As Felkin set his eyes alight, the demigod covered her eyes instantly and raised a wall of sand to block his sight almost instantly. He used his sword and twirled around, extending, and cutting all around him, using his strength to cut through the hardened stone. He cut through the sand wall but discovered that she was no longer there. He ducked to the ground as he awaited how the spire would fall. Once he saw that it was falling to the other direction and not over him, he quickly looked at his surroundings.
Basilisks were emerging out of the ground, positioning themselves to strike. He took a deep breath and observed them, sword in hand. As they came closer, he could feel gnawing coming from behind his eyes and decided he needed to defeat them as soon as possible. “How dare he!” She yelled as she was traversing the underground, moving away the sand, and moving atop the giant basilisk. ‘If whatever god he got his power from is a fraction of the strength of mine, defeating him will be a harder task than I thought. That glare of his, I felt as if though if I looked at them, I would cease moving entirely. If I’m going to protect my home from this threat, I will use all my power to do so.’ The scaly demigod thought.
As the basilisk was burrowing through the earth, she held her hands up high and closed her eyes. All the basilisks and corpse eater birds stopped from wherever they were and looked eastward. “I call all of you, return home.” She commanded into the earth. “Hmph!” Felkin sent out his sword and struck the basilisk in its mouth and then slid on its body and landed on the ground. There were thoughts in his head about her story, about her birth and connection to the dragon god and how it seemed like it had a hold on her throughout her entire life.
He fought these thoughts back and focused on the fighting. Then a howl erupted from behind him. Felkin sensed two things: The curse barreling through the ground and the twins’ magical barrier in response to it. With his eyes empowered with crimson energy, he could see the light burning brightly within the demigod. As she howled, he could see the same light in the form of countless snakes that swarmed rapidly across the nearby desert. As he saw this, he jumped as high as he could, it took him far enough to see the desert landscape, and the remains of the fallen spire.
As she spread the curse across the nearby land, she took a moment to look to the crashed structure. ‘Good, it is not damaged. I shall not permit its slumber to be disturbed! Nor, have another blade pierce its flesh.’ The pillar crumbled off but the dragon’s body was left sticking out of the sand. “Argh!” Nox exclaimed as they blocked the wave of the curse’s influence. Solis could feel the brunt of the force passing through and followed it with the corner of her eye. Her arrows and the carcasses that they were attached to, instantly powdered in a flash, leaving her with a sense of unease.
As Felkin fell, he slammed his sword down into the ground and weakened the impact. He could feel the pain dissipating as the roots stopped taking hold and his eyes returned to normal. He tapped his head and sighed; he had hoped he could have been in that state for longer. Jura looked at Felkin who just landed and then at their foe and the source of the desert’s curse. ‘Hmm… A dragon godkin, with a fearsome ability. Normally, I’d let a world like this wither and rot but now that she could travel to other worlds… I suspect that I would have been called to deal with this situation sooner or later. Besides, my task is right here. So…’ “Solis, stay here and shoot, I’m going in.” Solis drew her bow as Jura took off like a gust of wind, Nox holding onto his back.
“At last, you two have come to me. I shall cut you loose from the humans and our world will finally be remade!” She raised her hands and the flying beasts came down upon the three of them. Before they converged, Solis’ arrow sped through the air and in a split second neared the giant basilisk. It breathed its gas as fast as possible but the arrow cut through the fog. But the arrow ended up harmlessly hitting the demigod’s face as it turned to sand.
Felkin ran in from the side of the basilisk, he was noticed and it sharply turned and immediately sent out a black cloud of smoke. It threatened to quickly envelop Felkin and the nearby landscape and thinking quickly, he extended his sword and readied himself. He made half of his lengthened sword to be firm and then the tip of the blade to be slack, making to be alike a flail and rapidly swung it around and dispelling the smoke. The black fog accumulated on the sides of Felkin’s path as he blew them away, making high walls of crystal and a clear path forward. He extended and shot out his sword fully, it traveled a great distance and speed towards the giant basilisk. Two smaller basilisks shot out of the ground and clamped their jaws down upon Felkin’s sword, stopping its advance.
