Fire bird

It was a cloudy and cold day back then. It gave a melancholic feeling to anyone who looked to the skies. A sad day... Certainly not the kind of environment you would expect for the battle that was unfolding.

The galloping of horses was echoing in a near valley. Animals living on that land were restless; birds flew desperately from the trees, boars and deers ran away for their lives, and insects got agitated. None of them wanted to stay for more than a second in that valley where a huge fuss was happening.

Inside the valley's forest, a white horse was zigzagging between the trees at an abnormal speed. Because of its sudden turns and leaps to the sides, it nearly fell several times, but it was used to that kind of territory. Its eyes were focused forward and expressed resolution. It had just one thing in mind: Hunt!

Once that thought came into the hoarse's mind, its legs started to work harder and push its huge body forward.

The man riding that fast animal was firmly holding the reins and leaning his body on the horse. A longsword and a bow were attached to his back. Adrenaline ran across his veins, making his heart hammer in his chest as if ready to explode. His thick leather clothes wrapped with metal plates in vital points were covered not just with sweat, but also blood. All his senses were sharpened, the man's deep black eyes were pointed to the sky, and he didn't blink even once. The rest of his face was covered by a helmet.

"IT'S THERE!" He shouted in a deep voice and pointed above with his gloved hand.

The other three riders appeared on both sides, their horses had the same fur color and were as vigorous as his companion.

"Lilith, Paul, stay in formation and charge your spells. The Ancient is right above us!"

"Yes, Captain!" A feminine voice reached his ears in response. She seemed to be exhausted, but still as spirited as her commandant.

"The end of the valley is right in front of us, Captain! Once we get there, we will enter the plains. That will be the perfect place!" The second subordinate of the group pointed out. His youthful voice showed that he was the younger one of those three.

"All right! Do not waste the blessing that the Great Curse gave to you! Fight with your souls burning with willpower!"

"Yes, sir!!" Both answered in unison, kicking their horses in the stomach to make them run faster.

They couldn't spot the Ancient as clearly as their leader due to the density of that forest, but they could feel its massive pressure coming from the sky. The heat around was incredibly high, which showed that there were no mistakes on the Captain's guidelines.

The rush inside the valley continued but, suddenly, despair nearly made them retreat when strong flames struck the ground in front of them, engulfing part of the forest with a ball of fire hot enough to melt the metal of their plates.

The horses were prompted by their riders to keep going regardless of that powerful attack. They crossed the area in flames going faster than arrows. Trees fell all over the place, nearly smashing them or blocking their passage, animals on fire got in their way, and the group struggled to keep going.

When they finally left that devastated zone, they were two times as harmed as they were before. As if it wasn't enough, the horses barely were able to keep running.

The Captain jumped out of his loyal companion, looking at him with pity in his eyes. He muttered words of comfort to the animal.

"Soon I will be back with the head of that beast! Wait for me, Alastor!" He unsheathed his sword and began to run towards the end of the valley.

His subordinates understood what he wanted to do and also jumped from their horses, following their leader.

Runes began written on their leather boots shining intensely. The wind began to gather around their bodies and boost them forward, speeding up their rush at a speed comparable to the horses.

'This enchantment drains our energy too fast, so we can't keep using it for long, but at least we will make it until the end of the alley!' The Captain was confident in his subordinates that they would endure the tiredness with him until they could reach that beast.

While they ran, the Ancient flying above them shot more fireballs that finished the complete destruction of the valley. The explosion reached a ratio of 100 meters. If not for their inhuman speed, the group wouldn't be able to keep alive, and even so they needed to struggle to avoid the massive destruction around them.

The knights resumed their run once they got to the plains that Paul had predicted before.

Exhaustion could not be found in the voice of the Captain when he shouted with determination, pointing the tip of his long sword towards the giant firebird on top of them.

"There it is! One of the Primordial Ancients, the beast we chased for so many years! The Phoenix of the legends!"

