Pythus stormed down the halls of the palace in Crown Peak, shouting to himself. He was not walking with his axe like a staff and his usual slow and confident gait, but rather carrying it in his right hand, ready to strike down anyone in his path.
"First Meridian, now Felora. I knew they were going to use the beacons!" He rounded the last flight of stairs. "If these miscreants think they can liberate the kingdoms they are…"
He came to the throne room, but someone was already in his place. A red Ardoni sat upon his seat, polishing his staff. Pythus gripped his weapon tighter and stomped up the stairs right in front of him.
"Ingressus!" He roared, "Get off of my throne- it belongs to me!"
"Does it?" The Deathsinger replied without looking up. "I think I have earned the right to sit here as much as you have." He taunted.
"Do not test me, Ingressus." Pythus took another step forward, towering over the other.
"Oh? You wanna go?" The Voltaris looked up, slanting his eyes.
Pythus clenched his axe. After an intense moment of staring, he backed off.
"I have waited far too long for your cooperation, Pythus." Ingressus stood up, placing his staff on his back. "I will go to Ataraxia and reclaim the Prime Songs myself. The kingdoms, the Enderknights, and the rest leave to you."
"We have an ALLIANCE! Ingressus!" Pythus pounded his axe. "If you break it, both of us will fail!"
The Deathsinger snickered. "Then I guess I am no better than your father. Now move aside, or do you not want your throne?"
Pythus stepped to his right, and watched Ingressus march out of the room with a small swagger in his steps.
"We can no longer rely on these Voltaris scum to aid us in battle." Pythus announced to the Netherans who entered the hall as Ingressus left. "The resistance grows in strength as we linger in their domain. We must draw a new weapon against our enemies." He turned to the Angel of Death. "Besides your duties, I want to keep an eye on the Voltaris clan. The next time Ingressus betrays us, I want you to end them all." The Angel dipped his head in obedience. "Now, where is Skorch?" Pythus roared at the room. "Is he close to Felora?"
"Our messengers reported that he was close to Ferndale yesterday." A Netheran said. "He should be closing in today."
"Good, good." Pythus sat down. "Finally, some good news."
"We have a Nether army inbound!" Denny shouted. He and Thunderdome flew in from a patrol around the city's borders. "They brought two Withers, a dozen blazes, and some giant white balloon creature!"
"Everyone, man your battle stations!" Ria ordered. "Masani, I want you high in the trees and in sniper position. Hubris, Grek, and Grim, you will come with me to the front line. Senn, your priority is to evacuate the citizens through the tunnels. Take Lucan and Nikka with you. Abbigail and Denny. You'll be our eyes in the sky. Take down any monsters you can! Trevor, Saxon, you take care of our core. Enchant as many weapons and brew as many potions as you can!"
"Why were these tunnels built?" Senn asked. He, Lucan, and Nikka led the crowd of people through the dark passageway.
"When the Necromancers waged their war against Felden," Nikka explained. "It was long assumed that they would take the conventional route. First take down the barricades, like Fort Zuka, and march in."
"However," Lucan picked up the conversation, "Because of the infiltration of one heroic man, ow!" Nikka punched him in the arm. "The plan was discovered, although they still took Felora. Still, could be worse if that same heroic man wasn't there to rescue a particular damsel… OW!"
"I see." Senn touched a wall. "That explains why it's so dark, and murky, and wet down here. They were meant for the Undead."
"Speaking of which," Lucan pointed up, "Xaria should be fighting the Nether by now. I hope he's doing okay."
"Who's…"
"I guess we can call him the new Necrolord." Lucan sighed. "He did promise peace, but Nikka, for one, doesn't trust him."
They walked in silence. As they rounded a corner, Nikka started a new subject.
"So…what about you? Why did you join the Knights?"
"I grew up in a simple Senndaris village, just north of Concord I think."
"Concord?" Lucan scratched his head. "Where's that?"
"Do you ever look at a map?" Nikka rolled her eyes in the dark. Lucan shrugged. "It's one of the northern kingdoms, just south of Northwind, the north most point of the world."
"And then one day the Nether came to your village?" Nikka pursued.
"The Voltaris came. They are Ardoni like me, but with red markings." Senn pointed at his body, his white light illuminating the muddy floor. "They were hunting for Prime Songs and they burned everything down. After that, I went to Ataraxia and was recruited by Hubris. During my first mission I found that my uh, stepsister was the Captain." His voice became dreamy. "She enchanted the spear I gave her with Unbreakable."
"Uh-oh," Nikka winced.
