[Axxaer]

A handful of Gurans managed to sneak past the raging barrage of fire and prepared their deadliest venom. All eight leapt at the warrior suddenly, bearing sharp fangs, ready to kill their prey. Each and every one of the Guran warriors was incinerated on contact with the firewarrior each became an insignificant pile of ash on the cold ground. Sheets of rippling flames danced up and down his body, slaying everything it touched, but leaving the firewarrior unharmed.

The fiery onslaught suddenly ceased without warning or reason, and the tidal wave of Gurans began throwing themselves mindlessly at the curtain of flame. They continued doing this for several moments, the being beneath the fire appearing to be in deep thought. A bloodcurdling scream of fury filled the entire cave and was soon after accompanied by an enormous explosion of fire which spread ******ds from the flamewarrior like a blooming flower. The helpless immobilised Ilkar’s bloody eyes opened wide in realization that its soul would now be free forever…

Chapter 3
Calm Before the Storm
17 Velstrom, 14074

Kelkharn was shaken to consciousness by a large explosion in a nearby cave across the hive valley. The world smeared itself carelessly across his vision and he attempted to push himself into a sitting position. From years of elite training at the Skevarus Academy, Kelkharn’s mind raced, thinking of all possibilities for his escape. He decided to seize the moment of distraction and make a dash for the cave entrance.

The largest Guran nearby swung its head in Kelkharn’s direction, its eyes glowing with rage. Gurans generally don’t tolerate others acting against their will, and this one was obviously no exception. It scurried with surprising speed to the only passage which obviously led outside, the same one Kelkharn was heading for. The Guran made it first and used its considerable size to block it from Kelkharn. Kelkharn ran at the giant arachnid, sidestepping moments before impact, drawing his rapier from its scabbard on his back. The Guran flailed its powerful limbs wildly as the giant splinter of metal plunged deep into its abdomen.

One of the massive legs struck Kelkharn with incredible force in his chest, breaking at least one rib and throwing him winded against the hard rock of the cave wall. He tried to recover and draw his dagger from its sheath on the side of his shin, but cried out in pain of his ribs as he tried to bend down. The merciless Guran was not satisfied with inflicting only so much pain to its victim, and began rapidly pummelling Kelkharn against the rough wall.

The fearsome Guran drew its impressive form up onto its rear legs and unsheathed a strange looking weapon from within its heavily armoured shell. The weapon appeared to be a long sword hilt with several chains attached to one end. At the ends of each of the chains were massive bloodstained shurikens. The contraption resembled an ancient torture device more than an actual weapon. The Guran drew the device up high with one limb, using two more to pin the battered Terreve to the wall. Kelkharn’s head hung limp over heaving shoulders as he painfully struggled to breath.

The Guran Began swinging the device in circles in the air, its speed increasing by the second. An ear piercing whistle being emitted from the strange weapon was growing in volume and Kelkharn tried to cover his ears, but the Guran was holding his shoulders down with such force that he couldn’t even feel his arms. The Guran dropped its weapon down, aiming for Kelkharn’s vulnerable head.

Kelkharn braced his beaten body in preparation for death, knowing the pain would soon be gone. A sudden flash of light lanced across the grassy hills outside the cave and curved towards them. It entered the cave and struck the Guran’s unusual weapon in a brilliant flash of gold. The strange device disintegrated to black dust and covered the Guran’s black spidery body. The Guran let out a bloodcurdling scream as the dust burnt into its skin like fiery embers, the pain driving deep into the deformed creatures mind. The Guran’s flesh melted down to its exoskeleton, and the limp, incapacitated body fell to a bubbling black pile on the rocky cave ground. A small ball of fire followed the trajectory of the flash of light and exploded the boiling puddle of Guran, cremating the foul creature’s body.

