Disclaimer: All locations and unoriginal characters are the property of JK Rowling.

Sheets of magical energy cracked through the air, bathing the edge of the sacred forest in a myriad of dark colours. The clouds, reflecting the colours in front of a darkened sky seemed manipulated by an unseen force deep in the forest; twisting, shivering and moving as if pulled by a massive tornado.
Green lightning crackled at the unclouded centre, casting brief light on monstrous fighting forms.
The magical discharges from this concentrated combat meant only one thing as the air and gravity combined. Forcing these discharges into clouds of their own; adding toxic ferocity to the rain already coming down as a sheet.
Gabrielle stood near a rocky fissure at the edge of this once great forest; pillaged for it's resources by humans. Her arms were outstretched toward the centre of the storm as if welcoming it and guiding it into a hug. Her eyes closed in concentration, the wind whipping her hair away from her slender shoulders, which, like the rest of her, glowed deathly beautiful in the flashes of lightning. She looked every inch a Kantauride priestess, mistress of her herd.
A pale glow surrounded her as she invoked the name of Lxion, the father and protector of all centaurs..
She could feel more baleful presences arriving here. The presence of two powerful wizards had not been shown to her in all her preparations for this battle against the evil humanity. She had known of this battle for over a century, every day since spent planning for it. Doing all she could to aid centaur victory.
Anyone foolish enough to stand and watch her on this battlefield was cut down in an instant. If, however, they were lucky, they would see the glow become a ball of light centred at her chest. A brief pause and the ball was released, fired into the centre of the storm.
For such a dramatic moment, the aftermath at first seemed a let-down. Just a dull thump, quieter than distant thunder. What followed was not; a second, louder explosion that tore the storm asunder, causing the clouds to fall as one, a deluge of water falling from the sky as rocks and trees crumbled in a wide arc around it. Centaurs and black-cloaked wizards were knocked off their feet with the impact of it all. The sky was clear, nothing but stars above the battle now. Mars standing out above all others.
A distant orange glow caused Gabrielle to cast her eyes toward the forest, just as her ritualist tattoos began to burn.
Something had set fire to their Shrine to Lxion, a shrine that protected the forest from evil.
Her anger peaked and a red ball of energy flew from her into some of the freshly exposed rock where lay ancient shards of iron. The heat generated by this energy formed the iron into a grand sword, covered in rubies and full of ancient magic.
She sent a young centaur called Bane to get the sword; he was the most warlike of her herd, the perfect warrior for this spell; granted to them by the old goblins before they retreated into themselves and led lives of searching only for valuable artifacts and gold.

Bane returned with the sword, holding it in both hands above his head as his priestess began the ritual.
"Aeron, I call upon you..."

On the other side of the battlefield two friends entered the fray, one dressed in green, the other in red.
They parted there. Each with separate objectives at this site. The one in green, he they called Slytherin, to take command of the wizards.
He in red, known as Gryffindor the brave, to look for and claim an ancient artifact.

Slytherin's arrival filled the wizards with hope, they had lost many but now joined by Slytherin and his righteous anger against all who weren't wizards, who could stop them?

Bane screamed as the ritual finished, his once fine frame now a mass of molten metal and fire. His face a mask of rage.
He charged into battle, keening a terrible war cry as wizards fled from him.

And so the battle continued; wizards strong wherever Slytherin was; the centaurs wherever Bane or Gabrielle were. The landscape changed utterly from how it was by the magic involved.

Gryffindor stalked Bane, he wanted that sword, and he usually got what he wanted.

As dawn approached, finally did Gabrielle and Slytherin meet. Their hatred of each other's race evident in the curses they sent.
Gabrielle had the upper hand, she had Slytherin on the run, each curse carving deep steps into the hillside as he fled.

But Slytherin had one final trick, the priestess was far from her herd now and isolated, Slytherin summoned a Basilisk and told it to attack her before disapperating.
Gabrielle met her death there, a tiny glance into the snake's eyes and she was gone.
Her body disappeared and such was the violence of the magic involved, the basilisk also died.

The death of their priestess was known almost immediately by the remaining centaurs, who, briefly had been celebrating a victory; the humans had fled had they not?

All but Gryffindor; he stood his ground and took note of their stunned expressions, even Bane's magnificance was diminishing. Seizing his chance, Gryffindor stunned the centaur's hands and running quickly he grabbed the dropped sword before vanishing.


A/N Kantaurides are female centaurs and the Bane mentioned is a distant ancestor of the Bane in the Harry Potter books.
This was a prologue for my story, which is set in the aftermath of the great war:
The goblins, sensing opportunity in the new regime want their sword back.

I hope you enjoyed this taste however, and look forward to reading any comments.