The Great War of Talos
By Winged Poetess

Echo stood on the desecrated lands which had once been the gem of her native land, Lithium. Lush, green grass grew as far as the eye could see. Trees as tall as the giants that roamed beyond the mount sides grew in all their splendours. In the midst of that green blanket, a rainbow of flowers had bloomed. But now, now the land was dead. Green had turned to grey as ashes from the fires that had engulfed the lands for weeks covered everything. Any trees that were left were leafless and bare. As Echo stood waiting for her opponent, she remembered how she had gotten where she was today.

Echo was a servant to the court. She was destined by bloodline to become a knight as soon as she reached the age of sixteen. But just before her fifteenth birthday, she was a witness along with the rest of her country to the tyranny of a dark Lord. This dark Lord was known as Talos and his gaol was to take over the land of Lithium and enslave its people. But the people of Lithium would not let themselves be oppressed so easily. The queen of Lithium, Andra, had asked for the people's help in stopping Talos' plans. Her most loyal servants, whether they were sworn fighters under the kingdom or simple peasant folk, left for battle. That was when the Great War of Talos had begun. Many fought and many lost but still the people's spirit remained bright. For their queen had a secret weapon in her hands. Her strongest knights, known as The Shield, still hadn’t left for battle. Instead, they spent their time training, not only themselves, but also their latest heir of The Shield's bloodline; Echo. Echo remembered the training as if it were only yesterday because in fact, it almost seemed like it was. Things learned by many in months, Echo learned in weeks. But this did not discourage her for she had been secretly practicing on her own and had shown much promise during her official training. When she received summons to appear at the castle by queen Andra to discuss future battle plans involving The Shield, she was ready.

"You must wait until the moment is right. When the rest of the troupes are close to falling, that is when you will unleash your secret weapon my dear members of The Shield. That is when you will fight, Echo."
Those words were etched in Echo's mind and they became her motivation and her source of comfort. The moment came when The Shield would take their turn in the battlefield. The men and woman of the kingdom fought bravely but they where no match for Talos' impressive army. The tables were turned when The Shield arrived on the battlefield and things were moving in Lithium's favour. But disaster struck. Knope, The Shield's most powerful warrior and Echo's mentor and father, fell victim to Talos himself. The Shield was surprised that Talos was the one to strike the deadly blow that toke away Knope's life. Up until then, only his soldiers had been seen on the battlefield. Echo had been there when it all happened. She was ordered to stay hidden behind the safe line, in the shadows and it took all of her mental discipline to not charge out at the sight of her fellow comrades fighting without her. But all that discipline faded away when she saw Talos step up from behind Knope and slit his throat with one of his own demon talons. Echo cried out and wanted to go help her father. But her fellow soldiers stopped her. They kept telling her there was nothing they could do for Knope now, nothing but fight harder so that his death would not be in vain. Hot tears streamed down Echo's cheeks as she watched her father fall to the ground and heard Talos' wicked laugh resonate through the lands as he disappeared into the shadows.

After Knope fell, so did most of The Shield's army. Many died and the few that survived managed to wipe out what was left of Talos' army. But their victory over Talos' army came with a price. More then tree courters of The Shield had been whipped out and most of the surviving members were hanging on to life by a simple tread. But what was the biggest loss of all was the death of their brave leader, Knope. As the last few of Talos' army fell, Echo walked out onto the battlefield despite the protests of her fellow remaining Shield members. She stood over her father's body and silently said a pray he had taught her when she was still a small child. She pried his sword from his cold hand and put it away on her belt. She was about to lift him to bury him with the rest of The Shield's fallen members when she collapsed to her knees and began to cry.
"Damn you Talos! Damn you!"
Echo's fist hit the ground.
"Even if it costs me my last breath, I will be the one to kill you. I'll avenge my father and my people. You hear me Talos? I will make you pay for all the suffering you caused my people and for the death of my father."
Echo shouted these words towards the blank horizon that was fading away to bring in the night.

The remainder of The Shield gathered their fallen and fallowed Echo's orders to return to the kingdom of Lithium so that they could regroup their forces and heal their wounds despite the fact they didn’t agree with her plan of action. But they weren’t about to argue with the daughter of their fallen leader and their best hope at winning against Talos. Echo had also told them that if she hadn’t returned within two days, it would mean that she too had fallen to Talos and that they should return to the battlefield and win the battle against Talos.

