Yet another disclaimer: Ardeth, Jonathon, Alex, Med-jai. Not mine.
Caitlin, Jonathon and Alex stared at the scene below them in disbelief. The city was laid out in a circular pattern, and near the centre men fought and died. That wasn't the strange part. What was strange was the object in the centre of the city, what looked like a clear glowing crystal set on a pedestal. The remaining Hesal were kneeling in a circle around it, and pure white lines of force snaked out, connecting them to the crystal.
"And the Med-jai said there was nothing here". Jonathon shook his head. "If this is their idea of nothing…"
"Then I wouldn't like to see their idea of something" Alex completed. Caitlin shot them an annoyed frown.
"We should go down." She moved off quickly, still riding her horse, as the streets were wide enough to accommodate it. She knew it wouldn't stay alive for long, but while it did, it would give her an advantage. "I will see you after the battle". She went off without another word. Alex and Jonathon exchanged glances, then shrugged and moved off themselves, heading for the scene of madness below them.
The Med-jai battled to reach the Hesal, realising that the strange crystal obviously posed some kind of threat, but the Med-aran battled even more desperately to keep them away. Ardeth Bay swayed aside from the sword point of the man he was fighting, and as the man stumbled off balance his own sword lashed out, quickly killing the man. He turned, looking for his next opponent, and saw that an empty space had opened up around him, the floor littered with bodies of the men he'd killed.
Movement caught his eyes and he saw the man who, by his markings, was the leader of the Med-aran. Ardeth shouted a challenge, and the man looked over at him. The two men made their way to each other, killing anyone who stood in their path, until they finally stood opposite one another.
The Med-aran's face seemed set in a mocking smirk, the conviction of his own superiority plain to see. Without words, Ardeth moved forwards, beginning the attack. The Med-aran blocked the move, countering with a blow of his own. The man was fast. Ardeth countered accordingly, and pressed his attack again. The two men struggled back and forth, neither willing to give ground. Then Ardeth saw the man's eyes flicker, and without hesitation he spun around, his back leg sweeping out. It caught the leg of the man behind him, who had tried to stab him in the back while he was fighting, and the man stumbled. Ardeth instantly killed him, and threw himself forwards, This saved his life, and he felt the sword of the Med-aran leader ripping down the left side of his back. He rolled forwards, keeping his sword to the side of his body so he wouldn't roll over it, then twisted, coming to his feet just in time to bring up the sword and block the next blow, but he was still of balance and the force knocked him back. The next blow swept down, and rather than try and counter it Ardeth threw himself to the side, rolling again. This time he managed to gain some distance, and stood watching the man warily as he tried to quieten his ragged breathing.
His arms ached, and the cuts on his body burnt and stung. The Med-aran came forwards, attacking again, and Ardeth countered with a circling move that swept both swords out to on side, then he stepped in, his left hand quickly releasing the sword and flicking a blow to the man's face, who staggered back in shock, a red mark burning across his cheek. Ardeth pressed the attack again.
They were both evenly matched, and Ardeth concentrated not as much on defeating him as making him angry. Finally the leader's temper exploded, and he charged forwards, shouting a battle cry in the ancient tongue. This was the move Ardeth had been waiting before, and rather than try to parry the blow, which had a terrible force behind it, he merely dodged out of the way. The man had overextended fatally, and he stumbled. Ardeth instantly killed him, his sword slashing down on the leader's neck. The man dropped to the floor.
Caitlin killed her opponent just in time to see her father kill the leader of the Med-aran. She grinned with pride, catching his eye. He gave her a nod of acknowledgement. Caitlin saw a flicker of movement to her right and turned. To her surprise, she saw that one of the Hesal had broken from the circle, standing up and facing her father. She took a step forwards, then the Hesal raised his arms, and crossed his wrists. A terrible premonition gripped her and she shouted a warning to her father. As she did a bolt of red light shot out from the magic-user, racing towards her father. She screamed in shock, then heard, faintly, a noise behind her. She threw herself forwards, spinning as she did so, but wasn't quick enough and a sword dragged down her arm. She shouted in pain, then leapt forwards and attacked the man, killing him before the pain of her arm began to affect her. She rushed forwards in a rage, killing the Hesal, who stood exhausted and swaying on his feet, then turned in dread to where her father had been stood.
What she saw lifted her heart with relief - Alex and her father were just climbing to their feet, several meters away from a scorch mark in the ground. She realised that Alex must have thrown himself at her father, knocking them both out of the way. She took a step forwards to help them, then saw that Jonathon was closer, and also running forwards. She turned back to the battle, then staggered as a high pitched whine began to emanate from the crystal. She didn't know what was happening, or what the men were trying to do, but she feared that this meant they were close to completion. She pulled in a deep breath, then ran towards the circle of Hesal, vaulting high over one of the kneeling men. She landed, rolling forwards and quickly moving to her feet. She heard cries of rage as she lifted her sword high, then brought it smashing down with all her strength.
Alex pulled himself to his feet, quickly checking that Ardeth wasn't hurt. He could see Jonathon charging towards them, and so he quickly hunted around for the only other person he couldn't see - Caitlin. She was stood near the circle of Hesal, in an open space, with a large number of bodies lying around her. Even as he began to go to her, she turned, and as he watched in horror she ran towards the circle, leaping over the men. He broke into a run, screaming her name as she brought her sword down into the crystal.
He thought it shattered as she hit it, but couldn't be sure, as a flood of searing white light swept out over the city, forcing him to close his eyes. The whine of the crystal scaled up into an ear-piercing shriek, and through it he heard Caitlin scream. Then the ground began to shake, throwing Alex off his feet. He tried desperately to get back upright, but the movement of the ground defeated his efforts. The noise from the crystal rose higher and higher, then there was a sound like the slam of thunder and everything stopped.
Alex staggered to his feet, squinting in the evening's gloom and trying to see Caitlin. The Med-aran were running from the city, screaming, and the Med-jai were in pursuit, but he couldn't see Caitlin. He finally managed to focus properly, and saw the pedestal, now empty, where the crystal had stood. The Hesal were all dead, still arranged in a circle around the pedestal. At the base of it lay Caitlin, deathly still. He shouted her name, running forwards. High above a hawk screamed, and Isis flew down, landing on the ground next to her mistress.