There was no trace of any other color but red as the swarm that was ahead of them was in hundreds of thousands. These beasts were way bigger than the Minotaurs that they had just fought. They were rushing towards them at such a powerful force that killed a number of them in the process.
Zaya didn't really see all of that as much of a problem. What baffled her the most was what these beasts approaching them were emitting primordial energy signatures, which could only have meant some sort of evil spell was casted on them, giving them this strange ability.
Zaya shook immensely. In the army she led, she was sure only four of them had primordial energy signatures, herself included, while June and Zoey haven't activated theirs at all. The rest were regular human beings. They were all going to die because conventional weapons could not be used to kill these beasts. Zaya thought as she remembered what Chinami had always said.
Zaya clicked her tongue. Why didn't they have some sort of witch or wizard of their own? She asked herself. She looked back upwards towards the sky. Korin was about to fall, hit the ground.
There was a beep on Zaya's nano wrist watch. The hologram of Chinami appeared on it. "Zaya, do not bother about the energy signatures. The weapons in their hands are powerful enough to weaken the beasts, but surely not enough to kill them. When you're ready, order them to move forward, also, figure out a way of catching Korin, he's lost his balance." Yes, Alpha commander, Zaya said as the hologram vanished.
Zaya transformed to her fox form as she yelled, "Attack!" The veteran army went forward at full speed, determination and fear set in their eyes. Zaya stood still as the veterans passed her by.
She stretched her hand to the side, grabbing a half-breed cat that was also running among them. "Hey, Zaya! Good to see you. Also, what are you doing?" Ashara asked, baffled, the wish to battle apparent in her look.
"Come with me," Zaya said as she held Ashara closer to herself, transforming, taking a stance, and launching into the air away from the midst of the veteran army. She landed exactly where she had calculated Korin would land.
She jumped once more, using the falling, injured dragon as a stepping stone, and caught Korin along the way. "Are you kidding me!" Ashara yelled, laughing. "Did you really have to take me to jump with you? Cats don't like the sky!"
"That's not true," Zaya said as she landed back on the dragon that was already on the ground, unmoving. She dropped the two teenagers in her arms as she asked, "Korin, are you alright? Weakening the dragon must have taken a lot of strength from you, no?"
"You didn't have to save me," Korin spoke. "I was fine all by myself." "Of course, you were," Ashara said, rolling her eyes.
"We need to save them," Zaya muttered, ignoring his words. "Those veterans do not deserve to die. Three of us together, in our best of forms, can take all of the fire creatures together. I could take them all alone, if you wished, thou, pretend alpha commander," Korin said mockingly.
Zaya, frustrated, was about to give him a piece of her mind when Ashara spoke, "Guys, we don't have time for this. I agree, let's go forward and attack first, then the veterans could battle the ones we've injured."
Zaya then nodded. Korin followed the gesture as he launched forward, and within seconds, he was at the front line and had begun killing the fire creatures like they were slow ants.
"That guy isn't much of a human being," said Ashara as she saw he had suddenly vanished from their midst.
There was a beep on Ashara's nano wrist watch. It was a call from June. "June, is everything alright?" Ashara asked. "Yes," June replied. "Do you have any idea on what are we facing here?" June asked.
"Not at all," Ashara replied. "I do," Zaya said. "They are fire creatures, and we have to kill them." June rolled her eyes as she said, "Be careful!" "You too," Zaya said as she cut the call, lifting Ashara, and disappearing into the war.
Side by side, the combination of the champion of the tournament of thousands, peak primordial Ashara, and one of the last descendants of the fox clan, was terrifying. As there was a massacre in every part of the war, they'd find themselves, making it easy for the veterans to survive.
Zaya fought with her claws, killing dozens of different fire creatures in a matter of seconds. Korin barely moved his sword, but hundreds fell, while Ashara fought at crazy speed with two swords in her hands.
The scenery made her look like the conjurer of blood baths, as there was blood wherever she, her sword touched. The battle continued, the number of the fire beast seeming to be increasing as the minutes passed. Soon enough, the veterans were being pushed back, some heavily injured, while a few others were dying.
Zoey and Natasha were together in the war, each fighting one fire beast. With the protection of the few strongest veterans in the army, they were safe from harm.
While June sat in the midst of the raging war on the ground, her eyes closed, she hacked her nano wrist watch to create a round shield around her. She breathed in and out continuously, from far away, Zaya spotted her friend in the midst of the war, from over half a mile away.
Zaya smiled at June's cleverness, also wondering why she didn't partake in the battle. Zaya's smile turned to a frown as the shield that protected June was attacked by one of the fire creatures.
It began to crack, seeing this, more creatures joined in, cracking the shield barrier more. June stood in the midst of the shield, unmoving. Seeing this, Zaya rushed towards June's direction at the fastest speed she could garner, weaving through the eternal crowd of fire creatures at full speed, but unfortunately for her, she couldn't make it, the shield broke.
Sending the fire creatures pouncing on her, more joined, totally covering her body. Zaya tripped and fell, she hit her hand on the ground as streaks of water could be seen falling from her eyes.
She then felt something where the fire creatures had attacked June. Some powerful force that felt a little bit too powerful, Zaya stood up, wondering if the fact that they've devoured June had made them stronger.
"Zaya felt it as she screamed, 'Shield your selves!'"