The time was now or never. They could not use the element of surprise as she was sure Eltarr had felt her coming from a mile away. She looked below her as the teams all got into place. Prince Caspian led the group that would travel by water, his people rode upon sharks and dolphins looking majestic yet strong. Prince Kieran, Prince Thadeous, and Prince Alaric were stationed at different bridges splitting the remaining ones between them. Kieran was in wolf form as were most of his people and they looked fierce, ready to tear their enemies limb from limb. Alaric was cold-looking, his eyes like daggers as they stared off to where the enemy lay, and Thadeous, the usual jokester had a serious look that she had never seen on his face before. It was unnatural and she found herself hoping that once this was over he would be able to return to his joking manner...she hoped everyone could go back to how they were before but she knew that was wishful thinking. Today people would die. Friends would be separated, mothers and fathers are taken from their children, and children taken from their parents. If they were lucky the casualties would be few...but if they lost then those that died today would not matter as everyone would follow soon after.
Tearing her eyes away from those below her Morgianna looked around her at those that would fly in with her. Fafnir and his brothers were each in charge of one side. Fafnir took the North with her and Myra, the latter being on his back ready to guard from behind with her life. Faust took the East with Prince Gabriel, and even from this distance Morgianna could see his magnificent wings and remember the night that they flew together. On the Westside was Fergus and Zephyr, the griffon and dragon immediately becoming friends with their similar personalities. Then lastly on the Southside was Finian, Prince Alistar, and Alnwick. With Finian not being the most proficient fighter he would mainly be a strategist from afar but still, Morgianna worried that he would find himself in a situation his mind could not help him escape from.
Everyone was on edge and ready to start the fight, it was now or never. Raising her arm above her head Morgianna used the flare gun she had created just for today. One after another shots rang out as red-colored the sky.
...
It was an all-out slaughter on both sides.
Morgianna felt her heart lurch into her throat each time she saw one of her own falling at the hands of the shadow puppets. Sure they took down just as many puppets, but at the end of the day that was all they were, puppets. The culprit behind this whole mess had still eluded Morgianna and her friends as if mocking them for even trying to find him. "Show yourself you coward!" Morgianna screamed until her throat felt like it could take no more. She was losing her mind as she watched friends lay broken and bloodied below her. The fight was all around her and she moved almost as if on autopilot letting her scythe mow down any shadow that even so much as twitched in her direction as her eyes fervently searched for the one that would end it all.
"I am where we first met." The voice was but a whisper in her ear, there one moment and gone the next but she knew it was him. Eltarr had finally given her a direction to head in and she wouldn't waste another moment.
...
The cliff was quiet and barren, except for a lone cloaked figure that looked as if he had been seeped in darkness and left to marinate for a million years. The smile on his face was bone-chilling and promised that what was to come was going to hurt. "On this very cliff I asked you to join me once before. This is your last chance, if you join me now I will let you live and once this world is purged I will help you create new toys to play with. They will bow at our feet and worship us as they always should have. These ungrateful beings do not deserve the air that they are breathing." Eltarr took a step forward and the ground below him shook as if he were a giant.
Morgianna felt the rumbling beneath her but her feet stood firm. "My answer was no then and it is no now. I will fight you until my last breath because the people you see as wastes are my friends and family. They are the people that make this world good. Sure there are those that are bad, but not enough for the whole world to be destroyed!" Morgianna gritted her teeth and raised her scythe ready for him to attack, and he did not disappoint.
The force in which he pushed off the ground to fly at her left a crater in the ground. In his hands a sword materialized, its entirety was black from hilt to tip. As their weapons clashed Morgianna got her first look at his face and was stunned. It was true what they say about gods and goddesses being beautiful. If she had not heard his voice she almost would have believed him to be a woman. "I do not know why you fight so hard for them, surely you know that today you will die yet you still fight me at every turn!" His eyes that were violet stared at her at this close range and Morgianna almost wavered. They were magnetic drawing her into their depths.
She would have surrendered right there if another voice did not intrude into her thoughts. 'He wants you to surrender because he fears you. He is not as powerful as he once was and he knows that. We cannot help you with our powers, but we are right behind you.'
