"Battle at Thunder Caves" by Debra ´Shadow´ Krause

The sky appeared to be on fire.

Anstaria raced across the battlefield looking for Blayze. Blayze, an elemental wizard, was the head of his conclave and the only one that had the power to stop Adrik, the Dragon Mage. Anstaria, his apprentice, was almost as strong as he was but didn't have the necessary experience to stop him. Blayze had to devote his whole life to learn his magic while Anstaria had only spent a year at it. She was born into the web of magic thus making her a magical creature of sorts.

By the time she had reached the her tent a skinny old man was waiting for her outside. "You're late," Blayze growled.

"No, you're early," she fired back. She shook her head, "We don't have time for this. Adrik has gathered his forces at the North end of Emerald Valley." She winked at him, "You ready?"

"Child, I've been ready for this my whole life," he answered.

"I'm not a child. I'm older than you, old man," she said jokingly.

"Nevertheless, for one of your race, you're a child. But enough of this, we must be going. Wouldn't want to be late for our own party now would we?" They picked up their staves and went around to the other side of the tent. Anstaria signaled she was ready to go.

"Let the games begin." Blayze stroked his beard.

"Why do you do that?" she asked.

"For luck. Care to try?" he asked, holding it out to her.

"Maybe some other time. I can still see your lunch in there," she pointed out. "Chicken soup with, yuk, camels' hoof."

"Yes it was! We must play this game again sometime. But we must be off, or else we'll miss the fireworks." Blayze drew a circle around them then threw some white sand into the air. Anstaria started spinning her staff around in circles above her head and the sand made a circle around them in the air. They could feel the web of magic alive with energy all around them. Blayze mumbled they were gone. They had transported to Thunder Caves.

It smelled so bad that Anstaria practically fainted. She fell to her knees gagging on the fowl stench. Blayze looked upon her in concern, afraid to say anything. After making sure she was all right, he helped her to her feet and they were off. Most of the other caverns had been used for tombs of the dragons from the Ironstar Clan, so navigating their way around wasn't too hard. The caves were named after the noise that came from them when the family members were sealing off a cavern for their loved one. That noise was said to echo for months after the burial.

After wandering around for what seemed like hours, they could see the sun's fading rays upon the cavern wall. Almost as soon as they saw the light they heard voices. "I told you, never go out during the day, you'll be sure to get us all killed."

"You said to get Adrik, so I did. You never said when."

"Fine. Out of my sight."

Blayze leaned in really close to Anstaria and whispered so softly that he could barely hear himself. "This is our chance. Get ready for the biggest battle of your long yet short life."

She nodded, shuffling around in her bag for her spell components. Nodded again, indicating she was ready as she was ever going to be. They slowly crept along the wall to keep hidden as long as possible. Just when the solider was going to turn the corner they sprang.

"Holy Heath!" he screamed.

Anstaria whacked him on the head and he crumbled to the ground. "Heath is anything but holy," she said to the body.

"We can talk to the nice man later," said Blayze, dragging her along. "Right now there's bigger things to worry about."

Five guards came rushing at them, full speed. "You take those two, I've got these three." Anstaria ran to meet her foes. "You boys' look alittle tired. I think you could use some sleep," she said, blowing a red powder over them. They sank to the ground in a deep sleep. "That should keep you down and out for awhile." Dusting her hands off on her dress she called over to Blayze, "Aren't you done yet."

"You cheated," he yelled back. "My old bones don't move fast enough to do that."

"You don't need fast hands, just a fast mind," she teased.

"I'll show you a fast mind," he growled. "But you'll have to wait until we're done this little shin-dig."

"That's if you survive," called a voice from the entrance. Blayze knocked the two guards unconscious and turned towards the mouth of the cavern.

"Ah, Adrik, glad you could join us. Would you like some coffee?" asked Blayze, his hands slowly moving toward his spell bag.

"No thanks. I heard the crop this year was burned to the ground by some unexplainable force," he said, laughing at the demise he had wrought. Adrik was a big man, all muscle. Quite unusal for a wizard of his status.

"Don't worry. This is the imported stuff," explained Blayze, untying the strings to his bag.

"Well maybe I'll have to steal a cup," said Adrik. "After I kill you, of course," he added. Getting into his fighting stance, Adrik prepared himself for the up coming battle. But, Blayze was one step ahead. He had been preparing his spell components while Adrik was running his mouth off. Meanwhile, Anstaria was off to the side preparing a portal that would trap Adrik in another realm that was guarded by the goddess of Light, Celeste.

Blayze concentrated his energy into the crystal on the of his staff, causing it glow. The cave was bathed in the dark red light. Using the tip if the staff, he drew a circle about his head. A red ring formed over him. Finally realizing what was going on, Adrik gathered the dark forces around him and started firing black bolts of lightning at Blayze. Moving with an unnatural speed Blayze dodged the bolts. Anstaria finished off the portal and with a wave of her staff it would open. Joining Blayze she added her own blue ring to the red. The two rings intertwined and filled the cave with a bright purple light.

