Kaia the Argent Wing

I leapt forward, wings straining to bring the point of my axe down through the thorax of another scorpion.

“Burn the houses!” I shouted back to my comrades. “Let us lay waste to this nest of evil!”

Yet again, I spoke like some old timey warrior in a movie. It was weird as hell, but that was just how I started thinking when I was getting really crazy in combat as Silver. Like, somehow my own personality and intentions were put through an angelic filter that strictly adhered to what I wanted, but just… spiced it up a little. Whatever I might think of it, it worked to rally the Edgewood and Bandon fighters after that giant bird-bug thing had stunned them all with its ugly face. The scorpions were taking a beating.

As I ripped the axe free, I glanced back to make sure, and yes, my allies were rushing the houses, determination in their eyes.

Another avian abomination turned the corner at the end of the street, and I was forced to leave them to it while I turned my attention to the enemy. This one looked way tougher. Its eyes held a feral intelligence that the other had lacked, and it had so much more bulk to its carapaced limbs. Its teeth also looked like they were fusing at the base, like they were forming an actual beak.

Claws gouged the pavement as it rushed forward, churning away the trail of saliva that dripped from between its mismatched teeth. It had dozens of normal scorpions flanking it, and a brief flash of doubt pierced my thoughts. It didn't matter how tough I was, I was only one person—Any fight where I was facing multiple enemies could only last a few strikes, or I'd lose it simply for having less limbs in play.

Boots on pavement turned my head just slightly while I kept my eyes on the imminent foes. It was the Captain and several more front-line fighters, and his tone was more alive than it'd been in a long time. “Let's hope it tastes better than it looks.”

A wave of deep blue ice rippled out past us, catching several smaller scorpions in its icy grip. It held for just a moment, then shattered, taking the embrittled with it.

“Those will have to defrost first,” I commented, then arched my back and took aim with my axe.

In a throw that would've distressed a pitcher with its form even as the raw power impressed them, I sent my axe wheeling down the street. As it'd left my hand, I imbued it with my corrupted angelic light. It glanced off the carapace of the large abomination and pinwheeled out behind some of the smaller ones. Damn.

“Silver…” the Captain said in an admonishing tone.

A ray of blistering heat burned through another scorpion, thinning the numbers further, but we had only moments before they arrived.

I didn't reply. I just grinned. Then, with a flick of my wrist, I pulled the axe back to me. It shot through the air with single-minded purpose, and as it came, it cascaded jagged moonlight through multiple enemies, flash-boiling random parts of their bodies. Legs, tails, and in one case a thorax, all popped, spraying steaming viscera across the field of battle. Catching it, I leapt forward with my shield braced and met the charge of the abomination head-on.

My thoughts and vision blurred into slurry on impact, but somehow I stayed upright. Gnarled teeth—embedded in both my shield and my arm—retracted, leaving me gasping in pain. Something hit me, and I was driven to my knees.

Discarding my shield with a shake of my injured arm, I stared upwards into malice… and smashed my face into it with as much force as I could muster. If my whole face was covered in thick metal, I may as well use it.

Teeth fractured, fragments spinning away, and the monster reeled backwards. It screeched, digging its massive claws into the asphalt to regain its balance.

Pastel pink healing energy washed over me, repairing my arm and banishing the fog of multiple jarring head impacts. Well, if Mel could do that…

Rushing forward, I dodged a vicious swipe from its clawed forelimbs. Acid splashed my armour, and while it didn't dissolve the metal, it slipped through to burn at my skin. It fucking hurt, but it didn't slow me.

My armoured fists gripped gnashing teeth as they tried to gouge me, and I yanked down hard. The beast let out a squawk of alarm.

When our foreheads were level, I bent backwards and with muscles straining, I beat it with my head. It shuddered and tried to escape, but I held on, using my frantically beating wings to force its head to stay low… so I could smash it again.

The struggle was visceral, brutal, and I almost didn't have the Strength to keep it in place, but using my whole body, I held it there and I pummelled it over and over again. I was relentless, I was unyielding, and with each hammer blow from my helmeted head, it grew more lethargic— more confused.

My blood was fire, lit and fuelled by merciless surges of adrenaline and soothing pulses of pastel light kept me from stunning myself as much as I stunned the larval bird. Then, suddenly, something in its skull gave way with a delicious, juicy crunch, and the monster went limp.

Without missing a beat or even looking for it, I pulled my missing axe to my hand, stepped up onto the corpse, and pointed it at the first foe I saw. “Burn.”

Moonlight speared downwards, and I was brimming with so much vehement resolve and divine power that the scorpion was obliterated in an instant.

Cynath’s voice rang exuberantly in my head. Yes. Yes my beautiful angel! Feel it! The wrath of war! The spirit of honourable challenge! Let my domain guide your hand!

