Not like any other hunter. (Thalia.)

Ashford would slow down, even take a few steps back. This guy didn't have a ego to provoke, just a intent focus on the job. Crap. He needed to change tactics but he wasn't sure what he could even do without attacking them and seeing what happened. But before he could even do that, Akhenaten was already acting, summoning warriors of sand.

Unsure who's side he and Thalia were on, Ash began to move back towards the small hunter, careful till he realized that the sand warriors ignored him and were on there way to attack the Shadow... Only for them to vanish into shadows. That was when the swirling shadow gave them the honor of his voice, giving a threat to Thalia's Queen, her homeland, Arcadia. His current goal, absorb the champion, Akhenaten. Power. This situation was looking a hell of a lot worse then before and he still had no way of knowing what could harm this creature.

With his focus on the creature, his feet making way to Thalia, Ashford felt a little confused when the mess of shadows became a swarm of bats. It then reformed and began to move, only this time towards the little hunter. "T-Damn it." Ash turned and almost started running to the two, only to stop a moment to look to Akhenaten, who was roaring in an anger, Ashford felt like he had heard it before, coming from someone he knew long ago.

He also saw how the barrier was cracked by the mere sound. If this being wanted the Champions power, he must have been confident he could take Akhenaten easily. Holding his bandaged hand to the large being, he hoped Akhenaten would pay him little attention as he yelled. "Don't!" Before sprinting towards the shadow that now held Thalia in his grasp, a large sword ready to strike the false Queen, who while durable. Well, this Shadow being knew that.

And with everything he didn't know about this creature, it's power, it's weaknesses. He focused on the thing he had to do, protect, and dived to land atop the girl just as the Shadows sword was brought down with the intent to pierce the girl, instead, it made contact with the midst of Ashfords back. The icy sword bouncing away upon impact, leaving Ashford flat atop Thalia as he hissed loudly in pain along with the crackle of bones in his back breaking, using his metal arm to quickly roll himself off the girl with even more hisses, he painfully growled out a single word. "Move..."

Thalia thought about how she was going to fail her mission. Her mismatched eyes locked with the tip of the frosty blade. She was deeply frustrated with how dumb she had been. She was angry that she didn’t do a better job. This wasn’t like her. Despite her size and lack of physical power, Thalia was an apex predator. There wasn’t a single rogue demon she had come across that had managed to best her. Yet here she was at the mercy of some strange being she had never encountered before. The little demon took her eyes off the sword and looked to Ashford as he ran towards her.

The shadowy figure drove the icy sword forward with the intent to kill the tiny demon. Instead, the frost coated bladed would ricochet off of something. Ash had managed to wedge himself in between the figure and Thalia. His coat had absorbed the blow and caused the shadow to stagger. A deafening roar filled the sandstone chamber as the being reeled. The figure spun around to face the enraged ancient champion. “You’ll have to wait your turn!” the shadowy figure barked, to which Akhenaten retorted with a blast of sunlight.

The beam of sunlight sent the figure crashing through one of the pillars that lined the chamber. The shadow writhed around in the sand, groaning in hissing at the pain that had been inflicted upon him. He wouldn’t stay down for long however. A true testament to his strength and perseverance. Another aggressive roar from Akhenaten brought the shadow’s attention to the barrier that held the beast back. The cracks were spreading. While the figure may have sought to get past the barrier, he didn’t want that happening while Madeline and her lackey were here.

He’d hold out a single hand and the darkness that had been consuming the barrier soon began to cover the cracks instead.

While all this had occurred, Thalia had scrambled to her feet. Her attention was split between the failing barrier around Akhenaten and the mysterious man. It was in this moment that the little hunter noticed a crucial detail about the being made of shadows. A huge chunk of his shadow visage was missing. Right in the spot that Akhenaten had blasted him with sunlight. Beneath the shadows, Thalia could see a crimson looking tunic and some bits of metal no doubt belonging to a breast plate of some kind.

The tiny demon hunter would kneel down beside Ash. “Are you ok?”

“Oh that’s rich. You show concern for your pawns now. Where was that compassion for us?!” the shadow would shout, motioning to himself and Akhenaten.

Ashford hadn't felt this much pain in a very long time. Maybe because the last time he fought something this strong was... Lucian and King. No... He felt around Lucian level. She wasn't nearly as physically powerful as that guy. Letting out a bone rattling breath, Ashford tried to raise himself, only to find the numbing pain in his back wouldn't let him yet.

