The Arcane Aegis

Steve hauled himself up the steep hill as he headed toward alex's house. Above him, a burning sun roasted the valley below and settled upon a small,wooden cottage the rested in the valley. Infront of the cottage was a small, wooden wall that stretched to either side of the valley. Steve continued his trek to the house and knocked on the door.

The door was opened by a beaten down young man with desperation in his eyes. he grabbed steve by the shoulder an said, "thank god you came as quickly as you did Steve," said Alex.

"Why," replied Steve, "what's the matter"

"Its the barbarians, they've been pillaging the surrounding settlements and have set up a camp near here. I fear i may be the next to suffer at their hands."

"I'm only one man" returned Steve, "I can't fight off an entire army!"

"But you're the only person left alive who can activate the Arcane Aegis, with that the barbarians could be purged from these lands with ease!"

Steve looked at the ground and thought for a while. He looked back up at Alex and said "That thing hasn't been used in a century, how do we know that it still works?"

"Theres only one way we can find out" Alex replied," and its the only shot we've got."

Steve and Alex ascended a large hill behind Alex's cottage, atop the hill stood 4 large, ornately carved stones surrounding a table in the center of them. They looked over the mountain range from their high viewpoint. At the bottom of the valley, a small camp could be seen. And nestled between two small mountains lay the Barbarian stronghold, guarded by a thick stone wall. Steve turned around and walked to the stone table in the center and unsheathed a sword. It had a silver handle that reflected the bright sunlight brilliantly. A large sapphire was set into the pommel and the slender iron blade had an inscription in an ancient script that was unreadable to both Steve and Alex. Steve raised the sword above his head and thrust it deep into the stone table. As he did so a long, loud humming sound echoed through the mountain range. All of a sudden, a beam of light spiraled into the heaven from the blade and erupted, falling back towards the ground, slowly forming a dome reaching all the way to Alex's house. The another sound, which was very different from the first, sounding like an explosion came from the other end of the mountain range. A sea of fire then began to envelop the valley, however unlike normal fire it did not damage the surroundings like the forests, plains and wildlife. However, when it reached the barbarian camp it decimated all that lay before it. The camp erupted in flames. In the distance warning bells could be heard. Their source appeared to be the large stronghold between the mountains. Despite its founding materials of stone and mortar, the flames continued to charge on. leaving its destroyed ruins in its wake. The flames eventually reached the edge of the dome, but could not cross it, the harmlessly licked against the edge, illuminating what was within.

Soon after, the flames died and the dome disappeared. The valley was free of the barbarians and at peace once again.