A Blaze began, an amber goop fell from several of the Dragonkin. It scattered in the air as it fell, spreading among the Zombies at the Western Gate. Corpses started to catch fire, stumbling as they walked, crashing into each other.
The Brown Miasma began to gather into a swirl as the fire progressed, consuming the zombie horde like tinder on a campfire. When the Miasma combined, it created a figure, somewhat translucent in its appearance. It started to flicker and appeared near Gortaw, tearing his throat and entering it. Gortaw's eye sockets started to glow with the rusty brown color of the miasma.
George shot an arrow through the back of Gortaw's head while hoping that it would stop the Miasma creature. When Gortaw's head turned, the arrow stuck from his face, half stuck in and through his brain. It was just a corpse now, animated by the creature; slowly it started to wander the battlefield attacking the melee groups on the ground. The Arrow ever present during its attack.
Fliers were still trying to handle the other three Bicosaurs and their riders. Thirteen of the Zao Clan forces had already died in the air during the Assault, victims of tragic timing. Mike saw the dragonkin being targetted, his heart thumped, a rebounding feeling in his chest. Again. His eyes began to water when he saw Gidget falling. Gidget and Mike were just starting to find the time to see eachother, Mike's sweetheart from afar. He roared when she slammed against the ground.
The Tattoo on his arms spread and it extended to the tip of his tail. He grew a second set of wings, his speed tripled and he disappeared. Reappearing next to the Bicosaur that had knocked Gidget out of the Air, it froze in place, the rider didn't even have the time to finish its retreat command. Mike huffed and disappeared again.
LuSha concentrated on the collapsing field, black fire rained on the battleground. Falling from all angles, the fire remained on top the soil as it landed, limiting ground movement and slowing the enemy advance. Standing beside him, covering from the side, Jiao Jiao occasionally targeted an Orcish fighter with the golden beam.
George sent out a flare arrow to the back, it exploded giving a signal. The Railguns targetting the skies turned to the ground on the flares position. George leapt away as the first salvo began to land in his direction, the firing tore through the stonework of the City Ruins.
At the breach, Wu Hai stood, commanding his troops to move forward. "Contain the Mist Monster, burn it. Advance, regroup." Four thousand of his troops had come along, more than a hundred were dead before they reached the city wall. The Wall of Zombies that had been flooding through the western gate started to slow, unable to overstep the mound of burning bodies that sat in its center. They turned and started to press toward the breach.
"FIRE!" Abbi pointed at the herd of corpses, she helped the Aeroship railguns target and then rejoined Genba.
Mike appeared next to the western gate and froze it over. A block of ice covered the gates entirely, making it impossible to cross. Then he saw Wu Hai leading the charge. 'My Emperor.' his eyes were still wet from watching Gidget plummet.
He flickered and joined Wu Hai in the streets and started sending out purification needles toward the corpses that were rising. Many of them were too damaged to be of use, but an undead enemy was still an undead enemy. They bit and clawed at everything that moved.
"Brother, they grow in number and we've been knocking them down." Mike seemed worried, after watching Gidget fall, he was shaken a bit. "We need to press forward, do you see that tower. Its the only building standing, something tells me that we can find whoever's controlling these undead inside." He warned the Emperor and watched a change in the battleground happen very quickly.
Wu Hai flew up and near the top of the shields, he couldn't risk losing too many of his forces, things would have to resolve quickly if he was going to count the battle as a victory instead of a subjugation. Spreading his arms out, Wu Hai turned himself inside out. His core switched affinities, he became a light elemental and channeled a cutting beam that sliced into the ground like a laser fired from space. He drove it toward the tower, amputating the stonework of the castle and collapsing the tower in on itself.
He didn't stop the beam, instead he intensified it while his forces kept up their pace. Smoke and rubble were drifting into the wind. Dust, burned flesh, atomized bone; So many things had died in the city, now they drifted in the breeze during the battle.
Mike called William down, he had helped take out the first Bicosaur but his interference in the aerial battle had only prolonged the other three fights, they were unable to create an opening. Breathing deeply, he calmed himself, took another deep breath and then yelled. "DRAGON FORCES, AVOID IT!" His channeling was complete. A snowstorm, sharp and filled with needles packed the exterior of the City walls, a rain of needles tore through the sky and into each of the remaining riders.
Two of the three bicosaurs had fallen with their rider, the third flew aimlessly trying to escape. Jiao Jiao appeared next to it, opened his mouth and swallowed. With the sky cleared, a horn sounded from inside the Castle ruins.
Rocks and walls started to fall over, the foundation of the Castle Ruins started to bubble up, a large object was pushing through the stonework. A black tail, larger than the Tower that was still standing earlier had stuck through the floor, then a ridge of spikes appeared and rolled to its front. The floor split in to many pieces and humongous wings began to spread out. It had the same color miasma as outside coming from its mouth.
"WYRM!" Warcries and warnings came out from every direction. The beast was several times larger than the behemoths at the Battle of Zao City. The most complete part of the Wyrm was its set of teeth, followed by its talons and claws, its flesh hung like cut sails from the bone. Dragonscales the size of shields armored its body. It was unable to fully stand so it dug its heels into the Castle Ruins and twisted its head toward the sky.
Wu Hai saw its maw opening, a brown discharge flying in his direction. He avoided it.
LuSha's barrier wavered but held. The falling black fire worked well to dispel the Miasma blasts from the hulking threat.
֍ꟷꟷꟷꟷ֍