61 Offense to Darkness (1/2)
Parting the enemy force as if she were parting an ocean, Bianca looked over the boys and girls she had come to know well. Most of them retained their aura, trying to push back the forces they were so ill equipped to handle. Others she recognized were now standing opposite the side they started. She noticed black veins running from milk white eyes pushing back to the brain, the faint outlines made her shiver. Each one only had a shallow cut on their arm or leg, nothing that should have been lethal. Their lineage weapons had the same black veins which were present on their faces.
”Bianca!” Leo cried out in surprise as the sea of enemies crumbled around his friend.
Bianca smirked as she waved her hand at Leo, almost not even registering the fight which was commenced around her.
”Would you at least try to look like you're in a battle, girl?” Bianca heard a familiar voice roar over the many knights within their crowded battlefield. She looked over Leo's shoulder to see Michael with an ice lance in his hands.
”Glad to see you have regained your power, Michael.” She said as she whistled at the ice daggers floating above his head, one of which he took and flung over her shoulder, hitting a knight in the head.
”I will have gotten it back for nothing if you don't get out of here Bianca!” he roared as he parried a knight's blade.
Bianca felt as if she were in a live action movie, even though there was so much carnage around her, she didn't feel in danger. She felt in control.
”What are you doing here? I thought you went home.” Leo said as he sidestepped a knight and ran him through the back with his blade. There was no venom in his voice, only curiosity as he looked at the hand she waved. The familiar lineage ring adorned her right ring finger, though instead of the plain silver ring of the ungifted, he noticed a white gem within the center.
The gem in the center pulsed with power as her white and gold staff became visible. Leo saw the gold swirls around the staff, the same design as he had on his sword, finally registering what happened. ”You found your power again.” He stated as he once again turned his attention to an advancing knight.
”Much more than that, my friend.” Bianca said as he pointed her staff towards the advancing knight. A beam of pure white shot from her staff and hit the knight, instead of stopping, it went through him and continued a path straight through the horde of incoming knights. Wherever the beam hit, enemies instantly dropped.
As easily as the light was unleashed, it was snuffed out by the hundreds of knights. Soon the path was once again closed as Leo had to once again bring his sword up to block a fatal blow from a mindless foe.
”That's nifty,” Leo said as he grunted from the weight of the attack. ”Got any more?”
Bianca nodded, though she didn't have much of a handle on the power which had been entrusted to her, but she knew it was meant for that moment.
You've got to push through this obstacle to get to your real challenge. She thought to herself as she gripped her staff tightly. Light poured from the weapon in such intensity, it almost turned the dark sky to daylight. With a grunt of effort, she slammed the staff into the earth.
Pulses of light slammed into the horde of dark forces, where each hit, the enemy dropped. Leo looked at his childhood friend as if for the first time.
The wielder Michael was fending off stopped attacking as the first pulse hit. ”What's happening?” He asked as he looked around the battlefield. As far as Michael could see, the enemy dropped by the hundreds, the vast ocean of enemies became an ocean of corpses within moments.
”How?” He said as the last of the knights fell. They were now surrounded by the expired corpses of a lengthy battle.
Bianca returned the staff to her ring and took a deep breath. The amount of energy she had to release was more than half of what she had. ”Light is the counter of the dark, I just cancelled out the control the darkness had over these men.”
”Is there anything you can do for the men that fell within our group?” Michael asked as he looked at Bianca with new eyes. ”Some only have gashes on their arms or legs, they shouldn't have died.”
Bianca shook her head. ”If they were still alive, my aura would have only cleansed theirs.” She said as she looked with sad eyes to the men she recognized from her adventures when she had first landed in Crystallia. ”I wish I could bring them back.”
”When this is over,” Leo said as he looked around at the hundreds of knights which littered the battlefield. ”We are going to have a long talk.”
Bianca nodded, ”Right now, we need to get to Will.” She turned to the path leading to Ebonhart. ”He's going to need this power more than you did.”
Together, the two childhood friends and the man in a business suit led the way for the remainder of the men left from the assault. Bianca knew they would need each and every one of them if they were to overcome the threat which loomed in the distance like a blanket over the night sky.
Though he had only dropped Jake's full consciousness within him a brief moment ago, Will could feel his confused brother begin to realize what had happened. Sit tight Jake, Will thought. You'll have your body back soon.
Walking the King's road with a thousand men behind him, Will could feel and hear the men training their new auras as they impatiently waited for the long fight ahead of them.
”They're getting pretty anxious.” Maya said as she came up behind Will. ”Most of these men and women have never held a sword before today, I hope you have a plan.”
Will nodded his head slightly as he looked at his ever-present companion. She still wore the same dark black dress which clung to her in tatters. Their stay in Holtz had been brief, not at all long enough for her to find a decent change of clothing. A white and black ring clung to her ring finger as her arms swung gracefully from side to side.
”If my plan works, not one of these men will lose their lives today.” Will tried to remain optimistic about their chances, but he knew he might not be able to make good on that promise. Thinking of the promises he had racked up since he returned to Crystallia, Will looked once more at Maya's tattered dress.