Chapter 15

A black figure slowly rose from the decaying ground. The figure wore a black robe and held a black staff with a silver crescent on the end. His eerie moan rang in the team's ears as stood upright. He slowly turned to look at the team. His skull was stained with green and brown. He looked at Drowi's seperated body. 

"Looks like you really made a number on him..." Noirim said calmly. 

His voice was very deep and menacing. He slowly turned back towards the team. 

"You will be great additions to my undead army..." 

Lupin took a step back.

"This guy disgusts me..." Lupin said. 

Suddenly, red spheres appeared in Noirim's dark eye sockets. 

"Become my minions!" he yelled as he raised his staff. 

The ground began to split in random areas. Rotting hands bursted through the ground. Slowly, they grasped onto the ground and the undead creatures pulled themselves out of the earth. They all had a humanoid shape. They moaned and roared as they fixed their gaze at the team. Startled, Arestasia screamed at the sight. 

"Oh how delicious it sounds... I want more! Go, my minions! Feast upon their flesh!" 

Lupin readied two of his blades. Rosette changed back into its sword form. Dawnni raised his katana. The undead creatures stormed towards the team.  

"Stay on your toes boys." Arestasia hesitantly commanded. 

Dawnni and Lupin nodded. The first creature came near. Dawnni quickly spun around and decapitated it. Blood spewed from its neck as the limp body collapsed with a small thud. The other creatures didn't stop in spite of their fellow soldier. The team took down each creature, one by one. Blood flew everywhere, painting the woods and the team's clothes in a murky red. The smell of the rotting carcasses rose into the air as they slowly dissipated into the ground. Noirim laughed at the team. 

"You're not tired are you? We've just begun!" 

The team was breathing heavily. They were tired. 

"I can do this all day! Simply summon them back and watch you take them down. Eventually, you'll be too tired to even push forward and then that's when you'll be mine!" 

The team readied their weapons for the next wave of creatures. 

"But then again...that would be too boring. So I will do this..." 

Noirim raised his staff and the creatures rose from the ground again. 

"Come together my minions!" 

The creatures slowly turned into pitch black silhouettes and began to form together. The black figure slowly began to form into a larger human shape. When the transformation was near completion, its multicolored flesh began to appear. Scars stretched along its body. Mouths bearing sharp teeth were in random areas. The body had on a gray helmet that covered its whole head, hiding its face and held a scimitar made up of old condensed bone marrow. 

"How do like my new project? I call it the Titan of Mourning." the lich said. 

"This is so disgusting!" Arestasia exclaimed. 

"If we kill it, it's just going to be resurrected again. The only way we can stop that from happening is by killing Noirim." Lupin explained. 

"And, we do that how?"

"Holy power." Dawnni added. 

"But we need to get past this behemoth first..." Arestasia said. 

"Just give me some time to focus, I should be able to take down Noirim." 

Dawnni jumped back a few feet and knelt down. 

"Respaltia...hear my cry..." Dawnni started. 

"Come on Lu, we need to keep this lich busy." 

"Right!" 

 Arestasia and Lupin dashed towards the Titan. 

"Go forth, my beast!" 

The titan roared as it ran towards them, scimitar ready. They had reached each other. The titan's scimitar screamed in agony as it was swung towards both of them horizontally. Lupin quickly dived to the ground while Arestasia jumped into the air. Lupin quickly stabbed the titan in the knees, causing it to stumble forward. Arestasia descended, swinging her sword downward towards its head. The sword sliced into the helmet. Arestasia then swung downward, still holding onto Rosette, and kicked into the titan's stomach, stabbing it with her heels. The titan fell backwards and landed on its back. There was a feint silence as Arestasia walked to the unconscious creature and pulled her sword from its head. Lupin walked beside it and removed the blades from the creature's knees. The lich tilted his head in disappointment. 

"Oh dear...you killed it that quickly? I guess it had a helmet for a reason...no matter. It's not as useful as my special warrior..." Noirim said as he pointed his staff towards the titan. 

The titan began to sink into the ground as it slowly dissipated. 

"His guard is down." Lupin whispered to Arestasia. 

"I'm on it." 

Arestasia changed her sword to its whip form. Rosette quickly lunged towards Noirim with great speed. The sword was quickly deflected by a forcefield of dark energy. 

"I don't think so my dear..." 

The forcefield quickly condensed around Noirim and blasted towards Arestasia and Lupin, pushing them back several yards. The lich then swiftly raised his staff and the ground fiercely shook. 

"Get ready Ares..." Lupin said as they both quickly got up and readied their weapons. 

A curved sword bursted through the hardened soil in front of the two soldiers, startling them. Following the sword, a decayed hand burst through the ground. Arestasia and Lupin readied their stance. The undead creature slowly pulled itself from the earth and stood before them. He wore torn red silk garments and murky silk leggings. 

"This one..." Arestasia started. 

The creature quickly dashed towards the duo and began to slash repeatedly at Lupin. Lupin swiftly but strategically parried each attack. Arestasia swung Rosette at the creature, but it snapped its head towards her and swung its blade vertically, deflecting her strike and throwing her off balance. It then spun around and kneed Lupin in the stomach, causing him to hunch over. Arestasia jumped back a few feet and directed her palm towards the creature. 

"Rosette, strike!" she commanded. 

