Spark of War (Progression Fantasy)

Laze honestly couldn't believe what she was seeing as she crossed the mile between the bridge and where the refugees and Pilish soldiers staged a desperate defense. A veritable flood of hangnails assailed the group from all sides, with the civilians curling in on themselves to form a packed circle. Soldiers rushed around the edges struggling to keep hangnail claws from reaching defenseless flesh, but they'd obviously moved most of their troops to the front – expecting the attack to come from the direction of the bridge.

Instead, what looked like deep ponds on either side of the road – ponds that definitely had not been there before – spewed more monsters to flank the group. Already, Laze could spot bodies of fallen soldiers who'd been taken by surprise, as well as a group of civilians getting dragged away by the smaller hangnails.

"Nidina," Laze said, "shore up the back of the defensive line."

"On it," Nidina replied, powering ahead in a shower of flaming feathers that gently fell before fizzling out.

The woman would take some of the pressure off the Pilish soldiers at that end, and let them reinforce the other three sides. For her part, Laze needed to make sure those civilians didn't get dragged into the ponds – and whatever was waiting within them. They had to connect to the river somehow, but that was a concern for later.

For now, she stowed the PIC back over her shoulder – the blast would be just as devastating to the refugees as to the hangnails – and instead drew her electrum bow focus. The bow ignited within a second, and the first arrow followed immediately after. Even as Laze drew back on the fiery string, that arrow split to two, and then four.

Her eyes scanned the monsters dragging away the five civilians that'd been separated from the group, nine of the smaller, grey creatures herding them at the end of razor-sharp claws. They'd already made it two-thirds of the way to one of the ponds, but most of the other monsters were focused on retrieving more prisoners, and surged past the group. Even if she managed to free them…

One thing at a time.

Laze picked her targets even as her four arrows split to eight. This was outside what she'd tried before, but she couldn't rely on the usual, explosive ordinance. "I can do this," she told herself quietly, then released her hold on the bowstring.

Eight arrows launched away from her, rotating around each other as they closed the distance to the monsters who hadn't even seen her coming. Her eyes narrowed as she imposed her will on the projectiles, that vague connection she still felt to them the core of her "plan" – if it could be called that. Maybe "vague hope" would've been a better name.

Resistance sprung up immediately, but she didn't have the time or luxury to waste on that, so she pushed harder, the Spark in her chest feeling like it was going to split as well. She'd seen El and Nexin do things that should've been impossible – and probably were for anybody but the two of them. Even Nidina had pushed the limits of what she'd believed possible for Firestorm, and Laze was not going to hold them back any longer. Her way wasn't the same as theirs – she didn't have speed or power – but she would make the most of what she could do. Her trick to split arrows – or her swords – didn't pack the same kind of punch overcharging or flaring did, but power wasn't what she needed here. She needed versatility, and more importantly, accuracy.

She. Could. Do. THIS!

With another flash of pain through her Spark, Laze pulled the spread of arrows apart just before it reached the group. A series of shing'ing thuds dropped seven of the nine hangnails as her projectiles slammed into the group. Only one had missed, a lucky stumble saving the eighth monster from an arrow through the chest, but it didn't have time to celebrate.

Laze – ignoring the discomfort in her chest – slammed feet first into the hangnail as it dumbly turned to see what had happened. Riding the thing like a surfboard across the rough ground, Laze ignited a sword in her right hand, then crashed into the last monster standing. It got its claws up in time to block her swing, or at least it would've, if her blade didn't split into a V-shape.

While the claws caught one edge in line to bisect the hangnail's head, the second, lower blade took it through the abdomen. Laze rotated her wrist as the top blade's momentum halted, which turned her swing into a kind of horrible scooping motion that ravaged the small monster. It fell dead in three separate pieces, but Laze was already turning away from it.

"Anybody hurt too badly to run?" she asked the small group of civilians. The monsters around her hadn't quite realized what was happening, but that lull would shatter any second. Thankfully, all five shook their heads. She could see lines of blood covering them all, but none of them must've been too serious. "Good. We're going back to the group. No matter what, don't stop running!"

With that command, Laze pumped power into her wings and practically skated across the ground to slam into a nearby hangnail that seemed to be catching on to what was happening. A Sea of Snakes and Flames with her two-pronged sword overwhelmed it before it had a chance to react, and it dropped with six scorched holes in its body. Boots skidding along the ground as she twisted, more power in her wings shot her off at a forty-five-degree angle towards the front of the civilian group just now beginning to run.

