Tark stood in front of all the elves, eyeing the enemy across the stream with a fierce determination. Morak’s archers sent word that the dark beasts were preparing to strike that morning. It was a fact Tark already knew from Mira’s warnings the night before. Morak and his group were hidden strategically throughout the valley hills, posed and ready to strike from afar. Tark looked back and saw Taura eyeing the torlics and earagos with distaste and hatred. Morgo stood on his other side. He too looked grim, but ready, passing his sword from one hand to the other.
It was what they’d been training for and yet, Tark felt sorely lacking. There had not been any word or sighting of Galena. That morning, before the sun even peeked above the land of Tomiro, Tark instructed Morgo to pull up an image of Galena. As far as they could tell, she was running at an incredible speed with Elenio close to her. However, as far as their exact location, they could see nothing other than they were in the woods somewhere. Even knowing she was on her way wasn’t exactly helpful.
Tark took his blade out of the scabbard and glanced down the row of elves on either side of him. He saw several scared faces, but many more wore expressions of the deepest loathing. There were plenty of signs indicating they were nervous, such as the relentless swaying back and forth as well as the continued glancing to the left and right at their neighbors. Tark expected nothing less and even had to stop himself from displaying the same nervous manners. He felt as the leader, he should display a calm demeanor, even though his insides continually threatened to explode from him.
Switching his blade to his dominant hand, he regarded the torlics in front of him. They sneered at him, pointing and laughing openly at them. The earagos, standing a little ways off, looked menacingly at the different elves. As far as he could see on the other side of the bank, stood monsters. There were narooks, earagos, torlics, and every other imaginable dark creature, all prepared to attack at a moment’s notice. Blades glinted and flashed in the weak morning light. He watched as they shifted and moved, anxiously awaiting for some signal telling them they could charge. When he glanced around at his own smaller army, he felt his heart sink. They covered roughly the area directly surrounding their side of the bank and no more. They needed more help, but there was none to be had. If they somehow survived this ordeal, it would be by the hands of the gods.
Somewhere in the distance, he heard the first dark creature bellow a loud battle cry, causing the rest of its comrades to respond in kind, as they charged across the stream toward the elves on the other side. Here we go, he thought.
Tark ran toward the oncoming Torlic and met him head on, swinging his blade out and up, burying it deep within the great brute’s vivid, red belly. Pulling it out, he blocked the next oncoming sword, before spinning around and taking the leg off the creature attacking him. Everywhere he turned; there was another dark creature attacking one elf or another. Eyes searching, he quickly found Taura and his heart swelled with pride. She was holding her own and others’ as well. His father would have been pleased. She twisted around, cutting the hand off a narooks, and beheading another with the same swipe. She caught his eye for a moment and smiled briefly before thrusting her sword into the leg of a Torlic charging her.
Cutting down two more attacking creatures, he looked out of the corner of his eye and saw Morgo taking on a giant earagos with the help of Fala, Hasa, and Weila. Fala struck repeatedly with brute strength, while Hasa and Weila became the winds of destruction they were known to be. They slashed, swiped, and moved all before the earagos could think to swat at the place they’d been. Wherever Morgo’s sword struck, caught flame immediately causing the earagos to become angrier and rasher with every moment. Arrows pelted its back from different directions above and burst into flames when they became imbedded into its flesh, causing it further pain. It had been Tark’s idea to cause the arrows to catch fire as soon as they met flesh of anything, but Morgo took the thought a step further and decided it would also be beneficial for swords to be embedded with the same kind of fire. This idea took hold immediately and with the help of Pangoro, they accomplished this task in a little under a day.
Tark hacked down a narooks and two more torlics, blood spraying him from every direction. We’re pushing the enemy lines back. We’re holding our own, Tark thought with grim satisfaction.
A savage smile alighted his face and he cried out a wild battle cry before attacking a torlic that was retreating slightly. He jumped up and swung out, taking the head from his shoulders as he did so. He landed lightly on his feet, the head of his victim laying uselessly beside him, the body crashing down in front of him. He heard the sound of an earagos crashing behind him. Apparently, Morgo and the others were successful. The air around him was filled with the scent of blood and gore. Everywhere Tark turned, he saw evidence of it. From what he could tell by a quick glance, none of his elves were seriously injured in the fray.
