Chapter 2: Rock Bottom
The Mystic Knights had taken the king's fastest horses to encounter the Temras as far away from the castle as possible so no local villagers would get caught in the battle. Following the soldier's instructions, they had gone straight northwest and it wasn't long before they saw the enemy's colours near the rough cliffs of the western shore.
"We should first persuade Maeve's troops to turn back, then we can concentrate on the Sentinels. They might put up a little more fight than the soldiers," Rohan suggested.
"Just leave them to me and Ivar. We'll send them back to Temra, crying for their mummies," Angus replied mischievously. The princess raised an eyebrow.
"What is it with you wanting to make people cry today? First Rohan and now Maeve's soldiers. Is that a new hobby of yours?" The former thief shrugged, grinning at her.
"What can I say, I'm a perfectionist. I won't stop until I succeed at least once today."
Unsure if this was just Angus' strange humour or if he was really being serious, Deirdre decided to drop the subject.
"You'll do that, then. In the meantime, Rohan and I will keep the four Sentinels busy."
They left the horses in the cover of the woods they were still in and approached their enemies on foot. In a normal battle, fighting from horseback could be a big advantage, but it made using the mystical weapons very difficult, especially when they were wearing their armour, so the knights preferred to stay with both feet on the ground instead.
"Now look who's there! Four mystical maggots, who want to try to stop us," the Ice Lord of Temra sneered loudly as the knights left their cover, their weapons drawn, and moved towards the position of the dark purple clad troops.
"Mystical maggots? That sounds actually rather clever. Did you make that up right now or did Maeve help you with it? Because I really can't imagine you or any of your friends coming up with it." Deirdre taunted the hostile warrior, receiving a chuckle from the other fighters of Kells.
"Laugh as long as you can, Knights, but you won't be as lucky anymore as you were the last times we met."
Upon hearing these words, Rohan turned to Deirdre, confusion clearly evident on his face.
"I didn't know luck was the reason we've beaten them again and again and again… and again. Why did nobody tell me?" Playing along, the princess kept her voice and expression completely serious as she answered.
"Because that is evidently such a well kept secret, that only our enemies themselves know about it. I've, too, been under the impression that we have won all those times, because they are simply no match for us."
"Enough!" the Lightning Bat of Temra screeched loudly at this point and threw his boomerang at Deirdre, but the young woman dodged it easily.
"Looks like we've got their attention. Let's call our armours," she whispered to Rohan, highly satisfied with their little distraction.
"Yeah, you're right," Rohan agreed. "Fire within me!"
"Air above me!" The two Mystic Knights summoned their armour and immediately attacked the four Sentinels of Temra. The soldiers, who had so far been completely ignored, watched the ongoing battle with a mixture of confusion and relief.
"Looks like they've completely forgotten about us," one of them exclaimed absentmindedly. He seemed more than happy not having to face either the warrior Draganta or the princess of Kells. But his expression changed quickly, as Angus' voice suddenly caught his attention.
"Well, and it looks like you have completely forgotten about us. Maybe a little shake will keep you more alert." He raised his mace and then knocked it on the ground forcefully, causing the earth underneath the Temra soldiers to quake so most of them tumbled to the ground. The ones still standing looked relieved for a second, but then Ivar pointed his trident at them.
"I think they are still not paying enough attention. But a little 'zap' will probably remind them that it's time to leave." Blue electricity shot from his weapon and knocked the remaining soldiers to the ground. However, they didn't need long to get back up, turn and run in the other direction without giving the battle or their mission another thought.
"And stay out!" Angus shouted after them, feeling very elated after the easy victory. But he quickly reminded himself that the real battle still lay ahead of him and Ivar. Rohan and Deirdre, who were each fighting two Sentinels at a time right now, would surely be very appreciative of the fast support from their friends. So the Mystic Knights of Earth and Water quickly moved to call their armour and join the fight.
"Earth beneath me!"
"Water around me!" The two shouted and swiftly attacked their usual opponents. Ivar shot crackling electricity at the Sea Serpent, drawing its attention away from Deirdre, while Angus flung a magical boulder at the Rock Wolf of Temra, causing him to leave Rohan to the Ice Lord.
A fierce battle between the Mystic Knights and the Sentinels ensued, that had each of the fighters highly concentrated. Angus wanted to use the earthquake power of his mace against his enemy, but cursed slightly as he realised he couldn't do that since they were now fighting closer to the cliff. The whole area would surely become unstable and with his friends in close proximity that just wasn't an option.
