PART 2
As the sounds of battle echoed in the forest the shade had was moving quickly towards the tree when he suddenly halted. The elementals were gathering in force before him clearly in a state of displeasure and hostility. The shade examines the situation before him before raising up his hand towards them "I have no time to play with mindless dolls, but you might be able to make yourselves useful with the aether you carry". Soon after he finished his hand began to glow a dim orange tinge, upon closer examination one could see that the shade was fitted with a gauntlet with a corrupted crystal embedded into the gauntlet. The elementals began to gravitate towards the gauntlet but not of their own will, they were being dragged towards it and the closer they got the more aether was drained of them until there was nothing left. Quite a few elementals fell prey to this device while others backed off seeing the danger in getting close to such a thing. With the elementals no longer hindering him the shade proceeded to the tree with haste.
Upon arriving at the tree, the terrain surrounding the tree was considerably different and could even say it to be displaced from the rest of the forest a grove of sorts. There was a considerable amount of grass in the area around the tree, there were also trees of smaller size within the vicinity whose leaves were dyed a brilliant blueish hue. Some rocks also were scattered around the area with and there were a few that were fairly large. As the shade began to approach the tree a very heavy atmosphere soon enveloped the grove which caused the shade to ready his lance.No sooner after that the rocks scattered around begin to move around the grove and began to gather together, at first it seemed it would take on the appearance of your average golem however something different was occurring. Once the rocks were gathered some of the blue leaves on the smaller trees fell off and began to circle the rock formation, a concentrated amount of aether was being channeled into the rock formation and soon after a blinding last was cast throughout the grove in which the shade needed to shield his eyes. Once the light dissipated the shade looked towards the where the rocks once were and what stood before him looked nothing like the golems that inhabit the world.
![[Image: golem_by_shadowblitz.jpg]](http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs17/f/2007/210/c/a/golem_by_shadowblitz.jpg)
"Is this what the golems were meant to be? perhaps the shifting of aether throughout time reduced them to the state we see them now" As he thought this the shade maintained a defensive stance and kept complete focus on the golem before him. Suddenly the golem lunged towards the shade with a surprising swiftness and swung its axe towards the shade. The shade quickly put the lance in the path of the axe and as it made its approach collide with the body of the lance, however the force of the axe was great enough that it lifted the shade off the ground and launched him quite a distance. As he hit the ground a tumbled violently hitting an assortment of things before coming to a stop. After on the ground for a moment the shade got back up and began to walk back towards the grove while thinking of a plan of attack and assessing the damage he took. While he was able to defend against the axe the sheer impact dislocated his right shoulder and the resulting tumble caused him to suffer a slight head injury and some bleeding. He also noticed that some of his ribs may have been broken but simply pressed on without showing any sign that such an injury took place.As he walked he managed to pop his shoulder back into place but could not do much about the head injury or the broken ribs, the grove came into view once more and there stood the golem.
With his lance in hand the shade went on the offensive against the golem, and struck quickly and precisely at various spots and angles but all his strikes made little to harm on it. While striking the shade was also dodging the axe the golem was swinging, should he take another hit his injuries may become far more grave. The shades attacks held meaning though, he was trying to ascertain a point where the golems defense was weakest yet as the fight dragged on he could not find one, then upon dodging another swing of the axe he found what he was looking for. Upon a dangerously close examination the joint between the arm that wields the axe and the main body is more thinner than others, this may even explain the swiftness of the axe itself. Landing a strike on such a location is an issue though yet the shade fearlessly continues his offensive waiting for an opportune moment. As the fight carries on the shade although shrouded in his cloak smiles ominously and begins to talk to the golem "I don't know if you understand me but listen well guardian of light, the time where your strength mattered has long since passed, we now live in an age where the light can barely avert catastrophe costing many their lives in its struggles and ineptitude. The strength we seek in the for the coming trials are within the darkness this world scorns so much, and with that strength nothing will stand before us, so when I destroy you pass on this message to your master....Your blessing is worthless it protects nothing".
Whether it be a reaction to his words or just coincidence the golem swung its axe with a force far more significant than the others it was this moment the shade was waiting, using the gauntlet with the corrupted crystal he unleashed the aether he gathered from the elementals deflecting the axe and causing the golem to lose its balance and reveal its thinned defense. Within that moment a dark aura envelopes the lance the shade holds and with a powerful thrust strikes the it at the joint and easily pierces through it. The dark aura now spreads throughout the golem like a poison slowing its movements and breaking it down, soon it falls to the ground completely enveloped in the dark aura and then a moment later completely disappears, consumed by it. The shade looks where the golem fell and speaks again this time a bit more solemnly "Should your essence be reborn perhaps it will be it will be in a time where your strength is needed" with that he slightly limps over towards the tree and stands before it. He takes his lance once more and again a dark aura surrounds it, he pierces the tree and then sticks his hand into the hole he made in the trunk and removes a crystal with an incredible life force to it. "So this is what a crystal looks like when the lifestream envelopes it" he quickly tucks the crystal away and heads back towards his troops.
As he walks, the grove begins to wither and die now that the source of its life energy was removed, the surrounding forest also begins to show similar traits and countless leaves begin to fall like rain. The vibrant green hey held now an ash lifeless grey, the trees also began to lose its color. The shade talks into his linkpearl "I am returning, we have obtained what we wanted" as he finished he looked around at the dying forest and said to himself "Truly a worthless blessing."
