White Ravens: Advent of War

Battle For Mirea: Part 2

Yelena and Gust had arrived at the south gate of Mirea. There was a retinue of soldiers there, vigilantly waiting for any who would dare approach. When they saw the brooch on the two approaching knights, they immediately recognized who these two were and made way.

The soldiers opened the gate, letting Yelena and Gust pass through. They dismounted their horses at once, nodded at each other, and went to opposite directions. Yelena took the east side of the north gate, Gust took the west.

Within a matter of seconds, through the use of shadow magic, she scaled the town's wall. She was now standing atop a battlement, staring down at hundreds of Regalian soldiers. She planted her right hand to the ground, the red locks of her hair now turning black. The shadow beneath her feet extended beyond the battlement, and rapidly inching its way towards the nearest enemy soldiers. The moment her shadow touched theirs, the enemies caught could no longer move a muscle.

The fear of being unable to move during a battle was a far more frightening fate than receiving an axe wound or an arrow to the knee. And that fear was what crept into the minds of anyone who witnessed Yelena's sorcery. 

However, none of them had any idea how to stop it. Her shadow moved so swiftly that it managed to get ahold of ten soldiers in one fell swoop. The thought alone of being caught by her spell was enough to prevent them from moving a muscle.

Once Yelena had maximized the reach of her shadow, it became one large, harrowing, dark circle. Any who stepped into the circle was rendered paralyzed. Those unfortunate enough to be caught were picked off by Mirean soldiers, and some were incapacitated by Yelena herself. She would either throw knives at them or apply pressure to the location of their shadows, effectively pinning them to the ground.

Gust witnessed just how powerful Yelena could be, and he did not like to be outdone. With a snap of his fingers, two phantoms of himself appeared at either of his side while he was running. They mimicked his every move, and as Gust glided across the banisters of the wall, he delivered swift slashes from his two swords in quick, successive spinning motions. Within the blink of an eye, he had cut down five foes by himself, not counting those that were taken down by his phantoms.

Having witnessed these two terrifying foes, the Regalians hesitated to scale the wall. Those that were in the process of climbing the ladder jumped down without a second thought, for fear of being caught by Yelena's and Gust's onslaught. Truly, the Rune Knights were a force to be reckoned with.

Beyond Mirea's gate, there was another equally fearsome combatant. He charged through the battlefield on his steed, decapitating any man foolish enough to bar his path. His broadsword cut through any armor as if all were just paper to his blade. Zeke thundered across the battlefield, roaring at the top of his lungs. "I am Zeke Lionheart!" he bellowed. "Soldiers of the Queen! To Arms!"

The wounded Mirean soldiers who heard his battle cry appeared as though they had regained their spirit. All pain was numbed from their bodies, and they firmly held their weapons before them. At that very moment, they chose to cast aside their fear and follow Zeke into the fray. "For the queen!" they shouted in unison.

Zeke had successfully spurned the Mireans into action. His presence on the field had turned the tide. It was hard to believe that mere minutes ago, were on the brink of surrender.

Upon hearing the Mireans roar, the Regalians staggered back. They slowly inched away from the advancing soldiers of the queendom. And when they saw Zeke's figure thundering towards them, their commander began to panic. He ordered the archers to fire at Zeke at will.

But in spite of the arrows heading towards him, Zeke charged forward and broke through any line the Regalians and formed. He even made his steed jump across a row of soldiers and soon found himself surrounded by Regalians.

He swept his eyes across each of them, and he could tell they were quaking in fear. Zeke's once gentle eyes were now akin to a madman's. There was no more trace of the timid knight that his peers had witnessed the night before.

When he dismounted his steed, the soldiers backed away from him. He walked forward, holding his sword with his right hand. With an arc of his sword, the ground between him and the Regalians sprang upwards and formed into a solid wall, knocking away those unlucky enough to be caught by the rock formation.

Zeke swung his sword once more, this time to his right side, and another rock wall appeared in a similar manner. Only his rear and left flank were now open, but his foes were too afraid to face him. They could see it in his eyes that he would not hesitate to cut anyone down.

The blood running across his cheek, and some dripping down his sword only served to make Zeke look all the more menacing.

"It's the Berserker! Run!" shouted one of the Regalians.

The moment they heard their comrade cry out of fear, some of them chose to drop their weapons and desert the battle. However, Zeke slammed his sword to the ground, and it caused a large dome of stone to form around him. The only source of light inside the dome was a hole above them. Amidst the commotion, Zeke noticed that there was one enemy soldier who wasn't fazed at all by the change in the terrain.

