Woooooo updates!
Fire burned across the docks as the first wave of the landing party arrived in Lindisfarne. High above the city a black dragon screeched as it prepared to dive towards its new targets. I quickly flapped my wings to give me an extra jump as I tried to dodge the black and purple beast. I was still not quite used to my hybrid form and ending up landing hard on my right arm then I had intended, causing an odd shock sensation to go up it. The dragon roared and a ball of black and purple flames shot from its mouth and obliterated the small boat four other men and I had used to reach the city. Two of them were killed instantly, their bodies incinerated in the unnatural heat. I was in a daze and began to stagger around the dock due to the force from the shockwave of the explosion, until I stagger down and fall on my face. The memories of the past 3 months came flashing back in an instant.
Shortly after my arrival in Brustenburg, I was picked up by some odd character that brought me to the city he lived in called Protaras. Protaras was a beautiful city, nestled in the mountains of the eastern continent of the land and surrounded by a pine forest. In my time there, I had met many people and had begun to train vigorously for the coming of the Endrunai. Then, about 3 days ago, there were reports of mysterious creatures in the far west, tall black figures with mysterious purple eyes who would vanish in an instant, and I knew they were the Endrukna (Endermen), servants of the Endrunai. I quickly went to the capital of Port Silver and gathered all the people I could and headed west. A few hours ago we saw flames on the horizon in a distant city and quickly shifted our course to help. Then I saw him, the Endrunai in his terrible dragon form, and immediately had our landing ships prepared to attack. Out of 3 ships with 5 people each, only ours made it.
My mind flashed back to the present as an Endrukna stood over me, it’s terrible purple eyes meeting mine. Suddenly, an arrow pierced the creature right between the eyes and it let out a terrible screech as it fell back and exploded in a flash of white light. Above me stood a new figure, Captain James of Shipwreck Cove. He was one of the 2 others who had survived the landing.
“You’re not thinkin’ of dyin’ on me now are you Inferno?” he asked with a big grin on his face. Leave it to James to try to cheer up morale in the face of near certain death. He grabbed my feathered arm and pulled me up to my feat as the other survivor, Axex, rushed past us. Dozens of Endrukna were crowding the docks, but Axex pressed on. He closed his hands together close to his chest and quickly pulled them apart, releasing an expanding ball of light, which killed several of the creatures before dissipating.
“Hmph…. Plenty to do here, my friend.” I said to James.
“Oh the fun!” He said with a slight sarcastic giddiness. He ran forward towards the gradually thinning crowd as he readied three arrows at once and let them loose on the mass of black bodies. I smirk to myself and then run forward. “Fen ruam taal!” I shout. Instantly my feathery arms are consumed in a magical fire. I focus the flames into blades that run from my hands back across my forearms and to my elbows like tonfa do. I jumped and kicked off one of the Endrukna as I slashed across its head with one of my blades. I landed next to James and Axex in the middle of the crowd. We fought our way towards the steps leading up into the city, when suddenly several arrows came from the top of the stairs killing most of the demons near us. I looked to their source and saw a tall proud elven woman with fiery red hair and deep golden eyes standing next to a middle-aged looking man with blonde hair and a scruffy long beard. Their arms worked quickly, shooting and rearming their bows in a matter of seconds, the Endrukna barely stood a chance.
“Get into the city if you want to live, now!” She yelled at us angrily.
“The city is lost… it’s a bandit town anyway. Leave it to its fate!” Axex returned.
The man took a long jump down to us and quickly withdrew a large double bladed battle-axe from his back. Purple portals appeared around us and more Endrukna emerged from them. The man quickly sliced one in half, then swung his axe around his head in a circle, crushing two more as they approached. Hr then shoved his axe at another with the top of the weapon facing up and he snapped its neck between the blades.
“You expect us to leave our home?” He asked turning to us with a slight pause in the fighting. He then took a throwing axe from his belt and threw it at the head of another demon, killing it instantly. “Now my friend, we would never ask you the same. This is our home. We fight to the death here.”
Axex gave a slight smile to this. He dropped his hands to his side but then he tensed his arms. He started to raise them but it seemed as if he was carrying an immense weight. And he was. All of the bodies of the dead Endrukna around us were lifting slowly from the ground. His body tensed more and more from the effort until he finally shouted and released the spell. The bodies flew outward quickly, knocking several of their living comrades back dozens of yards; many ended up in the ocean.
“Well then… we’ll defend it with you.” Axex managed to say through heavy breaths. We ran up to the elven woman at the top of the stairs and entered the city.
Much of the city was in rubble, and what wasn’t, was aflame. The Endrunai roared high above us as we got closer to the western edge of the city. I sensed it diving and I turned and saw it preparing to strike us down with flame. I reacted quickly and shouted “Shou fen hoj kra Endrunai!” My body erupted in pain at the effort the spell took, but I managed to release it. A ball of white and gold flame appeared from the nothingness with a flash and shot up to meet the descending dragon. And then there was blackness.
