The Prime Elements

"STORM THE MOUNTAIN!!" A voice shouted, "IF ANY OF YOU FIND THE SORCERER, KILL HIM!!"

"FOR VANDLGRAD!!!" They shouted as several soldiers clad in gleaming armor and wielding a variety of weapons charged forward.

The mountain reached the cloud cover above as rain drenched the world below. The earth under their feet became muddy and slick, causing the soldiers to splash through puddles and occasionally lose their footing. The wind froze the air around them, causing their nostrils to burn with every breathe they took. And sharp rocks stuck out from the ground, like spears threatening to impale any who came too close. And from what they could see, lava was flowing down the sides of the large mountain.

C-CRACK!!! RRRIIIPPPP!!!

Suddenly, the soil tore apart and the rocks began to move on their own. And every soldier knew what was about to happen as a three fingered stone hand reached over the edge of the rip in the ground.

"HAMMERS!!" A soldier called, turning toward ten hammer wielding behemoths, "WE NEED HAMMERS NOW!!!"

GROOOOO!!!

The ten behemoths charged to the front as a large monster made of earth and stone climbed from the crack. As it began to advance towards them, more rocks rolled along the ground and smashed into the monster, making it grow bigger. The hammer wielding warriors reached the monster and swung with as much force as they could muster, breaking one of the stone legs that it stood upon.

GROOOOOOOOO!!!

The monster fell to one knee as the hammers pounded at it. But, with every stone on the field joining together, the monster's leg grew back and it rose to it's feet. However, it was now far bigger than the hammer warriors, who kept pounding and smashing the monster with all their might. Unfortunately, the stone monster wasn't the only one on the battlefield.

The puddles of water and rain swirled and twisted as they began to create a new form.

"TRITONS!!!" The voice boomed, "GET THE TRITONS UP HERE!!!"

As several soldiers equipped with bronze tritons raced toward the swirling liquid, they saw a creature made of water manifest before them. The upper body appeared to look like a man, while from the waist down, water swirled like an angry whirlpool.

SPLAAAAASH!!

Water swept across the ground, rushing towards the tritons. But, the tritons were trained to fight such a thing.

All around the soldiers, the air filled with static energy as three tornadoes descended from the clouds. And it was very clear what was coming next.

"God, help us." One soldier whispered as two arms and hands made of lightning stretched out from a body made of clouds.

As they watched the being form, they saw that it's head was also made of cloud, with eyes that shot lightning. It was by far the biggest of the monstrous beings.

"EVERYONE GET READY!!!" The loud voice shouted again, "SEND THIS ONE BACK TO WHERE IT CAME FROM!!!"

One of the lightning hands fell from above and swept across the ground as soldiers scattered, in order to avoid being hit. Unfortunately, the hand wiped out half of them, before ascending back into the air.

The soldiers were so busy fighting the creatures, only a handful noticed something unique on the mountain.

"THERE HE IS!!!" A soldier shouted, pointing toward the mountainside, "THE SORCERER!!!"

Only five heard his call and looked to where he was pointing. And they saw a man wearing a dark robe and holding a staff, standing in front of a cave that had a reddish glow.

Without waiting for an order, all five started running towards the base of the mountain, before climbing the steep incline. But as they climbed, a bright blur sailed by them, before turning back and rushing the five soldiers.

"It's the fire!" One called, not needing to shout too loudly, "We have to hurry!"

"Keep it busy!" Another called, climbing faster, "I'll handle the sorcerer!"

"I refuse to let a half-breed take the honor that should belong to a real man!"

"If we don't end this now, then there won't be any men in the future! Except for him!"

Clenching his teeth and thinking for a short moment, the first soldier nodded, allowing the second to continue up the mountain alone. This left the others to fight against a being made of flames.

"COME ON, YOU!!!" The first soldier shouted as he and the others used their magically enhanced weapons to fight the fire.

Meanwhile, the lone warrior reached the cave, only to find that he was the only one there. The sorcerer was nowhere to be found and below him, at the base of the mountain, the battle between the soldiers and the creatures continued. But, it wasn't very difficult to figure out where the sorcerer had gone.

"It's time to end this war." The warrior said, gripping his sword tightly and pulling his hood further over his head, darkening his face as he faced the cave.

Carefully walking into the cave, he could feel the temperature rise as he went further. But, it didn't bother him. He listened for anything that might mean trouble, while his glowing blue eyes helped him to see in very dark corners that could hide dangers. However, as he continued, he found no sign of traps or any other danger.

After a short while, he came to a chamber with a lava pit in the middle and several items that would normally be found in homes. A bed in the far corner had a tiger fur blanket, while bowls, herbs, bones, crystals, different coloured powders, and strange symbols were all around the floor and walls.

"Do you like my home?" A voice asked, causing the warrior to turn around and raise his sword, but felt himself freeze mid-swing.

The warrior found the sorcerer standing behind him with one of his hands raised as if he was stopping something.

"I heard the king had a half-demon in his army." The sorcerer said, keeping his hand up as he walked around the warrior and towards the opposite side of the cave, "However, I had a very difficult time believing such a thing. And I was very surprised to hear the name of said half-demon."

"My name should be interesting to you." The warrior replied, keeping his eyes on the sorcerer, unable to attack, "Because it will be the one thing in Hell you'll always remember."

"Do you even know what it is you're fighting for?"

Then the sorcerer held his staff, before tapping it against the ground.

Crack!

Without warning, lightning flickered as the staff made contact with the floor and the symbols and crystals around the chamber began to move.

"What are you doing?!" The warrior asked, alarmed by the strange activity.

"It's time to end the rein of King Tiberius!" The sorcerer said menacingly as the symbols and crystals spun around the room.

Suddenly, the warrior heard the sounds of armored footsteps running through the caverns. He looked to see the same soldier from before barreling into the chamber.

"FOR VANDLGRAD!!" He shouted, sword drawn.

"KILLIAN, DON'T!!" The warrior shouted, trying to warn his fellow soldier.

The words never reached the unexpected soldier as he threw his sword at the sorcerer, who used his magic to dodge the attack and cast a spell of his own, that hit Killian in his chest. However, the sword struck one of the crystals and caused it to break. And that caused the symbols and the remaining crystals to spin out of control as a white light formed in the center on the chamber. However, as they watched, the light got bigger and brighter as the symbols and crystals spun around.

"You idiot!" The sorcerer called, holding out his hands, "You might've ruined my plans for this world! But, there are other worlds I can conquer! And when the time is right, I'm coming back to kill every last one of you!"

With that, the sorcerer jumped forward and into the light. Leaving the warrior and his wounded companion in the chamber as it shook violently.

"We have to get out of here!" The warrior said, putting his sword back in it's sheath and grabbing Killian, "Come on!"

"Why would a half-demon, like you, risk his own skin to save me, Matthias?" Killian asked as blood seeped from his mouth, "Your kind, half-demons and full-demons, always run away when it's too dangerous."

Ignoring the harsh words and looking desperately around, Matthias searched for a way to get Killian out of danger. But, the only thing he saw that could be useful, was the bright light that the sorcerer had jumped through. However, now the light started to dim.

"We'll talk about that later. For now, I'm getting you out of here." Matthias said, picking Killian up and putting him on his shoulders, "And there's only one way to go."

Taking a few quick steps, Matthias and Killian surged forward and into the bright light, before it went dark.