Write 2 Rank 2023: Knightmare Games

Round 9, Black Belt:

The volley arced through the air, three black spots trailed by long tails of gray that mark their path from distant launchers. They hit the mountain citadel with a sound like God hammering the anvil of creation. Three successive thumps that shook the battlefield below. A bright flash turned the world's two suns into dim brown spots in the heavens. The ensuing explosion painted long distorted shadows across the flat plane where a few dozen heroes fought against the armies of Lord Hine Bloodsway, newly minted king of the Kerg Fey.

Bad Fish had only a moment to react as a fiery shockwave rolled over the theater of battle. To her right, a blood-covered goddess named Dream Girl shattered a small orb and a dome appeared around her. To her left, a massive warrior called Grendel activated a sigil on his gauntlet and was encased in marble stone. Bad Fish charged a nearby Kerg Fey caster as the woman wove an intricate casting. Fish removed her glove and grabbed the caster's bare wrist just as she finished the spell. A shield appeared around them at the same moment that the consuming flames rushed past.

The barrier crackled and buckled but held. Then the fires reversed direction in a sucking vacuum that snatched at the few defenders and heroes who had survived the fire by pure defensive rating and health points. In a blazing mess, it all met at the epicenter and was cast up into the sky, a bright roaring mushroom.

The heroes had been tasked with holding the line and defending the last citadel, but, in the end, it was a futile gesture. There were no more strongholds standing between the Kerg Fey and their conquest of the west. As experience points dropped by the dead rushed towards the remaining heroes, the Kerg Fey forces retreated. They'd accomplished what their king had sent them to do.

Bad Fish breathed a sigh of relief when she released the caster's wrist and the elven woman turned to retreat. There had been enough killing for one day. The thought made her chuckle and then think of her partner.

Fuck! They'd been on the mountain pass with the tanks and other heavy ordinance.

"Killshot, come in!" She tapped her headset. The short-range communicator had a five mile radius. "Killshot!"

A fairy dropped out of the clear sky, a caricature of Disney's tinkerbell in battle paint and army fatigues. Grim-faced, she buzzed back and forth.

"They're gone..." the fairy said, her voice high-pitched and solemn. "We were repositioning the tanks to protect the final approach to the citadel drawbridge. There was no time to find cover."

"Wha... What does that mean?"

The surviving heroes all started to gather. Limping, bleeding, shuffling. The fairy landed on Fish's shoulder, accessing her stats and inventory.

"It means they're out. They've been eliminated. Only eight of you survived that last attack."

"Eight? Eight out of twenty-four. That's ridiculous."

"I don't even think that many were meant to survive."

"Calico, What do you mean–"

"Not here," she whispered. "We can't talk about it here."

Thunderous music filled their ears, but it wasn't the bombastic trumpets of victory nor was it the dirge-like piano notes of defeat. This was different, the mournful jazz of a draw. Shimmering doors of light opened up in front of each hero. As Bad Fish watched, they stepped through then vanished along with their door. Bad Fish looked up at the smoldering patch of slagged earth that had once been the last citadel and shook her head. She and Killshot had drawn straws to determine who'd stay in the lowlands and who'd go up to the mountain pass. By chance of fate, she could have been trapped at ground zero when the warheads landed.