Page 100 of Darkness Births the Stars #1
For one terrifying moment, Belekoroz and I stood alone in front of the dark mass of our enemy, our weapons ready, our magic sizzling around us.
Then the air tightened, flashes of color signaling the arrival of our brethren.
Their power tore into the Kritak without mercy.
Sha’am and Zamani’s Fire carved a deadly path into the first lines, halting their advance in a fiery blaze that left afterimages dancing before my eyes.
The other Aurea followed close behind. The ground trembled as Tanez and M’tar opened deep chasms to capture dozens of creatures.
On the other side of the battlefield, Kritak were sent flying as Enlial and Khiraz conjured raging whirlwinds that carried them off, crushing them upon impact.
Light brushed against my senses. Aramaz shifted back into his muscular corporeal form beside me and his brother, his gaze immediately finding mine. “Are you alright?” he asked, concern darkening the bright blue of his eyes.
Before I could answer, two Kritak descended on us.
I obliterated the first with a blast of my Light.
A searing strike of lightning tore the second apart, power blazing to life around the king.
He was dressed for battle like the rest of the Aurea, his fine silver armor glinting in the shine of his magic.
“Less talking, more fighting, brother,” Belekoroz commented next to us, his voice tense.
He had raised his hands, still maintaining a shield to contain the worst of the Chaos magic, preventing it from spilling over the battlefield.
Beads of sweat had begun to trail down his temple, and his arms trembled as more and more tendrils of untamed power slid against his shadows—far too many to dissolve them all.
“I won’t be able to contain it much longer,” he pressed out between gritted teeth. “You have to destroy as many of the Kritak as possible before Chaos breaks free.”
Aramaz and I followed his command, advancing side by side. My Light cleaved through our enemies repeatedly, while the king’s lightning struck the remaining ones, leaving charred husks in its wake. For a few fleeting moments, hope reawakened within me.
But then the giant creature, still looming ominously on the hill above us, grew weary of watching us slaughter its smaller kin.
Another screech rang out, splitting the air, heavy with magic and the stench of dark blood.
An overwhelming wave of pure, unrestrained Chaos followed, battering Belekoroz’s shield.
“Let go of the magic! Now!”
Instinctively, I heeded his frantic order. Chaos washed over me as he lost the impossible battle of holding it back. I stumbled but somehow remained upright, struggling to draw breath amid the oppressive magic.
Others were not so fortunate. Ashur and Namtaz had been weaving Water into gleaming streams, tearing the Kritak apart.
Now they were engulfed by Chaos, the wild magic drenching and altering their own.
Namtaz’s terrified scream echoed across the battlefield as she lost control of her powers.
Water erupted from the ground everywhere, rushing down the hills in a relentless flood, tearing earth, bushes, and trees along with it.
Namtaz was swept away as well, only a flash of her armor indicating where she had vanished into the tumultuous maelstrom of mud and raging water.
“No!” With a distressed scream, Ashur leaped after her, devoured by the mudslide just as swiftly. My heart seized in stark despair when the two Aurea of Water did not resurface. The flood crashed into the first line of houses. Fearful screams and the sounds of splintering wood pierced the air.
“Don’t use magic! It will only slip out of your control.” Belekoroz’s desperate advice resonated through all our minds.
A Kritak appeared behind Tanez. I jumped between her and the creature, my bladed staff stopping its attack a moment before it could sink its forelegs into her back. She nodded in thanks, her face a gruesome mask splattered with dark blood.
“We need the Anima,” M’tar shouted, crashing his massive war hammer down on several enemies. The sound of chitin cracking made me shudder. “We are not enough to stop them.”
“Can they even be stopped?” Zamani asked desperately, slicing through two more foes with her scimitars to reach Tanez and me.
The beating of great wings announced the arrival of the two Aurea of Air.
“There are more and more pouring from the Other,” Enlial reported.
They had chosen the lean form of an Aerieth warrior, carrying Khiraz in their arms, the Goddess of Mercy bleeding from a wound in her stomach.
“I cannot heal her,” Enlial added as they carefully placed her on the ground, her face deadly pale. “The spells all dissolve.”
Zamani, Tanez, and I immediately moved toward them, the three of us forming a protective circle.
