254. Of destiny, alliances and a little bit of hope

Viyara Nameless

My shaking limbs dislodged the roughly set stones beneath me as I helplessly watched one of my few friends vanish behind a curtain of black steel. Her pained gasp was cut off by the heavy thud, when the door closed behind her, sealing her in a cruel tomb. Thunder rumbled in the distance and lighting cleaved the sky, but I couldn't pry my eyes away from the softly dripping blood, that suddenly appeared at the base of the coffin. Neither the resounding chorus of voices, raised in prayer, nor the stunning display at the western horizon seemed to matter.

"What is he doing to her," I whispered, anger and pity radiating through my mind.

"Harvesting," Helena spat, her tails twitching. "But that's…" she was interrupted, when one of the mercenaries cried out:

"Look, they're coming!" He pointed to the Main Street, which led away from the harbour. A shield wall had appeared in the gap between two three story buildings and with them came the strength of their goddess. Even though it was already past nightfall, the sun didn't sink further, the last of its splendour hovering above the horizon, like a broken, burning wheel. It flared, turning their armour into glaring sparks, its rays reflected polished metal as their voices flowed over us, like a wave, praising the strength of their patron.

"Burn them all," a young woman, clad in full plate armour, cried out. She raised her sword, the tip glowing ominously as sunlight danced along the blade. She pointed at the pirates and a translucent beam shot through the air, crackling with unbridled power. We watched in silent awe, as it sped across the square, targeting the woman, still standing vigilant at the side of the coffin. Just when it was about to hit her, her arm shot forward and she screamed: "now!" The next few seconds turned into chaos incarnate.

A ghastly, greenish shield flickered to life around the girl and neatly absorbed the spell, or whatever it was, the amazon had hurled at her. Without pause, she nimbly opened the box, the alchemist had brought and dropped the small instrument inside into the pool of Ahri's blood. The runes on the iron maiden activated, humming with power and the temperature plummeted, just as the raging storm clouds swallowed the sun on the western horizon. Darkness fell.

The vampires, finally free of the painful light, seemed to grow, their fangs breaking through closed lips and their claws ripping through their skin, but before they could act, the darkness deepened even further and an icy, otherworldly, distant voice reverberated through the square:

"Arise!" Black fire ignited along the burned out paths, the ships had torn into Free Land, the pentagram coming to life with a deafening roar. From one moment to the next, we were surrounded by towering flames, flames without warmth, without life, flames that made my blood freeze in my veins, simply from looking at them.

A silvery streak suddenly shot across the square, as Helena desperately tried to reach the hostages, their guards gazing numbly upon a world gone mad around them, their mouths going slack. "Now," she thundered, "get to them now or we'll lose them forever."

A bell like sound rang out behind me, as the dwarfs struck their axes against their shields, their deep voices following a second later, sweeping away the murmured prayers like leafs before a storm. I felt, more than I saw, Aurelia move, her wings appearing, as she hurled herself forward, claws reaching. Another thunderclap made me turn involuntarily. Behind the wall of black flames, I thought I had seen a flicker of silver on the horizon, but I didn't have the time to look properly.

A high pitched note followed the mighty drumbeat and the Emperor's vessel was hoisted into the air, dark swaths of energy circling around her. The pirates panicked. Stuck between a rock of mithril and a hard place of incoming zealots, the eerie magics of their supposed saviour swirling around them like living nightmares, they broke. And like every scared animal, they lashed out.

The ones, who threatened their prisoners, raised their weapons while others already moved, sprinting towards the smaller alleys around the square. None of them made it.

Before they could cut even a single hair, lightning incarnate tore through their ranks, followed by an explosion of moonlight. Gory bits and pieces rained down but a dome of red and golden flames had already closed around them. Before the fiery curtain came down fully, I briefly saw Aurelia's silhouette. They were safe, at least for now. Roaring, I finally managed to act, but instead of rushing the breaking line of pirates, I flung myself towards the cage and the hovering girl. I'd break both of them. Flames spilled from my open maw, gold and silver, surrounding the dreadful prison and the Emperor with crackling streams of arcane fire, but I was already too late. The spell… the ritual activated and the bone chilling voice from before jubilated:

"Undead and immortals it's time to even the score."

Flickering wisps rose from the ground, similar to mangled, warped flowers they bloomed, tendrils of death that had pierced through the veil and into the world of the living. From one heartbeat to the next, my flames petered out and my breath froze in my throat. Hoarfrost covered us like a white blanket and a strangled cry rose from pirates and mercenaries alike. They fell where they stood, the life sucked out of them to feed the ravenous hunger of the magic. 

