Converging Destinies: Part 1

Chapter 48

       Eris was the quickest to react, but they had nowhere to duck out of sight, nowhere to hide, so they instead had to charge at one of the warriors.

       Ara' Sei's eyes glowed as she began to call upon her magic. The warrior that Eris struck went up in radiant flames, yet they still hung on by a thread. Ara' Sei then turned her attention to the biggest threat. She raised her hand up to the sky and brought it down. A blade of light followed her hand. The blade struck the man in the armor, but he barely flinched. Instead, he lifted his hand, and an orb of black fire hurled itself at Ara' Sei. She screamed as the flames hit her shoulder, leaving a massive burn mark in her left shoulder.

       The man in the armor kept his hand lifted, and ethereal shadow began to drip from it. Ara' Sei screamed as the burnt flesh began to fall off her as it withered away.

       Cedric's eyes focused on the man with fury. He clasped his hands and muttered an incantation that radiated anger. The armor upon the scaled man began to glow red hot and he gritted his teeth as his own armor burned him.

       Zerai stepped forward and held his sword near him, muttering a prayer. Radiant flames burst around the armored scaled man. But, the flames showed no effect, and the man smiled.

       "Oh, I see many of you possess magical capabilities. Hmmm, difficult to control, but I can find a use for you." His voice slithered uncomfortably into the party's ears, an omen of what was to come if they lost this battle. The warriors and archers began their assault. Two warriors collapsed onto Eris. Two more collapsed onto Zerai. An arrow was loosed at Eris, and one was loosed at Zerai. Two more were loosed upon a gravely injured Ara' Sei.

       The first hit onto Eris barely grazed them, but a stinging pain exploded through their arm. The second struck them across the stomach, not going far in, but a lot of crimson sprayed across the barren metal walls of the prison. Eris then felt an arrow dig into their shoulder. Their vision was beginning to go blurry from the pain.

       Zerai felt one slash from a blade, sending pain pulsing through him. Then a second explosion of pain rocked through him. In a burst of fury Zerai's blade ignited with white radiant flames, and he brought it upwards in an arc upon one of his attackers. The strike completely bisected his attacker, leaving two scorching halves to clang on the metal floor. Zerai felt an arrow plunge an inch or two into his back, and he grunted with pain and frustration.

       Ara' Sei sidestepped the first arrow so that it only grazed her arm. The second planted itself in her upper leg. Thankfully, she was prepared, and so was able to keep the arrow from hitting anywhere vital. But, she could hardly stand, and with her flesh falling off of her she knew she wouldn't be able to heal herself at the moment.

       "Oh, this isn't good." Ella whispered before charging full force at the man in armor. First, she brought her blade in a horizontal swing towards the man's stomach. While he was focused on his magic, he was unprepared for the sheer force of the sharp blade slamming several inches into his side. He was able to graze her next strike off of his armor. Ella used the momentum of the futile strike to bring her blade around again in an upwards arc. But the man's armor was well made, and it was easy to graze strikes off of it. Ella grasped her blade and focused, bringing the blade down, finally hitting him directly again.

       However, the man's hand now pointed towards Ella, and dark flames fired from his hand. However, Ella had seen it happen to Ara' Sei, and was able to duck out of the way, avoiding a great deal of the flames' heat.

       Eris ducked back from the combatants they were fighting. Instead, they looked around and saw Ella fighting the armored man. Eris took their other shining, magical dagger, and flung it at the armored man. The man clearly wasn't prepared for the hit, and he flinched, his eyes now darting around in panic.

       Ara' Sei raised her hand towards the man, letting the fire build within her hand. Then, a flaming spear hurled towards the man. But, his armor absorbed the blow, despite being red hot itself. The man gritted his teeth.

       "Huh, you think you're close to killing me, don't you." He said, pulling the dagger out of his side. His wounds began to close as dark energy surrounded him. Ella felt her muscles seize up, and no matter how hard she fought against it she couldn't move her limbs. A sense of dread fell over, as Ella was rendered helpless.