Suddenly, the ground began to tremble, and the massive force of demons began charging full throttle towards their front lines.
It had begun.
“Here they come, boys!” shouted Tybrin Hammerclaw, “Let’s give ‘em what they came for!” he said, raising his battle hammer high into the air for all to see.
“CHARGE!” he screamed, and he took off along with the rest of their forces at high speed, headed straight towards the front lines of the demon forces.
The riders quickly sped away from those on foot and, closing the gap at incredible speeds, crashed into the frontlines of the demon forces, sending them sprawling into the air or flattening them into the ground. They pushed deep into the enemy lines, breaking into their formations, and scattering them behind with their deadly charge.
The rest of the forces caught up and started hacking away at the still recovering demon horde, dispatching thousands in a matter of a few minutes. When the demon horde finally recovered from the initial impact, what ensued was a battle the likes of which the world hadn’t seen since the Mystic Wars nearly two millennia ago.
Sword clashed with sword and shield, blades and teeth met flesh, tearing it asunder, and the screaming of both man and beast could be heard for miles as the two forces clashed with unwavering tenacity.
As the fighting waged on and intensified with every passing moment, David scanned the distance, trying to find any indication of the Defiant One.
He crashed through the enemy lines, slashing and blasting away demons left and right with his sword and incredible power, but no matter how many he destroyed, more always took their place, filling the void of the blast area just as quickly as it had cleared.
Behind him, Rex was swinging his double-sided battle axe ferociously back and forth, taking off limbs and heads with every powerful swing, unleashing his pent-up rage for the deaths of thousands of his people at the hands of these monsters. The area around him began building mounds of fallen demons, and the earth beneath his feet was blackened as their sticky blood flew through the air in swirling arcs, following the path of his axe.
“Is that all you got!” he shouted in rage, crushing the skull of one who he had just dispatched and was still crawling towards him.
In the distance to Rex’s left, General Ryan stuck close to King Eldergate and Erin, protecting them from the onslaught of enemy forces, while each fought valiantly and without tire.
“I forgot how exciting this could be!” screamed the King over the roar of the battle, cutting down a nearby demon that had jumped from the fray into his reach.
“I’m not sure that’s the word I would use, Highness” shouted General Ryan in response while taking on another demon to his right.
In the middle rank, Gilric Ellisar was dancing and twirling with his long, curved blade, creating a wake of destruction in his path as he spun in and out and between the enemies around him. With each swing of his blade, two more demons fell. The enemy couldn’t get closer than a few feet from him before falling from several gashes as he slashed at lightning speeds and with the frightening efficiency of a lifelong warrior.
He could hear the laughter of King Tybrin not far to his right, as he was spinning wildly with his battle hammer, crushing any enemy that dared approach him.
He looked over and saw the Dwarf King taunting a demon closest to him, causing it to lunge at him before he dodged just in time and swung his hammer onto its head, pushing it into the ground with a sickening crack.
“Tybrin, you’re one crazy Dwarf!” he said to the Dwarf king, before having to quickly deflect an incoming attack from an undead soldier. King Tybrin just laughed heartily as he rushed towards his next opponent who was scrambling to get away and was unsuccessful.
David, encouraged by his friend’s apparent success, but knowing time was not on their side continued to frantically search the battlefield for their true enemy. After spending as long as he dared searching and seeing no indication of the Defiant One anywhere on the battlefield, David finally decided to instead take the fight to him.
He held out his hand and rushed through the battlefield towards Eldergate, blasting away and slashing anything that got in his way.
When he reached the final stretch before the giant fissure surrounding the rocky outcrop that was Eldergate, he finally caught a glimpse of him for the first time.
A flash of green light streaked from the highest tower of the palace, soaring faster than lightning through the air before landing heavily on the ground not fifty feet away. The force of the impact created a crater around him and sent debris of rock and earth flying high into the air.
When the dust cleared, David found himself standing before the Defiant One – the Mystic of Destruction.
He was taller than David had expected, standing nearly eight foot tall or higher. He was completely naked and muscular, not a single hair on his body, and his eyes were a haunting milky white – absent of all emotion. Despite his appearance, he had handsome features and would have been an attractive man had he not had that sickening greenish hue to his flesh.
“You were foolish to come, but I expected nothing less from a boy such as yourself” said the Defiant One.
His voice was deep and commanding and seemed to echo everywhere all at once.
“You know why I’m here, and I intend to finish this once and for all.” said David, getting straight to the point.
“A man of little worlds, I like that.” said the Mystic, a smirk on his face. “So be it!”
With his last word, he rose slightly off the ground and rushed towards David with incredible speed, landing a powerful blow that sent David flying backward hundreds of feet before crashing into the trunk of a nearby tree, cracking it nearly in two. His sword flew from his grasp and disappeared somewhere deep into the mass of trees behind him.
"This is starting well," gasped David, trying to catch his breath.
Stunned, David tried to recover, but the Defiant One was too quick.
