Kit barely had time to vow to save her sister before the creatures erupted from the forest ahead of the group.  The largest monstrosity loomed over the others, some kind of mechanical bear-shark-dinosaur hybrid. It roared so loud Kit could feel it beneath her feet. Backed by twin raptors, a flying serpentine ray, and the army of standing guards, the beasts began to march. Myles, Wren, Raytris, and the hunters weren't immediately visible. The marching guards quickly took the lead.

Kit closed her eyes and tried to breathe. It felt remarkably like the time Myles forced her to go on a mechanical ride at a fair despite her crying about it for at least twenty minutes. She wailed the entire way as she had to just sit in the chair and wait as the ride slowly pulled them up.

The ride of the beasts didn’t take as long to get close. Esther ignited Ihli's blade, and Kit couldn’t decide which to focus on, raising her own blade.

Her heart started to pound in her ears, and I tried to just focus and be positive. The marching Verdant Colony couldn’t stop them. The monsters couldn’t either. She thought that over and over, until right when the front row of the guards stepped close enough.

Charmaine threw something before Kit was ready, and couldn't trace what exactly she tossed. She didn’t have to look too hard, because whatever it was instantly exploded in a raging maelstrom, sending the marching conjured soldiers flying, scattering parts all around. Kit had to plug her ears as the fire and smoke spread to our left and right, destroying more and more of the front lines. Kit and Esther laughed in shock at the destruction on display as it settled down. The marching forces were scattered, and there were far less marching now. The beasts stayed on path, however.

"What was that?" Esther asked.

Charmaine shrugged. "I like explosives."

"Have you had those on you the whole time?" Kit asked.

"Maybe," Charmaine winked.

"Um...everyone?" Sora said.

Kit and the others turned to see Sora struggling to hold onto Serril, who shook in their arms.

"Something's happening to Serril..." Sora said.

Auren seemed to recognize what was happening, and yanked Serril out of Sora's hands, tossing the small dragon into the air.

"Hey!" Sora said.

"It's for our own good!" Auren said.

Above them, Serril roared as he woke up, glowing with the same energy Auren had gifted to him and the others. The roar was much louder than one of his stature would suggest possible. The reason was was clear moments later, as he changed his form into a much larger dragon, and flew towards the flying beast that towered over the others.

"Did you know he could do that?" Kit asked.

Sora shook their head. "I...had no idea."

Esther rushed straight into the battle, diving towards two drone soldiers and downing them with a single slash.

“Ready, Kit?” Charmaine asked.

"As I'll ever be!" Kit said.

 “Then come on!”

Kit ran after Charmaine, just as Serril tackled the flying ray into the ground. Kit's focus was on the treeline, she had to find Myles.

Charmaine quickly swiped a blade from a fallen drone, using it to slice a standing another one in half. A puncher much like the one in Charmaine's castle fortress advanced on Kit, and she trembled, shakily holding up her sword. She didn’t have time to think about how little sword training she had, but her mind still trailed off anxiously as fast as the puncher readied its fist.

Just as it got ready to swing, another drone’s headpiece smashed through its chest, toppling it forward. Esther had thrown an entire drone into another one, wrecking them both.

“Kit! Focus!” Esther said.

“Right. Sorry.” Kit said.

Ihli’s sword still glowed, providing a bit more light in the shadowy landscape. Kit fell back, dodging Serril swinging the ray through the oncoming wave of drones. The two raptors jumped over the swing and headed straight for Kit. Charmaine was tied up with a crowd of brute bio-guards, and Esther squared off with the bear-shark-dino. This time, she really couldn’t rely on anyone else to save her. It would be just Kit, and a sword gifted to her by one of her heroes.

As the two raptors got close, Kit had to time it just right. She swung just as their footsteps grew louder, and felt the sword shatter the weak metal held together by Wren's magic, which disintegrated under the blade. The other raptor started to back off, but a final mighty swing from Serril with the ray shattered both of them. Kit dove the sword into the pool of dark magic, and watched with pride as it faded away.

"Is this sword magic like Ihli's?" Kit asked excitedly. "I mean, it has to be, right?"

Auren was hanging back, mainly shooting rather than more direct combat with Sora holding him up, but he managed to smile at Kit's question.

"Not as strong as his," Auren said. "But it's pretty strong."

Charmaine, having destroyed the brutes, joined in with Serril in wrestling the final monster in our way. The two broke down the giant piece by piece, until it crawled forward. Kit slashed at it, destroying the connecting magic. It screeched as it withered into scrap metal.

The group surveyed the damage, taking out the final few drones crawling around. The howling moan had finally passed. Kit cheered, embracing her friends, and almost did to Auren, but thought better of it. Serril sighed, panting as he landed.

"I think I needed that," Serril said, blinking. "Wait, what...is going on here?"

"I'll explain this if you explain this!" Sora said, gesturing to Serril's new size.

"Oh...I guess this has happened a few times before," Serril said.

As those two chatted, Kit let herself sigh too, feeling thankful a charmed sword on her side. Then it hit her how incredible it was that she used a sword gifted to her by Auren Corde against the Verdant Colony.

“Kit, look!” Esther yelled.

The ground shook again. While they had won the first struggle, the battle was far from over.

"What the hell is that?" Charmaine asked.

It almost defied explanation. Following the waves of conjured guards was a titan larger than all of them. A fortress walking on reptilian legs scuttled toward them.

"Wren conjured...an entire fortress?" Esther said.

"As impressive as it is useless..." Sora said.

"Don't underestimate her," Auren said. "If she's in that stronghold, it'll be much harder to defeat her and free this place of her curses."

“Myles is in there…” Kit said. “We have to go.”

“How?" Sora asked.

Kit scanned the walking fortress. It was mostly grey brick walls with shadowy tendrils running up them, but no immediate way inside. She spotted something that almost looked like a gate, opening to launch some more flying beasts.

"There!" Kit said.

"That's a pretty small gate,” Serril said. 

“And closing fast…” Sora said.

Kit couldn't turn back now. But she knew she couldn't go it alone.

"You three head in!" Serril said. "I'll keep these two safe and see if I can find another way in."

Serril picked up Sora and Auren, minding Auren's wounds.

The gate was closing on the fortress. Kit couldn’t wonder what’d happen if they closed before they got in.

Kit ran faster than she knew she could as the gates continued to shut. She slashed at any stray beast unleashed from the fortress that flew at her, feeling the misty splash of its demise from the charmed blade.

She tripped over some Echela scrap metal, and tumbled hard. The gate was almost shut. If she failed now, she would fail Myles. If she messed up here she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself. Charmaine helped her up, and she took off again. Kit gritted my teeth against her burning lungs.

Something else grabbed Kit, and she turned with the sword, slicing into a drone soldier that had snuck up beside her. It stumbled, but didn’t let go of her. Just as she readied Auren’s sword again, she saw an arcing blast from the distance crash down, perfectly hitting the guard with a rainbow-colored blast. Serril flew past, firing down energy bolts at the enemy.

Esther pointed at the gates, which had just a sliver open in the door now. She grabbed the chest piece of one of the last drones and tossed it, giving them one last chance as the metal and glass buckled under the pressure from the doors. The three jumped, diving under the bio-guard glass just as it shattered. They landed just as the gates shut behind them.

Enjoying this series? Check out some of the other awesome entries in the action fantasy contest! Links are in the description.