CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

The soldier shook his head. “No, my lord.” Tanalir glanced back towards the smoke. The clearing was empty, devoid of anything except the smoke. Shaking his head and hiding his disappointment as best he could, Tanalir rose to his feet and signalled for his men to follow him. When he had found a space large enough for them to gather, he was able to note the losses they had sustained. “Saran’s Watch has fallen,” he stated the obvious, and ignored the wryness his words brought to their expressions. They knew the fortress had fallen. “I saw the goddess Fianrei walking in the smoke of the clearing.” This brought soft snorts of disbelief. Again, he ignored them. “She was with another. He was accompanied by a many-legged serpent.” “A … dragon?” The words were carefully spoken, almost devoid of the mockery they usually brought. Dragons had not been seen in the Lianreida since shortly after the elemental gods had withdrawn their magic from the world. The commander shook his h...

Tanalir blinked, pushing himself to his feet and nocking an arrow to the bow. He pushed warily clear of the bushes sheltering him and stepped onto the scorched ground. The heat radiating through the soles of his boots made him step back onto uncharred soil. The smoke was all too real. With a sweep of his hand, Tanalir commanded his soldiers to halt their advance. Some, he noted, had drawn their swords while others held bows, half-nocked, like himself. A lone, man-shaped figure walked through the smoke. It was accompanied by a many-legged serpent. Both looked impervious to the heat. As the elves watched, a second figure joined the man and his beast. The sweet scent of her perfume twining through the drifting haze to reach his nostrils, and making him stare in disbelief. Fianrei? Again he caught the drift of her perfume. This time he lowered his bow and sank to one knee. “Lady of light?” Tanalir was unaware he had spoken aloud until the soldiers around him turned to face hi...

Tanalir did not recognise the chant, only knew that its results would envelope good soldiers even as they enveloped the once-living creatures they sought to destroy. With trembling fingers, he nocked his next arrow and prepared to fire. If he could not kill the murdering beasts, perhaps he could blind or cripple them so his men could escape the spell’s path. He did not get to see if his plan might have worked. The chanting ended and a sheet of flame spread from the edge of the clearing to engulfed both elven warrior and undead griffin in a conflagration of heat and vengeance. The intensity of the light made Tanalir shield his face from the flame, as the heat drove him stumbling back into the shelter of the trees. He was dimly aware of an even greater flare of light following the first but he could not be sure. Instead, he rolled into a crouch, one hand feeling for his bow, the other pressed against his eyes until the pain subsided. When he could see again, Tanalir saw the clear...