He quickly rushed towards David again, landing a flurry of attacks that were too fast for David to comprehend, let alone deflect. They just looked like blurs to David’s untrained eyes. All he could feel were the incessant impacts landing securely at his midsection and the numbing pain growing from the attacks.
He couldn’t keep this level of beating up for much longer.
David, sensing his desperate situation, recovered his wits and reached to his power within, sending a powerful blast outward toward his attacker, causing the Defiant One to be pushed back long enough for David to regroup and prepare for the next assault. He checked his body and was surprised to see that he was relatively unharmed.
Relieved, he looked up at the Defiant One who was recovering from the unexpected show of force. David smiled.
He could actually do this; he could fight the Defiant One.
Simultaneously, the two leapt into action, crashing into each other in a brilliant show of force that sent a shockwave around them so large it blasted away all of the trees within a hundred-yard radius and created a crater equally large beneath their feet.
As they clashed time and time again, David suddenly realized they were fighting in the air, high above the Outer Woods. He could see the armies below, still locked in a deadly struggle, but his mind was quickly forced back to the fight when the Defiant One sent a powerful blast of energy his way and he had to quickly dodge away. The energy flew through the air behind him and blasted away the entire peak of one of the surrounding mountains.
Huge boulders flew through the air and plummeted towards the forces below. Seeing one of them falling towards Rex and the others, he rushed through the air and blasted away the rock just before it crashed into their forces, sending hundreds of small fragments flying through the air and saving the lives of countless men - but it came with a price.
His distraction made him lose sight of the Defiant One, and suddenly a powerful attack came from behind, sending him hurtling through the air like a rag doll and falling heavil
y to the ground.
David…you have to let go of your friends. You must choose now, or risk losing this fight. Came the voice he had come to know as the Creator God…his Father.
David shrugged it off, he knew what he had to do. If he kept losing focus like this, he would surely lose. And if he lost, the world would fall to ruin, along with Erin and everyone he had come to love. He had to stay focused.
As he turned his attention back to the Defiant One he was instantly thrown into the surrounding mountains, pummeled by a series of energy blasts the Defiant One had unleashed on him while he was distracted. Over and over again his body was impacted by a series of blows, pushing him deeper and deeper into the rockface.
When the attacks finally subsided, David’s head was dizzy, and his body felt weak. He could feel the blood dripping down his hairline and from his chin.
Fearing the Defiant One was on his way to finish him off, David tried to quickly shake off the attack. He had to keep fighting, he couldn’t give up, there was just too much at stake and too many people depending on him.
He slowly crawled his way out of the tunnel of crushed rock back towards the battlefield.
When he reached the opening, he could see the Defiant One across the plains, pummeling his way through the Dwarven forces with his powerful attacks. They didn’t stand a chance against him. He was too powerful. With every swipe of his hand, dozens of men and Dwarves went flying through the air, their bodies crushed and crumpling as they landed on the ground. It was a terrifying sight to see, and one only David could stop from continuing.
David gritted his teeth and pushed himself up off the ground, brushing off the dust and blood as it smeared across his hairline.
He looked around and could see that the battle was starting to turn, and their forces were being overrun little by little. Slowly but surely, they were all going to die.
He couldn’t let that happen. He knew what he had to do, no matter how much it hurt him. He knew that he had to let go. He had hoped ever since he had his visions that he would be able to compete with the powers of the Defiant One without giving up his humanity, but now, after seeing his incredible power firsthand and being beaten so badly despite his best efforts, he knew he was outmatched and there was only one way to even the odds.
“I’m sorry Erin…I tried. I love you…I will always love you.” said David, tears flowing down his face.
Finally prepared to do what must be done to save his friends, David set his jaw and closed his eyes, pushing away all of his feelings one by one.
Memories of his time with Erin came rushing to his vision. He could see the first time he saw her in the Forgotten Temple, their first kiss in the Great Plains before the battle of Eldergate and all of the wonderful times they spent together since, and finally, the last night they shared together as lovers. He mustered all the courage he had and each time he painfully pushed them away, out of his mind, out of his heart.
He did the same for the images of Rex and Orin, of their time together in Ravenfell, the battles they had fought together, and the laughs they had shared, slowly letting them fade from his heart and mind, until all that was left was his mission and purpose – defeat the Defiant One, save the world of the living, become the final Mystic of Creation.
Finally, as he pushed away the final thoughts of his friends, no...his family...he felt a sense of freedom that filled his body and mind. It was as if he were weightless. His thoughts cleared, and his heart raced. His body surged with a power unlike anything he had ever felt before.
He opened his eyes, and he could see and feel everything around him as if he were intimately connected to every living thing. The grass, the fields, the birds flying high in the sky, the people fighting for their lives. He could feel their fear, their sense of uncertainty as they struggled with a foe far greater than they. It was time to ease their fears, it was time to finish this.
David could see his skin glowing intensely with the same light as the orb. His skin no longer it’s normal hue, but bright and luminous, like the orb had always been. Something about him had changed, he could tell, but for now, he didn’t have the time to inspect it.
