Fight for the World

In a world being torn apart, a righteous Druid faces a dark Witch in a final battle to determine the fate of the planet.

Prophecies have declared that the world cannot survive under the power they each possess, and one of them must die for the sake of humanity.

But there is one problem that may complicate matters even more. The Druid and the Witch are ex-lovers.

One must die to save the world. But who will triumph?

In a desolate land of cracked earth and jagged rock, a man faced a woman, ready for a battle that would decide the fate of the world. Thunder rumbled through the fast moving storm clouds in the tortured sky, casting mottled shadows over the ravaged land.

The man's silver-white armour gleamed in the dying light; bulging shoulder guards, an ornate chest piece and full-leg greaves under a meshed skin-suit of reinforced poly-fibres.

Before him, a tall black-haired woman assessed him with her dark, hooded eyes. A black bodice and long boots showed under the multi-layered robes that flowed in the wind, spreading outwards like a giant spider web.

"We meet again. For the last time," said the man, Ailan Algara, Druid of Haa'koom and First Law of the Kings of Justice. His gauntleted hand tightened over the golden staff that stretched nine feet from the long end-blade and the fist-sized ruby at its tip.

"You always had a flair for the dramatic," the woman rasped, her husky voice reaching him as clear as if she were whispering in his ear.

"And you could never just let me get away with it." The man's eyes narrowed, though his bearded face hid a smile.

Zalfeia P'omeni saw the prelude of the smile that did not surface, knowing that look in his eyes. She dismissed it as an attempt at distraction. As the last of her line of active Shadow Witches, it was up to her to protect the world against this self-righteous Druid, and all that he stood for.

"You know I can't let you do this, Fei," the man declared. "The world cannot go on under your rule."

"You still believe the prophecies, that the world will be destroyed unless one of us dies." She paused, her dark eyes shifting in thought. "And so, they sent you. Of course."

Ailan's eyes became sorrowful. "Prophecies can be true whether you believe them or not. It was always going to come to this."

Zalfeia nodded, a sheet of long hair falling over her face. She left the hair in place and watched him through the dark strands. "After four hundred and nineteen years on this earth, I think I'll be fine with a little prophecy."

"You can't control everything," he said to her.

A flush of anger narrowed Zalfeia's rolling eyes. "For the last time, I never tried to control you!"

"No, you just wanted me to be someone I wasn't. In our six years together, Fei, you only saw me as the person you wanted me to be."

Zalfeia widened her stance and called upon her energy, flames of black fire rippling over her. "You won't drag me into your arguments, Druid. We are no longer a 'we'. There can only be one."

This time Ailan embraced the grin that spread across his face, goading her with it. "Now who is being dramatic?"

With a shrill cry, Zalfeia leapt into the air, a stream of inky black energy trailing in her wake. Roiling magic gathered within her voluminous sleeves. Throwing an arm forward, she released a ball of chaotic, dark magic towards her ex.

Ailan raised his staff and a sphere of white light expanded from him. His planted feet shifted back through the dirt as the dark magic splashed over the light and dissipated.

Zalfeia paused in the air and studied the Druid with a frown, her long robes flowing in the empty air.

"So that is why you thought you could face me now. The pathetic Kings have imbued you with a protective barrier."

A deep rumbling grew from the cracked earth and the ground trembled.

"I haven't come to play games," Ailan said to her.

"No," the Witch shot back. "You've come to kill me."

Flames ignited over her once again, enveloping her immortal form. She charged at him

Ailan jumped to the side, twirling the long staff around him and over his hand.

Zalfeia unleashed a wave of rippling dark energy that struck the ground where the Druid had stood, causing an explosion that threw rocks and dirt out in a heavy shower.

Ailan focused his will into the golden staff, and channelled a beam of blinding white light towards her.

Zalfeia deflected the blow and threw out another ball of dark magic, which caught Ailan before he could reposition the long staff, and a surge of crippling fire pummelled him to the ground.

