cautiously, its eyes fixed on the spot where the creature had vanished.
"Is it over?" Liraë asked, her voice still trembling.
Aelion nodded, though a hint of concern lingered in his eyes. "For now, it seems. But there's something about this encounter that—"
Kaelith interrupted him with a steady voice. "It doesn't matter. We won, and that's what counts. Let's move on."
Without further discussion, they began to regroup and prepare to continue their journey. The path ahead remained uncertain, but they knew they would face it together, one step at a time.
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