"Darkest Night" (Caans/Hawthorns)

(I apologise if this isn't great. It's been a while since I wrote anything and this is friggin' long)

“Darkest Night”

‘You’re not capable of this. Just look at you!’
Eothan lifted his head away from his feet, having just tied the final lace on his boots. He let out a quiet sigh as he simply chose to stare at Rosemary, his little sister, doing her very best to find a way out of the situation they’d found themselves in.

‘That’s irrelevant Rosie, I do not have any choice now’ he muttered in reply. ‘Irrelevant? You’re going to get yourself killed in the state you’re in! And then I’ll have to wait a couple of years and explain to your children why you never came home’.

Rosemary turned and slumped down on the chair next to Eothan and let out an agitated grunt. It was all very unlike her, and while she may have been correct, Eothan knew that most of her mood was down to concern. Despite all the terrible things he had done in his life, she had never shut him out at all. Their connection always had some depth to it, and he had made sure that remained, despite his different path in life.

He slowly lifted his arm and rested it across her shoulders. She turned her head to look at her brother, or rather, the pale and exhausted shell of her brother. There were small remnants of blood below his nostrils, as he’d spent the previous night in agony, with a heavy nosebleed being the end result. ‘If I’m not there, the rest of them will perish. People may be used to relying on Ledgic but he is not enough on his own this time. Besides… everything you’ve seen of me lately will pass when this battle is won’ he said quietly, his voice ragged and quiet.

Rosemary smiled sadly and wrapped her arms around his neck as she buried her face in his chest. ‘Remember a time when you would only fight for yourself?’ she muttered quietly as she turned her head a little and sniffed. ‘You were involved in this stupidity from day one, Rosie; I’d be going tonight to ensure your safety alone’. With those words, Eothan kissed the top of her head and slowly eased her away from him. As he turned to stand in the candle lit room, Rosie could clearly see the grimace across his face.
She chose to say nothing as Eothan made his way across the room and opened the front door. The silence continued as Eothan looked over his shoulder at Rosemary. The slightest of his usual confident smirk crept across his face before he left the house, closing the door quietly behind him.

--
‘So, we’re going to help a man you know to have broken the law in most ways imaginable?’ said one of two men as they walked through Lakeshire. ‘He has a questionable past to say the least, but as I told you before, he was my father figure for many years’. Omanos stopped and turned to look at the other man sternly. ‘If at any point I think you’re going to cause an issue here, I will not hesitate to stand in your way Tobias’.
Tobias chuckled quietly and stepped forward to pat Omanos’s chest plate. ‘I offered to help for a reason, Omanos. I won’t simply attack a man for his past, it is not what we Galenos are about’. Tobias shook his head and chuckled again as the pair began to walk again. Omanos looked up and stared at the moon as they walked, with only the sound of the ground crunching beneath their feet to fill the air around them.
‘Even the waters are quiet… I have a bad feeling, father’ he thought.

--

‘Y’know… standin’ in th’moonligh’ don’ make ye fancy or anything’ said Zech as he stood at the bottom of a small hill and stared up at Ledgic. ‘Ye said yer dad always told ye ‘bout the moon, right’?’ he said in response as he looked down at Zech. ‘Aye… said it were a guide n’ all tha’, why?’.

Zech watched as Ledgic slid down the hill and stopped in front of him. ‘Eh… were jes wonderin’ why it were importan’, I mean… I’d rather be guidin’ me’self y’know?’ said Ledgic as he lowered his hood and looked across the desolate landscape of Westfall. ‘Definitely gonna be guidin’ me’self t’nigh’, tha’s fer sure’.

‘Ahoy there!’

Ledgic and Zech turned round to see Omanos and Tobias. Zech lowered his head and grunted loudly at the site of Tobias. ‘Ye still not gettin’ on wit’ tha’ one?’ said Ledgic quietly as he leant down to look at Zech. ‘’e’s such a feckin’ tit’ Zech grumbled.

‘What… didn’t appreciate the ahoy?’ said Tobias as he stood in front of Zech, ‘Or are we bowing? Because… you really needn’t do that’. Zech straightened up and peered at Tobias, taking careful note of the large smirk across the mage’s face. Omanos shook his head and stepped towards Ledgic in quick strides. ‘I know I’ve asked this several times Ledgic… but are you really sure you want to do this? We’re hardly a tried and testing group of combatants’ he said with a certain degree of urgency. ‘What if we fail to execute the plan as we decided? What if I can’t get to any of you in time to heal you?’

