Naru and Elise

Screams. Everywhere, screams. Wherever Naru looked, people fell like flies. He swung his sword, striking the warrior opposite him directly in the back armor. The cheap material wasn't strong enough to prevent his death, and thus another warrior fell.

Naru whirled around, thrusting his blade through the throat of the next closest enemy, and withdrew the bloody edge. Warm blood splattered on his face, but it mattered little.

He was about to leap at another foe when he stumbled over one of the countless bodies covering the ground. He quickly got up. Lucky to still be alive.

His own army, the Kozaken army, had currently breached and was pushing the enemy back like an arrow. Naru allowed himself a moment to catch his breath. He was so tired. How long had this godless battle been raging? Hours? Days? Or just ten minutes? Naru no longer knew.

His gaze landed on the corpse beneath him. It was a young woman, probably barely twenty years old. She must have been beautiful once, but now her face was trampled under dozens of dirty boots, her hair bloodstained, and an ear missing. For the Tal'an, it was normal to send women into battle.

But such thoughts didn't even occur to Naru, for death in the red expanses was nothing unusual. King Galand and Lapolis had been waging their battles here for years. A pity that land was never gained, only lives lost.

The respite was over, as a captain rode his warhorse through the soldiers, yelling at anyone not fighting to get their ass back to the front.

Naru spat on the ground and grimaced but obeyed. Why wouldn't he? Retreat was not an option, when only execution awaited him. He plunged back into the fray and within seconds was again at the front with his comrades, with whom he had undergone months of training. They were his brothers.

To his left was Rosch. The burly man had a long black beard and never looked tired. His face was always marked by determination and courage. Catching a glance from Rosch, Naru's own fighting spirit surged. He roared and knocked an enemy to the ground, thrusting his sword directly through the armor and let out another triumphant cry.

He turned to join his brother, so they could fight together. Even if this battle was for naught, even if the whole war was nonsense, he would fight today and tomorrow with his brothers. Then he saw Rosch, and Rosch saw him. Rosch's body exploded as a fireball obliterated him and a dozen other warriors.

The explosion threw Naru back, and he landed on the ground. No thoughts passed through his dazed mind as a Tal'an spear pierced him.

 ---

Elise gasped. Her fireball had obliterated at least 20 Kozaks, but the numbers of King Galand's army seemed unending. Yet, she felt nothing of the actual horror of the battle, as she was far behind, shielded by the cannon fodder, like all the other Manipulators. Here, she only felt the warmth of the gigantic fire bowl blazing behind her.

Again, she focused her mind and lifted the scroll. Numerous geometric symbols, circles, hexagons, triangles, cubes intertwined into an artwork of lines. Complex yet structured, they were drawn and seemed to even move.

She thought of the transformation. A scaling, a rotation, and then the launch. The matrix on her scroll lit up as her mind connected with it, and Elise imposed her will on the transformation. The symbols began to move. Then, the invisible Essencefield followed.

Elise felt the change in the atmosphere, even before she saw the effects. The laws of nature seemed to be suspended, and suddenly, part of the blazing fire behind her was drawn away. As if wanting to escape, some flames tore away and floated over Elise in the air. Then, they began to compress, becoming denser and narrower until a blazing ball of fire and flames hovered above Elise's head.

The scaling was complete, now for the rotation. Elise strained further. Her mind was already so exhausted. But it was of no use, so she forced all her knowledge to complete the transformation. Again, the symbols on the scroll lit up, and the fireball began to spin. At first slowly, then faster and faster. Parts of the scaling already began to break away, individual flames leaping from the ball and extinguishing in the air. But it was enough.

Elise completed the transformation and hurled the fireball directly into the enemy's army. Like a lightning bolt, it struck, and a mighty explosion echoed across the battlefield. One of many.

Elise smirked but then felt the exhaustion. She fell on one knee, the repeated transformations had taking a toll on both her mind and body. Surely, a short rest would be alright.

Then, only seconds later, a massive bolt of lightning struck her. On the other side of the battlefield, the Kozaken Manipulator grinned and prepared another attack.