Born of unholy energy and demonic spirits it came. Created by the gods as a force of punishment and destruction and now reborn with its own mind and purpose it was free once more. It had its vengeful eyes on the city of Akamar. The millions of spirits within its body screamed in anger and shrieked in fear at the sight of the massive city. Many forms of unholy life had perished by the hands of the inhabitants of Akamar. Many had tried to destroy it. All had failed.

Nilepyt would not.

It did not think of a grander purpose or of seeking personal achievement. It was a titan whose sole existence was to destroy. The gods did not control it now. It had a will of its own and that will guided it to the Moharans and their city. Two of its three eyes focused on the army standing before the walls while the third eye, situated at the top of its head, viewed the floating diamond-shaped structure rising into the sky. Nilepyt could sense the many life forms within it. It could feel their fear.

And soon it would feast upon their souls.

****

A few moments after Kensiel had called out that only one mile remained Captain Habon gave the order for the Eagle Riders to take wing. He then ordered all sorcerers and mages to unleash their most powerful barrage of magical energy against the demon and the hoard beside it. He stared ahead, his right hand and sword pointed forward, and listened to the flapping of hundreds of pairs of eagle wings and the hum and crackle of magical energy taking form behind him.

The shadows of the Eagle Riders darkened the ground and shaded the army beneath them as the birds and their riders gained altitude. Standing in a line before the wall of spear-wielders were dozens of sorcerers and mages, their hands aglow with energy. The lead sorcerer, a grizzled and old fox with fading fur and nearly sightless eyes stepped forward a few paces and pointed at the massive form of Nilepyt and the demon hoard dashing alongside it, which had now both passed the half mile mark.

"Back to the Underworld with all of you," he said in his quiet and wispy voice.

Thunderous booms and explosions shook the ground and rattled the armour of the soldiers of the army standing behind the spell-wielders as their spells blasted forward. Beams of light streaked through the air and incinerated any demons in their path. Many struck Nilepyt's body but the titan never even blinked. Great orbs of holy fire arced through the air and landed like catapult-thrown boulders into the midst of the demon hoard, obliterating hundreds with a single explosion. Despite their power, they couldn't even blacken a single scale on Nilepyt's body. Globes of holy water shot over the heads of the demons and showered drops of the acidic fluid over their bodies, making many cringe, shudder, and scream in agony while the weaker ones were overcome with pain and perished. Nilepyt was showered as well, to no effect. Pentagrams of light hovered in the air in front of certain mages and from the middle of the symbols thousands of tiny rays of light shot forth with fury and speed in a continuous stream, slicing and piercing the bodies of the approaching demons and filling them with holes. Some were shot up so brutally that they were cut apart into dozens of pieces. The rays of light did nothing to Nilepyt. From the sky came flaming balls of holy energy that exploded into the ground, creating huge craters and sending geysers of sand into the air. Any demons caught within their blasts were instantly destroyed. Several of the holy asteroids struck Nilepyt's body directly, exploding into massive fireballs and creating expansive shockwaves but the titan wasn't slowed in the least.

Relief came when the Eagle Riders descended on the titan's head only a few hundred yards before it drove through the army. A great mass of thrown Star Spears fell on the demon's head with precision and purpose, striking its eyes and piercing through them like needles through skin. Nilepyt blinked in annoyance and opened its mouth to roar in anger. The roar itself created a huge shockwave that sent some of the Moharan soldiers to the ground and made all the rest stumble back.

To Captain Habon, the attack had worked. Nilepyt was no longer focused on the army. The hundreds of Eagle Riders circled its head, throwing or stabbing their Star Spears into its vulnerable white eyes. They hardly damaged it but they appeared to sting it and were definitely angering it. It turned its head around and snapped the air with its jaws, the loud boom of them closing shaking the ground. A dozen Eagle Riders perished within its maw. The other riders did not let the sudden deaths affect them. Like angry bees they swarmed around the titan's head, pestering it and distracting it from the army and city below. For the moment, Nilepyt was of no concern to the Moharan defenders guarding the city.

The mages and sorcerers fled behind the spear-wielders when the hoard, still hundreds, if not thousands, demons strong reached the army. Captain Habon stood behind the wall of stalwart spear-wielders and watched as the hoard crashed against them like a pounding wave. Bracing against the soldiers behind them, the spear-wielders kept their shields up as a wall, holding the tide of darkness and death at bay. Their spears stabbed and impaled through the cracks between shields, killing scores of demons within a few short moments. For a handful of minutes the line held and no demon advanced any further.

Captain Habon took those minutes to view and study the enemy. The demons came in all shapes and sizes. Some were small, no higher than his knees, while others were quite tall and large, standing over ten or fifteen feet in height. Most were of medium height, standing nearly face to face with he and the other Moharans around him. There were demons covered in spikes, some with warts, some with multiple arms, some with no arms, some with claws, some with nails, some with several heads, some with no heads, some with teeth, some with beaks, and some with nothing more than a hole of blackness for a mouth. Most were black in colour but some demons had a reddish tinge to their bodies. He assumed those were devils, stronger than most other demons, as it was they who began to breach the line of spear-wielders. They resembled red-skinned bipedal goats with curving horns and vicious fangs. Their eyes glowed with unholy energy and their muscled arms ended in hook-like claws. Their hooved feet kicked with great power and shattered armour and shield alike. Once one of the spear-wielders fell it was not long before the rest did as the demons followed the devil through the gap in the line and pushed onward, ripping, tearing, biting, clawing, pushing, shoving, punching, kicking, strangling, and above all killing any Moharan in their paths.

