The sun set in a blaze of oranges, reds, and purples and a large, full moon rose in the clear night sky, shedding pale blue light over the land. It was like a dream to Damian. The night was so dark, yet the glistening white stars and moonlight illuminated everything with a soft glow, casting the land in shades of grey. Riding atop the back of an enormous thunderbird, it seemed mystical and unreal, but the feelings pulsing through the air with every beat of her heart reminded her that she was very much awake. The humbling sight of Albrith creeping over the horizon grounded her further.
The buildings grew larger as the raven glided silently towards the city, but even at their distance, they could tell that the flames lighting Albrith were too bright.
"It's already begun," Domino remarked softly from the thunderbird's shoulder.
"But we're not too late yet," Garrick added as he crouched at the bird's other shoulder. He pointed towards the city. "Look." Peering into the distance, Damian could see tiny dark shapes hovering over the city's buildings. As they drew near, small glimmers of light shone against the lanky figures before streaking down to the ground. Without even closing her eyes to look for it, Damian felt the beacon glaring in her mind like a blinding light. It filled her awareness if she gazed too close upon it, rendering her unable to move or think, paralyzing her. Pushing it aside, she focused on what she could see with her own eyes.
"She's here," she stated solemnly. Garrick nodded slowly, eyes fixed on the city ahead.
The raven descended as they approached the city. Damian took in a slow breath of the cool air rushing over the bird's back. The night sky loomed large and empty around them. The spirits that had followed them faded from view some time ago, but Damian could still feel the pulses of their presences not far away. Leaning forward, Garrick gazed down at the ground below.
"How are we going to get down?" A deep voice rang in Damian's mind, a silent thought beyond words. With it came a thrum of energy rushing through her body. She smiled, gaze dropping to the inky feathers below them.
"He'll take care of it."
The thunderbird's flight slowed as it dipped behind a hill blanketed in tall pine trees. Damian crawled up beside Domino when the raven's body began to tilt. Eventually, the bird stopped moving forward at all. Thunder crackled through the sky as it flapped its enormous wings slowly, hovering above the ground.
Unconcerned, Damian leapt forward off the thunderbird. Gusts of wind swirled up from beneath as she fell toward the ground. The wind roared almost as loud as the constant thunder of the bird's wings above, slowing her descent toward the rippling grass.
Finally, Damian's feet touched lightly on the ground. The wind died down and her hair and clothes fell about her. Garrick and Domino landed slowly beside her. Glancing up, she found the thunderbird stretching its body out straight again. The thunderous wings began moving it forward, away through the sky.
Thank you, Damian thought, letting her words spread out through the dark sky. She felt a positive response from the thunderbird and heard unspoken words.
Good luck.
The raven's body grew indistinct as it stretched its wings out to glide. As if she had skipped a moment in time, a patch of clouds suddenly rolled through the sky and the bird's visage was gone. Letting her gaze drop, she found Domino and Garrick staring at the sky where the thunderbird had disappeared.
"Let's go." Garrick and Domino nodded at her and followed as she ran into the woods toward the town.
Faint sounds and an orange glow began to trickle through the trees as they approached Albrith. Damian's mind ached to stretch out and take in the scene past the rise they climbed, but she forced herself to look only with her eyes and ears. The rustling of grass beneath their feet seemed to ring out across the night, cutting sharply into the darkness. None of them spoke a word as they climbed up the hill, weaving between trees. Damian couldn't help feeling Domino and Garrick's anxiety, determination, and restlessness. It was the calm before the storm.
Finally, they reached the top of the hill and halted. The trees ended abruptly, leaving nothing but a short expanse of open field before the houses looming at the outskirts of the city. Crouching beneath the shelter of the trees, they surveyed the scene before them.
The town was vast, spreading out almost as far as the eye could see. Damian couldn't see Aura Lake from their vantage point, yet she could make out the sharp spires and pale walls of the king's castle rising far in the distance. Scattered buildings throughout the city roared in brilliant blazes, brightening areas near them and deepening the shadows of places farther away. Tiny figures scrambled through the streets everywhere and krolmins swarmed the air above the town. A jumbled murmur of sounds came out from the city, indistinct at their distance and no louder than a whisper.
