Scrambling on all fours, the telekinetic hastily crawled over to the box, his fingers digging into the schlopping mud as he clawed his way towards it, before he lifted himself from the ground and flew over to it.

His body thumped against it heavily as he came to a halt, immediately pressing his ear against the box and listening closely. Beneath the torrential rain and the chaotic sounds of the ongoing battle, a soft noise tickled his ear.

In, then out. In, then out. A stunted and mechanical breathing sounded from within the box, like a set of blacksmiths bellows being pumped over and over to stoke a flame.

Licking his lips, the telekinetics hand brushed down the crate as the latches sealing the lid closed flicked themselves open. All he had to do was open the crate and release the weapon, and they would stand no chance.

The weapon would destroy them all for their sinful life.

The lid of the crate, which was actually one of its walls, cracked open and under the control of the telekinetic, began to fall open only to be slammed shut as a forcefield of solid light formed in front of the hatch to force it closed.

"What are you doing?!"

His commanding officer, the Paladin in charge of this transport, shouted down at him in a mixture of anger and confusion, his hand extended outwards as a soft white glow surrounded it.

"That weapon is not for here! It needs to get to the fort and prepare for the demon himself!"

The Paladin removed his hand, crossing his arms in front of him as he rapidly created a shield around himself. A bubble of light instantly appeared, cocooning the Paladin inside as multiple blades wielded by the Unkindly Guards slammed and scrapped against its surface.

The telekinetic waved his hand, ripping the weapons from the puppets hands - and taking the hands off those with a strong grip - before sending them flying backwards with a pulse of invisible energy.

They landed in a crumpled heap of metal, sliding across the mud, but as soon as they stopped they immediately began to rise once more. Two of them gathered their weapons while the third simply advanced with little care for his lack of weapons, or hands.

A few meters away, the banshee continued to let out deafening screeches, which washed harmlessly over Hildr's shield. With every scream, she braced herself behind the round, spectral wood that was far more durable than it seemed.

The sound-waves battered against the shield, forcing her to slide backwards with every screech. Ground she would quickly make back as she charged forwards, spear pointed downwards as she tried to skewer the enemy.

It didn't take a genius to be able to count the seconds between the screams, nor how long they lasted. Even if you weren't counting, it was becoming obvious. The banshee cries were growing further apart, lasting for less time.

He was running out of breath to scream with.

The rest of the paladins forces were not holding up either, being slaughtered by the remaining Unkindly Guards. When one of his number fell, the Unkindly would move onto the next, their numbers advantage steadily dwindling as these demonic abominations seemed immortal, and impossible to kill.

They didn't even bleed.

Whirling back to the telekinetic, the Paladin pointed a finger towards the crate.

"Take that, and run! Get to the fort now! GO!"

"But, The mission-"

"The mission was to get that thing to where it could be useful. The rest of us? If it is part of His Divine plan that we die this day, then so be it. I will die, and do so in a way that makes him proud.

May His Light guide you Brother."

The telekinetic bit his lip, wanting to offer a rebuttal, but nothing came to mind. Instead he turned away from his commanding officer and lifted from the ground, soaring into the air. The crate shifted on the ground, before shooting into the air after him. As did another figure.

Spectral wings spread and beating heavily against the wind, Hildr shot into the skies in pursuit of the rat fleeing the sinking ship.

She thrust her spear forwards, only to have it scrape harmlessly across the surface of a bubble of light, instead of plunging deep into the flesh of the telekinetic.

A pair of swords erupted from the chest of the Paladin, the glow on his hand flickering slightly before dimming completely. He fell to his knees, a smile on his face as blood trickled from his lips as he watched his companion escape.

Hildr swung her spear like a baseball bat, trying to get a hit in now that the force field had dropped, only for an invisible force to strike her in the chest, sending her blasting backwards and careening into the ground like a meteor.

But even still, as her attack was useless, she heard cries of pain coming from the skies.

An arrow, shot by a seemingly worthless archer and directed by a man with impossible vision, buried itself deep into the thigh of the fleeing Telekinetic. The second arrow he had taken today.

He bobbed in the air, threatening to fall, but somehow managed to keep himself in the air as he shot off into the distance. His flight wobbled and grew more unstable by the minute, but still fast enough to escape even the impressive range of Troy's bow. Especially when it was in the less than impressive hands of Ophelia.

Dragging herself from the mud, Hildr watched the telekinetic disappear into the distance with a stoic and emotionless face, yet there was almost a hint of something in her eyes. Irritation or perhaps... anger at being out performed.

She trudged over to the kneeling Paladin, the last survivor as the rest of his crew - bar for the irritating telekinetic - had been slaughtered.

He coughed up blood in an attempt to laugh, his teeth painted crimson as he twisted his face into a wide, condescending smile as he looked up at the towering, spectral Valkyrie from his knees.

"My God is smiling down upon me, can you say the same Demo-"

A spear was rammed through his throat, erupting from the back of his neck. His face was still twisted in a cruel smile as his spine was severed and his final words poured from his throat, and dripped from the shaft of Hildr's spectral spear.

Quickly, the light left the Paladin's eyes. Quite literally, as a mote of light emerged from his corpse, flowed across the length of the spear and disappeared into the Valkyrie. The spectral warrior glanced over the battlefield once more, checking for any survivors, before landing on the site of Brad's corpse... if the crushed ball of metal and viscera could even be called such.

With a flap of her wings, she gently flew over to the corpse and gently touched her hand against the surface of the crumpled metal. She lifted it into her hands, spreading her wings wide and launched into the sky, returning back to her corporeal master.

While the corpse ball rested in her hands, a small mote of light exited the ball, swirled around the Valkyrie's hands, before disappearing inside of her chest.

Her [Warrior Within] disappeared back into her body after laying the crushed sphere down onto the ground beside Ophelia, who let out a morose sigh. She lifted a communicator to her ear, speaking solemnly into it.

"Spirit Squad, reporting in. Mission Failed. Enemy squad was eliminated but... the target escaped with the single survivor. Reporting one injury and one casualty. Will move to Fort Alpha for extraction."

She sighed again as she stopped the communication, handing it back to Troy and, when the Unkindly Guards returned from across the field, she picked up what was left of Brad and started on the journey towards fort Alpha.

***

Dark and grey clouds hung over the city of Ravenkeep, the heaven's weeping incessently as the streets were running like rivers, they had so much water flowing through them. The once bustling streets had grown empty, as many no longer risked going out.

The Lightbringer had attacked them numerous times. Why would they leave the safety of their homes and risk being the victim of the next attack? Even in their homes they did not feel safe, as his assassins had snuck their way in once already.

The only one's out in the streets now where those that were confident in their own abilities, or had an even greater faith in their Lord. Despite the turmultous times, or perhaps because of it, the attendance of the church had only grown in numbers as more were drawn into it's warm embrace.

Perhaps if more had been on the streets in this faithful night, they would have noticed the shadow moving above the clouds. A colossal shadow, that darkened the sky even more as it flew behind the clouds, the beating of heavy wings causing the clouds to swirl and the wind to batter against windows even louder, as if they were in the middle of a storm.

As it approached the castle, the shadow shrunk, until a woman in pitch black armour landed on one of the balconies. Her leathery wings folded behind her, morphing themselves into a long flowing cloak.

A smile played on the woman's blackened lips, as she gazed at the box clutched tightly in her hands. A triumphant twinkle in her glowing, emerald eyes.

The Dragon had returned.