Night of the new moon

The clearing had gained a splattered layer of black blood as the two demons threw thin, knife-like blades of magic at each other. Karthragan seemed to be starting to lag, but Shadow was still coming off worse. Her aura of magic still surrounded her, with more magic concentrated in the palms of her hands.

Alba watched, feeling usless. Tears welled in her eyes, but those tears of sorrow soon turned to tears of rage and hatred. She broke free of Vrael's grip and summonned her Manticore side.
She felt the power ingulf her, take over her body and she let it, knowing it was right. She heard her clothes rip, her skin itch as the coarse hair pushed through every single pore on the surface of her body. Her teeth sharpenned along with her hearing. She closed her eyes as pain jabbed at her soul, and when she oppened them again, she saw Shadow and Karthragan fighting.
Her rage increased and she lashed her tail. Positionning herself, she whip lashed her tail in the demon's direction, sending several poisonous spines flying towards him, the tiny pouches at the end still pumping the poison to their extremities.
Manticore's poison was fatal to humans, but she wondered what effect it would have on demons...

Shadow whipped round at the sound of Alba morphing. Karthragan, however, used the distraction, sending another blade of magic at Shadow. It hit its target, throwing the demoness back several metres to land with a loud thud on the grass, blood spilling from a diagonal gash across her chest and stomach. Karthragan's eyes narrowed as the darts embedded themselves in his arm and sides. He snarled at the Manticore, but otherwise made no other move towards her. He began walking towards Shadow, picking out the darts as he went. Shadow scrambled to her feet, backing away.

A long string of enraged curses was all Alba could think of as she whipped her tail again, this time aiming for the demon's eyes. She had hoped that the poison would be enough to stop him, but by the looks of things, she'd have to rely on the razor sharp points of her tail spines.

Karthragan, prepared for the attack, dodged the spines, although he caught one in his hand. He smirked evilly, grabbing Shadow before she could try to run. He planted the spine deep in her stomach, laughing as he did so, throwing the demoness down. Seemingly determined to make sure Shadow didn't get up again, he drew his sword, thrusting it first through her primary heart, then into her secondary. Seeing the job as done, he stood up, starting to walk away.

Alba raored, morphing back as she did so. After a few moments, all that was left of the beast was a girld in ripped clothes, sobbing silently. She lowered her head, feeling guilty. The word 'murdered' was spinning in her head.
Karthragan had mortally wounded Shadow with one of her tail spikes...

Shadow feebly moved a hand, taking something from under her cloak. With a seemingly collosal amount of energy, she sat up, taking aim with the hand-gun she had taken from under her cloak, taking aim and firing three times. One in each of the hearts, and once through the head. The demon fell, dead, to the ground, and Shadow slumped back onto the dirt, one hand reaching up and ripping the spike out of her arm.

-should not be here, should not be here, should not be here... lol -

((haha, neither should I but hey:D))

Alba collapsed, the emotion coupled with the exhaustion of her morphing too much for her to handle. She rolled onto her side, unconscious.

Bart, by reflex, ripped off his silver bracelets, and threw them onto the ground. His tail straightened, as a wave of pain fell through him. Sharp peaks of pain were felt all over his body, and he collapsed, as twenty-four bone spikes ripped through his back, and as a loud crack coming from his chest was heard. Black blood spilled onto the ground. Bart shoved his hands onto the ground, the pain making him do so. The claws elongated, becoming keen claws of great length. His tail shrivelled up, and his fur began to become purple. He looked up, gasping, four red eyes on his face.
'Raaargh!' he yelled, him staying on the ground in a cat-like stance.
No, you shall not control me!
Bart closed his multiple eyes, and then stood up. he opened them again. He lifted his hand, long sparks of electricity going through them. The difference between his and Shadow's magic was the form of magic. His dark magic came out as electricity, spinning in the before calm air. He approached Alba, closed his eyes. He gently laid a hand on her forehead, sparks going into her head. Bart then stood up again, tail slashing at the wind ferociously. He turned to Shadow. He crouched gently next to her. He put his hand on both of her pierced heart locations. He sobbed slightly.
Too late.
Bart closed his eyes, trying to close the tears away. He put a hand up to his face. He pulled at his purple hair with one hand, ripping the hair out. It hurt, but Bart did not care.

Alba ghasped, the electricity coursing through her veins and over the skin under her shreaded clothing. She sat bolt up straight, her cramped muscles causing her to cry out. Uncontrolable tears ran down her face as she shakelly stood and made her way towards Shadow's body.
Kneeling beside it, her tears splashing on her friends dead body, she began to sing. She didn't know what she was singing. Just notes strung together to make symphonies and a melodie. A mourning melody...

Shadow's breathing was almost non existant as her eylids flickered, and the demoness opened her eyes. The gun lay not far from her outstretched hand. For once, she was glad of her habit of carrying a gun during her transformed period. She looked up at her friends, wanting one last look at them before the time came and she passed into the void.

