[COMPLETE] R E V E R S E #NaNoWriMo2k17

Chapter 16

"We have to move. Now."

"We're already late." Stella had pulled out a small ball and was staring at it, extremely pale. "Talona... she's already alerted her forces around the Icefields to launch an attack. If we don't get back now -"

An unearthly shriek tore the night apart. They whirled around as dozens of monsters poured through the forest into the sky. He spotted a few weeks of them riding Greatowls, spurring them to fly faster. All of them carried weapons, and he even spotted a few wearing armor. In their lead, a harpy wearing a copper crown rode on a golden owl, brandishing an elaborate rapier. His heart went into his throat and the two of them turned together, fleeing the Isles with an entire army on their tail.

"We can't outrun them!" Stella wheezed. She was having difficulty catching up. He glanced back, both worried and indignant. She'd just revealed herself as an all powerful Mage with the ability to warp reality itself. Why couldn't she just magic away her fatigue or something?

"We need to lose them. Talona... she won't stop chasing us until she's either killed us or captured us again. We know their secret."

"The Shade theory is true," she whimpered. "Oh gods."

He heard a whistle and banked to the left to avoid an arrow. The Wastelands were starting to come into view, a lot faster than in the previous day. "Can we lose them in the Crofts?"

"Too far!" Another arrow broke them apart, and Stella wheeled off to the left. "They'll catch us before we can make it to the Sea!"

"Fuck! What else are we supposed to do them?"

Stella went silent, thinking. Meanwhile, Talona was drawing closer. The moonlight made the precious stones on her crown glow. Her rapier was a silver blade of death as she advanced steadily forwards, unforgiving.

"Give up!" She shrieked. "You cannot win! I am too powerful!"

He made the mistake of looking back. He was going to shout something witty right back at her face, but she and her minions were barely two winglengths behind. The sound died on his tongue.

Near the front, Longnecks hefted their spears.

"I've got it!" The Skydancer screamed suddenly, causing a number of them to stop their weapons in surprise. They fell to the ground below them, and he saw shapes swarming below. He hoped the scavengers liked wood splinters.

"Ajax, we have to lose them. Even for like, five seconds." She was holding the dagger he'd left for some reason, but the blade was no longer bent and rusty. It was a sparkling silver, perfectly sharp, completely repaired.

"How? They're literally right there!"

"I don't know! Split up? I literally just need a few seconds to do this!"

"What are you going to do with my dagger? Cut a portal out of thin air?"

She pressed her mouth into a thin line. Ajax suddenly felt small. Something pinched as his tail, and he whacked it hard. He heard an 'oof' in response.

"Alright, fine, I get you. You enchanted it, right? A teleporter. That's how you snuck into the base without being seen. You literally cut your way in."

"I don't... Just split up and go the other way. Talona wants you more than me since you saw more in her base."

"Great."

"I'll wait for you. Just try and get back here as fast as you can. The portal won't stay open for long." She glanced behind her shoulder and paled considerably. "Also, you might wanna prepare yourself for a fight."

Several harpies had broken away from their ranks and were advancing in front of Talona, brandishing spears and swords. He'd always thought that harpies never used weapons because of their lack of hands(well, sort of anyhow), but apparently he was wrong. He hoped that they weren't nearly as good with them as they looked. Unfortunately, the odds haven't been in his favour recently.

"I'll distract them! Move!"

Stella dove. Two of the harpies streaked after her, but the rest carried on chasing him, just as she predicted. He scanned the landscape. They were still in the middle of the Wastelands. The Sea was still too far away, and he'd lost sight of the Isles ages ago. The forest was a mere blur below them, the strands nothing but blobs.

Wait...

He checked to make sure Stella was okay. She had stopped, and was fighting off the two monsters with extreme aggression, letting none of them get close to her or her blade. He turned back to the trees, concentrating. He only needed a few moments...

He dropped down. He felt something scratch against his leg but he pressed forwards. The trees were coming into view now, skeletal branches clawing at the air as if they were trying to wrench themselves out of the earth. The smell made him gag, but he pressed onward, aiming for a tiny gap between two of the trees.

At the last second, he pulled out of his dive, shooting into the sky. Six years of training prevented him from being flattened into a pancake on the ground. He heard a number of screeches behind him as his pursuers were caught in the branches, flailing around as they tried to free themselves from the mess. He soared over it all, speeding back over to Stella without glancing back.

"GET THEM!" Talona's screech ripped into the air. Stella motioned towards him frantically, standing at the entrance of the strangest thing he'd ever seen. It was as if though someone had taken the air and ripped a hole in it. Beyond the rift, he could see nothing by swirling darkness. The whole concept of being able to break reality via a mere spell as disturbing.

He banked to the right sharply to avoid a flaming arrow, locking his wings to allow for a freefall towards the ground. Stella was literally holding the rift open, seemingly struggling. He noticed that the portal was literally pulling objects in - like a black hole. The closer he got, the stronger the pull.

Suddenly, something grabbed his neck. Feeling a sickening sense of deja vu, he whirled around madly, and he heard a screech as the Raptorik was roughly ripped off, loosing their balance. He stabbed it in the chest before it could retaliate, and the monster exploded, dust raining everywhere.

However, in the few crucial seconds be spent fighting off the monster, Talona had almost reached them. He sprinted towards the portal, Stella wrestling with the edges, barely pulling them apart. He risked a glance back. The harpy was almost there, one claw down on the Greatowl's neck, the other one holding her rapier to the sky so much looking like she was about to jump off, maybe to slice his neck, maybe just to appear threatening. Who knew.

"Get in!" She shouted. He dived into the hole just as an explosion rocked the earth. He turned just in time to see Stella falling after him, her wings shouldering from the fire, the screaming face of Talona, fire rising around her, as she was outwitted, again.

Then the rift slammed shut with a crash, and the void pulled him away.