A swift projectile flew from the air, Jura had thrown his pickaxe and it collided with the scales of one basilisk and recoiled to the other, momentarily stunning them. Nox erected sharp walls of ice all around him, trying to block the advance of the flying creatures. Jura swung his shovel hard, creating a shockwave in the air that knocked back and disrupted the scaly birds, bringing some down onto the ground. Solis loaded her bow with multiple arrows at a time, she hid in the foliage and then watched the creatures as they amassed and were lurking high above them. She shot the arrows and pierced through a score of them, but it did not impact the mass of the swarm.
Solis reached into her quiver and felt her numerous but lessening arrows. She set her arrows on the bow but had an idea. She scooped up sand from the ground, and wrapped the arrows with it, covering them with what appeared to be golden energy. She shot the sand-covered arrows up at the sky, striking a few of them as they flew upward, but then they splintered into countless small shards of sand, striking through the swarm. She felt the ground rumble for a split second and Solis instantly reacted, rolling out of the way before a hand-shaped sand formation emerged from the earth with the intent to crush her. As she dodged it, she felt the ground beneath her rise once more, she quickly hopped backwards but felt the intense grasp of the sand on her leg. But just before major damage could be done, the sand froze with small icicles, rendering it motionless.
Solis looked back at Nox and then at Felkin and the demigod. She quickly shot another volley of golden arrows, aimed directly at the giant basilisk. Felkin was battling with multiple smaller basilisks. They cornered him and tried to enact coordinated attacks, but he would use them as cover and jump on them to evade. He shot out his sword and lengthened it to attack them from afar, but they would instead charge into the blade, minimizing the speed and momentum it accumulates through the distance it travels and thereby making it so the blade would bounce off doing little damage.
As the basilisk’s neared him, he coiled up his sword to increase its force, but they would quickly pull back and be out of his reach. ‘They’re trying to wear me out. If I keep fighting at their pace, I’ll be tiring in no time. I’m going to need to use my ‘eyes’ again. Or…’ Felkin looked at the three who were still contending with the corpse eater birds. Solis’ golden arrows reached the giant basilisk. Its rider constructed a barrier of sand, and the basilisk closed its mouth and eyes. The arrows and its splinters, harmlessly pelted onto the basilisk and the scaly demigod who had defended herself. Jura picked his pickaxe back up and jumped upwards toward the swarm of birds. He clinked the tools together and then burst through the flock of flying creatures, creating a sizable hole revealing the sunlight once more. Once they were above most of the swarm, the scaly beasts began rising upwards to give chase to them, and Nox created icicles from the clouds, and brought them upon their pursuers.
Felkin turned around and swiftly ran to where the other three were. ‘Hmm? He’s turning back. Could he be just retreating from our might? No, there’s something else.’ The other smaller basilisks gave chase and the giant basilisk she rode on went after him as well. As he was furiously running backwards, Solis saw him out of the corner of her eye as she released another volley of arrows and avoided the birds diving from the sky. Jura and Nox fell back onto the sands, and Nox created a wave of ice to slow down their fall, and Jura slid down it. Nox was breathing heavily, and Jura was thinking to himself. ‘With all these creatures, and a demigod to contend with, I don’t think we can beat them easily. Its like they’re coordinating like a singular body…’
“Wait, what is he doing?” Nox asked. Jura was snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Felkin who was running straight towards them with the basilisks bearing down on the desert ground, smashing through the high crystal walls, and continuing unceasingly. Solis was staring at him as well, but Felkin suddenly stopped in his tracks and raised his head towards the sky and the swarm. “Close your eyes!” Jura yelled out and Nox and Solis quickly covered their eyes as a red flash of light glowed in the desert.
In one moment, all the flying creatures in the sky ceased their movement and began to fall. The basilisks and the demigod were far enough to react quickly, and she created a barrier of sand around her and made the basilisks close their eyes to be unaffected by the light. Felkin shut his eyes tightly immediately after, he felt warm streaks of liquid flowing out of them. He raised his sword to the sky and lengthened it and wildly swung about, the thrashing of his sword upwards sliced through scores of the flying creatures and created a gruesome sight as the creatures splattered onto the ground.
