Dripping Wings

Today, Anzu was a very unhappy woman.

Generally, she hated fighting of any kind. She hated killing even more. Yet, at the moment, she found herself stuck doing both, as the out-posts she was visiting was currently under attack. The fighting was causing her to get dirty, and her normally well-kept hair was matted, slick with splashes of blood, and cut at odd angles as every now and again and enemy sword would get too close, or her wind made blades got a little out of control.

Today, she felt like a dirty, angry, loathsome beast.

As yet another brown-clad soldier darted into her path with a wickedly glowing sword, she thrust another set of painfully sharp blades of wind into his side and lopped him cleanly in half. She growled as she spun in place and erected a whirlwind of a shield as a shower of arrows fell around her. She moved like a dancer, deadly in her aim. She'd always fancied herself as a dancer when she was younger, and truly, it was a befitting role for her. After all, the gift of air was something every dancer hoped to have.

It figured that she would end up on the front lines of battle after she'd traveled to one of the most goddess-forsaken regions of her country. Barrier, the largest, and currently last standing, out-post was now under direct attack of Questchal's army.

They'd been fighting for nearly half an hour already. It was almost frightening to look up and see the fort's walls being swarmed with brown colored men as they climbed their ladders and made their way in. It would have more frightening had she been able to dwell on it, but she was currently caught up in the moment of throwing herself over a comrade and thrusting away yet another enemy with her air gift.

They were in serious trouble. If backup didn't arrive soon from El-Ekehrah, they would all die.

A plume of black fire shot down from the sky and torched a group of five people in front of her dead. Anzu yelled in frustration as she summoned more wind around her. The black, smokeless fire was inching its way towards her, and she was doing her best to fend it off. How long could they hold out like this?

She didn't see the incoming at first, considering her focus was directed on her shields, but the noises of surprise from behind her was her first warning.

Anzu lost her breath for a moment when a piercing light flew overhead and directly into the firestorm in front of her. The power she felt coming in waves off of that light source caused her body to tremble, It caused the very air to vibrate.

The light source expanded with ravenous fury and consumed most of the Questchal men that were still making their way over the walls.

They had breathing room again!

When the light faded, Anzu first saw the white wings that emerged from the fading light source. Then she saw the King, in his shining royal battle regalia, as he shoved a shadow blade into an enemy.

Then the King turned around, and Anzu saw purple eyes narrowed in concentration. "Yuugi!" she burst out. Her heart fluttered with excitement, relief, and wonder. She never thought she'd see him again.

Yuugi looked in her direction, then his eyes grew wider. "...Anzu?" he asked. He fought his way over to her and smiled. "Anzu! I thought I wouldn't see you again! What on earth are you doing here, of all the places to be?" His face looked pained at the thought of her having to fight.

Anzu grinned at him. "Just doing my part, Yuugi. I... can't believe how much you've changed. Look at you!"

Yuugi smiled, then without warning shot a blast of magick out in the opposite direction. It's power was terrible. Anzu yelped as her body once again endured the vibrations it caused it the air.

A small enemy dragon was dead meters from Yuugi's feet. His senses were amazing, and his power was terrifying.

People on Sacreds rushed by with swords brandished as they headed to the attack. Anzu readied her sword again as the fort's gates crumbled inward.

"We'll talk later," Yuugi yelled at her, and made his was towards the gates without hesitation. A large white mare ran up beside him and he mounted without a thought. He looked weightless as he vaulted up her back and created another sword out of shadow magick in his other hand.

As Anzu buried her sword in a man's heart, she realized that she probably didn't know Yuugi anymore, really. After all, the last time she'd seen him, he couldn't even summon his abilities. Now...

She yelled as she fought off a seemingly mad horse from trampling her. She couldn't think about what he was now. The implication were too terrifying to ponder over, especially at a moment like this.

Astarte dodged falling bricks as the walls kept crumbling around them. Yuugi did his best the shield everyone around them from the debris.

Unfortunately, Yuugi could not take the time to heal anyone that was affected by anything on the battle field, especially God-Magick. One healing would suck out the rest of his energy, and he wouldn't be able to fight anymore. It broke his heart, but he simply couldn't save anyone once they were already hurt.

Senke and Atemu seemed to be doing well. The foot soldiers were easy work once their charmed weapons were no longer such a threat. Yuugi, though still very powerful, was nowhere near full strength, and he was wearing out quickly.

A whoosh of wind informed those below that the Dragonforces were flying overhead. Yuugi sent up a small shield to protect those above from the spray of arrows heading their way. In response, archers behind him released their own set of poison-tipped arrows.

There was a mighty roar from just beyond the crumbled walls. Yuugi looked up when a shadow fell across his vision. A large, angry looking Obsidian dragon started to scale the walls. He dwarfed the out-post, being nearly twice the size of the place.

A familiar screech off to his right brought his attention around. Yuugi was amazed as Helios, small, seemingly insignificant Helios, who was by no meas full size, started to grow at an alarming rate. His gold wings reached up to the heavens as his snout extended, his fangs and teeth grew larger and sharper, and his eyes narrowed to a fiery red.

Apparently, he could assume his full size in dire situations. Yuugi had never been told that. Perhaps no one else knew until then, too?

