Chapter 184: We Meet At Last

Crow lowered his arms and sighed, “Honestly, I never needed the book, but I did find the read enjoyable.”

Tauri flung her flail at him. Crow’s hand shot out in a deft flash and caught the spiked orb in the palm of his hand. Her eyes widened in shock.

“You, on the other hand, I find absolutely uninteresting,” Crow clicked his tongue.

The metal flail crumbled to dust in his hand.

“W-wha!?” Tauri jumped back in bewilderment.

“You people make everything so awfully tedious. I would rather end this quickly.”

Gete’s freshly reanimated undead rushed Crow, swinging their swords and axes. Three grey tails emerged from within Crow’s black cloak and moved with blinding speed. The sound of whip-like cracks echoed in quick succession, the undead’s bodies exploded in bursts of blood and viscera.

Tauri and the other magi stood stock still, their faces pale. They hadn’t seen it. Not a single one of them had seen the unnatural tails move, it had all been a blur. Maximus' legs trembled, his instincts screamed at him to run for his life. The other centaurs behind him whimpered.

Crow stood at the center of the pool of blood, his skull mask and black-feathered cloak drenched red. His grey tails gradually shriveled and disappeared underneath his cloak.

“Ah, there it is, the fear underneath your masks of anger and hubris,” chuckled Crow.

The fire-drake’s chest widened as she took a deep breath. She roared and let loose a torrent of red flame on Crow, the ground exploded in a blast of scorching heat. Loh looked up at the sound of the savage roar. She let go of the wagon’s blanket and ran towards Tauri.

The red blaze rose high into the night sky, incinerating the ground and the undead corpses within. Loh could feel the heat even from a dozen paces away.

She reached Tauri and grabbed her arm, “What happened!?”

“It’s not… possible,” Tauri mumbled and pointed a shaky finger into the flames.

A stark figure stood in the scarlet inferno. The blood evaporated off his skull-mask in wisps of red. The bloodstained feathers of his cloak burned away into ash and dust, leaving behind the onyx scales underneath. The dark scaled cloak shined brilliantly in the fire, small tints of color rippling through each scale.

“What is that?” said Loh, aghast.

“She can’t hold the flame much longer!” Vayu ran towards them.

The drake’s flame slowly died out in her jaws, puffs of smoke rising from between her sharp teeth.

Crow stood unharmed among the ashes.

“You burned the feathers, pity,” Crow wiped a smudge of soot from his shoulder.

The black mage Gete flung his hand out, shadow vines whipped out at Crow and wrapped around him tightly.

“I’ve got him!” yelled Gete.

“Don’t let him go!” Loh began writing grey curse sigils in the air.

The other chromatic black magi raised their hands and casted Shadow Tendrils, the shadow whips coiled around Crow.

“Is this the power of Holo’s Shade’s magi?”

Loh finished writing the complex curse spell and aimed it at Crow. The grey arcane sigils flew out and enveloped him. Suddenly, the sigils fluttered and began to blur.

“No… what’s... happening?!” Loh gritted her teeth.

Crow slowly swiveled his head towards her. The curse spell shattered into dust. He raised his arms, the shadow tendrils fell apart like spider webs in the wind.

“My turn.”

The whispers of hundreds of wailing voices echoed in the clearing. Inky black shadows rose from the ground all around. Ink-like hands reached out from the darkness and grabbed the ankles of the magi and centaurs.

“Don’t let them touch you!” Loh burned the shadows around her with her orange flames.

Thonul grunted in surprise as the shadows yanked him down to the ground. He tried casting a stone spell, but shadowy fingers wrapped around his body and held him down. The dark hands wrapped around his mouth and nose, choking him as they whispered quietly into his ears.

“Thonul!” Gete flung his shadow tendrils at the dwarf.

His shadow tendrils melted away as they touched the wailing ink-like shadows.

Crow’s figure disappeared in a gust of speed and appeared in front of Gete. The black mage choked and coughed blood. He looked down, Crow’s hand was in his chest. Crow pulled his hand out, Gete’s heart in his clawed fingers. The black mage tipped over, dead.

“Bastaaard!” Tauri charged him.

Orange agility magic flooded into the orc’s body.

“Tauri, no!” Loh ran after her.

Tauri lobbed a flame bolt at Crow’s face to blind him, then followed up with several rapid jabs to his chest. He did not dodge nor did he flinch. Her fists cracked and broke on the onyx scales of his cloak. She grimaced in pain and backed away.

Crow stepped forward, his hand reaching out past Tauri’s face and beyond, at Loh who was running in behind her. He flicked his finger at Loh’s shoulder. She gasped in pain as her bones snapped and she was hurled back.

The fire-drake roared and barreled into Crow. He raised his hand and caught the drake’s snout, stopping it in its tracks. The drake kicked the grown with her paws and roared, but Crow’s grip held tight.