It was then he heard screams filled with panic in his mind before he heard them fill the valley all around. Fear surged through his stomach and he felt the air in his throat constrict painfully. Looking up and around, his nightmare became a reality. A smiling earagos held his prize, Taura, by her neck. She scrabbled with the giant fingers that squeezed tighter with her struggles, causing her to still and focus on saving her own life. Tark tried to send calming thoughts to his love, but her mind was filled with fear. To his dismay, panic took hold and he found himself sprinting toward her at full pace. The earagos must have caught her from behind. She was facing Tark, her eyes full of fear.
Tark leaped into the air, intent on taking the head of this giant beast, but crashed into a wall of blackness. He fell to the ground, his body throbbing painfully from the impact. Morgo was getting up beside him and moving every bit as slowly. He apparently saw Taura’s situation as well and was attempting to come to her aid too. Tark got up quickly, but found he could not move. His arms and legs were held tight by the same blackness he’d crashed into. An icy feeling crept around his neck and squeezed menacingly as he struggled to free himself. He could feel the life draining from Taura, but could do nothing to help.
Looking around as much as the icy blackness around his neck would allow, he saw every elf within sight seemed to be in the same predicament. Even the archer elves, so carefully hidden, had stopped shooting. To his relief, the enemy had also stopped fighting, but they stood staring at the sky. A great, black cloud unlike anything Tark had ever seen formed above the earagos’s head.
Tark watched in horror as every shadow within the valley raced to the sky to join with the ever-growing, black mass. It stretched its smoky tentacles in every direction until the once blue sky was dark. Directly above the earagos, a giant face took shape. Its massive, black eyes the size of dinner table tops, peered down at the elves before smiling cruelly at them. It held the essence of fear itself and Tark quaked in spite of himself. Glancing toward Morgo, he saw the same fear there on his features. Dreading what was to come; he returned his gaze back to Taura and continued his struggles against the shadowy hands trapping him. He would not give up.
“Behold your future!” the face of Rau bellowed, indicating the struggling figure of Taura bellow.
If Tark’s hands had been free, he would have covered his ears in pain. As it was, he had to take the full force of Rau’s voice. It was deep and menacing, causing the rocks surrounding them to shake and shatter with the sheer volume of it. He groaned in pain, feeling his ears pop ominously.
“You are nothing compared to me! Did you really think you could come even close to defeating me? What chance did you have if your ancestors in their prime could not win? I will crush the life from you like this elf.”
Tark’s eyes rolled back; the pain of his eardrums bursting caused him to black out momentarily. He felt the hot stickiness of blood and other fluids flowing from his ears and down his neck.
“Fools, first I will deal with you and then I will deal with those you left behind, thinking them safe,” the giant being spat out in disgust.
This time, Tark was relieved to find the voice sounded muffled, as if it was underwater. He heard Rau chuckle mercilessly.
“I shall begin with this one.”
Tark watched with a horrified feeling as the earagos holding his love, begin to squeeze harder. Taura kicked and thrashed, her movements becoming weaker and weaker. Tark tried to yell, but the shadow at his throat prevented him. He saw Morgo twitching beside him, his face red from concentration, but to no avail. Rau prevented them from any means of escape or the ability to fight back. Tears streamed down Tark’s face while he continued his fight against the shadows, he would never give up. Taura’s voice begin to fade in his mind as her life started dwindling away. He fought harder. He had to get loose. The shadow around his throat tightened until he could no longer breathe himself. Catching Taura’s eye, he watched her even as she focused on him. He was determined he would not take his eyes off her until he himself passed into the Land of the Gods.
* * * *
Galena raced through the forest, following the sound of the swords striking one another. Branches and brush reached out at her from all directions, scratching every exposed body part and pulling at her clothing, but she took no notice. She had to get there before something happened to Tark or any of her friends. On she ran, the sounds of battle getting louder with each step. She heard Elenio crashing through the forest somewhere behind her, but she didn’t stop or even slow to check where. She had to get there. They needed her. Mira warned her that her timing was essential; they would not succeed without her. On she raced, the grunts and shouts encouraging her forward. She sped past the last tree and into the clearing before the valley. She could see a hill rising up just before the valley edge ahead of her when all went quiet. It was an eerie kind of silence. One that sent chills down her back and caused the hair on her head to prickle uncomfortably.