As the sounds of battle echoed in the forest the shade had was moving quickly towards the tree when he suddenly halted. The elementals were gathering in force before him clearly in a state of displeasure and hostility. The shade examines the situation before him before raising up his hand towards them "I have no time to play with mindless dolls, but you might be able to make yourselves useful with the aether you carry". Soon after he finished his hand began to glow a dim orange tinge, upon closer examination one could see that the shade was fitted with a gauntlet with a corrupted crystal embedded into the gauntlet. The elementals began to gravitate towards the gauntlet but not of their own will, they were being dragged towards it and the closer they got the more aether was drained of them until there was nothing left. Quite a few elementals fell prey to this device while others backed off seeing the danger in getting close to such a thing. With the elementals no longer hindering him the shade proceeded to the tree with haste.
Upon arriving at the tree, the terrain surrounding the tree was considerably different and could even say it to be displaced from the rest of the forest a grove of sorts. There was a considerable amount of grass in the area around the tree, there were also trees of smaller size within the vicinity whose leaves were dyed a brilliant blueish hue. Some rocks also were scattered around the area with and there were a few that were fairly large. As the shade began to approach the tree a very heavy atmosphere soon enveloped the grove which caused the shade to ready his lance.No sooner after that the rocks scattered around begin to move around the grove and began to gather together, at first it seemed it would take on the appearance of your average golem however something different was occurring. Once the rocks were gathered some of the blue leaves on the smaller trees fell off and began to circle the rock formation, a concentrated amount of aether was being channeled into the rock formation and soon after a blinding last was cast throughout the grove in which the shade needed to shield his eyes. Once the light dissipated the shade looked towards the where the rocks once were and what stood before him looked nothing like the golems that inhabit the world.
"Is this what the golems were meant to be? perhaps the shifting of aether throughout time reduced them to the state we see them now" As he thought this the shade maintained a defensive stance and kept complete focus on the golem before him. Suddenly the golem lunged towards the shade with a surprising swiftness and swung its axe towards the shade. The shade quickly put the lance in the path of the axe and as it made its approach collide with the body of the lance, however the force of the axe was great enough that it lifted the shade off the ground and launched him quite a distance. As he hit the ground a tumbled violently hitting an assortment of things before coming to a stop. After on the ground for a moment the shade got back up and began to walk back towards the grove while thinking of a plan of attack and assessing the damage he took. While he was able to defend against the axe the sheer impact dislocated his right shoulder and the resulting tumble caused him to suffer a slight head injury and some bleeding. He also noticed that some of his ribs may have been broken but simply pressed on without showing any sign that such an injury took place.As he walked he managed to pop his shoulder back into place but could not do much about the head injury or the broken ribs, the grove came into view once more and there stood the golem.
With his lance in hand the shade went on the offensive against the golem, and struck quickly and precisely at various spots and angles but all his strikes made little to harm on it. While striking the shade was also dodging the axe the golem was swinging, should he take another hit his injuries may become far more grave. The shades attacks held meaning though, he was trying to ascertain a point where the golems defense was weakest yet as the fight dragged on he could not find one, then upon dodging another swing of the axe he found what he was looking for. Upon a dangerously close examination the joint between the arm that wields the axe and the main body is more thinner than others, this may even explain the swiftness of the axe itself. Landing a strike on such a location is an issue though yet the shade fearlessly continues his offensive waiting for an opportune moment. As the fight carries on the shade although shrouded in his cloak smiles ominously and begins to talk to the golem "I don't know if you understand me but listen well guardian of light, the time where your strength mattered has long since passed, we now live in an age where the light can barely avert catastrophe costing many their lives in its struggles and ineptitude. The strength we seek in the for the coming trials are within the darkness this world scorns so much, and with that strength nothing will stand before us, so when I destroy you pass on this message to your master....Your blessing is worthless it protects nothing".
Whether it be a reaction to his words or just coincidence the golem swung its axe with a force far more significant than the others it was this moment the shade was waiting, using the gauntlet with the corrupted crystal he unleashed the aether he gathered from the elementals deflecting the axe and causing the golem to lose its balance and reveal its thinned defense. Within that moment a dark aura envelopes the lance the shade holds and with a powerful thrust strikes the it at the joint and easily pierces through it. The dark aura now spreads throughout the golem like a poison slowing its movements and breaking it down, soon it falls to the ground completely enveloped in the dark aura and then a moment later completely disappears, consumed by it. The shade looks where the golem fell and speaks again this time a bit more solemnly "Should your essence be reborn perhaps it will be it will be in a time where your strength is needed" with that he slightly limps over towards the tree and stands before it. He takes his lance once more and again a dark aura surrounds it, he pierces the tree and then sticks his hand into the hole he made in the trunk and removes a crystal with an incredible life force to it. "So this is what a crystal looks like when the lifestream envelopes it" he quickly tucks the crystal away and heads back towards his troops.
As he walks, the grove begins to wither and die now that the source of its life energy was removed, the surrounding forest also begins to show similar traits and countless leaves begin to fall like rain. The vibrant green hey held now an ash lifeless grey, the trees also began to lose its color. The shade talks into his linkpearl "I am returning, we have obtained what we wanted" as he finished he looked around at the dying forest and said to himself "Truly a worthless blessing."
