The moon was shining on Duerth Merkath. The dark elf slash was so fierce it seemed to cut the noises of the city at once. Riuluk was scared, Philipp was confident.

  The dark elf slashed again towards Philipp, but he dodged it again. Riuluk was exposed.

  “Stay behind me, Riuluk!” shouted Philipp,

  The dark elf moved towards Riuluk with a quick jump and brought his sword up. Philipp dived at the dark elf's legs with a fierce attitude and touched his leg while leaving a bag in his hand. The dark elf changed the direction of his sword toward him. The dark elf stopped. Philipp got back on his feet and took his bag quickly.

  “Do not let him take it, Riuluk! Stay on my back!” shouted Philipp,

  Riuluk regained a bit of courage and concentrated to keep up with Philipp. The dark elf lowered his sword...

  “How much I hate your power, Wizaaard!” shouted the dark elf to Philipp,

  He then started walking right to left and left to right, impatiently. Philipp was in front of Riuluk with his arms open. The bags in his hands.

  The orcs started to run towards Philipp and Riuluk from the dark elf’s back. You could count at least a dozen of them. The dark elf started to crack his neck impatiently.

  “Kill them all...” said the Dark elf.

  Two orcs immediately engaged Philipp. He made a step backward and hit one of the orcs with a bag while dodging the other. Riuluk kept pace behind him as he moved. A third orc came into contact with Philipp, preparing an attack with a huge two-handed hammer.

  “Oh boy...” said Philipp,

  He left the bags again, knelt quickly, and touched the orc's knee, which stopped for a few seconds. He then took back his bags...

  “Run, Riuluk, let’s go on the other side!” shouted Philipp while pointing at the other exit of the cloister with his eyes.

  Riuluk started to run...

  The two orcs in front ran behind Philipp and Riuluk.

  “They will catch us, Philipp!” shouted Riuluk, running for his life...

  Philipp was quite calm and was not even running so fast afterall. The two orcs almost reached them... they prepared to make the slashes with their swords.

  “Crash!!!”

  The orc with the two-handed hammer just slammed the cranium of one of those two orcs. The other one shouted in fear.

  “Krog da nattu ne!” said the orc to the hammered one,

  The hammered orc prepared another slash and broke the chin of the other.

  “Two down..ahah!” laughed Philipp,

  “What did you do, Philipp?” asked Riuluk while checking the scene running away,

  “Oh, do not worry...I played a bit with their emotions...”, he smiled.

  The two started running down the stairs of the second exit. The other orcs, some blocked in front of the hammered one, some others passed through it. The dark elf slowly walked to the hammered one, made a fast jump, and pierced the orc in his heart. The orc shouted, and the other orcs looked on, scared and angry.

  “Akke nu ta rekku sho...ishi!” said the Dark elf to the orcs,

  They immediately run towards the other orcs following Philipp and Riuluk. The dark elf looked at the orc on the ground. He put his left open hand towards him. His face grew uglier, with dark ash emerging from it.

  “Rushenag!”, he shouted...

  The orc started to tremble, from the cut in his chest, blood started to come out of it in dancing lines of liquid towards the dark elve’s hand. The dark elf was sucking up the blood of the orcs into his own body.

  The orcs reached Philipp. One charged him with a shield, knocking him down the stairs.

  “Ouch...” said Philipp while flying down the stairs...

  Riuluk saw the Wizard flying in front of his eyes while still running down the stairs...

  Philipp threw a bag before the collision and landed on it.

  “That was close, you damn orcs...I just want to cry now!” he started to cry while lifting himself up.

  Riuluk took the party bag from Philipp’s hand while running down...

  “Let’s move, you fool!” shouted Riuluk paniking,

  Another orc slashed Philipp, but this time, he dodged again and touched him. The orc stopped on the stairs.

  He took his bag and ran away behind Riuluk.

  The orcs ran down trying to reach Philipp and Riuluk. After a few seconds, the enchanted orc lifted his sword and then threw it at the orcs down the stairs, piercing one in his back. The pierced orc fell to the ground.

  Meanwhile, the dark elf walked slowly to the top of the stairs. He looked down at the scene, brought his left hand up, and whispered something...

  From his hand, a paddle of blood was created in front of him. He jumped on it and immediately created another puddle of blood...and another and another...he jumped on all of them, reaching the enchanted orc quite fast. He slashed the orc’s head off and continued to jump on his blood puddles till he jumped right in front of Riuluk!

  “Give me...the stone!” shouted the dark elf,

  Riuluk shouted and dived to the left side of the dark elf. Time stopped, and he could see the golden dark elf eyes looking at him in slow motion.

  “Slash!”

  The dark elf hit Riuluk in his chest. Riuluk stopped in that position next to the dark elf.

  “Nooo!” shouted Philipp while looking at the scene, while still crying,

  He then jumped towards the dark elf and clashed his fancy dagger with pink gems with the dark elf’s sword.

  “You finally decide to confront me, Wizaaard!” said Velkarith, the dark elf,

  This time, the face of Philipp was that of a stupid child full of anger...

