The army awaited the return of their scouts. In a clearing not far from the field where they were just attacked, they listened to Gorgrim review the plan, AGAIN. 
         "So, we bust holes in the wall here and here," he pointed to a map as he spoke, "then we attack, causing a distraction so Arianna can infiltrate the keep and find the wizard."
         "And as she does that, I'll sneak in another way and free the other prisoners." Skyler, as usual, had Lilac perched on her shoulder.   
         "Yes. Now..." His monologue was interrupted by the strained, gargled caw of a hawk. The battered and beaten beast glided into the clearing, tried to land, but buckled and skidded to a stop across the grass. 
         They gasped as they gathered around the poor creature.
"Out of the way." Teran's voice rang out with clear authority. The crowd parted and Teran rushed through. "What happened?" 
         The hawk began to explain as Lilac jumped over and began to heal it. "We were on our way to the mountains. Things were going peacefully, until we started over the keep. Ronan saw us. Before I knew what happened, I was fighting the wind to dodge spheres of pulsing shadow. I managed to avoid them, but my companion was not so lucky. My partner plummeted towards the ground, caught himself, and then started convulsing. Black mist seeped from beneath his feathers. Soon he was consumed by the darkness. He turned on me and attacked. I was forced to slay him. I managed after to make it to the mountain, but just barely. I delivered our message, rested and flew back here."          
         "Thank you. You've done well." As Teran spoke, a flying squirrel lunged from a tree and floated done to Teran.
          "Sir, their Shadwing are making a perimeter sweep." 
          "Into the trees!" The army lurched and dashed towards the forest. They jumped behind trees, lunged into bushes, and blended as best they could. 
         Soon after, four Shadwing soared over the treetops and into the distance. "That was close." 
         "Too close."  Teran called everyone out of the woods. " We need to end this, now." 
         "Wait!" it was Skyler who called out over the crowd. "I just realized something. How will the Snow wraith know when to start the avalanche? We have no way to signal them." 
         "Perhaps I could be of assistance." A gruff, deep voice sounded from the shadows. They all turned, swords at the ready. The creature that emerged from the shade of the tree line was an amber-feathered bird with a long swan-like neck and a large exaggerated tail. 
         "A Phoenix." Matheson breathed almost in reverence. 
         "But they were declared extinct over five years ago." Maldrum stared on in disbelief. 
         "Yes, we were thought to be extinct. But my people simply went into hiding for fear of what the race of man would bring. We saw darkness in their future, and hoped that by hiding we could avoid it."
         "So, you knew this was coming and you left the other creatures to fend for themselves!" Skyler received a look from Arianna that begged her to stop, but she ignored it. "You could have at least given them a warning."
         "Yes, we could have easily warned the other creatures, but our leaders forbid it. They thought that because we foresaw man turning against us, we could not trust any of the creatures. They were overtaken by paranoia. And I could not stop them from receding from this realm. No matter how I protested, the elders believed that we would be better off secluding ourselves. They were wrong seclusion killed us off. We were not there for those that were there for us, but I am here to help now.  The last of my kind to finally end this once and for all."
         "Thank you. Your help is much appreciated." Teran turned to the army. "Now, to the keep!"
————
           They traveled most of the early morning hours and reached the final hill as the sun crested the horizon. Teran turned to the Phoenix and nodded. It lunged into the air and, as it aligned with the new born sun, lit itself on fire. As it lowered to the ground, the army heard as the mountainside tumbled toward the wall. 
————
         Ronan stared out his bedroom window, unable to sleep. Smoke rose from the trees a sign of the Fire Drakes doing their job. The early morning air was crisp. He could faintly see his breath rise up in a foggy cloud. The sky to the East tinted blue, then orange, then red. In all its glory, the sun began to overcome the horizon. With it rode a large bird. Suddenly, it burst into flames. Ronan jumped back. It was happening. A phoenix was riding the dawn.
————
         As the rumbling subsided, the giants raised their weapons. With one powerful swing, each giant collapsed a massive portion of the wall. As soon as the dust became clearer, the army charged in through the huge gap with weapons drawn.
Their distraction didn't work as long as they'd hoped. Dark creatures were on them in seconds. Shadewing swooped and dove, attacking ferociously from the air. Imps poured in from behind, cutting off escape.
Arianna already found herself caught up in a heated brawl with a dark dryad. The tall, bronze-skinned, leafy haired woman twirled and danced around Arianna's attacks.
And so the battle had begun.
————
         Skyler sliced and jabbed at any shadow that moved. She had never known such violence in all her life. Even the dead bodies were too much. But she couldn't back down now. This was for her mother and all the innocent elves and creatures that died under Ronan. So, she pushed on against the nausea and horrid flashbacks.
         Lilac jumped from enemy to enemy scratching and biting and clawing.
        Finally, the two reached the inner wall of the fortress. Pulling a knife from each boot, Skyler jabbed them into the mortar between the bricks and began her ascent. Lilac lunged and barely grabbed hold of Skyler's shirt before she was out of reach. 
————
         Two humans and three Astrids had been slain by dark dryads. The corpses now lay on the ground around Arianna. As much as she longed to save them, the threat posed by the tree women was too great. She was forced to kill them to save others. Another Astrid soared in on golden wings and landed next to Arianna.     
