The Eternal War: The Dragon's Valkyrie

The Wildlands

A lilting melody echoed above Saidy. Her blade flashed like a silver moon in the full force of the rising sun. However, it was eclipsed the shadow of a person with wings instead of arms. She poised herself over the saddle, a blade in her right hand and reins in her left.

She'd made the mistake of thinking a woman was stuck in a harpy's nest on her ascent up the chasm. Now, her and Ash raced for their lives as a flock gave chase. Much to her dismay, the landscape was nothing more than scrub and medium sized boulders. Nothing would give them any cover from the ravenous harpies that hunted them.

She and Ash had observed them the day prior from beneath a rednut shrub, a bush known for its zesty nuts that were oddly blue in color. She'd watched one land meters from her. It's talons were as large as a man's feet, and tore into the fox it preyed on like sharpened steel. Red eyes with black sclerae bulged in the beast's head like an owl's. The wings were easily the size of two men, and brown like an eagle. Even her thighs and lower abdomen were covered in down. However, her chest was voluptuous and ripe. Cream skin was cascaded on by angelic sun-dripped hair.

Then, there were the arrowhead teeth that wrapped halfway around her skull and bit the fox's head off in one gulp. Saidy shivered as she thought of those teeth sinking into her neck now. A screech from above shook her from her memory. She turned over her shoulder and raised her sword in defense as one of the beasts descended upon her.

The blade bounced off the scaled feet like she'd tried to cut stone. However, the harpy buzzed off all the same. Saidy's breath threaded in her lungs as she scanned the horizon for anything that might save them from the winged huntresses.

Ash jogged underneath her as a talon passed inches from her face. Saidy gripped the reins tighter to keep herself from being thrown from the wolf's back.

"C'mon, Ash, faster!" she screamed.

The ground beneath was nothing but a blur of reds, browns, and greens as the wolf tore over the landscape with magnificent speed. A glade began to sprout over the horizon. Saidy's heart leapt toward it.

"There, Ash! We can make it!" She gave a backhanded slash into a harpy's gut, knocking it from the sky.

The beast screeched and shrieked as it fluttered on the ground before regaining its flight. The glade grew closer, but the harpies continued their assault on Saidy and the wolf.

Within minutes, Saidy and the wolf tore into the thicket as branches and twigs lashed at them. However, both knew that the scratches were nothing compared to the flock of death birds that continued to try and hunt them through the trees.

The canopy provided good cover and made it significantly more challenging for the harpies to swoop down upon them, but the canopy was not always thick. A single harpy managed to penetrate the tree cover, weaving between the branches that threatened to knock it from the sky. Its approach had put it in front of Saidy. Saidy whipped the reins to drive Ash faster. She could see the purple beating heart between the creature's shoulder blades where her wings grew from. If she could get close enough, she could stab the heart before the harpy had a chance to turn on her.

She needed to do it fast too, because ahead was a clearing that would afford the winged killer enough room for a quick aerial maneuver. Ash dug deeper into the earth with his paws, inching Saidy towards the beast. Saidy felt his sides expand further with each lurch forward as he gave her every bit of speed he could. Saidy poised her sword. The heart throbbed in the harpy's chest.

Saidy felt the world wash away as a familiar calm washed over her. Her vision narrowed as she focused on nothing but the heart. She waited. She could feel the beating draw nearer like it was her own heart she was aiming for.

As they broke through the clearing, Saidy lurched forward. However, instead of feeling her blade sink into the heart like it should've, she felt Ash's body collapse underneath her.

Saidy was flung from her saddle as great blue beast descended on the harpy, crushing its heart beneath its boulder sized heel. Saidy slid on the ground as rock, dirt, and tree roots tore at the side of her face. Her body shook as pain flooded her senses. It consumed her like nothing had ever before. Every muscles spasmed, and with every spasm electric needles seemed to tear through her nerves.

She strained to turn just her head as she breathed particles of dirt from her nostrils. Blue lighting arced through Ash's fur as he convulsed on the ground, whimpering in pain. She struggled to crane her neck to see what had killed the harpy.

Deep blue skin with legs the size of thick oak stumps, and arms equally as thick grew from what Saidy thought might be a giant. However, the two large tusks that jutted from its lower jaw and yellow beady eyes confirmed it was, instead, an orc.

The hulking, towering, wall of muscle meandered towards her as another descended from the canopy near Ash.

"A-a-ash... N-no..." Saidy strained to say.

The orc in front of her grunted as she felt her head get pulled up. She wanted to move her sword arm, but it was unresponsive. The sword clattered to the ground as her body lifted off the ground. She couldn't even feel the pain of her hair being ripped from her skull. It was taking every bit of her focus just to stay conscious. Flecks of snot and orc spit plastered her face as the beast sniffed her. Its grunts reminded her of the pigs her Dolletus had made her slaughter when she was a girl to desensitize her to taking life. The orcs squealed. Her vision flashed as her head slammed back onto the ground. She mustered every ounce of energy she had left to crane her neck one last time.

A flying blue orb of light zipped around her head. It couldn't have been much bigger than one of her fists, but the orcs tripped over themselves trying to run from it and two others that hovered over Ash.

The orbs sparked and sputtered into something humanoid looking; however, the outline of its shape was fuzzy from the sparking electricity that spattered around it. Wisps—terrifying manifestations of raw magical energy given life. How had she not seen the glowing orb her and Ash crashed into. It had been a wisp nest.

The excruciating pain and convulsions had all become clear to her now. She'd been stung by the wisp.

The figure turned to her and knelt down. What could've been considered its face, peered into hers as she stared back into the near blinding white of its aura. She could feel the blood running down her face from the scrapes from when she was thrown from Ash. The wisp was looking at them. She could feel it.

If a wisp were to enter a cut, it could feed on the soul and grow. Saidy remembered the description of what dying by a wisp would be like. She could think of no worse or agonizing way to end her life.

The harpies must've known too because she could hear their lilting melodies and screeching growing softer overhead. If she could only move her sword arm, and reach her sword, she might be able to kill the creatures. Because wisps were magical energy, her swords would absorb them.

I won't die here!

Saidy pressed her eyes shut as her mouth opened to scream. Every nerve in her wailed in agony as she forced her sword arm to move. The wisp drew closer to her face. She could feel the heat of it on her cheek, hear the crackling of its body buzzing louder in her ear. Then, she felt her sword's hilt at her fingertips. She only needed to stretch a bit more. The wisp raised its blurred fingers towards her face. It was moments away from entering her body. Saidy pulled at her sword with her fingers until she felt it firmly in her hand. The wisp drew closer still. She pulled her arm back and felt her sword pulse in her hand as it drank the wisp.

She pushed with every bit of strength she had to lift her body as the other two took notice of her. They came for her. Their humanoid forms charring the moss that grew on the dimly lit forest floor. As Saidy stood, she felt her legs wobble then buckle. She fell back on her butt, raising her sword as both the wisps fell upon it and vanished.

Saidy dropped her sword and fell backward. She stared at the treetops as barely a ray of sunlight penetrated the dense canopy. Her vision bruised and blurred, until the darkness took her once again.