The fearless soldier looked like he was battle-hardened. There was a noticeable scar across his right cheek, and he was clad in black armor. He wielded a halberd, and he had a small detachment of troops standing behind him. While most others panicked, this man's unit was unbridled.

"Fool! You've trapped yourself inside with us!" the scarred man shouted at Zeke.

"Have I?" Zeke responded with a chuckle. "Or are you all trapped in here with me?"

The scarred man began to cackle. "I like your spirit, boy! I'd like to know the name of the daunting warrior I'm about to slay!"

"Isn't it customary for one to name himself before asking another's?" Zeke replied.

The scarred man chuckled once more. "Very well. I am Kael, the empire's Mad Dog!"

Zeke vigilantly paced towards Kael; the end of his sword, pointing towards the latter. "My name is Zeke, heir of house Lionheart. En garde!"

"Everyone stand back!" Kael commanded. "Anyone who dares to interfere with our duel, I will dispose of you myself!"

Kael spun his halberd above his head a few times before brandishing it forward; his right hand firmly placed just below the halberd's head, and his left hand was supporting the shaft of the weapon.

 Meanwhile, Zeke planted his blade on the ground, took off his armguards, and cracked his knuckles before carrying his sword once more.

The moment they locked eyes, both warriors bolted forward, and their weapons soon met, igniting sparks upon collision. With every swing of their weapon, all those who witnessed their battle held their breaths. Some were too stupefied to move, while some were in awe of how evenly matched Kael and Zeke were.

Kael swung his halberd in perfect arc, and Zeke managed to parry the strike. However, it sent him sliding backwards while his feet were firmly planted on the ground. Zeke felt the strength of that last strike from Kael down to his bones. In that moment, he knew that fighting Kael without the use of sorcery was far too risky.

"The captain told me to get out of this alive," Zeke thought to himself. "But I refuse to dishonor this warrior's skill by infusing sorcery into this battle!"

"What's the matter, boy? You're a rune knight, aren't you? Why aren't you fighting me with everything you've got!" Kael growled as he swung his halberd diagonally upwards, pushing Zeke backwards again.

Once more, Kael drove his halberd towards Zeke, this time, swinging it downwards. Zeke managed to parry the strike by holding his sword above his head and supporting its weight.

"Do not insult me by taking pity in me, Zeke!" Right after Kael shouted that, he kicked Zeke's abdomen, causing the latter to stagger backwards while covering his abdomen.

"Very well," Zeke said as his eyes became sharp. "No more holding back!"

Meanwhile, Rune was traversing the edges of the forest, making sure to evade any scouts he might run into. It would be troublesome if any of the enemy soldiers were to see him. One mistake, and it could alert the entire enemy camp.

As he hid behind a tree just beside a body of water, he could hear the sound of thundering footsteps. Judging from what he heard, there must've been twenty or so nearby. "I'd rather not waste any energy fighting that many cannon fodder," Rune said to himself.

Thus, he sat on the tree's roots, waiting for the sound of footsteps to dissipate. It took around five minutes before they were all out of earshot.

He then treaded upriver, in search of the enemy's supply tent. It didn't take him long to find the supply camp. "Sigil, you brilliant bastard! You were right," Rune muttered.

"Spirits of eefriti, heed my call. Set the world ablaze with your fiery rage!"

A large ball of flame formed just above Rune's hand as he chanted the spell to call forth the spirits of flame. But before he could finish his spell, an arrow whished past him, missing his face by a centimeter.

"That archer missed me on purpose!" Rune exclaimed in his head, quickly hiding behind the nearest tree. However, another arrow came out of nowhere, which he managed to deflect using his sword. "Show yourself!" he shouted.

"I'd rather not," said the enemy archer. The sound of the voice was that of a woman's.

Rune was now more intrigued to see this enemy. He gathered a small amount of mana, and soon, his sword was engulfed in fire. He then swept his eyes around the countless of trees nearby. Only the sound of crickets, birds, and rustling leaves could be heard.

Then, he heard a rustling sound coming from above. Instinctively, he swung his sword towards the sound, sending an arc of flame towards the tree's canopy. Within mere seconds, its leaves were set ablaze.

Rune saw the silhouette of a womanly figure jumping down from the tree. Her hair was golden like the sun, and her beauty surpassed that of Tatiana. The color of her leather armor, red and black, were that of the empire's colors.

"I'd rather not hurt you," Rune said while readying himself for any attack.

"I should be the one to say that, pretty boy," the woman responded.