“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. It flew back momentarily before turning to hurtle in the direction of the archers. The skeletons screamed and scattered as the cloud of arrows now smashed into their positions with furious force. Kassina narrowed her eyes and crunched her fists as she turned to her undead knights. Her anger was so great that her nails shredded the skin on her palms.
“Go deal with these troublesome elves, now! And do not fail me, or you may as well be dead already!” she barked.
They grunted in response, drawing their swords as they marched towards the waiting elven guards. A tremor shook the ground, and Kassina watched as the remaining wall of trees slowly parted.
At first, she could only see Andrielle’s shining armour as she rode out onto the open battlefield. The trees continued to part as the remainder of her accompaniment galloped out to stand beside her. The elven guards quickly followed suit and reassembled behind their queen.
The rumbling ground stopped momentarily.
“So the mysterious Elven Queen and her following fools and commoners decide to come out of hiding?” laughed Kassina darkly. She bared her fangs and screamed at the top of her lungs. “Is that really the best you can do? You dare challenge a fully manned Dark Army, and the most powerful sorceress of all the lands, with this pitiful display of guards and a few of you on horseback? Are you really that stupid, or did it take you many years of being queen to master that kind of idiocy?”
Althar seized the opportunity to reach safety and charged out into the open as fast as he could, weaving from side to side in the Elven Queen’s direction in an attempt to avoid enemy weaponry.
“What is this? Even the great dragons have cowards among them? Take him out!” Kassina ordered with a chuckle.
The remaining catapult detail shouted orders to each other, took aim and released a burning missile into the air in the dragon’s path.
“Look out!” screamed Helenia, standing in her stirrups.
They could only watch as the missile bounced off the ground and curved toward Andrielle. Althar twisted his body to leap into the path of the missile and growled as his unshielded stomach was savagely hit. With a loud groan of pain, he crashed violently into the ground, head first. The force of the impact frightened their horses, which complained at the large dragon’s body sliding in their direction. Dirt and soil sprayed in their direction from the impact of the powerful dragon. Althar’s body slid to a grinding halt a few feet away from Helenia, who looked him helplessly in the eyes and watched as his life left his damaged body and his flesh went limp with his final breath.
Andrielle pulled hard on her reins, causing her horse to rear up high on its hind legs and send a loud neigh into the air. She raised her sword high and cast a spell.
“ Spatha mei galbine flagrat! ”
Her sword burst into green flames, which was the signal they had been waiting for. With a loud cry of “ Forward!” escaping the forest, Andrielle’s army began their march out from the darkness and protection of the trees. Kassina watched as thousands of them came into her view, heavily armoured and many armed to the teeth with weapons made from otherworldly materials and colours. The front lines of Andrielle’s army ceased marching, standing in a linear formation a few short paces behind Andrielle.
“Dragons, take formation! The elven army has arrived!” cried Karven.
The remaining dragons flew high into the air and circled the army from above, regaining their strength as they hid themselves in the darkness. Kassina turned her view to the skies, where the battlefield was watched closely by the gods, but also by the darkest and most deviant of eyes.
Suddenly Shindar's voice filled Kassina’s mind. Kassina, your time has come. The prophecy can finally begin its fulfilment. The power we need to bring me back into this world lies in the souls of those who stand before you. Kill them all and we shall rule this world together in the time of the Blood Red Moon. You have done well and have served me with strength — now finish what you have started.
“To victory!” cried Andrielle and Helenia in unison as they and their accompaniment marched forward, leading the army into battle.
The force of their charge rattled Kassina’s cart, and she leapt off it before turning to her Forces of Darkness.
“Kill them all, and let there be no mercy!” ordered the dark sorceress with glee, as they in their turn marched to meet the elven forces in the middle of the battleground.
Karven led the dragons from the sky in a linear formation and they descended in an attack to run over Kassina's charging forces. His voice boomed over the battlefield. "Take out as many as you can, and watch for crossfire!"