Chapter 7: Fight
The frantic pounding of footsteps and the thud of claws against the dirt echoed across the island.
The air whistled as it was sliced open. Nearby vines fell, sheared clean by Isil's wings as he hurtled past.
The trio tore through the undergrowth like projectiles. Oxygen burned their throats with every gasp.
"Why couldn't we get an easier nexus?!"
Elian spun on his heels, aiming his wand to channel his spell.
From the thicket, a bird swooped down on him, thrusting its beak straight toward the boy's skull.
The moment the beast opened its maw, the wood unleashed its charge.
A spark of green energy enveloped the monster, stopping it dead in the air before smashing it into the rest of the flock.
Magic currents swirled around Elian's boots. The wind propelled him forward.
"Seriously, is that all you can do, Elian?!"
"Do I look like an Arcadia graduate?!" he yelled, raising a wall of solid ice that the birds vaulted over in a matter of seconds.
"To hell with it," Andrew muttered, pulling the book from his backpack. "It's all or nothing."
His fingers traced the pages in desperation, searching for a way out.
The squawking of the beasts bounced around them, suffocating. It was a dead end.
"Got it."
Andrew turned around. Breath ragged, he raised the book toward the predators.
"Fire," he murmured. His eye began to burn as tiny veins bulged around the socket.
The book answered him like an extension of his own blood. The page he had used against the wolves glowed before the birds.
Oxygen seemed to extinguish all at once. A brutal wave of heat concentrated into a single point.
Fire.
That was what erupted from the page.
When the blaze blasted into the flock, the shriek tore the air apart.
Agonized squawks echoed through the forest as bodies were consumed by the fiery power.
After a few seconds, Andrew closed his eyes, exhausted. The fire died instantly, leaving in its wake only a trail of black smoke and burning ash.
Charred corpses smoked on the ground, a testament to the destructive power of that attack.
The human fell to his knees. His lungs demanded air. He clutched the book to his chest, believing the worst was over.
But it wasn't.
Talons, hard as steel, sank into his shoulders. His body was yanked from the ground. As he shot up into the sky, he could only see the helpless faces of his companions below.
"Damn it..." he whispered. Vertigo rattled his skull.
Below, the cat collapsed against the dirt, breathless, while the Solaris got to his feet.
"We have to do something. Isil, do you think you can carry my weight while flying?"
"Just don't press on my ribs," he replied, biting his own paw until he drew blood.
Dark blood welled from the limb. The beast's bones cracked and popped, his tail mutating into something grotesque.
His muscles expanded to triple their size. Thick scales sprouted across his skin, and massive wings thrashed the wind. His pupils dilated until they swallowed his eyes in pure adrenaline.
"Let's go, Elian. There's no time."
The Solaris vaulted onto his friend's back. The impact of the takeoff rattled his bones.
"Hold on."
They shot upward, tearing through the wind at an unnatural speed.
In the distance, a new black cloud darkened the sky. They were smaller birds, gliding like vultures stalking their prey.
Isil opened his maw. An orange glow gathered in his throat before he spat a blast of fire into the flock.
The Solaris didn't fall behind. He raised his wand, and icy gusts shot out, forming ice stakes that pierced the attackers in mid-flight.
Breaking the defensive line, the wind cleared their view. Elian paled.
A massive rock structure loomed on the horizon, imposing as a volcano.
The central island.
The alpha bird's island.
A deafening bellow made the air tremble.
A feather-covered behemoth, heavy and armored like a tank, crushed the flora as it emerged.
The alpha bird had arrived.
"It's going to eat him. Isil, hurry! If it eats him, that thing will undergo Valdiscation."
"I'm on it!" roared the feline, beating his wings with greater fury.
A supersonic crack split the air like thunder.
An arrow embedded itself in the bird's neck. The monster howled in agony, loosening the grip of its talons. Andrew slipped, dropping into the void in free fall.
"Formation!"
An elf stepped out of the thicket, shedding the camouflage of his green cloak. In one fluid motion, he nocked two arrows and drew the bowstring taut.
His squad burst out behind him.
The metallic clatter of boots and weapons ready to kill broke the jungle's silence. They awaited the beast's fall.
"This is going to hurt tomorrow..." Andrew whispered, clutching the book to himself.
The wind ripped tears from his eyes, but his eye ignited once more with a feral glow. Below, the alpha bird launched itself straight at him.
The monster didn't wait. The whiplash of its wings struck the ground violently, creating a shockwave that knocked down even the trolls preparing to attack it.
Its roar made the mountains vibrate. It flew straight at the human, shattering the air pressure in its wake.
"We've got it, boss," warned a Solaris, channeling wind currents to anchor the beast in mid-air.
A storm of steel rained down on the dark plumage. The bird absorbed the pain and pushed through with even more fury, ready to kill.
It had a target.
Prey.
Andrew.
The human's eye burned, shining like a beacon in mid-fall.
"This is going to hurt..." He opened his eyes wide, facing death head-on. "Die!" he roared, tearing his vocal cords.
A green detonation engulfed them both, a massive bolt of lightning that blotted out the sky.
The bird burst through the smokescreen. Half of its face, once vibrant with blue and orange feathers, was now a shapeless mass of charred flesh. Its blood boiled, gushing out in torrents.
Its right wing, previously unstoppable, hung broken. The beast dragged itself, limping until it collapsed against a tree trunk.
The smoke cleared, revealing Andrew on his feet. He was choking with exhaustion, battered, but his eye radiated a brutal emerald glow. The dagger was already in his hand.
The giant feline landed, kicking up dirt. The Solaris leaped from its back and ran toward the boy.
"Elian?" Andrew mouthed, breathing heavily.
"Yeah, I'm here," he said, supporting his companion's weight before he could fall.
The whistle of a blade cut their talk short.
The Nexers lunged forward without giving quarter. The beast tore the air with a final sonic shriek, and instantly, a clean cut severed its nape.
The elf wiped the blood from his sword before sheathing it. He let out a heavy sigh.
He looked up, and saw it.
The young man's iris radiated that unmistakable green light.
"A dark elf?" he murmured, muscles tensing, hesitating on whether to take a fighting stance.
He took a step forward, confronting the dark-haired boy.
"It can't be..."
"Captain... order the men not to lower their guard. That is a Kianku. It's a dark elf."
The captain narrowed his eyes. The palm of his hand slowly caressed the pommel of his sword.
Ten meters away, Andrew's instinct screamed at every cell in his body to run... but his legs had stopped responding.