I've been neglecting stories left and right, but going to college required my absolute attention. Enjoy the chapter, later installments will come regularly.
Crossroads
Under the command of Temple Knight Inphyy, the Red Sun army was led north and east to the Grey Lands were the influence of humans began to blur and the influence of the barbaric Goblins began to exert itself.
They marched into the mountain passes, everything was a dull grey, the earth was moist and flaky, the sky was shrouded in clouds and sand.
Totems decorated with dozens upon dozens of human skulls and skeletons dotted the passages, and carved upon these were the exultations of the goblins to whatever dark god they worshipped.
The troops continued to march silently, following their leader; the girl in crimson. Behind her marched her second, the young man in blue and their aid Heppe.
They were not welcome here
In the back of the troops marched a single soldier in black constantly watching for signs of being followed or perhaps an ambush.
Sesh quickened his pace around the column of soldiers when he saw they had stopped.
Inphyy glared evilly at the totems and at the shadows moving just out of sight.
"It's a trap I think. Look beyond their lines, see that stone arc? I'd bet you a whole crown that they will collapse that on our heads as soon as we beat them back"
Aspharr nodded at him, it made good sense. Inphyy on the other hand forced herself to look at Sesh and give him a slight glare.
"Nonsense, we will slay every last one of them before they even make it that far"
Sesh pulled up his hood and looked down, positioning himself slightly between Aspharr and her.
"Inphyy, I know that your father died fighting them. But don't let your hatred of the goblin cloud your judgment"
Inphyy's eyes locked onto Sesh, a murderous glare in her eyes.
"You will never say that again, and you will never question my command in public again. Is that understood?"
Sesh nodded
"But, commander please just don't give chase if they retre-"
"Silence! I will have no more of this. All soldiers! Forward!" she yelled, her raspy voice carrying through the fog like thunder.
Sesh drew his long sword and fell into pace with Aspharr as Inphyy led the charge to the goblin horde which took the charge with a roar of defiance.
Who were these humans to presume they could invade their lands?
The two masses clashed against one another, swords screamed as they clashed against one another. Shrieks and groans came as men but mostly goblins were cleaved and killed.
Aspharr's lance swooshed like a hawk's dive as it struck frail bodied goblins and skewered unfortunate shamans. Keeping the masses away by the spinning arc of his kill zone, stabs and slashes came with lightning speed as he maimed and fell goblins by the dozens.
Inphyy's blade shrieked as she danced through the mass, her sword being dragged along. As she passed, side stepped and spun enemies died. Arms lopped off, legs cleaved, chests split by the edge of her sword. She was covered in blood, but by her clothing one would never guess in the chaos of battle, save for the fact her face was dotted by bloody droplets.
Goblins continued to fall, their numbers decimated by the templar and by the human soldiers. Barbarian courage culled by the realization that at least in military terms, they were savages and the humans were civilized for a reason.
They fell back, a few at first and the rest followed. A panicked mass of tribesmen scattered by knights.
"Don't let them get away! Cut down every last one!" screamed Inphyy as she gave chase, her gait powerful and sure she homed in on the slowest goblin, her blade found purchase on its back.
She was followed by two dozen of the most eager soldiers, never once did any of them look back to see if the rest of the army was following.
"Aspharr! Hold the army here! It's a trap!" yelled Sesh as he put away a small telescope, an invention of the court mages, and ran after the overeager glory seekers. Fear clenched in his stomach, by the gods he knew it, it had to be a bloody trap! He had seen the goblins moving at the ridge, not armed with bows but with picks and ropes. They were going to bring down the arc down on Inphyy crushing her under tons of stone. But if she was lucky she'd pass the landslide and be cut off from help.
With the dancer's grace that was usual of his elvish parentage, Sesh sped towards Inphyy.
Inphyy couldn't see, she couldn't think, her eyes were locked on the closest goblin near her.
Every one of them were her father's murderer, she could feel it. She was chasing down the very goblin who had killed Father.
