Amidst the Howling Dark

Descent

There was an earth-rumbling and tremendous BOOM as an elder dragon hit the ground, and in a blinding flash of light and heat four houses of the town of Hurricane's Respite were obliterated in an instant. The dragon took to the skies and howled a roar that echoed for miles as he traveled to another part of the town and repeated the destruction and chaos there. A dozen more dragons came down all across the town and the black smoke quickly bled into the evening sky.

De'mah 'Tokam rushed into the blazing city, his sword lit and free hand clenched. He charged into a house and cut down the ponies hiding within, kicking open the back door and stalking down the street. He silenced his sword and activated the voice amplifier built into his suit, calling out to his dragons.

"BURN THEM ALL TO CINDERS! LEAVE NONE STANDING!!" he bellowed, and ignited his sword once more. A group of pony guards rushed into the street ahead of him, and De'mah charged forward. They took note of him and raised their spears. "PONY WARRIORS, FIGHT ME WHERE YOU STAND, FOR IF YOU RUN YOU SHALL ONLY DIE TIRED!!"

He reached the group of guards, six of them in total, and slashed out, his blade decapitating one. A guard stabbed at him with a spear, and the primitive weapon glanced off his suit harmlessly. De'mah grabbed the spear and wrenched it out of the guard's hooves, and with an upward swing of his sword bisected the hapless pony. Another swung a sword, and the blade clattered against the Sangheili steel without effect. De'mah plunged his blade into the pony's chest, and as he withdrew another stabbed at him. He spun and struck the dimunitive creature with the back of his free hand, sending the pony reeling. De'mah decapitated the pony with a downward swing, and succumbing to the rage he swung wildly at the remaining two. The blade's tips catching one with a wounding blow and his foot breaking the bones of the other. De'mah pinned the pony underfoot and lanced him, and the Sangheili fell upon the last pony, lashing recklessly and reducing the guard to ribbons.

"THEY WILL ALL KNOW OF DE'MAH BEFORE THEY DIE!! AS MY DRAGONS TURN THEM TO ASH AND AS MY BLADE TAKES THEIR HEADS MY NAME WILL BE THE LAST, WORDS, ON THEIR TONGUES!!!"

Charging into another house De'mah chased down the ponies hiding inside as they ran, catching one by the tail and stabbing him through his entire body from behind. He kicked another as it scurried by, and smashed its head underfoot. Two more fell to his blade and he was back out into the street in a flash, running through ponies as they ran through the streets, a wake of flying limbs and splattering blood trailing behind him as he went. Another group of guards ran into him, and they all charged en masse.

"NONE HAVE YET CHALLENGED THE MIGHTY DE'MAH!! YOU CHOOSE ONLY THE SPOT YOU WILL DIE IN!" De'mah shouted, and set to work. The first pony fell by decapitation, the second to bisection. The third to stabbing. Fourth to slash, fifth to slice. Swords and spears and hammers clanged and scraped and scratched against him, but none drew his blood. He was a wind, a typhoon, unstoppable and unavoidable. The only hope was running, but none were able to run far. De'mah chased them down all the same, his sword taking their limbs and their heads and reducing them to bloody remains.

He charged down another street, and another group of guard ponies came out to challenge him. They formed an even line, and all lit shields in front of themselves from their horns, forming a phalanx. At last. Practice for the Princesses De'mah thought, and rushed forward. Spears stabbed forward from beside the phalanx, and De'mah leapt to the side. The left-most pony turned to face him, breaking his side of the phalanx, and De'mah stabbed at his comrade, the sword deflecting off his shield as he turned. With De'mah's arm outstretched the first pony produced a shortsword, and attempted to cut the Sangheili's limb off. De'mah withdrew his arm and the steel blade cut naught but air.

