White Ravens: Advent of War

Battle For Mirea: Part 3

Rune laughed when he heard the compliment. On the surface, he displayed satisfaction, but in reality, it ticked him off. A compliment like that was an insult on the battlefield.

"She's underestimating me," he said to himself.

This time, the female archer nocked an arrow into her bow, carefully aiming it at Rune. "This is the first and last time I'm going to warn you, pretty boy. I don't know why you're here, but I suggest you turn back before I riddle you with arrows."

When she saw him bolt forward, she let her arrow loose one after the other, while carefully maintaining a fair distance between them. She had already shot four arrows, but none of them even grazed Rune. His swift side steps, coupled with his unsteady gait made it hard for the archer to land even a single hit.

The arrows that came close to hitting Rune, he would easily deflect without even catching a breath.

Just as the archer jumped backwards, she didn't notice that there was tree behind her.

"This is my chance!" Rune exclaimed.

He dashed forward a split second before the archer's back could even collide with the tree. He could see an arrow heading towards his shin, and in order to avoid it, he rolled forward, and quickly sprang to his feet again.

Within the blink of an eye, he had managed to close the distance between them, and he was now holding her at blade point. Rune firmly placed his sword was before her neck, carefully trying not to cut her. "You're not from the empire," he said, staring into her eyes.

The archer's eyes were a perfect auburn, similar to the color of leaves during autumn. And just beneath her seemingly golden hair, were locks of formerly red hair.

"Why are you fighting a battle that's not yours?" Rune asked tentatively.

"Same as you," said the archer. "Glory."

Silence befell them as they locked eyes. The archer could not move a muscle, but she showed no sign of fear at all. "Are you going to kill me or not?" she said, breaking the silence.

Rune sheathed his sword back to its scabbard, but he didn't drop his guard, nor move away from her. "Neither," he uttered. "Leave this place. I'd rather not shed needless blood." Having said that, he started to walk away from her, towards the supply camp.

The archer grunted as she tumbled away from Rune, creating a wide distance between them within seconds. She then aimed her bow at Rune as he kept walking away. "Hey! I'm really going to shoot!"

"So do it," he replied without looking back.

She let her arrow loose, but it only whished past Rune, planting into a tree just ahead of him. "Stop," she said.

This time, Rune looked back at her. "What?"

"Your name," she said in a lowered voice.

"Rune. Rune of house Thorn."

"I'm Corselia." The archer looked away and scoffed. "I will not thank you for sparing my life, but I will walk away from this battle. The next time we see each other, I will kill you!"

Rune chuckled at that. He combed his dark hair backwards, tilting his head slightly while staring back at her.

"See you later, pretty boy." With that, Corselia ran away into the thicket, disappearing behind the lush greenery.

Now that there were no more distractions, Rune started chanting his spell again. "Spirits of eefriti, heed my call. Set the world ablaze with your fiery rage!"

He raised his hand above his head, and a large ball of flame formed inches above his palm. Without hesitation, he threw the large fireball towards the supply camp, sending the enemy troops into disarray before they even noticed Rune's presence.

While they were all panicking, he stormed the barricade, mercilessly cutting down the two guards that were standing there. What once was a silent part of the forest had now been engulfed by resonating screams, and guttural cries of pain.

During this time, Sigil and Tatiana were on their way to the tunnel. It took them less than a half hour to find the tunnel unimpeded by enemy forces.

"It seems that Rune has succeeded in his task," Tatiana remarked.

"You might be right, but I'm worried he could be overwhelmed by enemy forces soon. We need to finish up here soon. It still strikes me odd that there aren't any soldiers stationed in the tunnel."

What lay ahead the duo was the cave, leading to the underground tunnel. There were no Regalian soldiers within sight, and it was eerily silent. But because they didn't have the luxury of time, Sigil thought it best to proceed without caution. Whatever trap lay ahead of them, they would have to overcome.

As they traversed the darkness of the cave, Tatiana snapped her fingers. A ball of light floated just above her head, and followed closely behind her. They were now able to see several feet ahead of them.

Up until now, they still hadn't run into any enemy soldiers. All they could hear was the occasional sound of dripping water, and the sound of their own footsteps resonating through the walls.

Suddenly, Sigil stopped dead in his tracks; his gaze turning sharp. He quickly brandished his spear forward, readily guarding Tatiana. "There's someone here."

As Tatiana pointed her hand forward, the ball of light moved where she wanted it to go. It stopped just before a wall, revealing two paths that lay before them. In each path, they could see the silhouette of two figures walking towards them.

"Tatiana, stand back," Sigil commanded.

Seconds later, the two figures were now standing before them. They were surprised to see how identical they looked. They were both short-haired men with pale complexion. Their eyes gleamed golden, and displayed no emotion. The only thing that differentiated them from each other was the fact that one of them was holding a staff, and the other was wielding an axe.

"Leave," they uttered in unison.

"Sheesh, captain! They're creepier than bugs!" Tatiana commented.

Before every fight, Sigil always calculated every possible move he could make. But this time, his opponents gave him no quarter. He hadn't even thought for one second, when the man wielding an axe pounced on him, weapon first.

Sigil managed to jump away, but the staff-wielder lunged forward, effectively hitting Sigil's abdomen, propelling him backwards.

Fortunately, he managed to tumble backwards and plant his feet firmly on the ground. And before he could even begin to form a stance, the axe-wielder attacked him. These twins attacked Sigil one after other in rapid succession.

Tatiana tried to back Sigil up by swinging her halberd at the staff-wielder, but the axe-wielder parried her attack.

At this critical moment in the fight, Sigil dove forward, lunging his spear into the gut of the axe-wielder. Sigil's eyes widened in disbelief when the enemy did not even wince. Blood gushed out of the axe-wielder's abdomen, and yet he still seemed unfazed.

Tatiana could not believe her eyes as well. And while she was too shocked to move, the staff-wielder struck her shoulder, and pinned her against the wall using his metal bo staff.

Sigil quickly regained his composure, kicked the axe-wielder away, and swung his spear against the staff-wielder. "Tatiana, fall back!"

Upon hearing that command, she backed away from the fight, but remained near enough to support Sigil. "Captain, behind you!"

Just as she shouted that, the staff wielder struck Sigil's abdomen, bringing him to his knees. The axe-wielder noticed this chance, and swung his axe against Sigil.

But before the enemy could strike him, Sigil swept the fool's leg. He spun on the ground, propped himself up using his arms, and tumbled backwards.

Sigil was fortunate enough to knock the axe-wielder down, but he was now unarmed against the staff-wielder. His foe took advantage of this opportunity, sending rapid strikes towards Sigil.

Sigil's swift reflexes allowed him to dodge every other strike, but the staff-wielder was showing no sign of tiring out. This relentless enemy seemed to be determined to kill Sigil.

"Argh!" Sigil groaned as the staff struck his abdomen. "Tatiana, now!"

He held onto the staff, preventing the enemy to withdraw his weapon.

While they were locked in a stalemate, Tatiana hurled her halberd towards the staff-wielder. And within a split second, the tip of her weapon struck the enemy's head, effectively felling the strange foe.

Sigil took this chance to roll forward and grab his spear before the axe-wielder could begin to stand. He brandished his spear and swung it in a perfect arc, decapitating the other foe. His head rolled to the ground, displaying his golden, unblinking eyes.

"They're... hollows," Tatiana muttered as she covered her mouth. She was appalled by the fact that she had just taken a life, but she was even more devastated because of what their enemies were.

"Tatiana, we need to focus on the mission," Sigil said while straightening himself. "Let's go."