Saga of the Last Valkyrie (On Hold)

Chapter 17: Return of the Valkyrie

Mayor Morton's P.O.V

Everything was working out perfectly before the cataclysm spread it's reach over Marshvale. Symptoms of the plague were lessening thanks to Lady Alicia's wisdom, everyone was recovering and they had been on the brink of being fully restored. But then, seemingly out of no where, light seemed to drain from the world as an eerie shadow was casted upon them. And having been blinded by the black fog, things went from bad to worse as monsters right out of their very nightmares began to invade.

While their outer walls had held at first, the wooden barrier crumbled during the second day, causing all of Marshvale's citizens to scream and run for their lives. Though thanks to the blinding fog, almost none of the people that were on out outskirts of the town had survived simply because they couldn't see where they were running to. And so, Morton had ordered the inner gates closed, and he was powerless to do anything as the monsters beat on the inner gates and the screaming from anyone left outside ended one person at a time. 

In the distance, a bone-shaking howling could be heard, though Morton didn't know where it was coming from or what kind of creature could made such a sound. And now, on the third day, Morton was once again powerless as the monsters had managed to find their way past the inner wall and all of his citizens were dying. The guardsmen were doing their best to fend off the invaders, but their efforts were in vain as they were all but blinded and their opponents were three-meter-tall monsters that had jaws powerful enough to shred armor and bite the soldiers in half. And so, here Morton was, once again helpless as he stood in the center of the town square and listened to the sound of his guardsmen dying around him while still remembering his daughters scream from when she'd been killed earlier that day.

"Lady Alicia... guide our souls to the peace beyond." Morton said his final prayer as the sound of people dying grew closer. And while none of his prayers from the past few days had been answered, something was different this time.

Looking up in wonder, a single beam of light started shining through the dark fog, illuminating several of the monsters that seemed to quickly try to avoid it. However, their attempts were impossible as the beam of light suddenly spread, seeming to blast all of the fog away as if it were being dispelled.

"W-what's happening? Are they retreating?!" One of the guardsmen asked nervously, looking around the town square along with everyone else as over twenty giant monsters seemed to start convulsing as soon as the light hit them.

"Reform the shield wall! We're not out of this yet!" The guard captain shouted his orders, though hardly any of the guardsmen listened to him as they all staring into the sky at something. And while Morton had wondered what was wrong with them at first, he eventually had to turn his gaze upwards as well as all of the monsters turned in one direction and started howling and snipping at the air above them.

Watching in disbelief as what looked like a flock of large birds flew towards the town, Morton couldn't believe what he was seeing when he finally realized that they weren't birds at all, but rather the angles that he'd only ever heard about before from the priests. With their bronze armor and light-brown wings, most of them flew overhead before several landed inside of the town square. And as soon as they did, another one-sided battle began. But rather than the favor being with the monsters attacking Marshvale's blinded citizens, all of the survivors watched in awe as the Lesser Valkyries cut and stabbed at the monsters, killing most in a single attack as the immediate area was suddenly filled with the sound of the creatures yelping in pain.

With a massive roaring sound overtaking their attention, Morton and the other survivors looked up in horror to see some kind of creature that seemed as if it had been spawned from an abyss as it attempted to fit the rest of it's massive body through a portal that flew in the air above the town. However, just as they were horrified at the creature, several of the guardsmen fell to their knees as Lady Alicia finally appeared in their time of need.

Sporting shining wings as white as snow, she seemed to descend from the heavens until she flew next to the creature that was attempting to make it's way through the portal. And after only hesitating slightly, Alicia's voice seemed rushed like the wind around everyone in the town, almost seeming as if she were standing right beside them even though she was so far away.

"Purge all evil before me. Smite!" Alicia's voice called out as she chanted her spell, and all anyone could do was watch as an almost blindingly bright beam of light suddenly descended from above the clouds overhead before it seemed to pass right through the portal and hit the ground beneath it. Though as soon as it hit the ground, the beam suddenly burst apart into waves of faded light that rushed forward in all directions. And one of those waves of light washed over Morton and the guardsmen now, leaving them completely unharmed while turning all of the nearby monsters into ash as it passed by. Though as the light began to fade in the distance, Alicia started speaking again, sounding almost like an angel if her voice were not full of such tremendous power.

"Heal these tortured souls and let them rise once more. Breathe life into their broken bodies and let them live again!" Alicia chanted above the town, and a sphere of even more light began to immediately expand around her. It continued expanding before it finally touched the ground and started sweeping across Marshvale just as the light waves from before had. However, instead of turning the monsters to ash, Morton and all of the survivors watched with wide eyes as all of their fallen townsmen, the people they'd seen get torn to pieces, suddenly started waking up and standing with their bodies perfectly intact.

"Dad?" A familiar voice asked, and Morton slowly turned around, his eyes beginning to water as he spotted his daughter whom he'd just seen killed and eaten not even an hour before, standing in front of him without a scratch on her.

"S-Sarah? Is that really you?" Morton asked in disbelief before the girl suddenly ran forward and wrapped her small arms around his waist. And as he knelt down to return her hug with tears falling freely from his eyes, the entirely village, including the outskirts, suddenly came alive with the sound of people calling out. Half were cheering, half were praising the Valkyries and everyone that still stayed silent were all looking up at the heavens as the angels ascended so that they could join Alicia in the sky.

"Thank you, Lady Alicia, thank you." Was all Morton could think to say as he continued hugging his daughter, soaking in her warmth in hopes of thawing the cold and hollow feeling he'd had when he thought he'd lost her. And as he looked up to see Alicia and her angels flying away, he couldn't help but burst into tears all over again. After all, while Alicia had helped them before, it had only been with the plague before she'd disappeared again. But now she had come back in order to fight against the cataclysm which constantly plagued the mortal race's settlements and threatened their extinction, and he knew for a fact that what had just happened today would go down in history. Today would be known as the day that the Five Valkyries had returned to Everath in order to save them all.