Void Fight - pt 1

What should have been a clear, sunny day was filled with darkness, dread, and unease. All above Colsentia, a dark cloud had began to grow - a portal from the dimension of the void. Today it was at its greatest, nearly covering the entire sky and shooting out anticipatory sparks of electricity. The invasion of the void was imminent, and the stelciar had gathered in a field to fight for their home.

One of these stelciar was Ky’Ria, a young girl heralding from the beachy shores. Like so many others, she had answered the call to arms, and arrived to a crowd of more stelciar than she had ever seen before. Their glowing flames lit up the sky as the void cloud plunged the rest of the land into darkness. One such flame burned brighter than the rest and swirled with many colors, so Ky’Ria headed towards it with victory in her mind.

When she approached, she was taken aback by a flurry of wings. This stelciar had massive seraph wings and an empowering aura, and was handing out bows to others who darted up and away across the battlefield. Despite her clear disdain towards her attackers, she had a positive attitude and rallying demeanor; the mark of a good leader. Ky’Ria shook herself and came forward, asking, “Who are you?”

“I’m Nikki,” the stelciar with six gleaming wings said. “I make all of these bows and arrows myself using magic heartwood trees - it’s about time I get to use them for a real fight.” She fluttered her wings, calling over other stelciar to grab weapons for themselves. Above them, lightning crackled at its loudest and the dark cloud of the void emitted a strange hum, as if the interdimensional soldiers were readying to fight as well.

“If we use our ranged weapons, we may be able to hold them back! It will buy us time to get the kits and phosray to safety.” Nikki took a bow for herself and fiddled with the string as if she were anticipating her first shot. She spread her wings wide to make herself seem larger and glared up at the sky with a determined anger.

Ky’Ria took a bow of her own, letting its wooden riser settle comfortably into her paws. A few embedded gemstones shone in the last rays of the sun and powered a magical thrum of energy pulsing through the hilt, and a sturdy string stood taut and ready for its arrow. Quivers of arrows standing at the ready were decorated with colorful feathers and gemstone arrowheads, a stark contrast to their inky void enemy rapidly clouding the sky.

Out of the dark cloud, a few wispy tendrils took form with hideous eyes and limbs and jaws. Things that looked like dogs and horses with too many legs began to barrel from the sky towards the fighters gathered below. Everyone stood tense and ready, until Nikki drew back her bow and finally shouted… 

“FIGHT!”

A war cry erupted from the crowd and arrows began to fly. Nikki’s first shot was a direct hit, piercing one void creature right in the eye and causing it to dissipate into black dust. After a moment, Ky’Ria took a shot of her own and watched the arrow bury itself right into the chest of another creature. It poofed with a howl, but right as it disappeared, two more took its place and kept spiraling towards the ground with goopy mouths agape.

The stelciar rallied and began the fight with the dark sky itself. As void creatures rained down from the clouds above, waves of colorful arrows fought back the incoming line. They came down relentlessly, each one looking more mutated and frightening than the last, but Nikki’s directions and Ky’Ria’s assistance with her team of defenders kept them repelled for the time being.

Yet despite the team of archers taking down many of the small void soldiers, it seemed like they’d never stop. They were slowly but surely gaining sky area and almost making it to the ground before an arrow turned it to dust; it was clear that the next stage of the strategy would need to begin, and fast. As if reading her mind, Nikki cried out to all those who could hear, “We can’t hold them back forever!”

Ky’Ria readied the last arrow from her quiver, this one with a brilliant emerald arrowhead and lime green feathers. She sent it towards one void creature whose multitude of limbs and just begun to scratch the ground, and it shrieked before disappearing. She turned towards her and shouted back, “What do we do?”

“You must go,” Nikki panted, “and find somewhere safe for yourself and others. As soon as these things make it onto the ground, all of our forces will be scattered, and we’ll have to fight paw to claw. I’m a good shot and I’ll be able to handle myself, but you’ll need to get something you can help yourself with.” She took a glance away from her target and gave Ky’Ria a steely, determined look of urgency that she couldn’t protest.

Ky’Ria nodded and spread her wings. “I’ll try to distract some away from the ground forces. Take my bow - you’ll have better use for it than I will out here.” She slid her bow back towards its owner, feeling its magic fade within her and refill with her own adrenaline. “You’ve got this!” With a parting nod, she took to the sky, ready more than ever to fight for her home.