Vol. IV Chapter XII: Battle at the Edge of Dawn, Part 2

Screams rose with the clash of steel, and the crater became a cauldron of dust, blood, and fire.

Meiruna slid down the slope, her voice carrying the strange cadence of her distant homeland, Animshin, as she drank an essence.

“Kaze-shen Fengra!”

From empty air, half-moon blades of pure wind snapped into being, gleaming like glass in the air.

“Ventha!”

Her brother Tairaku invoked the standard spell almost at the same time. 

The current of wind fused with Meiruna’s power, doubling the force, until a storm howled forth, the blades tearing through the air with devastating speed.

The ground shook as the razor gales ripped into the Yashari front lines, shredding banners, armor, and flesh alike.

The blue smoke crawling across the earth was torn up and flung high into the air, its death magic dispersing harmlessly.

“Ignar suain incendia!” Lucius roared, hurling himself through the breach, seizing the chaos.

His left hand thrust forward, his right clenched around his summoned blade, green fire crawling along its edge.

From his palm erupted a firestorm, comet-like, ripping a blazing path through the rear ranks before detonating among the soldiers who had Melissa surrounded.

Dust and ash blasted skyward, bodies flung like ragdolls, while the Yashari priest reeled back three steps, arms flung wide.

“Hold the line! For the Mistress! For Yashar!”

But their line was already in ruins.

Fin’s arrows hissed into the gaps of their helmets, each shot answered by a strangled gasp.

Liviana whirled at his side, a dark shadow slashing and tearing, faster than any blade could follow.

Then Glizzy barreled straight through the chaos, stumbling more than running, ducking under sword swings, slipping between a Yashari’s legs, and tumbling to the ground right in front of Melissa.

“Heeey, wife-of-Lucius! Down this, you’ll feel better!”

“Who are...”

Before Melissa could finish, Glizzy yanked a vial from her pouch, jammed it almost against her lips, and dumped the essence half into her mouth, half down her chin.

Melissa swallowed, coughed, the liquid burning through her throat like fire.

Glizzy clapped her tiny hands against Melissa’s chest, shut one eye, and muttered:

“Sanar Goblum Heal-o-Fix!”

Warmth flooded Melissa’s body, sealing her wounds.

She stared in shock, almost disbelief, at the goblin she had never even seen before.

“My Lucius went through a lot because of you! But I’m glad we got here in time…”

Melissa blinked, drew a long breath, then the corner of her mouth tugged into a grin.

“I owe you one, whoever you are. Maybe I’ll buy you a bottle of wine if we live through this.”

Glizzy bared her sharp little teeth in a grin.

“Deal! …But I’d prefer booze.”

Then another voice cut through the chaos, calling her:

“Kha’shara, beware!”

Eucho’s voice was hoarse with strain.

He had already freed the other Kirraka from their cages and now pointed his spear at the Yashari priest, who stood not far away, raising his staff against Melissa.

The priest threw back his head, voice booming with rage.

“How dare you defile this sacred ground!? You will drown in the Mistress’s shadow!”

A low, vile hum rippled through the crater as a noxious mist gushed from the earth’s maw, darker now, thick and almost liquid.

It did not rise but crawled, and wherever it touched the ground, the ash blackened to an oily sheen.

It smothered the wounded Yashari writhing on the ground, choking their screams into silence as if devouring their souls.

The haze crept directly toward Melissa and Glizzy, who were still kneeling on the sandy floor.

“Melissa!” shouted Lucius, who had seen it all, but stood too far away to reach her.

His jaw clenched. 

I have to do something!

He was in the thick of battle, driving his flaming blade into a Yashari’s throat, dodging aside, then hurling it like a spear into another soldier’s chest, just as the man was preparing a spell against Tairaku.

Tairaku gave him a quick nod of thanks as the familiar blade dissolved back into an iron orb, the transformation spell’s duration spent.

But Lucius still had no idea how to reach Melissa and Glizzy in the chaos.

Until an idea struck him.

“Glizzy!!” he roared into the din.

“YEEEES!? I’m kinda busy right now!” came the shrill reply.

“Do you still have that essence you told me about!?”

“Of course I do! But you seriously think now is the time...”

“Keep it ready and wait for my signal!” he snapped, tearing the cork from another vial with his teeth, swallowing the essence in a gulp, then slamming both palms against the ground.

“Ventha!”

The blast hurled him into the sky, the crater shrinking below, wind shrieking past his ears, until gravity dragged him down again, right above Melissa and Glizzy, their eyes wide with awe.

“Glizzy, now!” he roared, and her voice shrieked back, “Okie dokieee!” hands cupped to her mouth like a funnel, as a small vial arced downward and burst with a wet pop.

The gray ash carpeting the crater instantly liquefied, warping into a glossy, jellylike sludge that shimmered like molten resin.

Instead of splintering on stone, Lucius plunged into the sticky mire right beside Melissa and Glizzy, the mass swallowing and slowing him like a pool of glue.

