Ether and Abyss

Chapter 2: Talisman

(Photo demonstrates length of a greatsword, not Seif's design, which will be described later)

Circling. Testing. Taunting. Seif held his blade leveled beside his head, leaning back in a dueling stance, ready for the Shade's strike. A mass of black shifting shadow, visible only in a dimly-traced-ever-shifting profile, blood red eyes, and a dark, single-edged cleaver of a sword. Both knights, Seif and the Shade, paused for a single moment, regarding each other with eyes unreadable, and then struck.
Seif parried the first strike, kicking the torso of the Shade back and swiping with the greatsword, creating space and wearing the enemy down as it was forced to leap backwards, which it did in a sloppy somersault. It charged again, sword out like a lance, and this time Seif spun out of the way, the cleaver dusting his armor with its closeness, and Seif stabbed his greatsword into the Shade's exposed back, skewering him easily, and the greatsword flashed with magic as it absorbed the soul of the Shade.
Curious. Seif kicked the Shade onto the ground, studying the greatsword. He had his shield attached to his arm, but that had gone unused, and he plucked the arrow out of its base. Where had that archer gone? Seif had been resting by the Gate when the arrow had come out of nowhere and struck the shield. At first, Seif assumed that the Shade who emerged from the darkness afterwards was the source, but when the Shade had died the sword had dropped to the ground whilst it's body melted, leaving no bow. Seif scanned the pitch black horizon. Groans and wails of the Abyss. Nothing more.
"Whoever is there," Seif challenged into the darkness, voice crackling from not being used in so long. "I suggest challenging me instead of just potshots. Your honor would be restored, beast."
A moment passed. Two. Then, as if appearing from thin air, a new enemy approached, and Seif turned to where it shimmered into existence. A girl.
The girl couldn't have been more than 14 years of human age, with silver skin marked by golden spots of paint. Dark purple hair swung down to cover one side of her face, and she held a longbow slung over her dark leather armor, with a throwing knife strapped across her chest. In her hands, she held a single sided hatchet, stained with...monster essence.
"Are you another beast? Or a Shade?" The girl's voice was soft, young, and...human. She had been here a while, perhaps as long as Seif, apparent in the age under her eyes that glowed green.
Seif sheathed his greatsword, but took out his gladius, sure that he was stronger than the girl, if a bit slower. "My name is Aegis Seif. I guard the Abyss Gate. Who are you? Why are you alone?"
The girl brushed her hair out of her eyes, "M-my name is Brianna. I was killed, but...my dad thought I was a dæmon. He...burnt my body with Abyss rites. Now I'm cold. I want to go home. I can't fight these monsters any longer."
Seif knew that was partly emotional reason and physical. His senses detected no evil or dæmonic influence over her, like the rest of the monsters, and yet both she and Seif held similar life shields, keeping them alive in the alien terrain. But her's was failing. If she didn't replenish it soon, she'd die. Seif, on the other hand, had a deathless aura that did not only hold back, but repel the effects of the Abyss, resulting in undeath and a regenerating body. His aura could only be broken by leaving the Abyss, which couldn't happen, while the only thing that would save this girl was doing just that. She needed to escape into the human plane, lest her aura break, and the dark of the Abyss crush her whole. Seif thought a long while before he sheathed the gladius and beckoned the girl to follow him as he turned to the Abyss Gate.
"I-is this the way home?" The girl asked as the two stood in front of the swirling, decrepit portal. Seif nodded, holding a hand out to her which she took gratefully. He had her stand on the edge of the portal, and she looked at him, surprised. "Aren't you coming with me?"
Seif shook his head, "I cannot. It would only throw me back."
The girl nodded and turned towards the swirling void as the gate began to churn, ready for the girl. Brianna looked back to Seif, and her eyes widened.
Spinning, Seif cleaved out with the gladius, slicing the Shade's chest. It crumbled, dissolving, but two more pairs of eyes flickered into existence, both wielding dual, black katanas as they sprinted towards the girl.
"Go! Go!" Seif shouted, unsheathing his greatsword as the Shades became clearer in the light of the Gate. Brianna turned back to the portal, closing her eyes, and falling in, as Seif attacked the first Shade, this one sporting a shadowy tail and horns, by stabbing the greatsword out and impaling him through the arm. He recovered the blade and spun, edge whirling, to parry the other Shade's attack. Sparks flew from the steel of the Aegis's blade as he pushed back into the Shade. Its companion was recovering, dropping one katana from his severed arm but charging Seif anyways. Seif kicked the Shade he currently crossed swords with, then dove into a roll as the other Shade attempted to stab him. Recovering his gladius, Seif stabbed it into the one-armed Shade's back, kicking him off to fling him into the darkness. Not a moment too soon had Seif recovered the greatsword, as the remaining Shade flung himself at Seif with an inhuman dash forward. Seif dropped to his back, planting his hands, even that with the greatsword in its grasp, to the ground and kicking both legs up like an angered ass. The Shade flew backward with the force of the kick, a dazed figure of shade in the blackness, and Seif leapt up and stabbed his greatsword down into the beast, killing it. Breathing heavily through his helm, Seif turned back to the Gate, and was surprised to find an item, resting on the edge. It was a thick knife, one made entirely of black steel and donning no hilt, making it a throwing knife. The name 'Brianna' was etched into the end of it. A final gift to Aegis Seif. The knight strapped it to his belt, before turning once more to the dark of the Abyss as a single wet drop raced down his covered face, seen by neither beast nor man, as it evaporated into his aura.