Point-of-View: Mitchell Jones

———————————————————————————

"Damn it, why fucking now!? Guys...buy me...some...time...," Trailed off Kilzachs, losing consciousness as blood ran down his face.

I caught him before he could hit the ground and propped him up against one of the walls. What just happened?

"Sir, we have to kill him now, he's awakening a new power!" Exclaimed one of the Wights in alarm.

"Don't you think I know that!?" Snapped the one in the middle, "We can't let him wake up, there's no telling what kind of power he'll gain!"

I'm still pretty confused and overwhelmed by this situation, but one thing was clear...we can't let them do as they please...there's seven of us excluding Kilzachs and only five of them, so we have the numbers advantage.

"Alright, guys, I don't usually like being told what to do, but Kilzachs isn't the type to ask for favors, so I'll comply for once...that, and the fact that it seems like he's unlocking a new power, according to those Wights...let's buy him some time," I remarked, before adding with a smirk, ", !"

"Stand back, the rest of you...I'll take out these weaklings," Declared the Wight in the middle, stepping forward with his sword...and then suddenly vanished from our sight.

Where'd he-!?

"Mine!" Exclaimed Taayin, zipping forward at top speed with a wide grin, "Now, !"

He swung his claws at seemingly thin air a few times...when suddenly, a cut appeared on his left bicep, tearing through his sleeve...now I get it, the Wight didn't vanish, he turned invisible. How are we supposed to fight that!?

Cuts were appearing all over Taayin's body, who seemed to be dodging them...how does he know where the attacks are coming from? He looked like...he was focused, concentrating hard, his eyebrows furrowed and his expression almost blank...huh, so he can fight without acting like a deranged maniac. Suddenly, a slight smirk appeared on his lips...

"I gotcha now!" He yelled, spinning around and swinging his finger blades across, before swiftly clamping his teeth down, a clang echoing out as he did...and the Wight came into view.

The blade of his sword was between Taayin's teeth, and his right shoulder was pierced by the finger-blades. Suddenly, the blade shattered as Taayin applied more force into his jaws, his mouth bleeding as he smirked widely...the sides of his mouth had been cut into about an inch, and some of his front teeth were a bit cracked...and yet, it was the Wight who had fear in his eyes.

He quickly sprang back warily and tossed his blade handle away with a frown, keeping an eye on Taayin cautiously. Wow, I'm glad we're on the same side, because that guy is terrifying.

"Tch, I underestimated you...enough, we can't waste any more time, we don't need to kill all of you, just the time-stopper...get out of my way!" Snarled the Wight Anomaly, who seemed to be in charge, having the other Wights stand down before sprinting towards Taayin rapidly and driving his fist towards his face.

Taayin responded by tilting his head out of the way and slashing at the Wight with his claws, but they phased right through him as the Wight turned intangible, before Taayin let out a gasp of pain and coughed out blood as the Wight slammed his knee onto his midsection with a crushing force, knocking him out with one strike. This is bad...

"Come on, guys, let's take this guy down before the others join in!" I exclaimed, as I flew up and swooped down towards him, the edges of my tails pointing at him, while the others shot forward as well.

"You fools...you have no idea how to fight in a real battle, do you?" Remarked the Wight with a scoff, as he leapt up towards me, phased past me as I whipped my tails up at him, before grabbing the back of my collar and throwing me over his shoulder, as I crashed onto the ground with a devastating impact, my manifestations fading as my vision blurred, pain erupting throughout my body...ow...I definitely broke more than a couple of bones just now...

Seila closed in on him as Lin slipped behind him, the former swinging her blades at him rapidly, which he either evaded or phased through, as the latter attacked from behind...but something was off about their attacks. They seem...stiffer than usual.

"How amateurish...you're only restraining yourselves by grouping up in such a narrow space!" Remarked the Wight, seeming to drop his guard.

Both of them reacted immediately, drawing their weapons back and aiming to drive them straight towards him, before he swiftly got low and grabbed both their wrists in a single, fluid motion and pulling them inwards, their weapons poised to pierce into each other. They both deactivated their manifestations in alarm, and in the next instant, he sprang and unleashed a powerful split-kick, striking both of their heads and knocking them out.