With the pony exposed De'mah swung his sword upwards, and split the stallion in two. The remaining guards all turned to face him, and De'mah charged straight into their midst. He managed to spear one with his blade before the group split into two, each side turning to face him and keeping their shields lit. De'mah turned to his right, towards the one group, and as he dashed forward he was hit in the back by some manner of blast that sent him stumbling. Growling, he turned to find one of the ponies had dropped their shield, their horn glowing. The magic-user let loose another bolt of energy, hitting De'mah in the shoulder. The Sangheili howled in rage and charged at the pony, whose shield failed to come down in time to save his forelegs from De'mah's sword. The pony tipped forward, and De'mah split him in half.

"Your feeble sorcery delays only the INEVITABLE!"

De'mah kicked one pony's magical shield and the buck stumbled back, his head turning, exposing his side. De'mah stabbed the pony's torso lengthwise, and his body dropped to the ground. There remained only three foes. Three victories, waiting to be claimed.

Hardly fulfilling victories, but they will suffice De'mah mused. The true triumph will be eradicating their Princesses. When I hold their heads in my hands is when I will have succeeded.

Within another few minutes De'mah had felled the remaining guard ponies, their blood staining both the earth and his armor. Even with their magic it'd hardly been a fair fight for them all, and though he had won De'mah was left unsatisfied. He longed to face their Princesses again. They would be a true challenge.

A group of flying ponies soared overhead, took notice of De'mah, and dove down to attack. They held in their hooves some odd contraption, and all aimed at him. With a chorus of sharp cracks narrow rods of wood tipped with steel flew at the Sangheili, few finding their mark, but the ones that did punching holes in his suit. One even managed to drive through deep enough to penetrate his flesh, though the wound was inconsequential.

"Aim for his glass helmet, flyers!" one of their number shouted, and De'mah tensed, prepared to dodge their next salvo. As it was, he never had to. A shadow passed overhead with a rumble, and De'mah and the flyers turned to look. "DRAGON!" the pony shouted, and as they all turned to fire on the wyrm he let loose hell, incinerating the flying ponies, who all fell to the earth shrieking in agony. De'mah nodded to the dragon, who flew off in search of more ponies to eradicate.

Another town, struck down before the might of De'mah 'Tokam.

"He's slaughtering them all, sister... Everywhere he goes, destruction... So many brave stallions challenged him, and he just...cut them all down... How do we beat that?" Celestia asked her sister, the two of them standing far from the burning town of Hurricane's Respite. Celestia lowered the telescope in her magical grasp and looked to her sister, who shook her head.

"I do not know, Tia. If the Elements will not, then perhaps an open confrontation will be in order. I'm sure the two of us could defeat this beast" Luna commented.

Were it so easy Celestia thought. Her and Luna were almost as tall as the creature, and had the advantages of flight and magic, but would it be enough? Celestia couldn't be sure. "Maybe we could enlist the help of the Griffons and the Minotaurs. If they see what's happening to us, they might think it wise to help strike down this De'mah, before he turns his sights them" Celestia said.

"Mayhaps, but surely it won't come to that? If we could just challenge De'mah by ourselves, with none of his dragons to interfere, we could defeat him without incident."

"But how to get him away from his dragons, to fight him alone? And what of the dragons, anyway? How did he get them to pledge loyalty to him? Why do they destroy and massacre in his name?!" Celestia exclaimed, and Luna shook her head.

"I do not know, sister."

Celestia lifted the telescope back to her eye and peered through it, catching sight of De'mah just as he finished rampaging through another house, the demon flinging a door off its hinges as he came out. He paused and stared straight at Celestia, so many miles away, and the day Princesses's heart jumped. The warrior just stood, staring her dead in the eyes even though he couldn't possibly see her, and his mandibled jaw contorted into a leer.

The scope glint!

Celestia lowered the telescope, feeling stricken. "Let's go, Luna" she said simply, and the two of them rose into the air and flew away, leaving the burning ruins of Hurricane's Respite behind. As she went, Celestia couldn't help but feel sick to her stomach. Both at the carnage De'mah wrought, and at herself for running away.