His fall broken, he kicked free, bit into another vial, and snarled the incantation:

“Scutodraiocht!”

A golden dome erupted in the same breath the priest’s shadow surged forward, colliding with it in a thunderclap, inches before it could swallow them.

The shadow crashed against the barrier, hissing, clawing, raking at its surface. 

The air trembled, sparks cascaded outside the dome and the glow faltered for a breath, but then it flared brighter again, as Lucius poured all of his magical power into it.

His voice was a growl, his stance unyielding, every muscle locked in place, essence burning through him like fire in his veins.

“You will not touch them!”

Snarling in fury, the priest slammed his staff into the ground. 

Dark fissures split the earth, belching heat and ash, as a surge of black fire roared toward them, lashing against the dome. 

The shield groaned, sparks scattering, the air shuddering with the strain.

But it held.

And then, with a crack like shattering glass, the assault broke against it.

The priest raised his staff again, aura swelling darker than before, but an arrow hissed past, grazing his cheek. 

He screamed as blood sprayed into his eyes.

“No more dirty tricks today!” Fin shouted, already loosing another arrow.

The priest staggered, hate blazing through the blood in his eyes. 

His aura swelled one last time, shadows writhing around him, yet instead of striking, he swept his staff in a wide arc, tearing open a narrow gate at the base of the temple.

His gaze lingered on Lucius and Melissa.

“You meddlesome rats are too late anyway! The shadows have swallowed more than enough souls to complete the ritual. There is nothing you can do. Death will claim you soon enough, I promise you that!”

Then he vanished into the gate, while the last soldiers broke ranks, some fleeing into the depths after him, others scrambling over the crater rim into the dunes.

The battle was over.

---

Dust still hung in the air, the ground faintly trembling with the echo of the clash, but there was no silence. 

Instead came the first voices: the weeping of the Kirraka, the groans of the wounded, the crunch of boots over rubble, companions catching breath, leaning on one another.

And then, at last, they stood face to face.

Melissa, wild hair matted with dust, blood streaking her skin, one horn reduced to a stump again.

And Lucius.

His mouth half-open, gray eyes fixed on her in disbelief, as though only now realizing she truly stood there.

“So you kept your promise after all,” she rasped.

He gave a short nod.

“You didn’t exactly make it easy for me…” he replied, almost too dryly, voice rough.

For a moment, they simply stared.

The crater, the temple, the breath of the abyss, everything else blurred, as if curtains were being drawn across the world.

Melissa stepped forward.

So did he.

They staggered closer, dust and blood clinging to their skin, breath ragged, bodies trembling with exhaustion.

Her knees buckled, and he caught her.

For a heartbeat they leaned against each other, wordless, too tired to do anything but breathe.

Then, as if the world would not allow them another chance, they clung together and kissed.

Harsh, trembling, and desperate.

But real.

And for that instant, there was nothing else.

When they parted, Lucius pressed his forehead to hers.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“Idiot. I told you once it would be better if you didn’t.”

Her breath shuddered, voice breaking as she added, almost too softly to hear:

“…But I’m so glad you do.”

A breath of silence, then the world came flooding back.

And as the darkness ebbed, their companions slowly gathered around them.

Liviana threw herself into Melissa’s arms, her eyes brimming with regret.

“I’m sorry… I should’ve known some stupid avalanche couldn’t bring you down.”

Fin stepped closer as well, guilt in his eyes.

But Melissa only smiled, her gaze telling them she held no grudge at all.

“It feels good to see you again too.”

Tairaku gawked at the spot where Lucius had landed, then at the hardened, jellylike crust left on the ground.

“Glizzy… that spell you used earlier... I’ve never seen anything like it. Where did you even learn the formula?”

The goblin hopped forward, arms crossed, grinning wide.

“Oh that? That was nothing! Old goblin spell, perfect for surviving big falls… or for turning the village square into a bouncing ground during festivals.”

Then she glanced at Meiruna.

“But without Mei here, it wouldn’t have worked!”

“Excuse me?” Meiruna arched an eyebrow.

Glizzy triumphantly held up the empty vial.

“…The digestive juice of a highly mutated mycoflora, remember? That slippery stuff!”

Silence.

Meiruna’s eyes widened like plates, then she flushed scarlet.

“W-WHAT!? GLIZZY!!!”

Tairaku collapsed into booming laughter, while Lucius only shook his head, half-amused.

Liviana, Fin, and Melissa just stared, utterly baffled.

Lucius laid a hand on Melissa’s shoulder, still wearing a weary but warm smile.

“…I’ll explain later.”

And for the first time in hours, the group laughed, right there in the smoke and blood of the battlefield.

Yet beneath their feet, in the hollows of the temple, something stirred, as the shadow in the depths had heard them. 

And it would not wait for long.

                                                      Note by the author:

The battle is over, but the story continues! 

There are still 2-3 chapters to come, until the story is finally finished, but it might take a few days longer, since I am quite busy right now.

But I promise the end will be worth the wait :)