Bodies and blue blood

Aurelia

There were bodies everywhere. The ground was a mixture of blood, flesh and mud. The road we had come in on was a straight shot through the market. At the other end of the road stood frightening creatures. There were a few that I could see that looked differently. Some were made up completely of water, others were made up of green and black kelp. I didn’t know how to accurately describe the forms they took.

“Dark magic.” Saira said from my flank. Fear and wonder filled her eyes.

“We are too late.” I was devastated. The dead continued to pile up around me.

“What are we going to do?” She didn’t know how to defeat them yet. It was up to me and Kairios for now. I had to trust that she would come up with some great idea.

“We kill them all. Retreat to the generals, Kairios might be able to use his magic over them.” We had to move fast, the longer this lasted, the more the body count would grow.

I climbed off Scorch and started to pull off my weapons and armor. I would have to do this in my other form, protected by scales and airborne. “Go with her.” I said to Scorch. “Keep her safe.” She dug at the mud, annoyed that I was leaving her.

I walked out alone and stood before them, our enemy. I would show no fear, no restraint. I would be the guiding light. Fire filled my belly and my veins. My bones started to stretch and break, skin burned away and grew red and black scales. Heavy and powerful wings and a tail added weight to my back. My nails turned to claws and I dug them deep into the mud.

I breathed in deep, filling my lungs with the air that I needed, and let loose a loud battle cry. Then immediately launched into the skies. I had to make sure that none of the water hit me. I did a wide circle to try and assess the amount of, soldiers, if that was what they could be called. I took a deep breath in, let it heat up and released.

I was high enough up that when the fire hit the ground it spread wide and blocked the area from view. Bracing my back muscles, I flapped my wings hard. A few beats and I was climbing through the sky. Rain sprinkled my eyes, blurring my vision. I had to blink a few times to try and clear them. They cleared just in time to see large streak of water coming right at me.

There was just enough time to tuck my wings in and roll to the side! I could feel the mist that came off the jet as it passed by my scales. It stung but I was unharmed. I had to pay better attention, had to do this smarter. Attacking straight on would be useless.

With so many of them there had to be a chain of command. I did another sweep of the front lines and saw my own forces getting ready. Kairios and Saira stood before a wall of shields and spears at the ready. The worry I felt for both of them being so exposed was consuming. But I had to remember that we all had responsibilities, we were all at risk.

I had to turn my focus back to the enemy. Now that I looked at them with a new light, I noticed something. There was a center to it all. I searched and searched, until I saw what I was looking for. From what I could see at this height, there was a large fountain in the middle. Sitting inside of it was a giant creature. I had never seen such a sea monster before.

Great long legs stuck out from all sides. They moved as if they had minds of their own. The creature’s head was in the middle of the fountain, sitting at the center of all those freakish legs. Half human, half monster. The face and upper body were a mixture of these features. Grey like the stone it sat in, I had to swoop in to get a better look.

I would have to hit it right the first time. To make a small diversion so they wouldn’t know what I was doing, I blasted some of the kelp demons that had been grouped together and climbed high once more. The front lines had come together and the sounds of weapons and screams filled the rain sodden air.

I did some more passes, randomly hitting the front, back and near the middle. I needed to be unpredictable. I had to get ready, needed the hottest fire I could manage and then I would need to get close. Putting myself in danger was the only way to make this work. A few more passes and I saw my moment. Kairios had blocked a wave and redirected it back towards the middle.

The water rose high and I hid behind it. I focused all I had into getting as hot as possible. It was starting to get so hot that even I started to hurt from it. This was it, it had to be! The wave started to dissipate and I knew I had to be close. I beat my wings hard a few more times, then tucked them close and turned myself into a spear.

I had never gone so fast in my life. The wind and rain stung my eyes but I forced them to stay open and on my target. It saw me but it was too late. I let it all go! Please work! I was so close and so focused by the time I struck my wings out and tried to climb through the air, I was hit.

The water was freezing! I couldn’t feel my tail, but at least it hadn't changed back. The pain was so intense that my eyes watered. When I looked back, there was ice forming on the spikes. I had to keep my mind on the fight and looked at the long-legged demon, it was still alive!

