The whole army stopped mid-stride to watch the smoke.
         "Probably Ronan's men burning down another village." Maldrum turned to keep marching.
"I would agree if not for the fact that there are no villages left near Faldron's keep. Not any more." The gray, four-winged dragon flapped its scarred wings for emphasis as it added, "Trust me I know."
"Then what on earth is the smoke coming from?" Gorgrim stroked his beard as he pondered this.
"Well, whatever it is, it's getting closer." Arianna pointed at the cloud of smoke. She was right, the smoke and the flying black figures were advancing towards them.
Suddenly, a massive wall of fire shot up from the ground in front of them. Imps dropped by the tens of hundreds from the trees around them, blocking any way of escape. The fire parted and a smoking black and red-orange serpent slithered through the flames, its head down.
        Skyler almost screamed as it showed its face.
        The mask like wood covering the magma behind it was black. The fire behind the "mask" had burned out the face of a skull in the wood, making the whole creature look like a skeleton engulfed in flames.
"Fire Drake!" Gorgrim shouted to warn as much of the army as possible. Several trees on each of the other three sides burst into flames followed by a Fire Drake.
"I didn't know this many Fire Drakes still existed." Tierra, the Sprite general, called over the sound of cracking wood and roaring flames.
"Whether you did or not, their here and they must be destroyed. They are too dangerous to walk this earth." Teran shouted in reply.
"What I wouldn't give to have a nyad right now." Gorgrim backed away from the flames as they spread and closed in.
The nyads had to travel up the river to the lake so they had separated. Now, it was a decision they very much regretted.
The flames formed a cage around them, blocking any way of escape. The imps moved in with the flames, snarling and baring their teeth at the soldiers. Shadewing circled overhead, keeping the army grounded.
The soldiers waited restlessly for orders. Without warning, one of the humans released the arrow he had aimed at the sky and dropped one of the Shadewing. The remaining dragons shrieked and belched hot black sludge down over them. Creatures screamed as the thick globs hit them, searing their skin, fur, and scales. The only ones not affected were the dragons, who acted quickly and covered all the soldiers they could with their wings and bodies.
Arianna, Skyler, and Caleb huddled underneath a four-winged dragon, unable to help. A Sprite, caked with the black magma-like goop, screamed in pain and cried for aid, but as Arianna reached out her hand, a Shadewing swooped down and snatched the Sprite off the ground. It passed out of sight. Then a black screaming figure dropped from the sky and hit the ground with a sickening crack.
"We have to stop this." She retracted her hand as a glob of acid splashed to the ground.
"How are we supposed to defeat Fire drakes?" Skyler reached out and dragged a whimpering dog under the protection of the dragon's wing. At once, other soldiers began to clean it off.
"Without Nyads, I have no idea." Gorgrim lamented as he stared out at the chaos.
"I might be able to help with that." Arianna offered.
"How?" Gorgrim and Teran asked at the same time.
Skyler suddenly realized what Arianna meant. "No!"
"Skyler, it's our only option." Arianna grabbed Skyler's shoulders. "I promise. I'll be alright."
"I don't understand what are we talking about?" Teran stepped forward with a look of confusion.
"I'm part emo-shifter; I can turn into a Nyad." Arianna explained.
"You mean to attack them alone?" Gorgrim stepped in.
"No. We have other emo-shifters in our ranks. They can help me."
"This is ridiculous." Teran protested, "My goal was to keep you three away from the danger as much as possible."
"This is war. You can't keep protecting us. That will only hurt us."
"She makes a good point. Why not let them try? We have nothing to lose." Gorgrim placed a hand on Teran's back.
"Fine." Teran consented. "But don't do anything drastic or unnecessary."
"Never." Arianna smirked.
Teran turned to one of the soldiers. "Gather all the emo-shifters together. We're launching a counter attack."
"Being a Nyad won't protect you from the acid." Skyler's look of concern cut like a knife.
"I know. But I still have to do this."
"Why? There are other emo-shifters."
"Yes, but I would be ashamed of myself if I did not march out with them."
"Just promise me that you'll come back."
"You know I can't promise that."
"I know, but... do it anyway."
"Alright. I promise."
"Thank you." Skyler embraced Arianna for as long as she could.
"Arianna, the soldiers are ready when you are."
"Thank you, Teran." she turned to face her kin. "Emo-shifters, we are the only ones who can combat this enemy. We must pave the way for this army to make it to the keep."
The group of thirty emo-shifters changed form and charged out from under the dragon's wing. Acid rained down and the fire crept closer. They dodged the large masses of black sludge as they advanced on the Fire drakes. Whipping long, wet, slender arms like ropes, the group snuffed out fires. Several attacked the drakes directly. The water seemed to burn them. More and more dark smoke rose from them as each stroke fell. Soon, the fires were all but out and the drakes were attempting to retreat.
Five of the emo-shifters turned to attack the Shadewing above. Their dripping arms and torsos transformed into scales and wings, their legs into clawed hindquarters, their teeth sharpened and snouts formed. Within a few seconds, they were dragons. The Shadewing managed to kill two of them mid-shift and now battled in the air with the remaining three.
As the firedrakes were slowly extinguished, the imps moved in slashing their way through acid and brush towards the army huddled under the dragons. They leapt out of cover and attacked with all their strength, cutting the air and jabbing at... nothing. The illusion faded and the imps grunted and shrieked in confusion in the open grass on the opposite side of the clearing.
"Now!" Skyler's voice rang out over the field as a massive dragon spewed bolts of lightning from its mouth, searing many of the imps.
Someone on the other side of the clearing screamed. A half dragon half emo-shifter plummeted to the ground, long deep gashes crisscrossing its chest.
"We have to help. Come on!" Skyler led the charge as the rest of the army rushed to the aid of the emo-shifters.
————
Arianna sloshed water over another fire as others wrapped the drakes in tendrils of themselves. She turned around to see a large mass of goop launch towards a man who was disoriented by the battle.
         "Watch out!" Her warning came a second too late. The man dropped to the grass screaming and writhing in an attempt to relieve himself of the pain and scrape the gunk off.
         Arianna rushed to his side doing the same. The acid burned her hands as she wiped it from his face. His screams continued even after his skin was cleared. Arianna glanced down at her hands. They were red and raw. She sucked in a quick breath through her teeth as she bent her fingers. Her irises yellow with pain, she shifted her hands into water. The pain subsided and she dragged the man safely under the dragon's wing.
"Arianna!" Skyler sprinted over. "We have incoming. The imps are moving in from the trees. They'll be on us in a matter of minutes."
"All of them?"
"I'm not sure, but there are hundreds. We can't fight them all off without taking some losses.
"Then let's give them another target." Arianna turned the direction Skyler indicated the imps were coming. "Help me."
"What are we doing?"
"Giving the imps a target."
         Skyler realized what she meant and together they conjured an illusion of the entire army on the other side of the field. "Let's hope that works. Teran, I'll let you take it from here." With that Arianna charged back into the fray.
————
One by one the enemies fell before the emo-shifters. Soon only the imps remained. The army crept from under the dragons and charged clearing the field of the creatures within minutes. The army regrouped and awaited orders. Teran sent out two hawks as scouts. Obviously, someone knew they were there.