Trekulma swayed gently in the night sky. And then came fire, terrible black fire… screaming… the tree fell….
I wake up gasping and soaking inside a dimly lit stone room. The two people from the city stood above me, the woman with a dripping bucket in her hands. The ground is shaking, and the smell is near unbearable.
“Good thing you woke up… you were screaming… or rather… screeching like there was no tomorrow.” Said the elf.
“Wa… where are we?” I asked groggily.
“You are in the sewers under the fortress of Lindisfarne. My name is Zotikos, and this is my… protector, Tchel.” Said the old man gently.
“Oh… I’m Toorviing aum Fenra… Infernohawk of the Phoenix…And where are James and Axex?”
“Guarding the door.”
“Has Inferno finally woken up from his little bird nap?” James called from the other side of the door.
“Indeed…. Oh yes…” Zotikos seemed to remember, “When you casted that spell you just collapsed. Tchel and I dragged you here to this room. For being a bird man you are surprisingly heavy…”
“Or you’re just getting old… you really should have let me carry him by myself Zotikos. We can’t have you getting exhausted here.” Tchel said with a mix of worry and anger. “Can you fight?” She asked me.
“Yes I think I can…” The ground shook terribly and there was a loud cracking sound above.
“Oh… the dragon is calling lightning down on the city. Your little trick enraged him quite a bit, but it bought us time.” Zotikos stated with a matter of fact tone.
Grimly, we walked out the door and met with Axex and James, who followed us up the ladder and into the fortress. Books were strewn across the floor, and hanging tapestries and lamps had all fallen to the ground, leaving only the fireplace burning. Otherwise, all was dark except for the rips of lightning tearing across the sky and striking points in the city. The entire front section of the fort was in rubble, leaving the courtyard open to our view. The Endrunai roared again, and more lightning cracked and destroyed one of the trees in the courtyard. This only seemed to agitate Tchel, who took heavy steps past the ruined wall into the courtyard. She strung her bow and aimed it up into the dark raining sky.
“Would you just shut up you whiny little lizard?!” She screamed in a combination of annoyance and rage.
She let her arrow fly up and a few seconds later, there was a loud roar of pain and in the distance, there was a crashing noise in the city.
“That thing has been getting on my nerves aallll freakin day!” She yelled as she stomped across the bridge into the city. We quietly followed her at a distance and when we reach her, she was shooting arrows into the head of the beast, which seemed to lie dead. Her first arrow had torn one of the wings of the dragon and as it fell into the city, it had crashed into the few remaining buildings. A purple light rose out of the beast and quickly zoomed to the south, away from the city. The body of the dragon disintegrated, leaving no trace of its existence save for the some burned out husks of buildings. The clouds above receded, and in the eastern sky, the great Fenrir began to peek above the horizon.
In the next few hours that passed, Axex and I rebuilt most of the city with magic, restoring it to its original state. Axex and James eventually left the city, heading back east to Port Silver. But I stayed, with oaths to make and debts to repay.
“You did my job you know.” I said to Tchel as we watched the boat head east, with the setting sun at our backs.
“Oh? And what job was that?” She asked.
“I was supposed to destroy him… well not destroy him… but fend him off at least.” I replied with slight shame.
“Well it looks like I beat you to doing that. Maybe if he hadn’t been such a whiny punk you would have had a chance.” She said with a smile.
“Meh… well… either way… it means I’m indebted to you now. And that I’m meant to be your… guardian I suppose.”
“Ohhh… what I’ve always wanted… a pet bird.” She said with a slight chuckle.
“Now Tchel… even I know a phoenix offering guardianship is a rather big thing, especially these days,” Zotikos said in his parenting tone he sometimes takes when he talks to the young elf.
“Meh… well…. I guess you have yourself a deal Inferno,” Tchel said after some thought.
“I suppose you’ll want to move in as well. We’ll have things set up for you once you return with your things,” Zotikos said.
“Indeed…. Moj hrok sa Fenrair ukala makna duk yuom vrumna…. May the blessings of the sun be upon you my friends. I shall return soon.” I said to them.
For the first time in months, I cast the spell to return to my true bird form. I my wings felt light, agile, and free. I felt free. I cast one last look at my new friends, the ones who I swore to protect, and then I spread my wings and flew up into the rapidly darkening sky. I turned east and glided gently and relaxingly, feeling the wind underneath my wings as I let my mind drift back to home, to the great valley and the majestic Mother Tree, swaying majestically in the wind. Then my mind drifted back to Lindisfarne; to the waves gently lapping on the shore, to Tchel, to Zotikos, to my new home here in Altera.
