The Stonehearted Knight

"It seems you got some helpers. This makes it more interesting, don't you think?" Ronan grinned at his opponent as he dodged the flailing silver chains.

Silvera wished she could beat the smug look off Ronan's face. Her chains and needles tried to capture the slippery fox. Meanwhile, she used her extreme agility to move between the incoming golden spears.

Their fight laid the town to the ground but it wouldn't stop easily. Neither would be able to gain the upper hand on the other unless something changed drastically - something like the result of the clash in the Temple.

The moment they had sensed people from both sides entering the Temple, they stopped being cautious. Their attacks became more violent. The rain of spears and needles started to destroy the rocky ground. They were finally going all out.

…

"Be careful," Adgar warned the others as they moved cautiously towards their opponents. Despite the number advantage, he didn't dare to be negligent.

Adgar knew he and Orvyn suffered considerable damage. Oron was strong but lacked elemental variety to fight against tricky opponents. And Adgar didn't doubt that these two would be tricky. The Dawnbringers were still the ones deciding the flow of events. 

When they got closer, Adgar noticed a malevolent energy. The energy gave a sense of death and decay.

"The heart," Orvyn shouted but it was late. Avery had swallowed it. The three Knights stopped in their tracks. The energy waves coming from the smaller-built Knight spiked. 

Herman grinned at the sight of their stunned look. Darkness surged out of Avery, enveloping the fallen bodies of the clerks. It seeped through their skins and completely fused with the corpses. The darkness faded.

"Oron, focus on the undead clerks. We will take the Knights," Adgar shouted and moved simultaneously. He had seen the group of undead so he knew what the darkness did to the corpses.

Oron ran toward the undead. His fist smashed the first clerk squarely in the chest. By the sound of it, its chest should have turned into a mush. But it would take more than a few broken bones to stop the undead. 

Adgar unleashed a gale in the limited space, directed at the Knights. The semi-circular pattern on the back of his hand glowed brightly. The gale swept the debris up and threw it toward Herman. 

Orvyn kneeled and smashed against the floor. A wave-like motion went through the floor, throwing their opponents off balance. 

But just as the rubble would hit them, Herman opened his mouth and roared. The roar caused the debris to halt in the air. Meanwhile, Avery slipped into the darkness of the fallen walls and pillars. 

"Watch out!" Adgar shouted as he redirected the gale toward Oron. His target wasn't his friend but the fiendish Knight, appearing from Oron's shadow. 

Avery only managed to land a shallow hit on Oron. He disappeared again, right after that. The stones and tiles landed on the place where he had been but didn't hit anything. 

Herman joined the undead and started to harass Oron and Adgar. Orvyn tried to focus on spreading his senses over the ground beneath. The dark element Knight was a troublesome opponent. Orvyn's task was to prevent a sneak attack. 

Behind them, Hex was focused on the monolith. Before bypassing the barrier put up by Orvyn, he stopped paying attention to the battle behind him. It would only distract him from his task.

The moment Hex stepped through the barrier, a violent gale hit him in the face. His skin, hardened by the evolved skills, glowed bright red. The gale wasn't just air. It was pure energy. Chaotic energy. 

Hex was shocked by the potency of the chaos. He had assumed that it was a matter of quantity alone. The energy was so potent, his eyes teared up and his skin felt dry. He even feared to open his mouth, worrying that the energy might burn the inside of it. Even breathing was proving hurtful.

'Can I do this?' Hex hesitated for a brief second but he quickly shook his head, strengthening his resolve. 

'I said I would do it so I will do exactly that. Retreat is only an option if you have somewhere to run off to.' 

The fight between all parties had already started. If Hex wished to flee, he would have to hide in the dark crevices of the mountain. And wasn't that exactly the place he had been trying to get out of all these years?

Hex got closer to the monolith, doing his best to ignore the burning sensation in his skin. Slowly and deliberately, he moved his hand towards the structure. He had to be careful. Just a day ago the potent chaotic energy inside the Disaster crystal had knocked him out. The quantity and quality of the energy around him was far higher than the crystal held. 

The moment Hex touched the monolith, he felt his fingers burn. The smell of burning flesh permeated through the air. Hex gritted and focused on the suction force. He couldn't afford a mistake. 

A thick glob of energy entered his energy channels. Hex pulled his hands from the monolith immediately. The energy was hard to control but his experience with the Disaster crystal helped. The energy entered his heart. Hex spat blood out.

'It's too painful.' He wanted to cry but his eyes had dried out. His heart went into overdrive. The rapid contractions felt like someone was slamming a hammer against his chest. Hex stumbled but managed to stand back up. 

His plan was simple. He would refine the energy in small amounts till the monolith stabilized. But he had been naive. It would be impossible to refine all the chaotic energy. It would explode before he was done with the first bit inside him.

Hex pushed himself to accelerate the refinement. He was pushing himself so hard, he failed to sense the darkness behind him warping. Avery stepped out, soundlessly. In his hand, he held a thin, black sword. 

Hex suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back. The pain made him move in reflex. He swung his fist, instantaneously activating his glyph.

Blizzard Strike!

Avery, who was about to strike again, was hit squarely in the chest. The strike was so powerful, that the Knight flew out of the barrier and slammed against the half-broken wall on the other side. Blood trickled down his mouth.

'What the hell!' Hex stared in disbelief at his fist. The wound in his back was healing rapidly. It was gone even before he could check it out. But that was not all. 

Hex had felt it. The power in his strike was abnormal. He certainly was stronger than anyone his age. But he was nowhere near the strength of a Knight. But the moment he had struck, the glob of chaotic energy transferred to his fist, strengthening it beyond his level. On top of that, the pain in his chest had subsided.

A glint of happiness appeared on Hex's face. 'I think I know how to speed things up,' he thought, giving the stunned Knights in the Temple a wide grin.