The forest closed in.
And the five of them stood as one.
For a single heartbeat;
Nothing moved.
Then;
CREEEEEEEEEEEK.
The mist split open.
They came.
Not one.
Not ten.
Dozens.
Skeletons poured from between the trees, their hollow bodies jerking forward in violent, unnatural motion. Grey light pulsed inside their ribcages. Their jaws hung open, screaming without lungs.
Their footsteps thundered against the earth.
THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD.
Frauner moved first.
He stepped forward into the dark.
His sword rose.
A skeleton lunged;
Frauner turned his hips and unleashed a horizontal slash.
SSSSSHHHHHLAAAAANG!
Steel tore through ribs.
Bone fragments spun into the air.
The creature twisted;
Too slow.
Frauner stepped in and drove the tip forward.
THHRRRKKK!
The blade pierced the glowing heart.
For a fraction of a second;
Silence.
Then;
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Light erupted.
The skeleton exploded apart.
Bone shrapnel blasted past Frauner's face.
He didn't flinch.
He was already turning.
Already killing.
To his right;
Mauris moved like a fortress breaking loose.
A skeleton sprinted toward him, claws reaching;
Mauris stepped forward and thrust.
THHHRRRUUUUKKK!
The spear punched through its chest.
Straight through the glowing core.
BOOOOOOOM!
The explosion pushed against him.
His hair snapped back.
His cloak whipped in the shockwave.
But his feet never moved.
He ripped the spear free and spun it in his hands.
Another skeleton approached;
Mauris reversed his grip and slammed the butt of the spear into its skull.
CRACK!
The creature staggered;
Mauris drove the spear forward again.
THHRRRKKK!
BOOOOOOOM!
Bone fragments scattered across the forest floor.
Behind them;
Leah became motion.
A skeleton leaped toward her from the mist.
She stepped inside its reach.
Her blade rose vertically;
And fell.
SSSSSSSHHHHHLLLLIIIING!
The sword split its ribcage from collar to spine.
The glowing heart ruptured.
BOOOOOOOM!
The explosion lit her face gold.
Another came from her left;
Leah pivoted and thrust forward.
SHHKKK!
Her blade pierced straight through its heart.
She ripped it free as it exploded.
Bone fragments rained around her like deadly snow.
She did not stop moving.
She did not stop killing.
In the center;
Henry ran.
Not away.
Forward.
A skeleton staggered past Frauner's guard.
Its claws reached.
Its glow burned.
Henry screamed;
And jumped.
He drove the dagger forward with both hands.
SSSHHHKKK!
The blade buried into its heart.
Henry's feet hit the ground;
Then,
BOOOOOOOM!
The explosion threw him backward.
He rolled.
Coughed.
But he held onto the dagger.
His hands trembled.
His eyes burned.
He was still fighting.
Still alive.
Still one of them.
And then,
Thalia moved.
She dropped her bow for a single breath;
And reached behind her back.
She pulled free two short blades.
And locked them into sockets at both ends of her bow.
CLICK. CLICK.
The weapon changed.
Not a bow.
Not anymore.
A double-bladed staff.
The skeletons came at her;
She spun.
The weapon became a circle of silver.
WHHHHOOOOOSSSHHH!
The first blade pierced a glowing heart.
BOOOOOOM!
She didn't stop spinning.
The momentum carried the second blade forward;
SSSHHHKKK!
Another heart pierced.
BOOOOOM!
Bone fragments exploded outward.
Her hair whipped through the air.
Her eyes burned with focus.
Another skeleton lunged,
Thalia stepped forward and drove both ends of the weapon outward in opposite directions.
THHRRKK! THHRRKK!
Two hearts pierced.
Two explosions answered.
BOOOOOM! BOOOOOM!
The force pushed against her.
But she stood inside it.
Unbroken.
Unstoppable.
She spun again.
Faster.
Faster.
WHOOOOOOSSHHHH!
Blades flashing.
Bones shattering.
Light exploding.
She became the center of destruction.
Around them;
Frauner cut.
Mauris struck.
Leah carved.
Henry stabbed.
Thalia spun.
Steel screamed.
SSSHHHHHLANG!
THHRRRKKK!
SSSHHHKKK!
WHOOOOOSSSHHH!
And everywhere;
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOOM!
Bones scattered across the forest floor.
Fragments filled the air.
Explosions lit the mist in violent flashes.
The dead were falling.
Shattering.
Breaking.
But still;
More came.
Endless.