Within three more paces she reached the slowest goblin and cleaved its head open, without breaking stride she ran to the next closest.
In her tunnel vision, she didn't see the stones high above her slide, she didn't see her soldiers stopping, and she didn't see the shadow of someone behind her.
All she could feel was the fire in her veins; rage.
And all she could see was whatever vengeance allowed her to. The goblin that was in front of her, it was her father's killer just as they other hundred she had killed had been.
Something grabbed onto her and tripped her. She fell on her chest and struggled against her pursuer, she twisted herself around against what was struggling to keep her down, the angel wing pieces of armor on her back prevented just that, being grasped easily from behind.
Twisting herself over in a heartbeat and rolling, she reversed the positions with her blade in her hand.
She rolled on top of whoever had jumped her; she looked at the face and stabbed down upon it.
Sesh looked at her, his yellow eyes wide in surprise and fear, involuntarily two tears slinked out of his eyes and on the sides of his face as he looked at the sword that had been stabbed into the earth an inch from his face.
Inphyy looked straight at him and realized what she had done.
Shame hammered her like a one ton stone, she looked up and saw the goblins fleeing. Now out of embarrassment and not out of rage she gave them chase.
"No!" screamed Sesh as he wrapped both his arms around her neck and pulled her into an embrace. Inphyy struggled to get out of it but Sesh wouldn't let go, this close to one another she could see the little scar he had just under his left ear from when she had accidentally hit him with a stone as a child. She could smell him, he always smelled warm bread and of something distinctly himself.
She tried to tear away from him but he wouldn't let go, he wrapped both his legs around hers and with an ungentle strength he rarely displayed pressed her against him. She managed to look at him, his warm yellow eyes were stern with anger.
"You are not going anywhere" his glare said.
Inphyy screamed and ducked her head against his neck as the giant stone arc collapse, sending dust and debris flying over them. The shock of the several hundred tons of stone falling bounced them little ways down where they had come from.
The young templar girl couldn't help it, but she could feel a certain security in being in Sesh's arms. No pain came to her, but his grip slacked as everything quieted.
As Sesh's arm came off her and his legs uncurled themselves off hers his breathing became controlled, he looked at the girl on top of him. She, hesitant to let go of him, slowly looked up at him unsure if they were both still alive.
She sat up and he wheedled himself out from under her as if she was going to bite him.
"Sesh I-"
"I saw you!" he yelled at her, tears in his eyes, his mouth contorting as if he dearly wanted to cry.
"Don't lie. I trusted you, I saw you and I knew what you meant to do!"
Inphyy couldn't tear the words out of her throat, partly because she knew he was absolutely right.
She had meant to kill Sesh
The half elf retreated from her pulling his cloak back up and looking around for straggled goblins, but mostly just so Inphyy couldn't see him crying silently.
Inphyy wiped at her eyes and put back on her steely look by the time Aspharr and the others reached them.
"Inphyy! Are you ok-"
"Yes brother I am alright, Sesh saved me" she said, all her abusive tendencies and distaste for the elf had evaporated.
As Aspharr trotted to Sesh to embrace him he stopped as Sesh whipped out his armored hand as if to ward him away.
The young templar's heart dropped, he knew something had happened when Sesh tried to rescue Inphyy. His hand clasped on his mouth as to muffle any noise and the pain in his eyes that were now openly weeping had confirmed as much.
Sesh, looked around he couldn't stand to be near them, he saw the side passage in the canyon and strode off not caring if he was being followed by the soldiers or not.
The army looked at Aspharr and Inphyy and followed after Sesh as Aspharr gave them a nod in his direction.
Aspharr's gave fell on Inphyy's and with the force of a hurricane the phrase he quietly uttered smashed her composure.
"Inphyy, Light help me. What did you do to him?"
Tears welled around Inphyy's eyes as she confronted the thought she had been trying to snuff out.
"I just scared him. When he jumped me I thought he was a goblin so I-" she trailed off, her brother looked at her like a griffon. Quiet and still as he waited for the moment to strike.
