"Aurialis, They are coming!" Gidia shouted from the pavilion overhanging the stone armory. Aurialis quickly finished tightening her breastplate and turned to face her army. Aurialis, though small, was a fierce and wise fighter and definitely the best fit to lead Briar, the beautiful town they had built up from the dust. "Today we will win. We will defend our town. We will protect the future generations. We outnumber them two to one and we have our powers even though we are not allowed to speak of the abilities that we hold" Aurialis flashed a sorry smile over at Commander Anatole, one of her best commanders, the brother of her beloved Darien and the only one over the age of sixteen not to go through the altering, leaving him powerless.His gray eyes roughened as he ran a hand through his shock of pale blonde hair, scowled and glanced over his shoulder at his brother, Commander Darien. Darien was tall, towering over the height of Aurialis. She had met Darien on her first scouting mission and his amber eyes had struck her like a brick. The way he stared, it was almost like he was reading you. They had been practically inseparable since. Darien and Anatole had been the first she had told about this coming invasion of the clan from the west and they had been preparing for months. Aurialis was entirely confident that Briar would win as Briar had their powers on our side and the West clan had what? Wooden sticks?
Aurialis turned towards Darien and gestured him forwards. Darien approached the platform she had made out of vines and saplings using her powers earlier that day. "Aura is right, we can win this. Everybody knows the formation plan and has practiced utilizing their powers" The crowd murmured and gave a collective nod. Darien grinned and shook his dark brown hair forward, shagging into his eyes. Aurialis stepped forwards and swept the hair away. Darien slung an arm over her shoulder and turned back to the now silent crowd. "We have another announcement" Darien proclaimed "Aura and I will be getting married in a couple months after this battle". At this the crowd erupted in applause. Darien stroked his Auras auburn hair and looked around for his brother's face but could not spot him in the vibrating crowd. Aurialis waved her hand for silence and that's when the war horn sounded.
All of Briar was poised for battle as the dark mass came surging towards them. They were larger than predicted but they could still take them. That's when the first gunshot rang out. One of the front line women fell to the ground motionless. Darien felt a shiver of fear tingle down his spine as he glanced down at Auras stricken face. The first woman down was her older cousin Layura and then was when Aurialis knew, all of Briar may fall.
The war raged all around her. Aurialis fought savagely and threw her current opponent to the ground. All of a sudden, the West clan retreated and gathered into a hoard. Aurialis looked around confused back at the rest of Briar. Then the West clan parted and a figure could be seen slowly approaching. Mouths dropped as Anatole stepped out of the midst of the hoard holding a staff made of pure labradorite. He stopped 5 paces away from Aurialis. "Anatole,what are you doing?" a voice rang out from the midst of Briar. It was Darien. He took a small step forwards, waiting for Anatole to reply. Anatole acknowledged him with a dip of his head causing his slicked back hair to fall forwards. "I have gathered an army, I have made weapons fit to defeat Briar. I am no longer the powerless commander overlooked in the depths of your broken army. I think you will find that I hold the power here" He shot Aurialis, the charming grin that looked so pleasant on his brother's face but now made her cold with dread. "Briar is dead". Aurialis stepped towards him "We are not dead, We will fight, We will never die" Anatole smirked " I expect you will" With that he raised his staff and pointed the tip at Aurialis. He flicked a small switch close to the top of the staff and something gray, shiny and fast flew fleetingly past everyone's eyes and impaling itself in Aurialis's chest. "Aura!!!" Darien shrieked from somewhere in Briar's crowd as the West clan surged forwards and quickly began overpowering the rest of Briar. Anatoles' smile faded as he heard his brother's pained cry. Then he stiffened, this was what needed to happen. He was powerful.