Peter Koevari - Prophecies Awakening

Duck down and hold on! Now! ordered Nymira.

The men followed her order as the beams of fire were sucked into Nymira’s mouth, and her eyes lit up in flame. The force of the spell rocked her body hard, and the men almost lost their grip on her armour with the impact.

Don’t be afraid of what will happen next-the flames will not hurt either of you, said Nymira. So much power, I can barely hold it in. Even to their minds, her voice sounded strained.

Nymira’s scales changed back to her true form, and her wings suddenly burst into flames. The vampires screamed, shrieked and pointed at her fiery form. They appeared excited for the renewed chance of spilling blood.

Nymira took a deep breath before sending a steady stream of fire into the sky, as if her mouth was an erupting volcano. The scales and flesh around her maw shuddered violently as she tried to control the inferno spewing from it. Vartan and Leon watched in bewilderment as phoenixes rose out of the flames and lit up the sky around them. Upon their birth of fire they shrieked as life filled their bodies. The men shielded their eyes as countless firebirds continued to spawn from the flames. Soon there were firebirds high in the sky wherever the eye could see, the flames lighting up the ground beneath them as if it were daytime.

Now, my little ones, destroy all who follow the path of darkness below us, commanded Nymira. Leave none behind.

An Armageddon-like rain fell from the sky, the summoned fiery army descending and each selecting their own targets. The vampires fled toward the forest canopy, but it was far too late for them to escape now.

An assassin bolted toward the farmhouse and a phoenix landed hard on his back and pounded him into the moist ground. It extended its fiery wings and shrieking before sacrificing itself onto his melting body. The dark creature’s screams were heard by Nymira overhead as he thrashed on the ground in an attempt to put out the flames. Like eagles on mice, the phoenix army slowly picked off the vampires, setting them alight as they ran for safety. Some of the summoned phoenixes landed on the ground without targets, their forms setting fire to the hay and grass around them.

The firebirds’ communicated through cries which were reminiscent of a bushfire in the wind as they coordinated their attacks. The vampires that chose to fight slashed at the flames wildly with their weapons in an attempt to defend against their attacks. Balls of fire from the birds turned the vampires into ash as they hit the ground. The injured screamed in pain and frustration as they pulled back before running at full force into their attackers.

The screams of countless vampires burning were enough to satisfy Vartan’s desire for revenge. His heart pumped adrenaline-fuelled blood through his veins.

Vartan shouted, “Nymira, that was amazing! This battle is won!”

The flames on Nymira’s body had extinguished with the release of the phoenix army and she weakly flapped her wings. Leon noticed that the great dragon was slowly gliding towards the earth.

Leon leaned forward and his voice strained. “Nymira, are you okay?” he asked.

Nymira's voice wavered as she answered. “This spell has taken more out of me than I had expected. I had not anticipated such a weakening, but how was I to know? It has been thousands of years since any of us has cast an elder spell of such power."

She groaned as she forced her wings to beat hard, and began to climb again. “I am not going to give up just yet. We still have a war to win.”

“Great dragon, are you sure you are able to take us to the battle in the Elven Woods in one piece?” Vartan asked.

They now flew at great speed, and left the many flames of the vampire massacre behind them.

“That is my concern now, young knight,” she responded. “I have my responsibilities and I will not fail them. You just worry about what we face ahead of us. Hang on tight and I will get us there as quickly as I can.”

Nymira strained as she climbed as high into the sky as she could and then suddenly dove headlong into the air below them.

From the speckled stars above, the gods watched closely as weapons met flesh that met claws and blood was spilled, staining the ground beneath them a deep red. As their view of the war closed in, they focused on one woman amid the chaos of war.

Helenia found herself surrounded by skeleton warriors fiercely engaged in battle. She swung her bloodied sword hard through bone to decapitate one who was about to plunge its sword into a downed elven warrior.

“Thank you, Princess,” the downed elf growled as Helenia gripped her reins and reached down to help him regain his footing. She nodded and they both charged forward into the enemy lines.

Helenia threw her body back onto her horse as a burst shot whizzed over her head and impacted a shadow demon which had leapt to attack the princess. The demon was flung into the air by the force of the blow, a trail of smoke billowing from it. It screamed as it landed on top of her horse, wildly clawing at itself to free the burning shot within. The horse whinnied and took off galloping through the warzone, taking her deeper among the Forces of Darkness. Faowind took chase, charging through and dispatching enemies in the direction of the princess.

Helenia scurried back as far as she could and shielded her eyes with her arm before the shadow demon exploded violently. The power of the explosion launched her completely off the back of the horse, and she landed roughly on the ground below. The horse’s ear piercing screams filled the air and it fell to the ground with a gaping wound on its back, bleeding out. Helenia groaned with the pain as she rolled onto her stomach to regain her footing, her entire body aching. Luckily for Helenia, her armour took the brunt of the explosion and saved her from certain death.

Faowind came to her aid and pulled her up to her feet. Karven and three other dragons flew over their heads, setting more skeletons alight. The heat of the flames singed the hair on their skin. In the confusion, the screams of a few elves and humans escaped the flames.

“Be careful, princess, and stay close to my side!” said Faowind.

“Behind you!” she cried, spotting an undead knight closing in on their position, its shiny sword pointing forward as it charged.

Faowind turned just in time to cross swords with the attacking knight. He narrowed his eyes. Both of them held their swords in position, using all of their strength, and growled at each other. Helenia’s sword flew upwards into the undead knight’s head and connected with the metal of its decaying helm, sending it high into the air before it landed on the ground with a solid thud. They caught sight of the undead for the first time and were sickened by the sight. Its flesh was horridly decayed, rotten muscles holding its form together; its body was animated only by the spell Kassina had cast to raise them.

“Die!” yelled the undead knight, its voice a deep guttural sound.

Faowind spun to the side; the attacking knight’s sword fell hard into a pool of blood on the ground to splash blood into the air around them. The undead knight fell forward and dropped to its knees, screaming with anger. Before it had time to recover from the fall, Helenia swung her sword down with her full body’s weight behind it, and took its head clean off. Faowind saw a glint in the corner of the knight’s eye; he crouched down and raised his shield high to stop a volley of arrows from the headless, but still animated body.