Battle of Light and Dark

Saraeh Ikeurium ✝

c.100,000 Zaeumi troops

c.1000 others

Imizthul ✝

c. 900,000 Undead Keth/Trolls

1 Dragon

The **Battle of Light and Dark** was the concluding fight between the forces of the Dark God and those of mankind. Although almost all involved died, Nyorvanor Ikeurium wielded the famed Moon Lance and struck the Dark God down, dying in the process. The subsequent atomic explosion killed all of his fleeing servants.

### Prelude

With the last strength of mankind summoned, Nyorvanor Ikeurium took personal control of this Last Host. He stationed 2,000 Imperials on the border forts and held back the rest to protect Gatteroth, keeping 1,000 Imperials in the fortress itself as a last stand and 3,000 outside. The Kyonsi were arranged on the eastern flank of the advancing Horde, while the Zaeumi host, by far the largest, would act as a barrier to attempt to slow down the tide. Nyorvanor, having already obtained the Moon Lance, would have to draw the Dark God towards the city, which would mean the ultimate obliteration of the Last Host and all those in it.

### Battle

The 1,000,000 strong Horde rolled along the plains, engulfing the border forts, the Dark God miles behind it and Xalasen, the first Dragon seen in millennia, flying high above, Imizthul riding it. The battle plan began with the Kyonsi striking into the flank, no more than a dot compared to the enormity of the Dark God's Combined Horde. The Zaeumi arranged themselves in front of the defending Imperials, ready to face the full-on brunt of the attack. The Kyonsi were already being overwhelmed with dragon fire and sheer numbers, almost all already slaughtered. The flood advanced on the Zaeumi lines, which held with pikes. They swarmed the men, quickly overwhelming them.

By this point, the Kyonsi had been destroyed, and Xalasen was burning the Zaeumi lines. The Dark God was no closer. Nyorvanor remained on the walls, watching the piling masses swarming over mankind's final army. He readied the men outside the walls and returned into the city itself, holding the Moon Lance. He met with Alutun and those few remaining sorcerers, most of whom agreed to confront the Keth outside.

As the few sorcerers attempted to slow the advance, the Zaeumi were overrun. The sheer numbers of the Horde now meant it was *rolling* along the plains, the dragon breathing flame and cooking the few thousand remaining Imperials, facing the sorcerers like the battles of old. Nyorvanor and Alutun watched as the first Keth tried to climb the walls, and Alutun said they'd have to battle their way outside. Alutun knew every part of his life has been building to this moment.

As the outer barricades fell, Saraeh and Ulric fought together on the walls against thousands trying to climb them. The day was beginning to end, replaced by night. Alutun and Nyorvanor defended the gate until they went out with a twenty-strong contingent of Nyorvanor's Royal Guard (the last few that remained). By this point, the once-formidable Zaeumi army had been destroyed. The Kyonsi were no more. The final Imperials in the city were almost overrun. The last main characters started to fall, overwhelmed by numbers. Saraeh was stabbed in her side, but she continued to fight with Ulric.

Nyorvanor rallied the last 1,000 outside the fortress. He ordered 500 to defend the city, and 500 to come with him. They were attacked by overwhelming numbers, watching the sorcerers dwindle as the Dragon burned them away. The Dark God seemed to be moving closer. Nyorvanor held the Moon Lance, prepared to die to save humanity. He'd already been forced to sacrifice thousands to give a slight chance of success. The Royal Guard were swept away by hundreds of living and undead Trolls, as well as corpses they recognise as *men,* once their friends. Alutun shielded Nyorvanor from a burst of dragon fire, spiking powerful Rays and Swords into the creature's hide. The Dark God walked closer, finally gaining a *physical form,* the figure gaining flesh and armour, constructing organs and bone. Alutun urged Nyorvanor to cast the weapon, realising this moment as the dream he'd had for decades. Nyorvanor turned the power source on, feeling an incredible amount of energy rush through him. He fell to one knee, knowing that what he holds was never meant to be wielded by mortal beings. He saw his flesh sizzling from the rush and raised it to the approaching form of the Dark God, which *walked from the whirlwind* and stepped upon the skies, wielding Shields stronger than any magic ever devised, a being made of shadow with black armour and a red soul. It directed every one of its creatures at the final standing humans.

In the city, Saraeh was stabbed again. She urged Ulric to flee, pointing to Nyorvanor. She knew that the blast was almost certain to kill *everything on the battlefield.* Ulric refused, but she threatened him. He was forced to run, and she faced the Keth alone. The city had already fallen.

Nyorvanor screamed as the power channeled through him, the energy burning away his arms, melting his flesh. Alutun attempted to hold Shields, he and Nyorvanor now the only ones remaining on the battlefield. All of their soldiers were dead. The Dark God, now finally realising the threat, attacked Alutun's shields, which instantly shattered, but are then reformed. Alutun shrieked for Nyorvanor to cast the weapon. He set it on his knee, gathered all the willpower he has, and casted it once. Blood burst from his nose, trickling from his ears. He roared, the bones glowing, the flesh all but gone. He could feel his eyes melting in their charred sockets. Alutun struggled to hold the Shields. He turned once more to his King, and nods once. The Dark God's shields cracked under the first blast, and he continued to advance. His voice shredded the skies. Then, Nyorvanor set it down once again, and casted every remaining ounce of power from the Moon Lance. The blast exploded on impact with the Dark God, who begin to evaporate. He screamed, and the corpse of Nyorvanor fell, barely more than a pile of bones. Alutun was on his knees. Saraeh, one of the two or three still fighting in the city, was speared in the gut and stabbed three times in the body. Dribbling blood, she fell and accepted her fate. As the ball of destructive energy throbbed, Alutun looked at Nyorvanor's blackened skull, then back at the Dark God. Everything went quiet for a moment, and then exploded.

White engulfed the world. There was no sound at all. The atomic blast vaporised Alutun instantly, along with the Moon Lance. The Keth vanished. Energy tore through the mechanical Dragon and it fell burning. The hundreds of thousands of the Horde were almost instantaneously obliterated by the shockwave, the very mountains toppling from the Dark God's final death. The ground buckled, smashed like china plates. Gatteroth was incinerated, the walls blown to shards, the foundations razed.

### Aftermath

Nobody still on the battlefield survived the explosion. Ulric, who'd escaped and ridden away beforehand, returned to Calamir with a few hundred Zaeumi, ten Imperials and fifty Kyonsi. The explosion was visible as a plume of smoke. Ulric came to Ada, the only surviving child of Nyorvanor, and tearfully told her that her father and mother had died, and that she was now Queen. She looked at the smoke, however, and knew that the Dark God was defeated. Ulric left her chambers as she walked onto the balcony and began to cry, not for sorrow, but for joy.