Of Ashes and Wind

Kal Darom

You were lucky if you could hear them first.

"Eyes!" Phoenix roared, her voice echoing off of the caverns and stalagmite that always seem to choke at them. The damp air shook at the command and Phoenix drew the two short swords she had fashioned when it became clear the fighting was going underground.

After it became apparent just what kind of fighting they would be doing to reclaim Kal Darom.

She focused on the swords, it was easier to do it this way, and clapped the hilts together where a glow stone was engraved into the hilt. She could feel the familiar energy travelling down her arms and she focused on catching the light that would be produced. She closed her eyes when she felt it within her tendrils and then channeled that energy to produce a light that rivaled a summer mid-day.

There was a collective shout in front of Phoenix and the rest of the squad she led on the tunnel clearing endeavor.

"I-I can't see!" A panicked voice that didn't belong to any of the people she led could be heard.

From behind her, she caught the tail end of the incantation from one of the mages underneath her command. Phoenix flattened herself against the wall, not wanting to get caught the razor gale that was summoned.

The sound always reminded her of what it's like to cut into an animal carcass.

Phoenix focused on her eyes, channeling her magic the way that her dwarven allies had taught her so that she could see in the dark.

For dwarves, it was as natural as breathing and wasn't taxing at all for them to channel 'Tunnel Sight', for humans who weren't as well-versed in magic, that was a different story.

There were three dead enemy dwarves in front, dressed in the rags and colors of the rebel forces. She counted four more as still alive and they weren't going to back down on this one.

They surged forward, every man and woman with her were able to use the Tunnel Sight – that was the prerequisite to being selected for clearing the massive tunnels.

The other prerequisite was to never use fire magic. The humans learned that the hard way after not heeding the warning from the dwarves and accidentally igniting an entire cavern.

Scores of humans and dwarves were killed after that accident.

There were ways to determine if a cavern was safe, but there was no time to do that during battles or excursions forward to reclaim the Great Thaig that ran beneath Kal Darom.

It was easy to disarm the first enemy, she tossed the body to the ground and one of the Tetran soldiers shoved his sword into his throat. Phoenix ducked under a blow meant for her torso, she was nimble on her feet despite how tight and close the fighting was.

It was always tight and close.

She dug one sword into the enemy's side, she could feel the warm splash across arms after the forced the weapon through. With both swords, she parried a war hammer meant for her head. Her right hand brushed along the smooth cave, stopping her follow-on attack, so she twisted her body for her left hand to deliver the killing blow to her enemy's neck.

"Duck!" One of her soldiers commanded, and Phoenix did just that.

A dagger whistled overhead, the pointed end being buried between the eyes of their final enemy.

"Where did they come from?" Phoenix questioned out loud, she gave a last look around with her Sight before releasing it.

Phoenix would get headaches whenever she had prolonged use of Tunnel Sight. In the nind months on Oseth, she learned to conserve her mana and talents even more. It was difficult to fight disoriented.