Three Broken Kingdoms-Book 1 of the Lost Continent (Completed)

Chapter Thirty-Four: An Apocalypse of a Minute

The whole elfin army watched with bated breath as the EarthWeavers eroded at the ground above them. There was a power tingling in the air that came from so many powerful magic-wielders in one place. All the ten thousand and seven hundred regular powerful sorcerers, the two hundred of Lords and Ladies' blood (the other bloodlines had a lot more relatives) and the hundred of the Second Army.

"Now!" The EarthWeavers demanded as the earth grew thinner, and the Air-Whisperers began to support the soldiers now the earth was less and less. They'd all been assigned portions based on capability, and Zara was now lifting dozens, turning her air harder and harder. They didn't know yet that the earth wasn't the thing holding them up, but they would soon. The EarthWeavers gave the signal: first to each other, then to everyone else-and it began.

The world became white-with lightning and fire and ice.Water sprouted up to drown them. It was like an apocalypse had come, and the world was swallowed by it. They only had seconds, but they were using them well. She let her magic spread across the army-and in seconds she had their minds in her iron-tight grasp. Hundreds lunged for their comrades, tearing into their friends. The world burned in a thousand colours above her, the people beside her spending every drop of magic they had.

It lasted for minutes. It felt like forever.

The shadows resealed-swiftly and perfectly-but the damage was done. The EarthWeavers, in their last wearied seconds, sealed over the tunnel to protect the elves beneath, and the silence settled over the exhausted army.

Talia did not know if it had been enough. They had had a minute more than they thought they would get. The elves around her were exhausted, a sign that their magic had been used well and truly. But with the remains of the Kallian Army above them, they had no way of knowing whether it was enough.

It did not matter now. The dome's bottom was sealed. Their last chance was spent.

Now they waited to see if they had spent it well.

------------------

Myra

The world turned to fire and ice and the wrath of elfin magic. It was ice that shot from the ground first as the attack began, splitting through solid earth to pierce Kallian hearts. The valkyrie gryphons and wyverns took to the air with startling speed to avoid the wrath of elfin magic, and great warhorses-and their riders-and foot soldiers alike backed away as the front lines went under siege. All around them, the earth simply disappeared, replaced by solid air and wind.

Myra watched with awe as ice and fire came first, burning and freezing. All across the bloody, ruined field, Kallian soldiers stabbed their blades into their fellow solider's and then their own hearts. She shivered. MindWeavers. Floods reigned across the field and the Kallians drowned. Lightning struck and creatures made of the earth rose and torn the humans apart. It seemed like the world was ending. Perhaps it was, and a new one was beginning.

All across the field, the world seemed to be destroying itself. With every second, a new element won out: first a burst of ice, then a swath of fire, a white sky of lightning, a hurricane of water. The Kallians were helpless, with their attacks from beneath them. The valkyries watched, transfixed.

When it was over, when the earth resealed, the world was ash. They had thought the Isthmus was ruined before, but now it truly was-the land was charred, and ripped apart in some places, deformed and scarred from the attack. The Kallian Army was now truly in shreds: the few survivors were burnt and bleeding, hidden amongst the wreckage.

Of course, the valkyries took the advantage.

"To the ground!" Myra cried and the aerial legion dived down to pick off the survivors. They still outnumbered the valkyries, but two-thirds of their forces were lying dead (if they were lucky-some had been burnt completely, turned to ash) and the rest were injured and shellshocked. Most of their cannons were charred and broken.