Glancing over to Thalia, he let out another breath and tried again. This girl couldn't worry about him, he couldn't even worry about himself. They had a foe and from all the sounds he heard, something had happened. Sitting himself up. Ashford noticed a few things. The barrier was now being held. Which meant Mr Shadows here didn't want the Champion out unlike before. This Madeline must be a sight to behold. Maybe as honored as Abi. He also saw something under the Shadow being. So he did have something under all those Shadows...

Upon hearing the angered words of the Shadow, Ashford looked back to Thalia and smiled. Sitting himself up despite the fact his back was quite frankly, shattered. One good thing about the coat was that no matter the state of his body, it would keep him fighting. It just sucked. A lot. "Don't worry about me. Just a bruise. The important thing. Is that a physical being is under that coat of shadows, and you are the Queen. Akhenaten might prove useful to us, till then. I'm going to try and... Umm... Stab him. You plan, and be careful, the Queen has no need to act with haste, I assume." Ashford kept his voice low and his wording careful for the last part of that sentence, unsure how this Shadow was like. For all he knew, they could be like the Manticores of the Grave keepers. Sharp senses. He assumed Thalia was no where close to the power of the Queen, so her attacking would quickly give that away. The little hunter needed to be careful and smart, but he couldn't say such in a way without being as if ordering her. He just had to hope she was indeed, smart.

Coming to his feet, Ashford moved the rapier around till he held it firmly in his right hand and began to move towards the Shadow. His left hand writing up a fire bolt as he walked with a funny limp, his back seeming to drag downwards with each step before tightening back up. When the bolt was complete, Ashford ran at the Shadow and fired the bolt at them, not suspecting it to do much, but his next action was to lunge at them and thrust the rapier below where he saw the tunic of red. He couldn't kill with the rapier, but he hoped he could hurt them, badly.

Thalia knew Ashford was trying to act tough for her sake. But the little demon couldn’t stand to see someone else get hurt doing her job. She had half a mind to tie the stubborn man up with her hair. Her heart slightly sank as she helped Ash up off the ground. He was in no condition to keep fighting. It was a mystery to her, just how this man was still able to move. Thalia didn’t want to let Ash go, but she knew nothing she could say would get him to change his mind.

As he moved past her, Thalia slowly made her way over to the barrier holding Akhenaten back. Ash suggested they use the ancient king to their advantage, but that was not an idea she could entertain. The old champion could not be let loose. His mind was too far gone and his power was to wild to contain. If he or any of the other champions were to be released they could bring utter destruction to the planet. As the little redhead drew closer to the barrier, the enraged king seemed to calm. His massive bird like visage lowered down to meet Thalia’s gaze.

For some reason the feeling Thalia got when looking into the champions burning eyes was intimate. A weird sensation came over her, and for some reason she was compelled to reach out to the old king. She slowly placed her metal hand against the barrier. Akhenaten responded by raising a single talon and tapping it against the barrier where her palm was. Visions of Madeline from the past flooded through the tiny hunters head. It was almost like watching history first hand. These memories, they were hers as much as they were Madeline’s. In that brief moment she could have sworn she heard the ancient champion mumble the queens name.

Thalia soon found herself stumbling away from the barrier. She understood now why Madeline paid so much attention to Akhenaten over the other ancient champions. She…She loved him, they loved each other. It soon dawned on why Madeline chose to send Thalia for this job. She was the only one other than the queen who could calm the beast. She took a deep breath and gave Akhenaten a serious yet reassuring look. Turning away from the barrier, Thalia would see Ashford making his move.

As the bolt of fire launched forth, the shadow figure merely sidestepped the attack. It was what Ash was hoping for. The figure however, was well aware that he was being set up. As the rapier tip drew close to its target, the being would disperse into a cloud of bats. The swarm would move up and back before the being would reform in mid air. As the being fell towards the ground, he’d draw his sword and swing it downward, knowing well enough the blade wouldn’t reach Ash. That was the point. When the being finally touched down and the blade of the frosty sword hit the ground, a cascading wave of sharp icicles would shoot forth in Ash’s direction.

Ashford let out a growl of frustration as his rapier sliced open air. The swarm of bats surrounded him and went upwards, much like before. Jumping back a few cautionary jumps. The second gave him a moment to think. Ash needed an indirect attack in a way the Shadow couldn't see coming. Otherwise he'd just turn into the bats at the first sign of danger. Whatever that Akhenaten fellow did, it worked. They needed another one of those.

Ashford found his thoughts brought back to the falling shadow, who's sword was far, far off point. Almost as if that was... Ash realized his mistake in not moving upon noticing that fact a little too late as the sword hit the ground and a tidal wave of icy spikes made there way towards him. Knowing he couldn't run from it, he instead charged head on into it, putting the rapier into his left hand and spinning at the last second to place his metal hand behind his head and his coat to the ice. He'd stab the black rapier into the ground in front of him and kneel, bracing for the impact and feeling it, sharp itches pounding into his broken back, breaking the ice as it connected, chips of metal flying off his metal hand from the cool temperature attacking it, the ice sharing the same fate as the ice on his coat. The pain of spikes finding there way into the back of his legs and feet.