Ledgic simply lifted a hand and slapped Omanos over the head, the connection of hand and head managing to tear the other two away from their staring contest. Omanos shook his head in surprise and just looked at Ledgic, clearly at a loss for words. ‘You’ve been t’war kid, an’ yer shittin’ yer pants over this? Listen… this’ll work ‘cause we’ll make it work. Nothin’ ever goes “to plan”, it goes as ye feckin’ make it go. Jes do yer bit an’ we’ll do ours’.

Omanos rolled his eyes and peered up at the starlit sky. Westfall was not his favourite place in the world, nor did he expect it was that way for anyone. They stood in a barren part of it, with nothing but crumbling earth beneath their feet. All you could hear for miles were the howls of wolves and gnolls, as if they were in an eternal shouting match.

He slowly looked down and over his shoulder at the familiar sound of a portal being opened nearby. He turned on the spot as Ledgic walked past him and drew two large blades from his back, blades he recognised from Ledgic’s time as a warden. It didn’t take long for him to lower the blades, however, as Eothan stepped through the portal and coughed loudly.

‘Point those elsewhere’ he said as he stepped to the side and gestured towards the men and women who were slowly exiting the portal. ‘I’ve brought the army you requested’ he said with a smirk as he began walking towards Zech.
The portal snapped shut as the last of the Stormwind Hawthorns came through the portal to join their allies. It didn’t take long before a few of them began staring at Ledgic intently and as he began to raise his blades again, Eothan let out a sharp yell and fell to one knee. Zech dropped down and grabbed Eothan’s shoulder, seeming completely perplexed by the blood now flowing from Eothan’s nose and landing on the dead earth. ‘The feck is goin’ on?’ he shouted as he shook Eothan, who slowly lifted a hand to his head.

‘Thought ye said ye ‘ad control of ‘em Eothan’ said Ledgic as a few of the Hawthorns began flaring their hands with shadow. ‘Just… a minor slip up’ muttered Eothan quietly as he closed his eyes and concentrated.

In his mind he pictured his own shadow as a central point, with several strings of shadow flowing from it. These strings he had used to control the Hawthorns of Stormwind to do his bidding, at least to a certain degree. He had managed to get them to call off their Caan hunt, along with convincing them that Landrus and the Westfall Hawthorns had to die. His control had begun to falter slowly over the past few weeks due to a complete exhaustion of his own energy. He let out a sudden cough as he began to push his own shadow along the strings once again, this cough accompanied by a small spray of blood.

Zech groaned and stepped back to begin wiping blood from his face. ‘Well… that’s that then, can’t ever feck me’ lass again fer fear o’ givin’ ‘er somethin’. Cheers mate’ he grumbled as he wiped away the last of it.
Ledgic watched as the shadow began to fade from the hands of his supposed allies and turned to look at Eothan who was holding himself from the ground with his other hand. Omanos rushed over to him as Eothan dropped face first against the ground, letting out another bloodied cough. ‘This isn’t good, Ledgic, whatever he is doing is killing him’ said Omanos as he held a light enshrouded hand to Eothan’s back.

‘The shadow is corrupting; it isn’t really a surprise that he’s in this state. I’m surprised he has any strength left in him at all’ said Tobias as he stood beside Ledgic. ‘These men and women have a mix of their own shadow and the crippled mess over there. His control is key to the success of this skirmish’. Ledgic peered at Tobias as he carefully sheathed his blades again, though his expression was not one of relief.
‘Be careful wha’ ye say aroun’ me, Galenos. Eothan’s stickin’ ‘is neck out like th’rest o’ us an’ I couldn’ give a toss ‘ow ‘e does tha’’. With that said, Ledgic turned and walked over to Omanos and Eothan as Omanos continued to run the light through Eothan. ‘Just give me a moment… once we have them on the battlefield I can release most of the control.’ Eothan said as he began to push himself from the ground.