Damian tried to keep her awareness in her own body, but her senses crept outward uncontrollably. Fear, desperation, and a steady focus filled the minds of the townspeople. Villagers fled through the city, trying to escape the spreading destruction, while disorganized clutches of knights, archers, and mages tried to repel the invading krolmins. Damian's focus shifted erratically, here finding a knight charging a krolmin with fearless rage, there following an archer creeping through the shadows in search of a target, there lingering on a shopkeep who struck a krolmin from behind with a metal rod before his mind fell silent. Voices roared over the din of fire and clashing weapons. Bodies lay everywhere through the city, ignored in a desperate fight for survival.
A voice suddenly came from all around Damian and she realized it was directed toward her.
"Where is she?"
Blinking, she returned to her own body. It seemed as though she had already joined the battle. Finding herself safe on the outskirts of the town disoriented her briefly. She paused before answering Garrick.
"In the center of town, I think." The beacon glared out with such force that its presence seemed enormous. It was difficult for her to pinpoint the source of it. "It's hard to tell. She's gotten more powerful since we last saw her." She sent a sidelong glance at the knight. "A lot more powerful."
"Can you still keep her from escaping?"
"I think so." She was reluctant to reach out for the beacon to hold it in place, as Nephrita would immediately know that she was near if she did, though one thing that the beacon was not was elusive. Nephrita may have gained greater control over her power recently, but so had Damian.
"Focus on that," Garrick continued. "We might be able to stop her if she can't run away." Damian nodded. Turning, she gazed down at the city once more. Garrick paused, taking in the sight of the city.
"We should let the city's guards and knights know that Nephrita is the real threat." He turned to face Domino. "Go through the city and spread the word, tell everyone to focus on Nephrita. I'll go to the castle and see how many more knights I can bring out. There are Agaesi here and every last one of them is going to make a difference. We need to hit her with everything we've got. Damian, you stay here until we get things under control."
"No." Her expression remained steady as Garrick sent her a startled look. "I didn't come all this way just to sit on the sidelines and wait. This is my fight. I'm going in with you." The knight stared at her for a moment, then grinned.
"Good, but be careful." Pausing, he glanced between Damian and Domino. "This is it." Damian nodded.
"Nephrita will fall or we will." She reached out a hand to Garrick. He took it, cold gauntlet grasping her hand tightly. "Light shine on us all." Turning, she held her other hand out to Domino. His gloved hand clutched hers in a warm embrace. She smiled. "And Fate bless us." The mercenary smiled faintly.
Releasing their hands, Damian, Domino, and Garrick stood, gazing down at the burning city.
"Give me a head start," Garrick stated. Damian turned to him. "Let me gather up as many knights as I can so we'll be better prepared to attack." Damian nodded. Despite her newfound mastery of magic, she knew she would need time to neutralize Nephrita's spells. With no further words, Garrick began running down the hill toward the town, drawing his spear. Damian saw the air shimmer over his head before the night swallowed him up.
Nodding to Domino, she began running after Garrick, the mercenary keeping pace beside her. The warmth and light of the blazes consuming Albrith grew to encompass them as they approached. The screams of terrified townspeople rang out through the air. More than ten weeks ago, a full season past, Damian had awakened startled to this very sight. Soon, her father was killed and she discovered the terrible truth about her magic ability. Now, she ran towards that very same destruction, to see that it would never happen again.
Damian let her senses expand as they neared the town. She could feel pulses of life ebbing all around her, some winking out abruptly. Many of the tiny flashes of life throbbed with a wholly different energy, one that was more familiar to her than anything she had yet experienced. It wasn't long before she came upon one of them.
The battle raged around Damian and Domino as they entered the town, but this close to its edge, they saw few people. Suddenly, a series of screams emanated from a side street. Turning, she ran toward the sounds. Half a block away, a man armed with a hoe trembled as he faced a krolmin soaring through the air toward him, hands glowing. Behind the townsperson, the rest of his family cowered.
Damian darted forward, eyes fixed on the krolmin. The screams of the man's young son and daughter filled the air along with the wails of a babe clutched in their mother's arms. The krolmin drew closer, the spell it conjured lighting up the street. Closing her eyes, Damian reached out to take in the feeling of the krolmin's magic.
As it soared over the nearest rooftop, the krolmin hurled the spell toward the family. Damian thrust her arm out, pushing out with her mind. The family shrieked in terror, but Damian could feel her efforts repel the blast away into the night sky. The krolmin continued gliding over the street. Reaching out, Damian found the krolmin attached to the glaring beacon filling the center of town, as if by a thread. The pulse of the krolmin's life grew as another spell formed in its hands.
"Stop!" she called out. She severed the thread.