Taking in a breath, Ashford continued his thoughts. He couldn't take this guy out alone. He simply was not something Ashford could face alone. Luckily, he had Thalia, and Thalia would think of something. Till then, he had to keep tanking the pain and keep the Shadows attention on him. Standing, Ashford would slice his rapier along the icicles in his legs, cleanly slicing though them before pulling some of them out. With the pain... Numbing. Ashford turned and looked to the Shadow. Holding his arms wide. He was a horrid site of cuts, scars and pains, the scars most evident with his left arms bandages being cut in places. Something he'd have to fix later, he hated people looking at his left arm, a arm entirely covered in scar tissue. "So I've been thinking. Queen threw you aside? Right? No compassion for her little failure of a being. You're jealous aren't you?" Ashford laughed a little, coughing up just a little blood while he was at it. That wasn't a good sign.

"Tell you what. Come at me... Failure. Try and strike me down. I'll laugh when you fail just like you must have before to have been thrown away. Why don't you cry a little more about it, I'll make sure to listen and 'care.' As you flail about. Mmk." He made sure he put the snarkiest tone he could. This guy might not have an Ego. But he had a personal connection, a grudge. All Ashford had to do was guess words and throw insults out. He could survive whatever this guy threw at him. But only Thalia could defeat him most likely, with or without the help of Akhenaten. Maybe with. Oh Mystic he hoped with.

The shadowy being seemed to shrug off Ash’s comments. As a matter of fact he almost seemed to chuckle at them. “What a pathetic creature Madeline has managed to dredge up.” he said. With a wave of his hand the frost coated sword vanished. The glowing red eyes peered past the darkness, directly at Ashford. He could strike this fool down where he stood, but he was just that, a fool. No doubt he was a pawn, a lost soul. Madeline probably promised him riches and power beyond measure. “To think the title of champion means so little these days.”

The beings voice trailed off. For some reason Akhenaten had grown awfully quiet. The red eyes shifted from Ash and over towards the barrier. The little redheaded goddess had pacified the great king. This would prove to favor him in this altercation as he would not have to worry about the ancient champions rogue attacks.

In the time the being had been messing with Ash, Thalia had been preparing. She hesitated for a moment when she saw Ash take the brunt of the shadows attack. She wanted desperately to tend to him, but doing so would get them nowhere. Thalia had to act, and that is exactly what she did. Reaching for her tools, Thalia retrieved the eye once more and had locked onto the shadowy being. With a slight squeeze of the ice encrusted eye, a large spear of ice shot forth. The shadow reacted to the blast by quickly raising one of its hands. Its entire forearm became covered in a gauntlet that resembled a lions head.

A single fireball would launch from the lions mouth and meet the shard of ice mid flight. The small chamber was immediately filled with a cloud of mist. The pause in combat gave the Shadowy being a moment to reflect on the type of attack he had just been met with. He’d never seen anything like it. Rather, he had never seen Madeline do anything like that. She was never one to use tools…..other than her pawns. So why was she using the eye of a demon to attack him? Was she truly that weak? It seemed as though despite the passage of time, the demon queen had failed to regain her power. This brought a sinister grin to the beings face.

While the cloud of mist persisted, Thalia quickly made her way over to Ash and dragged him back towards the barrier. “You sit right there mister. You cant take much more punishment. And I refuse to sit back and let someone else do my job for me!”

Damn, this guy was just too focused on his goal, which, in all honesty, was commendable. Some could not share what this man held. If words and swords couldn't touch him, what could? No matter, the being took his attention away from Ashford and back to the little hunter and the champion, which gave Ash enough time to work on removing the rest of those icy shards that had embedded themselves in his leg.

Yet as soon as he got the last one out, the chamber was filled with a mist that blocked his sight. His skin pickled as if steam was what was... No, no it was steam, not mist. He tried to remember just where the shadow was before he felt a hand on his arm and he was dragged away, a surprised yelp coming from him. He walked with who he now recognized as Thalia. Taking him to the base of the barrier so that he was now next to this large being, his ears berated by the little hunter, something that caused him to chuckle just a little.

"Please, I've suffered... Actually... No.. No, wait. Yes I have... Maybe. Point is, I can take more then this. You got a plan yet or swinging till it drops still the to go." He'd cough out, racking his memory as he went on. He also gave this Akhenaten a sideways glance, mouthing a small hello before, deciding to take the pleasure of sitting down, finding comfort in not having his legs carry his weight. The girl could tell him her plan while he sat, there was no shame in that, none at all.

