Crusade

Act I: Force, Chapter 1: Fall

“And there was a war in heaven, Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back…”                                     -revelations 12:7

  Amidst the uproar of a great battle, an Angelic soldier took cover behind what remained of a head high wall, the soldier was not as young as he used to be, and this battle was taking its toll. He took only a brief moment to rest and look around, and he saw none of his comrades. Then, with a bout of relief, he saw one. A tall, young looking angel with long blonde hair and a halberd-scythe ran from a finished fight with a group. He called out to her and she ran to take cover next to him. Upon her approach he realised she was no ordinary soldier, she wore much more noble armour than himself, she wore elegant plate with ornate designs, he wore the typical angelic soldier armour, silver plate over a dark blue tunic. When she took cover he recognised exactly who she was.
“Lady Valkyrie! I’m glad to see we still have some intelligence left on our side! This fool we call our king is going to get us all killed!”
Valkyrie didn’t recognise the man, but to her, all of the men and women who served with her were almost like family after her parents had died in the war. “I agree” she shouted over the sound of clashing metal, “What do you suggest we-” She was cut short as a massive black dragon landed on the piece of shattered wall. With a loud crunch, it reached down and gripped the soldier in its huge maw and with a sharp swing of its neck, flung him across the courtyard.
  Cursing loudly, Valkyrie ducked and ran out of cover only to be confronted by two demons and a great black Minotaur. Thankfully the dragon seemed to be more interested in a small group of winged angels fighting near where the outer wall of the citadel used to be. She readied her weapon and closed the distance between her and the enemy. With two quick strokes she easily dispatched of the two demons, however the Minotaur proved to be more of a problem.
 The beast swung a stone war hammer that was twice the size of her, she just managed to dodge out of the way as the hammer struck the stone floor, shaking the ground under her feet and sending shards of the stone paving flying in every direction. The beast swung sideways, aiming at her head. With split second timing she ducked under it and rolled between the legs of the beast, ending up behind it. The stupid creature hesitated, confused for a second at seeing its target vanish, when it finally realised what had happened and turned around it swung again and missed, this time Valkyrie used the war hammer to leap of the war hammer to leap into the air, all the Minotaur could do was watch as Valkyrie swung her weapon down, hard, right into the back of the beasts skull. The blade impacted with such force that the Minotaur was sent flying out from underneath her, bringing her polearm with it. As it was ripped from her grasp, she was sent sprawling to the ground head first. As a dizzy spell came over her all she could do was lie there for a moment to try and regain her wits. She was about to get up when the Dragon landed right next to her, she tried to stay as still as she could to feign her death…
  It didn’t work. The Dragon reared to stomp her, and it would have succeeded had it not been for a screech that came from behind the citadel, distracting it. The screech came from one of the kings Golden battle phoenixes that flew out from the direction of the keep, flying straight into the dragons face. It used its talons and beak to try and attack the dragon’s eyes.
Seeing an opportunity, Valkyrie wrenched her weapon free and turned around just in time to see the dragon swing its neck and send the giant bird hurtling into the wall of the keep, the phoenix recovered itself but was too injured to attack again so it retreated out of sight. The dragon then turned to face Valkyrie and roared, vibrating the whole castle, for a moment the world went silent as Valkyries ears rang, but soon enough it faded and she regained her stance, pointing her weapon at the dragon, ready to dodge and strike at the slightest sign of movement… but there wasn’t one, the dragon just stood absolutely motionless, staring at her as if it were made of stone…
Valkyrie became confused and lowered her weapon ever so slightly. But instantly realised her mistake, the dragon saw it too, and without warning it knocked her flat with lightning speed, she let out a cry as one of its talons punctured her armour and sliced into her arm. However she didn’t feel it for long, as she skidded across the cobblestones her helmet hit a loose stone jutting out and she was out cold…