[GrayGriffin]

It was rare that Oath found himself in the workshop alone. Most of the time, Joe or the Quiksylph would be fluttering around in here talking to him. Or the Scordark they'd happened upon and recruited in the rainforest would have some new question about the way the world worked, and decide that he was the best authority to ask. However, today the three winged critters had headed off on a flight of their own, leaving him behind to mind the place.

He'd pouted about it a bit, but he had to admit it was mostly performative. He did enjoy getting to tinker on his own, without any noise, sometimes, and this was one of those times.

[GrayGriffin]

Although today, for once, he wasn't working on anything of his own design. No, he'd been provided with a strange crystal and accompanying device, which would supposedly "charge" the crystal and draw in some strange sorts of creatures. The man providing these crystals had wanted them to be tested in as many areas as possible, so he'd picked up a few along with a charging device. Now, he had it set up in a corner, and had his eyes fixed on it, watching as it supposedly worked its magic.

[GrayGriffin]

Oh, there was that old adage about how a watched pot would never boil, but he knew that was bunk. And since this whole device was something he'd never seen before, he wasn't about to leave it off to the side to potentially burn his workshop down with a stray spark. He could see that the crystal's glow was becoming somewhat brighter, and so far nothing seemed to have gone catastrophically wrong in any way.

[GrayGriffin]

As he watched the crystal, though, he started to become aware of other sounds in his vicinity. Lifting his head, he blinked slowly. Apparently he'd been staring at that glow for too long, since he thought he'd saw the shadows moving and shifting towards him. He turned his head away from both the crystal and the ceiling light, closing his eyes for a longer moment before opening them again.

The shadows had not stopped moving.

[GrayGriffin]

"Well, crap," he muttered, slowly raising one of his scythes in a threatening manner. "Alright then. I suppose the proper way to put this is 'come at me,' isn't it?" Even as he spoke, one of the shadows came surging towards him, and his blade came down, slicing it in half. Its two halves blurred away, before coming back together and reforming. Now that he looked closer, it seemed like it wasn't purely shadow, and was glittering with faint starry light.

[GrayGriffin]

"Give ussssss the cryssssstal," it hissed, dropping to the ground on all fours and stalking towards him, its jaws opening wider than should be physically possible. "That'ssssss not for you to take." Oath stood with his blades raised, ready to chop at it again.

Several of the other shadows were also flitting around the crystal, their limbs reaching out to brush around it and the charger it was set in. However, none of them actually reached out to physically touch it.

[GrayGriffin]

"You can't actually do anything about this, can you?" he asked, blades slashing down on another shadow that had tried to attack him from the side. "You can't actually touch that crystal! You're simply trying to threaten me into giving it up!"

"Oh, but we can touch you," murmured a voice from above him. Looking up, he saw a shadow that had been clinging to the ceiling twist around and drop down towards him. He leapt aside, barely getting out of the way in time.

[GrayGriffin]

Oath backed up, scythes raised threateningly as he took the measure of the creature approaching him. It scuttled forwards on long, lanky limbs that he knew could easily have entangled him if it had succeeded in its ambush. Then again, could you call it an ambush when it had declared its intentions that far ahead of time? For a moment, he was about to taunt it about that, before realizing what a foolish idea that would be.

[GrayGriffin]

Looking around, he realized that more of the shadows had stopped trying to reach the light and were now moving towards him, united in their purpose. He glanced around, and realized that he'd ended up backed against the wall. Reaching back with a scythe to tap it, he realized this was one of the more solid ones, and somewhat load-bearing. No way he could just bust through this and rely on fixing it up later.

[GrayGriffin]

"Very well then," muttered Oath. "This is where I make my stand." He raised both his scythes, and even his smaller manipulating arms tensed for action. His eyes darted back and forth, scanning the assembled shadows as he sought out which ones were grouped the least densely and had the greatest chance of him being able to cut his way through.

However, it seemed like they had gathered into an almost-solid mass. For now, he could find no possible holes in their defense.

[GrayGriffin]

So was this how it was going to end? He was going to die here, surrounded by these strange shadow creatures? All because he'd wanted to research these strange crystals and their properties?

"What an ignoble end..." he murmured, before raising both his blades dramatically. "Well then, come at me. I do intend to give you the full brunt of my power before you bring me down."

The creatures lunged, and his blades came slashing down.

[GrayGriffin]

"Oh no you don't!" called two other voice simultaneously. Suddenly, two fluttering butterfly-like creatures appeared, each of them slashing down at the shadows with bladed wings and bared claws.

"How did you guys get back here so fast?" asked Oath, sounding shocked.

"Well, we were out on the town, and then we heard some weird rumors!" exclaimed A. Joe. "They sounded like they had something to do with those crystals, and we knew you were here all alone, so we figured we should come and see if anything bad was happening!"

"And it's good we did," murmured Bloodtear.

[GrayGriffin]

"Yeah, I guess," muttered Oath, crossing his arms. "Thanks for the backup." He would much rather not describe it as a "rescue," though that was obviously the most proper way to describe what they had done. With the two butterflies taking some of the pressure off him, he was able to make more progress in cutting through the shades. Even with them reforming, the multiple attackers meant that they couldn't stay that way for long before being dissolved again.

[GrayGriffin]

"Ah, Oath," murmured a voice. "It's good to see you're alright." Glancing over, he saw the Quiksylph alight on the table next to the crystals. Surprisingly, they seemed to glow brighter in her presence.

"Hey, Quiksylph!" called Joe. "You know what these creatures are?"

"I have some inkling," she admitted. "And if I'm studying these crystals right, the key to getting rid of them for good lies right here. Keep fighting. I'll charge the crystals."

[GrayGriffin]

"That we can do!" exclaimed Joe, happily throwing himself back into the fight. Oath and Bloodtear followed up, and soon settled into a rhythm where they could easily keep their foes from overwhelming them. Soon, they were even starting to count their "kills" and compete for the highest number.

Then, finally, the crystals' glow seemed to reach an all-time high, and suddenly they erupted in a brilliant flash of light that filled the workroom. When it faded, the creatures had all vanished completely.

The Quiksylph sighed in relief, fluttering over to the rest of the group. "Well, that sure wasn't what I expected out of today," she admitted. "Still...I hope we get some good compensation for this."

"We better," muttered Oath.

[Crystal Synthesis Complete]