Omanos slowly backed away and stood up as the light slowly faded from his palm and looked at Zech with some concern. Zech smirked and shook his head, choosing simply to pay Omanos on the chest plate. ‘He’ll be fine kid, ‘e’s a Caan now, remember?’. Omanos nodded slightly, mostly to end the conversation before it became an argument over who could take the hardest hit and get back up.
Ledgic dragged Eothan to his feet and dusted him off a little as Eothan brought a rag to his nose to begin mopping up the blood. ‘Ye should’ve told us ye were startin’ t’break mate, we’d o’ done this sooner’ said Ledgic quietly as he moved around Eothan to look at him. ‘I’ll be fine, let’s just get to the Landrus cave and kill the fool’.

Those words were enough to send the rag tag group of “allies” away from their meeting place and in the direction of Landrus Hawthorn’s estate. Ledgic had already paced away from the group to take point in a very unorthodox strategy, while Zech had moved back with Tobias to cover the rear of their party. With every few steps, Eothan could be seen wiping away more blood from his nose and rubbing the side of his head with his free hand. Maintaining control was slowly becoming something he couldn’t accomplish and he knew it. Though he had never found himself in a more urgent situation, and he wasn’t about to fail when it finally mattered.

Ledgic held up a fist as an order for everyone to stop in their tracks as the estate came into view. He darted up a nearby hill and knelt down to take a look at the situation. Large torches were already burning and yet nobody patrolled the outside of the estate. Landrus and Kariandra clearly shared a different taste in security as there were no security towers in the architecture either.

He folded his arms as his eyes darted across the estate, taking in the location of the main building and the entrance they would have to use. The gate was far larger than Eothan’s scouts had made them seem. ‘Th’doors are large n’ feckin’ bolted… guess we’ll ‘ave t’figure it out when we get down there’ he muttered to himself.

Omanos and Eothan stood at the bottom of the hill as Ledgic turned and made his way down. ‘The plan ain’t changed a’righ’?’ he said simply as he walked past the two of them and continued to make his way toward the estate, motioning with his hand for everyone to follow. They did as they were ordered and began to follow Ledgic.

At the back of the motley crew, Zech couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. He had always figured that Ledgic would have made a decent leader for the clan, a man that could have changed their ways and finally brought them out of the dark. Instead of that, he became a man with enough experience to command military troops. Though the group they had assembled were certainly far from that, it was easy to see that the rumours of his victories as a warden were more truthful than he had previously thought.

The group stopped once again as they reached the large gates of the Hawthorn estate. Ledgic peered at the gate and drummed his fingers against his armour clad thighs. He wasn’t sure how to open the gate without using the other Hawthorns, and it seemed foolish to give away the fact they had them on their side.

‘Perhaps I can be of some help’ said Tobias as he walked around the group to stop beside Ledgic once again. ‘Om’ said ye were some sorta arcane research bloke. Wha’ ye gonna do? Tell me ‘ow old the gate is or somethin’?’ said Ledgic sceptically. Tobias simply smirked at Ledgic as he stepped forward and slowly lifted hands as he approached the gate. Ledgic raised an eyebrow as he watched Tobias’s movements.

Ledgic could only utter a quiet “Feck” as Tobias’s hands engulfed themselves in flames. The mage swung his arms backwards and then sharply forward again as fire shot from his palms and smashed through the large bolted gate to the estate. With the explosion of fire and the collapse of the gate, alarm bells began to ring throughout the estate, accompanied by several yelling of orders.

Tobias turned and jogged back to the group and gave Ledgic a simple nod. Ledgic turned on the spot and looked at Eothan, who was still looking like he could croak at any minute. Eothan stared at Ledgic for a moment before closing his eyes and concentrating once again. He had one simple thought, a command for the Hawthorns he controlled. ‘Charge in and attack anyone you see, the Hawthorns of Westfall must fall’. Time seemed to slow down for Eothan as he concentrated and Ledgic ran past the gate and pressed his back against a large wall of the estate. He watched with a wide grin as the Stormwind Hawthorns charged through the burning gate of the estate and listened for the familiar sound of shadow energy flaring in the air. These noises were soon covered by the yelling and screams of battle, a sound that he had not heard since Hyjal, a sound that he would never admit that he missed.

