Battle of Lies

Chapter XXIII

Leon walked along the road on which they were following.

"Hey, where are we going exactly?" Leon asked.

"To some of us? Home," Jordyn replied.

"What do you mean home?" Omsya asked.

"I keep forgetting you are a youngling," Jordyn said before continuing, "I lived in the Land of Outcasts for twenty years. It was a great place to be. Some humans lived there during that time. It was a kingdom of inclusivity. Magic and humans lived in harmony. The king there had a son and that son was the greatest man I ever knew. It was during that time that the First Great Downfall took place. The prince would come to Krorale because his mother was an elf. He was a half-elf and though he was a prince in his kingdom, to the elves he was just another impurell. He visited my home and he was my best friend. Then an evil curse took him away from me. Chase, he was one of your ancestors. After my sister and brother died, I ran away and ended up in the Land of Outcasts. I lived there for twenty whole years. So for me the Land of Outcasts is home. And for you too, Chase-" Jordyn took a breath and as if on cue a vrefruhm appeared.

Nadine drew her bow within an instant. Chase was slightly surprised but instincts had taken over by that point. Omsya drew her fire sword. Rodalya became a dragon. Jordyn drew forth the most powerful magic she had (which compared to most elves and other magical kin, was very powerful). Leon was the only one who had let this sudden arrival catch him off guard, so he screamed. The scream wasn't a typical scream for a boy. It was a high pitched, glass breaking scream. It caught the others off guard and in that moment of confusion one vrefruhm became 60.

"What are these things?!" Nadine yelled, as one got close enough to reach and close enough that she wasn't able to use her bow and arrow. She quickly drew her butterfly knife of a dagger and stabbed the vrefruhm. It squealed in pain, but remained standing.

"Vrefruhm! Puppets used by Dark Magic. Once they were like us except they lost hope. Nix Morte can use them and they can duplicate, so be careful!"

Jordyn blasted each of the vrefruhm much as she could, but magic could only do so much. Chase noticed as one of the vrefruhm crept up behind Jordyn and was preparing to stab her with a rusty knife. Instincts had taken over. Help the others then yourself. He had to protect her most of all. Chase ran over to Jordyn and the vrefruhm with the rusty knife and stepped between the two. But it was too late. Jordyn had already been stabbed. Chase was too late.

Omsya sliced at the vrefruhm. She felt overwhelmed and all that was around her was chaos. There were too many of them. It was ten to one, easy. She had seen Rodalya flying overhead but there was no clear shot seeing as the fire would hurt everyone including her friends. Suddenly a voice spoke out.

"Ah, isn't this a tragic sight? If only I could just leave you alone. But alas, death is the only option. And lies. I wonder what would happen when magic was finally gone. The world would finally be pure."

"As long as you live, magic will always be alive. So are you planning on killing yourself after you kill us?" Jordyn taunted.

"You insolent child!"

"Compared to you? I am no child."

"Are you sure about that? What happened to your dear old brother?"

"You killed him! Remember!" In Jordyn's anger, red magic began to pulsate off of her.

"Now, now, Nadyn, you must not lose your temper or else your dear old friends could die."

Jordyn froze. She knew that if she lost her temper she could kill everyone and that her wound was clouding her judgment.