Pyrus: Rise Of Darkness

Destruction

February turns to March, and winter turns to spring. The snow melts, the flowers bloom, and all is well and beautiful. I am grateful to be out of the thick clothing I had to wear in winter.
  By May, I have mastered the basics of agility and combat, and I must say, it really does help your magic. River, Sky, Rocky and I all progress very well with our abilities, and are all very pleased. Lilly and I patch things up and become friends again. And Thunder sort of leaves me alone a little more, which is strange, but I have no complaints.
  But then one night, in late May, I am at Gale's with Lilly, Sky, Rocky, Sun, Moon, River, and Flora for a dinner party, when my marks burn again, like they did in the woods. Sky notices.
  "Pyrus? Are you okay?" she asks softly. I grit my teeth and nod slowly.
  "I'm fine, but we won't be for long. I think it's happening again."
  Just then, I hear a maniacal laugh from outside. Thunder's laugh. The laugh is immediately followed by a loud crash, and I can see a gaping hole in the side of the wall. The pain stops just as those dark warriors storm in. There are maybe 200 of them, some mounted on huge black wolves, most on foot. With a bloodcurdling battle cry, they attack, starting with a rain of flaming arrows. Just like that, the entire city is ablaze. People run around panicking, screaming, and arrows fly all around. The city falls to chaos. The black marauders, nigh invisible against the night sky, glide through the city, looting and killing.
  I take charge. "Out, out, everybody out!" I yell to the others. "Someone go get Richard and tell him to meet me here!" Rocky assumes that task.
  "What are you going to do?" Sky questions.
  I turn to her grimly. "Fight."
  River snorts. "And you expect us to stand here and watch? No way. We're helping." Half of me wants to protest, but the other half is grateful for the help. I nod and dash outside.
  "See if you can start putting out the small fires," I instruct the others.
  "Why the small ones?" Gale asks.
  I grin at her. "Because I need the big ones." I turn to the city and clear my thoughts. Gathering every last bit of strength in me, I lift the fire off the buildings, creating a hovering inferno. Concentrating, I slowly shape the fire into the first thing I could think of: a dragon. My fiery beast rips through the streets, killing the opposers who stand in it's way, and leaving all others unharmed.
  I hear a muffled voice of panic, and open my eyes to try and see the source. Sky is screaming and pointing, but I cannot lose concentration. That's when I am knocked to the ground. Pain floods in from all parts of my body. A foot stomps onto my back, pinning me there. I struggle, but it's no use. Turning my head on it's side, I can see my friends slowly backing away, and I hear panting. The air around me reeks of dog breath. I try to get a better look at things, but as I attempt to rise, spikes dig into my back, and I can feel blood trickling down the sides of my chest.
  A sudden gust of wind sends the foot flying off me long enough for me to scramble onto my back and crawl away. Towering above me is an enormous black wolf, at least the size of a deer, red eyes glowing. Saliva dribbles from it's pearly teeth. The beast stomps on my leg, pinning me once again. Atop the beast is a warrior, clad not in cloth, but in black plate armour. Vicious-looking horns come off the sides of his black helmet, and he carries a black flail in one hand, and a large, black battle axe in the other. My friends launch a volley of spells at the two, but the warrior merely laughs and bats then away with his arm. He then casts a black torrent at the group, sending my friends all flying. They smash hard into the ground and groan. Then the warrior dismounts and turns to me. I sit up, and he smashes me in the forehead with the handle of the axe, knocking me back down. Then, setting the flail aside, he grips his axe with both hands and raises it over his head, ready to deliver the killing blow. I shut my eyes, and prepare for the strike. But instead, a rush of intense heat flows over my body.
  I open my eyes in surprise, and see a column of fire engulf the warrior, causing him to shield his face, his armour protecting him from the worst of it. It's the distraction I need. Using my magic, I pull flail toward me, grasping it in my hand. I lash out at the warrior's leg and pull, bringing him crashing to the ground. I then drive the flail against the wolf's skull. The creature helps in pain, releasing me, and howls in anguish. I see the warrior attempt to get up, and give a a good whack in the chest to keep him down. The warrior howls in pain, but then swipes at me wit his arm, sending me crashing to the ground. I land with a thud, and the warrior rises. He reaches for his axe, but I don't allow him to grab it. A jet of fire is released from my palm, slamming hard into the side of the warrior's head. Gritting my teeth in concentration, I force the fire under his helmet. He screams in pain, and drops to his knees, clutching his helmet.