Eothan opened his eyes and lifted a hand as each finger brimmed with the slightest of shadow flames. He then clenched his fist and the shadow crackled and vanished, leaving Eothan stood with a smirk on his face. He had locked in the order and was no longer connected to those he controlled and he could feel an instant relief. He began swearing, however, as Zech wrapped an arm around Eothan’s waist and lifted him as he ran to meet with Ledgic, followed quickly by Omanos and Tobias.

All of them pressed their backs against the wall and continued to listen to the battle going on within, save for Eothan’s cursing and grumbling at Zech. ‘Eothan! Ye ready fer th’next bit? Ye know ye ain’ done yet’ shouted Ledgic as he turned his attention away from the battle. ‘I’m well aware Ledgic, my brain didn’t quite melt during that order’ Eothan replied as he moved away from the group and stood facing the wall a little further down. ‘Tobias’ shouted Omanos as he looked toward the mage and gave him a nod.

Tobias pushed himself away from the wall and stood next to Eothan; he began chanting a spell and pointed his palms at the wall. The concentration on his face was evident as Eothan peered over his shoulder at the mage, this supposed researcher who apparently had quite the taste for explosions. His attention quickly turned back to the wall as a portal opened in the wall, to reveal a doorway into the main building in the estate.

Eothan wasted no time and quickly ran through the portal only stopping as he almost tripped on a rug inside the building. He lifted a hand to signal the portal could close and it immediately snap shut, leaving him alone to find Landrus.

Outside, the rest of them began to edge along the wall toward the burning gate once again. Ledgic peered through the flames to see the battle that was taking place. Shadow energy was being flung in every conceivable direction and bodies littered the floor. It was difficult to make out whether victory was going in their direction, or in that of the enemy, but it was a certain fact that several Hawthorns had perished already. He darted through the flames and pressed himself against the other side of the wall and began to slowly edge his way along, trying his best to go un-noticed. He was quickly joined by the rest of them, who copied Ledgic’s movements as best they could.
Zech peered up at the main building of the estate, which looked far more like a fortress than a mansion and smirked at the sight of Landrus stood at a large window on the third floor. He couldn’t make out the reaction of the man, but he at least had some hope that he was surprised. He lowered his head and gazed at the battlefield in front of them and suddenly became very aware of how enclosed the battle was. He had experience of his own, probably more than Ledgic had in fact, and if there was one thing he knew, it was that fighting in a small area with a group of shadow flinging idiots couldn’t possibly end well.

‘Tobias, ye best start preparin’ tha’ spell o’ yers now, or this ain’ gonna go our way!’ he shouted as he looked along the group of men with him. ‘We have to wait for Eothan to do his part!’ yelled Omanos as he peered at Zech with knitted eyebrows. Zech shook his head and pointed up to the window Landrus was stood in, then lowered his arm and gestured toward the fight.

‘He ain’t even close yet, an’ this battle is gettin’ pretty feckin’ silly!’ he yelled as he waved a hand dismissively toward Omanos. Tobias simply ignored the bickering and knelt down as he carefully placed a small stone on the ground. He placed his hands around the stone and closed his eyes, the familiar arcane energy used to make portals began to shine dimly beneath his palms.

‘This will take time, you’re going to have to keep them away from me!’ he yelled as he continued to concentrate on the spell, his eyes firmly shut as the sound of the arcane continued to fill the air around them. Omanos’ eyes widened as a bolt of shadow shot in their direction and slammed into Zech’s shoulder.

‘I told you!’ yelled Tobias as Zech fell against the wall again and slumped to the ground, grumbling every curse word he knew. Omanos knelt down beside Zech and instantly began to do his best to mend the wound. The shadow had pierced Zech’s armour and burned the skin and it was the nastiest form of burn that Omanos knew of. ‘That isn’t part of the plan!’ yelled Zech as he watched Ledgic dart into the battle with his blades drawn.

Meanwhile, inside the mansion, Eothan walked down a straight corridor, the walls lined with portraits of Hawthorn family members. He smirked at the site of Landrus and Kariandra in one painting, together, looking as though they were the nicest people in the world. Had he not been trying to keep himself quiet, he’d have definitely destroyed that particular portrait, but even a man such as Eothan Dawn could keep himself on task during something as important as this.

