Fallen (Original)

Arkantos brandished his broadsword, Egos simply laughing at the action. The beast no longer resembled anything that could be described as natural.

He’d only ever seen this once, a cult in his old home had attempted to summon an Ancient One. The thing that cra-ste-wal… came forth from the very void they’d created. Egos could now be described accurately as that creature. The chitinous outcroppings, the spikes, and the flailing and dragging tendrils now hanging from his body were a sight that would drive any unprepared into fear. Arkantos had to steal himself, having only the goal of victory on mind.

“This… is a gift from my masters. With this I won’t lose!” Egos roared.

“You know… I’ve heard that before. Several times actually…” Ark chuckled. “It’s funny how that tends to horribly jinx things.” Though, despite his words he was getting too cocky. This abomination had to have some tricks up its’ sl-uuuh tentacles? It still had some secrets left to find.

Egos made the first move, several of his many tendrils fired out, slathering the ground with acid in an attempt to strike at Arkantos. The knight dodged to the right, swinging his blade around… the trail of fire coming from it creating a ground shielding for himself. The cobblestone had begun to melt under the white hot heat from Ark’s body. He rolled as another set of tendrils slammed down atop his position.

“STAND STILL!”

“EAT ME SHIT HEAD!” Arkantos fired a volley of fireballs at Egos, all of them striking the motionless creature. He growled and fired a volley of his own spells, most attempting to chase down the mobile knight. Egos was rooted to his current position, despite being powerful… he was far to heavy to move very far, leaving Arkantos plenty of space to move around in.

Arkantos parried the few spells that made it to him, leaving no room for error as he charged at Egos. He took a few good swings at the monster, causing him to screech in pain, black sludge oozing out from the wound. His tendrils instantly closed the wound, though Ark noticed one thing… it quickly burned. With this new information, that it seemed both he and Egos realized, Arkantos knew he stood a chance against this thing.

Several of the tendrils had planted themselves in the ground, creating a wave to force Ark back. The hard chitin almost impossible to pierce when it was this thick so Arkantos simply backpedaled, attempting to not get hit, as one slip up would mean instant death. Egos used another few bolts of magic, trying to trip Ark up.

Ark simply burned the spells away, dashing in and attempting to stab his white hot blade through Egos’ body. He managed to pierce a little ways in, drawing his blade back as quickly as he could. Egos screeched attempting to throw Ark back, one tendril catch him and sending him flying back through a nearby storefront. He absolutely smashed the front wall, getting hammered into the shop desk. His body hurt in so many ways, his armor managing to take the brunt of the attack.

Several tendrils lunged after the downed knight, only to get cut off by a shield appearing around Ark. Shining yanking him back behind cover, “Are you alright?” Shining asked quickly.

Ark’s head was still spinning a little bit but as he came down from the surge of adrenaline he looked at the others who were with Shining. Luna, Chrysalis, and Celestia were all with him, all looking outfitted for war. “Just in a bit of pain… nothing too bad.” Ark assured.

“What the hell I… was that thing?” Shining inquired.

“That was Egos.” Ark said.

“And how are we going to take him down?” Celestia asked.

“His blood burns quickly. If… and this is a big if, we can deliver enough blows to slow down his healing, I can ignite his blood.” Ark explained. “It should decimate him. But…”

“We’ll need to make sure he gets hit enough.” Luna said.

“I’m sure we can manage that.” Chrysalis chuckled, “Now… let’s go ‘entertain’ our mutual… ‘guest’.” She stood up and fired her first volley of spells. Soon joined by both Luna and Celestia.

Shining helped Ark stand and the two (now) brothers joined the others in their assault against Egos. Egos was fully prepared for a land attack, but now he was being hit from all sides. His tendrils now focused on defending himself, leaving him no ability to attack.

The spells and clashing of steel against hard flesh echoed through the square, the black bile splattered across their armor and weapons, sizzling as it made contact with either Celestia or Arkantos.

Luna and Chrysalis were surprisingly working in tandem, attempting to force Egos’ attention onto them. It was working to some extend as the abomination now swung several tendrils at the two, attempting to tear Luna apart, and completely eviscerate Chrysalis. Celestia’s magic burned the tendrils before they could make contact with either of them, before she fired off her own attacks. Each hit was rapid and harsh, attempting to breach further into his thick exoskeleton.

Shining and Arkantos were attempting their own breach, trying to attack one spot right after the other hit it. It didn’t take long for them to find a rhythm, each swing being followed up near instantly.

“You think your pathetic little attacks are doing anything!?!? HAHAHAHAHA!” Egos was fully living up to his name, thinking he was completely indestructible.

“You’re getting ahead of yourself, you’re no god!” Arkantos retorted, his sword lighting up with flames as he attempted to drive it into the weakened spot in Egos’ armor.

“THE GODS ARE DEAD! WE ARE BEYOND THEM!” Egos roared, this one an actually painful one as Ark’s sword slid into his body.

Shining grabbed Ark’s shoulder, teleporting the two of them away from Egos’ next attack, this one a surge underneath them. Several spike like tendrils burst forth right where Ark had been, one breaking his sword leaving Ark without a weapon.

But he remained undeterred, now resorting to his actual magic to fight. All of those present were completely surprised by how skilled he actually was.

The first spell Arkantos cast was a solid pillar of flame, this one slamming into Egos giving him an honest push, searing a huge path up his body. “GAH!” Egos screeched, a tendril whipping around in an attempt to hit Ark.

Though since he wasn’t focusing on physical attacks he was able to easily burn away the tendril, the cone of flames completely consuming it leaving nothing but ash behind.

Egos cringed violently, now beginning to see why Arkantos had to die. His horn began to light up, the earth around them beginning to crack as he tried to kill him, this time in a vain attempt to bring Canterlot down from the mountain.

Chrysalis was the first to act, her magic cracking Egos’ horn violently. “BITCH!” He screamed, this time managing to land a blow on both her and Luna, the two being brought hard to the ground.

Celestia managed to stop any serious injuries from happening to them, but she was left completely open to attack, which Egos immediately took. With three of the combatants down it was left to only Arkantos and Shining to bring down this monster.

“Shining.”

Shining glanced to Arkantos.

“Get them out of here. Make sure our troops are winning.” Ark ordered, his tone becoming colder.

“You can’t…”

“I can. Just go. I don’t want you to be here if I lose control.” Ark stated. “Go, NOW!”

“Yes… leave me and your precious new brother alone… don’t worry. I’ll give his whorse of a wife his head when I’m done.” Egos growled.

“Shining.” Arkantos completely ignored Egos. Shining glanced to Ark, now noticing the air beginning to just shimmer around him.

“J… Bring me his head. If there’s anything left.” Shining said, teleporting himself to the defeated goddesses and changeling queen. In an instant they were out of the city, leaving only Egos and Arkantos to fight.

“Now… the children are gone.” Egos grinned. “I will kill you… MONKEY.”

Arkantos was absolutely silent, now his black armor was beginning to melt under the intense heat he was producing, and likewise the rock under him was beginning to melt as well.

“W… what the hell…”

“You think the gods are dead?” Arkanto growled, “You haven’t even seen one yet.”

“I defeated two goddesses! You’re nothing more than a mortal! YOU DON’T SCARE ME!” Egos roared.

“You won’t have time to fear when I begin.” Ark’s entire being burst into flames… the flames though, they weren’t any color Egos had seen fire become before, it was a blazing white… and they weren’t draining magic from Ark, not from what Egos could detect… they were feeding more into him.

“Your war is over Egos. Just like your life.”