The horizon disappeared behind a thick cloud of dust.
It advanced across the plains like a storm.
THOOM.
The earth trembled beneath the weight of the creatures.
The blood covering the ground rippled with every vibration.
Smaller stones bounced.
Éon remained motionless.
His black eyes calmly scanned every direction.
No path remained empty.
From different points across the plains...
Enormous silhouettes continued emerging through the dust.
Every step made the earth tremble.
Éon raised his left arm.
CRAAAH.
One of the ravens broke away from the flock.
Its black wings cut across the sky before it landed silently upon his forearm.
The raven's scarlet-red eyes met Éon's.
"Do not lose sight of him."
CRAAAH.
The raven took flight once more.
It crossed above Arkhel's wall.
Éon followed its movement for only a moment.
Then he began to walk.
The katana remained lowered at his side.
With every step, Arkhel's wall grew farther away.
Ahead of him, the cloud of dust continued advancing.
Then...
THOOM.
An enormous shadow covered the ground before him.
Éon halted.
His eyes slowly lifted.
Above him...
A gigantic creature was plummeting straight toward him.
Its gray, uneven skin resembled living stone.
Bone-like spikes emerged from its back.
Its monstrous arms flailed as it fell.
Only a few meters before the impact...
Éon lightly pushed himself backward.
Before his feet had even touched the ground...
BOOOOOM!!
The earth exploded.
Fragments of stone were hurled in every direction.
A brief cloud of dust completely swallowed the area.
The silence lasted only a second.
BOOOM.
Something struck the ground.
As the dust began to settle...
Éon was already walking beyond the creature.
The katana remained lowered at his side.
Blood slowly ran down the black blade.
Without altering his pace.
He lightly turned his wrist.
FWHIP.
The blood scattered across the plain.
Éon took two more steps.
SCRRRT.
The sound of something scraping across the earth echoed behind him.
His footsteps ceased.
He slowly turned his face.
The decapitated creature's hand dragged itself forward...
Deep furrows opened across the ground.
Fragments of flesh writhed around the mangled neck.
Éon's black eyes narrowed slightly.
FWHOOOSH.
The cloud of dust finally reached him.
Visibility was swallowed in every direction.
Only the sound remained.
THOOM.
THOOM.
THOOM.
Closer with every beat.
Then...
No sound of footsteps remained.
Silence engulfed the cloud of dust.
Inside Arkhel's wall...
Oryn walked through the long fortified passage connecting the outer wall to the inner wall.
His hand remained pressed against his left shoulder.
Blood still ran between his fingers.
Behind him...
Dozens of knights followed every step, their weapons ready.
The steel of their armor echoed through the passage.
Then...
Oryn stopped walking.
There was no irritation on his face.
"I admit..."
"I expected them to keep you occupied for a little longer."
Slowly...
He turned around.
Several meters behind...
Éon stood motionless.
The long black katana rested low at his side.
Around him...
Dozens of knights stood frozen.
Swords and spears pointed toward him.
None of them advanced.
Nor did any of them understand how that figure had appeared there.
Silence ruled the long fortified passage.
Oryn held Éon's gaze for a few moments.
"Nineteen creatures."
A faint smile appeared upon his lips.
"And yet..."
"Here you are."
His eyes remained fixed on Éon.
"That makes me curious."
A brief pause.
"Did you find a way to deal with them..."
"Or did you simply decide to leave them behind?"
Éon took several seconds before answering.
His eyes remained on Oryn.
"Before we finish this..."
"There's something I'd like to know."
A brief pause.
"Are they your work?"
A brief laugh escaped Oryn.
"Interesting..."
His eyes drifted across the knights surrounding Éon.
"Most people, when they realize they're surrounded..."
His eyes returned to Éon.
"Ask very different questions."
The smile subtly widened.
"You, however..."
"Want to know who placed the pieces on the board."
Éon remained silent.
His eyes swept over the knights around him.
None of them lowered their weapons.
"I didn't come for you."
His voice came out low.
"Step aside."
His eyes returned to Oryn.
"And you will live."
Tension filled the long fortified passage.
Some of the knights exchanged brief glances.
Their hands tightened around the hilts of their swords.
None of them retreated.
None of them dared advance.
CRAAAAH.
The black birds began circling above them.
Their eyes remained turned downward.
Watching.
One of the knights behind Éon subtly tightened his grip around the hilt of his sword.
His foot advanced only half a step.
It was enough.
FWHISH.
No one saw Éon move.
Only the black gleam of the katana tracing a short arc.
SKHK.
The knight's head separated from his body.