“Behold your future!” boomed an incredible voice.
Galena stopped dead in her tracks, clamping her hands over her ears at the first syllable.
“You are nothing compared to me! Did you really think you could come even close to defeating me? What chance do you have if your ancestors in their prime could not win? I will crush the life from you like this elf.”
Galena pressed her hands over her ears even harder, but even that couldn’t stop the terrible voice from making her ears ache. She crouched low to the ground, trying to hide from the voice that echoed all around and even seemed to vibrate within her chest. She glanced around at Elenio and saw that he too was covering his ears. He grimaced at her when the booming voiced called out once more.
“Fools, first I will deal with you and then I will deal with those that you left behind, thinking them safe. I shall begin with this one.”
Panic took hold of Galena then as she thought of all the elves below. Risking her hearing, she removed her pack and throwing it to the ground where she crouched; she got up and raced toward the hill. Coming to the edge, she halted and took in the sight below. On one side of the stream bank were hundreds of elves all in various states of being held by something unseen, although Galena had a good guess at what was keeping them from attacking. Across from the elves as well as intermingled with them were thousands of dark creatures. There were torlics, narooks, earagos, and other horrifying creatures. They made the land and all their surroundings appear black and frightening. Above it was a dark, shadowy mass. It was in this that Galena saw the face of Rau and knew where the voice came from. She clenched her fists angrily as she took in the whole of the situation. She watched for a moment as the face that covered the entirety of the battlegrounds, smiled wickedly down at an earagos. It had to be the same one Galena assumed would be crushing the life out of an elf as Rau instructed when Galena realized with a jolt, the elf swinging lifelessly from its clutches was Taura.
She pulled the Sword of Lumina from its scabbard, readying it for what was to come. Instantly, she felt the tingle of energy flow through her from the blade, making her feel even more alive than her energizing magic had. This could be addictive, she thought to herself. Causing a great gale of wind to pick her up, it followed the image in her mind, sweeping her over the heads of all the elves within the valley. She saw eyes from everywhere widen in response to her sudden appearance as she flew past them. Smiles begin to appear on otherwise fearful faces when they realized who it was. Flying faster than she had ever tried before, she crossed the valley in a matter of seconds, slowing only when she neared her target. Stopping the wind completely when she was within a foot of the looming giant, she landed gracefully in front of him.
“How about you start with me first,” she snarled right before she plunged the Sword of Lumina into the belly of the earagos. She let go of the blade when it grew too hot to handle and stepped back, watching with great interest at what was to come. The giant monster looked down in shock at the sword sticking from his belly. Tiny cracks spread like wild fire from the sword out until they covered his entire body causing him to loosen his grip on Taura. This allowed her to slip to the ground where she collapsed into a small heap. The cracks widened, light spilling from each one. With a final groan of pain, the creature burst into thousands of pieces, light replacing the area that he had once darkened.
Reaching her hand out, the sword flew back to her. Grabbing it out of the air, she swung it back and up prepared for whatever was to come. However, the enemy stayed where they were and regarded her warily as she stood eyeing them with a fury that would not be matched. She looked up at the giant cloud, which still loomed above, but now held a look of horror where glee had been just moments before. She smiled wickedly up at it.
“Miss me?” Galena called out sarcastically. Reaching out a hand, she caused the entire valley to light up with a light so bright, both elves and monster alike had to shield their eyes or risk being blinded. A scream filled with pain and agony echoed off the valley walls and sent even the dark creatures to their knees, their own ears bleeding from the intensity of it. Galena gasped in pain as her own hearing spiked and then went painfully dull. With the final echoes of screams dying away and the disappearance of Rau, Galena caused the light to fade. She glanced briefly at the enemy and saw with some satisfaction that they were struggling to get to their feet. Taking advantage of their temporary recovery and confusion, she looked for Tark among the recovering elves. They were all smiling at her and waving their thanks for her assistance.
