"It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle." General Norman Schwarzkopf
Kohan looked at the faces of the warriors in tight formation behind him. They were stern and focused and most importantly, desperate. They were ready. He raised his arm and screamed, "CHARGE!" Immediately, thousands of voices followed suit and rang out into battle cries. They rushed past down the hill into the valley, swords drawn, ready for blood.
At the sound of their cry, a reception force poured out of the castle before them. With military precision it filed out of the castle and fell into tight formation in front of the castle. It quickly grew until the rushing army was severely out numbered. Some of the men faltered for a moment before continuing to battle, but most just rushed forward with even more conviction. It was either do or die for these men.
The two armies quickly met and the greatest battle Atlantis had ever witnessed began. Swords clashed, shields clanked, and men screamed. Body parts flew every which way and blood started to pool around the warrior's feet. Kohan signaled for the benders behind him to begin their assault. Earth benders form great boulders of rock, fire benders set them ablaze, and air benders blew them across the battle field with hurricane force winds. The boulders crashed into the opposing army with mass devastation. They left craters the size of elephants and enemy soldiers scattered all around. However, it only went a little way to evening out the odds.
As the battle raged on, the armies merged together into one giant mass of fighting. Kohan signaled again and the benders left their posts to join the fighting head on. The fire benders drew swords of fire and ran out with yells as loud as an inferno, the air benders flew onto the battle field with gusts of wind, and the earth benders simply sped forward on a moving patch of earth. Now when he looked behind him there were only four people remaining. Ivan, Vorick, Annabelle, and Anrok.
"If you want to back out now would be the time." Kohan said to his only friends.
"No the time to back out was when you told us of this crazy plan. We are in this to the end." Anrok said.
"Then we shall take our leave. Remember, move swiftly and get to the castle at all costs. We must end this here and now."
At this they swiftly ran into the valley. They were in tight formation with Ivan, Vorick, Annabelle, and Anrok surrounding Kohan. They ran directly into the middle of the battle, cleaving a path through the mass of limbs and bodies as they went.
It was not long before they met heavy resistance. Groups of soldiers stormed towards them. "Fight through them! We must make it to the castle" Vorick called sending a shock wave through the earth before them, causing the advancing soldiers to fall to the ground.
"Kill them quickly and move on." Ivan commanded while cutting off one soldiers head with a sword engulfed in flames.
The five of them made quick work of the twenty or so soldiers that came to meet them by plunging swords and knives through their necks. Just as Anrok pulled his knife from the last man, another force twice as large came at them.
"They have resolved not to let us reach the castle!" Annabelle exclaimed.
"Then let us match their resolve with our skill and determination." Kohan yelled rushing forward with his sword held high.
He swung his sword, creating a razor sharp wave of ice in the swords wake and sent the wave flying with a lung of his sword at the advancing soldiers. The wave dealt massive amounts of damage, completely cutting the first row of ten men completely in half and mortally wounding the next two rows. Blood running from the bodies covered the small bunch as they passed the first three lines to engage the last of about ten soldiers.
"WE SHALL NOT FAIL! FOR ATLANTIS!" Kohan called as he stabbed on of the soldiers through the armpit into the heart.
He turned quickly to block another soldier and followed through with a stab into the throat. He made quick work of three more soldiers in the same fashion. That was when he heard a scream. It was Annabelle's.