Before it even struck the stone...
"ATTACK!"
The fortified passage exploded into motion.
Spears lunged forward.
Swords descended from every direction.
Éon vanished among them.
FWHOOOSH!
One strike found only emptiness.
Another struck an ally instead.
SKHK.
The katana opened one soldier's throat while Éon's body was already appearing behind another.
A short turn.
Blood scattered through the air.
A third fell before he even understood where the attack had come from.
The impact scattered the formation.
It was at that moment...
Between the moving bodies...
Éon raised his eyes.
Oryn was already moving away through the opposite side of the formation.
He did not look back.
He advanced as though absolutely certain that no one would allow Éon to reach him.
A sword came down toward Éon's back.
Before the steel could reach him...
FWHISH.
The black katana traced a short arc.
SHLK.
The knight's throat opened.
His body was still falling when another spear came from his right.
Éon turned his hips.
The tip passed inches from his breastplate.
His left hand redirected the shaft just enough to break the line of attack.
The katana thrust forward.
SKHK.
The spearman fell before he could even regain his balance.
Two swordsmen seized the opening.
They advanced at the same time.
Éon took a single step between them.
The two blades crossed behind him.
FWHISH.
The black edge traced two nearly invisible arcs.
Blood spread across both sides.
Without slowing his pace.
His eyes returned to Oryn, who continued moving away.
Between them...
Knights continued appearing.
"Surround him!"
"Don't give him any room!"
One after another.
Closing every path.
A knight charged.
His sword came down in a vertical strike.
FWHISH!
Éon merely stepped aside.
SHLK.
The man's throat opened.
His body was still falling when another appeared to his left.
The katana traced a short arc.
SKHK.
The strike opened his flank.
A third charged immediately behind him.
Éon blocked the blade with the back of the katana.
CLANG!
He turned his hips.
His elbow struck the knight's face.
THUD.
Before he could regain his balance...
SHLK.
The black blade pierced his neck.
More men were already taking their places.
"Don't let him through!"
"Close the line!"
Another knight lunged forward.
FWHISH!
Éon redirected the thrust with the slightest movement.
SHLK.
The katana pierced through his neck without interrupting its advance.
New knights immediately filled every space left by the dead.
Shields crashed against one another.
Spears rose above the shoulders of the front rank.
The line closed before Éon.
"Don't let him through!"
Without even slowing his pace...
Éon spoke.
"Κατάφαγε." (Devour.)
CRAAAAH!
The ravens circling above Arkhel stopped flying all at once.
Hundreds of black eyes turned downward.
FWHOOOSH!
Their wings folded against their bodies.
The entire flock plummeted.
Like black rain.
Some knights instinctively raised their shields.
"Ravens...?"
"Wha—"
THUD! THUD! THUD!
The birds slammed into men, shields, and helmets.
Instead of bouncing away...
They remained clinging.
Claws dug into the gaps between the armor plates.
Beaks struck the visors without stopping.
Their wings beat violently.
As though trying to pass through steel.
One knight struggled desperately.
"Get this thing off me!"
Right beside him, another tried to tear the raven from his own helmet.
"They won't let go!"
One of the men tried to crush one of the birds against his own breastplate.
His hand passed through nothing but a black blur.
For a brief instant...
The feathers seemed to dissolve into smoke.
The next instant...
The raven was already clinging to his armor once more.
The formation began to waver.
Éon continued advancing.
Even covered by the birds...
The knights did not retreat.
"Close the line!"
Some tore the ravens from their own faces by force.
Others endured the claws ripping through their necks and arms.
Even so...
They took a step forward.
Shields aligned.
Spears pointed toward Éon once more.
The path closed again.
He did not slow his pace.
He merely uttered:
"Ἡ Θήρα τῶν Σκιῶν." (Hunt of Shadows.)
CRAAAAH.
The cry of a single raven echoed across the entire fortified passage.
Suddenly...
All the birds stopped beating their wings at the same time.
Their beaks ceased striking.
Their claws tightened even harder against the steel.
A strange silence passed through the battlefield.
One raven dissolved into a mass of shadows.
One knight frowned.
"It—"
Before he could finish...
CRSHK!
Fangs tore through the gorget and ripped out his throat.
Blood splattered across the men around him.
"WHAT IS THAT?!"
FWOOSH! FWOOSH! FWOOSH!
Throughout the fortress's inner passage...
The ravens dissolved into shadows.
Black wolves emerged.
The orders gave way to screams.
The formation collapsed.
Some knights tried to strike the wolves.
Their blades passed through nothing but shadows...