I had failed! How was that possible. It was so hot! I was sure that I had aimed right on target...

When I looked closer, I saw that it was seriously hurt. Some of its legs were laying on the ground and dark blue blood started to fill the fountains water. And one of the human-like arms was missing and dripping blue blood from the stump. Once more, one more time and I will be able to finish it off.

The only problem now was that lines of the other demons started to swarm around it, protecting it from me. They would have to be drawn out somehow. Using that much energy to heat up like that, I would only be able to do it once more before running out of energy completely.

I circled back towards Saira and Kairios. They fought together like the perfect pair. I swooped down and changed just before landing next to them.

“We need to draw them out!” I yelled to them. “They have a leader. I tried to kill it but I think it used some kind of shield at the last second. If I hit it once more then it will be finished.”

I knew I stood before them naked, Saira looked at me. But Kairios would not. Nothing I could do about that right now.

“I saw that water hit you and start to freeze. Are you okay?” Saira was worried, ready to heal me if I needed.

“I’m fine. What do we do?” There was no time to waste.

She pulled out her crystal ball. “We try a combo attack. Stay human but use your fire. I will infuse my magic into it and see if I can control it.”

I nodded my head and faced the fight again. I had to ready myself. Changing only parts of me was a lot harder and took more control than letting the shift take full control of my body. I only let my throat change and my belly. I could feel the flame building there, focused my energy there. I braced myself and signaled that I was ready.

I breathed out hard and let the fire free from me. It shot out with a fury and was wrapped around with white light. Crystal ball in one hand and the other held out controlling the wave of fire and light. I was amazed by her ability to cast such power! I changed back into my scaled and winged self and took to the wet skies.

I watched from the sky as the fire and magic burned through the water demons. Some turned to steam, others cooked and curled up like dead fish. I added small bursts of flame where I could and watched as the lines descended into chaos. I started to prepare once more for my attack. I put every ounce of my energy into it. It was all or nothing.

There would be no distraction to hide behind this time. I just had to hope that they wouldn’t see me. I climbed high into the cloud cover when I knew I was over my target. The added height should help strengthen my attack. The heat was intense, I knew I couldn’t stand it any longer. I angled my body, beat my wings as hard as I could and shot like an arrow.

When I broke through the cloud cover, I tucked my wings again close to my body. I was close, it was time. I released it all and knew that this time had to work. I kept my eyes on him needing to see everything this time. Needed to make sure that no other shield could be put in place. A few of them tried to defend the leader from the fire but they were to slow.

I saw the fire hit it full force, watched as more of its legs got blasted off and blue blood sprayed everywhere. I had done it. There was no way that I could defend against the other attacks that hit me. The water was freezing cold, so cold that it burned in a way. I tried to dodge where I could but I got hit in too many places.

The change started to come before I was ready, I was going to hit the ground in the middle of them and I would be alone and unarmed. All my focus had to go into staying in the air, my wing had to be the last thing that changed back. So close, I was so close to them. But the weight disappeared from my back and started to fall. The ground came rushing up and I covered my face with my arms.

The impact was so hard that I bounced of the mud and skidded a long way before I stopped. I couldn’t move everything hurt so bad. Was I close enough? Would they be able to save me in time? I could hear two different sounds coming my way. One side was the pounding of feet through mud. The other side sounded like the waves of the ocean.

“Aurelia!” A familiar voice called to me.

It gave me the strength to open my eyes just as a green demon was on top of me. Its mouth was open wide and inches away from my face. My arms trembled as they tried to fight back against it. It was covered in slime and my hands slipped all over. The open mouth that smelled of decay came closer and closer. I couldn’t help the terrified scream that escaped me.

I closed my eyes and turned my face away as much as I could. I didn’t see who saved me, but I knew I was saved as soon as the weight was gone. I blinked away the rain, mud and fear and looked around for Saira or Kairios, but only saw the tall and strong body of a familiar voice.

“Galorian....” He was here. He saved me. And he stood before me with a smirk on his face and a hand outstretched to me.

“My beautiful Queen.” I smiled in return.