A flash of light occassionally illuminates the camp and the heavy downpour drowns out all the noise coming from the camp.
"Arguhn! If we do not do anything, all our men will not see a light of day!" Balkan pulls Pyrlord from his shoulder and glares at him, another flash of light reveals the tense expression that Pyrlord was making.
"They are using magic, so should we." Pyrlord looks at Lutar and nods before turning his back on Balkan and release an intense aura all over the camp.
Balkan grins and, under the flash of light, disappears with the wind. The intense wind from the storm that pass the camp was instantly blown away by another strong gust of wind.
Woo! The gust of wind even blocked the bolts of fire into the camp.
"Gah!" Seconds later the strong gust of wind pushed the cavalrymen off of their horses and some were impaled onto a tree by an arrow as soon as the wind passed them.
The black-plated cavalrymen noticed the gust of wind reaching them and surrounded Volux with their shields up.
"Crest wall!" One of the officers called out and suddenly a dark blue ray of light sprang out each of the shields of the cavalrymen and formed a transparent wall with the insignia of the Supriars in the middle of it.
Crack! The gust of wind crashes against the transparent wall, but it was not strong enough to break the wall as the last of its strength barely pushes the cavalrymen backward.
A moment after the passing wind, the officers let their guard down as they notice that the wind has passed.
Boom! Lightning struck nearby the camp and the rain raged on after being pushed away by the gust of wind.
"These bandits dare bare their fangs on me!" Volux cursed as he exudes a menacing aura that almost choked the officers around him. "Waste no more time, slaughter all these worms!"
Volux raised an arm and focused his arm towards the camp as they ride towards it.
"Mo hidis lo suparma inis!" The officers chant and seconds later a faint light exudes off the bodies of each officer and enters Volux.
****
"Jon snap out of it, your vision came true so we must do something!" Vernack shook Jon trying to wake him up as Jon mutters intelligible words.
The distressed expression of Jon worried Vernack as his mind flashbacks to the cold expression of the beheaded people in the creek's end cave.
'I must do something, if not, I will not be able to forgive myself, but if I go...' Vernack debated in his mind as he looks back into the dark forest and looks back at Jon's worsening complexion, as bolts of fire would occasionally pass by.
But as soon as Vernack was about to stand and run into battle, Jon's hand suddenly grabbed onto his arm.
"Verna, if you go, you die." His cold expression froze Vernack and he slowly faces back at Jon.
"Do y-you not think I k-know that?" Vernack stutters as he tenses up and grabs his bow nearby.
"You will die Verna, if you go." Jon repeats as he strengthens his grip on Jon's arm.
"Let go, Jon!" He pulls himself away from him but Jon's grip only strengthened the more he resists.
"No matter what you do Verna, the chief, Balak and the others will die!" Jon scowled and with all his strength pulled Vernack back to him.
Shocked by Jon's anger, Vernack paused for a moment looking at Jon's shaking eyes masked in anger.
"What do you have in mind then, oracle?" Vernack scoffed as he relaxed his body.
"Any moment from now a lightning will strike near us, at that moment prepare to run towards chief's tent." He loosens his grip and stands from his seat.
Boom! Then just as Vernack was about to say something, a loud thunderclap was heard behind them which caught him off guard.
"Quickly, to chief Pyrlord!" Jon hastily grabs Vernack's wrist and ran towards Pyrlord's tent under the heavy downpour.
****
"Chief! Is the chief in here?" Jon yelled soon as he and Vernack entered the tent, but only to see Lutar and Lahar inside.
"Jon, Verna, thank the spirits you are here. Hurry, Arguhn has instructed me to lead both of you out the camp." Lahar said, grabbing both Jon and Verna as soon as she saw them.
Lutar was sat on the rock bed, cross-legged, as if medidating. Ryden stood in front of him as its body glow in different colors.
"No, Lahar we need to help the chief!" Jon rebelled and pulled his hand away from her grasp. "Call the others to protect the chief!"
Boom! Not even a moment later, an explosion was heard in the middle of the camp causing the tents and the trees nearby to break and pushing everyone in a distance away from the middle.