She'd seen El pull maneuvers like that so many times, but the torque on her body of changing directions – even with the flame armor – almost made her groan. How the Blaze did El make it look so effortless? She'd have to ask the next time she saw her friend. For now, she pushed through it and crashed into the backs of the monsters ahead of her. One slash from her sword effortlessly cut down the first hangnail, but the second managed to get its claws up to parry both her blades.

Not letting the minor setback delay her – and with a lot of forward momentum – Laze pulsed power into her wings to jet her into the air. Up and over, she flipped above the hangnail, landing and driving the energy of her Spark just into her right wing. The sudden burst on just one side whipped her around so fast, she nearly stumbled over her own feet, and her sword-swipe angled too high. Luckily for her – not so much for the hangnail – the bottom half of her V-shaped blade carved into the monster's head at the temple.

With the thrust still spinning her, Laze did a full pirouette before she cut off the power to her wing, and was then left standing facing the civilians running in her direction.

"Totally planned that," she said to anybody who was listening, then shot into the air before anybody could see the blush crawling up her neck. Fancy footwork and swordplay obviously wasn't her strong suit, so she doused and stowed the sword hilt with one hand, while the other redrew her bow. A quick ignition, and she was thirty feet above the rushing civvies.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Spotting a group of hangnails catching on to the escape, Laze drew back on her string – only giving the arrow time to split once – then released. Twin explosions tore through the monsters, their distance far enough Laze had opted for the explosive ordinance, and she scanned for her next target. She didn't need to look far, the ground practically crawling with slimy, grey bodies. Monsters were coming from all sides, but first thing first – the runners needed to get back to the main group.

With that thought in mind, she let her arrow split into four, then launched the barrage towards the space ahead of the civilians. One explosion after another sounded in quick succession, lighting up a trail of carnage directly along the new path to safety. To their credit, the civvies barely flinched at the explosions, literally running into the balls of flame as they faded. Small rocks and monstrous body parts rained around them, one of the dismembered claws even drawing blood across a forearm as it fell. Still, the people didn't stop, and another second later, they were back in the relative circle of safety.

Pilish soldiers converged around the group that joined the moving mass of refugees. Through the whole fight, they'd managed to keep their momentum towards the bridge, the troops fighting with their bayonetted weapons. Rifles, pistols, and the blades attached to both tore through hangnail bodies at all ranges, smoke and a cacophony of noise following the moving battle.

Except… they weren't moving fast enough. More and more monsters continued to pour out the ponds that seemed to have grown even larger, their sides collapsing into the rushing, sapphire waters. No… it wasn't the water that was sapphire – it was something within it. Scales glinting in the sun.

"Seawyrm, incoming! North side," Laze barked into her communication magic, arrows already splitting on her bow. The Pilish soldiers couldn't handle one of those beasts. Ashes had a chance – as long as they outnumbered the wyrms – but the group didn't have any of those armored soldiers with them. Maybe, just maybe, the lookouts from Fort Bedrock had seen Nidina's explosive signal arrow, and had sent reinforcements.

More likely… even if they were coming, they'd be too late. It was more than three miles from the fort to the bridge, then almost a mile to them. Ashes were fast, but only over short distances. Even if help came, it wouldn't be in time. Between her and Nidina, they'd have to hold off the beast long enough for the people to reach the bridge. After that, if the Firestorm and Pilish soldiers worked together, maybe they could keep the Depths from crossing.

It was their only chance.

Swallowing that thought, along with a rising sense of panic, Laze loosed her eight arrows just as the seawyrm showed its head above the water. The projectiles cut through the distance between them, spiraling around each other like they were still a single entity, until they smashed into the monster's face. Eight simultaneous explosions ripped across the surface of the water, charring a dozen hangnails unfortunate enough to be nearby. Flames hung in place, the whole area tinted orange from the inferno, until the wyrm's head burst out of them, mouth already spread wide.

Laze pulsed power into her wings without hesitation, the cutting breath-attack screaming through the air where she'd just been. Not wanting to risk the people without the benefit of flame armor beneath her, she climbed for the sky. The attack sliced behind her, the pressure of it roaring like hundreds of tearing sheets, and it was gaining on her.