Her grandmother's words rang through her head and gave her newfound strength. If he really was as powerful as he was making himself out to be then he would not want her as an ally, he would want to end her just as he is doing to everyone else. "I fight you because what you are doing is wrong. It was wrong years ago and it is wrong now." Pulling strength from the well within her Morgianna pushed, surprising herself when Eltarr was forced to take a step back.
His face was black with anger. He wanted her to hurt, to feel the despair of losing everything. A smile crept onto his face as he thought of ways to make her beg. The people that were fighting his puppets were her weakness and he would slash at that weakness until it exposed her weak heart. With a snap of his finger a portal appeared showing the academy grounds and the carnage that had been wreaked upon it. Morgianna immediately saw familiar faces and wanted to go to them but between her and the portal was a gloating god. "Then fight me until you can fight no more...the question is will you fall first or them?" With those words he stepped through the portal closing it behind him before Morgianna could even take a step forward.
With thoughts of what he would do to those she cared about circling through her mind, Morgianna shot into the sky. She pushed her body to go faster, the trees below her nothing but a blur as she arrived within seconds at the academy grounds. It was easy to spot Eltarr, he was a spot of black in the middle of a sea of red. In his hands was a member of the guild that she had spoken to a few times. The man's eyes locked on her in a silent plea to save him but she could tell by the sadistic smile on Eltarr's face that she was about to see something awful. As if he were ripping a sheet of paper Eltarr pulled the man apart never taking his eyes off of her. He must have seen the flinch that she tried to hide because his smile grew wider, emitting a feral feeling.
Shouts can be heard all around but Morgianna can't take her eyes off the grisly scene in front of her. The man's face looking at her with hopes when she arrived only for it to turn into a look of pain before falling slack. "Tell me girl, do you still feel like you can save them?" His voice was spoken so gently yet she heard the words like thunder in her ears. Without even telling her body to move she was flying at him in a pit of rage. He knew why she was fighting, what gave her to motivation to raise a hand against him and he purposely provoked her. He wanted her to lose sight of her surroundings, to fight like there wouldn't be a tomorrow. For her and for him there might as well not be.
Fafnir had seen Morgianna fly past him and not even glance in his direction so he had long since sent out a message to the rest of their group to gather everyone and head to his location. He watched unable to do anything to shield her eyes as that man was killed in front of her and helpless to stop her when she flew into a frenzied attack. His words were not reaching her in her mind or if he screamed at her. He was soon joined by their comrades and they all watched for an opening so that they could jump in and help her.
"What do we do? It is like she doesn't even feel the cuts he is putting on her." Myra was biting her sharp nails as she looked at Morgianna and Eltarr as they danced around slashing at one another in a deadly show. One had a joyous smile on his face while the other looked like even chopping him into pieces would be too nice of an outcome for him.
Fafnir shook his head as he slashed his claws into a shadow puppet that got too close for comfort. He wanted to save Morgianna more than anything but they couldn't attack carelessly. "For now we watch our backs and when an opening appears we take it." It seemed that the longer Morgianna and Eltarr fought the more the shadow puppets seemed to gravitate to their location. It was taking all they had to keep them away from Morgianna so that she could focus on her fight.
...
The fight seemed never-ending... Both sides on their last legs. For Eltarr and his pups the numbers were dwindling down. Morgianna and her friends were tired though. The nonstop use of their magic had put a strain on their bodies and they were slowing down.
Eltarr had been wanting to end this quickly but had underestimated Morgianna and her friends. Seeing that he did not have many shadow puppets left he growled his frustration and jumped back from Morgianna. This whole time they had been fighting in close combat but for what he intended to do he needed space.
Morgianna was panting, her hands stinging with blisters that formed from the constant swing of her scythe. From her short distance away she eyed him warily expecting him to go right back into the fight but was surprised when instead of attacking her he formed a shield around himself.
Darkness started to swirl inside of his bubble until he was completely engulfed. She couldn't even make out his silhouette as it picked up speed. Then slowly all of the remaining puppets dissolved turning into a murky mist that floated towards the bubble and seeped inside. They couldn't stop it the mist slinking past them even when they tried to disrupt it.