"It is happening to fast, Lutar just do it!" Rising after the explosion, Lahar urged Lutar.
"No! Lutar do--" In an instant without Jon finishing his sentence, a blinding light erupts in Lutar and Ryden's bodies, illuminating the night as if it was day.
Moments after the camp was covered in a blinding light, it waned, returning the camp back into darkness. However, a majestic being appeared in place of Ryden, its body twice the size of a mortal, its neck covered in mane and some of its hair flow down to its tails blending in the colors of red, blue, and yellow, its wings as if the extension of its mane, and its three tails conjure three elements; fire, ice, and electricity.
Squaa! The large Ryden made one last cry as it flapped its mortal-sized wings and flew to the skies leaving a strong gust of wind where it left off.
In the distance, Ryden attacked each cavalryman that it found with bolts of fire, shards of ice, and lightning bolts.
"Ahh! Attack that flying cock!" One of the officers yelled while defending Volux.
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The cavalrymen returned fire with bolts of fire targetting the large Ryden, but countless bolts of fire barely touched Ryden's mane and some were blown away by the gusts of wind produced by its flapping of wings.
"Lahar, why did you let him continue?" Jon bawled seeing that Lutar passed out after transforming Ryden. "He could have not wasted a lot of his life had you not let him continue?"
"What do you know Jon? Arguhn knew what he was doing when he instructed him to do this." She argued and grabbed Jon's wrist again to leave immediately. "Verna, carry Lutar on your back, we must not waste more time here."
Vernack nods and without hesitation hastily carried the scrawny middle-aged Lutar on his back and left towards the north of the camp towards the forest. However, halfway through the run, another explosion from the camp catches them off guard, blowing them away once again.
"Stop! We need to help the chief!" Jon tries to head over the middle but Lahar grabbing onto his leg makes him struggle even more.
****
Boom! Pyrlord punches the air causing another shockwave to the direction of Volux.
Fwoosh! Before the shockwave reached Volux and his officers, it dissipated in an instant as if it were nothing.
"Resistance is futile, Pyrlord!" In a distance, Volux guffawed as he and his officers urged their steeds faster. "Those Kanisis told me many things about you, one that includes your weak constitution."
Pyrlord's eyes widened and his mind in tatters, he glares at the distant golden-plated cavalryman and clenched his fist tighter.
"Ho~" He relaxed himself then positions himself to control the flow of mana within him.
"Ha~" As he exhales the second time the ground beneath him caved in, shaking the whole camp.
"Yorum, Trable, stop him." Volux ordered, feeling the tense aura oozing out of Pyrlord.
The two officers nodded and brandished their blade, glaring at the drenched man in front of them.
"In supraium mo diset!" Suddenly their swords transformed into faint light that resemble a rope.
They threw the light ropes toward Pyrlord as their eyes, seen between the eye holes of their helmet, focus on him without blinking.
"Rah!" Before the two faint light ropes reach Pyrlord, the area around him exploded blowing the ropes away from him.
The two jeered as they pulled their ropes back and tried to throw it again.
"Wave!" Pyrlord drags his right foot on the mud and kicks towards them
His kick caused the mud to rise from the ground and form a wave-like movement as if it were water. The farther it went, the faster it moved.
"Disperse!" Seeing the mud wave, Volux immediately ordered and steered away from the incoming wave. "And use your brains in trying to hit him idiots!"
"Balak, a chance, go!" After the cavalrymen were separated from each other, Pyrlord unsheathe his blade and in an instant vanished from his place.
Fwoo! From the area where Pyrlord stood, an arrow was shot towards one of the officers. The arrow was moving at a speed faster than it should as it whistles the farther it went.
"Guk--" The arrow pierced into the weak point of officer's helmet directly entering their neck.
"Some tricks." Yorum sneered and reverts the light rope back to his sword.
Yorum raised his sword and under the heavy downpour, the rain shifted and meld into his blade. Moments later, he swung his sword towards Balak and a sharp wave exited the blade, slicing through bushes and trees as if it were paper.
Balak sensed the incoming wave and lunged himself away from it before shooting another arrow directly at Yorum.