A staff in one hand and Anstaria's hand in the other they slowly walked toward Adrik, chanting words of protection. Adrik had exhausted his supply of lightning bolts and had moved onto dragon fire. The huge balls of fire engulfed the two wizards, but they remained unharmed. Sensing his end, Adrik, used all he had. He called on specters, hell hounds, and harpies. Giants, swamp trolls, and yetis. Nothing could stop them. Blayze motioned his staff towards Adrik, the ring flew over and created a field of paralysis around him. Anstaria opened the portal and waited for Blayze to throw Adrik into it. But something was wrong. The ring was changing color! The rich purple changed to green then gold and finally into black. With a blast of energy Adrik shattered the ring.

"Fools," said Adrik. "You thought you could trap me in that. Ha! I've got the dark forces on my side. What do you have, some puny little goddess of light? I sold my soul for the greatest power in the WORLD. You can never stop me!" With sparks flying and winds howling, Adrik gathered up a ball of black energy, and formed it into a black wyrm.

"Anstaria," whispered Blayze, "go outside and summon Silverclaw. When he arrives get him to take you to Shiva. There you'll be safe."

"But I don't want to go. You need my help," she cried.

"I have Celeste on my side, I'll be fine." He pushed her towards the mouth of the cave. "Go, before it's too late!" Anstaria flipped her hood on and turned invisible. She moved carefully, but quickly, toward the exit.

When she reached the outside she pulled a silver quartz out of her bag. Holding it in both hands before her, she spoke into the crystal. "I, Anstaria, summon Silverclaw, dragon of the Ironstar Clan and servant to Lilith, Lady of the Night." Winds came up out of the south, blowing her cloak around her. Suddenly the winds stopped and a faint sound was heard in the distance. It sounded familiar but wasn't loud enough to place a name. A couple seconds later, a silver spot could be seen on the horizon. It got bigger by the second and the noise got louder.

When he was close enough he sent her a telepathic message, "Anstaria, Blayze told me that if I was summoned by you that I should get you to Shiva. So get ready to jump because I'm not stopping." He slowed down and lowered himself below the ledge she was standing on. And just as he flew by she jumped and managed to grab hold of his neck. When she was settled in, Silverclaw picked up speed and flew off towards Shiva.

Meanwhile, back in the cave, Blayze quickly disposed of the wyrm and prepared himself for the largest battle of wits ever to grace the fair face of Arlia. This phase of the battle required all the concentration and every ounce of energy he had. One little screw-up would pen Blayze in Guile's dead book, and nobody wanted that. Both wizards got into their fighting stances, ready to begin. Casting a spell of protection around himself Blayze concentrated all his remaining energy and the energy from the living organisms around him into the ruby crystal on his staff.

After seeing what tactic Blayze was using, Adrik gathered up energy and started his assault on Blayze, trying to break the sphere of protection surrounding Blayze. He fired lightning bolts, dragon fire, ice storms, and acid. Nothing was penetrating the sphere. Adrik then switched to mind blasts which would break Blayze's concentration if it hit him. Wham! Again the sphere stopped it. So he tried it again and again and again. Finally, a small crack appeared in the crystal sphere. Blayze's attention was still on concentrating his energy into his crystal. Sensing his victory, Adrik stared to fire lightning bolts at the crack. It grew bigger and bigger until the whole sphere was covered in a spider-web of cracks. One last shot shattered the sphere, sending Blayze flying across the room. By now the magical energy was so thick that even a rock could see it. Energy sparked from his crystal indicating that if you tried to put anymore into it, it would explode.

Sending a quick good-bye to Anstaria through telepathy, Blayze started his spell. He reopened the portal to the other realm and prepared to do anything to put Adrik in there. Saying the ancient words that only a wizard would know, Blayze released a physic blast so powerful that it blew Adrik straight into the portal. It instantly closed afterwards, to be sealed forever.

Unfortunately, the blast was more powerful than Blayze had ever imagined and it got out of control. Every living creature that had ties into the web of magic felt the blast. Since Blayze was so close it hit him hard. His mind was blasted into nothing. He took that visit to Guile's underworld sooner than he had planned on.

Anstaria had snuck into Blayze's mind during the battle so she could see what was going on, but didn't exit fast enough. She was also hit even though she was so far away. It knocked her unconscious. Silverclaw felt it alittle because he was part of the web of magic but didn't know what was going on. When he went to check to see if Anstaria had felt that he saw that she was laid across his back. Landing as fast as dragonly possible, Silverclaw immediately summoned Lilith. The Lady of the Night appeared right beside Anstaria.

"My Lady," said Silverclaw, "what has happened to her?" He laid down, preparing for the worst.

"I'm afraid I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that the Dragon Mage has been imprisoned in Celeste's realm. The bad news is that Blayze has died. Unfortunately, Anstaria was in his mind when the blast killed him. It has damaged her mind also. I can save her," Lilith paused, "but she would have no memories of her life before. She would begin anew."

"Is that the only way? I promised Blayze I would keep her safe and I don't plan to break my vow just because he has died."

"No, I'm afraid that is the price for a new beginning. You and I both know that to start again you must have no past. That is the way it works." She sighed, "That's all I can do. It's out of hands to do anything else."

"What happens if she doesn't start again?" he asked.

"Then she will stay in a deep sleep for all of her long life." Then she added, "And it is extremely long." With a swosh of her cloak, she was gone.