Battle of Mount Ila'Alnar part 27
To kill the avatar of a mighty god from another plane was quite a task. It was not less challenging to kill a quasi deity on its own plane. Yet Lyla was confident as she moved towards Dourvan. She was flanked by a dozen of her elite guard and faced with only an elderly man, a hobbled king and a strange beast. From a sheaf, she pulled a dagger that looked more like a shard of metal put onto a hilt. “What happened to you when you are destroyed? It’s a question even I don’t know the answer to. I do know what happens to me though.â€
He commanded the beast leave, in a voice that would have been impossible to resist had it been any normal beast. When it did not, Lyla paused. Her guards unleashed a barrage of missiles. No fewer than one hundred magic bolts of energy flew from them. It was a terrible end, not one any warrior would hope for, but Cynias crumbled. Arion, wished for the Gemblade, but it did not appear. Valen prayed and Arion only barely stopped himself from kicking him to act. Another barrage came in, but they failed to reach Arion.
“What are you, so well hidden by magic?†Starting to cast, she was interrupted by a mighty crash. None could help but turn to see the mountain collapse to half its size. Some on the slopes were crushed, others fled. Screams could be heard for a mile. A cloud of dust covered the area. Lyla turned back and undeterred began to cast again. Now Valen leapt forward, Arion ready to strike. Magical tentacles reached out from several of the guard and grasped them both, dragging them to the ground before they could strike.
Dourvan stopped conducting and readied for battle. He could not remember the last time he fought. A small shield appeared on his arm. He waited on the pillar, ever the tactician, wanted the high ground. With a magic step, she was on his level. The dagger danced as if it had a mind of its own. Escalon, fighting to gain his balance hoped it was the dagger and not Lyla’s own skill. Ajax clawed his way towards the fight. The guard circled the pillar and cast spells to keep anyone out of the fight. Walls and globes of varying types blocked the way and obscured the view.
Elsewhere, the planar giants stopped fighting and vanished. The fire giants called a retreat and fled to the south. Whatever fiends were left teleported elsewhere into the world. Harrick had enough. He collected some new allies, poor souls to rescue for their short mortal lives, and was gone before too long. The remaining elves, gnomes, and others stumbled out of the dust, coughing until they reached clean air covered in dust, unable to do much besides gasp for breath. Dash and Gales continued to deliver the wounded to the archons. The last of the allies finished fighting off the summoned creatures and looked helplessly at the sphere shielding Dourvan. Kagetora, his opponents having fled to the pillar, cut Arion loose along with Valen. They heard the deep female voice of Soar, let them know she was near, but again, she had gone invisible so as to not cause panic.
For the moment, they could only watch, hoping for something to happen before the dagger found a crack in Dourvan’s defense, which was all he was doing. Escalon spit out bile and phlegm enough to be understood for a moment. “Sand†Valen understood and realized what to do. Changing into hulk, he dug swiftly into the ground. Moments later, the pillar trembled and a whirlpool of sand sucked everyone in the globe down. Lyla remained, hovering. Beaten, yet composed, she put the dagger away and in a flash, was gone.