Just as Helios launched himself at the Obsidian dragon, he was already half again as big as the black beast he was heading towards, and he was still getting bigger. A waterfall of dark colored blood gushed out of the black dragon's neck as Helios's fangs sunk in. There was a heart-stopping roar of pain as the two of them landed on the other side of the broken wall. The golden dragon's tail swished into the wall as he fought, and more debris began to fly.

In the place of those dragons, two more Obsidian dragons, just a big as the last, started to climb over the wall into the battle entrenched courtyard. Yuugi swallowed his panic as he brought he legs up to stand on Astarte's back.

Anzu had just enough time to watch as Yuugi shot into the air and, with a glow of energy around him, punched his arm out at the head of one of the dragons. The punch of power snapped its head back and caused it fall onto its side. The dragon twitched in place.

The blast of a horn announced the charging of the first line of Sacred Cavalry. They headed off into the fight with war cries and brandished weapons. Jono lined up a platoon of mage gifted and had them fire off their attacks.

Angry energy poured in, and the lines began to break a bit. Atemu and Jono rounded them back up again and launched another attack.

The air cracked with impacts as dragon met dragon, Sacreds versus Obsidians dragons, smaller, unknown varieties, and....trolls?

Anzu yelped with shock as she lopped a troll's head clean off it's shoulders. Those things were hideous! The giant green oaths pounded through foot soldier and infantry lines like they were ants. The remaining dragon Sacreds that were still overhead of the fort directly dove in and took the kills.

Yuugi had just enough time after each kill to notice just how many people they were losing. The Questchal army just kept coming. They were grossly out-numbered.

Just then, the Questchal cavalry began to rain down upon them. Thunder heralded their arrival and the gravel on the ground quaked as the enemy horses plowed in. The cavalry of Sacreds and Guardians greeted them, and the fighting continued. Even Anzu could see as more of their people began to fall that Yuugi alone could not keep up with all of the forces attacking them. There were just too many of them dying. Was it really still worth it?

The thought of allowing the army to advance to El-Ekehrah itself was terrible, but it appeared to be the only option. The city itself was nearly impenetrable. Their chances of success were much greater at the city.

A moment of utter silence descended on the battle field. For a moment, the sun faded from the sky, and all of the Sekeshan fighters looked up.

A mage somewhere on the other side of the enemy lines had summoned a large rain cloud. From it, daggers began to fall. By the time the daggers had all been released, the cloud disappeared, it's energy used. Yuugi fly up into the sky to greet them, a shield so large in front of him, even Atemu didn't know it was possible for Yuugi to summon something so large. The clatter as the daggers fell and fizzled into nothingness in his shield was almost deafening. Once Yuugi's shield began to dissipate, he started to careen to the ground. The bright gold head of Helios met him halfway between the sky and the ground, and gently lowered him back to Astarte's side. Atemu tried desperately to make his way over, but a fresh batch of enemies in front of him blocked his way.

When Yuugi heard Atemu scream in frustration, he didn't see all of what was causing that, as he was too busy shaking his head out. That shield had taken a great toll on his already empty reserves.

Atemu was too shocked to speak when he realized that there was a necromancer that was once again summoning dead bodies to fight against them again.

Yuugi barely heard Atemu calling for him as yet another dragon was attempting to gnaw on the shield he'd erected over himself. He almost didn't have time to put it up, as the dragon had caught him off guard in his wearied state.

"Yuugi!" the King called out again. "Fall back! Fall back! We're retreating!"

Yuugi felt his heart drop. "What? No! We can't! We have to keep the border up!"

Black fired swirled around his shield. Yuugi's vision blurred with the stress. He shield started to crack, just as Helios landed overhead and ripped the wing out of the dragon's back that was trying to eat him.

Atemu rode up next to him and pulled him onto Senke's back. "Your energy is spent! We must retreat! It's the only chance we have left!"

Yuugi yelled in frustration. "How can we be losing?! We're stronger than they are!"

"Because," Atemu grunted. He had Senke run back towards the troops that were barely holding their line of retreat. "Their timing has been far better than ours. They keep catching us off guard. It will be our doom if we cannot anticipate their next move, or surprise them with one of our own. And besides all that," he added, "we've got yet another necromancer to contend with."

Strategy made a big difference in war, and Yuugi was starting to realize that they were still lacking greatly with strategy. They were unprepared for the tactics that Questchal was using.

When Atemu made a portal for their troops to get through, Yuugi's vision faded for more than just a second, but for nearly a whole minute. He really was completely out of energy. He passed out just as they reached the other side.

xxx

The conference hall was quiet and grim as everyone stared at the King. Atemu wouldn't look at anyone as he glared at the map on the table.

"This is madness," Marik finally spoke.

"Yes," was all Atemu had to say.

The sun was just beginning to rise on El-Ekehrah. Early light started to pour through the palace colonnades.

Everyone noticed how Yuugi wasn't present at this meeting. As of yet, no one had been able to wake him out of his exhaustion induced sleep.

"Here, at our cities walls? We let them come here?" one of the city's council members asked.

"We have no choice. El-Ekehrah is one of the best protected cities in the kingdom. With necromancy once again a growing concern in this fight, we cannot let our troops out to fight. We have to hold them off as long as we can."

Jono laced his fingers and rested his chin on them, his elbows propped up on the table. "If this isn't the last battle of this war, Sekesha will fall."

This time, Atemu did look up and met the eyes of his long time friend, confidant all through child-hood, and Cavalry Captain. "Yes," he agreed.

The air of the bright morning felt heavy and, strangely, very cold.