As he reached a door at the end of the corridor he stopped and closed his eyes. Landrus was definitely behind the door, but he was not alone, as Eothan had expected. He was accompanied by two shadow users that definitely paled in comparison to both himself and Landrus. ‘Guards… what a child’ he thought as he slammed a foot against the door. He readied himself as the door swung open, and much to his luck had caught the two guards by surprise.

Landrus turned and watched as Eothan moved into the room carefully and flung shadow at the first guard, who yelled in pain as the energy began to burn his chest. The other, rather than using the shadow, began to charge at Eothan and swung a fist for his face. Stormwind’s number one womaniser just barely managed to dodge the punch and lifted his hand to grip the guard’s face. He held it there while the guard screamed a muffled scream, allowing the shadow to burn his face.

He peered up at Landrus as he released his grip of the guard and smirked widely. ‘Do you like what I’ve done with the place? I admit I may have gone overboard with the blood, but… if I remember correctly, you’re rather obsessed with that’ he said confidently. Landrus walked away from the window, choosing to ignore the screams of war beneath him and stopped in the middle of the room, his eyes fixed on the half breed he had hoped was his salvation.

‘To think that I had not planned for you to end up being capable of this, that I had simply believed you to be a tool’ he said. ‘I assume all of your little comrades are down there. Does that include Kaden’s son?’ continued Landrus as he took another step forward. Eothan simply watched Landrus’ movements and did not allow his concentration to wander whatsoever. He didn’t even feel the need to reply, despite his cocky entrance. Landrus was not a man he could beat on his own, he was certain he didn’t stand a chance. ‘I assume you want to get me out of this building, hm? Otherwise you wouldn’t be here on your own. You aren’t strong enough to best me Eothan, and judging by your physical appearance, you haven’t the juice either’.

Landrus now stood face to face with Eothan, the tips of their noses almost touching. Eothan continued to stare at Landrus and did his best to ignore the horrible smell of his breath. ‘I do hope you aren’t frozen in fear, little half breed, because I really did hope for more than the smell of urine and sweat’ said Landrus in a similar confident tone to Eothan’s.

With those words Eothan suddenly reached up with shadow covered hands and grabbed the shirt of his enemy. He began to push him back across the room, toward the window, taking every punch that Landrus swung at his head. As the struggling pair reached the window, Landrus struck a blow against Eothan’s jaw which loosened his grip. With this opportunity, Landrus brought an elbow down against the top of Eothan’s head and moved around him.

‘If it helps, you’ll be making an impressive entrance’ muttered Landrus as he smirked and threw Eothan smashing through the window. Eothan curled up as he fell from the building and smashed into a pile of crates below.

Omanos watched as this unfolded and stood up, leaving the healed Zech to scramble to his feet on his own. He looked up at Landrus who quickly turned away from the broken window and left the view of the group. ‘Eothan could survive that… right?’ he muttered as Zech looked towards the pile of smashed crates. ‘Was a pretty big drop y’know?’ said Zech as he looked at Omanos.

“I have to get to him; if he’s managed to survive I might be able to help’. Zech had no opportunity to convince the young paladin otherwise as Omanos hurried into the battle. He brought his sword from its sheath and began cutting his way through the Hawthorns. He caught a brief glimpse of Ledgic darting from one to the next, slicing at them where ever he could. He didn’t pay attention to Omanos cutting his way through the battle, nor was he aware of Eothan’s unfortunate descent to their level.

Zech turned and knelt beside Tobias who was still crouched in the same position and charging arcane energy. ‘C’mon fella, ye anywhere near done?’ he said as he nudged the mage with a fist. Tobias opened his eyes and pulled his hands away from the stone, which was now flashing with a glow of blue and purple. ‘I’m done, yes. You’ll need to get Ledgic out of that fight’ said Tobias as he picked up the stone and peered over.

