“Ria, I am coming. Don’t worry,” the woman thought to herself.
Suddenly, a massive impact struck her back. An arrow hit the exact center of her spine. Her armor was strong enough to negate the force, but she knew that if the archer wished, she would be nothing more than minced meat.
She stood up slowly and turned. Standing before her was her once-best friend, a being with power far exceeding her own, known as an Almighty. Only others of his kind and the Founding Fathers themselves could match his might.
“Thought you could escape easily, princess?” the man spoke.
He was of average build, with icy blue eyes and skin a lighter shade of blue. His white hair was long, tied into a meticulous bun. He wore minimal armor, holding a bow in his right hand. The weapon was made of an alloy of ice and gold, its bluish shine looking more like an ornament than a tool of death. His most defining features were his elven ears, one of which was tipped with gold and adorned with sparkling ice crystals.
“Please spare me, Loid,” the woman pleaded, removing her helmet for the first time in days.
The stench—the overpowering odor of rotten flesh and blood—assaulted her senses. Her eyes and hair were dark blue. Her face was serene, like a calm river, yet her eyes held the depth of oceans. A small, faint scar marked her forehead.
“Here, I have a gift for you.” The man tossed a fist-sized bag toward her.
As the woman caught the bag, she felt the sickening sensation of soft flesh inside. Panic seized her. Her hands fumbled with the knot holding the bag closed, her mind racing to the worst possible conclusion.
When she managed to open the bag, her eyes went wide, and her mouth hung open in shock. After a second of terrible silence, she let out a scream filled with sorrow, regret, anger, and utter disgust. Her hands released the bag, and it fell. Inside lay the head of a small child. The eyes were shut, yet the face was still frozen in a small, innocent smile.
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“Riaaaaaa!” the woman wailed, her cry echoing across the desolate landscape.
The man, Loid, stood unmoving, unaffected by her grief. He wore a sickening smirk as he watched the woman cry her heart out.
“Oh, come on, Ela. You could always have more kids,” the man said, carelessly kicking the bag and its contents far away.
This was her breaking point. Her daughter was dead, murdered in a manner so gruesome it warranted the ending of the world. She slowly stood up and deliberately donned her helmet again.
“You shall die right now and here, Loid Rodria Bolsvan. For the crimes you committed and the gruesome murder of my little child,” the woman declared.
“Fine,” the man laughed like a madman. “You hit me with your strongest attack first, and then it will be my turn.”
The woman, Ela, took out a quill. Its feathers were a mix of gold and blue, and its nib was pure white.
“THE WORLD BE MY PAPER AND I SHALL WRITE ITS RULES. LET THERE BE A THOUSAND SUNS OVER THIS PLANET FOR WHICH THE CLOUDS BURN AWAY. LET THE STARS BE THE WAY FOR THIS WICKED MAN TO HIS DEMISE. LET THEM BE THE STEPPING STONES FOR HIS JOURNEY TO THE DEEPEST PARTS OF THE VOID. MY COMMAND IS THY LIFE. AND I CHOOSE DEATH!”
As she cast the spell, glowing runes flowed out of the quill’s nib, engulfing the entire sky. Once the incantation was complete, the runes transformed into brilliant miniature suns. The sky was filled with a blinding array of stellar light.
The woman swiped her hand down, and the suns merged into one gigantic, collapsing sphere of stellar energy. The sphere began to fall toward Loid.
Loid looked up, raised his bow, and a single arrow materialized in his hand as he chanted his own spell.
“THE WORLD IS MY TARGET AND I SHALL HIT IT. WHEN MY POWERS FAIL, MY SKILL SHALL PREVAIL. ALMIGHTY SKILL – DIVINE BARRAGE (ICE).”
He released the arrow. It flew upward, instantly growing large—many times its original size—and multiplied into trillions of copies of the same size and power. The torrent of icy arrows struck the falling cluster of stars like rain extinguishing a campfire.
The immense stellar attack, which moments ago seemed like a world-ending threat, was terminated in less than a second. The cooled, massive debris from the collapsed star fell all over the barren planet, creating vast craters and forming enormous new mountain ranges.
Ela stood tall, knowing it was not enough, but finding solace in dying while trying to avenge her daughter.
Loid turned back to her. “That’s it? I was expecting more,” he said mockingly. He lifted his bow and released a single arrow. It immediately multiplied into ten, embedding themselves in various vital parts of the woman's body.
“Ria, I am coming,” she thought to herself, before taking her final breath.
Loid watched the body in silence for a minute, then turned away, opening a portal that glowed in sky-blue light. He vanished into it, leaving the dead body of the woman to join the countless skeletons piled upon the earth.