Well, here's the next chapter. Unfortunately, I realized to finish this arc, I need two more chapters to go into the Realm of Night arc. And yes, that last sentence was a little teaser. I would like your comments regarding Abrum's progression. You should be able to expect those two chapters to be out sometime this coming week. The first may be out this weekend but no promises. On a side note, is anyone willing to do the cover art for this story? Anyway, I love comments, remember that.

  It was a momentous moment. The moonlight vortex suddenly stopped spinning abruptly. Abrum’s wings completely unfurled in all there majesty were only augmented by the shiny, silver, but intangible moonlight that surround them. The moon bore witness to the lone Angaellis that knelt in the field of blood. It softly illuminated his face, which was tilted upwards. His clear blue eyes observed the blade that was delineated by the moon. It seemed like it was primed to be plunged straight into the ground.

  The mad guardians froze. They were still under the influence of the contagious madness, which destroyed all reason. However, the primal instincts that speak on the same level as reason told them, this was incredibly dangerous. The irrationality born from madness drove the guardians. However, this irrationality was defeated, overpowered, by the irrational fear born from this momentous scene.

  The world seemed to be holding its breath in apprehension. Abrum was no exception. While he was the focus of the amazing scene, he was just as anxious as everyone else that was watching.

  His apprehension reached its climax as the countdown finished, and the “insanity countermeasures” would commence. He wondered what kind of amazing sight he would see, and if it would involve him being injured.

  “Error. Insufficient moonlight. Searching for alternative power source. Standby.”

  The look in Abrum’s eyes changed to one of realization, and then confusion. Considering that the moonlight was centered around the katana, he surmised that the monotone voice in his head was from the sword. Sentient weapons weren’t unknown in the world of Atreides, though they were rare. Sentient weapons generally developed their own human like personalities through interactions with their users. Considering the how the speech was akin to that of an emotionally devoid computer, there must have been few to no previous owners for this particular blade. Abrum made this deduction quickly and concisely. While he was usually very unaware, when he actually paid attention to his surroundings, his acuity shone like a star.

  ‘Well that was anti-climactic. But where would one locate a new power source?’ he thought bemusedly. The only thing that surrounded him was a field of blood and 6 huge wolven guardians thirsting for his blood. While they were restrained by that fear, they wouldn’t be that way for long.

  As he thought about his fate, the voice rang out in his head again.

  “Alternative power source located. Extraction commencing immediately.”

  ‘So one was found… but where?’ he questioned in his mind. The answer to this enigma was answered in a prompt, albeit, extremely painful way.

  The ribbon controlled arm brought the sword farther up.

  ‘Better reception for moonlight? That shouldn’t make a diff—“

  He was interrupted mid-thought when the ribbon forced his arm down, katana and all. The hilt made an almost graceful arc as the silvery blade plunged into his abdomen. One could admire the ease with which the blade entered his toned abdomen, Abrum’s eyes widened in shock. The immense pain that originated from this actions caused Abrum to shut his eyes tightly, and bend over. The tip of the blade could be seen sprouting from his back. From an objective perspective, it was lucky that the blade hadn’t hit his spine and caused him death. However lucky it may have been, Abrum didn’t feel lucky at all. He felt himself weakening from what he assumed was blood loss. While his eyes were tightly closed, he heard that accursed, monotone voice above the sensation of pain.

  “Sufficient charge obtained from host. Recommencing with the insanity countermeasures.”

  The ribbon moved his arm and removed the sword from his stomach, and not gently. Abrum looked down at the gruesome wound that was left by the blade. Except it wasn’t there, which Abrum marveled at. The wound was gone, and the pain had decreased to a bearable point. The ribbon arm was forced his arm upwards to the sky, still in reverse grip. Delineated by the moon, the blade started to glow an unearthly silver. Abrum cringed at this action, the memory of the pain still vivid in his mind. The ribbon arm swung downward, the blade plunging… straight…. For the ground.

  The blade buried itself half-way into the blood stained ground. The mad guardians saw this as a chance to attack. With the blade’s movements sealed by the ground, what better time to attack? The six rushed in, assured of their victory. How wrong they were.