"So hold on," Lucan motioned his hands as if to push something away. "You got first dibs on your Captain?" Senn stared at him. "Never mind." They walked on.
"I see daylight up ahead." One citizen exclaimed. "We must be close to the tunnel's end!"
"Ah, Felora. Capital of Feldon. Home to the Felina people." Skorch licked his lips. "Someday, I shall get a taste of a Felina girl myself."
"Sir," inquired his lieutenant, "Shall we commence the attack?"
"Order the ghasts to lay down some cover fire. Send in the blazes and skeletons first. Then, when their defenses implode, send in the Withers to finish the job. Cage them inside the city and let none escape!"
"Incoming!" Shouted Grek as a fireball pulverized the house behind him.
"Are those ghasts?" asked Hubris, looking up.
"They are." Replied the Tidesinger, slashing a skeleton in half. "They shoot fireballs at you, kind of like some of the Aggressium Songs. However, they are very easy to kill. Watch this." He leapt up with a golden puff into the air and whacked a fireball back at the launching ghast. It gave a hideous screech, rolled over, and fell out of the sky.
"Masani, Can you shoot the ghasts?" Ria shouted to the treetop where she was perched.
"I'm busy!" Masani yelled back and fired an arrow through a blaze.
"I'll take care of it!" Xaria raised the Necrostaff. White skeletons raised their bows and showered arrows down on the ghasts. Mounted on spiders, the jockeys moved up the walls and trees. However, being the soulless monsters they were, every arrow missed the swifter ghasts. As the Wither skeletons became a black swarm, the skeletons were consumed by the waves.
A Wither skeleton charged up and stabbed at Ria. Instinctively, she blocked, drew her spear back, and sliced its skull open.
"Xaria!" She yelled, "What of the creepers?"
"They… never.. got a.. chance.. to explode!" Xaria shouted between strikes. Black skeletons surrounded him as hie swung his staff back and forth.
"Luna and Thunderdome won't fly." Abbigail exclaimed. "There are too many fireballs! They'll be killed within seconds!"
"We are losing men!" Achillean shouted. "We've lost our momentum. We must fall back now!"
Ria hesitated, then waved to the Cydonians, Magnorites, Ardoni, Felinas, and humans. "Everyone, retreat! We'll use the beacon to escape!"
"We cannot retreat now, captain!" Hubris barely managed to fend off an oncoming skeleton. "We'll never get this chance again!"
"Then we will find another way." Ria assured him. "But if we continue this fight we will all die."
She grabbed Merlin by the feet. "Careful!" He screeched "Those talons are my favourite!"
"I'm afraid there's no snack this time, sorry." Ria said shortly "Go tell Galleous of our retreat."
"Wham!" The door flew off as Wither skeletons charged into the makeshift brewing and enchanting room. Saxon and Trevor each grabbed a freshly enchanted sword from the stack. A tall, muscly Netheran stepped through the doorway.
"So, two Enderknights, eh?" Skorch observed. "You two will serve as perfect hostages. Seize them." He picked up a sword from the stack and examined it. "A great addition to our armory! Take these away!" He smiled as Saxon and Trevor were cuffed and carted off.
"Ria, what's wrong?" Senn punched his way through the swarms with Lucan and Nikka as the army all beamed back to Meridian through the beacon.
"There's too many." She replied. "We must conserve our strength to fight another day. Are the civilians safe?"
"We led the first group east out of Felora." Senn replied. "They should be safe."
"Lira!" Masani suddenly broke from the group and dashed towards a Felina girl on the edge of the plaza. Lira's purple hair obscured her face as a wither skeleton towered over her, raising its sword.
"Zeer!" Without thinking, Masani shot the skeleton dead and helped Lira up. The two girls hugged each other tightly.
"I thought I'd never see you again." Lira said when they separated. "After your banishment."
"I'm back, Lira." Masani smiled. It was like a rainbow on her face. "Nothing's gonna---Aargh!"
Skorch slowly removed his long knife from her back. "A Knight of Ardonia reuniting with her family? How touching." He cooed, letting Masani's body drop with a thud. "Now, Lira, is it? You are going to be my little pet. I like your…stature." He collared Lira and handed the leash to the skeletons.
"As for your Enderknights," He eyed Denny and Abbigail in their obsidian armor. "They will be my honored guests. Come visit them when you are ready to… submit to me."
The Tidesinger activated the beacon and the Knights of Ardonia, along with the two dragons, beamed back to Meridian. Achillean quickly removed the Nether Star so that the Nether could not follow.