Armageddon

Chapter 23: The Eclipse

The Dreygur emerged from the powered passage, massive in size and numbers. Selena's eyes widened in horror as the snarls of the Lich's undead army preceded them. She watched as they swarmed Alfheim like a tidal wave, unable to stop herself from marveling at their sheer force.

The Lich said, "You brought about the end of the world. You fulfilled your destiny by your actions and choices to avoid it. Soon, I will destroy your world, and you along with it."

"No...." Selena made eye contact with Thor to communicate with him, but his thoughts were as clouded and tainted as the dark Aether that now consumed him. I'm here—please, come back to me.

The necromancer's mocking laughter screeched from her failed attempt to reach Thor's twisted mind. "You want him back? Then get him back." Jet-black feathered wings sprouted forth from the Lich's back, and his following command echoed in both Thor's and Selena's minds. Kill her.

Thor roared in obedience. Satisfied, the Lich launched himself into the bleeding heavens, making his way for the portal.

Thor, don't do this. The bloodlust was apparent in his tainted eyes; when Thor didn't heed her plea, Selena took to her dragon form and flung herself skyward in one full-body leap. He blindly went after her, and just as she feared, Selena knew she would either have to run or fight back.

*****

The reinforcements arrived as soon as the portal opened. General Araneus and Aracania zoomed over the broken wall, with the Shadow Templars and their Nidhoggr clutching to their vessels. Following Rahim's strategy, the pair led their formation towards the Dreygur pouring from Oblivion's gate. Lord Godfrey, Prince Damien, and Rahim remained airborne, preparing for Ashur's air fleet, which had yet to arrive; they focused on ensuring Araneus and his battalion wouldn't be overwhelmed on the ground.

Damien and Noctis dove side-by-side with Rahim and Eshara as they closed in on the city, but while guiding Eshara into the fray, Rahim couldn't shake away the horrific wave after wave of Dreygur swarming from the portal. As soon as they were upon the stampeding horde, Damien and Rahim relied on gunfire to shoot the unharmed Dreygur as they invaded. While their riders became snipers, Eshara and Noctis retaliated by spewing forth a conjoined attack of black fire and poison cloud of destruction upon the undead army; to Rahim's relief, the Dreygur caught in their venomous inferno melted and disintegrated from their magical torrent.

The dragons swept through the freed Dreygur tsunami wave with another painful and brutal inferno pass; Rahim signaled Kain and Maria to move ahead with the plan to use Vyrilion's fire and block the gate's opening: Commence fire barricade. Roaring in approval, Vyrilion broke away from Godfrey's contingent and swooped closer to the portal. He strafed a street filled with Dreygur, belching a deadly torrent of fire and shadow, decimating and consuming all in his path. Kain and Maria readied their weapons while dropping bombs, blasting upon contact with the ground; Vyrilion avoided as the explosives blew the Dreygur to pieces. As he landed before the massive Oblivion gate, he spewed another blast of dark fire, creating a wall blocking the doorway. Satisfied with the Lich's forces now trapped within their sepulcher prison, Rahim spurred Eshara, maintaining formation while looking for Niamh and Fafnir, but they were nowhere in sight.

While Lord Godfrey's formation was busy controlling the sky, General Araneus sent up the flag signals. His battalion had already landed outside the city with their precious cargo, the Aynu pack—with Kiba and Maru at the front—and Lord Godfrey's soldiers burst forth from their metal ships, the two armies clashing at full speed. Releasing their vessels, Vulcan, Skyfyre, and the allied Nidhoggr circled the ground; upon the general's signal, they exhaled large jets of combined red and black flames, creating a wall of dark fire corralling the Dreygur from reaching beyond the city limits.