The Unexpected Bulwark

There weren't always dragons in the Valley. Drawn by both water and power, the creatures found the site irresistible. Fiery molten fragments of jagged glass rained down on the desperate souls swimming with dread towards the center of the lake that inhabited the valley. Leathery demons were making a sport of circling the sandy banks of the water with a wall of fire that caused an unrelenting debris storm.

Flinching with pain as several small shards tore into his exposed face before hissing into the water still alight, Reed continued forward while dodging limbs and outstretched hands grasping for life. With each explosion of shattered shards and pierced flesh, another soul would break their "run" and become an additional grasping trap within a pool of the dying.

Cairn had forced this gauntlet upon those desperately trying to flee the expansion of malign creatures across the continent. Entire villages, cities, and nations had been consumed by the unrestrained horde. Cairn remains one of the last city-states with viable resources and defenses on the continent; managing to repel the blight since it began more than 100 years ago. But even King Hilo was growing nervous as the walls began to fold in and the outside world largely viewed the continent of Airen as lost. Trade routes had collapsed down to several ports along the eastern coast and rumors ran abound that a quarantine was being considered.

Reed and six others from his village were among those selected for the gauntlet. This included his daughter, Lina. They had travelled to nearby Cairn when word had spread of the blight's advance into the region. In total, there were 300 souls sacrificed to this pointless quest. The price paid for the rest of his village to take refuge. But the prize, supposedly at the center of the lake, wasn't what Reed sought. He was desperate to find his daughter amidst the chaos. They had been separated into different starting groups; a futile effort to maximize the potential for someone to survive the dragons game.

While some of the the cruel beasts continued fanning the flames across the sand dunes, several had chosen to swoop down from the ash stricken sky to snatch prey. When the gauntlet run began, a group seemingly unaffected by the horror around them had mounted a defense using bow and arrows to keep the dragons at bay while they maneuvered their small craft towards the center of the lake. Reed was witness to the carnage when the valiant ones launched their last arrow into the sky and a deep purple mass of wings and claws crashed down upon them. The scene had made it clear their "defense" had been permitted for entertainment.

Seeing someone who had been sorted into Lina's group, Reed grabbed the man by the collar as he was struggling with a scolding piece of glass in his hair and half yanked him out of the water. Dragon fire took several minutes to die out in water but Reed smacked the heated piece out of the man's hair without even a care to the burn he received.

Kicking furiously to keep afloat with just his feet, Reed gasped "Lina. Short little girl with curly brown hair. Where is she?"

As the man's wild eyes continued darting around in a panic, Reed squeezed his collar tighter and yelled, "LITTLE GIRL, DARK CURLS, WHERE IS SHE?"

Another set of hands abruptly clasped around Reed's neck. The instant offered a glimmer of hope before devolving into a struggle for survival as the person began kicking at his back and scratching his shaved head with attempts to clamor atop him. The dazed man he had held by the collar jerked and added pounding fists and wild limbs to the fray. All three bodies began to sink deeper and deeper beneath the surface as they struggled to climb a nonexistent ladder over each other.

Grimacing to hold back the stale breath in his lungs pounding to get released, Reed desperately lashed and swiped at the pair pulling him down. Increasing water pressure was only a backdrop to thud after thud of bone and flesh that felt endless. All three were doomed to join what must have been a sea of skeletal remains at the bottom of the dreaded lake. The surface littered with kicking shadows and floating sparks grew darker and darker; a sky of thrashing tentacles and dying stars.

Suddenly, a brilliant burst of blue light illuminated the depths. The blinding spectacle was quickly followed by an explosion of bubbles that burst the trio apart. Dangerously losing the air from his lungs but quickly capitalizing on the freedom, Reed made an anguished attempt to make for the surface. Flailing upwards as his vision began to blur, a writhing array of glowing azure roots rose from below and propelled him back up into the air.

A stunning silence awaited him as he breached the water with rope-like growths of blue wrapped all around his wrists, torso, and legs. Several dozen other shocked survivors were motionless in the quiet air, also glowing blue from their saviors. The wall of flame surrounding the lake was gone and a large number of dark shadows, the dragons, could be seen flying away from the valley.

Breaking eye contact with the shocking sight of his retreating tormentors, Reed gazed towards the pulsating blue orb at the center of the lake as survivors began to shout towards it, "Bulwark! Bulwark!"

Adjusting to the light, Reed saw a figure standing atop a mass of blue vines sprouting from the dark waves below. Thick and cross-cutting, the vines seemed to extend from a small blue light at the center of the girl's forehead and thread across her entire body in an overlapping protective armor. The power to have stopped their collective nightmare clearly emanated from that light. The Bulwark.

Thin lines of blue appeared to have etched into her skin, extending even into her eyes. Those beautiful, once brown eyes, swept over to meet Reed's as he roared, "Lina!"