As soon as Felkin deactivated his power, the others were made aware as it was like a weight was pulled off from them. Jura and Solis rushed through the corpse littered field, their footsteps squelching on the bloodstained sand. The basilisks quickly pounced on Felkin whose eyes were still closed, breathing their deadly petrifying gas. Felkin opened his eyes and readied his sword, but the gas soon enveloped around him. Jura used both of his tools and swung them in front of him to create a strong blast of wind, blowing the gas back to the basilisks who were incased in their own crystal breath.
The demigod waved her arm and a few more basilisks emerged from behind Jura and Solis. They had their jaws open, ready two chomp down on them with vicious fervor. They lunged at an extreme speed and by the time the three had turned around, they could see nothing in front of them except the beast’s maw. Felkin swung his sword hard, knocking back the assailing creatures as Nox froze them into place and as they thrashed in panic with their mouths open, Solis shot her sand arrows, splintering within their gullet and deeper within.
From behind Felkin, the giant basilisk went past the ones encased in black crystal and lunged towards him, with its teeth and fangs bared ready to swallow him whole. He turned around and coiled his sword, ready to strike the titanic beast down. But he sensed a rumbling from the ground. The demigod raised one hand upwards and closed it in a crushing motion, and Felkin quickly hopped backwards as a giant claw formed from sand emerged from the ground. As he was in the air, another claw emerged from the ground under him, he could not jump backwards through the air, so in a split-second he had an idea.
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Felkin used his coiled sword and slammed it down onto the claw, releasing a great amount of force that launched him in the air and shattering the sand formation. The great basilisk was now a distance away so on instinct Felkin shot out his sword only for the beast to repeat the tactic earlier and charged onto his blade. It had its eyes and mouth closed and the demigod had created a barrier of sand around her. As the creature advanced, it ran along Felkin’s blade harmlessly.
With the looming basilisk advancing, Felkin quickly pulled his sword back to its original length and then coiled it. He blocked the enormous mass with his sword, the shock of the attack reverberating through his entire body and gripped tightly onto his flesh and bone. He could feel it shaking him to his very core, he gritted his teeth hard and could feel them grind into each other. The serpent continued to advance, pushing Felkin farther from the others. Reeling from the shock, he could not think clearly as he was contending with the extreme force and the strong winds due to the speed of his movement.
Feeling a burst of rage, he acted on instinct and swung as hard as he could with his coiled-up sword. His sword unfurled rapidly and struck the stone scales of the great basilisk. Felkin flew away a great distance, the extreme recoil of his sword, blasted back the giant basilisk. Even in the hot desert, the air was cold as he flew through the air as if he was shot from a cannon. The giant basilisk fell backwards, the demigod on its back was surprised at the force Felkin was able to create.
As the giant basilisk fell, the demigod was in danger of being crushed so she created a mountain of sand and hopped off before the basilisk fell onto it. Solis, Nox and Jura were dealing with the survivors and stragglers of the flying creatures. Even though the creatures sustained injury when they fell, some of them ran through the ground and hopped towards them in a vain attempt of aggression. Solis pulled an arrow from her quiver; she felt their ever-dwindling number and only used the arrow to stab it through one of the beasts who jumped up at her. She breathed heavily, the heat of the desert and the fighting made her fatigued. She looked at the other two and realized she was in better condition. Nox’s mark was slowly starting to fade from his arm, he breathed heavily and was drenched in sweat. Jura was not showing many signs of being tired, but his hands were shaking as he held his weapons.
The basilisks encased in their crystal breath struggled in the material they were encased in, the material cracking as they writhed. Solis pointed and the other two turned around and ran towards the high crystal formations. They began to crack, and then loudly broke open, and basilisks quickly moved towards them. Nox on Jura’s back held out his arm, but Solis who was behind them yelled something out. “Don’t use your power, let me deal with them!” She swiftly ran ahead of Jura who was surprised at her speed. While running, she drew her bow and concentrated, coating her arrows with sand and shot them at the approaching serpents. They closed their eyes and mouths and burrowed into the sand. The splintering sand spears bounced off their skin and although some entered through their exposed noses, it did little damage as they continued into the ground.
