The Invasion Begins

As the last of the howling Pack turned to flee, the Scion allowed herself a small smile. By Lumos’ light, they were so close! Soon everyone would be united under his glow. Her fiery blonde hair whipped in the wind. She absently brushed it out of her face as she surveyed the battlefield.

Candlekin continued their holy pursuit, chasing down fleeing orcs and gnolls and cleansing them with flame. The smoldering ruin of that mechanical sin, C.A.G.E., lay scattered across the ice, and the Scion allowed herself a small surge of relief. How many of the faithful had been snuffed out by that hideous war machine? Too many. And now, by Lyvaanth’s grace, never again. The Scion squeezed her flaming staff with grim satisfaction.

As she turned to give orders to secure the arena, the sky darkened with the promise of black lightning. The wind smelled like ozone and the hairs on the back of her neck rose one by one. Another unholy portal?

“On your guard, Acolytes!” she barked. The Scion’s candled crown cast her worry in sharp relief.

The sky began to scream. Not one, but portal after portal rent the air in a riot of color and inky darkness, but unlike their brethren, these portals were not static. They began to move, tearing themselves across the sky as if they were alive or controlled by some outside force. Small crystals dotted their edges, and instead of winking out they converged at the center of the arena.

Luminaries across the Frost Ring bent double, hands over their ears, as deafening tones, like the hum of a particularly sadistic tuning fork, shook the ice. Candlekin shook and exploded into sad puddles on the ground. The Scion wiped blood out from under her nose and looked up just in time to see the portals overlap, their crystals twisting and fusing together to form a spiky ring that glittered with alien malice.

There was a moment of calm as the portal hung in the sky. Fallen Luminaries shook their heads, pushed themselves up, and began straightening their armor. Others looked up with a silent prayer towards Lyvaanth’s comforting silhouette in the clouds. For a moment, all was still. Then, all hell broke loose.

Creatures crafted from pure nightmare began to pour from the portal, slaughtering everyone in their path. They looked like giant, cancerous cells crafted from a mad patchwork of Entrath’s most deadly. Writhing limbs and snapping jaws from every killer imaginable ringed their veined cores, and they used them to lethal effect on the unprepared Luminaries. Flickering gems glowed balefully from the creatures’ centers, shifting this way and that, almost like eyes, as they fell upon everything in sight.

Lyvaanth gave a bellow of outrage and a hiss in G minor as she plummeted towards the arena like an avenging angel to protect her faithful. Burning wax flew from her wings, scalding the alien beasts and eliciting a cacophony of hoots and growls. She tore into them with a fury, crushing the invaders beneath her claws and a whirlwind of soot, flame, and righteousness.

But there were too many.

The Scion looked on in horror as a massive beast with three squirming dragons for limbs burst through the portal. She screamed, falling to her knees as it tore into Lyvaanth, dragging her to the ground in a spray of scales and blood. Heedless of the rest of the battle raging around her, the Scion watched wide eyed, tears streaming down her face, as the living ambassador to their god was rent bit by bloody bit into profane pieces.

With her last breath, Lyvaanth locked eyes with her scion. Through the pain, the dragon’s eyes glowed with a surge of love and acceptance. Then, they snuffed out.

The dragon Lyvaanth was no more.

The Ender—for what else could they be when so much would never be right again—barely acknowledged its victory. It just raised its bloodied maws and swarmed over to the next group of faithful, consuming, killing, ending.

Numbly, the Scion pushed herself up and began to run. She couldn’t feel Lumos’ light anymore, and it was so cold. Enders filled the sky behind her as she panted and sobbed, bitter verses tumbling from her lips.

“Struggle children, burn bright, lest the beast with three mouths shall swallow the sun and bring darkness to all lands. Struggle, seek light, lest Kha bring doom to us all.”

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