The number of participants had dwindled significantly, but Tobias wagered there were still at least a hundred people battling it out. The ground was littered with bodies of those struck down by blade and shadow and blood had covered the grass of the ground beneath their feet. Tobias knew that if his spell was going to work, he would need Ledgic out of that battle. It was a relief to see that Omanos had made it through the battling Hawthorns and had begun digging his way through the shattered crates in an effort to keep Eothan alive.
‘Ledgic! Get yer feckin’ hide outta there or we ain’t got a chance!’ yelled Zech in a desperate attempt to lure Ledgic away. Ledgic could just about make out the yelling of his comrade and yanked his blade from another Hawthorn chest. He turned and cut down another before running out of the fray as fast as his legs could carry him. As he skidded to a halt beside Tobias and Zech, it was obvious that he had sustained some damage. His armour was burnt and blood trickled down the side of his face, along with some bruising across the right side of his jaw and cheekbone. He looked up at Zech and smirked widely, a smirk that Zech recognised well.

Without saying a word, Tobias tossed the stone into the middle of the battle and dragged Zech and Ledgic down to the ground. He chanted yet another spell and pointed his hands at the battle, the same glow of purple and blue appearing across his palms. He ended the spell and watched as large portal began to open in the middle of the battle. The Hawthorns attention diverted from killing each other to the portal, some of them nothing the broken cliffs of Netherstorm through the arcane gateway. Tobias smirked as he lowered his palms and pressed them against the ground. With that movement the sound of whirling wind filled the air, piercing the ears of everyone present in the estate.

Omanos pressed a hand against Eothan’s chest and looked over his shoulder as the piercing noise reached him. He immediately lifted his free hand and formed a shield of light around both him and Eothan to protect them from what he could see. It would seem that Tobias had conjured a simple portal, but he had turned it into a vacuum and Omanos watched as the Hawthorns were pulled into the portal against their will.

This time the air filled with different screams and these screams were not those of war. They were screams of fear as each and every one of them were yanked and thrown into the abyss beneath the shattered Netherstorm. Zech found himself gripping tightly onto some rubble that had been blown out of the wall during the battle and peered down to Ledgic who had decided that grabbing hold of Zech’s leg was the best way to go.

The screams and surging wind ceased as Tobias slapped his hands together and the portal snapped shut as quickly as it had appeared. He laughed loudly and rolled onto his back, letting out a massive sigh of relief. Not only had they managed to force the Hawthorns to fight their own kind, they had managed to hurl almost all of them to their deaths.

The victory was short lived, however, as Landrus emerged from the mansion and stepped out onto the bloody battlefield. He turned his head and peered at Omanos, who was doing his best to heal Eothan with one hand and maintain his shield of light with the other. He smirked widely at the sight of the young paladin’s efforts and simply walked away. Omanos knew that Landrus wouldn’t waste his energy trying to get through the shield, as he had proven himself against the man and his guards before. That skirmish had resulted in Omanos’s discovery of their shadow struggling to pierce his shields.

Zech and Ledgic slowly scrambled to their feet as Landrus made their way towards them, giving Tobias a head’s up only by kicking him in the leg. The mage peered at them and rolled onto his chest again and took in the sight of the Hawthorn’s relentless leader. He jumped to his feet and began to conjure flames in his palms once again.

Ledgic and Zech’s heads turned sharply as Tobias yelled out in pain. The fire he had tried to conjure was brimming with shadow energy and forced him to his knees. A large rune appeared beneath Tobias, effectively rooting him to the ground with his own energy.
‘A little trick I learned from Eothan Dawn’ shouted Landrus, only to follow it up with a shrill laugh. Zech turned his head to look at Landrus and noticed the lack of any chanting or obvious shadow energy sparks. It was if Landrus had used the spell prior to the attack… it was if he knew they were coming.

Zech began to turn his head to Ledgic, in an effort to explain what he’d worked out but before he was able to, Ledgic had bolted from the spot straight for Landrus. ‘Feck sake Led!’ shouted Zech as he charged on behind him, leaving Tobias grunting in pain.

Landrus smirked widely as Ledgic jumped at him with his swords drawn with the attention of bringing them both down on either side of his head. Landrus quickly jumped backwards and conjured a large shadow spell in what seemed like a split second and threw it at Ledgic. Zech watched as Ledgic crossed his swords to block the spell, but was flung from the air only to come crashing down on the ground.