But if she were to go alone, well, he couldn't just allow that. And this Champion, Akhenaten. He seemed to care for Thalia.. Well, Madeline. And while he wasn't sure what exactly his purpose, or the girls full mission is with the big guy, he knew that when you care for someone, you do quite a bit for them. He knew that well, so if he could, he'd have to get the giant man to help despite Thalia's requests or her wants. For Ashford himself wished not to see her harmed. Maybe his weakness that. He cared just a little too easily, but he didn't care, she was just too damn adorable.

The cloud of steam filled the room, obscuring the shadowy beings view. The being took a moment to collect himself and his thoughts. There was something very off about this whole situation. He couldn’t remember a time where he had ever seen Madeline use a tool to fight. He had initially chalked it up as her compensating for lost power, But the more he reflected on the small demon the more he began to notice small differences. The more he pointed out the differences in his mind, the more he began to doubt that she was actually Madeline. Her horns were a different shape. Her hair was far too long. She was using items to fight. And her eyes, He hadn’t paid much attention to them, but now as he thought about them, he could have sworn they were a different color.

This only infuriated the shadow further. It was typical of Madeline to trick people. This was like a big slap to the face while she slipped him the finger. A loud roar of anger escaped his mouth. The lion gauntlet vanished and was soon replaced with the frost covered sword. He’d bring the sword behind him a twirl it with magnificent ferocity. The rotation of the blade cause a small vortex which ate up the mist and cleared up the room. The very moment his sight fell upon the two he’d fling the blade forward almost like a buzz saw. This caused the mist that had been pulled to him, to rapidly freeze and then be flung forward. A series of sharp icicles would be sent hurdling towards Thalia and Ash.

Acting solely on instinct and selflessness, Thalia quickly positioned herself between Ash and the icy shrapnel. The sudden jolt of pain from hundreds of little needles piercing her skin caused the little demon to tense up and even wince from the pain. Strands of her hair fell at her feet as they two were victim to the frosty attack. “I wont let you hurt them!” she shouted at the shadowy figure.

“Just as I thought…You’ve got to much of a heart to be Madeline. Figures she’d send one of her pets to play tricks on me.” he’d retort before throwing forward his free hand. A thick black mist would shoot forward at Thalia before bursting into a swarm of shadowy bats. The small cloud of bats would knock the little hunter slightly off balance and it was at this point the being would lunge forward, sword ready to pierce the tiny clones body.

As if on cue, no plan would be made. Thalia wouldn't have been given the chance to even tell him one, to even act. The mist of steam was noticeably shifting, as if being sucked away. What revealed itself was the shadow, angry looking and ready to attack, which made Ashford regret something he did. Sit down.

Rushing to stand, the Shadow brought his sword forward and with it, came a storm of ice shards, an attack Ashford was sure he would not be able to protect the entirety of his body from. His arm came up to hide his face and he waited. Only to see a red body come up and no icicle found it's way to him. Instead. They. All. Hit. Her. Coming to a full stand, Ashfords eye watched Thalia with almost a sense of confusion, before the voice of the Shadow came back, outing that Thalia's disguise as the Queen of Arcadia. He knew.

And as if the fact he knew invigorated him to act, the Shadow creature sent a swarm of bats that were not him at the now injured girl. Causing her to unbalance and Ashford did not need to even think about what happened when one was off balance to act himself. Drawing the black rapier into his left hand, he dashed forward and used the fact the girl was off balance to barge himself into her place, hoping to knock her aside and away from the danger of this sword, he'd throw his rapier in front of him and putting his metal arm under it to stabilize the rapier as it came into contact with the icy sword.

Knowing the strength of this being was far above his own, Ashford tilted the blade to connect not directly with it, but under, using his metal arm to support himself and bracing his feet to take the impact, and with all that, he'd attempt to parry the blade, to throw the large sword upwards and to use the chance to lunge forward himself, the rapier aimed to thrust for where he had seen armor and physical proof of a being under this blanket of Shadows. Knowing he wouldn't have another shot like this to injure the being.

The sound of metal clashing filled the chamber as Thalia’s knees landed in the sand. Her body ached all over and her wounds failed to start healing as the shards of ice were still embedded in her skin. She shook her head back and forth, as if shaking away the pain as she looked up from the sand and over to Ash and the shadow. Ashford managed to deflect the frost covered blade upwards and with a wide open window of opportunity, he took advantage. Ash would drive the blade of his black rapier straight through the shadowy figure.

