Having
no intention of opening the door the Poet and the others decided to wait it
out, hoping the Man would just go away. He couldn't take the hint though. His
actions were not his own. Eventually however he did stop knocking, but it was
not for the reasons anyone inside would have liked. There certainly wasn't any
walking away involved. Instead, his body came crashing through the door with
such force that it would have killed him had he not already been dead. In the
void left where the door used to be now stood a shadowy figure towering over
eight feet tall. He would have had to crouch to get through the opening, but
decided to rather just break more of the wall out with his shoulders as he
stepped through into the lobby with minimal effort.
As
had become commonplace as of late, a wave of silence washed over the inn.
Nobody moved for several seconds, but when the staredown finally ended there
was a flurry of activity, much of which went unseen. First off, the Pestilence
realized the disintegration effect her eyes could produce did not work on their
new foe. She tried it twice, both times unsuccessfully. Somehow he was immune
to her gaze. Second, the Shadow Demon confirmed his belief that he could not
possess the Poet. Having been born out of the same darkness as himself he had
been granted some level of resistance to his spells. There was an aura of dark
energy that protected him. It seemed he was unaware of his gift's potential
though. Lastly, the Librarian killed the Beacon. Hearing the scream the Poet
spun about to see the Librarian pulling his sword out of her body just in time
to block his next attack. Locking swords he stared into the red eyes of his
opponent. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the Pestilence just staring
at them as they continued to hold their stance. Feeling his grip starting to
give way he began to wonder if she was ever going to step in and help out. And
that's when he noticed her eyes were the same color as his attacker's. The
Shadow Demon was trying to unlock the secret to her disintegration spell, but
failing. He had control of her body but was struggling to enslave her mind. She
was breaking his spell at about the same rate the Librarian was breaking the
Poet's block.
Closing
his eyes the Poet turned his head as the blade neared his face. He couldn't
resist it any more. Unable to hold onto his blade any longer he heard it hit
the floor behind him and braced for the inevitable feeling of cold steel
piercing flesh. But it didn't come. Instead he heard the sound of a second
blade hitting the floor. Opening his eyes he found the Pestilence staring at him
and a pile of ash at his feet where the Librarian used to be. Nodding to her as
a sign of his thanks he was happy to see the natural color having returned to
her eyes. His joy was short lived though as the Shadow Demon reminded them he
was still there with some sort of magical force attack that knocked the Pestilence
on her back. Wasting no time the Poet reclaimed his fallen sword and charged
the demon head on.
It
went about as well as expected. Though the Shadow Demon could not use
his possession spirit on him he was still significantly stronger physically. He
picked the Poet up by the head and hurled him back into the wall. Disappointed
that someone with a soul as black as his could act in such a manner he followed
up his initial attack with a nether blast that consumed his target. Having his
dark aura to protect him the Poet felt nothing. Instead it absorbed into him
and sent him into a seizure.
Returning
to her feet the Pestilence now faced the Shadow Demon alone, which allowed her
little time to do anything but dodge. Rolling out of the way of harm and diving
to avoid dark energy attacks she only hoped she could buy enough time for the
Poet to come out of his seizure and lend her a hand. Even with his help it
seemed like an unlikely battle to win, but there would at least then be a hope.
That's how the Beacon would have wanted her to think anyways.
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