Keeper of Life - NaPoWrMo Entry

Coal was young, and brash. She was known as being stubborn and impatient. She was prone to anger easily and was aggressive. Now she was even infertile. One thing she was not however, was stupid.

As soon as Coal stepped inside the building she had ignited every ounce of oxygen she was capable of. If there had been glass instead of iron lattice she would have thrown reflective rain into the surrounding buildings. The spell brought her down, and she struggled to stand again.

The dust slowly settled revealing guards who'd been crushed against the wall, blood trailing from their mouth. She knew however, that it took more then that for an ambush.

“Well done,” the commander said behind a glowing purple barrier. It was not his and was reinforced by the two unicorns beside him. “But I'm afraid you're still not going to win,” he said with a smirk.

Her underlings were not at her side. 'Good,' she thought, 'they have been trained well.'

She readied herself and counted twelve that started to circle her, closing the gap the others had failed to hold. The building, despite having two floors, was empty, not even a trace of a stairwell could be found, but she had more important things to keep in mind. The unicorns that continued to close the gap all seemed ready to pounce.

“No one get's past my walls,” he said. “It's too bad I can't hang your head from my own wall,” a chuckle trickled out as he said this. “No, your memory will be erased, you were never even here. Then I will retire inside the city with my record unscathed.”

“We'll see,” she said noting the guard who approached from behind. She struck out but a body dove and blocked the shot. It struck his body and the impact caused him to slide back toward the commander. “Damn,” she cursed aloud as the others pounced. Light trailed off the walls and shook the ground as she reflected it.

She danced as swords, bolts and lightning skipped off the floor and the air around her. She was in harmony with the chaos, and she navigated the boiling rapids with such ease it would make a leaf envious. Yet this was pure defense, she swam with the battle until she saw an opening. The commander still stood with his two protectors, any attacks against him by her would be useless.

“Under the stars!” a voice cried out. It was lost amidst the clashing of magic on shield, yet she heard it, it was what she was waiting for. The soldier who'd jumped out and blocked her strike now broke disguise and pounced fangs bared. The commanders shielder had no chance. Another figure flew from the chaos bringing down the guard on the left.

Coal jerked her head, a green whip circled the room lacerating the current conjured spells and bore down on the commander. His body cracked and buckled but the fight was far from over. Backing against the wall where the now disabled commander lay she readied herself, her underlings beside her.

Despite their overwhelming advantage in numbers the guards looked frightened. 'Fools, they've never seen actual battle,' she smiled as she thought. Her bent horn glowed as the door slammed closed and she flew toward them.

The small building did nothing to aid her, an errant arrow pierced her side then disappeared as something stuck her from the other side. She dipped low and popped the air in front of a guard. He staggered back while a black figure buried his fangs. A materialized blade twisted in the air making contact with her deflections. She cast it wide, pushed it into the ceiling and plunged into the caster sending him sprawling against the ground. Another body tackled her, she twisted on the ground and pushed him off with a burst of light. The stonework yielded slightly as he made contact with it. 'Six,' she counted and deflected another blow.

It was a mistake any true warrior never makes, thinking the battle is won before it was over. She had loosened her defense and began holding them all back. A canvas of colors pitted the walls and air, and in her haste had lost track of her underlings. In the corner of her eye she saw a bolt head toward a guard who'd been toppled by Claw. When her body was thrust in the middle of the two it caused her ears to ring, and rippled pain through every bone. It didn't leave her though, the sensation stayed causing her body to stiffen, her muscles to tighten and tense. She couldn't move and for those moments was trapped inside that prison of pain and panic. It wasn't until Claw took him down that she was able to move freely again.

And tt wasn't until she turned and sent blood flying from another guard did she notice the holes from the arrows. She deflected one and sent it flailing above her head. 'Three,' she thought twisting the direction of one of the arrows into a guard set to pounce beside her. 'Two.'

It was at this point the last two guard turned to run onto to die with poison leaching through their bodies. They went down easily.

The floor was silky with blood. Ink spread across the pools like a foals hoof painting. She looked to herself then to her underlings. She was bleeding worse then them. “Use their rags to patch yourself up. Take what you can, we might not have another chance,” she commanded. They stayed quiet as they listened for approaching trouble.