Destiny Saviouer :: Moscow, Russia
Chapter One :: Harbinger of Shadow
Destiny pulled her scythe out of the neck of a vampire, who promptly turned to dust.
When she had gone to assist the others, a few vampires had decided to jump in her way. Either they had failed to see the little display she had just put on, they didn't care, or they valued their loyalty to their Harbinger masters more than their own lives.
Whatever the reason, the result had been the same. They had all been reduced to nothing more than piles of dust.
During that little altercation, however, her teammates had been attacked by the Harbingers and nearly overwhelmed. Luka had been severely wounded upon entering the warehouse, and Adrian and Nox weren't doing too great themselves. The Harbingers had certainly given them a harder time than a vampires.
Damn it.
As the experienced Ancient here, Destiny should have been with her teammates to help and protect them. No learning experience was worth nearly losing one's life. They didn't have nearly as much experience as her, especially with Harbingers. It was of no fault of their own; they'd simply lacked the opportunity to garner such knowledge before now. Destiny had been the same way with so many things once, and she had learned the hard way.
It seemed that these younger Reapers had just learned a few things the hard way themselves. Especially Luka. The poor kid looked to be near death, or whatever you want to call the death of a Reaper. At least this would lend them proper knowledge and caution for the future. Sometimes learning the hard way was the best way.
Destiny raised her scythe, resting its hilt on the ground as she waited for the final two Harbingers to approach. She looked to be in no hurry, although she did wish to finish this quickly to assist her comrades.
"You," one of the Harbingers stated as he walked closer.
"You seem different from the others, some how."
The second Harbinger stepped out from behind him, wielding a staff.
"Your aura," the voice was unmistakably female,
"it vibrates differently than the others. What . . . are you?"
Destiny moved her scythe into both of her hands, holding it leveled at her hips.
"I am an Ancient. I am Atlantean." She raised her scythe further, shifting into a fighting stance.
The woman raised her staff, holding it out in front of her. It emitted a faint glow, recognition sparking in the woman's eyes. A moment later, her eyes attained a similar glow.
"Your energy . . . I knew it was familiar."
The woman's male companion looked between her and Destiny, seeming slightly perplexed.
"What's an Atlantean?"
Destiny smirked. She never missed an opportunity to sound cliché.
"Your worst nightmare."
The woman's expression remained serious as she held her staff, but there was a brief flicker of fear across the man's face. He obviously didn't like the fact that his partner recognized some ancient energy within a Reaper that claimed to be some being he'd never heard of, but his partner had and looked pretty serious about. The emotion vanished as quickly as it had appeared. The man knew it was a stupid thought.
Although, Destiny wasn't entirely joking by saying that. She lunged towards the Harbingers, her scythe trailing behind her as she gained sudden speed and momentum. She swung her arm and twisted her wrist, bringing her scythe up from beneath the male Harbinger in a circular motion. He barely had enough time to twist his leg and pull out his sword.
While he was able to block the scythe's blade itself, the momentum of the attack still slammed him into the wall, lengthening the cracks that already crossed it. He groaned and slid down to the floor, dazed.
Destiny turned her attention to the woman.
"You yourself are different from your companions. What are you, exactly?"
"A shadow of a nightmare," the woman replied simply, the glow around her flaring up as she did so.
"Close your eyes!" Destiny heard Adrian yell, picking probably the worst possible moment. There was a bright flash and Destiny was forced to shield her eyes with her arm. When she looked back up, the woman had vanished.
Crap! On instinct Destiny twisted around, bringing the hilt of her scythe up to block. Less than half a second later there was a loud
thwack! sound as wood made contact with wood. The woman had appeared behind her just as Adrian had lit up the room around them, giving her the edge. Destiny's years of battle and training had given her the abilities and reflexes to parry the attack, but just barely.
"You're quick, strong, observant. Your aura vibrates in the most unusual manner and your abilities are hidden to me. You are truly an Atlantean, and an Ancient at that. That much I know," the woman stated calmly, her expression unchanged as she took a step back.
"If you know so much, don't you realize that you stand no chance of winning?" Destiny questioned, taking a step back as well.
"Yes," the woman stated simply.
Destiny blinked.
"Alright-y then," she said, a bit confused.
"Have it your way." She twisted the scythe in her hand and lunged at the woman. The woman raised her scythe to block as Destiny's scythe came down from above, but Destiny had used the move as a feint, rotating her arms and twisting her legs as she dug into the ground, swinging low.
The woman gave a surprised gasp as her feet flew out from under her, sending her sprawling across the floor. Destiny took a step forward and brought the blade of the scythe down, aiming it at the woman's heart. However, something happened and Destiny found herself spiraling backwards through the air. She landed on her back, slightly dazed. As she got up, she saw that the woman had her staff raised, a bright aura quickly fading from the enchanted wood.
Damn it! She had let her guard down. Not only that, but she hadn't given this woman's magic a second thought. Her use of the staff indicated her as a Harbinger with more magical talent than average, and her spells provided the evidence to support.
"You're certainly not weak," Destiny sighed as she got back to her feet.
"Of course not. You should know better than to think such things."
"Yes, I suppose I should." With that, Destiny ran in towards the woman, her scythe beginning to glow. The woman's staff did likewise as she readied to counter.
Destiny spun once, a ring of energy forming around her. She leaped out of the ring, leaving a dot where she had been standing. As she did so, the ring moved into a vertical position, so that it looked something like a target.
"Bulls-eye!" Destiny yelled as she pushed her scythe forward, commanding the ring to loose its energy upon the woman. The dot in the center flared up and the ring collapsed in onto the dot, and a moment later the dot turned into a large beam of energy that soared towards the woman.
The woman twirled around and literally
caught the energy on the end of her staff, sending it back at Destiny as her circle turned her towards the Reaper once more.
Destiny grunted as she caught the volley, charging it for a return. It caused the blade of her scythe to glow and the scythe itself to tremble due to the tremendous energy. Destiny tried to hold on to the energy for a second, glaring at the woman as she thought. After a moment, she knew she couldn't hold the energy any longer and sending it back at the woman would be futile. She glanced to her side and then swung the scythe, sending the beam towards the male Harbinger that had just started to regain his senses. He didn't even have time to look up before it reached him.
There was a large explosion that illuminated the warehouse and sounded like a sonic boom. When the light and dust had cleared, there was a large hole in the wall of the warehouse where the Harbinger had been, and there was absolutely no trace of the man. He had been completely obliterated.
So much for quiet, Destiny thought as she returned her focus to the woman. The woman seemed completely unaffected by the annihilation of her comrade.
"So," Destiny said, taking a breath,
"would you like to end this now? Or would you like to—"
"There is no need to drag this out any longer than it needs to be," the woman interrupted.
Destiny smirked. She kind of liked this woman.
"My thoughts exactly."
Both women charged in, auras flaring as they loosed their energies upon each other.
*****
Destiny kneeled there, leaning against a shelf, heaving. That attack had practically spent all of her energy. The Harbinger woman was in a similar, albeit worse, condition. She lay on the floor a few feet away from Destiny, her chest moving up and down rapidly. In a moment, she began to dissolve into a series of twisting shadows, the life leaving her body. Destiny was confused, because Harbingers normally didn't dissolve like that, but she was in no condition to think. The area around her had been turned to complete rubble. There was practically nothing left other than dust and debris.
She slowly rose to her feet as the last bit of the woman dissolved. She turned to her comrades, eyes and tone in their regular state, despite her exhausted condition.
"I think—" Destiny heaved,
"I think that's the last of them."