Thaddeus leapt into Darius’ arms as the knives skimmed the air.

  Darius saw the swallowblades coming.

  “NO!” Darius howled as he twisted his body around, shielding his son. The two swallowblades sunk deep into his lower back.

  Darius collapsed to the grass on top of his son and gasped in pain.

  “Daddy! DADDY!” Thaddeus screamed.

  Alaintiqam was on them in a flash, faster than what was considered normal for a human. But not as fast as a Sarku.

  Courageous roared and dashed alongside Alaintiqam and leapt to the side, smashing Alaintiqam away from the pair. Courageous lashed out with a swipe, sunk his claws into Arcos's arms and torso, and threw him even further away.

  A good distance was made between the injured father and Alaintiqam.

  Stupid feline! Alaintiqam hissed as they leapt to their feet. Must you be an obstacle that I destroy? Arcos should have put you down when he found you beside your dead, poisoned mother!

  Alaintiqam readied their sword and charged for the Sarku who stood his ground and roared in response.

  Pounding feet heard to the side, Alaintiqam turned to see Torrance Carpenter going for his flank. Torrance’s claws were out, and he closed in the gap with a grim expression.

  So. That is how he sees us then. So be it. He must die too.

  Alaintiqam charged at Torrance, and the pair clashed. Claws smashed against silver. Torrance proved his skill well enough, using his iron gauntlets to deflect the swipes and lunges made by Alaintiqam.

  A whistle in the air. A swallowblade.

  Alaintiqam spun, slashing at Torrance with the sword to back him away before catching the thrown dagger in their free hand, stopping it from striking their chest.

  Tilda burst from the shadow with that black sword of hers. She closed the gap in moments. Before Alaintiqam could react, he sensed movement from his rear.

  A pair of hand-axes flashed and sunk into their back.

  Alaintiqam cried out and swiped the back of their fist into the side of Boras's head.

  The fist cracked into the boy’s face, sending him flying to the ground.

  Tilda lashed out with Scar-Sire.

  Alaintiqam felt the blade sink a gash into their shoulder. Moonlight burst from the wound, as from the axe wounds on their back. Tilda jerked back from the blinding light. Alaintiqam reacted instantly, sending a lancing slash across Tilda’s free arm. She cried out and backed away, blood dribbling down her left arm.

  Torrance roared, enraged by the sight of his lover’s pain, and engaged with the ethereal once again. Claws smashed against the sword as Torrance assaulted Alaintiqam’s defence with the rage of a wolf.

  But Alaintiqam was a highly skilled fighter. Centuries of fighting poured into the hands of Arcos as Alaintiqam took the advantage and gained ground, pushing Torrance back.

  Nerisity carefully pulled the daggers from Darius’s back. Darius gasped in pain, but he gritted his teeth as he pushed himself into his knees. The blood trickled into two terrible rivulets down his back.

  Thaddeus embraced his father, sobbing uncontrollably. His small hands gripped his father’s shoulders.

  “Get him out of here,” Nerisity begged. “Go! While you can!”

  “I- I can’t…” Darius groaned. They looked down at a third dagger that stuck in the back of his shin.

  “What? How did he-?” Nerisity stared.

  “He must have stuck me when that cat threw him aside… Your boyfriend’s good…” Darius growled as he yanked out the third dagger. A spurt of blood followed before he used his belt as a tourniquet for his shin. The bloodletting slowed, but it did not fully cease.

  Before they could say more, a burst of moonlight erupted from the darkness to their left. A cry of pain and a figure was seen hurtling out from the gloom. And screaming all the way.

  “Torrance!” Nerisity shouted as the man was sent crashing into the grass and mud. He rolled to a stop and lay there, still and shuddering and slightly smoking.

  “Dammit!” Reeva cursed. She had stood by Nerisity as a guard but, now seeing the tide turning against them, readied Bone-Breaker and sprinted towards the moonlit ethereal.

  “Run!” Reeva screamed at Nerisity and Darius.

  Alaintiqam jumped from the darkness, shining like a beacon upon a lighthouse, and descended upon Reeva.

  Reeva spat out another curse as she dove to the side before Alaintiqam slammed the sword point down. It pierced the ground where she had been only moments before.

  Reeva spun around and whipped her flail in the same motion. The flail soared through the dark.

  But Alaintiqam shot out their left hand, caught the chain shut short of the flail, and allowed the momentum of the weapon to spin and lock around their wrist.

  With a heaving shout, Alaintiqam yanked the chain, and Reeva found herself pulled off her feet and flying towards Alaintiqam.

  Hand still on the hilt of the blade, Alaintiqam spun, twisting their body in a crazed angle to lash out a vicious kick that caught Reeva in the side. Reeva coughed out blood, spit and bile as she was sent flailing to the ground.