“You deserved better than these loathsome creatures.”

Jade lightning crackled around his fingers. The drake’s body stiffened, her voice went taut. The sickly sound of bones fracturing rang through her body. She exploded in a ripple of blood, sinew, and lightning.

A wretched hoarse wail escaped Vayu’s lips. He heaved dozens of purple mind tendrils at Crow. The tendrils fizzled away as they neared Crow, not a single one reaching him. Vayu didn’t care, he didn’t stop, he casted more and more. None of them reached.

~~~

Tauri ran towards Loh, “You need to get up!”

Loh groaned and opened her eyes. Inky black hands were reaching out for the drow. A large battle-ax sliced them away. Maximus stood in front of her.

“They keep coming back!” Maximus cut down another pair of inky tendrils.

“Loh, get up!” Tauri yelled.

Loh frowned, “Tauri, your hands.”

“That bastard’s cloak is harder than steel,” Tauri grimaced. “It doesn’t matter, if we don’t do something soon, Vayu’s going to die!”

Loh looked beyond the chaos of the eerie wails of shadows and the screaming voices of her comrades being dragged away and suffocated. Vayu and a blue mage fought Crow in close combat. The blue mage casted a storm spell; a bolt of lightning struck Crow, the energy crackled and hissed to no effect. Crow’s claws tore off the mage’s head with one quick swipe. He turned to Vayu next.

Loh took a deep breath, her left shoulder was filled with shattered bone. She would have to make do without it. Orange mana burned through her system, the arch-mage agility spell, Black Amber, took hold. Her bones creaked in pain, her muscles spasmed, and her veins darkened to a jet black.

~~~

Vayu’s appearance went hazy for a moment, six illusions of himself rippled out. They each ran in a different direction.

“I can still smell you.”

Crow jumped in front of the real Vayu and kicked his knees. The drow screamed in agony as his knees bent backward at an impossible angle. He collapsed in a sprawl.

“Get off him!” Tauri jumped over Vayu and kicked out a torrent of flame.

Crow ignored the flames, caught her foot, and twisted it the wrong way. She shrieked as her ankle snapped. Tauri’s body tumbled to the ground, but Crow didn’t let go.

Loh dashed in behind him. She was grateful for Tauri’s distraction. The man’s back was turned, this was her one chance. If his cloak’s defense was too great, then she would strike where he was exposed. She high-kicked his neck with all the force she could muster. Her shin was crushed on impact and bent around his neck; the returning force sent Loh spinning into the ground. She cried out in wretched pain. Crow’s body hadn’t moved an inch from her attack.

“You actually did it, you kicked me. I wasn’t sure if you were stupid enough, but I hoped. My body is more resilient than my cloak, imbecile.”

Crow’s body shifted and grew twice in height. Tauri screamed in pain as he dragged her up by the ankle. Loh tried reaching for Tauri’s hand, but she was too far.

“Stop! Don’t hurt her!” Loh cried.

Crow ignored her.

“I know what you are!”

“...Oh?”

Loh grimaced, her body was drenched in sweat and blood. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to sit up. “…I know who you are. The one in those tragic stories… The Monster in the Dark.”

Crow slowly bent down, his neck twisted and elongated until his mask hovered above her face, “We meet at last, daughter of Noir.”

“Y-you know me?” Loh swallowed.

“How could I not? You reek of your family. I spotted your scent long before you ambushed the wagon. Ambush? I suppose it is not really an ambush if they know you’re coming, hm? Semantics, not really what you came for is it?”

“W-what?”

“No, little Noir, you came for revenge against Marek. It’s unwarranted of course, idiotic even. But so are most pursuits you petty creatures dedicate your lives to. You will find no revenge here.”

Loh bit her lip, “...How are you still alive after all these years?”

Crow’s mask shook, a deep sound slipping through. Loh realized the Monster was laughing.

“Alive? What do you know of life, you whose mere existence should not be?”

“What? I… I don’t understand?” Loh wrinkled her brow.

Crow’s extended neck curled around Loh’s shoulder. His head rested next to her own, and he whispered into her ear, “Where is my dagger?”

“D-dagger?” Loh shivered.

Her eyes widened as realization dawned on her. She remembered the words of her grandfather, the story of the black dagger Rose Noir had owned. The dagger Holo had entrusted to Rose and Noir I’s daughter. The one Elzri’s younger sister, Una, had stolen.

“I know you don’t have my dagger. It would have returned to my side. The fact that it hasn’t means it isn’t anywhere in Widow’s Crag. Does Elzri have it?”

“I… I don’t know where your dagger is. I’m not lying, I swear,” Loh mumbled.

“...Is that so?” Crow’s head rose, his neck contracting to its original length.

