Divine Lives - 3rd Life and Empires Crossover

Attack on Crastle

Scott pulls his bow back, aiming it at the first figure he sees. The string whips past his face and the arrow flies. The figure freezes in its place, and Scott's heart vibrates softly against his chest. The other figures stop in their tracks. Scott can see their heads turning as they look around. Seconds later they hear the shouts, some are cheers, some are very much not. Scott doesn't care. His face remains expressionless.

"That was BigB," says Grian. He taps his heart so the hologram goes away. Then he puts a hand on Scott's shoulder and moves from the bushes. Scott, Joel, and Scar follow as Pearl soars above them towards the distinguished Crastle. Grian and Scar start to run as Joel's wings come up and then down in a force of wind. He catapults after Pearl and his dogs bound behind him. Scott pulls the string of his bow again.

He fires.

Grian jumps into battle. He tackles the first person he sees, which happens to be Etho, to the ground. Etho rolls painfully forward, surprised. Managing to land on his back, he catches Grian's arm as it raises above his head, sword in hand, and hits his elbow the wrong way; Grian yells. Etho kicks Grian from on top of him, gets up, and runs forwards. An arrow hits him just before he reaches Grian and the man stumbles backwards. A second arrow strikes him, this one closer to his heart. The life in Etho's eyes blinks out as he tumbles. Lightning strikes. Grian looks up and sees Impulse poking his head through one of the very top windows.

"Thanks!" He shouts. Impulse nods and draws his bow again.

Tango battles Ren a little ways away, his sword and Ren's ax clash furiously. Joel lands and joins Tango as Pearl swoops low over the sand and delivers a flying kick to Martyn's face. She bursts into delighted laughter as her feet come to the ground a few paces away. Blood sprays from Martyn's nose and leaks down his facial features as he glares at her.

"Get out of here, Pearl. You don't have to be here."

"My friends are here, so I am too."

"You could die," he says, holding his sword up and pointing it at her chest.

"That's part of the fun!" She mirrors his motion with her own weapon, then knocks his sword away casually. He narrows his eyes at her, his fist clenching over the hilt.

"You're crazy."

Pearl watches Martyn's every move. He bends his knees and adjusts his grip of the weapon in his hand. Seeing the attack coming, she steps out of the way, almost lazily. This frustrates Martyn as he makes another, less calculated, jab that misses her by a mile.

"Why did you come here? This is miserable, Pearl!" They walk in a circle around each other. Pearl lets him attack again a few moments later. "You can hear them! You should've stayed away!"

"This is better than letting them control me," she growls. Now Pearl advances, she showers attack after attack on the man, each hit swift and graceful and easy. Martyn is forced backwards. "This way, I can fight them."

"You can't fight them," he cries as he is backed into a tree.

"I can try." Pearl presses her sword into the man's throat. She pushes just hard enough to draw blood. "You, Martyn, are a coward." She slams the handle of her weapon into his head. A powerful strike with the speed and strength of a bull.

The yellow light shimmers at her from his necklace before it fizzles out, flickers red, then cracks into a million pieces.

Martyn slumps back against the tree, then his body fades away.

An explosion of orange and red light bursts up to her right. Pearl whips her head around to see the cloud of fire blast upwards from within a wall a distance away. She glances quickly to Grian who throws his arms into the air and cheers as Impulse breaks into laughter from his place in the Crastle.