Feeling renewed by this sudden surge of energy, David rushed into the sky, flying faster than a streaking bolt of lightning, before crashing into the unsuspecting Mystic who had just obliterated a group of warriors in the field far below with his powerful blasts of energy.
***
Erin looked up from the fighting to see a streak fly overhead and crash into the Defiant One, sending a shockwave through the air and knocking down those demons and men unfortunate enough to have been beneath him.
A smile stretched across her face as she realized what it must mean. David finally did it. He had accessed the full might of his powers. She was filled with pride for her David. At the same time, a gut-wrenching pain went reeling in her chest, breaking her heart with the realization of what it meant. He had let her go; he had let them all go.
She knew David had done what he had to do and knew that it took great courage and sacrifice for him to do it, but that realization did nothing for the pain that was now ripping out her heart. For the moment, she would have to push it away, just as David did. They had a battle to win.
She rushed back into her attack with renewed energy, knowing David now had the power to finish this once and for all.
***
David clashed time and time again with the Defiant One, keeping him on his heels as they fought for control of the world below.
His powers were incredible, but he still seemed evenly matched with the Defiant One, despite having now possessed the combined might of all six Mystics of Creation. He assumed it only made sense, after all, they were a balance to each other. David was now the light, the Defiant One was the darkness. David possessed the power to create, whereas his counterpart had the power to destroy.
Their struggle to overcome one another continued for what felt an eternity, each side landing powerful blows and taking incredible hits, until finally David had had enough. His righteous rage had been building to extreme limits that he could no longer contain.
His people below were dying, and they were depending on him to get the job done. He had to finish this now, or risk losing even more lives to the endless horde of demons below.
He gathered all of his strength and rage and released a flurry of attacks on his opponent, who was unprepared for the sudden onslaught. The Defiant One held up his hands in defense, trying to block the blows, but David was moving too quick and landed a series of strikes that sent the Mystic of Destruction flying through the air and landing hard into the ground below.
David pursued his opponent relentlessly, never giving him a moment to breathe, a moment to think, a moment to react.
Finally, in a desperate moment of righteous rage, David threw out his hands and released a blast of energy so bright it blinded the forces below, causing them all to break from their fighting and look up in wonder at the show of force above.
A great beam of white light shot out from his hands, soaring through the air towards his target in a brilliant twisting beam of Mystic energy.
Inside the light, David could see the spirits of the last Mystics, circling around each other like dancers, rushing through the air towards their doomed brother.
In suspended time, David could see the Defiant One’s eyes open in shock as the incoming projectile neared ever closer, helpless to stop the attack.
It struck him with such force it blasted a hole through his chest, leaving a great gaping cavity where his green, glowing flesh used to be, sizzling with smoke rising slowly from the wound.
He looked down at his fatal wound then back up at David, an expression of horror on his face as he fell backward to the ground with a thud.
David, knowing he had not a moment to spare, quickly summoned the energy needed to reopen the rift fully between the world of the living and the dead and cast the spell of banishment.
As he forced the rift apart, holdin
g it open, a great spiraling vortex of dark energy began to escape from the fissures around Eldergate, pulling in the demons that were still pouring out from the cracks. The vortex slowly began increasing in size and strength, eager to feast on the forsaken beasts who had managed to escape its depths.
Eventually, the vortex grew to such strength that the entire army of demons began sliding across the ground, their claws desperately trying to grip the earth before being pulled mercilessly through the air and into the vortex, their horrendous screams finally disappearing beyond its veil.
The Defiant One, seeing the events unfolding around him as they had so many ages ago, screamed as his body began sliding across the ground towards the rift, his hands flailing around trying to grip anything to keep him from falling backwards into the Abyss once again.
His efforts were useless, and he fell away, back into the eternal chambers of the Dark Abyss as the vortex swallowed him whole. At last, the Defiant One disappeared from the world of the living once again.
When the final enemy had been cleared from the land of the living, David focused his energy, causing the rift to slowly close and the scars in the ground to heal. In a matter of moments, the great fissures of darkness vanished without a trace.
As David drifted above the battlefield, exhausted from his momentous struggle, he could see the thousands of bodies of men, Elves, and Dwarves lying lifeless on the ground. They had lost so many…if he had only been able to defeat the Defiant One sooner…
His heart ached for the countless lives lost.
As he succumbed to his exhaustion, he felt his body slowly being lifted higher into the air as the clouds parted in the skies above and enveloped his body in a shaft of gentle light.
His work was done, he was going home. His mortal fears would finally be no more.
***
Erin and the others watched in awe as the demons were being pulled across the ground towards the dark vortex that had sprung up suddenly from the fissures around Eldergate.
They had seen the powerful blast that had sent the Defiant One flying into the ground. Shortly after, the ground began to tremble, and the great vortex appeared before growing large enough to start pulling in the vast army of demons.
David Bishop and the Mystic of Creation Page 26