The Shadow In The Plaza

"Protect the Gate! Don't let even one single enemy close!" The Stone Golem that led the mages in charge of protecting the Gate in this city ordered as he rallied his men that were still alive.

The attack had been so sudden that even he, a Grandmaster tier mage had not been able to tell something was off before everything suddenly went to shit.

Whoosh!

A dark shadow came flying through a wall to the side, sending stone and rubble flying all over. When he looked down at the person, he saw that it was his close aide, Rakon, a Beastkin. Quickly, he stepped forward and held up Rakon, raising his large palm above Rakon's head. The next moment, a green glow was emitted from the cracks of his stony hand, and Rakon's injuries began healing at a speed visible to the eye. As the injuries healed up, wisps of smoke leaked out of his nostrils and open mouth, before dissipating in the air.

"Dark magic?!"

"Dion..." Before the Stone Golem could get over his shock, his name was uttered by Rakon. Rakon had his eyes cracked open a bit, showing the redness in his eye. "Dark magic users... Shadow beasts... We can't hold the line..." He whispered, his voice drained of all energy. That was a nasty side effect of Dark magic. It drained the power of those who were afflicted by it.

"Don't worry, I can handle this." Dion gritted his teeth and stood up, taking Rakon to the side to rest, before making his way out of the grand building that held the gateway to Earth. When he stepped out, he was able to see the full extent of the devastation that had been inflicted upon the city. Broken buildings and debris was everywhere.

Dion stomped forward, the ground beneath his feet rumbling not just from his weight, but also from his anger.

It was no surprise that as a Stone Golem, Dion possessed a mighty affinity for Earth magic, but that was not all. He also possessed a small affinity for Light magic, and while it was not the best for fighting, it was a very good counter to Dark magic in all cases. The only thing that worried him now was whether his meager affinity would be enough to fight off the powerful Dark magic users.

In mere moments, he reached the battlefield, which was the city plaza. The place was in ruins, but the defensive formations that had been laid down when the city was built managed to help the defenders cope well enough to stall the advance of the vile beasts that attacked the city.

"Grandmaster!" Another one of Dion's subordinates noticed him and hurriedly called out to him. Dion turned in his direction just as a shadow beast jumped at him. Without even turning to address it, a stone spike jutted out of the ground beneath the monster, impaling it straight through its core. The beast seemed to struggle for a few moments before it suddenly exploded, the smoke that made up most of its being dissipating into nothing.

A shadow creature was a sly creature. With most of its body being made up of shadows, it was very malleable, and it was easily able to move around its core through its body. But thanks to Dion's Light magic, he was able to disrupt this deceptive creature's attempts at escaping death, killing it with one move.

"Grandmaster, the creatures number in the thousands. We can't kill them fast enough and keep getting pushed back!" The one who had called his name explained quickly. A few injured were being nursed by the Criocentaurs, and Dion nodded at their leader when he spotted him.

Dion had been friends with Hans, the leader of the Criocentaurs for a long time now. Both of them were Grandmaster mages, so it was only normal that they had more than a few exchanges.

Boooooom!!!

A loud and thunderous rumble shook the earth as a shadow rose above the storied buildings that still remained standing. A shadowy body with dull, white eyes loomed over everything, its height so enormous that even Dion was like a mere animal before it.

"What is that?" Hans frowned deeply.

"I have no idea, but it spells bad news if we let it past the plaza." Dion replied, pulling off his slack robes and revealing a dark brown and stone gray set of armor that was hidden underneath it. He slammed his knuckles together, and the ground sunk, creating a trench where the injured and tired could rest without being blown about. "I will handle it."

"You sure?" Hans looked doubtful when he felt a pulse of mana wash through the area.

"Yeah, I can handle it." Dion quirked a thick, rocky representation of an eyebrow before stepping forward. The moment he passed through the transparent barrier that isolated the plaza, he felt it. The buzz of mana was violent and rough against his 'skin', but he was easily able to negate it with his innate barrier. He worried for any helpless civilians that might have been stuck somewhere.

'The Criocentaurs can handle that.' He told himself and took another step forward. The ground began to rumble as the debris scattered about began rolling straight at him. Like building blocks, they stacked on top of each other, while also covering up his burly form at the same time.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

The sounds of heavy footfalls shook the plaza as two giants faced off against each other. One a gray, rocky color, and the other a shadowy black.