Near The End

Prologue - Start of the End

"Go!" he whispered and we all jumped. I, having the wings, kept them intact until I opened them to slow myself down so I can land on one of the support beams and wait for my turn.

I saw my brother land first, right on the other side of the door we needed to get past. He looked up at me and nodded. I crept along over the non-existent ceiling above the main room.

Three men were arguing, clearly, and I could see no guards. The trio was clearly not paying attention. Perfect. I thought and crept back. I showed him the ok-hand, and saw our stalker quietly open the door. They slipped inside, and my brother closed the door. I moved as well, keeping an eye out for any guards.

Then, the arguing voices reached my ears.

"I'm telling you, those Emirahs are very dangerous! They got the world's best archer on their side as well, that Deiutyeh lad!" the tallest one shouted.

"And Eylaah? We still need to find her. I won't rest until I see her head at the end of a pole!" A man with glasses shouted back.

Little did they know, this should be their last talk, battle and plan. The tall man was our target. His name is Jykuia, and he used to be my adoptive father after my parents passed away. It was from him I found out about the Winged Mages and then became one myself. Only then I found out his true intentions were to use me to take over the town. I ran away to Nieya, where he soon became the mayor.

But now any family relations are gone. I am an Assassin, as they know it. The one who hunts the responsible ones of various murders. Our group is the Emirahs, and together we are going to win and ensure Jykuia's rule is over.

I saw Jykuia turn around and widen his eyes into a surprised expression as he noticed the trio that consisted of my brother and our friends walk in. My brother's blade was out, and he twisted it around in his hand. Deiutyeh had his bow in his hand, a glowing arrow in the other, ready to fire. Cvyatik's throwing knives were in his hands.

I expected them to run, but instead they stared at my friends. Then Jykuia smirked, and shadows formed in front of them. They twisted and turned in every direction I knew, spiralling upwards to a point. A pillar of purple light was hidden within, when they shattered to reveal another kind of mages - the Shadow Mages. I gasped - Jykuia, his band and the Shadow Mages against my friends? I knew I had to intervene. But not now. I told myself. Wait until they think they've won.

So I did.

Deiutyeh fired his arrows, constantly making them bounce off the walls and into the Mages. They couldn't form a single spell, for they constantly had to dodge the arrows. I moved across the beams to where Cvyatik was fighting against Jykuia's buddies. He was handling himself well, so I moved to where my brother was fighting our target.

Afintya's masterful hand kept dealing visible damage, as Jykuia's sides were covered in fresh cuts. He also used his sword to block his enemy's attacks. Jykuia's fire-charged sword sent sparks flying off in all directions as it hit my brother's dragonsteel one. Alright. I thought to myself. I'll give his sword more power and see if I can't help any of our guys. I decided.

In my hands I formed a small ball of white light. I murmured the spell and threw the ball at Afintya's sword. It went where it needed to, and I saw Afintya was fighting with more force now. I moved over to where Deiutyeh was.

One of the Shadow Mages was dead, an arrow stuck in it's stomach. Another one was sitting, bleeding out and coloring the ground beneath into a scarlet red color. The third one, however, was still alive. It blocked off incoming arrows and fired boots of shadow magic. Then I saw one of Jykuia's friend run over and start attacking as well. About time. I thought and sent a bolt of light magic at the mage. It fell over, soon falling limp as it's life ebbed away.

I jumped down from the support beams and landed in the middle. I looked up at Jykuia and smirked, rising up on my feet. A gray ball of pure magic formed in my hands, which I fired at the buddy that attacked Cvyatik. It killed him, I used the same spell on the other one before moving towards Jykuia. He swung his sword around before charging himself at me. I prepared a ball of magic before rushing at him as well.

The fight didn't last for too long. Soon enough I saw he was running out of energy as his swings became weaker and weaker by every passing second. I used a special push spell that threw both of us backwards. While I was readying a powerful blast, I saw him run at me. But before I could do something about it, he stabbed me. I quickly threw the ball at him before collapsing. With my vision blurring out, the last thing I saw was Jykuia falling over, dead. Then I closed my eyes and knew only one thing - That I was dead. Possibly the last Winged Mage, and dead now.