A serpent coiled around her ankle and she tripped to the ground. The small drake at her side quickly sunk its fangs into the snake's hide and removed it... just in time for both of them to roll away from a blast of fire emitted from the thing's mouth.
She found herself staring into the pile of ashes that had once been the sorcerer Ornah. The duel with him had been a cinch compared to the one she was engaged in now. Before her floated the twisted form of Baldour, the prince of darkness...
...and murderer of her father.
A tiny flame burned inside her mind as the images from the past returned to haunt her once again. Baldour had both tortured and killed her father right before her eyes when she was a child. These memories provided her with fresh determination as she would soon have vengenace for his crimes.
The fiend glared at the girl and began to chant as his feathered wings flapped. Even with wings, there was not much room for him to fly about inside the chamber at the pinnacle of the air castle. Therefore, he concentrated primarily on obliterating his foe rather than evading her attacks.
With his attention concentrated on his upcoming spell, the little lizard on the other side of the room took the opportunity to hurl his weapons one more time. The three bladed boomerangs flew quickly at his huge form and spun into his arm. The projectiles slashed through bone and tissue and removed the shriveled arm from his torso. The beast roared in pain as the 'rangs returned quickly to the lizard's back.
She watched the arm fall to the floor and quiver, gripping at empty air. As Baldour trashed about in the air, roaring in pain, she saw his black heart pulsating in the opening left behind. Without a second thought, the girl pointed her hand at the shaking organ and yelled. The rage in her mind seemed to intensify the bolt of lightning that shot from her fingers
The creature bellowed in pain as she continued to send electricity into his heart. With hate in her eyes, she refused to end the spell as her four 'friends' moved to her side and watched. They consisted of a small green dragon, a little wisp of fire, a brown raven and a striped lizard. Each stared as the beam of energy continuously heated the hunk of flesh to meltdown point.
Baldour screamed a split second before the heart burst, showering the five others with crimson rain. The prince of darkness collapsed to the floor, convulsing in death. His last spell was released by reflex and rebounded around the room, setting several of the pieces of machinery ablaze. It at last slammed into his body, sending flames all over his form. He thrashed about a little more as the chamber began shaking.
With his last strength, Baldour settled on top of Ornah's ashes and lay still.
The girl sunk to her knees and panted.
"Father, you are avenged..."
Suddenly, the fiend's body vanished in a white light. Nothing remained of the prince or his hench-sorcerer where they had fallen. She shakily stood up and stared at where they had once been. The girl had no time to wonder what had become of Baldour as the air castle literally fell apart under her feet.
She found herself plummeting headfirst toward the earth far below. The palace had exploded into several large fragments and fell to the south of her dropping form.
"Sheesh... this looks like the end... at least my goal is completed..." she murmured to herself.
Suddenly, she heard a growl as another cloud flew past her rapidly. The young woman looked up and saw her four creature-friends soaring down toward her. The raven and lizard quickly flew to her shoulders and turned her form upright. The dragon caught her on its back as the wisp of fire created a shield of flame around them. Debris from the castle bounced off the barrier and continued to plummet.
Alisia Dragoon only sighed in relief and draped her arms around the powerful neck of Dragon Frye. She drifted off to sleep as the drake flew toward her home village.
Unseen by her, the largest fragment of the air castle slammed deep into the ground, creating a veritable chasm going several hundred feet underground.
A pair of forms manifested above the hole and peered down into it. Both seemed identical in size and shape.
"Is this the final resting place of the master?" one questioned, apparently to his partner.
"Let us find out, brother," was the only response as the two shapes began to levitate downwards.
Alisia's eyes opened as she felt a cool breeze on her face. The faint rustle of leaves greeted her ears as she saw her village approaching. Frye gently let her to the ground and vanished with his compatriots into the surrounding woods.
The young woman adjusted her ponytail and trotted into the town. The survivors of Baldour's latest (and last) attack lined the street as she walked toward the shrine. Amidst cheers and thrown flowers Alisia looked about to see weary, yet smiling, faces looking at her. For once she felt a true member of the village...
