AC 2021 - Final - Storm Veritas

[Storm Veritas]

Despite his fatigue, pure adrenaline drove the wizard to defend the horse from oncoming attack. The sweat still dripped from his face; the headache still rolled in the back of his brain, but the pain from his leg had steadied to a dull, terrible ache; each stride was no longer a fresh shot of pain. Moreover, his stamina had come surging back in relentless fashion; he was a living vessel of magic energy unlike anything he’d enjoyed in his life.

Not paying attention to their terrible destination, Storm focused instead on pure preservation. Blast after blast of lightning lit the plains here deep in the night, sending packs of demons and dwarves alike spiraling away in rivulets of blood and char and horror. A few of the wolf riders were dismounted summarily; one of the large, armored, rhinocerous looking things was bewildered by a burst of electricity and turned off course, shaking its rider and stomping him to death underfoot.

There was no time for the magician to enjoy his fortune, as the assault about them was relentless. Volleys of arrows were consistently and rapidly deflected with his magnetic fields; his senses sharpened as his vision was clear again, the sounds of approaching envoys becoming more clear, and the scents of sour sulfurous air, smoke and death even permeated through the fog. He could feel the cool sting of the air again on his skin as he scanned the battlefield and fired left and right.

“Good riding. Steady as you can, I can keep them off for a bit more; just watch for the big shit.” His crude reference to the oversized arrows and catapult fire may have even a small laugh from the beautiful elven rider, although her focus remained forward and resolute.

The demons and dwarves were warring horribly, killing each other in hundreds of small and bloody skirmishes. Creaking war machines were torn asunder by large wolves of hell, while other vehicles fired horrible death upon overwhelmed demons. The plains were being overwhelmed with thick black smoke and fire, the surfaces stained terribly with blood and bile. Explosions continued to rock the slate ground, a tinging noise always followed now, quickly replaced by a groan of death or morbid energy.

Storm scanned to his left and right, breathing for a moment as his hand glowed white, waiting and ready for another torrential blast. The tandem rode a brief respite forward, as all of those chasing them were preoccupied in the myriad opportunities to die.

Good; keep on killing each other. Pay no attention to the horse that’s going to bring it all down.

“Gods, no! Now, Storm, now! Hurry!” Cazri skidded her horse to a halt, sending their bodies together as she neared the looming stone archway surrounding the portal that was the Demon Gate.

In the unknowable distance, Storm could see it. Time was fast running out; hell was coming for them all.