His vision blurred and sounds faded as he fought through the pain, coughing blood that sizzled on the barren earth. Zalfeia's long heeled boots made no sound as she approached. Through her open robes, her hips swayed, accentuated by her tight bodice.

A jagged spire of rock crumbled in the distance, cracking the ground and sending fissures through the land.

"You've grown stronger," Ailan rasped, finding his voice hoarse. He allowed himself to remain on the ground.

"That I have," Zalfeia purred, attempting to add menace to her voice.

"Training with that Warlock, I'm sure."

"Oh, sweet hell!" she exclaimed, removing all hint of melodrama. "Would you leave him out of this, we're just friends!"

Ailan shook his head, disliking the dizziness that came with it. "I've seen the way he looks at you. There is no 'just friends'."

"You should have been able to trust me, Ailan!" She pressed a hand above the low neck of her bodice. "I trusted you!"

"Trust a Shadow Witch?" Ailan spat with a sharp edge to his voice. "How could I have ever really trusted one of you?"

Zalfeia stopped, her heart pounding. How dare he bring up her heritage? He had always defended who she was. Had loved her for it. Now he lay there, panting with sweat.

She looked over his pathetic form, her lips curling into a snarl. She scoffed. "You never could last long."

If the dig had got to him, the Druid did not show it.

"I was saving myself for the right woman."

Zalfeia cried out and channelled a blast of dark magic at him. Ailan rolled and leapt to his feet before the magic demolished the ground. His armoured form darted through the rising clouds of dust, spinning his long staff.

Glowing white energy clashed with inky black magic, blow after blow as the two combatants moved through the broken land.

Another tremor shook the earth, echoes of far-off cracks and rumbles reverberating in the air. The heavy clouds churned in the damaged sky, shifting and twisting in a myriad of shapes. When another of Zalfeia's attacks bounced off the sphere of light that surrounded the Druid, she grunted and spat out a curse, her voice rising with venom.

"Oh, the irony of your protective shield! If only the Kings knew that it was not necessary, for I had tried for years to get you to let me in. But you were so guarded, so obstinate." She swung out a ball of black fire as she cried out, "I never even knew the real you!"

Deflecting the blow, Ailan called back, "That was always your problem, Fei, you couldn't see that you had me. All of me. I just wasn't as good at opening up as you were. But I was open, for you. You just couldn't see it!" He grunted the last words as he swung the staff out in a wave of white light.

Zalfeia lunged into the air, trailing her dark magic Ailan leapt up to meet her.

She caught his swinging staff with both hands, igniting a sphere of burning light that surrounded them. The power kept them in the air, tendrils of black lightning crackling around them.

Ailan grunted and pushed the staff outwards, while Zalfeia pushed back. Their grimacing faces drew closer.

"How's your mother?" he asked.

Zalfeia blinked, her lips parting in a moment of shocked hesitation.

The sphere of energy evaporated and they both fell to the ground. As they landed, she wondered what his question really meant, a hundred thoughts and possibilities racing through her. She settled with, "She's fine. She asks about you."

"She's a good woman. Send her my love."

Zalfeia allowed her eyes to soften.

"She always liked you." After a darker thought, she added, "But she was never the problem. Unlike her, you never believed in me! You never supported me. Just like now."

A loud scoff left Ailan's dry lips. "Just like now? Fei you want to control the world! How can I support that?!"

A shadow fell over Zalfeia as her expression darkened. "You never understood me."

Ailan struck his staff into the ground, leaning on it casually. "No. I understood you better than anyone." He stepped back, adding solemnly, "This has to end."

The sad tilt to his big, brown eyes gave Zalfeia pause. She knew that stubborn look. How it hardened his chiselled cheeks, and tensed the dimpled chin that now hid under a grizzly auburn beard. The first time she had seen that look was the moment she knew that she loved him. Had loved him...

Her eyes blazed with the reflection of an unseen fire as she stepped back.

"Then let us end it," she said, in a voice void of emotion.

As if signalled by her, a light rain began to fall from the burning sky. Strengthening, it soon became a heavy downpour.

