When the Stars Come Crashing Down Ch. 02

"The Princess is in that house across the clearing. Take the Aegis with you and rescue her from those animals, then escort her to the ship. Sail for Meidell at once."

The Knight was dumbfounded by both the words and the unspoken implications but nodded curtly and turned away from the impending skirmish. He and the remaining Knights followed orders, and they all charged away into the darkness at once, leaving the Commander behind to deal with the orcs himself.

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The elven women made their final preparations in anticipation of their escape, fully clothed and somewhat satisfied by a few pieces of fruit Lia had managed to conjure from somewhere within the forest. The Princess slung her satchel across her body and donned her hood, obscuring her features. Edea followed suit and joined her at the hip, the women standing at the threshold of the home. In the time it took Lia to grip the handle and twist, the report of a nearby wolf hailing the moon broke the silence. Lia caught a glimpse of two very large wolves bearing down on their position as she quickly shut the door, and not a moment too soon as a heavy blow on the other side nearly toppled her.

Edea assisted her in holding the door, the pair of women pressing their backs against the wood that buckled around them with every violent lunge, keeping at bay the rabid animals for the time being. The guttural growls and snarls that streamed through the splintering wood drove panic into Lia, and she wondered how long they could hold out before suffering their painful fates. Her eyes desperately searched the barren home for useful items she knew did not exist, the home providing nothing more than the door that separated them from their demise.

Suddenly the Princess had an idea, her eyes falling upon one of the windows she had reinforced the day before.

"Edea, take the dagger from my satchel and remove the wood covering that window! We'll use it to escape," she grunted, digging her heels in against the overwhelming force at her back.

The blonde woman wasted no time and retrieved the weapon from Lia's belongings, before sprinting across the room to the window. Lia watched her begin digging out the nails with the blade, clumsily biting in the wood with the silver kris. The Princess gritted her teeth and groaned aloud from the exertion, spreading her arms across the width of the door and pushing her full weight against it, the ceaseless banging rapidly draining her energy. Edea was successful in removing a few of the nails under the pressure of certain death, the panic-stricken woman resolving herself to complete the simple task.

A yelp of pain sounded from the other side of the door, and for a brief moment the banging subsided, offering Lia a short moment of reprieve. She heard men yelling as they engaged in battle, and then a pair of ferocious growls sliced through the night. By the time the men had stopped yelling Edea had removed the last few nails and she began to tear the boards away with her hands, tossing them aside in earnest. Lia cautiously extended a foot away from the door, her eyes on the window of freedom only feet away, before the banging continued. The Princess thrust herself back into the door, the muscles in her arms and backs burning in protest.

"Run Edea!" Lia managed to shout above the deafening noise of the snarling wolf at the door.

The young elf froze after removing the last board, the window now unobstructed, opening a portal to safety. Edea turned and faced Lia, shaking her head.

"I cannot leave you here!"

The Princess almost reprimanded her on the spot, but the words crumbled in her mouth as a pair of brilliant yellow eyes appeared at the window. Moonlight cloaked the silhouette of the black beast, its mouth and fur matted with fresh crimson. Lia's eyes went wide, and time appeared to pass her in jagged increments, each second suspended in its own reality for observation before the next one revealed itself to her. All the sound in the world failed to meet her ears as the ferocious animal bounded through the window, majestic in the way it hung in the air but imposing in the way it set its focus on Edea, the young elf stumbling backward away from the predator.

Lia lifted her left arm away from the door without thought, intently aware of the heart attempting to break through her chest. This was her only chance, and she willed the blessing to find her now in this desperate hour as the wolf landed inside the house. Edea tripped over her cloak and fell to the floor, a silent scream tearing from her throat. A hole punctured the wooden door behind the Princess but she ignored it, solely focused on the warmth igniting within her palm. She yelled something in that moment to draw the beast's attention but even she couldn't be certain what it was, still lost in soundless solitude.

The animal ignored her and stalked toward the blonde woman, its blood-soaked fangs appearing, a devilish snarl twisting its features. Edea shimmied away on her palms and heels, tears streaming down her face, her fate slowly approaching. The wolf lunged as the Princess pushed her hand forward, a brilliant flame appearing from within her domed fingers. Lia yelled at the top of her lungs, and in that split second all the sound she was deaf to returned to her at once, her ears assaulted by a rush of overwhelming information such as Edea's panicked sobbing, the hungry wolf growling at her back and the report of violent combustion.

A small explosion detonated from within her palm, and the ensuing shockwave ripped through the house as Lia doused the wolf in a stream of intense flame, the fire pouring from her extremity in an unending surge. Edea covered herself and dived away from the beast that yelped and contorted, caught in the sweltering blaze. The animal was more rabid than before, twisting and turning and running every which direction as it suffered a slow death. Sharp fangs sank into Lia's left shoulder from behind, and the Princess screamed, her concentration breaking. The powerful flame in her hand extinguished without warning and she slumped against the door, writhing in agony.

Edea bounded to her feet, ignoring the wolf still burning alive behind her, and came to the Princess' aid. She drove the kris into the snout of the wolf that had bitten Lia and the animal yelped in pain, pulling its teeth out of the Princess before retreating from the door. The women's eyes met, and Lia reassured Edea with a nod of the head. Outside the house they heard a man yell, followed by the sickening sound of a sword meeting flesh, another painful whimper from the wolf, and then silence.

"Princess Lia! Commander Cid has ordered me to return you to the ship at once!" yelled the man, laboring for breath after vanquishing the wolf.

Lia turned to peek through the hole in the door and saw a bloodied Knight standing over the carcass of the wolf. Several other Knights had fallen in the battle, and she soon realized he was the sole survivor. Lia pushed away from the door and collapsed against Edea, slinging her right arm across the woman's shoulders. The blonde woman supported her at the small of her back and pulled the door open with her free arm as the house caught fire behind them, fresh flames consuming the furniture and licking at the walls. The Knight reclaimed his sword from the corpse of the wolf and nodded at the Princess, before turning away to lead them to safety. Without looking back Lia and Edea stepped out into the cold night air, leaving behind the disheveled hovel that went up in a magnificent blaze, the roof fully collapsing behind them with one final plunge.

Held tightly in each other's arms, the elven women followed the Knight into the dark unknown.