I felt it crash against me, eager to devour my essence as well. I managed to resist, but the onslaught had driven me to the ground, where I remained, panting heavily. Seconds ago, I had been enraged and scared, but now, there was only a deep set exhaustion left. Grinding my fangs, I struggled to my feet, blearily trying to make sense of the chaos around me.

The pirates were dying, consumed by the insatiable forces the Emperor had unleashed. While I watched, the conjured… ghosts tore away from the ground and circled around the fallen, entering through their eyes. Mechanically, unnaturally, they began to move, frozen corpses rising from their graves. The newly arrived soldiers fared only mildly better, some of them were still standing, apparently protect by a golden shield that had flickered into existence, the very moment the wraiths had reached for them, but most only convulsed once or twice, before they fell, only to get back up again as mindless puppets.

An eerie laugh, coming from everywhere at once, shattered windows and bricks, tiles and walls and I felt my magic react to another invasion. I trembled, unable to make sense of the scenes around me, when suddenly, the hovering girl growled, her voice far deeper and more powerful than it had been: "blinded fools." She gestured and the runes on the black coffin flared more brightly, turning crimson. "This is my awakening, not yours." 

In my mind, I heard Ahri scream, her voice filled with an all encompassing agony, as her very life was ripped from her, feeding a second spell, hidden within the first. The black flames around us roared, their core turning crimson and then, a flickering nimbus of light surrounded the girl. Her form blurred and she convulsed, her eyes rolling into the back of her head. Magic surged and pushed us all back, only the shimmering dome around the hostages withstood the onslaught.

"I have arrived," a deep, masculine voice thundered through the darkness and the flames around us exploded, incinerating a good chunk of the city. Black and crimson fires battered against my scales and threw me through the air like a powerless toddler. "Finally, it's the…"

My thoughts were reeling, I was disoriented and barely felt the impact, as I crashed through a wall, rubble burying me under a heavy, suffocating blanket. Faint screams reached me, and I knew I had to get up, but before I could convince my aching muscles to do their job, a blinding silver light flooded over me and I felt every bit of magic wither and vanish. Something had changed.

Blinking away the mucus of dust in my eyes, I rolled around, trying to make sense of what had happened. A good chunk of the square was gone, everything close to the iron maiden had turned into ash and glass, the fires around us had been extinguished and every soldier was on the ground, clasping their ears. Helena and Aurelia stood, snarling, above the unmoving forms of the children and the dwarfs seemed rattled but unharmed, quickly closing in to form a protective ring around the hatchlings. Behind their bulk of steel and mithril, the mercenary had escaped unscathed, more or less, and were now following their short rescuers, screaming at the top of their lungs, brandishing an assortment of weapons from spears to clubs.

Alassara and her people were stirring as well, their regeneration already dealing with whatever wounds they had suffered. The vampire queen was the first to regain her senses and like an arrow, she sped towards her daughter. Whoever was unlucky enough to get in her way was pushed to the side, some flying for several meters before they slammed into hard, unforgiving cobble stones. For the moment, at least, the younglings were safe and I cast my gaze upwards, searching for the ships and the hovering form of the girl.

Most of the fleet had caught fire, when the pentagram had ignited, but some were still overhead, frantically trying to keep their vessels aloft. As for the girl… she wasn't there. In her stead, a black and green mass of energy crackled, slowly transforming into a humanoid body. The same, deep voice as before came from its depth, shouting at thin air:

"You're too late. I'm here and I haven't lost my power, the bridge holds! I'm the god…" I lost track of the words for a moment, as something stirred, at the back of my mind. Growling, I focused, expecting another strange assault, but the feeling vanished, as quickly as it had come. Shrugging, I heaved, broken timbres and splintered bricks rolling off of me. Ruff extended, I climbed through the hole I had made, on my way inside, and tried to reach my friends. Where was Ahri?

A hackling laugh made me flinch and when I turned, I saw a ghostly figure hover above us, a hybrid of unnatural magic and corrupted flesh. The abomination cackled uncontrollably, but still managed to cast another spell. Cold winds, smelling of sulphur and decay, blew across the square, collecting a glittering essence, that was ripped from every dead body. From one heartbeat to the next, the figure vanished behind a vortex of splendour, but the energy changed, became corrupted, turning into a miasma of flickering lights and eerie colours. 

