Storm of Death (1)

Crouched behind a rock, Rickert listens as the Skull Knight and Zodd speak. The knight has warred against inhuman beings for a thousand years, and the Eclipse offers him a rare chance to strike at them. He supposes Zodd was posted to guard the portal against intruders, but Zodd denies any interest in the sacrifices within, saying he waits only for mighty warriors like the knight to test himself against. Naming the knight his rival and hinting at a shared history, Zodd renews their fight.

Casca stands paralyzed amid the carnage as an apostle devours a fellow mercenary and then turns toward her. Pippin blocks its path and hammers its skull, though the blow barely registers, and he orders Casca to flee while he holds it back. Before she can protest, Judeau sweeps her onto his horse and rides off, flinging knives into the apostle's face to aid Pippin. Both men have decided her survival matters above all, for she now leads the Band of the Falcon and their last hope dies with her. She looks back weeping as many apostles overwhelm Pippin. Elsewhere, Corkus watches soldiers cowering before another apostle be eaten together, leaving him alone against it. He turns to run and is raked across the back, tumbling down the hill of faces into yet more apostles below. He flees until he thinks himself clear, then, sinking into despair, tries to convince himself the whole nightmare is a dream and pleads to be woken. Out of the dark steps a lovely naked woman who touches herself invitingly. Though he senses she is not human, Corkus goes to her and presses his face to her chest, whereupon she transforms and moves to kill him.

Rickert overhears that the Skull Knight has fought inhumans for a thousand years and that Zodd guards the portal only to seek worthy opponents; the two resume dueling. Pippin sacrifices himself to let Judeau carry Casca to safety, since her death would doom the band. Corkus flees the apostles, briefly believes he has escaped, and is lured to his death by a beautiful female apostle.

This Golden Age Arc chapter ran in Young Animal issue 11 on May 24, 1996, over twenty pages. It marks the deaths of the band's members during the Eclipse, beginning with Pippin's stand and Corkus' end, and features a brief cameo of the Snake Lord.