Eclipse

A Challenge

You know those moments when you think to yourself that it couldn’t get any worse but it does? This was such a moment. Over time, humans have been able to understand the hierarchy of the Darkens. Just like humans, some were part of the Darken army, and others were civilians – most of whom had long died out. Within the army, the lowest and the weakest were the foot soldiers. It was easy to tell them apart. They wore little armoury and their grotesque faces were left for the world to see. The Darkens came in many sizes. Ironically, the stronger they got, the smaller they were. Foot soldiers were massive beasts that averaged 7 feet! Their weapons didn’t look so great either. At least not anymore. They were easy to avoid, which was the best course of action when dealing with Darkens. However, several of them have been killed by humans as well.

After the foot soldiers were the archers. Easy to identify as well. Then the horsemen. They were one of the most troublesome to deal with because of their mobility. And then came the Knights – Darkens clad in full body armour. It was extremely rare to stumble upon a knight and only a handful of humans have ever escaped one. According to Misty, there were less than twenty knights on New Earth. That was how rare they were. But even rarer were the generals. The most powerful of the Darken army. Stain, Sheela, and X were the only three generals on New Earth – each of them; a one-man army. They rarely came out at all, but if they did, they rarely attacked humans. It was as though they couldn’t be bothered.

Stain was huge and wore plain clothes all the time. He was the only one in the upper hierarchy that was as large as a foot soldier. Sheela was a female Darken. Her beauty stunned even the most pious of men, something she took pride in. Well, it wasn’t like pious men still existed. As for X, no one knows his true name. He wore a mask at all times with two lines crossed on it to form an X – hence his name. There had been many attempts to forge an armistice in the past. Unsurprisingly, the humans were always the ones to go back on their word.

Right before Rain was one of the possible twenty knights that existed. Never had he cursed his stroke of luck before. Or perhaps it was the child’s luck? He knew quite well that there was nothing they could do in that circumstance. Not even run. So, he decided to stall instead. Perhaps within that time, they might be able to figure something out.

“We’re just passing by. We mean no harm,” Rain said hiding whatever fear he felt at that moment.

“Said every human I’ve met. I’m impressed that you still worry about others,” he said.

Rain’s knees were seconds away from giving way. The knight could probably see that. The air around them suddenly felt chillier. Rain knew that sensation all too well. It was Misty’s mist ability! Rain didn’t know what her plan was, but he prayed hard that the knight hadn’t noticed what she was doing – as unlikely as that was.

Another wishful thinking on his part. The knight’s eyes turned straight to Misty as he noticed the change in the air. “That’s not going to help you, little lady,” he said. He wasn’t just referring to himself. Both the archer and the foot soldiers had surrounded them at this time.

Rain chuckled. Had he gone mad? For some reason, their predicament was funny. And an insane idea came to him. “Misty, gear up. We’re not going down without a fight,” Rain said. He didn’t need to look back to know how terrified she was. But it was never going to stop them. They’ve been face to face with death several times. This one would be no different.

“Oh. You say you mean no harm, yet you bare your fangs before me,” the knight goaded.

Rain couldn’t see the knight’s face behind that helmet of his but he could picture a smirk. “Well, I didn’t want to hurt you before. But I changed my mind,” he bluffed.

“Hurt me? Is this you trying to die with honour?” the knight chuckled. “I commend your sense of humour. What is your name boy?”

“You won’t remember it. The dead have no use for such,” Rain said. And almost immediately, he could feel the knight’s grin slowly melt into a frown.

“Is that so? Then I guess there’s no use telling you mine,” he said.

The air shifted as Rain enveloped himself with lightning. “Misty, get to safety with the boy. No harm shall come to you while I stand,” Rain said.

“Rain!” Misty beckoned. Never had she been more uncertain in her whole life. Tears rolled down her cheeks as fear gripped her heart. Would they be able to get out of this situation? Together?

“Listen to me!” for the first time, Rain raised his voice at Misty. “Trust me,” his voice a lot calmer this time.

“I respect you, Rain. However, now that I know your name, it is only fair you know your opponent. My name is Krustov, a knight of the 5th battalion,” the knight said.

“I couldn’t care less,” Rain said with a voice so cold, that Misty could barely recognise him.

The knight took his stance after unsheathing his sword. His sword was shoulder high, pointed at Rain and his feet wide apart. A stance that indicated a swift attack.

“Let those two go. My battle is Rain,” Krustov ordered as the other Darken soldiers stepped back.

He waited till there was a fair distance between Misty and them. The knight swung at Rain with a single step that closed the distance between them. But Rain reacted quicker as he dodged the attack. He was a lot faster once he was imbued with lightning. But the attack was not over. Krustov followed up with successive attacks, giving Rain no chance to counter. Until Rain caught his sword with his hands. In one single action, Rain sent lightning through the sword that reverberated through Krustov’s armour.

However, even as the lightning continued to shock him, Krustov swung his fist at Rain’s face, narrowly missing it as Rain evaded it, still refusing to let go. “I knew lightning was a bad match for me,” Krustov said amidst the pain.

“Excuses already?” Rain said as he struggled to hold on.

“You did well,” Krustov scoffed. “Come forth, Renild,” he said, much to Rain’s bewilderment. From behind, a dark portal opened and a sword as large as Krustov thrust itself towards Rain. Rain looked back in shock. Misty had predicted that much and was right behind him to take the attack. She wouldn’t be able to parry it. She couldn’t.

Krustov’s sword was an inch away from Misty as Rain’s eyes widened. A cold sensation ran through his spine and for some reason, it was familiar. Death!