In the midst of the flashes of lightning, the deadly beams of magic that were exchanged between the mages, Frances suddenly recalled that in her youth, she’d watched television from a slit in her closet door. One of the shows that she watched was some kind of superhero or maybe even anime where the characters fought a massive monster that terrorized the city. She could barely remember what the monster looked like, whether it was a giant lizard or even if it was some kind of alien from the depths of space.
What Frances did recall was the power that the monster had displayed. She remembered how it flattened buildings with a swing of its tail, sent the heroes flying with a swipe of its arm or claws and how its footfalls sent people scattering for cover.
This was what it was like to fight against Thorgoth. Frances’s allies, friends and her mother, seemed to be wrestling what felt like a hurricane. It whipped magic into their faces. Stray fireballs, thrown boulders, scything spears of ice thrown with such force their blows broke armor and flattened the poor soldiers that were unlucky enough to be in the way.
Blocking with her magic. Desperately counterattacking with the first spell she could think of was all Frances could do to keep herself and her compatriots alive. She’d tried to be inventive, to be creative, but Thorgoth’s casting had somehow gotten faster and he was smart.
He was jogging, leaping and cutting angles between the different allied mages, making it far more difficult for them to use their most powerful spells.
Frances would prepare to fire her lightning spell, only to have to aim to miss because Jessica and Leila were in her line of fire. She could hear the growl in her mother’s singing, and see the frustration on Nicole’s face. But there were moments when they could help one another. More than once, Frances managed to force Thorgoth to shield with a crackling blast of lightning just before he could fire a spell to take out her mother or her allies.
This unpredictable, shifting back and forth of wildly flying spells continued. The combatants essentially caught in a deadly stalemate. The chaotic dance with the force of nature that was the towering form of the Demon King. Often a step to the side, or an instinctive shield was what saved Frances from being killed and sent back to earth by one of Thorgoth’s spells. Each had so much power that they carved scars into the earth with beams of magic, filled her lungs with cloying smoke and dust. Her skin crawled with sweat from her constant dodging of the violet onslaught and from the amount of magic that was being exchanged on all sides.
Her breath was beginning to get raw. Frances had been constantly singing, trying to keep Thorgoth at bay, in spite of her rising panic. She had to defeat Thorgoth. Timur, her friends, Morgan and Hattie were all relying on her. But even as the battle raged on and she could spy the Erisdalians starting to push the Alavari back, the Demon King showed no weakness, or sign that he would give.
Could he even be defeated in the first place? Could this stalemate even be maintained? Something had to give.
Frances stepped on someone’s discarded musket. Her foot rolled, but she managed to regain her balance in an instant. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nicole trip over a divot in the churned up ground. Unlike her, her classmate went sprawling onto the ground.
Thorgoth was on them, a monstrous predator sensing and exploiting the momentary weakness. Before Frances could cast a follow up spell, the king leapt at Nicole and Jim.
The pair reacted instantly. Jim threw up a heavy shield, Nicole rolled behind it and conjured a beam to blast Thorgoth away.
The Demon King was struck by the beam, before vanishing suddenly. Nicole and Jim turned, only for Thorgoth, who’d appeared right beside them to swing his sword.
“No!” Frances fired another lightning spell as her two classmates fell. This one hit Thorgoth but his armor glowed, revealing the sturdy enchantments placed on it.
Even so, the Demon King was open to a flamethrower jet from Jessica and Leila, both singing in unison as their combined fury forced Thorgoth to shield up and fall back.
That bought time for Frances to scramble to her friends’ side. Maybe she could save—
Frances swallowed. Jim and Nicole’s bloody bodies were already slowly fading away. The couple had clasped hands, which seemed to drain in color and permanence.
“Kick his ass,” Nicole growled, somehow still smiling despite the gash across her chest.
“Good luck and hope to never see you again, Frances,” said Jim, wincing.
Frances forced herself to smile. She had no idea of how much Jim knew or suspected. Still…
“Jim, don’t say that. I…thank you. Thank you both. Take care of each other.”
Nicole smirked. “I’ll take care of him,” she croaked. And just like that the pair were gone.
Blinking back tears, Frances gripped Ivy’s Sting tightly and turned back to the fight.
Thorgoth had managed to halt Jessica and Leila’s flamethrower with a wall of earth. He had to dodge though when Frances let Yvonne’s shield melting spell fly. As the acidic drops of the spell seared the ground, the Demon King had to shield Edana’s counterattack, weaving bolts of fire that came from all directions.
Frances took the opportunity to rip the ground from underneath Thorgoth’s feet, dropping the Demon King into a hole that Leila and Jessica proceeded to bury him under with a hail of dirt, stone, loose weaponry and even corpses.
The king vanished for a moment, but Frances didn’t trust that he would stay down. She ran to try to get to Edana’s side.
She heard the king erupt from the ground. Twisting to look over her shoulder, Frances screamed as Thorgoth barrelled towards her. His polished armor now smeared in dust, dirt streaming off of him, he looked like some horrifying golem.
And he was far far too close. Barely two steps away.
