A Tale Of Shadows (Wattys 2023) - REPLACED BY DIVINE ASCENSION

Chapter 2 - The Great Battle

Tomorrow morning wasn't anywhere as wonderful. After enduring a horrible dream, Melinda woke up at five in the morning, forcing herself to get out of bed as soon as possible while her melancholy weighed on her soul like a boulder. It was dreadful to look at the horizon, for Death was everywhere. Through the heavy grey clouds that covered the entire sky, not a single ray of light shone. The branches of the withered trees swayed helplessly to the tune of the harsh winds of cold, knocking at Melinda's window like vengeful spirits. Frost lingered all over the glass, covering it like ivy covered the walls of an abandoned house, yet still flinching at every pained sigh that she released. Thus, it was no wonder that she soon tilted her head in the opposite direction, trying to forget about it and get ready for the day. After all, the day was going to be long, so she couldn't waste her time thinking about unimportant matters such as these.

"I see that you've woken up, my dear," Jeffrey spoke, having entered the room suddenly. "I'd wish you a good morning, but there's nothing good about this morning at all."

She made an effort to smile brightly at him. "Good morning to you as well, my beloved. Your beautiful presence warms my heart on such a hideous day. However, I'm not too eager to be pessimistic this early in the day, so let's get ready for the battle, I suppose. Don't worry about anything, Jeffrey. I'm sure you'll be alright with me by your side."

"I'm sure of it too," he said plainly, going to the other side of the house to use the restroom, after which the two of them quickly finished the rest of the preparations.

Around half an hour after they had woken up, they found themselves in the stable. Jeffrey had never entered her stable before, so he took a little while to observe it. He knew that Melinda was a woman of organisation, but he also understood that there were much more important things at hand than some plain stable.

Although there were only two horses in there, one white and one brown, the horribly dried grass was messily scattered about, and the overflowing smell of horse dung contaminated the room. When he glanced at her for a moment, he saw that her gaze was stern and her nose wrinkled in disgust, and also that she forced a neutral facial expression and bit her lip the moment she felt his eyes on her, even though he took a mere glimpse of her face.

"Sorry about that," she said with an awkward inflection in her voice. "I forgot how smelly it is in here."

"It's okay," he said with a little laugh. "Let's just ride already. Time isn't something to be wasted, after all."

And so they did. Their horses, hers white and his brown, were eager to follow their needs, arriving at the battlefield in a few minutes' time. Startled by what was happening around them, the animals both halted suddenly. The white winter sky was turning red from the horrible flames that came from the enemies' side, and those flames crackled like dozens of branches being snapped all at once. People were running and stabbing and shouting, disoriented by the many bloody corpses that lay on the ground the way pinatas busted open would, the grass becoming red as a rose. Many people were there, both alive and dead, and Melinda had no idea what to do, at least not at first sight.

Jumping off her horse, she examined the situation more closely. It was convenient that the Obscurian soldiers were all wearing their iconic military uniforms - coloured with splotches of purple, white, and black and lined with silver buttons - so that she could launch a quick attack on the opposing forces. There were plenty of useful spells in her arsenal, because of which she took a little while to decide which one to use. Swiftly making up her mind, she initiated the process, brought back to reality by the ghastly events around her.

Standing in the middle of the field like a statue, she captured the shadows of a group of her foes as she swung the sword upwards, freezing them in time and space, the weight of their beings weighing on her heart. To continue the process and drop the weight, she swung the weapon downwards, ending their lives with a flick of her hand. To wake them up from their dormancy, she swung to the left, causing their eyes to open like those of infants. To force them to follow the orders of her soul, she swung to the right, more than ready to end the spell.