Skaa! Before Balak could land on his feet, he hears Ryden's cry. The moment he saw the large bird, his eyes widened and profanities were spat when he saw that Ryden was caught by the faint light ropes.
"Where are you looking at archer?" A raspy voice was heard behind Balak, which made him lunge forward to evade the source's attack.
Yorum missed his attack, swinging into the distance leaving a sharp wave once again. As a response, Balak shot two arrows in an instant.
Halfway in the air, Yorum swung his sword cutting the two arrows into four and breaking its momentum. He pulled on the reins of his horse and a faint light covered the horse as if it were its armor.
Balak grimaced at the sight, he once more tries to grab another arrow from his quiver but nothing was left.
"You are done now, archer!" Yorum urged his horse forward, ready to swing his blade.
"Howl!" Balak roared and a faint gray light burst out of his body which caused the wind to blow forward violently.
Yorum steered his horse and lifted shield, in an instant a dark blue ray of light projected from his shield and formed a transparent wall with an incomplete crest.
Boom! The wall and the violent wind met and caused a loud explosion destroying the wall and the wind.
"Tch." Yorum did not wait another second and charged forward while sending sharp waves towards Balak.
Balak barely dodges each wave as some of it scratching his bulky body. He grimaced as the cavalryman was getting closer to him, the number of each sharp wave gradually increased.
When Yorum was about ten meters away from Balak, he felt a sharp killing intent from his side. However, before he could even think about attack his sides he felt that his left abdomen was struck by a fist.
Boo! Yorum was knocked out of his horse and was thrown back to the forest, he spat out blood in his helmet. Yorum's body broke number of trees before settling on the fifth tree.
"Balak, you sure are useless without your arrows!" Lahar laughed and approached him.
"You should have left with the--" Before he could finish his sentence, a sword sliced through his body.
"Balak!" Her eyes widened as she runs toward Balak, but a moment later she felt that she could not mover her body. "What is this?"
Lahar struggles to move as if her body was a statue itself. Then in a distance in front of her, three cavalrymen suddenly appeared from the forest exiting out of a warped forest.
****
"Let go Verna! We need to save the chief!" Jon flails around as Vernack carries Jon and Lutar on his shoulders.
"Stop moving Jon! Like you said we would not be able to do anything no matter what we do!" Verna argued as he continues to trail far from the camp.
Skaa! Ryden's cries are heard from afar even with the storm masking the sounds in the camp. Hearing this, Verna halted for a moment before moving on. Jon constantly screaming in the forest were blocked by the storm, allowing Jon to safely escape the camp.
****
"Pyrlord, do you think you can hold out for much longer with this?" Volux snickered as seen on his hand is the projection of Lahar and three cavalrymen charging at her.
Pyrlord scowled and charged the mana within him.
"Futile attempt!" Not giving him a second, Volux and two other cavalrymen charged at him swinging their swords, sending out sharp waves in each possible direction that he could escape from.
Before any of the sharp waves touched Pyrlord, his body exploded, releasing a shockwave outward and pushing all the sharp waves back at them.
"Halt!" Volux raised his hand where the projection of Lahar is and a dark circle appeared out of nowhere.
Then a massive invisible force collapses the shockwave and pushes Pyrlord into the ground.
"You wield a forbidden magic Supriar!" Pyrlord exploded as he struggles to use mana within him to withstand the force.
"The times have changed, the rules of the old cannot determine the present!" Volux proclaimed. "What once was forbidden will now be endured!"
Boom! As Pyrlord was struggling to set himself free, Ryden sent out one last lightning bolt at Volux before being pulled down by multiple cavalrymen.
Interfered by the lightning bolt, Pyrlord managed to escape his grasp and maximized the amount of mana he would produce from within him.
"Bah! Damn bird, quickly cut off its he--" Before Volux could finish his sentence, a massive force struck him from the front which flung him and his steed into the distance.
"Milord!" The two officers were caught off guard by the sudden event.
Before they were even able to steer their steeds, another massive invisible force struck the two guards, hurling them the same distance as Volux was sent too.
