BACK IN THE BORDERS OF NETHER
Somewhere in the dark between the hedge of the trees, the one who deals with imminent death was concealing itself in the depths of silence. As it gets drawn to the sound of men clamouring in the dead of the night, and the growing flames brought about the campfire by the stream, it slowly bouyed above ground bereft of sounds. Without a warning, it rose above revealing itself and began to attack mindlessly at anyone in motion.
"Move!", Stellan hurled Gallanthe away from the deadly bolt fired at him. With both of them hitting the ground, Stellan and Gallanthe watched how the rocks and a little bit of wild herbage burn easily in the blink of an eye.
"We're cooked", Gallanthe uttered, aiding Stellan as they both swiftly get back up.
"Is it supposed to be that big?", Atrius left his mouth open, sizing the oddly massive dark healer floating above ground.
Somewhat ceasing from firing, the dark healer rose higher as if preparing for something even more fatal. The knights looked up at the dark healer, drifting brazenly, without any other sudden movements. Warily, it floated like a sheer black drapery, fluttering steadily high up.
"I've never seen a dark healer that big before", Jacomus slowly grabbed his bow, with an attempt to shoot an arrow. Releasing one good arrow which only went through the dark healer, Jac tightened his lips grasping the fact that some things still haven't changed. "At least nothing can still hurt it", he realized with a dry chuckle.
The dark healer bellowed lowly, giving off a haunting sound. It remained afloat, unperturbed. "It never acted that way before too", Stellan had his one hand on his dragon hilt, and the other in the air. He tried to summon a blow a gale to trap the streamer in the winds.
Strangely…
Not a single current of the air answered to his command.
Perpetually alert, the knights remained at arms. Then in one gust of the cold gentle breeze, a loud shriek otherwordly disturbed the order of the night. The bellicose knights howled even louder for their declaration of war. No fear shattered their courage. Despite knowing what they are up against, the bold and the fearless drew their blades following Stellan who's already brandishing his sword with a bluish gleam. Throwing daggers and swords at the dark healer, the knights fought with all their might even though no blade can harm the invincible foe.
Thinking that Stellan might need the aid of his staff, he ran after Areon panic-stricken by the stream. Spooked with the loud blasts, all the stallion flee sensing extreme danger at hand. "Areon!", Stellan called as the paladin's stallion runaway.
Greatly, Atrius and Jacomus, who were both nearer the war horse ran after the terrified stallion. In no time, Jac caught up on Areon, while Atrius grabbed the staff hooked on its saddle. Atrius looked back at Stellan with a nod, raising the staff in his hand. "Got it", he said as he sees the dark healer now going their way.
"Run idiots!", Gallanthe grabbed Jac and Atrius by their necks, pushing them towards the vast grasslands. Stellan clicked his tongue as they get separated at will for safety.
A total chaos arise.
As fearfully anticipated, the dark healer started firing in multiple and successive manner as it pluck every knight like a bloom's petals. Some knights hid behind their shields, while some tried to escape the wrath of the dark healer by running across the open field, and some ran down the stream.
With a height so unreachable for a sword can handle, Stellan couldn't do much. Frustatingly, he struggles to wield his powers except for his gleaming sword. Increasingly, the dark healer erupted severely, sending more dark fireballs. The chase became tiring, almost unending. Stellan thought that they cannot keep running. His men's feet will soon get tired, and surely, one by one, they would tumble anytime.
An idea then wrung up in him.
Positively, Stellan rested the palm of his hand on the ground and grunted heavily. As he close his eyes, the grasslands with a short field of greenery grew taller in a split second… high enough to match the knights' lofty height. In a sudden that the grassland turned to a prairie, the knights paused in complete bewilderment. "What did just happened?".
"Hide in the grass!!", Stellan yelled for the knights to find sanctuary in the vast overgrown herbage instead of being out in the open. He called in every one of his men before getting himself into the safe zone of their unchosen battlefield.
Most knights made it perfectly on time, blending well in the tall foliage. As the others who were still hanging onto their dear lives, the dark healer mercilessly pursued on storming them with several burning bolts and deadly orbs. For the last knight to get into safety, Stellan outstretched his arm as he yell for the man to hurry. Unfortunately, the knight got hit on the leg before he made it to the tall grass. Stellan covered his mouth as the wounded knight let out a painful scream. He pressed the knight's wounded leg which smells of burned flesh. "Keep it down", he whispered, covering the knight's muffled screams with his other palm. In no time and without hesitations, Stellan healed the knight. The knight was too stunned to speak, as he look at his leg which was already perfectly healed. When he looked back at the paladin knight, Stellan have already ran deep into the prairie.
A loud hum shook the earth.
The dark healer, who's sensitive to movements, flitted and chased the knights at random points of directions. Wherever there's movements, it just fires them up. As hard as it seemed, Stellan couldn't get a good shot to hit the ghastly enemy. It was moving too swiftly in the open air, making it difficult to be ensnared. Without the staff, there will be limitations to perform his true powers. "Atrius!", he called softly as he go deep in the dark parts of the grasses. "Atrius!!", he repeated.
As he go further, he could clearly hear the screams of his defenseless men getting hit. Some died instantly, while some were wounded groveling the ground. As he ran across his injured men, he fired his health booster bolts… healing every wounded knight. Asked them stay put until it's all over, since it's safer that way. Stellan tried to save them as much as he can. Sadly, he still couldn't save everyone.