Without hesitation, I blew a stream of flames towards the thing, but my fires were extinguished, as soon as they came in contact with the whirling maelstrom. The Emperor had arrived and he wouldn't be thwarted this easily. Dread pierced my heart, like a needle made of ice, and I quickly threw myself forward, desperately trying to reach my family, but before I even managed to cover half the distance, the smouldering, spent pentagram, covering half the city, roared back to life and this time, his voice couldn't be ignored, thundering through every alley, every street:

"Free Land no more. Bow to me or perish, for the rule of the many is at its end." Pressure started mounting around me, until I was forced back to my knees, unbreakable shackles of pure will restraining me as easily as I would have restrained a human. I heard the heavy thuds, when the dwarfs collapsed and the angry hisses, as the vampires were forced to obey a foreign will, but none of us could resist. Burning through the energies, unleashed by death and the manifestation of a god, the Emperor commanded forces, far beyond the scope of a mortal sorcerer. 

Still, deep within, I felt my own transcendent spark react, a behemoth, raised from its slumber by an impertinent hunter. Pain flared across my nerves, the unbridled power of an immortal tearing through my very mortal form. Hot, steaming, golden blood gushed form my eyes and I twitched uncontrollably. I wasn't strong enough, Cassandra's power was as much of a curse as it was a blessing. My scales ignited, silvery flames consuming gold, and I felt my life vane away, the nearly bottomless well evaporating in an instant, as the hunger of the transcendent onslaught ravaged me. I coughed up blood, my vision dimming, but as quickly as it had begun, it came to an end. The tendrils of power retreated into my carbuncle and I was left, shivering, on the ground. 

Stubbornly, I opened my eyes, the unyielding shackles, the Emperor had formed, had become brittle and while I couldn't cast them off entirely, it was enough to lift my head. I gasped, barely holding back another flood of tears. Everyone was on their knees, or worse, on their backs, their eyes empty and emotionless. Only Aurelia and Helena had managed to remain upright, their silhouettes outlined by silver or gold. They weren't unscathed, though, every bit of their strength consumed in order to withstand the crushing pressure in the air, as they kept guard, their power a living barrier against the Emperor's magic, protecting those at their feet.

The dwarfs were suffering, but their enchanted armour allowed them to live, whereas vampires, mercenaries, soldiers and pirates collapsed by the dozens, their souls ripped away to feed the ravenous abomination above us. I saw Tharos bare his fangs and turn into dust, one of Vanya's friends managed a last, stubborn step, before he toppled over and died. She, herself, remained upright for another few seconds, before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell. Mordred's magic protected him for a moment longer, but before I could even blink, he collapsed. Everywhere, my friends were dying, their agony nothing but fuel for the flames of war.

Now I knew, what Ahri had meant. It had already been too late, when we had seen the first explosions. Desperation flowed through me and I lowered my head, a single, golden tear rolling down my cheek. It was all I had left. In a few minutes, everything had changed. We had lost.

"No, not quite yet. But next time, I'd rather you wouldn't ignore me, when I call." A voice, thrumming with barely restrained anger, cut through the whirling energies around me, like a hot knife through butter, and the pressure vanished. Gasping in surprise, I opened my eyes and a real, unforced smile spread across my serpentine face. I should have known. She would never have left anyone of us behind and she had returned, just in the nick of time.

Above me, 33 torrents of silver and blue cut through the falling night, illuminating the square with a pristine, unyielding light. Sparks ignited everywhere, as her powers began to move, her wings annihilating the cruel magic. The flaming lines of the gargantuan pentagram flickered and turned silver, just as Cassandra vanished in a shower of glowing embers and materialised in front of the looming figure, her wings a direct challenge to its spreading darkness. Above us, they hovered and despite my heritage, I felt like a small girl, caught up in the fight of two powerful knights. I coiled my tail around myself, but I couldn't pry my eyes away, no matter how scared I was. 

A goddess made of light and magic had come, her divine face set into harsh lines, her eyes glowing like shards of the full moon. A wave of liquid silver spread out behind her, her tails resembling nothing more than flowing streams of the precious metal. Lightning danced across her skin and when she raised her hand, a glowing, silver spear appeared within, its tip cracking with bluish flames. Her smile was cold and cruel, similar to a child, about to rip the wings off a fly. That wasn't the girl I had come to know and love. What I saw didn't belong in the mortal realms. She was power incarnate and simply seeing her nearly broke me, desire and fear tearing my heart apart. I wanted to hide and I wanted her to notice me, I wanted to run and be tied to her for all eternity, her presence alone almost enough to shatter my mind. I had missed her.