Opening her eyes, she found the krolmin sending her a confused look from the rooftop above the frightened townspeople. Domino stood before them, sword drawn as he gazed up at the krolmin.
Hand still outstretched toward the krolmin, Damian let her feelings carry over the streams of magic hanging in the air to it. Hesitantly, the krolmin glanced at its own hands, then returned its gaze to her.
"Damyan?" came its rough, crackly voice, heavier accented even than the shaman Orok'Ti. She nodded slowly.
Help us, she thought, and she showed the krolmin her resolve to defeat Nephrita. Surprised, it moved back a pace, then turned its eyes to her once more. Holding its head up proudly, it leaped into the air and glided away, deeper into town.
Sighing in relief, Damian lowered her arm.
"You... you stopped it," the townsman answered, half in wonder and half in fear. Damian didn't answer, focusing instead on all the pulses of life in the city.
"The krolmins are not the true danger," Domino stated.
"What?" the mother uttered.
"Listen to me," Domino continued. "They're no more than puppets, weapons being used by someone far more dangerous. The real threat is a woman dressed in black, an incredibly powerful sorceress who's controlling the krolmins." The villagers stared dumbfounded at him. "You've just seen that a krolmin freed from her spell will do you no harm. Spread the word, anyone who can fight must go after her, not the krolmins." After a long moment, the man nodded.
Damian listened with half an ear as she reached out, trying to sever as many threads binding the krolmins as she could. Suddenly, she came across the thrum of a familiar band of energy, and it was under attack.
Gasping, she returned to her body. She glanced frantically at Domino.
"Garrick's in trouble!"
Garrick's path deviated little as he moved through the city. A large force of knights and the majority of the Agaesi deployed in Albrith would remain at the castle, especially in the face of such an immense threat to the king. He only hoped that he would be able to convince them to join the battle in town. If Nephrita decided to go after the king, no number of knights, no matter how well trained, would be able to stop her.
He paused to help people where he could, but there was no way he could stop the krolmins from attacking short of killing them, and there were enough bodies in the street as it was. Whispers spread out like pond ripples behind him as he hastily told people that Nephrita was the true threat. The destruction grew as he moved deeper into the city and in places the heat from the fires was suffocating. Arrows and magic spells flew all around him. Buildings rushed by in a blur and one thought echoed through his mind. There isn't much time...
Suddenly, a wall of searing-hot flames shot up out of the street ahead, blocking his path entirely. Garrick swiftly stopped, then darted aside as a feeling of danger crept across his skin from behind. Several blasts of magic exploded against the stone street just behind his nimble feet. By the time the spells abated and he spun to face his attacker, his spear was drawn and a surge of warmth and energy coursed through his body. His sight and hearing had grown much sharper, but even in the inconsistent light of the fires engulfing the buildings around him, there was no mistaking who had attacked him.
"My, my," Nephrita purred. "You do get around quickly. I had thought you would miss this by days."
"I wouldn't miss your shining moment for the world," Garrick replied steadily. Nephrita murmured, amused.
"Well," she stated, conjuring a ball of green flame in the palm of her hand, "let's just see how fast you really are." She had hardly finished speaking before she hurled the spell at him. Garrick leapt aside as the fireball streaked down the street where he had stood a moment before. Twisting around to the side, he dodged another spell that quickly followed, and another. The street roared and trembled with the blasts of magic that Nephrita slung at Garrick, a darkly eager grin spread on her face. Taking in a deep breath of hot air, Garrick felt the power of Agasis flow through his body. Nephrita's attacks thrummed with energy he could sense as they came, allowing him just enough time to evade each blast. His body felt sleeker and lighter as he jumped and danced around the spells. The air filled with the thunderous sounds of magic, but rather than turn for cover, Garrick slowly crept forward into the maelstrom.
Running to the side to avoid an immense blast that sent cobblestones flying, Garrick leapt and kicked off from a building that soon had a new hole blown into it. He rose over a story into the air towards Nephrita, spinning and twisting to avoid the spells that she slung at him as he sailed over her. Before any of her spells struck him, he landed directly behind her, arms held forward and gauntlets holding the shaft of his spear against her throat. Power radiated out from her small frame so strongly that he could hardly hold himself steady so close to her. She gasped softly, clutching the smooth wood with her own hands, then chuckled.
"Very impressive." She was clearly surprised that he had snuck up on her, even though Garrick knew he never would have had the chance if she hadn't allowed him to approach. His vision began to swim in her presence, too powerful to behold. Pull, urged a voice from inside him. All he had to do was drive the shaft of his spear back against his chest and it would all be over.