  I will not be denied. Alaintiqam growled. Stand in my way and you will be culled.

  “NO.” Tilda snarled. She sprinted into the fray and struck a blow.

  Scar-Sire pierced into Alaintiqam’s side, cleaving off a chunk of waist and punctured the bastard all the way through.

  “ENOUGH.” She snarled again as she drove Alaintiqam towards the ground.

  But Alaintiqam growled, using their locked hand on their sword to hold them up like a crutch. With increasing strength, they pushed against Tilda’s own power and slowly resumed a standing position. With their left hand, Alaintiqam wound back the fist and smashed Tilda across the face.

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  Tilda felt her nose go soft and wet as blood burst from her nostrils. She crumpled downwards, pulling Scar-Sire out with her.

  Only for Boras to leapt into the attack with a deranged scream.

  He tackled Alaintiqam and both slammed into the ground.

  “Arcos!” Boras screamed at the face which Alaintiqam owned. “Snap out of it!” He grabbed Arcos's coat and shook the friend he loved. “Come on, man! Don’t make us hurt you!”

  Alaintiqam regarded Boras for a moment.

  Fool.

  Then they lurched their head forward and head-butted Boras square in the face. Boras reeled back with a shout of pain and a spurt of blood from his mouth.

  Alaintiqam kicked out, sending Boras bowling away.

  They looked around. And they saw the Bodyhunter, his spawn and Arcos's lover moving away from the fight. Arcos's lover was helping the Bodyhunter limp away, using her shoulder to carry him whilst his spawn held his father’s hand.

  Alaintiqam roared, readied their blade and rushed after them.

  “Nerisity!” Reeva coughed out in pain. “He’s coming!”

  Nerisity looked behind her and saw a terrifying sight bearing down on them.

  Her lover, once the image of comfort and protection with his black clothes of shadow and mystery, now was a glowing wraith of moonlight, wielding a flashing silver blade flecked with the blood of her friends and wearing a demonic bare-toothed grin upon his face.

  She cried out in terror as she tried to pull the fading Darius along. The blood loss was stemmed, but he was weakened from the events of the night, like all of them. It seemed that only Arcos did not tire. He was just metres from them and in that terrible moment, Nerisity believed that she would be dead. Killed by Arcos's hand. The thought of that broke her heart.

  An unholy, blood-curdling and raging roar split the air.

  Alaintiqam was struck down from the side by a flash of black fur and silver wings. Courageous slammed into Alaintiqam and then bit down onto Alaintiqam’s leg, chewing it and tearing it to shreds.

  Alaintiqam hissed a pained curse and stabbed their sword into the beast, piercing its paw and shoulder. Courageous yelped and hissed back but held on. Then with a great swipe of his paw, his claws caught Alaintiqam’s sword hand and held it to his side, claws skewering the arm in place.

  Suddenly, his four wings expanded and then beat the ground. Both he and Alaintiqam in his grip took off into the sky.

  Nerisity suddenly sobbed from the relief of being saved. She staggered and then dropped to her knees.

  “I-…” she uttered. “I can’t do this…”

  Darius, having lost his support, also fell down with Thaddeus barely holding his father up.

  Reeva, having somewhat recovered, rushed to Nerisity’s side and helped her up.

  “You okay?” She asked frantically.

  “I- I think so…” Nerisity gasped between sobs. “He was going to kill me.”

  “That was Alaintiqam. Not Arcos. He would never hurt you.” Reeva looked around and shouted. “Guys! Guys!!”

  Hobbling, limping and rushing from the dark came Tilda, Torrance and Boras.

  All three of them, like Reeva, were bruised and bloodied. Tilda was busy tying a rag around the gash that Alaintiqam left in her arm. Torrance had light burns on half his body and his hair was singed on one side. Boras cracked his broken nose back into alignment and was in the process of wiping the river of blood from his nostrils. A blotch of purple bruises had started to grow around his nose and under his eyes.

  “How the hells do we stop that freak?” Torrance groaned, looking up into the night.

  “Not one at a time,” Tilda shook her head. “That creature is far too skilled. We must overwhelm it. Overwhelm it and get that sword out from Arcos's hand.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Boras agreed as he pushed back his sweat-ridden hair.

  An ear-shattering scream that only Alaintiqam could make split the sky.

  Another explosion of moonlight occurred overhead, momentarily bathing the area around the group in illumination.

  A strangled roar from Courageous was closely followed by the falling Sarku as he fell crashing to the ground. He lay there in a crumpled heap. His fur was burned in many places and his wings, though not severed and rendered permanently useless, were badly scorched. The feathers were barely there at all. He groaned and whimpered, but would not move. He was defeated.

