This is something I did for school. We had to write a fairytale that was different so I came up with this. It’s the first thing I’ve ever posted on here so please be nice and review. :)

Evil Rises in the East, Death in the West

As the sun set on the horizon, the warm orange glow faded into blues and teals as day became night. It was as if night brought an intense chill and shook the bones of all the creatures of Sienall. Every head had turned to the east and every eye was fixed on the smoke clouds rising into the sky. It was the sign that everyone had prayed not to see in their lifetime, the symbol of destruction.

East of Sienall was the capital city of Xial, a place that was renown for its military and defences. There was a good reason that they had survived two hundred years of war with the southern tribes of evil and dead beings. Xial was surrounded by stone walls that were able to touch the clouds, surrounding it was the serpent’s lake and therefore they had Hydro, the water guardian to defend the walls. The city itself was built on an island and the water around it ran pure and clear. No evil army had ever risked conquering Xial because of their fear of water, that is, until now.

If the symbol were truly rising from Xial, then the ancient city of Sienall would be the last stronghold left. However, this would only be because Sienall was built deep into a mountain range and was almost impossible for anyone to find on foot. The city was built to last, but thousands of years in existence meant that the once grand fortifications and weapons have now crumbled and became obsolete. The military was a feeble attempt compared to the magnificent army of Xial. Their forces easily exceeded fifty thousand creatures while Sienall’s army barely made twenty thousand. The troops were in standard formation, with infantry and cavalry at the front, archers behind them and fairies, dragons, guardians and spirits stationed in the air.

Leading the army was the fairy of light, Lilith who was known among her people for defeating many southern tribes almost single-handed. She looked out towards the rising smoke from her balcony, the wind whipping her platinum hair across her face. The air caught her hood and pulled it from her face. Her blood red eyes stared into distance as she silently prayed for the safety of the people in Xial. The twilight made her skin glow a ghostly white and contrasted with her black attire. A single tear slid down her face, leaving a cool, shining trail behind it as it dropped to the marble floor. She felt soft fur against her fingers and looked down out of reflexes. Two large sapphire eyes and a high-pitched whining noise met her. It was her animal guide, Anima, who was currently in the form of a large silver wolf. Lilith crouched down and hugged her tightly, burying her face in warm, fluffy fur and breathing in the soothing scent of her friend.

As Anima’s ears twitched she nudged Lilith softly and jerked her head toward the horizon, where a single silhouette was visible in the sky. It seemed to be some sort of bird approaching at amazing speed.

“Commander-in-chief!” A tall man wearing the fairy military uniform appeared in the doorway behind her, he remained at a salute as he spoke.

“Yes Major General Li?” Lilith turned and saluted also.

“Our scouts have spotted a messenger hawk, it seems to be from Xial. It’s heading for us, what are your orders?”

Lilith paused for a moment; if it was from Xial then it was possible that there are still survivors that are trapped. But it could be a spell from a demon in the dead army. That was how Althea, the city of water, was destroyed in a single night.

“Flag it down. I want your men to find the best bloodhound spirits and get them to check for spells or enchantments, then bring it to me.” She ordered.

“Yes, ma’am.” He saluted again and left abruptly.

Lilith sighed and leant on the banister of the balcony. She could hear the commotion of the major general ordering his men to find all of the spirits within the area. She smiled slightly of the thought that there may be people who survived and are safe.

Anima wound herself around Lilith’s legs to get her attention. The fairy looked down at her friend with watery eyes and sat down beside her and tears began to fall from her eyes. All at once she heard a distant voice as clear as a crystal bell, she recognised immediately as her mother’s voice, she said calmly and sweetly:

“Things always appear worse as night falls, in the morning hours you will overcome your problems, but worrying now will not make them go away, please heed my words, you will see that I am right”. Lilith always heard her mother’s voice in times of extreme peril, although she had died when Lilith was a fairly young child, she left a spell in existence to help her daughter in times of grave danger or when she was in the depths of despair.

“Ma’am? Ma’am?” The Major General crouched beside her. “Are you okay?”

Lilith was abruptly brought back to reality. She wiped her face with her arm quickly and rose to her feet. “I’m fine. What is the problem?”

“We scanned the messenger hawk as you requested, there were no spells attached and the hawk is coming straight to you.”

“Good work Major General, one more thing though. I want you to gather the military council for a meeting in the Western chamber. Okay?” Lilith heard the soft rustle of feathers behind her and turned to see the messenger hawk. “This is urgent Li!”