Before the door of the shrine stood the six guardian magicians of the community. Each bowed to her as she strode on to the gate where the Great wizard stood. His pointed hat did look a little silly to Alisia, but she respected that he possessed great magical power.
"Congratulations Dragoon! You have done a task that I thought no one would ever be able to accomplish," he spoke as he shook her hand. "You have freed us from the domination of the cruel Baldour once and for all. Your father would have been proud of this day... as am I."
She bowed as he smiled. "Thank you Great wizard... I hope that we may at last live in peace with the dark one defeated."
Alisia looked into the eyes of the old one with a bit of love... he had been the closest thing to a father that she had for most of her life.
He stepped out of her way as she entered the shrine to the dragons. At the altar she knelt and began to pray to her father in the heavens above...
In the days that followed, life in the village returned to normal. The survivors began to rebuild their ruined homes and heal the wounded. The dead were buried... and the dead bodies of Baldour's minions were burned. The magicians aided in the treatment of the hurt and tired peoples of the town.
Alisia Dragoon returned to her small home out in the surrounding forest, somewhat far from the town. Her location had been one of the reasons that Baldour's initial pillaging of the town had not touched her home. When she first approached the outskirts of the settlement she could see the razings of the dark prince's henchmen and had run to the dragon temple before setting out on her fantastic quest.
Her house was in reality a small tent with a well beside it. A few chests, rugs and a single cot were the only adornments of the domicile. A metal contraption which provided heat was in the center of the room (it was something she had once found in the forest, which Dragon Frye had discovered could be used to hold fire and emit heat safely) which was currently off. Apparently, Alisia lived alone.
When her father, a great magician, was killed Alisia was left in those same forests as a young child. Nearly exhausted by starvation and utterly alone, she was found by a mother dragon and its cubs. The drake for some reason took extreme care with the child and nursed her back to health. Months later, one of her cubs lead Alisia back to her village. The Great wizard took her as his own child and began to teach her the magical arts of her father.
Much to his surprise, she learned spells at a quick rate, as if she already was endown with much greater power than he originally saw. The young girl also seemed to spend a lot of time in the forests surrounding the village. She apparently felt quite at home in the wild... probably due to her experience with the dragon mother. The old one was amazed once more as he saw her interaction with the animals and other creatures. It seemed that she could easily communicate with them. After she was allowed to have her own house outside of town, she was often seen walking through the town on business with a raven or lizard on her shoulder, occasionally whispering something in her ear.
In her little tent, Alisia had lived in the company of creatures of the forest for years. She established a bond with them... more like family than 'pets'. Alisia was rarely alone at night. She usually had company in the form of the same dragon cub that had brought her to the village, Dragon Frye, or perhaps the fire elemental Ball O'Fire (sometimes called 'Whisp'), the magical Thundra Raven or the small Boomerang Lizard (whose 'wings' were his namesake). Occasionally, particularly on cold nights, numerous denizens of the woods would crowd into her small home for warmth. All were welcome of course.
In the village, Alisia only visited to speak with the old one, to hear important announcements by the elders or to buy the few supplies she needed (those that were not provided by her animal friends). She had few human friends, but was not unfriendly by all means. She regularly donated some of her funds to the dragon shrine, a place she frequented for prayer often...
One humid night, a week after she had destroyed Baldour, found Alisia Dragoon in her little home relaxing. She chewed on her little meal, glancing over at the new chest that adorned her tent. The village elders have provided her with a hefty reward of silver coins for her great deed. She politely refused, but they insisted she take it.
"Oh well...at least we'll all be well fed for a long time," she giggled to her animal friends as they sat eating in her home. Boomer, as Alisia called the lizard, merely grinned.
She yawned and kicked off her sandaled boots as a blue and white striped snake slithered into the tent. It crawled up her leg and beside her onto her bed as she removed her leather mail and waistcloth.
"News?"
The snake nodded and whispered into her ear as she gently held it in her arms.
"There's some sort of action near where Baldour's palace went down? Voices? You don't think there could have been some sort of survivors, do you?"
The serpent only gave an inquisitive look to her.
"Hmmm... perhaps I'll take a little trip tomorrow," Alisia muttered to herself. Fyre lay down next to her as she drifted off to sleep.