"Chief! Save me!" When Pyrlord was about to head towards Volux, he hears Lahar's cry as she struggles to fight against three cavalrymen, where her arms are locked by a faint light rope, it seemed that the rope was weakening her.
"You bastards!" He charged his feet and ejected some of the mana within him to lunge himself towards Lahar, but midway into the jump another massive force crashed onto him, which sent him back to the ground, still far from Lahar.
"Rat! Prick! Cattle-fuck! You dare dirty me with your fecal foot!" Volux raged as he increases the number of dark circles on his hand, increasing the weight pushing down on Pyrlord. "You must die by suffocation as an apology for existing in front of me!"
"Gaah!!" Pyrlord groaned as he forces more of his mana from within to push the invisible force out from his back.
Struggling to free himself from Volux' grasp, he could only barely see Lahar at a distance and the as the pressure increases the more the ground beneath him crumble.
"Arguhn..." Lahar uses last of her energy to shout and save Pyrlord but only a soft sound came out of her mouth and her body starting to limp.
Few seconds later, one of the cavalrymen chops Lahar's head off after weakening her to this state. Her blood spurting out of her neck and her tired expression were what remained before it was separated from her body.
The moment Pyrlord saw her head lobbed off from her body, his complexion turned pale as it could and his expression crumbling faster than his body exploding from the pressure above him. Countless thoughts ran in his mind but anger prevailed above all.
'Arguhn, we will follow you no matter what.' A childlike voice echoed over his mind, he sees the faces of three children smiling in front of him.
'From this day onward, Arguhn Mesos will be named, Pyrlord, for his outstanding leadership against Pyrzug's army that threatened Eastern Wesout!' A thunderous yet humbling voice proclaimed as he sees the divinite-plated king dubbing him with a ceremonial sword and on its blade are engraved with countless stories before that time.
'A mercenary? Although I cannot see you fit as one, but if the hero of Grenhutr wishes it to be so, they may act as they wish. However, should you ever wish to return to my domain, you are free to do so as well.' The humbling voice of the king echoed around the blurry hall that Pyrlord stood in.
'It has been fifteen northern seasons now and all we have been doing is do trivial work for the Supriars and the Bradins, when can we fight in the battlefields again!' A raspy voice blurted as seconds later the sound of puking and laughter echoed on.
'Those damned Bradins! They think they can just blame us for the losses at Feather Cove! They did not even send reinforcements before we even went there!' A throaty voice railed as he angrily chops off wood.
'One day, two boys will come to your camp suffering from their burns and exhaustion, take them in and you will be satisfied with your life.' A mysterious figure sat in front of him inside his warping tent, the figure's voice and deep gaze chilled Pyrlord but he did not believe in what the figure said immediately.
'Chief, you think I am ready for battle now?' A voice of an excited child was heard beside him.
'It has only been two northern seasons since you have been here and you still cannot swing that sword properly, even a rodent can defeat you in mere seconds' Pyrlord boisterous laugh echoed on the distance of his blurry mind.
Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes felt like an eternity, Pyrlord's restless struggle fumed Volux' anger even more. Although he knows that the longer he uses this magic, the faster his mana will deplete.
"Just die!" Volux exclaimed and the dark circles on his hand doubled in number.
"I... will... come for... you... Sup--" Pyrlord stammered as his voice weakens the more he uses his mana to suppress the invisible force before he knocks himself out of exhaustion.
Not noticing that Pyrlord was unconscious, Volux used the last of his strength to pound him using the invisible force on his hand.
Boom! Splat! As soon as Pyrlord's body was pounded, his body exploded into pieces and his blood splattering all over the camp, even some drops of it landing Volux armor.
Skraa! Ryden screeched one last time when it saw Pyrlord's body exploding before its head was lobbed off by one of the cavalryman's sharp wave.
****
From a far off distance, Vernack hears Ryden's one last sharp cry before breaking into tears as he trailed forward without looking back. Jon knocked himself out of exhaustion after screaming and crying for the past hour.
The storm raged on as the three moons hid behind the clouds and the nocturnal wildlife never made any hint of their sound as if they were mourning at the event that had happened that night.