Two hundred, three hundred, four hundred feet she climbed, then cut hard to the right. Another groan from the torque on her body, but she darted out of the way before the attack caught up to her. Her eyes traced the powerful hose of water as it sailed sharply up and past her, then she tucked and dove back down. The seawyrms' breath attacks were powerful enough to burning hurt even through her flame armor – which she'd learned through experience – and that'd only been a glancing blow. She wasn't sure if taking a shot straight on was something her armor could endure. Thankfully, they were fast and powerful, but didn't maneuver nearly as quickly as the Firestorm did.

With the deadly water stream far above her, Laze quickly split her next arrow from one, to two, to four, then released. The projectiles raced towards the seawyrm's open mouth in a square formation as they rotated around each other… only to explode against the side of the monster's neck as it shifted position. She'd been too slow – too greedy – going for four arrows instead of two. The pair wouldn't have been a deadly injury, but it would've been better than what she got, which was absolutely nothing.

"Nidina?" Laze asked, diving towards the ground as another stream shot up to continue the chase.

"Two more wyrms, south side," Nidina said, and Laze spared a look over the tops of the Pilish group.

Sure enough, a set of flaming wings danced between a pair of violent streams. Like Laze, Nidina was trying to keep the fallout of the attacks from ripping the civilians to shreds. Sure, the Depths were there to capture the civilians, but the seawyrms were just a bit too bloodthirsty sometimes. Except, they weren't being bloodthirsty. They'd been hiding, which suddenly reminded Laze of the whole reason she'd worried about the ambush in the first place.

Where were the…?

Something exploded out of the ground directly ahead of Laze as she dove to evade the trailing seawyrm attack, stone shards and mist erupting like a geyser. Moving too fast to completely dodge, Laze ignited the shield focus on her left wrist, and twisted her body as best she could at the last minute.

WHAAM, pain shot up her arm to her shoulder as her whole body twisted from her own momentum. Sparks spit off her shield and flame armor while she ground down the side of the barbed spike of dark water protruding from the ground, before finally pushing off. She'd managed to barely avoid the main spike of the spear, but… a second WHAM, and she cratered the ground.

A high-pitch whine replaced the constant Pilish gunfire, everything else growing dull to Laze's ears. Her fingers sunk into the ground as she pushed herself to her hands and knees, though her left shoulder immediately gave out and she toppled sideways. She crunched to the ground, the injured arm radiating enough pain to widen her eyes, just in time to see another spike of dark water burst out right where her head would've been if she'd stayed on her knees. Globs of nearly molten earth rained down on her – the ground melted by the kinetic conversion of her armor and the impact – but she couldn't stay there.

Not even picking a direction, Laze simply pushed as much power as she could into her wings. Not quite a flare, but it was the closest she could do, she shot ahead. Earth and stone grinded along her flame armor, more sparks from the kinetic conversion, as she skidded wildly ahead. Side to side, up and down, she bounced and weaved like she was drunk, colliding again with the ground as often as she lifted off it.

Finally, with the sounds of battle beating their way through the dullness of her ears, she managed to clench her stomach and arch her back. The ground pulled away beneath her, while the blue sky opened up above, and she climbed and climbed, pouring on as much speed as she could before something caught her.

"Laze!" Nidina called over their communication magic. "You okay over there?"

"Couldn't… be… better," Laze half-slurred, half-spoke. Silence was the only thing that replied to her for a solid three seconds.

"I hope so, because I don't know if you noticed, but we've got some of those throne-riding black-and-white bastarsds."

"Oh, I noticed," Laze said, squeezing her eyes shut and then reopening them. "How many?"

"Five."

"Pyre's burning nutsack!" Laze cursed.

"Still not sure He has one," Nidina mumbled.

"How are the Pilish doing?" Laze asked as she spun in the air to get a better look at the battle. What she saw wasn't good. With the seawyrm reinforcements alone, the Pilish had been corralled into a desperate circle. With those dark-water-wielding humanoids showing their toothy faces as well…

"Laze, I know you don't want to hear this," Nidina said, voice cracking. "We may have to leave them. We can't fight this many. And if we get caught… our Sparks…"

"There must be something we can do," Laze said, eyes scanning the collapsing line of Pilish soldiers. "I see it… a way we could win this… if… if it wasn't just you and me. We could do this if he had more Firestorm…"

"Good thing we're here then," a new voice cut into the communication magic. El's voice!

Laze twisted in the air to look in the direction of Fort Bedrock, and she nearly burst into tears at the sight of the blue, flaming wings roaring in her direction.

And the thirty sets of red wings following behind.