Running through the elaborate but untended grounds was difficult in the dark of night. The fight seemed to rage all around, and soon Trent found himself out of sight of Kate. Where in the world had she gone? He frantically looked one way and then another, tossing his hood back to get an unobstructed view. However, out of haggard topiary and bucking and swaying paved paths, there was simply no sign of her.

Suddenly, Trent's hood constricted around his throat as someone grabbed hard and yanked back in an attempt to throw him to the ground. Instead, he stood fast, not even having to adjust his stance. He turned, but not in haste, a Rough Ranger had a good grip of his clothing. Seeing Trent's face it was clear, he was now sure he had properly identified the young man. The fellow might die tonight, but he was not about to abandon his duty.

His enchanted blade swung to remove Trent's head from his body. However, the scalding brilliance of light magic would slice through even the most hardened steel and tear through any form of darkness it might encounter. However, it found it's efforts in vain, as Trent caught the blade with his bare hand. A devious smile crossed Trent's face as he held back an outright laugh at the effort. Then, his other limb came crashing down, and the relic of wars past as well as enchantment after enchantment placed upon it was shattered into a thousand pieces like dried mud.

Shock and fear came only after an utterance, "You broke my glowy, sharp, pointy thingy! I'm mad now!"
It felt great, Trent was not tired or sore, he was thriving off of the fear that wafted from the capital, from Chazwall, from Gravit, even the village just over the hill. At this moment, in this turmoil, when everyone quivered with fear from the monsters that were very real... Trent was indestructible. This was the sort of reign of darkness that Gerud had labored toward for decades, and Lewoada for centuries. This could be the first steps to an undying night, a world of darkness and fear that would never end, and ever fuel the creatures of darkness. Trent was one of them, one of the remaining murders of boogie-men. Now was time for a maniacal laugh, of which Trent obliged.

The power did not freeze his mind though, it always made him see things more clearly. It would have been easy to silence this witness, especially right now. However, violence, at least when provided by a creature such as himself, destroyed the powers he held; and he would need them in order to survive. However, even greater than simply being identified, the greater threat was if this fellow reported a boogie-man was on the loose. That would destroy Kate's trust, that would get rebel, king's men, noble, or peasant, elf, human, gnome, or dwarf on the alert, working together in order to destroy his entire murder. However unlikely the possibility, Trent was not going to allow that to happen, just as he was not going to allow a reign of darkness to occur. Fear had its place, some might say that it was needed. He was a propagator of fear, call it good or evil, but he always thought of it as a service. Courage only exists in the face of fear, and courage was needed for good things as well as bad things to take root... it was the initiator of change.

Trent grabbed hold of the fellow's leather armor, but something didn't seem to make sense as the terrified eyes of the man locked on Trent's. He let the fellow go with a shove. [color=00ff00]"Gerud?"[/color]

The Rough Ranger obscenely melted away like a mix between wax melting and meat rotting away incredibly fast. The tall and slim form of Gerud took its place. [color=aa00ff]"Sloppy, to say the least. Did I not teach you to be invisible whenever danger was present?"[/color]

[color=00ff00]"Gerud! You tried to chop my head off with an enchanted blade! You jester! I’ll have to remember that ‘sharp pointy thingy’ line! Where in the world did you even get an enchanted blade?! Better question, why did you try to chop my head off in the first place?"[/color] it was like a practical joke or a hazing at the attempted murder that had just occurred.

Gerud smiled with a sly humor that was quickly brushed aside. [color=aa00ff]"It is important you witness your own ability on a night like this. However, I am disappointed that you were so lacking in discretion. Tell me, what were your plans for the witness?"[/color]

An arrow raced past the two, not even a concern. They were invisible now, Gerud would have made sure of it. Not only that, but carnal weapons had proven to be entirely useless against the two of them. [color=00ff00]"You were the one to teach me to never reveal anything to anyone, especially to you."[/color]

Gerud turned and looked Trent in the eye. He was delighted but had some serious work ahead... then again Gerud always had serious work ahead. [color=aa00ff]“The time has arrived, Trent. This night we will secure a reign of darkness. This magnificence we have been gifted with will last indefinitely. The immortality of Lewoada might be well within our reach for once, she is willing to finally teach us the defilement needed. The only variables are ‘how far’ and ‘how long.’ With you as an asset, we could secure the entirety of the nation, and you will find borders a fantastic time-peace.”[/color]

[color=00ff00]“No, Gerud, just enjoy the moment, get your immortality quick while the nation burns, but don’t get greedy! Do NOT set up a reign of darkness! That’s what Lewoada doesn’t understand, we can’t. The harder we push towards that, the more consumed our shadow will be and then there will be no reason for fear once they topple your efforts, then you will starve. One CAUSES the other.”[/color]

[color=aa00ff]“Do not confront the inevitable, pup. Your options are but two fold, either fulfill your obligations to this murder, or prove yourself dead weight. However, progress will be made without your consent.”[/color]

[color=00ff00]“I’m calling this one, Gerud, don’t do this or I will be forced to stop you. It will be for your own good.”[/color]

[color=aa00ff]“There is a staunch misconception in your argument. I am your superior in both ability and rank. You have yet to teethe, pup. You are a mere apprentice, a dreamwalker. How would you hold your own against a master and a legend? What would you do? Kill me? You would destroy your own efforts with each futile blow. You haven’t even learned how to hold onto your ability while releasing your rage! I have the winning hand, boy. Not only can I kill you myself, I don’t need to. All I need do is expose your location to the King’s men. They will carry out your murder FOR me. Once you are dead, perhaps your little friend would be willing to take your place.”[/color] In an instant, Trent lashed out, a shaft of deep indigo lancing from a weapon he sported often while in other people’s dreams. Trent was also suddenly fully revealed to Gerud, garbed in dark crystalline armor that was entangled with roots. Mounted in the center of his breastplate was the symbol of his likeness, an iridescent scarab. Gerud’s arm suddenly slumped dead against his side without sign of blood. No, it wasn’t violence... technically, just simulated violence such as in a dream. However, the effects were much longer lasting. They weren’t permanent, just longer lasting than someone could expect to live. It was really only effective against an opponent who was asleep, which was a habit that most people tried to break.

Gerud flew back, literally, and suspended himself in the air drizzling with confidence. It was a rookie against a master, what could possibly be the outcome? 

Trent said nothing, simply charged again. Gerud held up his hand to repel the youth at a whim. However, suddenly noticed that his extra limb that was used to aid in his control was disobediently missing from the equation. His smile slouched into a gaping mouth, and his eyes widened as he narrowly dodged Trent’s wild hail of blows. Gerud, being a boogie-man, was always both asleep and awake at the same time. It was needed so that there was both a front during the day, but enough time and energy in order to study all night long. Gerud had never known a conflict with another boogie-man. He was the sole student (or at least so far as he had known) for his entire life until Lewoada recruited Trent. This sort of conflict was relatively common before the likes of them had been purged hundreds of years ago in a door-to-door search for any form of darkness. Since then, they had to abandon internal conflict simply because there were so few that there wasn't really anybody to have a conflict with. So, in all of his studies, Gerud found himself at a complete blank. Trent had known that the day of conflict would arise. He took this into account when he noticed that his priorities varied so drastically from his two associates. So, he trained on his own as much as he could. In a real fight he would have lost, but in this case, it was loser against complete loser.