  That's when the wolf attacks. It lunges at me, jaws spread and aimed at my neck. But then, out of nowhere, a streak of red flashes across the sky, and both streak and wolf slam into the dirt. When they stop sliding, I can see who it was who saved my life. Vulcan. With a swat of his spiked tail, he sends the wolf monster flying into a house. The creature's body slumps to the ground, lifeless. Then, walking over to the warrior, Vulcan grabs my assailant in his hand and whips him through the wall of the house, and I hear the sound of bones snapping. The warrior, like his pet, lies there, dead. I am about to thank Vulcan, but the dragon is gone into the skies.
  Rocky comes rushing over with Richard. I force a smile. Rocky comes and gives me a hug. I wince, but hug him back.
  "Are you okay, Pyrus?" Richard asks, concern apparent in his voice. I nod slowly, and point to where my friend's lie. I have lost the ability to talk, at least for the moment being.
  Richard rushes over to them, and bites his lip. He waves his hand and mutters an incantation. Black mist rises out of the chests of my friends, and Richard immediately sends it into the sky, dispelling it from the Sanctuary. My friends suddenly shudder and wake, groaning. Gale is the first on her feet.
  "Uhn, what happens?" she asks in a quiet, raspy voice.
  Richard helps her to a tree. "Just sit down here. You need to rest."
  She nods. Leaning against the tree, I see her face scrunch up in pain. I rush over to her.
  "Are you OK?" I whisper.
  She nods. "Yeah. Just a bit bruised. I feel really weird though, like something was just inside me, almost like a parasite or something." I frown at her response.
  While my friends recover, the battle rages on. The adults and older teens are viciously engaged with the black assassins, in a clash for the Sanctuary.
  I pull Richard aside to speak to him. "Alright, you've got some questions to answer, and I want the truth. Who are they and what do they want?"
  Richard frowns. "You're right. You deserve the truth. I have no idea what they want, but I do know who they are. You see, long ago, I had a friend. He and I were inseparable, traveling about and bringing justice to cities. But one day, I don't know what happened. He turned on me and-"
  Richard suddenly stops talking, and his eyes go wide and his face pales. That's when I see the sword tip. A black blade protrudes about three inches out of Richard's chest. A red spot rapidly grows on his robe. The sword retracts, and Richard slumps to the ground, bleeding everywhere. Behind him, a black warrior much like the one I just faced stands triumphantly.
  No. I collapse to the ground beside Richard, who turns his head to look me in the eyes. "Brave...you...the rest...lead...you...lead...safety...keep them...safe..." Richard rasps. He shoved a shaky hand into his robe pocket and produces a blood-stained letter which he pressed into my hands. "Read it...sorry...so sorry..." He opens his mouth to say more, but a gurgle only comes out. Blood drips over his lip, and he breathes one last breath. Then he is gone. Richard, the powerful Mage, my teacher, my mentor, my idol. Gone.
  I press my head into his beard, and tears stream out. Suddenly, the orb grows black. The tower, the Sanctuary, disappears into dust. I stare in disbelief. My sadness turns to anger. With our attackers. They killed my friend, they destroyed my home. I rise and glare at the warrior who struck down Richard. The warrior is still laughing. I yell, and barrel into him. He is knocked to the ground, surprised by the sudden attack. I send two streams of fire straight through his chest. He gurgles for a second, then collapses, lifeless. I stagger over to Gale.
  "Gale, you can project your voice, correct?" I ask softly, tears breaking through my eyes. Gale gives a hardly distinguishable nod. "Can you project my voice for me? I need to get a mess-"
  Out of the corner of my eye, I see it. The sword plunging towards Ore's chest. How dare they attack the youngsters! I let out a cry of anguish and stomp on the ground, and begin to charge Ore's attacker. But that isn't what happens. Instead, a sphere of fire rapidly spreads across the landscape, leaving all unharmed. Except our attackers, of course. They are all incinerated where they stand. I rush over to Ore, who stands defensively in front of his little brother.
  "Are you OK?" I ask, stretching out my arms.
  "Yeah. We beat the bad guys, didn't we? You just made this fire ball and killed them all!"
  I smile and nod, but instantly feel guilty about all the lives I took. Gale, who has come over, sees how I am feeling and puts a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry about, Pyrus. You did nothing wrong. And there's something about then you should see."
  She leads me to the body of the warrior who killed Richard. She removes the "man's" helmet, only to reveal a smooth, black face with two tiny red eyes. I gasp.
  "They aren't human, are they?"
  "No. I don't know what they are."
  I take the helmet from Gale. I stare at it for a couple seconds before chucking it as hard as I can.
  I turn to Gale. "So, how about that announcement?"