Black clouds billowed into the sky and the stench of smoke stained the crisp night air. Flashes from the battle lit up the tear-streaked faces of sniffling children as the mothers who were either too weak to fight, or needed for the safekeeping of the survivors, made their way toward the glow and skyward beam of She’Ma’Ryn, far from the Battle of the Elven Woods. The women carried heavy packs on their backs with supplies and materials for making shelter. A handful of elven warriors accompanied the survivors for protection.
A woman managed a smile as she addressed the large crowd of children. “Come now, we are under the queen’s orders and we will be safe in the woods.”
The children nodded as they held their heads low and continued the long walk without complaint. “Remember, we have the dragons on our side now,” the woman continued. “And when the battle is won, we will return to Veldrenn to rebuild and celebrate.”
Chapter 17: Death from Above
“This is not the first time that the knights have been involved in war, nor will it likely be the last. However, for the first time in my life, I fight not only for my king or kingdom, but for the survival of the world as we know it.
A burden such as this can either provide hope and courage, or weigh one down into hopelessness and despair. I don’t have much time for the latter.”
Kassina turned her scowl to her busy catapult crews and viciously spat out an order. “Aim at those damned dragons, or we’ll lose this battle before it has even begun!”
She puffed loudly and collapsed her body into her makeshift throne in annoyance.
Finn dove hard at Kassina’s cart and blew a fiery path towards her position, his eyes narrowing on his target.
“Look out!” exclaimed Aidan from the cart, struggling against the rough ropes to escape. His flesh was torn through and bled into the ropes.
Finn! Be careful, one of our own is beside her, ordered Karven from far above. Watch your fire!
Kassina snapped to her feet and quickly chanted a spell of protection against fire.
“ Celatum sit ignem de corpo mei. ”
In a series of pulses, a large, transparent, glowing sphere covered her entire cart. The red-hot flames turned to steam as they touched her magical sphere.
'Damn you, witch!' growled the young dragon as he circled around.
Finn! Be careful! Don’t get too close to her, screamed Karven’s voice in his mind.
Foolishly ignoring Karven’s warning, Finn swung as hard as he could with his tail while he flew over Kassina’s head. She responded by sending a potent charge of electricity through the tip of his tail. Finn crash-landed into the ground behind her, his form grinding through the dirt and sending up a large cloud of dust.
“You stupid fool, did you really think I’d be that easy to kill?” laughed Kassina.
Bang…
Bang…
Bang…
Karven's desperate voice burst into Finn’s mind. Finn! Get off the ground, now!
Bang…
Bang…
Bang…
Finn shook his head in confusion and regained his footing when he saw what was coming. The golem, Glaucus, was charging at him with full speed and was closing on him quickly, a large oak tree in his arms. Finn didn’t have enough time to take flight and could only brace himself for the inevitable impact, shutting his eyes and folding his wings over himself.
Bang…
Bang…
Karven rocketed through the air between them and smashed his tail with shattering force into the gigantic golem. Glaucus flew back a short distance and flattened out over Aidan’s makeshift rack, sending a large spray of dirt, wood and blood into the air around them.
Kassina shot lightning randomly through the air to repel any attackers. Seizing the opportunity, Finn flapped his wings as hard as he could to gain flight as undead knights quickly closed in on him. Putting as much distance between them as possible, Finn climbed high into the dark sky. He glanced back to see the bloody remains of Aidan dangling from the ropes.
That was too close, Finn, said Karven sadly. Choose your kills wisely and try to avoid friendly casualties. That loss may have been avoidable.
Finn banked and plummeted from the sky, vengeance surging through his veins. He sent more flames into the skeleton archers, narrowly dodging arrows aimed at wounding him where he was vulnerable. Shrieks filled the night air when another flaming tree was dropped heavily into the skeleton warriors’ midst. Kassina responded with two well-placed fireballs that hit the delicate wing membrane of another unfortunate attacking dragon.
“No! Althar!” growled Karven as he watched from above.
Althar plummeted to the ground, his heavy form landing gracelessly beside one of the catapults. The dragon growled in pain as he got back to his feet. Seizing the opportunity, Althar inhaled deeply and set the catapult and its team alight with dragon's breath.
“Damn those dragons. Archers, ready your weapons and fire on the wounded one!” ordered Kassina.
With grumbles and shrieks, they responded and turned to the downed Althar, whose wings let off wisps of smoke from the damage.
Finn again dove at their position, blowing fire at the endless stream of archers moving towards Althar. On his ascent, he ripped handfuls of them from the ground in his claws and took them high into the sky before sending them helplessly plummeting to the ground to shatter into pieces.
Hundreds of archers knelt in position, took aim and released a volley of arrows at the downed dragon’s great body. Althar folded what was left of his wings as tightly as possible and rolled himself into a ball to protect himself. Their arrows bounced off his scales and fell uselessly to the ground beside him. Althar unfolded himself and stood proudly, blowing fire over the new catapult crew who were desperately attempting to retrieve and fire the weapon.
Kassina’s power was weakening and she knew she had to conserve her magic. She returned her attention to commanding the remainder of her army. Suddenly, the two dozen elven guards surrounding the city burst from the furiously burning forest and charged at the ranks of skeleton warriors before them.
“So, the elves have finally decided to join the party?” laughed Kassina. “Don’t make me laugh. Archers, ready and fire! Destroy this pitiful display of defiance.”
Two battalions of skeleton archers growled in annoyance as they took their positions and sent clouds of arrows screaming towards the elven guards. One of the elves raised a fist in the air, and the other guards quickly took positions in a square around him. They joined together by each placing a hand on the shoulder of another as they combined their powers and cast a spell, their eyes glowing with power.
“ Ex silva phasmam flaminis evocamus. ”
A faceless wind spirit burst from the trees and hovered above them before looking up to the sky at the arrows speeding towards their position. It reeled back, let out an eerie scream, and burst into the path of the arrows, taking leaves and dust with it in the powerful winds it created. A few dragons were sent barrelling in the sky, desperately trying to regain flight after being knocked off course by the sheer power of the wind. The arrows connected with the magic wall of wind and stopped in mid-air.
“You can’t be serious,” exclaimed Kassina, staring wide-eyed at the hovering arrows.
The guards pointed to the archers, and the spirit breathed something in a language nobody could understand.