The elves seemed to be recovering much more quickly than the creatures of the dark. She saw Tark run over to Taura where he flipped her over once he arrived at her side. She watched him until he nodded at her, letting her know that Taura was alive. He picked her up and carried her off to safety while Galena brought Elenio down with another gust of wind so he could stand next to her in battle. Returning her gaze to the enemy, she heard the elves coming up behind her and preparing for battle once more. Morgo came and stood next to her. She nodded in appreciation before regarding the recovering torlics directly in front of her.
The enemy regained their footing, but looked shocked and a little disturbed at the outcome of their master’s arrival and sudden departure. They seemed unsure of what they were to do and looked to each other for some kind of confirmation. Smiling menacingly, Galena readied her sword once more and charged. The battle cry of every elf in the valley filled her with awe beyond words. The elves had had enough and they were ready to take back their lives.
As one, the elves attacked. Morgo swung his blade out, striking down an oncoming narook that had managed to wrap its whip-like fingers around another elf. He grinned at Galena and headed off toward a group of torlics chasing down another elf. Galena decided her talents would be best applied to the oncoming earagos because of the sheer number of elves it took to beat one. Using her hand, she swept another group of dark creatures high into the air and far out of the valley before sending them crashing to the ground. Two more brave torlics charged her, one from each side. Elenio engaged one. He dropped to the ground and sweeping a leg out, knocked the legs out from under the beast. He cut the head off as the great creature went crashing to the ground, spraying him with blood.
Galena easily blocked the first blow of the second torlic with her sword. Sliding her sword down the length of the torlics blade, she spun around and behind the torlic, piercing him in the back. Instantly, the torlic burst into thousands of fragments from the contact with the sword of light; gaining the attention of three earagos, who were storming their way over to her just like she hoped. She knew Rau would want these creatures to handle the biggest threats as they could do the most damage. She figured she should have been flattered that three of them decided it was necessary to engage her.
Elenio came up behind her and prepared himself for the onslaught, but Galena stopped him saying, “I need you to make sure no one else tries to join in our fun. Can you watch my back from the other monsters while I’m focused on these three? I’m sure the other creatures are not above attacking me while I’m busy and I’m going to need to focus entirely on these.” She eyed the oncoming earagos while she waited for Elenio’s response.
“I can help...” he started, but she stopped him by placing a hand over his mouth.
“Please do that for me. I will be fine and you know it.”
“The archers are already taking care of the torlics or anything else.”
“They can’t see everything coming for me. I need to know I don’t have to worry about any sneak attacks while I’m otherwise engaged.”
Elenio made to say more, but the roar of one of the giant beasts stopped him.
Galena turned to look at them, her face alight with the inner glow the Sword of Lumina provided. Her expression was dangerous. It would have stopped most creatures dead in their tracks, but not the earagos. However, that could’ve been the fact they had poor vision.
Doing as Galena had asked, Elenio stepped back, placing a hand on Morgo’s shoulder as the elf attempted to join in on the fray. He indicated with his sword the oncoming narooks and torlics and the two of them took off in the direction of those monsters.
Galena gave a practice swing, making the earagos back up rather than touch the dreaded blade. They circled around her, swinging their clubs at her in an alternating pattern. Galena batted these away with ease. They were scared and she knew it. Standing straight, she sent a bolt of lightning down from the sky, striking one of the earagos directly on the head. He fell to the ground, dead.
The other two charged her, thinking she would be preoccupied, but found out otherwise. She spun around, cutting the foot off one and causing it to erupt into a brilliant display of light and body parts. The third stopped dead in its tracks, fear apparent in its frozen expression. Galena swung her blade in a circular fashion before she chased after the earagos, who had suddenly realized engaging her in battle was a very foolish idea indeed.
“I don’t think so,” she muttered under her breath. Flinging her hand up, she caused several boulders to rise up and pursue the giant. They crashed into its legs, pitching the giant forward and onto his face. He rolled over quickly, his legs not quite following him as they should have and held up his club threateningly. Galena was unmoved by the gesture. Taking the tip of her sword, she pierced the creature’s toe. The effect was immediate. Within moments, the earagos shared the same fate as so many other dark creatures that met the Sword of Lumina. Darkness never survives the light.