But he hesitated.
Just as he thought of the gentle past life she had shared with him, she shoved the spear safely away and spun to face him. Releasing a hand from his spear, he began to swing, but he was too slow. An explosion sent him flying backwards as she slammed her hand against his breastplate. He tumbled roughly against the street, rolling over several times before he came to a stop against the sidewalk of a building consumed with flames. Coughing, he rose to his hands and knees, entire body aching from his fall and his chest stinging sharply from the spell. Only then did he realize that his spear had fallen from his grasp beside Nephrita.
The pulsating beacon drew closer again and his head pounded harder. His head swam too much to do anything other than glance at her.
"I am impressed." She grinned down at him, then gestured with her hand. Beyond his control, Garrick rose to his knees. Nephrita stood inches away from him, the ivory flesh of her chest at eye level with him. He struggled to raise his gaze to her amused eyes, but found he couldn't move anything else. His body and limbs were frozen, as if he had lost all ability to use his muscles. "You would make a powerful ally indeed. Have you thought about my offer?" The power she radiated flowed in warm and invigorating waves over him, far more potent and alluring with the power of Agasis heightening his awareness.
"Not much incentive to submit to you," he struggled to answer through a painfully stiff jaw, "when you're already destroying Albrith." Nephrita smirked at him. He cringed inwardly as she touched her soft fingers to his chin, tilting his head up to face her. She leaned down toward him.
"I can still save you," she uttered. Her lips, red and glossy as an apple, neared his. His stomach knotted up and his entire body ached as he struggled against the paralyzing spell holding him. As her breath ran over his face, her intoxicating aroma filled his being. It took all his willpower to keep himself resisting her approach, but she only drew closer. He moaned hopelessly.
Suddenly, a new feeling cut through all the others, strange and invasive, yet somehow familiar. Thoughts of Damian filled his mind, as if he had heard her voice. A sense of calmness washed over him, driving away all the unwanted feelings, and he realized that he could move. He hesitated, slowly reaching a hand for the dagger sheathed at his belt as Nephrita's mouth came within an inch of his.
"I'll take my chances." In one swift movement, he grasped the dagger, drew it, and swung. The curved blade slashed up and across her midsection, ripping her robe open and biting into her flesh. Garrick doubled over and screamed in pain as she did. As soon as his dagger sliced into her, he felt as if the attack had hit him instead. His vision swam anew and he barely held his body up with one hand, the other clutching his pristine breastplate.
Before he could recover enough to move, Nephrita wrapped her hand around his neck in a tight grip. He attempted to cry out, but his voice came out wet and strangled. The flesh beneath her touch began to burn fiercely.
"You fool," Nephrita snarled, her voice sounding struggled. Her violet eyes glowed with a savage light. Between the staggering ache in his stomach and Nephrita's searing and vicelike grip on his throat, he couldn't gather the energy to fight her. He felt lightheaded and couldn't breathe. Fear succumbed to a surprisingly calm acceptance that he was about to die. He closed his eyes.
All of a sudden, Nephrita cried out and released him from her hold. Garrick fell back to his hands and knees, coughing violently. Glancing up, he saw magnificent creatures circling the air, griffins, winged horses, giant birds, and even, to his pained astonishment, a small wyvern. Other creatures began to approach on ground, but the spells they cast rebounded off an invisible barrier surrounding Nephrita. Garrick couldn't stay focused on the scene any longer. Blinded by pain, he could hardly feel his arm pulling him weakly towards an alley, nor his other hand clutching beneath his cuirass as blood flowed over it. The sounds of the battle roared behind him and the ground quaked, but all his concentration was on crawling away.
Someone grasped him under the arms as he neared the far side of the street and dragged him into the alley. He groaned as he leaned up against a building and saw an archer in a surcoat bearing the Fanerian phoenix and olive branch before him. A soldier with drawn sword crouched beside him.
"Are you alright, Sir?" the archer asked incredulously.
"Who is that woman?" asked the soldier, glancing out at the battle beyond their refuge.
"She's controlling the krolmins," Garrick coughed out. "Far more dangerous." He doubled over, bloodstained hands clutching at his throbbing and profusely bleeding stomach. "Do you have any Milk of Paradise?"