He didn’t have time to be concerned with Ledgic’s well-being as he turned and swung his sword straight at Landrus, slicing across his stomach before rolling to the side to dodge a burst of shadow. He stood up quickly and went for a second attack only for Landrus to dodge and bring his hand down to wrap it around the remainder of the blade hilt. His hand engulfed in shadow as he stared down at Zech with eyes burning much like his energy. Zech was forced to drop his blade as it became engulfed in shadow energy. He shook his gauntlets wildly until they flew off and stood before Landrus, who was now wielding a shadow covered Caan blade.

‘You’re all nothing but maggots, do you hear me? Maggots! I’m going to wipe all of you from this world once and for all!’ yelled Landrus as he took a step toward Zech and began to swing the blade toward him. He was rudely interrupted and let out a deep growl as Ledgic darted past him and sliced across his back. He turned and swung the blade toward Ledgic, who promptly blocked with his own, but was forced, to the ground.

Landrus pushed down with his blade, which was still brimming with shadow energy and looked straight into Ledgic’s eyes. ‘In what world could you possibly do what your ancestors could not? To beat a being like me, you need to drop your reservations, your heart… and go for the kill. You are not ruthless enough to rid the world of me’ he said through gritted teeth.

Ledgic simply narrowed his eyes and did his best to hold the blades between them. The physical strength of Landrus came as a large surprise to Ledgic; he had always believed Landrus to be a long distance fighter who would just use his spells. Zech clambered to his feet and latched onto Landrus and slowly pulled him away from Ledgic. In response, Ledgic moved to his feet and carried on pushing the shadow blade further away from him.

Landrus rolled his eyes and began chanting under his breath, much to the bewilderment of both Ledgic and Zech. A few seconds later, Landrus brimmed with shadow energy, the pitch black power simply slithering across his body. It then shot out, sending Ledgic and Zech away from him in opposite directions. Zech hit the floor with a thud, while Ledgic slammed into another wall, the force of the blow causing him to lose consciousness.

Landrus turned with a smirk and began to walk towards Zech who was still reeling from the previous blow. Standing over the Caan, Landrus took amusing note of the small flickers of shadow energy present on the chest plate of the man and watched them slither around for a moment.
Omanos watched as Landrus lifted his blade and threw it down, his eyes welling up with tears as Zech’s screams echoed around the estate.

---

‘Oi’
‘Eh…?’
‘Oi, dick’ead’
‘Th’feck…?’
Ledgic slowly opened his eyes and immediately brought his hands over them. All he could see for miles was a blinding white light.
‘Pussy’
He lowered his hands and looked out again, instantly growling at the sight of Kaden Caan. He didn’t know where he was or what he was doing, but lately Ledgic had been in his own mind more than usual.
‘Yeh don’ go worryin’, ye ain’ dead. If ye don’ wake up n’ kill tha’ prick soon though, ye feckin’ will be’ said Kaden as he folded his arms. Ledgic slowly got to his feet and simply looked at his father, the one image he hadn’t seen inside his mind in a long time.
‘Why th’feck are ye ‘ere?’ said Ledgic in an uncertain tone.
‘T’make sure ye do wha’ ye’re s’posed t’do boy. Ye ever wonder why ye survived n’ th’rest o’ us didn’? Weren’ ‘cause ye jes legged it n’ Iriden didn’ get ye, ‘e could’ve feckin’ found ye if ‘e wan’ed ta’.
Ye were s’posed t’survive ye dick, sa’ this feckin’ fight could go down. I always knew it’d be ye an’ na’ me tha’d put tha’ feckin’ ‘awthorn in th’ground’.
‘Get a feckin’ move on!’

---

Ledgic lifted his head sharply and immediately grumbled as he bumped it against the hard stone of the wall. He looked up to see what was going on, and through blurred eyes he could see Landrus standing over Zech. ‘F-..f-… feck!’ he muttered under his breath as he saw Zech simply laying there with a sword piercing him. He turned his head as the light shone from the corner of the battlefield. Omanos had lowered the light shield surrounding him and Eothan and had stood up. Ledgic watched as the last bit of healing light from his hand faded away, but there was still no movement from Eothan.

‘He was a good man!’ yelled Omanos as he began walking towards Landrus. The light began to flare up around his hands and arms as if he was glowing. Ledgic knew better, however, as this was no healing light. Omanos had always dealt with issues regarding his rage; he was never able to contain it when something he truly hated came to pass. He also knew that Omanos would throw himself at Landrus regardless of what could happen to him.

