Land of Taria: The Awakening

Chapter 9

Luna and Doruntus feel a force of energy throw them back, sending them both through the air, landing hard on the pavement. They look up to see smoke and fire rise up where Jason just was.
"What the hell just happened?!" Luna looks around, spotting Matías, Autumn, and Ty'Vander through the smoke. Doruntus helps her up and they begin running over to their comrades and Luna looks at City Hall. There's a large hole in the stairs, with fire burning the rubble around it. As she goes to over to the group, an arrow flies out directly towards her, but she swiftly knocks it away with her dagger. Luna turns to where the arrow came from, and sees a figure walking out of the woods. More figures appear and their dark bodies begin glowing bright with fire.
"What in Wenor's name are those?!" Matías spots the army approaching the city.
"I'm not sure but they just killed Jason and are gonna swarm the city." Luna exclaims.
"Not gonna let that happen. Autumn, place a barrier around the gate. We need to hold them off until we can get those gates closed."
"Right." Autumn acknowledges and she begins chanting in a foreign language. When she finishes, a large blue barrier is spread over most of the city's wall.
"Ty'Vander and Doruntus, get that door closed. Luna and I will cover you."
"Got it." Ty'Vander nods and Doruntus grunts. They rush over to the gate and Ty'Vander tries shutting it.
"Damn thing won't move! It must've been destroyed in the blast!" Ty'Vander grunts. Doruntus runs over to the door and begins pushing on it. He slowly begins pushing the large door closed. Once finished, he runs over to the other door, but spots a flashing light coming from the woods. He leaps out of the way as another fireball shoots towards him. It explodes on impact of the barrier, but the magical wall soon begins cracking.
"The blast was strong. There must be a skilled caster with them!" Autumn states. Another fireball shoots out from the forest, burning everything in its path. Then another one. And another. Multiple fireballs blast the barrier and it soon crumbles and fades Autumn falls to her knees in exhaustion.
Matías runs to her side," I gotcha. You stay here and get your mana back. We need you." Matías leaves Autumn by the hospital and rushes over to Luna.
"This is bad." Matías says.
"Yeah, you're telling me. It's only my first day and I gotta fight damn monsters." Luna watches as hundreds of figures begin storming the city gates. The group begins slashing at them, fighting alongside each other.
"There's too many!" Ty'Vander stabs one of the creatures and throws it towards another. One leaps at him from behind and he swats it away with his tail.
"We just gotta buy the citizens time to escape! Where's all the damn guards?" Matías yells out. He spots a few guards run around the corner. A few rush forward and begin fighting the creatures, while the others shoot at them with arrows. But they soon begin to be swarmed. Matías watches as the guards get slaughtered and spots some of them running in terror. He stabs a creature in the head and watches as a cloaked figure emerges from the trees. The figure's presence is overwhelming as Matías feels a cold chill go down his spine. He's only ever felt this chill with Jason.
"Who is that?" Luna asks, fighting off the molten demons.
"Not sure. But I suspect they summoned the fireballs." Matías says. He sees the cloaked figure take off their hood. It's a man. He has dark grey skin and black hair. They make eye contact and Matías feels his glowing red eyes pierce right into his soul. The man raises his hand and Matías sees sparks coming from his palm.
"GET DOWN!" Matías yells as a fireball comes from the figure's hand. It hurtles straight through the swarm, burning many of the creatures. Matías dives to the side and looks up, watching as yet another fireball comes straight towards him. He feels the heat get closer and closer. He feels Death reaching out to him as he begins to accept his fate.
"BARRIER!" Autumn shouts and a small shield is formed right in front of Matías, taking the full impact of the fireball. Matías looks up and watches Autumn pant and shake.
"Ow." She says, blood dripping from her mouth. Matías jumps up and rushes out of the city gates, leaping towards the man. The man brings out his sword and blocks Matías' attack. Matías swings his leg to knock the man off his feet, but he doesn't even react to the move. Matías looks up and watches as the man pulls back his arm, and slams his fist straight into Matías jaw. He goes flying, rolling across the ground. He tries to get up, but the pain is overwhelming.
"That was a mean punch." Matías spits out blood and the man slowly approaches him. The man looks down at Matías and raises his sword, ready to plunge it deep into the blue cloaked man. He brings his sword down and Matías goes to block, but a blue bubble forms around him. The man is knocked back at his sword bounces off the shield. Matías looks around and sees more shields created, all being wrapped around his friends. They all look around in confusion.
A large blast erupts in front of City Hall and everyone stops moving. All eyes are trying to see through the smoke, until the silhouette of a man becomes visible. The creatures begin to charge at the figure, but a force of energy knocks them away. One creature manages to get into the smoke but he is quickly decapitated.
Everyone watches as Jason walks out into the clearing. His clothes are somewhat torn and his face is scratched up. He locks eyes with the man and the two powerful beings are locked in a brief and intense staredown. Jason opens his mouth and releases two words from the depths of his throat.
"Flaming Strike."