So he confined himself to attacking with the mace itself or by throwing magical rocks with it. Landing a particularly well aimed hit to the side of the head of the Rock Wolf, he momentarily sent his enemy to the ground, stunned. Angus used the opportunity to see how his friends were doing.
Still fighting the Sea Serpent with his trident, Ivar was a few meters in front of him, slowly taking the upper hand in the battle. The Temra fighter was backing away from the foreign prince and away from the cliff as if he was already planning his escape.
Deirdre was busy at the moment, dodging the attacks of the Lightning Bat who was throwing his boomerang at her again and again. The bat-shaped weapon returned to his hand after every throw, like a faithful dog, but kept missing the princess just as repeatedly. So while she wasn't winning the battle yet, Deirdre was still holding herself alright.
Finally looking over to Rohan, Angus was glad to see that he, too, was doing well. He was trading blows with the Ice Lord of Temra and although the white-faced warrior's weapon was smaller and more manoeuvrable, Rohan wielded the sword of Kells with the same speed and flexibility as his opponent. However, a loose rock on the ground suddenly threatened to shift the balance towards the Temra fighter, as the leader of the Mystic Knights accidentally tripped on it. He lost his footing and stumbled backwards, giving his enemy the perfect opportunity to strike a heavy if not fatal blow.
The Ice Lord was about to seize his chance and was already swinging his blade as a massive boulder hit him in the back, taking him by surprise. The projectile knocked him forward a few feet and completely undid the advantage he had just had over the Mystic Knight of Fire.
Angus laughed at the startled grunt of his target, his mace still raised, and then nodded to Rohan, who had found his balance again and immediately resumed his fight with the Ice Lord of Temra, after nodding back to his friend.
The whole thing hadn't taken longer than a few seconds, but it had distracted Angus, so when a sudden movement beside him caught his attention, he didn't move fast enough to completely block the iron claw of the Rock Wolf as it slashed down on him. The metal tore through the weakest part of his armour, the black fabric at the neck, drawing blood.
The former thief cried out as the pain ran through his body and hurried to cover the wound with his hand, but since he was wearing the heavy gloves of his mystic armour, he couldn't even tell how much damage had been done. However, he didn't have time to concentrate on it anyway, because the Temra fighter quickly attacked him again, eager to seize his opportunity, now that his enemy was wounded.
A series of fast blows rained down on him and Angus had increasingly more trouble to ward them off as the fight continued. He noticed that they were getting dangerously close to the rough edge of the cliff and tried to move to the side to avoid it, but the Rock Wolf was effectively blocking his path.
The Mystic Knight of Earth felt that his strength was weakening, his movements slowing down as the blood continued to flow from the wound on his neck, and he started to realise that he might actually lose this fight. But he also knew that he only had to hold out long enough until his friends would come to help him. So he gathered his remaining energy, feinted to move to the left and then charged to his right, swinging his mace at the Sentinel.
The hostile warrior was taken off guard by the surprisingly fast attack and only barely managed to raise his metal claw to parry the blow. In an unfortunate coincidence, the connection of both movements caused Angus' mace to get caught between the solid claws of the Rock Wolf, rendering both fighters momentarily unable to attack.
They grabbed onto each other, shoved and pulled, both trying to get free, while unconsciously moving so the Temra fighter was now with his back towards the cliff and only about two feet away from it. Angus saw his chance. He pushed the Rock Wolf hard, while pulling his weapon upwards at the same time, effectively freeing it and sending his enemy stumbling backwards.
Accelerated by the forceful pull, the mace flew from Angus' hand and landed on the ground somewhere behind him, but he didn't pay any attention to it, as his apparent victory suddenly turned against him in a split second.
The Rock Wolf of Temra, who had been staggering backwards, his arms flailing, right towards the steep cliff, had somehow managed to get a hold of Angus' armour, and was now pulling the Mystic Knight down with him. Angus tried to knock his hand off, but it was already too late. He had lost his footing and was tumbling over the edge, alongside his enemy.
The fall seemed to last forever and while Angus thought he'd heard his name being shouted from above, the roaring waves beneath him already welcomed him with their dark and cold embrace, drowning out the rest of the world.
To be continued…