Defenders of Destiny Book One: Conflux

Chapter 30: Battle of Mohara

Her golden hair flapped in front of her face, shrouding her vision, as she went flying back twenty or so feet. She landed on her back in the sand and slid atop of it for a short distance before finally stopping. Grunting with effort and wincing in pain, Ivory propped herself up to her elbows and looked through bruised eyes at Durn as he stomped toward her, his battle-axe held in both hands. Blood dripped along the blades and knowing that it was hers brought a rush of cold creeping up her spine. Her armour was battered and dented in numerous places, she felt certain that one of her legs was broken, it hurt to breathe and a warm liquid, most likely blood, dripped down from her nose and on her lips. Her silver axe lay in the sand to her right, within reach, and she stretched her arm toward it slowly. Her fingers ached but they found their strength once they wrapped around the weapon's haft.

Looking at Durn as demons and Moharans fought, killed, and died all around her she spat blood from her mouth and offered him a grin. "You don't scare me, so-called King of the Damned. Kill me all you want. It won't mean anything."

Durn stopped walking when he was right in front of her, his white mask looking down at her as his grey hair draped over his shoulders. "I find myself agreeing with you; your life indeed means nothing."

He raised his axe and Ivory lay back on the sand, looking up at the sky. She had killed more demons than she could remember and dying to Durn wasn't exactly a horrible way to go. She had fought him well despite him showing no wounds of the battle. With the sounds of violence and death filling her ears she closed her eyes and smiled contentedly. She hadn't been much use to her friends anyway. Aragol was faster, Boog was stronger, Elmar had more ability, Karmen was smarter, Graham was kinder, Casandra was more nurturing, Celestia had more purpose and Victoria was braver. Ivory had no place with them. She had fought alongside them and had enjoyed her time with them but her story had nowhere else to go. Her time was up.

Still smiling, she let Durn's axe fall, pleased that at least she had the honour of dying on a battlefield.

****

Celestia swerved beside a looming sand dune before her, the rush of air pulling her black hair back and brushing alongside her entire body. Her eyes were covered in a thin, transparent lid which allowed her to keep them wide open as she flew without them drying up. She flapped her wings hard and dove closer to the ground, her clawed hands briefly grazing the sand. Glancing back, she noticed that her pursuer was just as close to her as she had been before.

"Your fancy new wings won't stop me from killing you!" Athena called out with a laugh. "I've always enjoyed a good chase anyway!"

Celestia flapped harder but she was still new to flying and worried that Athena would eventually catch up to her. She had no structure to fly around and hope for her pursuer to collide into other than sand dunes and that strategy was proving futile.

Looking back once more, she saw Athena's sword swing down at her. She let out a short cry and pulled her legs closer to her body just before it sliced into them. Athena's face was frowning in intense determination as she neared closer. Inch by inch she gained. Her arm raised and her purple sword, black tentacles swirling around it, glowed bright. A smile crept on her face.

Celestia looked ahead and screamed as a white shape suddenly flew toward her. She dove and hit the ground beneath her, rolling and bouncing several times as the sound of swords clashing rang against her ears. When she stopped moving she sat up and stretched her wings, grateful that they were yet intact. She then looked toward the sound of battle.

Yzara was locked in combat with Athena and the two were clashing in an aerial sword fight, hovering above with their blades in a flurry of movement. Yzara was graceful and agile whereas Athena was all rage and brute force. Yzara flapped hard, her wing tips brushing against the sides of Athena's face just as the young woman thrust ahead with her sword. Yzara parried it aside and then kicked out with one of her talons. It sliced a deep gash across Athena's midsection and she cried out in pain. Using the cry as an opening, Yzara slammed her left wing into Athena's temple and came toward her at an angle, her left shoulder leading as her right hand held one of her swords pointed forward. Athena recovered quickly and swung her left arm down, pushing the blade aside just before it sunk into her chest. Yzara carried two blades, however, and the second came up from hanging at her side, its tip angled to catch Athena under her rib cage.