Ailan twirled the long staff around him, readying himself. The rain caught on the staff, swirling water around him.

Lightning ripped through the sky, followed by a thunder that shook the earth. Deep fissures split the rocking ground around them. Their eyes remained locked on each other.

The rain sizzled off Zalfeia as a torrent of flames enveloped her. She slammed her fists into the ground, causing an eruption of black magic that threw Ailan back.

Landing several feet away, the Druid gathered himself and rushed forward. A golden light issued from his twirling staff, spinning fast enough and bright enough to give the effect of a single disc of energy.

Their power clashed with a shockwave that rippled through the crumbling world, burning the falling rain where it passed.

The ground rose and tilted, revealing glowing embers from the cracks that spread the shifting landmasses.

"Damn you, Ailan!" Zalfeia cried between magical blows. "Just walk away."

"You know I can't do that."

She leapt into the air. "Why?"

"Because I care about you too much to watch you become something you'll hate," Ailan said, and shot into the air towards her.

She broke away from her conflicted thoughts in time to block his attack, and pushed forward with a wave of magic. Catching the energy with his staff held high, Ailan pushed back with his own power, enveloping them in a bubble of opposing forces.

The raindrops stopped all around them, frozen in space, as their ball of conflicting energy grew.

Their eyes locked through the tumultuous air. While Zalfeia's dark eyes tensed with concentration, Ailan's brown eyes softened. His brows slowly rose as he realized what he had to do. Why he had come here.

Holding back her dark energy a moment longer, he brought the ancient staff down and broke it across his knee. An onslaught of black magic ravaged him instantly, and his twisted form fell to the ground.

Zalfeia landed beside him as geysers of molten fire broke through the earth. She brought his head over her knee and held him close, looking over his bloodied face, pattering with the rain that once again fell.

"Wh-why did you do that?" she breathed.

Ailen sputtered blood, groaning. "I... just want you to be happy..." His eyes lowered with fatigue.

"No, no! Don't do this." Tears streamed her pale face, twisted with grief. She looked at her ex-lover with wide, fear stricken eyes. Her breath caught. "I love you."

Ailan's lifeless head fell back.

"No!" she cried, a monstrous undertone in her voice.

An instant of clarity came to her, and she knew what she had to do. There was no doubt.

She pressed a palm against his armoured chest, now charred and dented. Swirls of purple and green magic writhed around them. Her face contorted into a pained grimace as she channelled her energy, her life-force, into him.

Ailan's chest heaved as breath returned to him.

Zalfeia released her hand and disconnected her magic with a pained cry, her head slumping with exhaustion.

Ailan’s red-rimmed eyes blinked and focused on her. "W-What...?"

"It is done," she said, shushing him. Her fingers traced the lines of his face.

All along the landscape, the ground steadied and the thunder ceased.

Ailan studied her incredulously. “You… your magic is gone. Why would you… you’re–”

“I am mortal. Like you.” Her slick, glistening hair bordered her hooded eyes, now furrowed with sincerity.

He swallowed through a dry, pained throat. He wanted to ask her why, but he knew the answer. “That’s one way to beat a prophecy.”

Her lips trembled with emotion. “I told you… I do not believe in prophecies.”

For a moment they remained frozen, staring at each other, as if for the first time. The pattering of rain dwindled and eventually stopped.

A small smile formed within Ailan’s beard. A glint in his eye told her his true emotions as the smile broadened. Tears streamed down Zalfeia’s face and she choked back a laugh. Soon they were both laughing; a pained, uncomfortable, pure laugh of joy that filled the clearing air.

"Oh, Ailan." Zalfeia leaned in and pressed her lips to his. He caressed her face and pulled her closer, strength returning to him.

When they released, he looked at her with a serious expression. “You know what this means for the world?”

Zalfeia smiled and nodded, tears tingling her face. “I do, Ailan.” She cupped a hand over his cheek, bringing her face close to his.

She whispered, “The world will have two rulers now.”

The skies cleared, revealing the rays of the strengthening sun. All around them, the tortured planet began to heal itself.