The Chronicles of Starlyn

The Chronicles of Starlyn: Chapter 23

                Arrows flickered at incredible speeds all around her, draeyks dropped like gnats with each arrow Anaela sent. Starlyn kept on, carving a path straight to Arria on the platform. They were still outnumbered, but they carved a straight path to Arria so Starlyn could reach her. She bashed in two last draeyk skulls that splattered black ooze as they collapsed. Her armor was no longer clean but covered in slime and blood.

                Arria leapt forward to intercept Starlyn’s hammer with a purple glowing flamberge. Sparks formed all around them in an aura of violet and gold. Starlyn’s attacks were powerful and that showed, with each strike Arria fell a step backwards, though the speed was pressed on Arria’s side. She spun her weapon in such ways that it slid past Starlyn’s defenses and struck against her armor. Neither injured each other bad, but both were able to surpass the other’s defense and strike hard upon each’s plate mail armor.

                A loud rumble shook the ground so fiercely that it laughed at the so called despair of the thunder. The rumble turned to a roar until the sky become completely black as a night sky without stars. Starlyn looked up to see a large creature, larger than anything she ever imagined, as it took the sky with wings over twenty spans long. It was dark in appearance and lit up the sky with an orange flame that blazed from its gigantic mouth towards the unsuspecting elves that crumbled into ash where they stood along with the draeyks that were ignited.

                While Starlyn stared up in awe, Arria shifted her foot forward so it caught Starlyn just under the jaw and knocked her back several feet to collapse at the feet of Shronan Onderon. He stared in disbelief up at the sky before helping Starlyn to her feet. She shook uncontrollably and held onto the mage with desperation.

                “What is that?” she whispered.

                “That is a dragon,” he replied.

                Arrows consistently bounced off the creature, shattering the obsidian glass that poured over the battlefield in a powder. Anaela’s shots were true, but the hardened scales of the dragon were no match for such primitive weapons. Elves fell everywhere, making it the bloodiest battlefield Starlyn had ever seen – even bloodier than the aftermath of the wood elves Starlyn witnessed.

                “How do we fight that?” she asked.

                Shronan closed his eyes and his entire body shook as a green hue overtook him and transferred over to Starlyn. When his eyes opened they were blazing a stronger green that ever before and his voice came cold.

                “I have layered us in protection against fire, it will not last, and it will drain our life the longer we must use it,” he whispered.

                Starlyn looked up and noticed a small layer of ice on the dragon’s underbelly that increased with each arrow that struck it. Anaela hadn’t given up and seemed her enchanted arrows were finally starting to make an effect. The dragon seemed slower as it landed upon the ground to swipe at the elves that came towards it. Still, the elves were no match and Starlyn watched in horror as the creature grabbed several with its long slender hands and devoured them.

                She felt the layer of protection around her, but she still shivered in fear as she sprinted forward towards the dragon. The only comfort that she had was Shronan following her in tow, blazing green magic in every element at the beast. Arrows sizzled past her to strike the now grounded beast, and even though each arrow shattered as it came in contact with the hardened scales, the cold ice around each arrow was efficient in slowing the dragon.