There was no groan or cry of pain. The shadow merely stood there quite perplexed by the whole situation. He seemed more confused as to why the man in the coat thought such an attack would work on him. Not only did the attack fail to produce any real results, but it left Ash in prime striking position. The shadowy being took note of how he blade had glanced off the man’s coat earlier. This time around he made sure to put extra force behind his swing and even tried to aim for the bits not covered by the coat.

A second clash of metal would echo through the chamber. This time it wasn’t the sound of two blades clashing. Instead it was the sound of the frosted blade coming into contact with a metal hand. The being immediately glanced over to the golden palm holding his blade. His glowing red eyes were met with a pair of amber ones. They were ablaze with anger. Upon seeing this sight, the being planed on teleporting backwards, but he was not quick enough. A small bit of darkness overtook the room for a brief moment. There was a large rush of air and a loud bang. In the blink of an eye, the being had gone from being mere inches from Ash’s face, to being on the other side of the room.

“Well, well, well. I should have figured you were the one that’s been hunting my precious champions. Someone’s been playing with things that arent theirs.” The voice came from the owner of the amber colored eyes. Standing next to Ash was a much taller more regal looking version of Thalia. While her hair wasn’t quite as long, it was still as red and majestic.

“Took you long enough to come crawling out of the shadows.”

Thalia’s mismatched eyes lit up with glee when they fell upon the new arrival. Though at the same time a wave of shame and sadness overcame her.

“Pick your head up little one. You did great!” the woman with the metal arm said glancing over her shoulder. “Don’t mistake my being here with failure. I’m here because this is a matter I must attend to.” she said. Her burning gaze shifted back to the shadowy being. Without turning her gaze away, she addressed the man at her side. “I’ve been watching you for a while now. Thank you for looking after my little hunter.”

“Don’t think that you being here changes anything. I will kill you for what you’ve put me through.” The shadowy being spat before raising a hand to the sky. A series of dark puddles appeared all around the room and more hooded wraiths rose from them. These wraiths were not alone however. This time they came with what looked like lean rabid looking animals made entirely of shadow. “While you’ve been sleeping, I’ve been getting stronger! You will not leave this place ALIVE!”

“Ugh this guy….”

The parry worked, a sign something was going to go right. he even managed to get the rapier into the shadows and Ashford would never admit how proud he felt to get it there. Only, whatever pride he felt vanished by the way of no reaction from the stabbing. The Shadow seemed unfazed. That shouldn't be. Ashford was sure he stabbed this thing where he saw the armor. Did he miss? Did the Shadow's host simply move himself away from where the blade was going? Did he hit and simply did nothing?

Ashford was less inclined to think that final thought to be the true one. The rapier could kill anything. Cut anything. And while he himself had never been touched by the blade of it, he knew those who had. But that didn't matter right now, couldn't. His attack, for whatever reason, failed. And now this thing was retaliating and Ashford couldn't help but realize his options were limited.

The force behind this thing would destroy him, hit or block. The frost made it so he could quite possibly cut though the arm of four if it was cold enough to freeze on impact. And his left arm didn't have the stability to even try to block a swing like that, even with the black rapier. So, he was kinda screwed. Damn it, he hated dying.

However, his fate was saved by yet another metal hand, rather then the bone chilling sound of his death, his eye glanced to the golden hand that held the sword. And the next moment, the Shadow was gone, back to his side of the tomb and by Ashes side was a taller Thalia... No. The Queen. Taking the Black rapier and putting it back into it's sheath. Ashford took the moment to size this supposed War goddess. Again, a flash of Lucian crossed him, but no. Like Thalia, this woman was no where close to the time lord.

Still, her presence meant Ashford could take a moment to just breath. Allow his muscles and bones to restore themselves, not fast enough to settle before this matter was finished but... Well it made him feel better. In all cases, he should be a dead man. It happened when a human decided to put themselves in matters humans really shouldn't be apart of. But he couldn't lament all of this now, because he was in this situation and he wasn't exactly a normal human. Not as long as he wore the coat.

His mind stopped focusing on himself to catch the Queens words when she seemed to talk to him, to which he could only shrug. Normally he was a little more formal among royalty. Abi and... It was instilled into him. But right now he just couldn't care. "It was my pleasure. And I keep promises." Ashford stated, moving his eye to the Shadow and finding that an entire army was now spawning in this tomb. Which was just. Great.

And when the Shadow was done with his declaration, and Madeline's words. Ash shook his shoulders and harrumphed, readying his chipped metal arm. "I want to assume a creation or an Ex. Whatever the reason. Kill him quickly or something. I'm sure me and Thalia can waste our time dealing with those bloody things, less you got something for us to do. Otherwise. Do what War gods do best. Fight." Ashford mumbled out as he took a step forward, before proceeding to stagger a little. A wince on his face betraying him as he stood himself up straight and tried to ignore the slowly dying pain that encompassed him.