Until the fangs emerged once again.
CRSHK!
Another man fell.
"HOLD THE FORMATION!"
"DON'T SPLIT UP!"
It was already too late.
Every knight who retreated opened space for another wolf to emerge from the shadows.
The wall's inner passage transformed into a chaos of steel, blood, and howls.
At the center of it all...
Éon continued advancing.
The distance between him and Oryn diminished.
Three knights broke through the chaos and threw themselves before Éon.
"PROTECT LORD ORYN!"
They never made it.
FWOOSH!
Two masses of shadow broke away from the turmoil.
The wolves crossed the passage like black arrows.
CRSHK!
The first was thrown to the ground before he could even raise his shield.
The second disappeared beneath black jaws.
The third still tried to turn his sword...
FWOOSH!
The wolf emerged from the side.
CRSHK!
Its fangs closed around his neck.
The knight was torn from the ground.
A single brutal shake...
CRRSHK!
His head separated from his body.
The corpse was hurled away.
THOOM!
The body landed before Oryn...
For the first time since he had begun walking away...
Oryn looked back.
"During our first encounter..."
"You didn't use Eso even once."
His eyes swept across the devastated fortified passage.
Bodies lay scattered among pools of blood.
Black wolves continued advancing among the knights.
Then his eyes returned to Éon.
He walked slowly through bodies and shadows.
Not even the chaos around him drew his gaze away from Oryn.
As though that entire massacre were nothing more than another step toward his objective.
Oryn continued.
"And now, all of a sudden..."
A faint smile appeared upon his lips.
"You decide to reveal this trump card."
Oryn remained motionless.
His eyes never left Éon.
FWOOSH!
Éon vanished from where he stood.
The stone beneath his feet cracked.
The black katana drove straight toward Oryn's neck.
There was no hesitation in his eyes.
Less than a handspan remained.
CLANG!
A blade intercepted his katana.
The impact scattered sparks between them.
His eyes slowly followed the blade that blocked his own.
Until they finally rested upon its wielder.
A young man of average height.
His lean frame concealed sculpted musculature.
Beneath the light armor, bandages wrapped around his arms, neck, and part of his torso, discreetly visible between the metal plates.
His dark red hair, close to the color of wine, fell in uneven strands across his forehead.
On his left ear...
A long ornamental earring swayed gently.
Small bluish stones and a brown feather completed the adornment.
His intense blue eyes remained fixed on Éon.
Cold.
Analytical.
The young man subtly turned his wrist.
The guard of his sword settled against the black katana.
SCRRKK.
With a short movement of his hips...
He slid the blade aside.
The pressure vanished.
Éon's katana was guided out of the line of attack.
Not by strength.
By technique.
But Éon did not stop advancing.
His leading foot slid forward once again.
FWHISH!
The katana came in a short thrust.
Straight for the throat.
CLANG!
The young man deflected the tip by only a few centimeters.
No step.
No excess.
In the same instant...
Éon turned his wrist.
The thrust became a descending slash.
The black edge sought to cut through the centerline.
SCRRK!
The young man raised his sword only enough.
The two blades slid against one another.
Without losing contact...
The young man subtly turned his wrist.
The guard trapped the black katana.
With a short movement of his hips...
He completely displaced its line.
FWOOSH!
The two broke contact at the same time...
Éon slid two steps backward.
The young man retreated exactly the same distance.
Silence once again filled the space between them.
For a moment...
Neither of them moved their sword again.
The young man slowly raised his left hand.
His fingers reached the long earring hanging from his ear.
He removed it without taking his eyes off Éon.
Then...
He threw it through the air.
The small ornament traced a subtle arc before reaching Oryn.
He caught it with precision.
His eyes briefly passed over the small brown feather and the bluish stones.
"Lord Oryn."
The young man's voice remained calm.
"Go to the inner gate."
A brief pause.
"As long as you have that..."
"None of the creatures will recognize you as prey."
Oryn observed the ornament for a few moments.
Then he turned his eyes back to the young man.
"Your name."
"Damian, sir."
The young man answered without hesitation.
Oryn gave a slight nod.
As though committing that information to memory.
"Damian..."
A brief pause.
"I will make good use of the time you have just granted me."
Without waiting for any reply...
He turned around.
He began walking.
Éon's black eyes followed Oryn for a few moments.
As his figure moved away toward the inner gate...
His gaze slowly returned to the young man before him.
Damian remained motionless.
His sword rested low between them.
His intense blue eyes remained fixed on Éon.
For the first time since the battle had begun...
Éon stopped advancing.