Morgianna moved forward hoping to strike the bubble and stop whatever it was that he was trying to do. However, the moment her scythe made contact she was blown back hitting the ground and tumbling until she saw stars.
Morgianna was tired. She wanted to close her eyes and let the pain just stop. Her limbs felt like they were being held down. The ground becoming the softest bed she had ever laid her head upon. She found her thoughts scattering and not able to focus on any one thing, she was drifting in a sea of warmth and calm.
"Wake up! If you don't they are all going to die."
'Who is that? They sound familiar..."
"He is too powerful for them! I told you I didn't want to have to carry your friend's souls away if I didn't have to...please just get up!" The voice sounded sad to her ears.
She didn't want to get up, then she would have to hurt again...
"Please..."
It was such a heart-stopping plea that Morgianna could not help but open her eyes. As they landed on Death all of her thoughts focused on what he was saying. A quick survey around showed all of her friends attacking what could only be described as a monster...but even with all of their combined effort they were being batted away with ease. The creature was toying with them, enjoying their cries of pain as it sent them flying.
She knew they wouldn't stop. Knew that they would all fight to the bitter end just as she was prepared to do. She looked at Death and knew that this was the moment that her time had been ticking down too.
"Stop!" Her voice was hoarse but did the trick as all eyes turned to her. Even Eltarr in his beastly form seemed shocked to see her on her own two feet. She looked around as a tear slid down her face. "I am sorry." With those words she threw her friends with her wind magic until they were but specs in her vision and then froze time.
"Your time magic has no effect on me." Eltarr's voice had become nothing more than a growl. "You shouldn't have sent your help away, maybe then you would have survived a little longer." He gave a dark chuckle as he stood to his full height towering over even the remnants of the buildings.
She turned her face up to him and he felt a chill run down his spine. Instead of the fear and despair that he was sure she would be wallowing in she was smiling. "That is where you are right, but I don't think I was going to survive either way. At least this way they can."
Morgianna straightened her spine until she stood at her full height. Compared to him she was but a speck of dust, but for some reason he was the one who felt small. "Animam tuam"
Eltarr felt his heart begin thumping rapidly. "Let's not do anything rash... Those are some harsh words.."
He didn't even get to finish his sentence when Morgianna let the last word roll off her tongue. "praedo"
It was the same words she had spoken to Fernheim when she first met Alnwick and Myra but this time she knew what she was doing. Soul Destroyer was not something to be used lightly and she had only survived before because of her grandmother... She knew she would not be so lucky this time.
Eltarr roar slowly turned into a screech as his body slowly shrank into his humanoid form. His body was spasming as he rolled around on the ground. His end was near and that was all that mattered. To be honest Morgianna was not even sure if it would work on him but she figured he was at his weakest so if it worked at all it would have to be now.
She felt blood start to drip from her nose and lifted her hand unconsciously. The action did not even seem like she was the one doing it. As she pulled her hand away to see the blood she was shocked to see her own skin cracking like a porcelain doll. A sad smile started to form on her lips.
"Morgiannnnnnnaaaa!" She wanted to turn her head toward the voices but her head was growing fuzzy. Sounds were blurring together and her knees buckled. Before she could hit the ground arms wrapped around her and gently lowered her. She couldn't even see who it was anymore but she would recognize his hold anywhere.
With what little strength she had left she raised her bloodied hand to touch his face one last time and felt the tears dripping onto her. "Fafnir don't cry, I knew this would happen." She cast her unseeing gaze around to everyone around her. She couldn't tell exactly who they were but she had an idea. "I don't want any of you all to be sad because it was my wish to save you all." She gave a small smile and gently closed her eyes.
"Did you think I would say thank you for dying on me!" A lone voice wailed, his voice almost louder than all the others combined. All around Morgianna were screams and tears as they watched her chest stop rising and falling with her last breath. She had given up so much, and in the end even sacrificed her life.
Amongst all who were crying one stood off to the side his fist clenched angrily as he stared at her. The tears in his eyes wanted to fall but he blinked them away as he stormed off. His thoughts were a mess and he was confused. 'We had a life pact.. So why did you leave me behind.' Alnwick only let his tears fall once the school was far behind him.