Chapter 59

It was clear in the first moments of the battle that Astrid was outclassed. Her assailants worked well together, coordinating their attacks to hammer against her barrier, all the while moving rapidly to surround the swan, cutting off her escape.

They didn’t respond to her question, simply continuing to fire off offensive magic that slammed into her barrier in a display of overwhelming strength, while two of their front-line fighters swiftly closed in on her.

Astrid didn’t have much experience in actual combat. Before her test with the guild, she had only sparred or participated in mock battles under her tutors’ watchful eyes.

This was a life-or-death battle, she could see the intent to kill her in every action her opponents took.

The barrier finally buckled and collapsed, just as a young man and woman, riding a matching pair of griffins, dived in close. The young man wielded a long, two-handed sword, while the young woman had a whip, with an end that split into three parts, each topped with a spiky barb.

In the moment her shield failed, Astrid screamed in terror as the first griffin reared in front of Marali, slashing towards the swan’s neck with its claws. Reacting on instinct, Astrid channeled mana into a talisman that was hung around her neck.

Another one of her mother’s powerful magical items, the talisman activated, and in a flash of light, the swan and its rider disappeared, only to reappear instantly, hundreds of feet away.

The swan didn’t hesitate as it dived towards the sand, using its superior speed to escape its pursuers, Astrid clung on to her saddle desperately, to keep from falling as the wind rushed pass her face.

“She’s getting away!” The griffin riding young man yelled, pulling his mounts reins, urging it to chase the swan once more.

“So loud.” The hooded man, Andras, said. He shook his head at the young man’s actions, before directing his mana into a spell matrix.

“Erupting Earth!” Andras yelled, the spell matrix discharging in a flash of light.

The swan was low to the ground, its wings outstretched as it used the heat coming from the ground to keep it aloft and moving quickly. Once the spell matrix completed, the desert in front of the swan erupted in a geyser of black sand and white salt.

The swan didn’t have a chance to avoid it and it slammed heavily into the fountain of sand shooting up from the ground. Its body folded in on itself as the impact knocked it from the sky, falling to the ground. It rolled for across the sand, until its body was buried in a sand dune.

Astrid was knocked off the swan as soon as it was struck, tumbling downwards as the swan was batted towards the ground by the force of the collision.

Pulling mana from her core, she funneled it into her boots, the magic item activating. Her momentum slowed and she slowly righted herself. Floating in the air, she scanned the ground below for her fallen companion.

“Marali!” She screamed. She spotted the white figure, half buried in black sand and not moving. She urged the magic to carry her towards the swan, when a shadow fell across her from behind. Spinning, she had a moment of awareness of the attacking Griffin, before the best slammed into her, knocking her backwards through the air.

“That’s enough!” Astrid yelled, her magical boots of flying righted her body again. She saw the griffin banking around for another attack, its rider’s sword drawn and eager to strike.

She was furious. The unprovoked attack had injured Marali, maybe even killed her…her only friend!

Astrid pulled out a handful of talismans, heavy, coin like metal items that were engraved with runes. She filled them with mana, waiting for the Griffin to close. The talismans grew warmer in her hands as they filled with power, until they were scorching hot, burning her hand.

The griffin was close again, its claws outstretch while its rider, the young man, leaned forward, his sword already lifted to slash at her, when she hurled the talismans at the pair. Not waiting, she cut the mana to her boots, allowing herself to plummet towards the ground.

The half dozen small talismans sailed through the air, the magic within them destabilizing as soon as they left her hand.

Disregarding the small objects, the griffin was about to turn and attack the falling woman, when the talismans detonated.

The explosions filled the sky with fire, the light blinding the other attackers as they were approaching. The powerful shockwave blew Astrid backwards, momentarily halting her fall while she was blasted away, before gravity once again took hold.

The griffin and its rider only had time to see a flash of light, before the fire washed over them, the shockwave shredding the pair to pieces, while the intense heat and flames burned their remains to ash.

Astrid reactivated her boots, landing gently on the ground, while she looked at the sky. Through a haze of smoke, blowing sands and ash, she saw nothing, but a few charred remains fall out of the sky, hitting the ground and sending up a spray of sand.

She was stunned, staring at the dissipating explosion as the realization that she had just killed someone took hold. Shaking, she sank to her knees, before vomiting onto the sand.

Wiping her mouth, she was about to stand when a scream filled the air. Looking up, she saw the other griffin swooping down towards her. The young woman riding it had a look of murderous rage on her face as she swung her whip.

Before Astrid could do anything, Marali barreled into the pair, a white blue that slammed into the side of the Griffin, raking its body with its sharp claws. The young woman was knocked off her mount, and Astrid could see the shock on her face, before she slammed into the ground.

The pair of beasts were locked together, biting, and clawing at each other as they struck the sands below, rolling as they fought.

Astrid was about to run forward when another opponent blocked her path. Another young man, this one heavily armored, leapt from a small, flying ship that hovered just off the ground. He landed in the sand, his weight burying him up to his knees as he staggered for a moment.

She scrambled backwards, seeking to move around him to help Marali, when the man gave a frustrated shout. A vortex of mana erupted from him while he forced power into his limbs. In a single leap with his mana enhanced legs, he had freed himself from the sands and was sprinting towards her.

Terrified, she reached into her bag, pulling out the first item she found. Not even looking at it, she channeled mana into the magical item, before hurling it at her opponent.

It was a small, black crystal. Filled with her energy, the fragile magical item pulsed faintly with light, as it sailed through the air, tumbling end of end, before striking the sand. It shattered the moment it made contact, and a wave of power exploded from it, knocking both Astrid and the armored man off their feet.

Landing on her back on the soft, black sand, she was confused for a moment when the ground shook.

“You gods damned fool!” A voice screamed from up in the air.

Dazed, Astrid turned her head to see a hooded man standing atop a large eagle, its flapping wings keeping him aloft.

“We need to leave, now! Every Wyrm within a hundred miles will have felt that!” Andras yelled, as the armored man picked himself off the ground. Astrid saw the look of horror on the man’s face as he leapt back in his flying boat, before it shot into the sky.

The rumbling beneath the ground grew more intense, and Astrid had trouble getting back on her feet.

“Marali!” She yelled. The Swan and the Griffon broke apart, ending their fight without a winner.

Marali pushed off the ground, her wings carrying her only a few feet above the ground before she snagged Astrid in her claws, furiously flapping her wings to gain height.

The griffin was about to give chase, when a voice yelling from the ground caught its attention. The woman wielding the whip was standing on the sand, waving her arms, and yelling. It turned its enraged gaze away from the swan, leaping into the air and moving towards its master.

It almost made it, when the ground burst open, a massive, scaled head emerging from the sand. Astrid had a final look at the woman’s confused face, just as the large jaws closed around her, swallowing her whole.