"Cavalry!!" Captain Habon called out as he sidestepped the charge of a ram-headed demon before slicing deep gashes alongside its body as it pounded past him. "Charge!"

The armoured capybara riders, repositioned atop sand dunes to await their signal, cried out in defiance and burst into motion. They formed into wedges with the riders on the outer lines lowering their holy lances. The twelve cavalry wedges crashed into the sides of the demon hoard like fangs and charged on, the riders swinging their two-handed weapons in great arcs and sweeps, slicing apart and cutting down the demons they galloped past. The wedges advanced deep within the enemy ranks, killing scores of the unholy creatures, before quickly turning around and fighting their way out to prepare for another charge.

Captain Habon looked up at Kensiel atop his falcon. He had been instructed to help him guide the battle and the sand cat was looking down at him with wide eyes. "Two wedges are overwhelmed, Captain! Three more have lost half their riders and only one seems ready to charge again."

"Sandstorm's fury!" Habon cursed. He had ordered them to push in too deeply. He should not have had them push so far into the demon ranks; it had been too risky and too dangerous. It was his fault that so many brave riders and mounts had perished and it pained him but he had no time to grieve or feel guilty. He quickly glanced beyond the advancing hoard, which never seemed to end, at the titan snake behind it and found some relief in knowing that it was still distracted by the Eagle Riders. He also noticed how the eagles and their riders appeared smaller in number than the last time he had looked at them. He snapped his head around and looked across the city at the Jewel of Fire still rising into the sky. It had gained altitude but was still too low. It appeared out of reach of the hoard but Nilepyt could still easily snap its jaws over it and bring it crashing down.

Just a little longer, he mentally prayed to the Eagle Riders. Just a few more minutes...

****

Celestia looked down from her eagle at the battle happening below her. She had just narrowly avoided one of the asteroids of light and was petrified with fear. She had seen the destruction the barrage of spells had caused and how Nilepyt had withstood it all without any sign of pain. Yzara had told her that she would be the one to defeat it and though she felt stronger than she ever had before she hadn't the slightest clue as to how she, with her claws and wings, could destroy something as massive and invincible as the titan snake. She didn't even know how to fly.

She looked around to find Yzara and tell her that she was giving up. She was wrong about her. There was no way in any world that she could do what was asked of her. Nilepyt was the apocalypse in the flesh and she was just a silly girl that had lived in a dusty mansion with someone she hardly knew. She wondered what Ana would think of her now, sitting atop a huge eagle and somehow supposed to be a weapon capable of destroying something the size of a mountain. She could hardly believe that old life had been real. It felt like it had all been a dream. She wished the life she lived now was the dream, however. Her friend Ana was difficult to handle at times but she could be a lot of fun as well.

None of this was fun in any sense.

Her eagle suddenly screeched and she had just enough time to looked ahead to see a winged demon, all claws and spikes, slam into her eagle and start ripping feathers and flesh from its body. Her eagle twisted around in midair, raising its legs and battling the demon with beak and talon. Celestia was left dangling upside down and she gripped the leather handle strap as tightly as she could but her firm grip only doomed her. Her claws shred through the leather and she fell.

Screaming in terror, not knowing where Yzara or any of her companions were and watching the ground and the battle happening below her approach at a rapid pace, she felt more helpless than she had ever been before. Nilepyt's gargantuan head swung into view and crashed into her, sending her tumbling through the air in another direction. The world around her spun and she saw brief glimpses of eagles, riders, and spears of light attacking Nilepyt's eyes mixed in with glimpses of sand dunes, demons, armoured animals, and blue sky. She shut her eyes, curled her body into a ball, her wings enveloping her like a protective blanket, and she rolled through the air. She felt dizzy but the darkness seemed to gradually clear her mind and an intense urge to spread her wings and fight back built within her soul. It was an unfamiliar feeling yet it was overpowering and somewhat comforting thus she surrendered to it. Her eyes flashed open, her wings spread wide, and she straightened her body. She ceased her spinning as her body steadied and she placed it in a horizontal position. Her spread wings caught the air and she soon found herself gliding toward the ground. She flapped them once and she lifted a few inches into the air. She flapped them another time to the same effect. A large sand dune was approaching her but she gave in further to the instinctual urges and her wings beat down hard, throwing her higher into the air. She gained altitude, twisted her wings slightly, and flapped them a few times to turn around. She once again faced the battle but this time it didn't terrify her as much as it initially had. A brief vision of Ana flashed through her mind and she knew what she would be thinking if she saw her like this. She would be jealous.

Celestia smiled.