  “You always come in the worst moments, Velkarith...I prefer your sister!” shouted Philipp,

  “You cannot protect this stone for long, wizard! The stone has no soul bonding. We will bond it this time with one of us, and you will finally recognize the power of Lord Makkoth and obey him!” shouted the dark elf,

  The orcs were prepared their slashed towards the Wizard’s back.

  “You will perish again, wizard...this time by my hand!” shouted the dark elf while preparing another slash...

  “Swiisshh...clank!” “Boooot!” two very different sounds: one swift and fast, the other a boom like a cannon...

  Time seemed to stop again. The dark elf was astonished and, for the first time in long centuries...afraid. Why that feeling, what has just happened?

  Behind Philipp, orcs were flying back up the stairs. Closer to his own back, a stone figure just punched them all back, Baka and Burin!

  While the dark elf slowly looked at the sword blocked. A silver blade...a lance...with a light blue banner. He looked to his right: a knight in full armor, a Pegasus helm, vivid, beautiful eyes. The knight of the Pegasus...Aeln Colt!

  The dark elf understood his instinctive feeling of fear. There are only two knights of Tolmeca whom he fears for his life. One is the Knight of the Sun, the other is the Knight of the Pegasus. Only those two could kill him in the lands of the South.

  Velkarith immediately withdrew his sword and jumped back. The orcs got back on their feet and reassembled on the stairs.

  “Why? Why is the Knight of the Pegasus house here?” asked Velkarith seriously,

  “Why do you go around Duerth Merkath looking for death, dark elf!” shouted Aeln,

  “The power of fire will be mine this upcoming era. I will not stand your insults!” said Velkarith while turning with smoked dark ashes around,

  “Baka, Burin! Help Riuluk!” shouted Philipp, “Knight of the Pegasus, can you handle these orcs behind me? I am not good with too many enemies; I guess it is easier for you...let me confront the dark elf; I have to take revenge myself for hitting Riuluk...”

  “As you wish, your desire. I will gladly clean these orcs behind you,” said Aeln.

  “Not so fast...” said the dark elf. He put his hand up, then to the ground; ashes came out all over. Another hundred orcs appeared on the stairs and street.

  “Try me now!” shouted the dark elf

  “You are not as cunning as the stories speak about you, Velkarith...you think I take walks alone in the night?” asked Aeln,

  From a little street next to theirs, walked at the end of the stairs ten soldiers of the Pegasus house.

  “Demutintes!” shouted Aeln,

  The soldiers formed a shield wall around Philipp, Riuluk, and Baka and Burin.

  Meanwhile, Aeln Colt...the Knight of the Pegasus, walked alone to the stairs, ready to confront almost ten orcs all together.

  Some people at the windows saw what was happening on the streets, and they opened the windows and started ringing bells loudly.

  “Alarm! Alarm!”

  “Orcs! Orcs!!” they shouted from the windows,

  “Chaaaaarge!” shouted the dark elf,

  The orcs charged the house of Pegasus. Their brutality was unmatched; the swings on the shields clashed with such force that they had to retreat to the stairs. Meanwhile, Baka and Burin, as a golem, grabbed Riuluk and shook him angrily...

  “Why are you so stupid! You must be stupid...he is definitely stupid, Burin. Sure, jump to a dark elf!” they said,

  “Cure him, idiots!” shouted Philipp to them,

  “Idiots? Heee called us idiots, Baka! Yes, yes, he is right...you areee an idiot Burin! He said idiots Baka, plural, not idiot! So you are an idiot afterall Burin..ahahahah! Yes, no..but you are also!”

  “Cure him!” shouted Philipp,

  “Yes, yes, right...” They put their golem hand to Riuluk’s chest and whispered something incomprehensible.

  The cut stopped bleeding but was still open. Riuluk regained consciousness.

  “What on sky! Oh...am I dead or not?” asked Riuluk while looking at him

  “Why is it so dark in...here?”

  He looked up and saw all these men, soldiers, around him, covering the sky with their shields.

  “We have some help, Riuluk, but we also have more orcs now...” said Philipp while helping him to stand up,

  Aeln walked towards the orcs slowly. They looked at him, hating him. Too much goodness aura was coming out of him, too much of pureness and holiness at the same time. They wanted him dead. Three of them charged towards Aeln, and he moved so perfectly that it almost seemed to watch him move slower than the others. In a matter of second an orc's head was down, another had his chest pierced, and the other lost an arm. All the other orcs attacked together. The knight was fast, swift, and terribly dangerous. Another orc down, the other without a hand...another got the lance piercing from his eye to the other side of the head. The other two slashed hits on him, not successfully even touching his armor. In less than thirty seconds, all the orcs on the stairs were dead. A silver lance, sparkling in the moonlight, towards the sky.

  Some guardians of the Cloud Dwarves arrived at the street full of orcs. Too many.

  “What on...sky...” They looked at the scene, astonished. How did more than a hundred orcs enter the city?

  They took off some horns and blew them as a more tenacious alarm than the bells. From a tavern on the street, a man came out. He was dressed as a ranger, with long red hair and a short red beard. He took off his golden sword and slashed three orcs in front of him.

  “Ah! I will finally find death in Duerth Merkath!?” he said to himself, smiling.