Landrus responded as expected and swung his arms forward and cast three simultaneous shadow spells, all which flew in the direction of Omanos. Blinded by his rage, Omanos had not raised any shields on himself and was engulfed in the shadow flame. He let out a yell and fell to one knee as the light shield appeared around him, slowly extinguishing the shadow energy. He let out a cough and began to breathe sharply, as if awakening from his own rage episode.

Landrus began to charge yet more shadow spells and chanted loudly so everyone present was aware. As far as he was concerned, the battle was won, and all he had left to do was finish off the half defeated pests at his feet. As his spells reached their end of their incantation Landrus yanked his arms backwards… however, as he moved to throw the spells, he yelled as the crack of his bones rang into his ears.

His arms shot down to his sides as a darkened rune appeared beneath his feet, the shadow energy from his hands channelled into the rune in a constant flow. ‘What?!” he barked as he peered past Omanos and looked towards the crates. All that could be seen was the bloodied hand of Eothan Dawn, with shadow dancing from the tip of each finger.

Taking the chance, Ledgic got up and pulled a dagger from beneath his bracer and began running towards Landrus. The Hawthorn turned his head and stared wide eyed at Ledgic as he leapt forward and shoved the dagger straight through his throat. Ledgic stepped back and stared at Landrus as he began to cough up the blood that filled his throat. Ledgic did not seem happy, but rather, he was focused on watching Landrus die.

However, the slightest of smirks cracked on his face as Landrus let out another blood filled yell at a sudden pain in his back and stomach. Ledgic looked past Landrus to see Zech stood there, breathing heavily, with his sword piercing Landrus. Zech was not in decent shape, but Landrus had made the mistake of piercing Zech’s shoulder in the same place he had been attacked before.
Eothan scrambled from within the destroyed crates and stumbled towards Omanos. He was torn up, his fall had left him with a few broken ribs, a broken left arm and his body was shredded by the broken wood.

Everyone watched as Ledgic stood in front of Landrus and began to talk to him.
‘I didn’ come ‘ere t’day t’kill ye fer everythin’ yer people did t’mine. In fact, I really don’ give a toss ‘ow many of ‘em ye killed. Somethin’ ye should’ve learned is tha’ ye don’ feck wit’ me, I ain’ me’ clan. ‘cept under this moon, t’nigh’, I jes feckin’ proved it t’ye. An’ guess wha’? I reckon I migh’ve proven it a little t’late fer ye t’learn.
An’ ye know wha’ else? I’m gonna get wha’ ye stole from me an’ I’m gonna risk me’ life t’put it all back, ‘cause I don’ throw away parts o’ me’self jes ‘cause I don’ like ‘em. An’ if there’s any more o’ ye dick’eads crawlin’ in th’wood work, I’m gonna root ‘em out an’ tear their feckin’ ‘eads off’

With that said Ledgic grabbed the hilt of his dagger and forced it further into Landrus’ throat. The rune at the Hawthorn’s feet disappeared and the man fell to the floor. Ledgic turned to look at Omanos and Eothan and gestured for them to move. Zech grumbled as Tobias grabbed him and helped him to his feet.
‘Feckin’ messy…’ said Zech quietly as he peered at the ragtag group again.

‘Yeh, but it’s done. Get th’shadow outta ‘im Eothan, an’ Om’… get people sorted out’ said Ledgic as he yanked his dagger from Landrus’ throat.

‘What about you? You’re covered in blood… and I’m pretty sure your wrist is broken’ said Omanos as he put a hand on Ledgic’s shoulder.
‘Yeh… I know, ye can ‘elp me out later. Get them sorted first yeh?’ said Ledgic as he looked up at Omanos.

Tobias looked from each person he’d ventured to the estate with and saw nothing but blood and tired smirks. For the first time in his life, he’d begun to wonder what level of madness he’d managed to involve himself with... and Tobias had been in light damned Northrend.

I'm in love. Might be awhile since you've written anything, but this was worth the wait. Zech seemed to have the best lines xD

Very well done! Can't wait to see how RP happens from this...

Thank you very much for the comments as always! Glad you enjoyed it.