The Phoenix roared while flapping its wings in the sky. The sound made the ground tremble and crack, its flappings were sending waves of heat through the plains, burning the tall green grass it had. Its presence alone was overwhelming enough to make all living beings around it get desperate and run away.

"Lilith!" The Captain called out.

Without answering, the woman got next to him, taking a silver chain wrapped around her body and spinning it with abnormal speed. The spin was pressuring the air around, shaking the grass around her.

With great strength, she shot the chain towards the best. The tip of the metallic weapon crossed the place at a speed that surpassed the sound. It wrapped around the Phoenix's leg, preventing it to go any further.

The attack, however, didn't stop there. Electricity began to accumulate around Lilith's body. Strong static rays covered her. She seemed like a lightning rod that just got electrocuted by several bolts.

A powerful shock wave discharged from her and crossed the chain's body, electrocuting the Phoenix. The beast screamed in pain, its roar making the ground tremble again. Together with it, its wings flapped stronger than before, casting more fire around.

The place had several wide craters on its surface. 90% of the plains' extension was completely covered in flames.

Lilith's chain melted in a matter of seconds right after that storm of fire that the Phoenix created. She tried to back away not to get caught, but she had already triggered the Primordial Ancient's wrath and wouldn't escape easily.

A burst of fire was launched toward her. Its speed was such that her eyes couldn't follow it.

Her body got enveloped in flames and was reduced to ashes in instants.

"LILITH!" Paul shouted, seeing with perplexity his dearest friend being burned in front of him.

His face distorted with anger as he took his crossbow in his hands.

Paul opened his hand in a palm, concentrating his energy on it and creating an ice arrow on it. The aura around that arrow wasn't common, the atmosphere around it became colder and colder until it reached, at least, minus 30 degrees celsius.

He nocked the arrow on the crossbow and pointed to the beast with hatred in his eyes.

"Die already!" He shot the arrow.

It pierced the air just as fast as Lilith's chain did, leaving a trail of coldness, just as if the arrow absorbed the heat, lowering the temperature each time more.

The projectile struck the beast on one of the wings. Its body became an ice sculpture for some seconds. That was an amazing display of magic. Turning a Phoenix into pure ice in one blow wasn't a feat to be underestimated for sure.

That blow was just as devastating as the Phoenix's flames, leaving a wide fillet of ice and snow on the plains.

The Ancient's frozen body began to fall. For a moment, Paul was sure that it would shatter into pieces. Nonetheless, before its frozen body could even reach the ground, the firebird exploded in a massive fireball, melting all that ice at once.

Once it was free, the beast crossed those fields at an unimaginable speed and pierced Paul's body with its long beak. The empaled man kept convulsing for a while, trying to fight against the Phoenix even in that state. He barely could follow that monster with his eyes before he got pierced in the chest.

His dead body was thrown several meters away afterward. The Primordial Ancient stood still, its posture emanated sovereign, mighty. It was the figure of a real king.

The Captain looked flabbergasted as his two most powerful subordinates died so quickly. That beast alone could fight on even grounds against an entire army of his trustful Beast Hunters and even had strength enough to kill Lilith and Paul.

Tears fell from his eyes, which got evaporated before reaching his cheeks. He breathed in and out calmly, letting his anger and sadness aside. The Captain focused on his duty and nothing more. The man gathered as much strength as he could, remembering the faces of each hunter that he lost in that battle, using it as fuel to maximize his power!

The Phoenix was on alert, her flames getting more wilder and furious as if they were alive. Meanwhile, seven runes appeared from top to bottom on the blade of the Captain's long sword, shining in bright red light.

The beast roared and the man let out a warcry, both ran towards each other. Their clashing was eminent.

On that cloudy day, all the valley trembled once his sword met the flames of one of the most powerful Primordial Ancients of the world.

After the battle, the skies wept for that battle. The raindrops cleaned the blood and put out the flames spread around those fields.

The mark left from that battle remained on the plains for several decades as a reminder of the power of both humans and Ancients.