  The blood that covered the clearing began to ripple, the origin point from the katana stuck in the ground. The ripples became more and more violent. The blade’s strange glow intensified. The blood immediately surrounding the blade became of a silvery color. The silver began to spread like a contagion, turning the blood into that unnatural silvery blood. The guardians were splashing across the blood, completely uncaring about the change in color. They were unaware of what the blood did. If they had looked back, they would have seen their wounded comrades being slowly enveloped by the silvery liquid. As they plowed through the silver blood, their movements began to get slower and slower. The silver was sticking to them and crawling up their legs. The guardians were stopped and then covered one by one, until there was only a single guardian left. It pulled against the blood, driven by the irrational madness.

  Abrum watched as it was enveloped.

  “Process one completed. Commencing process two.”

  Thus, the silver lumps that were the guardians began to glow with a soft, pulsing light. The piles started to get smaller and smaller until they were human sized, signifying their purification. It was finally finished. Abrum sighed in relief. This wild ride in the forest was finally over. The guardians were purified, and Abrum collapsed to this knees in relief. That was until he heard that same monotone voice inside his head.

  “Insanity removal complete. Preparing elimination of targets. Standby.”

  “What? Nononononononononononononononononono, don’t do that!” Abrum said frantically. As if ignoring him, the soft pulsing light from the human sized lumps started to intensify dangerously. He looked around for a solution to the impending doom, but there was nothing.

  “………se me.” Crooned out a soft, feminine, silky voice in his head. Abrum jerked his head upwards and looked around.

  “Sheathe her……use me.” The mysterious female said again. Abrum looked to the pure black sheathe that was in his other hand. He was apprehensive to sheathe the light inside such darkness.

  “I know…you are apprehensive, but it is my job to restrain Tsuki.” The voice explained. “If she isn’t restrained, all those guardians will die. No exceptions.”

  Abrum’s eyes widened at these words, then hardened in determination. The problem was, he couldn’t sheathe the sword as long as it was in the ground. He struggled to lift his arm that was wound by the ribbon. Except, the ribbon just tightened, causing his muscles to tighten to bear with the pain. With the muscles so tightened, it was impossible for him to move it. Abrum struggled and struggled as the lights intensified. Then, there was a light bulb that flashed on in his head. Abrum positioned his legs so that he was squatting down. Then, driving with his legs, he brought his body up. Since the ribbon arm was so stiff, it came up along with the torso, drawing the sword along with it. Hurriedly, he took the black sheathe and shoved it over the glowing katana. The mysterious light left the clearing abruptly. The blood turned back to red and slid off the now humanoid guardians.

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  The ribbon fell limp, no longer gripping his arm like a boa constrictor. Abrum fell to his knees, exhausted. His head hung low, and was obscured from the moonlight. His diaphragm contracted in sporadic intervals. He threw his head back and opened his mouth. He was laughing. The sporadic contractions were those of laughter. He knelt in the blood, a sheathed katana in front of him. All around the clearing were the unconscious guardians. He was laughing at the moon. It was genuine, heart-felt laughter of relief. If anyone had seen this scene, they would have thought that Abrum was a murderous psychopath. He was laughing so hard he was crying. This was an emotionally stabilizing. He had just been through a very painful experience, physically and emotionally. The memories of his sister, his loving parents were fresh in his mind. The pain of being stinking STABBED by that crazy katana still lingered. His tears from laughing were also a remembrance of his beloved family.

  Thus, the lone Angaellis laughed and cried away in the moonlight.

  He continued on for maybe a good thirty minutes, until he finally gained control of his emotions. His tear sparkled in the moonlight as he looked up at that beautiful full moon. And that’s when he noticed the notification.

  ‘Oh nuts.’ Abrum thought as he felt the familiar points of pain in his back that signified the arrival of a new set of wings. He grit his teeth and bore it as his final pair of wings were sprouted from his back.

  Abrum furrowed his brow. He opened up the skill information for these new skills.

  Abrum was incredibly impressed with these new skills, especially the Silver Wing sub-skills. The only problem was… HE COULDN’T USE ANY OF THESE SKILLS! They all required moonlight energy, which was something he did not have. Thus, all the skills were absolutely useless, unless he had a way of procuring the Moonlight Energy.