Armageddon

A Terrifying Nightmare

Young Laphicet fluttered his eyes open, and found himself in a beautiful night in Westgand. Within the rural woods, the sounds of nocturnal wildlife could heard, from the frogs singing their hearts out, to the crickets chirping away. The moon shined brightly upon the woods, lighting the way for all life that walk through the night.

The young malak just looked in amazement at all the nighttime fauna. It was different than the day time creatures he was used to, but it was nonetheless fascinating. The fireflies in particular astounded him, with all the little lights glistening like the very stars in the sky.
"Wow!" he said in astonishment. It indeed seemed like a peaceful night.

It was not...

The next thing Phi knew, he was in a small village, which was engulfed by a roaring fire. Buildings had burned down until they were nothing but soot, embers scattered everywhere, and a few village folk were fleeing the ever growing fire.
Phi seemed frightened by the horrible sight. To say that panic ensued would be a gross understatement, as everyone ran like lunatics, running every which direction, not fully knowing where to go even if they left the village.

But the worst was yet to come. Within the fires, Phi could see a dark silhouette of a tall, humanoid figure. This figure then started to glow blood red eyes, accompanied by low growling that was somewhat akin to that of a dragon, yet more otherworldly. The ominous presence then pulled out what appeared to be a sword.

Not wanting to wait around to find out what happened next, Phi ran for dear life . Yet, before he could get very far, something caught his attention. Something that made him completely freeze in place. It was Velvet, laying on the ground, battered and beaten. Worse yet, he saw the monstrous figure lurching toward her, its feet scorching the ground with every step.

"Velvet!" Phi cried out.

Without thinking, Phi rushed over to the battle ravaged therion. On impulse, he nudged her several times, just to see if she's still alive. Merely one eye opened, Velvet struggled to lift her arm and reach out to him.

"Phi..." she weakly said. "Run..." and just like that, she passed out.

There was no time to react. Before Phi knew it, the monstrous figure loomed over them. He still couldn't get a good look, as it's body was covered in shadow. What was certain, however, was that it was a tall and rather bulky creature, with what appeared to be a v-shaped head. Its haunting red eyes were even more ominous up close.

The creature then pulled out its giant, hellish sword. It was black with a red blade edges, and what appeared a to be a mouth with sharp, orange teeth. The sword then opened its mouth, inside of which was what appeared to be a red light.

"No!" Cried Laphicet, standing between the creature and Velvet. "I won't let you hurt her!"
Alas, Phi's chivalry did no good, for the beast swatted him aside. He then looked on in horror as the sword prepared to devour Velvet...
***
"Ahh!" Laphicet yelped, waking up with a shock.
Phi panted rather heavily, still rather alarmed. He took a quick look around, just to see if everything was on fire. To his relief, he was in his cabin, which meant he was still on the Van Eltia. It was merely a nightmare... a pretty vivid one at that.

Unable to sleep, the young malak decided to go outside on deck for a little fresh air. As it just so happened, the skies were clear, and the stars filled the skies. Phi always loved staring into the stars; there was just something so calming and magical about seeing these little specks of light into the night sky, each one a little different from the other.