Frances run! She heard Ivy scream. Adrenaline sped her feet as she ran, screaming out any spell that came to her mind. A flurry of whatever she could throw from blue magic bolts, crackling shots of lighting, acid, and even blasts of wind. She even tried to trip the king.
Nothing worked. Thorgoth batted every spell aside like it was nothing with swipes of his wand. He even knocked aside spells from her allies. He kept charging at her, the terrifying bull to the absolutely terrified matador. He loomed in her vision, towering over her, and reminding her that the last time he’d grabbed ahold of her, he’d broken her arms and legs.
He wouldn’t afford her that luxury. He’d just been toying with her then. She knew that this time, he was just going to kill her and send her back to where she had been all those years ago when she was first summoned. Glendale library, right after she’d opened up the fourth book in the Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce.
Oh, she’d long forgotten where she’d been and what she’d been doing. If she was remembering, this really must be it then.
Despair and desperation almost silencing her, Frances threw every last bit of magic she had left into her armor. The shields activated, halting the blast Thorgoth hit her with, even as the impact rang her ears and knocked the wind. Choking, stumbling now, Frances gasped her breath.
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She found none. Instead, all she felt was pressure around her throat. She looked up to see Thorgoth’s gauntlet around her neck and the Demon’s king’s upraised sword swinging down. She tried to bring her shields back up but she knew it was too late.
Frances!
Ivy, I’m so sorry.
Something exploded at such close range it momentarily blinded Frances, but it forced Thorgoth to release his hand. Meanwhile, someone grabbed onto Frances’s shoulder and yanked her out of the way. The sword’s blade missed Frances’s torso, cutting open the cloth and scraping off of the metal with an ear-rending screech. Whoever had grabbed her threw Frances with the strength only adrenaline could provide. Flying through the air, Frances had a moment to recognize the darker skinned woman who had saved her and now faced Thorgoth with a defiant, and scared grin.
It was Leila. She held a crackling ball of flames that she let loose into Thorgoth’s face. That made the king take a step back even as the fire washed over his instant violet shield.
Frances hit the ground and fired a weak crackle of lightning that was deflected off of the shield. She’d mistimed it and now Thorgoth now swung his sword at her former bully. Frances knew she was screaming something, and it took a moment before she realized she was screaming for Leila.
“Leila, run!”
Except there was nowhere for Leila to go. She’d closed her eyes.
Jessica, staff raised, had used her magic to yank her friend out of harm’s way and Thorgoth missed again. The blade dinging off of Leila’s helmet as she was pulled backwards. Thorgoth howling with fury, instead raised his wand and fired with unerring speed.
Jessica let out a grunt, falling to her knee, holding onto the gaping hole now in her chest.
“Jess! Jess no! Jess!”
Somehow, Leila had ran to cradle Jessica. Somehow, the sight of her former bully in tears sparked a strange kind of feeling in Frances’s chest. Jessica, her mask falling off to reveal the scar on her face, was whispering something only the sobbing Leila could hear. Frances didn’t need to know. All she knew was that Leila, who’d just saved her life, had lost her best and perhaps only friend forever.
Somehow, it was the pain of these two women who had hurt her so much that caused Frances to lose her temper in a way that made entirely too much sense.
“THORGOTH!”
***
Ayax did not like the match up she was in. Fact was that she couldn’t fly and that meant Queen Berengaria could just soar above her, raining down magic. This was particularly aggravating since all Ayax could do was shield herself and Elizabeth. On occasion, she could fire a bolt of magic, or even a blast of lightning, but the Queen shielded it.
All that being said, the queen’s attacks were not particularly vicious. Ayax could block or dodge them. The ones against Elizabeth were trickier, but she could shield them and Berengaria and her harpies found she couldn’t get too close to the Lightning Battalion’s command staff. There were too many musketeers and even a few mages protecting Elizabeth.
“She and the harpies are just trying to pin us down,” Elizabeth said, voicing Ayax’s thought.
“Pin me down. She isn’t doing nearly enough to disrupt your command of the Lightning Battalion. Speaking of which, what are you doing Liz?” Ayax asked, glancing at her girlfriend.
From atop her horse. Elizabeth was busy whispering to a courier, who wheeled about. The Otherworlder let out a sigh before pulling up her wooden communicator.
“Freeing you up and sending Berengaria packing. Hattie, Morgan, you there?”
“Morgan here. What is it, Aunty Liz?”
“Hm, aunty Liz will do I suppose. Morgan, Hattie, you and the dragons need to swoop down on us and drive those harpies away. I’m organizing a cavalry charge. When are you able?”
“Can come in now,” said Hattie.
“Alright, be careful. Queen Berengaria is here. We’ll give you supporting fire. Elizabeth out.” Putting her device down, Elizabeth opened her mouth to tell Ayax to keep the queen occupied, only to find her love flashing her a grin.
“I heard. I’ll keep that harpy focused.” Spinning her staff, Ayax started to sing a far higher pitched aria, unlike her usual bassier tone. Crackling electricity ran down the wood and metal, before she swung it in a wide arc.