Madeline’s amber eyes would shift to Ash for just a moment. She gave the broken man a once over before a devilish smile crept onto her face. With a light shove Madeline would push Ash to the ground before strutting forward. “Watch and learn little man.” she said with a slight chuckle. Thalia would gingerly scoot over to Ash’s side and flash him a great big smile. “That mean’s she likes you. She’s done far worse to demons that have done far less than attempting to boss her around.”

The demon queen would hold her right hand out to her side. Electricity began to arc around her hand before a large swordspear materialized out of thin air. The shadow cowered behind his small army. He cradled his ribs where the bolt of dark energy had hit him. It didn’t take but a second for the goddess to turn into a blur of red, black, and gold as she took her swordspear and began a deadly waltz. The wraiths and their animal counter parts attempted to keep up with the queen, but she was far to fast for them. Any attempts to defend themselves or attack came to late.

After a series of graceful moves Madeline was once again face to face with the shadowy being. Her eyes flared with fiendish glee as she stared the shadow dead in the eyes. “Are you sure when you said you were getting stronger, that you didn’t mean you were getting weaker?” she said as she quickly raised her weapon to strike. The shadow had other plans however. He would not back down from this fight, not till the demon before him fell. “You’ve always been so focused on they end goal that you fail to see all the little pieces of the puzzle.” With a slight nod of the head, the being motioned towards Thalia and Ash. A bunch of puddles of darkness had formed around them and more wraiths and shadow beasts were beginning to crawl their way out.

Madeline took her eyes off the figure for just a moment. It was this moment of weakness that gave the shadow an opening. As the demon goddess of war turned to check on her little clone and Ash, she felt an extremely cold sting through her abdomen. Thalia found herself unable to hold back the gasp of shock and worry as she saw the shadowy figures frosted blade protruding through her queens side. Madeline found herself cursing this new found heart of hers. All this caring for others was really a downer. Still, as annoyed as she was, a sinister smile did creep onto her face. Her metal hand reached up and grabbed tightly onto the blade of the beings sword. She began to chuckle a bit as she glanced over her shoulder. “Ooh I see you’re actually going to make this fun for once.”

Steam began to rise off the blade of the shadows sword. He seemed awfully concerned by Madeline’s nonchalant attitude towards her current situation. He began to try and pry his sword from the demon’s body but her grip was to strong. The being’s face would be introduced to Madeline’s elbow before he could give his weapon another tug. He stumbled back holding his face. “Thalia darling. You’re going to have to stop playing around and get serious for me ok?”

The little demon nodded gleefully to her queens request and shot to her feet. It was like the queens words were a magical cure all as Thalia seemed to completely ignore the pain she was in. As her wounds began to close up, two strands of hair extended to both her hands. Wrapped in in them were two more of the little demon’s homemade weapons. In one had rested what resembled a made with a smooth orb for a head. In the other hand was an old fashioned blunderbuss. “Come Ashford. You heard my queen!” the little demon spoke with a reinvigorated sense of purpose and strength.

Ashford let out a grunt when he felt a palm on his coat, catching himself with his chipped metal hand as he fell to the ground. Hearing a somewhat arguably wrong taunt from the arguably smaller woman then himself. But he didn't have the energy to retaliate. Finding himself almost slowly lowering himself to the ground now that he was close to it... Just a few more inches.

He however, jolted back to upper position, shifting around to slowly stand himself as the small hunter made her way to him, stating he was at least apparently liked by the Queen. "Hmh." Was all he got out. He wasn't sure how he felt about this supposed Queen, this supposed War goddess. She came to clean up a mess of hers at the very least, which was more then enough to be considered at least competent in Ashfords book.

More so, he kept his eyes on the woman. Guessing that now that she was here, she'd feel the need to get this done herself. Which Ashford wasn't sure was a good thing or a bad thing. Unluckily however, he took note of shadowy pools forming around him and the small hunter, wraiths and shadow bunnies climbing out of them, leaving the two in danger despite the Queens appearance.

Pulling out the rapier, Ashford glanced at the beautiful blade. If a world ending weapon such as itself could even be considered, beautiful, proceeded to thrust the rapier into the ground, all the way to the hilt, the stone no match for the blade. He never figured if these Shadows had souls or not. They seemed to have there own... Quirks, if the first Wraith was any inquiry. But what it meant in the end was that the rapier was about as useful as it was dangerous, and in the ground was the safest place he could think of to keep it.