“Yes ma’am!” He ran out of the room and down into the courtyard to find the ten highest ranking soldiers that formed the military council.

Lilith gently pried the message off the hawk’s talon and carefully opened the parchment. As she was assured, no spell had been bound to the script. As she read the message, her eyes lit up with hope and reassurance. There were people alive in Xial, a lot of them in fact. They had escaped through an ancient network of tunnels that ran deep beneath the city. But they need help getting away from the dead army that followed them. What relieved Lilith the most was that the parchment had the Prince’s seal on it, which meant her brother was alive. Nali was second in line for the throne of Xial and Lilith’s older brother. She smiled widely knowing that he was alive and well.

The Commander-in-Chief scrunched the parchment and with newly found determination, ran to the Western chamber, Anima at her heels. The chamber was the most spectacular during twilight as the walls were made entirely of solid diamond and the heavens above were magnified in beauty. In the centre of the room was a scale model of the Eastern area and ten chairs surrounding it. When they arrived the council was already present and waiting. Lilith ordered them to gather around her and the model.

“The messenger hawk from Xial has given us information that at least twenty thousand soldiers have fled into the tunnels underneath the city and are fleeing from the army in a south-westerly direction. If the evil forces head here right now, their shadow wings will be here by dawn. How many do their armies have, Colonel?”

The Colonel was the only human of the group. She was incredibly tall compared to the fairies but a normal human size at five foot five. “Nearly triple our numbers ma’am, but their creatures are slightly weaker than ours. Also many will die on the journey through the mountains, especially if they travel by day or if it rains.”

“Okay then. Colonel, find the most powerful water spirits and guardians possible and tell them that we need rain and lots of it. Major Yao! I’m going to find the Xial army. I need a powerful Earth guardian and a few of your fastest soldiers. Tell them to meet me at the courtyard. Finally, Major General Li I’m leaving you in charge. Ready the archers for the shadow wings at dawn, when they’re in range fire at will. Meeting dismissed!” Lilith turned on her heel and strode out of the chamber to her quarters.

Anima morphed into a falcon and flew after her. Once inside her small dorm she returned to her favoured wolf form. She watched as her master attached weapon after weapon to her belt and strapped her hover wings to her back. Lilith then stuffed some food and potions into a small shoulder bag and left the room. Anima quickly followed her to the courtyard where a small platoon of twenty soldiers and the Earth guardian Terra waited for them. The Major was also there.

“Is this satisfactory for your needs ma’am?” Yao saluted her as she entered. Yao was a lanky man, preferring speed and skills to brute strength. He was tall for a fairy, standing at five foot and had the kind face like that of a caring sibling. However, on the battlefield he became merciless and he could slice through any dead creature because of his skills with dual broadswords.

“Perfect Major.” Lilith smiled and saluted also. “I shall take good care of them.”

Yao smiled too “Good luck Lilith, be safe.”

Lilith nodded and turned to her platoon. “We’re heading south-east on an intercept course with the survivors of the Xial kingdom. Terra, we need the quickest route possible through the mountains, lead the way.”

The guardian nodded and touched the ground with one hand; she was the only guardian that was the size and shape of a human. Her skin and hair were fair and she wore a green flowing dress and had a small dagger in her belt. On her finger she wore an Earth ring made from ivy, which was wound all the way up her right arm too.

“This way.” She pointed to a small pathway winding up and around the mountain range. She led the way through the Labyrinth Mountains.

Looking behind her Lilith could see storm clouds gathering as the water spirits began summoning floods to the dead armies. As Lilith looked forward again, a foul smell reached her and made her and the other soldiers double over and gag in disgust. It was the smell of rotting flesh, dried blood and moulding bones. Unfortunately, they were downwind of the dead army. A fleet led by one of the devil’s right-hand spirits, Salem. Their numbers increased as the number they killed increased and necromancers brought the dead back to life. Men, women, children, fairy, dragon, or guardian were slaughtered brutally and then brought back in the most pitiful of states.

As they reached the top of one of the mountains, Anima began to growl. Everyone turned their head in the same direction so they could also see. Miles below the dead army were visible above the horizon, a sea of black among the baked plains of the land. Leading the ranks was Salem, his passing footsteps caused every nearby living thing to instantly die and his presence seemed to darken the night even further. They were headed straight for Sienall, the last city on Earth.

This will probably be a oneshot but if you really want I could carry it on. Don’t forget to review!

-OceanLeviathan

xxx