They Called Her Alivia

Chapter One Lightning, fire and torches lit the night casting an eerie glow to the evening sky. Screeches and groans rent the stillness. Battle cries echoed around the fortress as walls crumbled. Swords meet metal shields and breastplates. The metallic smell of blood mingled with rancid smell of boiling oil and burning tar. “I'm not sure how much longer we can protect this castle,” Greer shouted over the din from the fighting below. Greer dodged a wall as it collapsed. Racking coughs overwhelmed her from the mortar and dust. As the air cleared, Greer observed the king's men hoisting boiling oil over a parapet, covering ogres and men attempting to scale the wall. For every man they felled, ten others appeared to take their place. Greer assessed the damage about the courtyard as she flew closer to Treasa. Magic and valor didn't appear to be enough against a legion of this scale. Even with the assistance of the other ten faeries, it looked as if this fight was lost. Greer observed the chaos below, as enemy troops stormed the outer walls on all four ramparts. Everywhere she glanced, armor clad men crawled over barriers. Early in the fight they realized that at least half of the enemies were apparitions. Lord Guthrie wanted to confuse and discourage those brave soldiers inside the castle walls. Men would run up to fight the enemy just to have it evaporate in front of them. A live enemy would take advantage of the confusion and run the soldier through. Many Orcs joined with the enemies to fight against the castles inhabitants. Enormous brutes with hides like rhinoceros, heads resembling wild hogs, with the fighting will of a lion but the brain of slug. Treasa dodged another flaming arrow hissing over her head. At least it was getting easier to perceive them now that the sun began to set. “Take care, Greer, behind you!” Heeding the warning, Greer rapidly descended as several arrows flew passed her. The whistle of so many airborne, as they soared over her head, hummed as loud as irate bees in swarm. She angled a hasty down-stroke with her lengthy black wings for a quick decline. “You're getting slow my friend. I fear you need a nap,” Treasa winged passed to cover another wall. “Mind your mouth or I may not warn you next time one comes close,” Greer blasted a shower of rock, intended to harm the king's soldiers below. The castles guardians weakened as the assault continued. The time had come to change tactics. “Treasa, I'll take the center and east while you defend the back corner to the south. Be careful and withdraw if the skirmish becomes markedly worse. I plan to mind merge with the others, and try an all-out magical attack. We must push the enemy back, if for no other reasons than to give our men below a break. Remember, our main objective is to safely escape with Alivia if all becomes lost.” Greer flew high above the castle, so as not to be a target, then hovering in the air, closed her eyes and completed her connection with the fairies. Each responded; which assured her that they had not lost any of their team in the scrimmage. A few fairies were stationed within guarding the castle's occupants, but the majority of them were outside fighting alongside the king's soldiers. Within moments, the air quivered with the energy of the fairies preparing for the assault. Each was given an area of the wall to strike. At Greer's command, the energy would explode all around the fortress, knocking all combatants away from the perimeter without harming those within the walls. “Now!” Lightning detonated the sky; thick blue bolts attracted to metal that the enemy wore. Explosions rent the air, as the powerful bolts blasted the unlucky lightning rods who wore the armor. Forked lightning struck the woods about the castle, raining fire and debris upon those seeking refuge. Hail as large as the size of boulders, crushed the enemy beneath their weight. Volleys of ice contacted with those scaling the walls with ladders, splintering the wood, dropping bodies to the hard packed ground or into the moat about the other walls. The men lay in heaps, one body stacked upon the other. Waves of fire from the back section of the castle walls rolled over the enemy as a tide washes a beach clean. For every man that died, it appeared that five more took their place. Orcs, shape-shifters, warlocks, and men fought back with a power that could only come from strong black magic. The smell, of burnt flesh and hair, hung heavily in the wind crossing the castle walls. Greer attempted to eliminate the menace of troops, scaling the eastern wall, just above the stables. She halted out of reach of the enemy arrows. Her black cape flapped under the current from her wings while hovering in midair. With a wave of her hand, she fabricated an image in the night sky of a large blue dragon with scales that reflected the waning light. A roar emanated from the beast as the wind from its wings blew men across the ground like leaves in autumn. Greer's expertise lay in dragons, whether real or concocted magically. This particular apparition materialized in front of the soldiers struggling to scale the curtain fortification. Another wave from her hand produced genuine fireballs from the dragon's mouth, spewing forth, scorching all those unfortunate to have not escaped in retreat. Treasa secured her position at the south tower. “Playing with your make believe pets again, I noticed.” Greer observed Treasa blast cannon balls into dust with lightning bolts, as the enemy endeavored to destroy one of the corner towers. “Better than that kindling you use.” “I'd match my lightning bolts to your giant lizards any day.” "Get out of my head, brat. I'm busy here." Greer prepared another dragon blast to keep the enemy in check.