And that left him with only his chipped arm and the coat as his weapons as he looked to the swarm of foes that surrounded them. Thalia herself seemed to have a limitless supply of weapons for herself and even grew the power in that small body of hers to give a small battle cry, which caused him to yell out his own as he lunged at a wraith that was climbing out of one of the shadow pools. He was tired, hurt, hungry, and filthy, but most of all. He was annoyed. Digging his claws into the face of this half formed wraith, Ashford took the sword from the back of the wraith and pulled it out, before lunging to the next, swinging and slashing without abandon.

Thalia, the champion, Akhenaten, the Queen and the Shadow were out of his mind for the moment as he danced between shadows and wraiths, ripping and slicing, pushing his broken body further then he should. The coat was taking hits every few steps, his hand and legs taking there own hits. The pain mounted further and further the more he moved, yet he kept moving, venting all of it with every swing of the swords he kept taking and moving on from, the feeling of armor and flesh tearing in his claws. It was moments like this, that he wondered what she felt, when she danced though the army's that came to face her, her clawed fingers cutting though every single solider. He assumed it must have been something like how he felt now. But so much better then this still.

Seeing both Ash and Madeline in action was enough to get Thalia’s blood pumping. Much like her more adult and complete counterpart, Thalia always got excited when a fight was on despite being a relatively pacifistic individual. Every swing of her mace would cause the little metallic flakes inside the orb to strike one another, causing the weapon to erupt with electricity. While her strength may not have been enough to topple the hooded wraiths, the shock from her mace had some effect. While the wraiths weren’t dropping like flies she was able to keep them at bay. After suffering a nasty jolt from the weapon one of the dead beings seemed to convey a message to the others warning them about the weapon.

Madeline could hear the fight going on behind her but she would not take her eyes off the shadow. Not after what he had just done. The two stared at one another in odd silence. With a sudden hiss, The shadow threw his free hand forward. The shadows surrounding it formed a whip of darkness. He began to take several snaps at Madeline. The force behind each crack of the whip caused mini sonic booms. All this bravado did not impress the queen of Arcadia at all. She maintained eye contact with the shadowy figure all while skillfully dodging his attacks.

Eventually the shadow pulled his arm back and summoned forth his sword. With a hard kick off the ground, he being lunged forward with incredible force and speed. Madeline responded in kind, with a ruthless display of why she was called a goddess. With a simple wave of her metal arm, a large shield would form while it was in motion. By the time the shadow’s sword got anywhere near Madeline, it was already being deflected. In one fluid movement, Madeline not only deflected the frost covered sword, but she also managed to rotate her body with enough torque to thrust her swordspeard forward. Knowing all to well that the move would seriously damage him, the shadow burst into a cloud of bats and reappeared behind the queen.

Meanwhile Thalia and Ash continued to try and hold their own against the wraiths and their pets. Ash’s aggression wasn’t enough to outright kill the wraiths with a swing of the sword, but it was enough to kill any time he stabbed with it. The wraiths that were hit with swings were easily knocked to the ground. The shadow animals stood less of a chance against the duo as they had no armor like their masters. Despite their great efforts, Thalia and Ash were outnumbered and out matched. For every wraith they took down two more took its place. The shadowy beings armor continued to refresh itself. Thalia had taken note of it earlier but was hopeful that there would have been some end to them. When it started to seem like there wasn’t, she decided to resort to desperate measures.

Reaching into one of her pouches with a strand of hair, Thalia retrieve a very small dark colored ball. Taking it in her metal hand, she looked to Ash with a somewhat gloom expression. “Ashford. Please forgive me for anything bad that happens in the coming moments.” With that she slipped the little ball into her mouth.

“Thalia, NO!” Madeline shouted from across the chamber. Her concern for the little demon, once again giving the shadow an opening. He’d seize the opportunity to stab her once more, only for the blade to bounce right off her skin. The demon queen would quickly spin around to face the being. “That’s not going to work a second time.” Dumbfounded as to why his attack hadn’t worked, the shadow received a boot to the chest which sent him flying backwards a few feet.

The chamber would echo with an angry roar from the tiniest body in the room. Thalia’s eyes seemed to light up and her breathing became very accelerated and heavy. While the wraiths all stared in confusion, the little demon hunter lunged forward. Thalia went from being a rather docile creature to being a red blur of boundless furry as she ruthlessly began to swing her mace around. The impacts of her strikes managed to start leveling the wraiths. As she had moved through the chamber, A strand of her hair picked up the top portion of her hammer and began to swing it around as well. The little demon began to use everything at her disposal to deal with the wraiths.