  The group hurried towards the beast. Reeva dropped to her knees by the Sarku’s head and hugged his neck.

  “Oh, you poor, brave beast…” She bemoaned. Courageous looked at her with his large golden eyes. Then he hissed at the sky.

  Boras whipped his eyes up and screamed. “Holy shit!”

  A streaking bolt of light shot down and slammed into the ground amongst the group with an almighty crash.

  Tilda, Torrance, Reeva, Boras, Nerisity, Darius, and Thaddeus were blown back by the shockwave of the impact, sending them all head over heels and tumbling into the ground. Courageous was sent even further and lay there in a still and silent form.

  In the epicentre of the crash that formed a small bowl into the ground, Alaintiqam slowly rose to their full height.

  They were viciously injured. Courageous had dealt them grievous harm. Their leg was nearly severed from the bone. Claw marks punctured their whole body, arms and neck. What was once red blood, only gold liquid flowed. The golden blood flowed in tracing rivulets along the black clothes of Arcos in a macabre filigree fashion.

  But as the fallen group stared in shock, all of the wounds dealt upon Alaintiqam slowly regressed. Their blood slowly travelled back up their bodies and crawled back into the cuts and punctures, which themselves started to close and stick back together.

  “Oh what the fuck…” Boras groaned. “That is not even remotely fair…”

  Fools. Alaintiqam sneered as they became fully healed. Ethereal beings do not belong to the Mortal Realm, nor are we bound by the rules set within it. Mortal weapons and mortal ailments cannot kill me. But if it’s any consolation to you, these paltry wounds hurt like all the hells.

  Alaintiqam turned around to see Darius and Thaddeus, beaten down and exhausted. They couldn’t run anymore.

  Alaintiqam climbed out from the crater and advanced upon the pair, at long last.

  Finally… Alaintiqam spoke to himself. With these justices dealt, I can begin the work that I started. This world is filthy. It shall be cleansed. All those who adhere to evil… They will be killed.

  Alaintiqam was halfway towards the father and son now. Darius grabbed his son and pushed him away. “RUN!” He begged. “RUN!”

  Thaddeus, hands now cut free by his father, looked from him to the moon wraith that swooped towards them.

  Thaddeus looked back to his father. And his face set a grim line.

  “No!” He snapped. He grabbed one of the swallowblades on the ground and planted himself in front of his father and faced down Alaintiqam. “Go away!” He screamed, fear truly evident on his small face. His hands that gripped the dagger’s hilt trembled dearly.

  Alaintiqam stopped short of the three metres between them. They cocked their heads to the side.

  Little child… they chided. That splinter of iron will do nothing to one like me.

  “I’ll kill you!” Thaddeus threatened. The threat was weak like his shaking voice.

  Alaintiqam sneered as they advanced upon the boy. Alaintiqam was within steps of the boy before a figure rushed in front of them and held out her arms wide in a protective stance.

  Alaintiqam stopped mid-stride and stared down at Nerisity standing before him.

  Stand aside. They demanded.

  “No.” She said, defiant and tired, broken yet strong. Her eyes were red from exhaustion and shed tears. Her body was on its last embers of strength, barely shaking against the gravity of the world attempting to pull her down.

  Her heart hammered in her chest. Terror, anger, love, grief, the events of this entire night weighed upon her soul and threatened to snap her in two.

  But she could not fall. She knew this. She had to stand. She had to stand up to him. To the boy she loved.

  Alaintiqam, using Arcos's face, sneered even deeper. You, of all people, should allow me this action. He sacrificed everything to give you freedom. Why aren’t you grateful? Isn’t it enough? You ask for more, even now?

  Nerisity shook her head. “Not this. Nothing like this. This is not what Arcos would want. You know this. Let him go.”

  Alaintiqam gritted Arcos's teeth. I think not. Enough of this. I gave you a chance. They raised the sword and were poised to strike her down.

  “NO!” Tilda screamed. She was the closest to the pair and was already on her feet. She sprinted, black blade in hand, for them. “NO!” She screamed again. But she was too far away. She was too far away!

  Suddenly, Nerisity lunged.

  Everyone, even Alaintiqam, assumed she had a hidden weapon on her. Surely, she did. Surely, to be so close to danger. But her hands were empty as she jumped at Alaintiqam. She wrapped her arms around Arcos's neck and embraced him, face burying into Arcos's neck.

  “Arcos! It’s me!” She cried. “It’s me! You can stop now!”

  Alaintiqam froze, sword still raised.

  And Nerisity?

  Her mind grew numb.

  The sounds of the world around her faded to silence.

  Her eyes turned grey.

  She felt the coldness of Arcos's body seep through her own.

  And then, everything in her mind, eyes and body went black.