Now Echo stood in the charred battlefield, her father's sword clutched in her hand. She watched the sunrise on what might be her last day and waited for her opponent, Talos, to show up. The orange glow of the sunlight shone off Echo's silver armed and her emerald cloak swayed in the gentle wind. The sun was barely in the sky when she heard Talos' taunting laugh. A dark mist gathered and a shadow appeared in the distance. As the shadow got closer, Talos' figure was revealed. Talos stood seven feet tall with skin that looked like rock. Instead of nails, his fingers bared talons. Talos' glowing red eyes looked at Echo and he smirked.
"So this is what the kingdom of Lithium offers in its defence. Pathetic!" laughed Talos.
Echo stood tall and clenched her teeth.
"I am Echo, newest member of The Shield, swarm protectors of the kingdom of Lithium. In honour of her queen, Andra and Lithium's people, I am here to end your reigh of tyranny, Talos."
Talos simply grinned wider to Echo's speech. Echo brought her sword in the air and charged towards Talos. The sound of metal against metal was heard as Talos drew out his own sword. Talos struck a blow to the right; Echo dodged it and swung to the left. Slash after slash was exchanged as the battle between Echo and Talos went on. Echo began to grow weary but she would not give up. Talos saw the fatigue her Echo's face.
"You can't win against me little girl, so give up. I can see that you’re tired. Why not make things easier for yourself and surrender. I promise your death will quick if you do so."
As Talos said those last words, his sword sliced the top of Echo's right shoulder where the armour from her chest and arm did not connect. Echo cried out in pain as she felt her own blood beginning to trickle down the arm in which she held her sword. Talos laughed and trusted his sword once more towards Echo but this time she dogged it by ducking. She quickly pulled back and brought her left hand over her wound. Echo stood panting from exhaustion with her sword in a defence position.
"Your quite resilient little girl. But resilience is not enough against me. 'Tis now time to say goodbye."
Talos charged towards Echo with all his might, hoping this would be the final blow. But Talos did not expect Echo to have much fight left in her and was shocked when she dodged his attack and trusted her sword towards him.
"This is for my father!"
Echo cried as her sword landed straight in the middle of Talos' chest and pierced his thick rock like skin. Talos cried out in shock and in pain as Echo withdrew her sword. Talos took a few steps back and his wound began to grow, resembling the sight of a cracking rock. With one last roar, Talos exploded into a millions pieces. Echo brought her arm to her face to protect herself from the flying pieces of stone that had once been her opponent.

Once the dust settled, Echo's sword fell from her hand. The battle was over. The Great War of Talos was finally over. Echo fell to her knees. Every muscle in her body ached and the pain from her wound seemed to become greater.
"It's finally over. Father, it's finally over...Father..."
Echo whispered as she fell forward to the ground.

Echo could hear faint whispers as her eyes fluttered open. She looked around and saw the familiar red and gold tapestry of the castle walls. She was alive. Echo though for sure that the battle had been too much for her body and that she had died. Sitting up, Echo saw the queen approaching her.
"Your majesty what..."
Echo was confused but the queen smiled to reassure her.
"There's nothing to worry about Echo. You defeated Talos. You saved us all, my child."
Echo smiled.
"I did it for the kingdom of Lithium and it's people. I only wish that my father were here to see it."
Queen Andra caressed Echo's long black hair.
"Your father was indeed brave. Rest assure that he will be honoured, even in death. Rest now, Echo. You deserve it."
Echo laid her head back down on the pillow and smiled as her eyes began to close. The kingdom of Lithium was safe and it could thrive once again. Echo had made sure of it and she would go down as one of Lithium's greatest heroes.

The End

A saviour sent to save the world
An angel has no armor
Now torn and bent
No wings unfurled
~Looking For It, Jann Arden

December 5 2003/December 8 2003

Author's Note: This was a english assignement for my current grade 12 class were we had to write a short story. My teacher said she really liked this and found it very interesting. I got a 95%. ^_^ I worked hard on this and am very proud of it so feed back is very much appriciated. I used the lyrics found at the end to inspire me. I hope you enjoyed this story.