Fighting a endless army was something Ashford wasn't use too doing. Most of his battles were single digits. Not dozens and his experience showed. So did his left eye. He would focus on one, be attacked by three more. If it wasn't for his coat, he would have been useless. At least, at the start of this skirmish. As time passed, the Wraiths seemed to be aiming more and more of his flesh then his coat. Which forced Ashford to move more which meant his attacks became fewer and far between.

With no pause, he feared he would simply become a weight among the monsters he was allied with, even Akhenaten had proved to be more useful then he, and the large beast of a being was still trapped behind a wall of sorts. Barrier. Ow. Whatever. Didn't mean he stopped stabbing and swinging when he had too, slashing and cutting. He had hoped the Shadow would be drained to keep summoning these things, keep them bent to his will.

But seeing as the Queen was still fighting him rather then having won, his hope was shallow. And it was made even more shallow when he heard Thalia past all the groans and clashes. His eye finding her despite the sword coming his way. his hand catching it as he watched the small hunter take something, something he felt was dangerous the way the Queen had objected to it, too late.

Watching the small hunter turn from a joyful girl into a merciless beast almost made Ashford want to let these things kill him. Just so he could think about that then watch it happen again. The girl better not have made whatever happened to her permanent or he was going to... "Arrrrh!" Ashford yelled out in frustration, taking the sword he had recently stolen and thrusting it into the head of another wraith.

While he was not happy with Thalia's current situation, he knew it had a advantage. She was taking more wraiths out then he and she combined had been, which gave him room to start moving towards the Queen and the Shadow. While he still had shadow beasts and wraiths in his way, he would deal with them as he slowly made his way to the two power houses. Because ending him, would end this, so if he could in some way, stick his claws into the shadow just long enough for the Queen to take him down. He'd be happy too. Anything to stop this sooner and get the girl out of that damned state she put herself in. First, of course, he had to make it there without dying.

Madeline only grew more and more concerned as Thalia’s grunts and howls of rage filled the chamber. The tiny demon was a thinker not a fighter, but despite this she always tried to prove herself. She excepted the impossible task of hunting down renegade demons because she wanted to help. She wanted to be useful. Madeline tightly clenched her metal fist and began to slowly pace towards the shadowy being. The furry in her eyes was all he need to see in order to know that she wasn’t going to be playing anymore games. Seeing the mighty queen approaching him, the being began to summon wraiths in Madeline’s path. As each one appeared she simply ignored them and continued her march towards the shadow.

The wraiths attacked the queen with their scythes and claymores, but their blows bounced right of Madeline’s body. “Hiding behind a wall of minions? How unlike you. What ever happened to that proud and noble young man who came to me in his time of need. Where is the man who with the strength I granted him, was able to take on armies single handedly?” The queen barked.

“Oh thats rich coming from the one person who saw throwing bodies at a problem was the only way to fix it! You’re nothing but a damn hypocrite!” The shadow retorted. The queen was right though. The being found himself questioning his resolve for just a moment. He wielded untold power but here he was standing behind a wall of minions. The queen’s words cut deep and it angered him. He began to clutch his chest and then began to laugh. As he pulled his hand away from his chest an amulet would appear in his clutches.

Madeline’s eyes narrowed. She had never seen such a relic. It definitely wasn’t one of hers. So where did he get it? And what was he planning on doing? The answer to that would become clear in time. All the wraiths that had been summoned began to sink back into the puddles from which they had crawled out of. Without an enemy to fight, Thalia’s mismatched eyes sought out her next target which happened to be Ash and Madeline. Upon hearing the little demon’s battle cry echo throughout the chamber. Madeline quickly spun around to see Thalia in a dead sprint.

The shadow knew that Madeline and Ash would both turn to face the rampaging ball of fluff. He also knew that his attack wouldn’t hurt Madeline….But it would hurt Ash. He quickly summoned the frosted blade in his free hand and attempted to trust it into the mans back. With lightning fast reflexes the goddess of war would reach over with her metal hand and would throw Ash to the ground. At the same time she’d throw her normal hand backwards and would catch the sword by the blade. While this took care of the shadow, it did nothing to stop Thalia. Luckily Madeline knew just how to stop the little terror without hurting her.

Thinking fast, Madeline would wave her metal arm in Thalia’s direction and a wave of ice would shoot up from the ground and trap her. With her entire torso encased in ice, the little hunter flailed about and hissed in anger. “Don’t worry. That’ll keep her from interfering, and it’ll give her time to cool off.” She slowly turned to face the shadow, her face taking on a more stern expression. “You’ve been a thorn in my side for far to long. It’s time I did the smart thing and locked you away for good.”

The figure would relinquish his blade and take a large leap back. He held the amulet tightly in his clutches. If he was going to make his move, now would have to be the time.