Hungry.
And the five of them;
Still stood.
Still fought.
Thalia spun.
Steel screamed.
Bone shattered.
BOOOOOOM!
Fragments scattered past her face;
And then;
She felt it.
Not a sound.
Not a sight.
A feeling.
Her body froze mid-motion.
Her breath caught.
Her fingers tightened on the staff.
Her heart began to pound harder;
Not from exhaustion.
From recognition.
A cold line traced itself down her spine.
The skeleton in front of her lunged;
Her body reacted on instinct.
She twisted.
Blade pierced its heart.
BOOOM!
It exploded
"THALIA!" Leah shouted, slashing another skeleton.
But Thalia didn't respond.
She couldn't.
Her eyes remained locked on the distance.
She reached back.
Her fingers grab an arrow.
She straigten her staff vertically to load arrow
Then she whispered.
Not a word.
Her lips mumbled silently
Golden light began to leak from her fingers.
It flowed into the arrow.
The shaft trembled.
The tip began to glow.
Soft.
Then brighter.
Like a piece of the sun had been carved and forced into its heart.
Behind her;
"THALIA," Leah said sharply.
"Don't waste your stamina."
Thalia didn't turn.
Leah stepped closer.
"You're already using your reserve to refill your quiver box."
Her eyes flicked to the device hanging on Thalia's back;its faint runes glowing as it slowly formed new arrows from her energy.
"You'll collapse."
Thalia said nothing.
She kept pulling the string.
The light grew violent.
Gold turned white.
White turned molten.
Her voice came, barely a breath;
"I see it."
She released.
TWAAAAAAAAANG.
The arrow flew.
The world vanished behind it.
Wind screamed past.
The arrow cut forward like judgment itself.
Below;
Skeletons sprinted.
From the arrow's eyes;
They were wrong.
Their movements jerking.
Spines snapping forward.
Jaws open in endless screams.
RAAAAAAAAAAA!
Their glowing chests flickered like dying stars.
The arrow passed above one skull;
So close its teeth snapped shut just beneath it.
CLACK!
It didn't stop.
It flew between trees.
Branches clawed toward it;
It slipped through impossible gaps.
Leaves exploded behind it.
Mist split apart.
More skeletons appeared.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Some sprinting.
Some twitching.
Some;
Not standing.
The arrow passed over the ground;
And saw them.
Bodies.
Piles of bones.
Still.
Silent.
Then;
Twitch.
A finger moved.
A skull rolled.
A spine bent backward;
CRRRRKKKK!
A skeleton pulled itself upward.
Its bones assembling mid-motion.
Its jaw stretching open;
SKRRRREEEEEE!
Empty eye sockets stared at the flying sun.
It reached upward;
Too slow.
The arrow was already gone.
Forward.
Forward.
Forward.
Through them.
Through the army.
Toward the dark
Then!
It saw it.
A figure.
Standing behind the skeletons.
Still.
Waiting.
Hidden in shadow.
The skeletons in front of it began to form.
Rising.
Aligning.
Standing straight.
Like soldiers before a king.
The creature stepped forward.
Slow.
Ancient.
It raised both arms outward.
Wide.
Still.
Like it was embracing the world.
Or commanding it.
Its voice echoed.
Not spoken.
Not heard.
Felt.
A language older than breath.
"Vel'karith… thren sol'vayen…"
The air trembled.
"Mor'eth kaldrin… vel… thaaaaa..."
The arrow came closer.
Closer.
Closer....
The creature's head tilted.
Then;
Its eyes opened.
Yellow.
Bright.
Burning.
Like an owl staring into your soul.
Time broke.
Its right hand moved.
Slow.
Effortless.
It turned its body slightly sideways.
Its palm opened toward the arrow.
And the world bent.
A circular distortion formed in the air.
Invisible.
Spinning.
Waiting.
The arrow struck it.
THMMMMMMMM.
The sound was wrong.
Not impact.
Not metal.
Not flesh.
Something deeper.
Something absolute.
The golden arrow stopped.
Frozen.
Shaking violently.
Cracks spread across its surface.
Light leaked from within.
The creature's fingers curled slightly.
The invisible force twisted...
The arrow collapsed.
KRRRRRKKK!
And shattered.
CHHHHHTTTTTING!
Fragments of sunlight scattered into nothing.
Darkness remained.
The creature lowered its hand slowly.
Its yellow eyes burned brighter.
Far away.....
Thalia's breath caught.
She whispered...
"…What are you?"