Chapter 18:Spectacle Unseen
The vibration came first, a deep, rhythmic thumping that traveled up through the stone of the roof and into the very marrow of his bones. Xiall knew, with a certainty that chilled him, that it was the monster's footsteps. It was real. Horrifyingly real. Yet, when he tore his gaze from the distant horizon and looked down, the city of Avalon lay still and silent. No bells tolled in alarm. No shouts echoed through the streets. No army of knights surged toward the walls. It was a perfect, peaceful night, save for the dread coiling in his own gut.
This doesn't make any sense, he thought, a cold sweat beading on his forehead. Is it an illusion? Am I finally cracking under everything that's happened? Or… can they truly not see it? The last possibility was the most terrifying of all.
His eyes, sharpened by his unnatural focus, scanned the city's great wall. And there, on the highest watchtower, a figure stood. A knight, clad in armor of dark obsidian that seemed to swallow the strange blue light of the moon. Xiall was sure the tower had been empty a moment before. Had he simply appeared? The knight stood motionless, a statue of polished jet, his sapphire-blue cloak hanging unnaturally still despite the growing wind. His visored helm was fixed on the approaching abomination.
Then, the monstrosity roared.
The sound was a physical blow, a wave of force that made Xiall's ears pop and the ancient stones of the city wall tremble. He could feel it in his teeth. Below, the city slept on. The ordinary sounds of the night – a distant dog's bark, the creak of a sign – continued, blissfully unaware. The disconnect was so jarring it turned his fear into a nauseating vertigo. They're blind. They're all blind to it. But he could can see it.. terrifyingly vivid before him,Why couldn't they?
With a calm that bordered on arrogance, the obsidian knight drew his sword. The blade was as black as the knight's armor, but along its keen edge, a faint blue shimmer danced, as if it had captured a piece of the moon itself. The sight of that single, solitary figure preparing to face the mountain of flesh and rage was, in its own way, more frightening than the monster. Is he mad?he thought..the knight paled in comparison to the gigantic size and horrendous presence of that abomination..it was suicide..
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As if in answer, lightning tore across the sky, and the heavens opened. A torrential downpour assaulted the city, drenching Xiall in seconds. Icy water soaked through his tunic, and his white hair was plastered to his skull. The cold was a sharp, rational command: Get inside. Now. But his body refused to obey. The spectacle before him held him spellbound, a terrifying magnet for his senses.
Through the sheeting rain, the monstrosity loomed larger. It let out another roar, and this time, a different kind of pressure descended. It was not sound, but pure presence like the will of a god pressing down upon a mortal soul. It was a feeling of absolute insignificance. Xiall's knees buckled. He fell forward, his hands slapping against the cold, wet stone of the parapet. A shudder wracked his frame. His pulse hammered in his throat, a frantic bird trapped in a cage of bone. His sight flickered, his consciousness threatening to slip away. He felt like an ant under a giant's boot.Too insignificant to witness such monstrosity
Yet, the obsidian knight did not sway. He stood firm, a bastion against the storm of dread. He was unperturbed, his grip on his sword sure and steady. To him, the abomination seemed not like a world-ending threat, but like mere prey. The thought was chilling. What did that make the knight?
Then, the knight's power unveiled itself. A pure, black mist began to emanate from the tower, not like smoke, but like a liquid shadow pouring forth. Where this darkness spread, the laws of the world bent. The droplets of rain did not fall through it; they halted, suspended in mid-air by the thousands, glittering for a moment before slowly dissolving, not into water, but into more of the consuming dark mist. They were erased, transformed into nothingness.
Sorcery, Xiall realized, the truth clicking into place with stunning clarity. Of course it is. After the Colossal Soul Tree, the Great Hand, the Halos, and the ruined city of Eden, why would magic be a surprise? His own heightened perception was likely a form of it, an innate sorcery he never knew he possessed.
He fought against the pain building behind his eyes, struggling to keep the knight in sight. Within the heart of the expanding gloom, the knight stood firm. His dark armor was intermittently illuminated by flashes of lightning, and above his head, six blades of solidified darkness materialized. Each was as large as a man, and they circled him like a crown of dark thorns. They were not mere weapons; they pulsed with a life of their own, each emanating a pressure that vibrated through the very air.
Awesome, he thought, his mind grasping for a word grand enough. Simply divine.
A metallic taste flooded his mouth. Blood. He felt a warm trickle curl from his nostrils, dripping soundlessly onto the parapet. His lungs burned for air, his blood felt like fire in his veins, and a sharp, lightning-like pain struck deep within his brain. Ugh… He had reached his limit. The colossal pressure and the strain of maintaining his perception were too much. His body was breaking.
His vision receded, the enhanced sight snapping away like a cut cord. The world returned to normal with a jarring suddenness. The terrible pressure vanished. The monstrosity, the knight, the dark mist—all were gone. There was only the starless sky, the patter of rain, and the quiet city. He collapsed onto the rough, wet floor of the roof, gasping. The rain battered his prone form, drenching him, but he was too spent to care.
He had been right. The battle existed on a plane invisible to normal humans. It only manifested when he used his sorcerous sight. Perhaps it was the knight's power that hid it, or perhaps it was simply the nature of such conflicts. A strange sadness washed over him, mixed with the relief. He was sorry to have missed the end of the spectacle, terrifying as it was. It held a dark, irresistible intrigue.
A smile, weary but genuine, touched his lips. It was not a smile of happiness, but of sheer, staggering amazement.
Sorcery. So, that was true power.
Now he knew for certain. Avalon was a city of chills and thrills beyond mortal imagination. . All he had to do was learn to watch from the sidelines without getting himself killed.
Battered and weak..he forced himself up..he had seen enough for the night..he wasn't risking his sanity any longer..all he wanted was too climb back to his room,take these rain-soaked clothes off,clollapse on that fragile squeaky bed and wake up to a brand new sunny day...
One that was completely..normal..