The bolt of lightning that tore toward Berengaria was not like Frances’s forking, zig-zagging flashes, but took a wide curve. It was almost like a bright, sparking hook-punch that slammed into the harpy queen’s shield. The queen took a far more drastic evasive course, hissing as she did so, sending more bolts of magic that Ayax had to block.
Ayax sucked in a breath at the impact and braced herself to cast another lightning spell, when a rolling boom, building and bellowing like a massive wave, deafened her. The sound wouldn’t stop and the pressure in the air caused horses to rear and soldiers to clamp their hands to their ears. All around her, friendly and enemy staggered as lightning flashed again and again on the right flank of their army. It looked like an azure colored aurora was lighting up the ceiling of the cavern, yet as the forks of plasma flashed, it seemed to cut and dance like a myriad of spinning knives.
Somehow above that thunder, the cry “Thorgoth!” could be heard.
Ayax swallowed, “Cuz just got serious.”
“I hope she’s alright,” said Elizabeth. Her eyes widened. “Ayax, look out!”
Berengaria had been distracted for a moment but she now resumed her sweep. She was diving again.
Simultaneous bolts of lightning rained down on the harpy queen. She dodged the first one, but had to shield the second. Immediately looking up, Berengaria stared up for a moment before she barked out an order to the remaining harpies.
“Retreat! Retreat!”
Ayax suddenly realized that there was a hoarse grumbling sound broken up by the sound of wind being whipped. The roars of three blue colored dragons filled her ears as the harpies scattered. From the backs of two of them, Morgan and Hattie fired whatever spells they could.
“Cavalry charge!” Elizabeth yelled. Not bothering to even send an adjutant, she pulled up the horn fixed to her saddle and blew two short blasts followed by a long one.
Aloudin’s troops were still fighting ahead of them whilst Elizabeth and the battalion’s central division had engaged the harpies. Now, the Lightning Battalion’s cavalry freed from the harpy harassment, cantered forward toward the frontline. The checkerboard formation of the army allowing the infantry regiments space to make way for the stream of horsemen that rode forth. Behind them, the infantry of the Lightning Battalion’s second division followed.
Underneath the wings of the dragons, the cavalry picked up their pace. Even as a wave of flame from the three dragons washed over the front ranks of the Alavari attacking the Lightning Battalion, Elizabeth and Ayax could see the enemy in front of her break from the sight of the winged beasts.
The cavalry coming in, through gaps opened by Aloudin’s well-trained troops, broke over those that tried to stand in the face of the onslaught.
There wasn’t any time to congratulate herself, Elizabeth was already observing the next threat. In this case, it was the harpies that were regrouping and pursuing their new allies.
“Morgan, Hattie, tell Lakadara to keep her siblings close to the ground. We can protect them from the harpies better from there,” Elizabeth said.
“Just get them off of us!” Morgan yelled.
“We will. Tell them to head to the rear of the army, the reserves!”
Hattie grunted. “Yes ma’am!”
Putting her device down, Elizabeth turned to Ayax. “Go! You need to help Frances. I know she might have this, but Thorgoth—”
“Is a monster.” Ayax reached out and the pair clasped hands. “Love you.”
“Love you too.” Elizabeth let go, one of the hardest things she had to do and watched her love ride off toward the thunderstorm that raged on their right flank.
Already, she could see Martin committing his final reserves, but not to the right flank.
Elizabeth blinked, but after a moment’s thought, she found herself nodding as she realized what her friend had decided to do.
“Well then, on with it I suppose,” she muttered to herself as she continued to survey the battlefield.
***
“Martin, why aren’t you sending the troops to where Thorgoth is?” Katia asked.
Deciding not to take the spider-webbed scarred woman’s arch tone personally, Martin flashed his childhood friend a wan smile.
“A number of powerful mages are fighting there to end Thorgoth. While they do so, we need to end the war in our favor.”
Katia frowned. “Wouldn’t that mean killing, King—” her eyes widened and she shook her head. “Right, sorry about that. I remember now. We need to destroy his army.”
“Yes, and Thorgoth’s center and right flank our falling. If the Erlenbergians and Lightning Battalion can crush his army there, he’ll be isolated, alone with naught but his Royal Guard,” Martin said.
Katia took a deep breath. “Martin, isn’t your Queen on that flank?”
The king of Erisdale swallowed, his hands tightening around his reins. All thoughts of battle were silenced from his mind.
“She is, but she also knows what’s at stake and if I were there and she was here, she would make the same decision,” Martin said. He pursed his lips before suddenly turning to Katia. “There is something that can be done, though, if you are willing.”
“You want me to head over there with a small force?” Katia asked.
“If you can. Most of Ginger’s guards are likely either dead, or engaged. Just try to keep her alive, or our army’s right flank will fall.”
Katia made a fist and tapped it across her cuirass. “Understood. I’ll take care of her, Martin. See if you can send us some more mages.”
“Take Dwynalina and Anriel with you. Stay safe,” said Martin. He waved Katia and the company of knights that rode on after her. Perhaps he was being soft, as he watched them grow into specks in the distance, he had to quash his dread. Watching his friends head into danger never ever got any easier.