It flew back momentarily before turning to hurtle in the direction of the archers. The skeletons screamed and scattered as the cloud of arrows now smashed into their positions with furious force. Kassina narrowed her eyes and crunched her fists as she turned to her undead knights. Her anger was so great that her nails shredded the skin on her palms.
“Go deal with these troublesome elves, now! And do not fail me, or you may as well be dead already!” she barked.
They grunted in response, drawing their swords as they marched towards the waiting elven guards. A tremor shook the ground, and Kassina watched as the remaining wall of trees slowly parted.
At first, she could only see Andrielle’s shining armour as she rode out onto the open battlefield. The trees continued to part as the remainder of her accompaniment galloped out to stand beside her. The elven guards quickly followed suit and reassembled behind their queen.
The rumbling ground stopped momentarily.
“So the mysterious Elven Queen and her following fools and commoners decide to come out of hiding?” laughed Kassina darkly. She bared her fangs and screamed at the top of her lungs. “Is that really the best you can do? You dare challenge a fully manned Dark Army, and the most powerful sorceress of all the lands, with this pitiful display of guards and a few of you on horseback? Are you really that stupid, or did it take you many years of being queen to master that kind of idiocy?”
Althar seized the opportunity to reach safety and charged out into the open as fast as he could, weaving from side to side in the Elven Queen’s direction in an attempt to avoid enemy weaponry.
“What is this? Even the great dragons have cowards among them? Take him out!” Kassina ordered with a chuckle.
The remaining catapult detail shouted orders to each other, took aim and released a burning missile into the air in the dragon’s path.
“Look out!” screamed Helenia, standing in her stirrups.
They could only watch as the missile bounced off the ground and curved toward Andrielle. Althar twisted his body to leap into the path of the missile and growled as his unshielded stomach was savagely hit. With a loud groan of pain, he crashed violently into the ground, head first. The force of the impact frightened their horses, which complained at the large dragon’s body sliding in their direction. Dirt and soil sprayed in their direction from the impact of the powerful dragon. Althar’s body slid to a grinding halt a few feet away from Helenia, who looked him helplessly in the eyes and watched as his life left his damaged body and his flesh went limp with his final breath.
Andrielle pulled hard on her reins, causing her horse to rear up high on its hind legs and send a loud neigh into the air. She raised her sword high and cast a spell.
“ Spatha mei galbine flagrat! ”
Her sword burst into green flames, which was the signal they had been waiting for. With a loud cry of “ Forward!” escaping the forest, Andrielle’s army began their march out from the darkness and protection of the trees. Kassina watched as thousands of them came into her view, heavily armoured and many armed to the teeth with weapons made from otherworldly materials and colours. The front lines of Andrielle’s army ceased marching, standing in a linear formation a few short paces behind Andrielle.
“Dragons, take formation! The elven army has arrived!” cried Karven.
The remaining dragons flew high into the air and circled the army from above, regaining their strength as they hid themselves in the darkness. Kassina turned her view to the skies, where the battlefield was watched closely by the gods, but also by the darkest and most deviant of eyes.
Suddenly Shindar's voice filled Kassina’s mind. Kassina, your time has come. The prophecy can finally begin its fulfilment. The power we need to bring me back into this world lies in the souls of those who stand before you. Kill them all and we shall rule this world together in the time of the Blood Red Moon. You have done well and have served me with strength — now finish what you have started.
“To victory!” cried Andrielle and Helenia in unison as they and their accompaniment marched forward, leading the army into battle.
The force of their charge rattled Kassina’s cart, and she leapt off it before turning to her Forces of Darkness.
“Kill them all, and let there be no mercy!” ordered the dark sorceress with glee, as they in their turn marched to meet the elven forces in the middle of the battleground.
Karven led the dragons from the sky in a linear formation and they descended in an attack to run over Kassina's charging forces. His voice boomed over the battlefield. 'Take out as many as you can, and watch for crossfire!'
Chapter 18: Rise from the Flames
“We march together as one. Our hearts beat strongly in time to the rhythm of our bodies moving in unison. This is my first war and as their queen, it is my duty to lead our army into battle.
May the gods favour us in this darkness.”
Nymira leapt from the ground and took flight with all her strength, her enormous wings clawing their way into the night’s twinkling sky. She turned sharply into the path of the flying daggers, twisting her body on its side so that her armour deflected most of the sharp weapons as they rained down.
“No! Nymira!” screamed Vartan, as some of the blades landed deep in her unprotected scales and she winced in pain. She roared in response as she once again landed behind them both, shaking her head in anger. Quickly, she used her teeth to remove the embedded daggers from her scales and spit them to the ground, growling at their enemies in defiance.
Vartan and Leon stood ready to face down the vampire army that now stood abreast of the assassins, anxiously awaiting further orders. The night air was filled with the sound of shrieks and vicious hissing as the vampires eagerly eyed their prey and licked their lips in anticipation of fresh blood.
Vartan, I have a bad feeling about this, said Keturah.
“There’s too many of them!” exclaimed Leon. “Even if we were the best fighters in Marithia, we can’t take them all.”
“Then we shall take down as many of these bloodsucking bastards as we can,” responded Vartan. “I won’t die without a fight, and they will not kill me easily!”
Nymira bumped their shoulders with her nose before addressing them, the nudge startling both of the men. “We don’t need to fight these creatures. This must be a planned diversion in her battle plan, and we risk falling into Kassina’s web. Climb aboard, and let us join the fight where we are surely desperately needed. We are done here, and are running out of time.” She lowered her body in preparation for her riders.
A concerned look passed between father and son, both of them unsure as to the wisdom of her decision. They took a quick moment to gaze far into the distance, where flashes of light and distant rumbles surrounded the Elven Woods. Dark clouds of smoke filled the sky and greyed out the full moon.
They looked at each other knowingly and nodded before mounting the waiting dragon. Seeing this move, the assassins pointed at the dragon and blew their horn, once again giving their attack signal. The vampires snarled and charged at their position, at full force and with unnatural speed.
“This will be rough. Protect yourselves as best as you can,” said Nymira.
The great dragon beat her wings as fast as she could to rise from the ground vertically, changing her scales to hide them in the night as she twisted to keep the men out of the vampires’ view. Leon and Vartan groaned with pain, their arms barely able to hold on to her armour with the force of her ascent.
“Don’t let go!” yelled Vartan.
Do you go to special lengths to point out the obvious? Or does that gift just come naturally to you? asked Keturah.