Tauri muttered something under her breath. Her body still hung by the Monster’s grip. Crow tightened the grip. She screamed in pain, her eyes were red with tears.

“That’s better.”

Loh clenched her jaw, but stayed quiet. She couldn’t let her anger get the best of her, not now. Tauri’s life was in danger, she needed to save her. She needed to think.

“I was told Tauri of the House of Katag was a great beauty, with an inner light that practically bubbled with charisma and happiness. Yet all I have seen is a petty orcling who cannot even run away when I told her to. She is quite predictable and so, so very stupid. Nothing like how Aizel described.”

Loh felt her mind go blank, “...What? What did you say?”

“You, Loh, on the other hand, are exactly how Aizel described. I see loneliness and revenge have only made you that much sweeter.”

“How do you know about Aizel!?” Loh’s voice broke.

“Aizel did get one thing wrong about you. You failed to save him.”

Loh’s throat grew tight, her mouth dry.

“Y-you were there. That night Aizel died. You were with the raiders,” said Tauri through gritted teeth.

Crow released Tauri’s ankle and snatched her up by the throat. She kicked her legs in the air to no avail. With his other hand Crow brushed the black hair from her face.

“I see intelligence is not one of your few gifts, orcling. I wasn’t simply with the raiders that night, I led them. I had caught the scent of Noir blood in the air and I went after the source.”

“You... killed... Aizel!” Tauri gasped.

“No, I devoured him.”

Crow’s hand tightened around Tauri’s throat. Her body started spasming, her veins darkened to a deep green, and her eyes rolled up.

“S-stop! What are you doing!?” Loh cried.

Tauri’s body suddenly went limp, her jaw went slack, and a white wisp slowly rose from her lips. The Monster’s skull-mask creaked open, its jaws loomed over her.

“Stop! I’m begging you!” Loh sobbed.

A deep rumbling howl pierced the air.

The Monster stiffened. It looked up at the sky, “...Marek.”

The Monster abruptly dropped Tauri, her body collapsed on the ground. The white wisp snapped back into her body and her veins slowly returned to normal.

“Tauri!” Loh dragged herself to the orc.

Crow walked past the corpses of magi and made his way to Kyriil. The unconscious elf was buried in the ground, save for his head. As Crow neared, the earth shifted and spat the elf out. He grabbed Kyriil by the collar and dragged him away.

Crow opened his mouth, an outlandish, thick guttural noise echoed from his throat. The nearby wagon shook uncontrollably. A small, pale grey creature ripped through the wagon’s covering and landed on all fours. Its glassy black eyes darted around until it spotted Crow. The Unildyr hatchling dashed at him, clambered up his leg and onto his back. The hatchling nestled its head on the Monster’s shoulder and purred.

Loh watched in utter confusion, trying to grasp what was happening. The inky shadows warped around the Monster until his visage disappeared in the dark. The shadows dissipated and the wailing whispers faded. The clearing fell utterly silent.

“It’s… gone?” Loh whispered.

Tauri coughed weakly, her eyes dimly opened, “Ugh...”

“Tauri!” Loh hugged her tight.

Vayu hyperventilated and clutched at his chest, “I couldn’t... breathe... the shadows… were suffocating me.”

“Vayu, you’re alive,” Loh cried in relief.

She looked around the ravaged clearing. The bodies of her comrades were strewn about the bloodied grass in broken sprawls. A single shuddering cry escaped from Maximus’s lips. His body was covered in scrapes, blood seeped from a dozen cuts, but his eyes were fixated on the nine centaur corpses around him. He fell to his knees over the bodies of his fellow beast-kin.

Loh turned away bitterly. She wanted to console Maximus, but there was nothing to say. She couldn’t even walk over and place a comforting hand on his shoulder, her own shoulder and leg were shattered.

“Everyone is dead,” Tauri whimpered.

“I know,” Loh mumbled through tears.

“W-wha… What is that?” Vayu pointed a shaky finger upwards.

“Huh?” Loh glanced up at the sky.

The full moon’s silver light was gone.

Tauri’s eyes widened, “The moon it’s…”

“Red,” Loh whispered.

“What’s happening?” Vayu trembled.

“The goddess is angry,” Maximus said grimly.

Vayu shook his head, “N-no, that can’t be. Gods aren’t real, right? Right?”

“Then explain that!” Maximus pointed at the sky.

“Uh, it’s…” Vayu stared blankly at the crimson moon.

Tauri moved her broken body with a grimace. She prostrated herself on the grass and began whispering prayers to the moon goddess.

“Lunae isn’t real, she can’t be,” Loh swallowed.

Maximus sighed, “It doesn’t matter what any of us believe. The moon is red. Something is horribly wrong.”

Vayu nodded, “We need to find the students.”