Rosette changed into its whip-like form and lunged towards the creature. 

"Donbei! Use the ability I have given you!" Noirim commanded. 

Donbei raised his sword as it swiftly emanated a dark purple aura. Lupin quickly moved away, still clutching his stomach. As Rosette came near, Donbei pointed the sword at Arestasia's blade and a black beam of evil energy blasted from it. Rosette quickly dodged the blast and wrapped around Donbei's arm. The beam continued towards Arestasia, but she ducked just in time. The beam hit a nearby tree, disintegrating it completely. 

"That was too close..." Arestasia thought to herself.

Lupin jumped towards Donbei, two blades in hand, and slashed at him swiftly. Donbei quickly tossed his sword into his other hand and parried each attack whiled Rosette dug into his arm. 

"I won't fall now!" Lupin yelled. 

Lupin jumped high into the air. He began to spin as he threw multiple blades into the ground around Donbei, one by one. He then landed a few yards away from him. 

"Rosette! Release!" Arestasia yelled. 

Rosette quickly let go of Donbei's arm and turned into its original form. 

"I won't let you get away with almost killing Arestasia!"

Lupin's hazel eyes revealed a deep anger that burned within him as they began to glow a bright blue. The blades began to do the same. They were all placed strategically in a giant circle around Donbei. A red line quickly stretched from one blade and connected to the rest, revealing a symbolic circle of spiritual energy. The symbol showed four entwined squares with sword in each of them. 

"Erase!" 

Donbei began glowing a bright blue and red as he slowly levitated upward. 

Suddenly, Donbei shined brightly before exploding with great force. 

"No! This isn't supposed to happen!" Noirim yelled as the smoke slowly cleared away. 

"I can't stand you little brats! It's a good thing I have been spending all of this time preparing my spell." 

Noirim raised his staff. 

"Demonic Plague!" He chanted. 

A black mist slowly came out of Noirim's dry mouth and moved eerily towards Arestasia and Lupin. The mist quickly spread outward. Arestasia and Lupin couldn't move nor breathe. A sick feeling began to form in them. The eyesight began to fade. Their lives were slowly fading. They suddenly heard a faint voice. 

"Seraphic Cleansing!" 

Singing voices soon followed and suddenly, Arestasia and Lupin felt empowered. They both looked back and saw Dawnni, with one hand in the air. His eyes and the inside of his mouth were glowing a bright white. Giant rings of light blasted around him repeatedly, expanding greatly. The beautiful choir's voices were delightful to their ears even though they couldn't figure out what they were saying. 

"What's going on?!" Noirim yelled. 

"'Resplatia shall heal the land' the angels doth sing," 

Dawnni's powerful voice echoed, "'Joy and peace, we shall bring, erase all things evil and wrong, and bless all good,' is their song..." 

As the rings expanded, the grass slowly became greener and greener. The trees began to rise. The animals regained their lives. The black mist swiftly disappeared. Arestasia and Lupin's fatigue quickly left them. Noirim's body began to weaken. He slowly hunched over. 

"My magic...it's fading..." 

Noirim slowly fell to one knee. Small white orbs began to lift from his body and from the ground. 

"The souls you have trapped here will not be tortured any longer!" 

Arestasia and Lupin stared in awe as the orbs flew into the sky. 

"No...my...souls..." 

Dawnni's whole body glowed a bright white. 

"Erase all things evil!" 

The bright glow released outward in a prolonged flash, engulfing the entire area. When the light cleared, the forest was lush with greenery. Flowers of all colors bloomed along the grass. The birds began singing. Noirim's corpse laid by a nearby tree, motionless. Suddenly, a dark purple aura began to rise from the corpse. 

"No way..." Arestasia said. 

The trio came together to get ready for what may come up. The purple aura shaped into a humanoid form. Its white eyes slowly opened.

"Thank you, I thought that I was going to be trapped for an eternity." the apparition softly said. 

Its voice sounded very feminine and soothing. 

"What do you mean 'trapped'?" Dawnni asked. 

"My name is Yakara," she started, "I am the deity of the deceased. A very powerful being named "Glast" had tricked me into falling into his plan for world domination. He implanted me into this corpse and made it do his bidding for a very long time."

She slowly turned her head, observing the area.

"It saddened me so very badly that the poor innocent people of this land had to go through so much torture. As well as it angered me that he used my power to do it. But you all saved them. They are all eternally grateful. I as well am eternally grateful for your courage." 

"Do you have any idea as of why Glast used your power to only terrorize this forest?" Lupin asked. 

"He did so to keep you from obtaining the crystal." 

The team gasped. 

"You know about the crystals?" Dawnni asked. 

"Indeed. The legendary swordsman had told me his plan many years ago for he can see into the future. He knew I was to be captured. It was fate." 

"This all seems so confusing..." 

"I know...but there isn't much time for me to explain everything. The legendary swordsman had given me a crystal to take you to the Deity Temple." 

Everyone gasped. 

"The Deity Temple?!" 

"All of your questions will be answered once you reach the temple." 

Yakara presented them with a purple crystal. 

"Go. Quickly, before the land of Visthalin becomes Glast's empire." 

Dawnni took the crystal and his teammates placed their hands on it. 

"Get ready for what's in store children..." Yakara softly said. 

A giant purple flash occurred and the team disappeared. 

"...for the real challenges have yet to come..."