He then leapt and rolled forward as Kiran swung his swatter at him, before zipping towards him rapidly. Kiran hurriedly shrunk his swatter back in, but the Wight was too fast, knocking him out with a powerful strike to the torso. That just left Zoya and-...wait, where's Katie?

Zoya stood in front of Kilzachs defensively, her rapiers poised to strike. As the Wight closed in on her, she unleashed a barrage of blindingly rapid thrusts, but the Wight simply turned intangible and slipped past her, before slamming his elbow onto the back of her neck, knocking her out.

"That takes care of that," Remarked the Wight with a sigh.

"What do we do with the rest?" Inquired one of the other Wights.

"Doesn't matter, kill them," He replied indifferently.

Damn it, I can't move-...suddenly, the Wight halted before he reached Kilzachs, as a familiar, emotionless voice spoke out from the shadows...

"."

A bright flash of yellow burst out from further inside the path, as a large yellow XFE dragon crackling with streaks of lighting appeared, the Wight quickly sprang back in alarm, rushing to try and get some distance...looks like an instinctive reaction out of fear...if he was thinking logically, he'd have stood his ground and used his intangibility.

The dragon then rose up and charged up a massive amount of yellow lightning in its mouth, crackling violently and blindingly bright...holy crap, that looks like it's going to pack one hell of a punch.

It then opened its jaws wide, before firing it out towards the Wight with incredible power and intensity, a massive boom echoing out upon impact and kicking up a dust cloud, the walls around the impact spot cracking and crumbling down.

The dragon then dissipated and Katie collapsed onto one knee, looking drained. She must be low on XFE after that attack. Crap, we're all down...if that last attack didn't take all of them out, we're screwed...

As the dust cleared, I strained to look, wincing as twinges of pain shot through my body. My eyes then widened in despair as the dust cleared...to reveal that three of the Wights were unscathed, including the Anomaly...the other two were dead. Looks like he can use his power on others too, but he failed to cast it on all of them in time. This is bad...I'm starting to lose consciousness, I'm gonna pass out any second now...

"Damn it, that was close...enough is enough, you two, go kill them all," Growled the Wight Anomaly.

The other two Wights nodded and stepped forward, forming XFE weapons as they walked towards us. Shit, shit, shit, this is really fucking bad-!

"."

Suddenly, one of the Wights' head disappeared, blood bursting out of his neck as his body collapsed onto the ground.

"."

The sound of flesh tearing and bone cracking echoed out as the first Wights' head reappeared inside the middle of the head of the second one, causing it to crack open like an egg...a bloody, gorey egg.

I turned my head to see...Kilzachs standing up, a dark, ominous, terrifying look in his eyes, an icy rage burning in them, and his expression...it was blank yet furious, sending chills down my spine. He then shifted his gaze to the Wight Anomaly, the only one still left alive.

"One more to go."

I'll leave it to him then...I don't think I can stay conscious any longer...my vision was starting to darken...I closed my eyes as my senses began to fade, losing consciousness...

———————————————————————————

Point-of-View: Kilzachs Light

———————————————————————————

Well, what an interesting new power...I opened my eyes and stood up, looking around. I'd surprised myself when I asked the others to buy me time...and I'm even more surprised that they actually did it. They were all knocked down or unconscious...but it looks like they're all alive. Huh...I actually feel relieved. And really, really pissed off.

Two of the Wights were walking forward, XFE weapons in their hands...time to blow off some steam, let's test out my new power, shall we? I locked my gaze onto the head of one of them, 'selecting' it, before...

"."

Instantly, his head vanished, blood bursting out like a fountain from the stump of his neck, as a sense of murderous satisfaction washed over me...that was so easy, it felt like I literally killed him with a thought. I probably should have inaudibly chanted the activation...but I was too pissed off to care right now.

I then locked my gaze onto the middle of the other Wight's face...

"."

In the blink of an eye, the head of the first one I killed appeared in the head of the one that my gaze was currently locked onto, bursting through as his head got torn open, gore and chunks of bone and brain spraying out onto the ground and surrounding walls.

My gaze then shifted to the Wight Anomaly, who flinched and stumbled back with a look of fear in his eyes, as I remarked in a cold voice...

"One more to go."

_____________________________________________

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.

Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:

https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP