Nymira stretched out her heavy wings, leaned down momentarily and with a thrust and a large gust of wind under them, she took flight. Both men grunted at the sheer force as they held on tightly. Nymira climbed higher into the sky at immense speed, the air rushing past their beaming faces.
“So this is what it feels like to fly? Amazing!” yelled Tusdar.
Vartan took in the picturesque view around them and shouted, “Yes, Tusdar, yes it is.'
“I feel like we are flying past stars that are barely over our heads,” proclaimed Tusdar. “I could almost reach out and touch them!” He extended an arm to the sky before snapping it back into place as Nymira banked to her left.
Just as Vartan looked to the sky, a shooting star flew past the countless stars that poked sparkly holes in the black sky.
“Indeed, it is a beautiful night,” said Vartan, “but we cannot afford to be distracted and lose our focus. We need to stay completely out of sight, as Greenhaven is only a few moments ahead of us. Kassina will surely be watching the skies for any signs of dragons. Do not speak a word out loud until we are well out of earshot.”
As they cleared the canopy of Greenhaven’s hills, the fallen city and black clouds of smoke came into view. The section of land where Tusdar and Aidan fought the golem was almost completely empty, save for some defeated skeleton warriors that still clung to life. Fired arrows remained unclaimed in the ground. Vartan shared a glance of confusion with Tusdar, but as they flew over the city, they immediately understood why it was so barren. They could only observe below them as the last group formation of Kassina’s Dark Army marched over the still- lowered gate of Greenhaven.
“May the gods help us. That is a huge army. Where are they all going? I thought it was Greenhaven that they were after,” asked Tusdar.
'So did I,' said Vartan. He concentrated hard and chanted the words to the spell of Farsight.
“ Permissum meus opto eo ulterius quam meus animadverto. ”
Vartan opened his eyes again and his vision soared through the air with blistering speed towards the marching Dark Army. Thousands of skeleton warriors and archers in battalions of hundreds marched in formation, and in between those forces was the golem that had captured Aidan. With each step of the golem, a thunderous beat filled the air and set the marching pace for Kassina’s Dark Army.
“I can see the golem and it marches with her. There are thousands of them, Tusdar, but I cannot believe Kassina left Greenhaven undefended. I wonder just how strong her forces are and if any are left behind,” said Vartan. As he pressed his vision forward, Vartan saw many immense wooden catapults being dragged heavily on the ground. The warriors pulling them alongside carts of ammunition were visibly struggling with the burden.
“It looks like they are prepared for a siege, but I am not yet sure of where they are going,” said Vartan. “That is strange; I’d have thought they would use horses to move their weapons.”
Nymira replied, “It is likely they drained all the horses in Greenhaven of blood, or the horses may have been slaughtered in the fall of Greenhaven. From memory, the forces are marching in the direction of Veldrenn, and I think we all know what that means. Vartan, should we warn them?”
Vartan went silent as he carefully considered his next move. The vision of his parents still troubled him deeply, but was it just a dream? He could not be sure. He could never live with himself if he didn’t save his parents when he had the chance.
He spoke softly. “At their speed, they are days out from reaching Veldrenn. It is most likely that Andrielle already knows they are coming; the elves have their own scouts. I must see to my parents’ safety, and then we will return as soon as we are able to warn them. If they have deserted Greenhaven… they must have taken Aidan with them, let me see.'
Vartan looked further into the marching army and caught sight of Kassina’s cart as it moved through the Dark Army’s ranks, dragged by two oversized, undead horses. Just beside the dark sorceress’s cart, Aidan lay stretched out on a makeshift rack. He was held tightly by harsh ropes that were tied firmly in place, cutting through his flesh. Surrounding Kassina’s cart stood a legion of raised undead knights, who mindlessly obeyed her every barked order. Their armour was rusty and showed signs of decay from being resurrected from their burial grounds. Two of them carried Aidan’s rack and were slowed from its weight. Aidan struggled fruitlessly against the ropes, causing them to dig further into his torn flesh. Vartan heard his strained voice as his vision neared the cart.
“Damn you to the fires of Mount Wayrin, you wench, Kassina! I hope your end comes soon and I get to watch your flesh melt from your rotting bones!” screamed Aidan.
Kassina’s mocking laugh echoed through the thick forest. She turned to Aidan and snarled, “Shut your trap before I order one of my knights to shut it for you! I found a use for you for the time being, but don’t tempt me to change my mind. Forward! We will crush this so-called ‘Elven City’ beneath our feet.”
Vartan reeled back his vision as if his sight was tethered to a long rope. His vision snapped back into his skull and the discharge of the spell disorientated him momentarily. He shook his head and refocused his attention to the path ahead of them.
“They have Aidan with them. He’s still alive and looks mostly unharmed. Nymira, I need you to move as fast as you can,” said Vartan.
“Of course, Vartan. I suggest you both hang on as tightly as possible-and try not to scream when we are so close to Kassina,” said Nymira.
She ascended into the sky before suddenly diving towards the ground, letting gravity give her a burst of speed.
The rumble of the approaching army's march shook their bodies and vision as they hung onto the tree branches. Nicolai wiped a cooled tear from her face as she turned to her fairy soldiers. They were all dressed in golden armour, and wielded small silver swords and shields bearing the mark of a leaf.
She lowered her golden helmet onto her head and shouted, 'Fairies of the elven forest, we knew that this moment would come since their scouts found us. We have already lost some fairies dear to all of us, and I will not allow their deaths to be in vain. Our homes are in their path and beyond that lie our greatest allies, the elves. We have to do everything we can to stop them and to buy Queen Andrielle some time. We may be small in size, but we can make a big difference. We all know what we have to do, so let's fly together and fight together.'
The fairies clicked their tongues and cheered. The forest filled with their cries as Kassina's army neared. Nicolai drew her sword and yelled, 'Fairies, attack!'
The forest edge lit up with their glistening armour reflecting the moonlight as the swarm of fairies drew their swords, flew high and charged at Kassina's army.
The queen of darkness stood wide-eyed. She had only moments to react before the quick-flying fairies reached her front lines.
' Fairies are attacking us? Kill them all!' she growled, dismissing the attacking army with a flick of her hand.
The flying army landed on the helmets of the Forces of Darkness and stabbed wildly at their glowing eyes. The dark army’s shrieks filled the air as they swatted at the fairies. Some of Kassina’s forces drew swords and smashed them into their own helmets in an attempt to kill the attacking fairy army. The comparatively large swords were easily evaded as the faeries leapt between their targets, sending her ranks into disarray.
Kassina's rage filled her body as she launched to her feet, swung her arms and pointed with her fingertips to burst a fairy open with a bolt of lightning. Its armour shattered as its body evaporated into a cloud of blood. Kassina boomed, 'Do I really have to do everything myself? Archers, take aim and fire!'
Nicolai flew through the path of the resulting blood cloud, grunting as she spat the metallic taste from her mouth. She heard only her breath as she surveyed the situation through her helm, helplessly watching as another fairy was destroyed by Kassina’s hand. 'Retreat to the cover of the woods, now!'
The fairy army flew upward and a volley of arrows followed the shiny cloud of fairies. A few unlucky fairies were speared by the arrows and plummeted to the ground, whilst the rest disappeared into the safety of the forest canopy.
Kassina's snapped, 'So the little insects have run away to hide. Get back in formation! Let's see how much of their forest will remain when we are done with them. There are many ways to flush out our enemies!'
Chapter 14: Rain of Fire