“I’m going to freeze the ground!” Nox called out. “No, you don’t need to!” Solis responded. “Hmm…” Jura remarked. One of the basilisks came out of the ground and went for Jura, Nox held his hand out but Jura struck it hard in the chest with his shovel driving it back. He then jumped up and stabbed the creature in both eyes with his weapons. It fell to the ground, still thrashing before its demise. As Jura landed back onto the ground, the serpent emerged from the sand behind him and Nox held his hand out but before he could use his magic, Solis shot three sand arrows at it and the basilisk quickly submerged itself back into the ground sustaining minimal injury. “No, not yet!” She exclaimed to Nox.
Jura was on his feet and awaiting the next attack. ‘I could use my tools to flush them out of the ground, but if there’s two it would leave me open. Our best option really is to let Nox freeze the ground along with them but…’ “We need to freeze the ground!” Exclaimed Jura. “Not yet, I can do it!” Solis exclaimed. “Your arrows can’t pierce their skin.” Nox stated. They were readied and looking around, listening for any trace of the creatures. The demigod crawled in the sand and looked at the three who were still fighting. She looked at the titanic basilisk, alive but unresponsive. She then looked back at them and maintained control of the remaining basilisks.
One quickly emerged out of the ground and lunged at Jura who deflected the attack and before Solis could shoot it, another basilisk emerged in front of her and snapped at her, chomping onto the thick fabric in her sleeve. She quickly kicked it away before the serpent could actually damage her flesh and as she did, she tore away the cloth that had covered her arm revealing her bright yellow mark of the sun. It was well-defined compared to Nox’s which was fading.
The first basilisk had submerged itself when Solis failed to strike it with her arrows, and Jura ran swiftly to the second basilisk when Solis kicked away from it, but it quickly submerged as well. “Where’s Felkin!?” Jura yelled. “I saw him get hit by the big one, it tossed him out there!” Solis responded. “The only way we’re going to beat them without him is by using my power!” Nox yelled. “No, I can do it!” Solis insisted. Jura was agog of any plan that Solis could have done, but now he was getting impatient. The basilisk popped up under Solis and she swiftly stepped back but not before the serpent’s lower fangs slashed upwards towards her, one of them striking through the cloth that covered her head, and the other striking her on the side of the face. “Hmph!” She uttered as the creature passed upward and wounded her. She had an arrow in hand and stabbed it in the basilisk as it moved up, the creature wailed and then submerged once more.
Jura lunged and then slammed his pickaxe onto the ground, but the serpent was deep enough in the earth to avoid it. “Sister!” Nox cried out. “I’m fine!” a straight gash was on Solis' face, streaming black liquid down and dripping down on her chin. She brushed off her long hair and placed her hand on her face, the ‘sun’ mark on her hand glowing brightly and the wound closing. “That’s enough! Nox will freeze the ground; I’ll smash through it and then you’ll shoot them.” Jura ordered. “Just let me try something!” Solis yelled out.“There’s no time!” Jura responded. Jura looked around and was on his toes on detecting the basilisks.
“Look.” Nox quietly said to Jura. He looked around and saw Solis cupping her palms and a small golden ball was floating in the air between her hands. The mark on her arm and her eyes were glowing with a golden light, and the demigod was looking on curiously behind the sand dune. The small circle between Solis' hands dropped into the sand, it was though it was of immense weight as it quickly sunk through the sand as if there was no sand at all. “Step back.” Solis stated, as if she was in a trance. Jura sensed Solis’ power and immediately ran backwards. A sizzling sound could be heard within the earth, and a red glow emanated from beneath the sand.
Jura and Nox stood with awe for a few seconds before the ground began to rumble. The sounds began to become louder and louder, like something underground was rapidly burrowing up to the surface. Jura readied himself and watched the ground, awaiting the basilisks. “Step back some more.” Said Solis as she slowly walked away from the area where the tiny star hit the ground, Jura did the same. The crawling and burrowing upwards got louder, and Jura brandished both of his weapons readily. The two serpents emerged from the surface, frantic and trying to leave the red-hot sand. Jura was positioning to strike when Solis raised both of her hands quickly. “Hmph!”