A very large man boasting inhumanly large muscles appeared at the cave entrance, his golden blonde hair blowing about wildly in the wind. His entire body was engulfed with fire and his eyes contained the fires of rage.
“What are you doing so far from your little Terrevish hidey-hole without any of your little friends?” he asked Kelkharn, mocking the secretive life of the Terreves.
“Oh, not much, just being knocked unconscious and repetitively pummelled and threatened with big weapons.” Croaked Kelkharn, even when suffering from mortal wounds he retained his sense of humour.
“A sarcastic Terreve?” he had never encountered such a phenomenon, “Now there’s something you don’t see every day.”
“Well, are you just going to stand here all day doing a good imitation of a confused Ilkar or are you going to tell me what your name is?” Kelkharn had already grown impatient of his rescuer.
“Oh, where are my manners. I,” he drew himself up to his full height, he stood well over seven feet tall, “am Ilrûn Arafir of the Shiran Clan. I hail from Evoraldu, I am an Avalen warrior/merchant, much like most of my clan. And you, my distressed Terreve companion?”
“My name is Kelkharn Uruldor, I bear the blessings of the Skevaran trielders. Why I am here is none of your b-”
“The blessings of who?” interrupted Ilrûn, whose interest in his affairs disturbed Kelkharn somewhat.
“Th- The trielders of, uh, Skevarus – surely one such as you would have heard of the in your travels?” stuttered the puzzled Kelkharn.
A troubled look crossed Ilrûn’s face before he spoke, “The only Skevaran trielders I know of are not the type to willingly bless common people. They are corrupt, money driven overlords who manage the lives of the citizens and take all their profit to line their own pockets. I am at a loss as to how they manage to maintain the image of benevolent elders in the eyes of their people. It’s disgusting.”
Kelkharn was momentarily stunned, barring the illusion of the Terreval traitor in the cave, he had never heard anyone speak so foully of the trielders. This caused the young Terreve to consider whether perhaps the dazzling firewarrior was also naught but an illusion. Maybe the Guran who almost slew him was too an illusion. Why would one illusion kill another unless to gain the trust of the victim. Perhaps they were toying with him. Kelkharn’s mind raced at the possibilities. How do you kill an illusion?

“Oi! Terreve! Quit daydreamin’ and get over here!” Ilrûn called from atop a nearby knoll, “We got pack of Terranalia’s finest battle Gurans heading our way. Those things are each the size of a small house and if they catch us, things ain’t gonna be pretty.”
“How many?” asked Kelkharn, his attention still focused elsewhere.
“Three score, maybe more. We gotta move fast.” Yelled Ilrûn, signalling towards the edge of a small forest several hundred metres to their left.

The pair made a quick dash to the small collection of giant ancient oaks, Kelkharn was quite a fast runner, even for his kind, but Ilrûn tore ahead of him and took cover behind a cluster of moss-covered boulders. Kelkharn arrived seconds later and collapsed beside Ilrûn, his back against the boulder. A family of small, feathered, duck-like creatures waddled across the grass nearby, pecking at the ground with their hooked beaks.

Kelkharn reached out to stroke one of the smallest’s soft down with his less bloodstained hand while Ilrûn watched the Gurans thundering towards past from behind another boulder several metres away. Before Kelkharn could touch the tiny creature’s wing, another much larger one, opened its dull brown beak and emitted several loud shrieks.

Ilrûn spun to face Kelkharn; his face stormy, “They’ve seen us!” rasped Ilrûn. “We must flee, and flee fast. Gurans are incredibly swift in the open.”
The pair took flight across the vast rolling plains spread out before them across the bread of the world. The Gurans hot on their heels; trailing within a hundred yards and gaining. They fled with incredible speed; they were fast even when not running for their lives. After several moments they skidded to a halt at the top of an enormous cliff. The mosaic of red and brown stretched down a mile from where they stood, various dead plants scattered along its face. They were cornered in a V of cliff. Escape would be impossible. They were going to have to stand and fight.

“This is gonna get messy.” warned Ilrûn as he prepared himself for the coming battle. “Stand well back or I can’t be held responsible for y-”
“I can take care of myself.” Snapped the disgruntled Kelkharn. Drawing his rapier and bloodied longsword, he shot a quick look at Ilrûn and was not surprised to see the Avalen licking his lips. Kelkharn could have sworn Ilrûn was eager to fight, even against innumerable odds.

As the battle-ready pair waited, Gurans charged heavily across the fields of lush green grass, kicking up large clumps with every stride.

The storm of battle would soon end the uneasy silence hanging over the bloodthirsty Avalen firewarrior and his smaller brave Terreve blade apprentice.

[to be continued...]