The town loomed grey and ethereal around Domino as he raced through the streets. Images of krolmins attacking people and fires consuming buildings dashed by silently as in a dream. He ran faster than a horse, his amulet carrying his feet along almost beyond his control. He hated to leave Damian behind, but she couldn't use her magic while cloaked by his pendant's enchantment. A knot formed in his stomach, fueled by his worry for both Damian and Garrick and his anxiety at the outcome of the battle.
Some of the magical creatures that had accompanied them to Albrith soon appeared in the distance. Most of them drew back, some at a limp. Soon, he came upon the street where they faced off against the dark goddess. Krolmins that Damian had freed from her control also soared overhead now, though they hung back as well. Nephrita had clearly taken control of the situation, having driven her attackers back into a large, open plaza. Several creatures lay dead in the street and most of the others retreated. Domino watched as a shimmering golden bird with a long iridescent tail screeched at Nephrita. A glowing white spell shot out of its mouth, only to stop abruptly at arm's length from the goddess, then careen back and blast the bird out of the sky. Krolmin archers fired at Nephrita from above, but their arrows clattered uselessly to the ground around her, flying away before they reached their target.
Tightening his grip on his sword, Domino began moving closer, but it soon became clear that he had no chance of drawing close to Nephrita. She spun in place in the city square, slinging spells at the attacking and retreating creatures and krolmins. Explosions pounded the street in every direction, lighting up the grey shadows Domino slinked through. The nearer he came, the thicker the blasts were, and beyond ten paces of her, there was no way he could dodge the magic ripping apart the street. He hung back and watched, frustrated and helpless to act even with his amulet.
Suddenly, an enraged yell rang out from a street entering the square and all the spells pummeling Nephrita subsided. Domino only had time to glimpse the immense glowing spell that roared across the sky before it collided against Nephrita's barrier, dragging her backwards several paces. His eyes adjusted to the stark darkness to find the golden-haired fox woman charging up another spell in her hands.
"It's over, Nephrita!"
"Only for you!" the goddess replied and hurled an even larger spell back at the malakh. Niabi dived aside, but Domino's eyes were on the rest of the plaza. The strange creatures and the krolmins had drawn back, apparently glad for the reprieve. With only Niabi attacking Nephrita, he could get close much easier.
Grasping his falchion with both hands, he charged forward, deftly altering course when Nephrita moved to evade Niabi or when the malakh's own spells blasted the ground nearby. Nephrita had no idea he was close.
As he darted around another spell exploding on the street from Niabi, he raced toward Nephrita at top speed, raising his sword for the strike. Her neck was in plain view as she thrust another spell toward Niabi.
Just as he began to swing, however, she shifted. His black blade fell on her shoulder with a crack. He had only a glimpse of her staggering back from a wound that appeared no deeper than a paper cut before his own shoulder flared in pain. He grasped his aching arm with a yelp, feeling blood seep out from the wound he'd inflicted on Nephrita. The sounds of the battle roared around him suddenly, loud enough to make his head pound.
Before he could move away, the ground erupted near him. The blast threw him back several paces, knocking him down. He opened his eyes in time to roll away before another blast struck. He realized that his amulet's enchantment had lifted and he lied before her in plain view. A spell then streaked through the air to hit Nephrita. Wasting no time, Domino lunged to his feet and ran out of the path, clutching his aching shoulder as he did.
Halfway back to the street, a great shining light flared behind him and Nephrita cried out. Spinning around, he found the goddess flung face forward onto the street. Far behind her, he found Damian, standing with head bowed and hand held forward. A warm and soothing sensation spread across Domino's shoulder, as if a gentle touch had wiped away the pain.
Rising to her feet, Nephrita flung a blast of magic larger than her at Damian. Damian didn't move and Domino saw the spell flash against her outstretched hands. The light of the spell illuminated the intensely struggled expression on her face. She looked as if she could barely stand up. Domino ran towards her, ignoring Nephrita.
Far before he reached Damian, Nephrita swung her arm around hard. A long tendril of glowing energy whipped across the plaza and slapped Damian. With a pained yelp, she went sailing through the air, eventually crashing into the second story of a house that was barely visible beneath the flames engulfing it.
"Damian!" he cried, increasing his speed. Even as he approached, he watched the roof cave in. A huge tongue of flame licked over the collapsed thatch, rising into the sky from the rubble on the teetering second story. Domino's heart pounded in his chest as he ran, but before he drew near to the house, another blast struck him from behind. He fell clumsily, his head slamming into the cobblestone street. Everything grew dark as the roar of battle rang out behind him.