“We need to close that gate,” Aramaz declared decisively, he and Sha’am dispatching a few more Kritak to give us space to talk.
Dozens more had avoided us altogether. Like a dark, many-legged flood, they descended on the city.
A troop of Anima awaited them, most in their great animal forms, shrieks and roars drifting up to us as they clashed with our enemies.
Dhustan, in the form of a giant bear, tore apart one of the Kritak singlehandedly, while a sleek black panther and an enormous wolf took turns biting into a second.
Tayshren and Masir, I realized. M’tar’s former master of the forge must have returned from the north with Belekoroz.
“Close it how?” Belekoroz finally spoke, eyes closed, one hand outstretched.
When he opened his eyes again, Chaos glowed within them.
He motioned at the giant Kritak perched on the hill above us.
“The Veil is in tatters, and that monster is keeping it wide open. We need to kill it if we want to close the gate. ”
“And why should we trust your word?” Sha’am growled, wiping bright red blood from a cut on his face where a Kritak had pierced his defenses. “Isn’t it a strange coincidence this is happening just as you come crawling back to us?”
Belekoroz bared his teeth at the Aurea of Fire with an angry growl. “Must be frustrating to watch everything you fear, everything you desperately want to keep out, reappear to haunt you no matter what you do.”
“Enough! This is not the time for conflict among us,” Aramaz interrupted harshly, stepping between them.
His gaze flitted down to the city, where the Anima were hard-pressed but holding their own.
I saw Elodia in her great lioness form, leaping onto the back of a Kritak and sinking her fangs into its spine.
“We need to split up,” the king decided, his tone allowing no objection.
“Sha’am, Zamani, and M’tar, help the Anima.
Enlial, take Khiraz to safety. And the rest of us—”
Before the king could finish his orders, the giant spider opened its maw and screeched again.
Chaos surged. The last attack must have been subdued by the remnants of Belekoroz’s magic, because this time the impact sent me flying.
I hit the ground with breathtaking force, all air leaving my lungs.
My entire body ached. My ears rang so loudly I could barely hear.
I struggled to get back up, only managing to rise to my knees, my staff lying a few feet away.
Around me, there was only devastation. The other Aurea had been swiped off their feet as well, their bodies strewn across the battlefield. Enlial hovered protectively above Khiraz, their twin swords raised as they valiantly defended her against a relentless Kritak.
Another Kritak charged at me, and my hand instinctively came up. Light burst forth. It veered to the side, the strands of my spell morphing and contorting under the force of the raging Chaos magic around us .
I screamed out a warning just in time to make M’tar and Tanez duck, my power searing dangerously close to them. The Kritak raised its forelegs, ready to tear into me.
A blade sliced down and severed them before they could strike.
Belekoroz moved between me and the creature. His expression was fierce as he glanced at me over his shoulder and growled, “No magic!”
He quickly disposed of the creature while I retrieved my staff.
Then another wave of Chaos hit us, even more devastating than the last. My eyes teared up at the pain and I fell to my knees, yet an even greater anguish coursed through me as I took in the destruction the untamed magic wreaked upon Lyrheim and our people.
Our Anima fought valiantly to protect the mortals fleeing for their lives.
They fought valiantly, and they died. A sob left my lips as I saw dozens torn apart by blade-like legs and vicious pincers.
Evanna, Zamani’s handmaiden, contorted on the ground, shifting through a dozen shapes without control, her shrill screams rending the air as a wave of pure Chaos hit her.
The black panther I had seen earlier tried to protect her, only to be overwhelmed as two Kritak charged at him.
Zamani and Sha’am had hastened down to the city and rejoined the battle, but their magic exploded outward, setting an entire row of buildings on fire.
So much death. My gaze caught on the twisting flames, reaching high up into the sky.
“We need the Flame,” I said as I rose to my feet, a sudden conviction igniting within me. Somehow, I knew even the power of the Abyss itself would not stand against it.
“Are you sure?” Aramaz was beside me once more, having heard my words.
“She is right,” Belekoroz answered before I could. “It might be the only thing able to stop this creature.” He gave me a reassuring nod, shadows wafting around him as he reached for his magic. “I can shield you. For a few moments. But you will have to be quick.”