Chapter 13

The Battlefield of Nymon

Immediately after she had said the word "one," Nathan felt like he had been ripped out of his body. At first, he couldn't see, everything was dark. Slowly, he began to hear muffled noises. The sound of metal on metal. Crowds. Then slowly, light began to filter through. He was pushing through a fog. Why couldn't he see? He had to exercise control to prevent panic. In his haze, he began to make out a figure in front of him. Flaming red hair flowing in an unfelt breeze. "Maddie?" he thought before she came into focus and realized it was not his mother in front of him.

Jean had picked up on his thought and she wanted to cry at the name of her twin. Deciding this was neither the time nor the place, she hastened to get through this. "Nathan, this is the astral plane. It is not physical but a mental state of being. Right now, I have formed a psychic bubble around you, it's shielding you from my memories for the time being. What you are about to see, is the battle of Nymon. Years ago, when Ororo was off in the wars…"

"Wars?" Nathan had no idea Ororo was an experienced warrior. She appeared too careless and fragile, a scrapper for sure, but a warrior?

"Yes. I must hurry. The strain this is putting on me, controlling myself, this memory and shielding you is increasingly difficult. Since King Achmed of Elden could not keep track of his daughter, his warriors kept dying in service, he asked me, in the thick of this battle, watch over her. Make sure she made it through. I may have the most powerful mind magic in Elden, but it was not without a cost. With my mind's eye on the field, I saw more than Ororo. I felt the death of every spent life on this field. Remember what I told you, this plane of existence is in the mind, but that does not mean physical damage will not ensue. I must release you now."

Upon his release, the world around him came into focus and was no longer muffled. He looked around him and realized he was up above the battle. They were in a gorge, a valley in the Nymon mountain chain, right outside of the very gates of the Nymph City. He looked below and saw hordes of demons attacking nymphs. Screams, shouts, roars, thundered through the air. He ducked as arrows whizzed past his head sinking into the sea of people. Thoughts began to creep into his head. Alien ones, anger, fear, repulsion, bloodlust… He closed his eyes to try and drowned it out. He wanted to kill, cry, run, scream, and die all at the same time. It was pulling his mind in every direction. The sorrow, the anguish, each emotion a needle in his brain. It began to suffocate him. He was drowning in their thoughts! He looked frantically for Jean but she had disappeared. He needed her, what was going on? Was he going to go insane on this Astral Plane?

Abandoning the search for her, he searched the see of chaos below him, hoping to see some kind of beacon or light to give him direction out of this hell. He gritted his teeth and began to sweat, concentrating on what were his own thoughts. To his right was a teenage boy, barely 15, looking terrified as a ghastly sharp-toothed demon leaped at him. Nathan wanted to interfere, why was a child this young out here? But knew that this boy's fate was already dealt. Out of nowhere, a soldier leapt between the two and cut the demon in half from skull to tail. Tar-like blood flew everywhere, yet it somehow missed the two left staning.

"Boy! This is no place for you! Be gone!" Shouted the warrior. Nathan tilted his head. Was that… a woman's voice? "Ororo! By the gods…" He watched as she manipulated her magic, lifting the boy in the air, and deposited him on the walls of the castle. She looked significantly different. Her long, white tendrils were gone, her hair cut short like a man's but her skin was still that rich honey brown. She was more gangly but obviously stronger from having fought for so long. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and began shouting orders at those around her, her voice surprisingly strong and overtaking the battle noise.

"I need to end this…" she thought desperately. Her blue eyes disappeared as the sky transformed into a tumultuous muddy mix of gray and purple. Wind ripped through the ranks and a bolt of lightning arced, striking the creature crawling toward her protector. All faces went upward, confused at the events. The air got deathly still and all was silent. A giant funnel cloud appeared in the sky, swirling, getting closer. It finally touched down, ripping through demon ranks, launching bodies everywhere.

Ororo was suddenly hit from behind, knocked forward and launched into the air by a scarlet red demon. Deft as a cat, she rotated in the air and attacked her foe in freefall. Nathan was entranced. Somehow, she was making battle an art, rather than a fight for survival. As she struck the ground, she stabbed her sword through the demon, pinning it to the ground, satisfied. He felt her panic and watched time slow as she looked up, panting, to see the drawn arrow aimed for her. It was a barbed armor piercing arrow. She closed her eyes in resignation and he heard her plea to the Great Faerie. The demon smiled and released the arrow.

A slight breeze ruffled the air and a man that seemed to appear out of nowhere flew between her and the arrow. It pierced through his body and he fell to the ground. Nathan watched as the pale, red eyed, brown haired man tried to stand up and collapsed. Without a second thought, and barely a glance, Ororo threw a dagger at the demon, the knife landing right in its throat. Ororo rushed to her savior's side, confused, yet determined to protect him while the demon's retreated.

Nathan attention was ripped away as he felt a sharp pain in his side. He looked down and saw that he had a burn mark the size of a fist just under his ribs on his right side. As he pulled is hand away, it was burned as well. He looked down and saw a demon that was grinning sadistically at him. It spit a ball of acid at him again and he twisted to avoid it. Why couldn't he move anywhere? "Jean!" he shouted. No answer. Where the hell did she go? He couldn't defend himself here… or could he? If this were a plane that existed in the mind… if he concentrated hard enough, couldn't he control himself like he could a dream? It was worth a shot.

He began to focus, ignoring the threat below him. Holding his hands out, he concentrated on a weapon to defend himself with. His hands began to glow gold as he zeroed in on materializing what he needed. In a matter of seconds, a heavy weight appeared in his hands and he opened his eyes to reveal he had created a polearm psimitar. He laughed in amazement and held it up. A gastly hiss below him brought him back to the present situation. "Come and get it, you little son of a bitch!" he muttered as he launched the psimitar at the creature.

The weapon seared right through the demon but not to the effect King Dayspring had in mind. An electrical crackle seared through the air. Light beams began to shoot out of the end of the psimitar. A rumble began that changed into a roar. The ground began to quake and crumble, flames shooting upwards. The sky began to melt down like paint on a canvas, filling the gaps below him and taking on a the fiery color of lava. He felt the build up of power below him and a wave lashed upwards, launched his psimitar back at him. He caught it and clung for dear life. "Jean! What's going on!" he screamed, knowing it was futile. He felt another, stronger, surge of energy building up. "Oh, flon-!"

The flames cut him off as they devoured his astral form.