She had never felt powerful before but as she hovered in the air, her great wings keeping her aloft, she thought she might have a chance to change the future after all. She couldn't claw Nilepyt to death but that didn't matter.

She had another plan.

****

Aragol and Victoria's eagle had been attacked by multiple winged demons and though Aragol had fought some of them off when one of them had ripped the eagle's head from its body he knew then that the battle could not be won. He had grabbed Victoria's hand and leapt off. They had been at least two hundred feet high at the time but he had had no other option left to him. They were going to land in the middle of a battle between several Moharan soldiers and various demons. Whether they survived the fall first was up for debate.

"Aragol!" Victoria cried out, her eyes wide and her face pale.

He glanced at her and saw something flying toward them with great speed. He gave her a wink and a smile and twisted his body around so his back faced the ground. He then kicked up into the air, hitting Victoria in the chest and sending her higher. The quickly approaching form, who turned out to be Yzara, swept in and grabbed Victoria by the arms. The owl woman looked down at Aragol with worry in her eyes.

"Do not concern yourself about me!" Aragol called out to them as he fell. Neither of the women seemed convinced but he didn't let that bother him. Gripping Dragon's End in his right hand he twisted around in the air just as the ground raced up to meet him. "I have this..."

He swung his legs down and landed feet first hitting the sandy ground with such force that he bent down on one knee, absorbing the impact and feeling a great cracking sensation as every bone in his body shattered and his organs were cut and sliced open. With his head lowered and his silver hair screening his face, he knelt for a few moments and let his body quickly heal itself. He heard a gurgling growl behind him and shot his head up, fire in his copper eyes. His body healed and intact once more, he stood up and swung his sword behind him, cleaving the head off a demon that somewhat resembled a pig-like fish. He then leapt aside as a demon with six legs and three heads lunged at him, snapping its jaws. He slashed the eyes of one head, rolled aside as a second head reached for him, and stabbed upward through the lower jaw of the third head, sinking his blade into its skull. He pulled Dragon's End out of the dead demon head and rolled to his feet. The other two heads kept up the attack. He twisted his body away from one pair of snapping jaws and then swept his sword in an upward chop that sliced through the demon neck with ease. With one head remaining he walked up to the demon as it steadily backed away and with an expressionless face stabbed it between the eyes, finally killing it.

He glanced to the side to witness a small group of Moharan soldiers fighting bravely but futilely against a force much too large to overcome. Narrowing his eyes in determination he ran on ahead to even the odds.

****

Boog's eagle had landed and then taken off to combat winged demons while he charged ahead into the battle. He didn't care much for these animal people but he'd never pass up a chance to fight. The fact that they were fighting against the demon snake put them on his side anyhow so he felt as if he was helping them, even if he didn't care that he was.

Turning invisible, he dashed into a group of advancing demons and with swings of his brass-enforced knuckles he cracked bone and pummeled flesh. The demons glanced about wildly but none of them ever found out where he was. By the time the last one finally decided to look down at the sand and follow his footprints he slammed a fist down on its skull and shattered it.

Visible once more, Boog took a deep breath, flexed his shoulders, and looked ahead to see a demon resembling a spiked caterpillar with the head of a dragon arching back at a weakened Moharan soldier. He hurried toward it and shoved aside a demon that suddenly jumped at him. He'd deal with that one later. The caterpillar-dragon-demon made a strange high-pitched howl and readied to snap its head down to sink its teeth into the injured solider. Boog phased into his ethereal form and walked directly into the demon. It bent forward to attack but abruptly stopped and cocked its head to the side in confusion. It looked down at its abdomen a moment before Boog ripped himself out of it, covered in purple blood and goo. The demon, its body now in two pieces, crumpled to the ground and let out one last wail of agony before it died.

Boog looked down at the injured Moharan, a female cheetah, and he lowered his slimy hand down at it. Ignoring the goo on his skin, the cheetah grabbed it and he pulled her up. "I'm getting you out of here," he said to her before turning the both of them invisible. He carried her in his arms and made his way out of the battle to a gathering of animal people in robes with glowing hands a few hundred yards away. He surprised them by turning visible when he arrived but their attention was soon focused on the form in his arms.

"Set her down gently," said one of the robed Moharans, an iguana. Boog gently laid her down on a blanket on the sand and stepped back. "Thank you, friend. You do not know how grateful we are for you to help us like this."

"Just keep her alive," Boog said before turning around and returning to the battle.

The female cheetah, wincing in pain, watched him go. "Who was that?"

"An ally."

An old lynx walked up to her and looked at the battle in the distance and the muscled man running toward it. He smiled lightly, his long whiskers arching upward. "He is much more than that."

The cheetah turned her gaze to the lynx as the iguana tended to her wounds. "What do you mean, Inquisitor?"

Inquisitor Nil looked down at young female and softened his expression. "The hairless one that brought you here and his comrades that came with him are more than just allies. They are the ones that will set right the balance of life and death in the universe. They are the ones that will defeat the force of darkness seeking to disrupt it. They are, my dear, the defenders of destiny."