Suddenly, a massive golden ball burst out of the ground, striking the basilisks along the way. The ball of energy rose a few feet above the ground, its radiating heat and light making Nox and Jura cover their faces. Solis lowered her hands and the sun disappeared, leaving only the dried-out husks of the basilisks. They were much smaller than their original size, with their scales charred but unharmed, whilst smoke was emanating out of their eyeless sockets and their mouth. Solis quickly turned around to the sand dune with the giant basilisk on top of it. Jura and Solis ran towards it, in search of the demigod who was riding on it earlier.
As they ran there was a sudden invisible wave of energy that once again flowed through the nearby area, Solis and Nox instinctively held out their arms to stop it. The curse rumbled through the ground, and Solis and Nox’s marks glowed in response. The power and effect of the curse was not as strong as before, and they slowly walked as the scaly demigod rose from the sand before them. “I’m sorry, we must do this. For this land, and for us.” Said Nox, Solis briefly glanced back at him. “Hmm… The way I see it, I am the one who feels sorry for you. Living and dedicating your entire short life to these humans, only to be thrown in the wilds to die for them. For years, they have claimed this land as their own, and shackled all things to them. Here, I am free. I am also giving you the chance to be free.” The demigod remarked.
Jura’s hand raised slightly. “Stop. If that weapon of yours leaves your hand it will turn into dust even before you can no longer reach for it.” She responded. “Hmm… We’re giving you one final chance. We’ve cornered you, surrender.” Jura responded. With Jura’s answer, she only smiled in response and strengthened the curse, slightly driving them back due to the unseen force. “You think I’m that weak? Years of amassing my power, creating life on this barren soil. The reasons you’re not yet returned to the earth are twofold. One.” Loud crawling and burrowing could be heard now from creatures approaching from afar as well as the shrill shrieking of flying creatures above.
“Because it takes time for them to reach if they’re coming from far away.” The demigod remarked. Jura and Solis turned and tried to ascertain all the incoming creatures. “Secondly, is the matter of the last human sanctuary. For a while, none of my serpents were killed or missing. But recently I have felt a few that no longer respond, I can know the area where they were last in contact with me in, and all I have to do is bombard that area.” The serpent’s and birds now neared and were hissing and shrieking menacingly. An entire perimeter of their flesh surrounded them, Nox and Jura dismayed at the amount of their foes in combination with the curse’s effect.
“Before, they would just move to another ruined temple or made new homes before the curse took root in the sunrise, but now I will deal with them once and for all, trapping them without escape.” The scaly demigod exclaimed. “It looks like to me, that the solution to our problem is just right in front of me.” Solis answered disgruntled, she then put one hand behind her back. “That is true. When those humans are removed, you are free. To claim your birthright, and to join me in birthing a new world, restoring the damage they have done to it.” The demigod remarked. “This barren, dead, wasteland? No thanks.” Solis replied.
The demigod then turned to Nox. “You served as leader to the humans, clearly you are the more reasonable one compared to your brutish sister, whom you have done so much for, crippled yourself for her comfort, and yet she chooses them over your own survival. Consider my offer and you will be spared.” Jura then noticed a golden glow from Solis’ hand. “I acknowledge that we are both born of the same earth, and that you’ve been suffering and have been alone all this time.” Nox then looked back at Solis. “But we disagree.” Nox then looked at Jura who smirked under his face plate.
“Then-” “Die!” Solis interrupted the demigod's words with her own by throwing a golden ball the size of her hand which immediately grew larger and barreled across the ground speedily moving towards the demigod. She created a tall barrier of sand, which after the orb impacted and passed through it, revealed that she had disappeared. The curse suddenly ceased its effects on them and the quickly stood back-to-back to the incoming wave of gnashing teeth and shimmering scales.
“Now can I use my power?” Nox asked. “I won’t complain.” Solis replied with a smirk. The gigantic basilisk then woke from its slumber and raised its body high and howled. Riding on it was the demigod whose gaze could be felt from far away. Small icicles floated nearby Nox’s hands and an orange glow emanated from Solis’. Jura looked up and simply sighed, weapons in hand.