A part of me was wryly amused at how excited my goddess was getting, but she was totally right, but for more reasons than those she stated. The power of the violence I could inflict was intoxicating, but it was the cause that truly elevated it all. I was fighting to save my people from an entity so much more powerful than us that it was literally a force of nature.

As I pondered the philosophical, I pointed at, then ended the lives of the storm bird’s brood. Around me, my allies shared my fire. Spells smashed into the growing number of foes while axes carved chunks from those within reach.

A couple of us had fallen, eyes glassy with death, and my heart dropped when I saw one was Steve. Ben stood over his corpse, ice flying while tears streamed down his face.

That's when I realised that we couldn't hold. We were fighting like demons—The street was choked with dead enemies. Two smaller bird-scorpion hybrids had joined their siblings on the ground. One was even missing its entire neck and head, and as it was within Brielle's line of fire, I could probably guess why. It was amazing, it was breathtaking, and it was hopeless. There were too many of them, and my earlier point still stood. Numbers and the attrition that time and mistakes brought would end us.

A sizzling roar began to cut through the din of battle, and I realised that in ten or so seconds, night had turned to day. Both houses had just gone up like stacks of dry grass.

It was the heat that forced us backwards. It was so sudden, and so overpowering—like a tsunami but of boiling air. The heat quickly subsided to a more tolerable temperature as the gas began to burn out, but in its place, the house itself had become the fuel.

The storm bird’s brood didn't know what to do with the fire. They skittered towards us, lashing out at the air with claws and tails, but it was like we had a forcefield protecting us.

We held like that for five, then fifteen tense minutes, watching as the houses banished snow and ice from the surrounding area. The water was causing problems, though, because it drenched the ground and when too close, turned to steam and began to choke the fire. We needed more wind… but how could we tell Chloe that she needed more people?

The answer struck me like a lightning bolt. “Cynath! Can you relay a message to… to Tess? Tell her that we need more wind down here to blow away the steam. The fire isn't getting enough oxygen so it's not burning hot enough—”

A shriek of avian rage silenced me like my vocal chords had been physically stilled. In the distance, thanks to the ruddy light of the six fires our people had set, we saw something move. It was massive—easily fifty feet tall in its currently hunched posture—but all we could really see was the shadow it cast on the clouds behind it. My heart fell to the ground in an icy lump of fear. That was our enemy. That is what we were facing. A true titan from the days of myth and legend.

Something struck me across my entire body, and I stumbled backwards. If my wings had been open, I'd have taken flight. What… no… it was a gust of wind! A gust that had more in common with a blastwave than anything else. Hell, there wasn't a single sloped roof with snow left on it anymore. It'd all been thrown off.

“Holy fuck,” Brielle muttered, shaking her head as she climbed back to her feet. “How in the hell is a little fire and singing supposed to drive that thing away?”

The scorpions were practically dancing with glee— a snapping sound drew my attention back to the fire… which had survived. Not just survived, but with a new influx of air, it was glutting itself on all the newly delivered oxygen.

“Start hitting other houses with fire spells!” The Captain ordered, his voice ragged. “We've dried them out a bit, let's get to helping them. Destruction is the name of the game now. Turn everything flammable into easily lit kindling. If all you have is your axe, use it!”

Even as he gave the instructions, a tree in the backyard of one of the original fire houses suddenly caught as its leaves were heated and dried beyond their ignition point.

I didn't really want to break my axe in case we needed to fight, but I didn't really need it. A couple of steps brought me to a street sign, and I ripped it out of the ground with a single sharp tug. Then, I approached the nearest house beside the burning one and swung at a corner with all my might. Wood and drywall erupted, spraying in all directions. The pole was bent and useless after that, so I threw it through a window.

Finally, I pointed into the hole and said, “Burn,” in a conversational tone.

A bubble of flaming moonlight exploded inside the dark interior of the house… and did nothing. Huh?

My light can only ignite your enemies, not a random house, my sweet angel. Sorry. However, Chloe has been informed of the need for more power. She's sent for more people.

Well that sucked. The no-burning thing, I mean, not Chloe getting more help.

“Step aside, lop-lady,” Brielle laughed as she stepped up to the hole.

Her palm-caster spat a gout of flame that wobbled, then stabilised. It bathed the living room in fire, setting anything and everything alight, until in the space of ten seconds, the room was a little baby inferno.

I stepped back and gave her a side-eye. “Lop-lady?”

“Your ears,” she grinned. “They're lop ears, like a bunny with floppy ears?”

I scowled at her, but the expression didn't connect because of my helmet. Not that I even really meant it. She wasn't wrong, after all.

Any further banter was suddenly cut short when another gust hit us. This one didn't have the singular gut-punch of force that the earlier one had, but what it lacked in that department, it made up for in longevity and tenacity… and it was coming from the direction of Edgewood.

“Fuck yes, Chloe!” I whooped.

The newly strengthened gale began to twist and push the flames, until there was a continuous shower of sparks raining down in the direction of the storm bird. If it was actually true that they hated fire, this might just work!