Bart crouched closer to Shadow. He put a hand on her forehead. The temperature was going cold. He bit his lip. A small trickle of blood sprouted from his mouth. He wiped it away with his sleeve, as well as his tears. His tail posed itself gently on Shadow's forehead, as he strode his hands towards her wounds. He clenched his fists.
If the One is present, one shall live.
What was he supposed to do? He couldn't heal such damage with his small experience in healing with magic. His four eyes glistened under his hair. He lifted his head at the sky, and he let out a cry of despair.
'AAAAAAHRRRRRRRR!' he yelled, clenching his fists so tightly that his oversized claws pierced his hands in different places. The magic flickered and immediately healed the wounds. They opened and closed, a the claws slashed, and the magic healed.

Shadow flinched at the sound of Bart's yell, but it alerted the other demons. The whole clan except Raven suddenly appeared in the clearing. Vrael knelt beside Shadow, medical kit open beside him while Shaeman started to deal with Karthragan's corpse. The two sets of twins as well as Cika raised thier voices in song alongside Alba, lending words from the song sung at funerals in Synairn to her melody. It spoke of soldiers who died in the defense of the realm, and of the place that awaited them.

Bart let his head drop. The others crowding around Shadow's body did not make any effect on him. His purple shirt waved gently in the wind. Patches of black blood appeared on it. His heart was racing. he felt scars open onto his chest. Sparks of electricity flew into the air, going into his scars and heling them. His tail dropped onto the ground as Shadow's temperature fell below 15 °C. He lowered his head, and sobbed quietly. He lowered his head. Sparks of electricity flew around him, spinning in morbid positions. His fur swayed gently as the sparks flew over it.

Vrael, sensing Shadow's life flickering, switched to emergency mode.
"Bart, I need thou to take this pad and place it over her primary heart. Her hearts are both failing, and therefore you must continue the action for them, otherwise she will die soon." He said before barking a couple of orders in demonic to the demonic twins, two of which disappeared while the other two started to look through his equipement, handing him the tools he needed.

Bart looked at Vrael, tears in his blood red eyes. He nodded, and snatched the pad away from Vrael's hands. he looked down at Shadow for a moment. He looked at the wound on her primary heart. He knew which one it is, as he knew where her secondary heart was located. He took a deep breath, his tail flickering, and put the pad over Shadow's chest, and he pushed down onto it onto her heart. His hair fell over his face.

Vrael barked something to Eclipse, who was beside him. The girl hurridly handed him a vial. Vrael murmured something to his sister, seemingly trying to sooth her as he poured a few drops of the potion into the wound caused by Alba's tail spike. The demoness flinched violently, but Vrael kept her pinned down. After a few moments, he shook his head. Shadow's breathing was almost non existant, and she had infections setting into the wounds. The antipoision didn't seem to be having an effect.

Bart laid his tail once again onto Shadow's forehead. He blinked back his tears, as he knew what would happen in the next 5 minutes. Her temperature was under 5 °C, and going down still. He knew what was going to happen. Nobody was the One here, as he thought a few moments ago. None of the two shall survive. He lowered his head to Shadow's forehead, and dropped a gentle kiss on it.
'Kraferric way of saying goodbye,' he murmured in her ear, crouching into a ball, locking his arms tightly around his knees.

Alba's voice faltered, her song suddenly haulting. She couldn't sing anymore. Not while her throat contracted with sorrow and worry.
She glanced at Vrael and the other demons. She looked at Bart, wishing she could help.
She closed her eyes, wishing for the nightmare to end and for Shadow to be herself again.

Vrael sat back on his heels, starting to sing, his grave voice echoing slightly around the gloomy clearing. The other demons joined in. As they did, a thread of white magic connected all their hearts, as if they were one. The silver thread also linked Alba to the web, and then it joined Bart. As it did, the silver thread connected from him to Shadow, and the demoness started to twitch.

Bart only noticed the white string after it attached to his heart, making a slight feeling like if a flame was flickering inside of him. He opened his eyes, them glistening as he did so. He looked at the white string. He paid no attention, thinking his mind was playing tricks on him because it was a desperate situation. He started chanting along in the kraferric language, a song about a warrior who fell honourably in battle. He couldn't stop the tears from flowing from his eyes. His finger twitched, and slashed at his skin. A slight spark of magic crept into the wound, healing it.

Alba ghasped as the silver light connected her to the other demons. She stared, feeling cold inside, her energy being drained. She glanced at Bart, not completely understanding at first, then...
Oh my God! He's the One!

An aura of black seeped around Shadow, which then slowly seeped into the air, taking form. It looked like a drawing without detail of a fully developped foetus, still curled into the normal position inside the mother's womb, but it was growing, still in the same position.

Bart looked at the black magic go up into the air. he wiped his eyes with his sleeve, wiping the blood from his mouth at the same time. He looked at the string that connected him and Shadow, but also all the others. He wasn't hallucinating. He stared, wide-eyed, at the dark entity, growing in the air.

Alba stared, not knowing what to say. Her plain brown hair whipped as the wind howled around the trees but her bright green eyes didn't blink. They didn't want to miss anything important...