Saving Lord Nightshade

By the time I could see again, the Light Kings' bodies had dissipated into motes of light. Lord Nightshade was lying on the ground as the other Dark Lord desperately transferred vital darkness into his grievous wounds - a gaping hole in his chest that refused to close and a thousand flaming cuts that slowly ate their way into his body. 

I gasped internally at the horrendous sight, but there was little time to care for such trivialities. Before I could attempt to call for help, not that it would have been of any use, a voice that sounded like a thousand screaming souls resounded in my head.

I clutched my head, mouth open in a silent scream as my hands wrapped around my throat and started squeezing. It took a moment before I could reimpose control over my body and get up, barely managing to choke air down my crushed airways. 

A few seconds later, it registered that the voice had said something, which happened to be very important. As soon as I processed the words, I raced towards the still surviving Greater Dark Elementals, rapidly picking the one that seemed least injured. It wasn't very difficult to tell - five of the others were unconscious or dead on the ground, while the remaining three were littered with glass-like shards of ruinous light as they laid on the ground, struggling to summon healing darkness. 

Grabbing the visibly less injured one, I picked it up, before running at full speed toward Lord Nightshade and the other Dark Lord. However, I was already struggling to breathe just halfway through - not because it was too heavy, on the other hand it was surprisingly light (maybe because it didn't seem to be fully solid?) but rather because the aura of darkness it exuded even when half-dead was enough to send a deadly chill into my bones. Feebly, it struggled in my arms.

When I finally got there, I unceremoniously deposited it next to the other Dark Lord, who wordlessly sent a blast of darkness into it to revitalize the Greater Dark Elemental. It immediately seemed to regain strength and seemed to be fully conscious a mere moment later. Without further instruction, it lent its strength to healing Lord Nightshade, uncaring of how its not fully healed wounds worsened with every passing minute.

Gritting my teeth, I went back for the other Greater Dark Elementals, wondering in the back of my mind where my companions were when I needed them. Moments later, I was carrying another Dark Elemental, which thankfully wasn't struggling much - there were what appeared to be thousands of minute blades of light that covered much of its body and would mercilessly slice into me the moment they came into contact with my flesh. The growing chill in my bones was not helping my cause either.

Nevertheless, I managed to make it to the area where Lord Nightshade was being healed with non-threatening injuries - although blood loss might be a problem if left unattended. The other Dark Lord seemed to be a little paler, although it might have just been my imagination. Once again, it sent a jolt of darkness into the injured Dark Elemental, wiping away the blades and healing it.

I didn't stick around to see anything else. Stumbling away, I moved jerkily toward the remaining Greater Dark Elemental. However, even as I approached it, my legs gave way. There seemed to be a layer of ice around my heart, piercing deeper into it with every contraction. 

Desperately, I summoned the only helpful spell of darkness I knew - a blast of the stuff, which I managed to summon after some sloppy incantations. As a last ditch effort, I pushed it into the Greater Dark Elemental. Utterly exhausted and likely dying, I laid down as my heartbeat slowed. The Greater Dark Elemental showed no signs of recovery. Distantly, I thought about how cold the ground was. Then my eyes closed and darkness rose to claim me.