        Astrids look like humans in all appearances except for their owl-like wings, and feathery hair. 
         Arianna had already lost track of both Skyler and Caleb. In the chaos around her, there was no way she would be able to find them, not on the ground. So, her eyes glistening gold with courage, Arianna sprouted white bird-like wings from her back and took off.
————
         Caleb fought for his life against several dark and fallen creatures. He stood back to back with a young man named Farin, who appeared very skilled in weaponry and hand to hand combat. He slashed a dark dryad across its chest then kicked it away. He was armored with a chest plate, gauntlets, shoulder plates, and boots of a metal that Caleb couldn't name but assumed that the dwarves had made. The pieces were both elegant and strong.
         Around them, dragons of light fought off the aerial attacks of the Shadewing and emo-shifters took out multiple enemies at once in varying forms. 
         Suddenly, a winged girl shot up over the battle. 
         "Arianna." Caleb was distracted for a split second, but it was enough.
         "Watch out!" Farin lunged at Caleb, knocking him down as a Shadewing plummeted to the ground wing in shreds. It hit the ground right where Caleb had been. 
         It rose, tried to fly, failed, and then acknowledged Caleb and Farin. It turned to attack. 
————
         Skyler shimmied through the narrow window and fell to the floor, landing on her back and getting the wind knocked out of her. She lay there, taking deep breaths until the air finally flowed into her lungs. Lilac stood over her, seemingly oblivious. Standing up and letting Lilac leap up her arm to her shoulder, she continued.
         She snuck cautiously through corridor after corridor trying and failing to find the dungeon. Suddenly, she heard a guard coming down the hall straight towards her. Instead of hiding, she jumped the guard, stole his keys, and left him tied up in a room along the hall. 
         It seemed like hours had past, but she finally found the prison level. It took her a minute to find the right key, but soon she was in. 
         After roving the halls for a while, Skyler finally found a cell that didn't contain some kind of monster. She fiddled with each individual key until the lock finally clicked. She opened the door and a woman who looked about in her mid-thirties with jet black hair whirled around. The woman's strangely familiar dark turquoise eyes met Skyler's. 
         "What does he want now?" The woman looked ready to fight.
         "Don't worry. I'm a friend." Lilac nodded vigorously at Skyler's comment. 
         "Prove it." 
         Suddenly, Skyler remembered why the woman's eyes were so familiar. "I know your son."    
         The woman loosened her clenched fists. "Caleb?"
         "Yes. He's outside fighting with our army right now."
         "Army?"
         "Yes. I'm here to get you and the other prisoners out."
         "Take me to him."
         "As soon as we've released the other prisoners."
         "Then let me help."
         Skyler nodded. "Follow me." They rushed out of the cell and down the hall, unlocking cells as they went. 
————
         Arianna fell to the ground, clutching the gash in her side. She pushed back against the enemy weighing down on her. Her blade crept closer to her neck. Suddenly, she noticed her enemy's vulnerable torso. Unable to pull her sword free, she kicked the creature in the stomach. As her adversary stumbled back, she stood, shape shifted into fire-spitting dragon, and killed the creature. She then shifted into her natural form and took flight. 
         She swooped down and slashed at grounded enemies as she soared towards the keep, her irises turning red. 
————
         The crowd of prisoners grew larger and larger as Skyler proceeded down the corridor. She came upon the last cell that needed opening. She peered inside and saw an elf sitting cross-legged in the center of the floor. 
         Skyler opened the door and ducked inside. "Hey." The elf turned around. It was Arianna's dad. "But... we buried you."
         "That's right you did bury him." The voice wasn't right. 
         Suddenly, Skyler realized what this was. "Run! It's a Shrouder!" 
         The elf's skin turned grey as he smirked. "Well, done." It lunged at her half-Shrouder half-elf, and pinned her against the wall. "You saw through our little trick."
         Skyler threw him off. "Not much of a trick. It was obvious."
         He jumped at her again. "Was it?" Skyler dodged the attack and sliced the beast across the back. It yowled in pain. 
         "What?" She dodged another attack. Then realized what he meant. "This is a diversion. The prisoners." She turned on the creature, ducked under his arms, and drove her sword up behind his ribcage. Pulling her sword free, she dashed out the door and down the hall in the direction Lilac had led the prisoners away.
————
         Caleb and Farin dropped to the ground as the Shadewing jumped at them. Looking over his shoulder, Farin pushed off Caleb and stood to attack. 
         As he shoved himself to his feet, Caleb noticed Farin fighting the grounded Shadewing. Disoriented as he was, he picked up his sword to help him. Farin had just cleanly cut the beast's right wing off and now blood gushed out of the wound, running down the dragon's side and splattering all over the place as it dodged and attacked. Caleb slashed at it, its black-green blood covering his skin in a slimy layer as he did. For a moment, all he saw was claws, teeth, blood, and scales. The next he was on the ground again and Farin was under a large limp lump. Caleb rolled the Shadewing's corpse off. Farin was layered in blood, both the Shadewing's and his own. His body was littered with wounds. He was unconscious.          
       During the fray, the Shadewing had lunged for Farin, knocking Caleb over in the process. 
         He shook Farin's shoulders. Nothing. He slapped him lightly across the face. Still nothing.
         Finally, Farin gasped and opened his eyes. "Thank you." With that, he stood and disappeared into the chaos.