Inphyy felt self disgust welling up inside her.
"That's a lie. When he rescued me, I was so mad about all of this I just wanted to kill the goblins who had killed Father. When he jumped me to save me, I just……I tried to kill him. I stabbed my sword next to his head"
Aspharr's eyes were wide in shock as much as anger.
"Inphyy…..you….-"
"Brother! You know as well as I do that it was his mother who left my father to die that day!"
"But Sesh doesn't know that Inphyy!" roared Aspharr with an anger that echoed throughout the canyon.
Inphyy was quiet and wide eyed
"Are you really that narrow minded? Sesh had nothing to do with that. The King told us what happened and his mother has been in exile all these years as a punishment. She will never see her son again and Sesh was fed a lie"
Inphyy couldn't speak, her head hung in shame.
"Gods damn it all Inphyy. Sesh was told that his mother was an idolater of the Dark so she was sent away and not executed as she should have been because she was mother to the king's son. Sesh beats himself up over it and you know it" snarled Aspharr.
"I never meant fo-"
"For what?! Not to abuse him every day? To give him the impression you like him like you used to until the day your father died?!"
"I never loved him!" shrieked Inphyy
"Yes you did" answered Aspharr his voice level, his tone poisonous.
"You did love him and you know it, but it was after his mother left your father to die that you started hating him"
Inphyy looked away, her teeth clenched she wiped at her eyes.
"He's still in love with you Inphyy. And every day you give him a reason to keep believing you might still care for him. He's naïve at heart but one thing he is not is stupid, he's starting to hate you too"
The army continued its march as Aspharr and Inphyy both joined the army again, the commanders were eerily quiet. Upon seeing their approach, Sesh broke out into a run towards the clearing where the goblins had horded themselves.
With a scream of anger he charged their lines alone.
"I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" he screamed at the enemy, upon their faces he could see the faces of Aspharr, Inphyy and his father.
Why didn't they love him? Why did everybody hate him? Pity him? Shun him? WHY?!?!?!
Forgetting his training he simply cleaved his sword over and over into the goblins who were backing away, mistaking him for one of the mighty templar knights.
Aspharr and Inphyy charged in after him along with the rest of the army into a clash of pure chaos. Desperation fueled the goblins and their efforts and fury fueled the humans.
For Aspharr it was frustration
For Inphyy it was shame
For Sesh it was rage
The humans streamed into the goblin mass, killing them every which way as the goblins fought back to the last. Jumping humans and ducking under their powerful blows to slip a blade between the breastplates.
From the nearby stone formations bellowed an enormous troll, led by its goblin handlers.
It charged into the mass as it swung its enormous arms left and right knocking friend and foe into the ground where it stomped them. Crushing goblin bone and human armor under its calloused feet it continued by picking up masses of soldiers and throwing them at the stone walls.
Sesh continued to hack apart goblins with a viciousness that he had never exhibited before only to be knocked down the cudgel of a goblin marauder. His would be killer smashed the cudgel on his breastplate, denting it, only to be hampered as its prey raised its gauntlets in his defense.
A sword exploded through the goblins chest, it was connected to Gabriel, Sesh's friend. Gabriel reached down to help Sesh up only to be picked up in turn by the troll and thrown at the stone wall with the force of a catapult.
All that remained of the once proud young man known as Gabriel Athan was a splatter on the stone face and a crumpled broken body on the ground.
Aspharr and Inphyy saw this in shock. As the goblins retreated in full the troll stayed as it roared at the human's who encircled it. Sesh shoved himself up, bloodied and bruised and snatched up Gabriel's blade and shrieked in monstrous rage at the beast charging it with both blades.
No one there could believe what they were seeing.
Sesh had jumped upon the troll, stabbing both blades down into its flesh climbing up on the troll's shoulders. The beast roared in pain as it's tormentor bent itself out of its reach and danced on its body, shoulders and hands. In one flip of his body, the half elf brought both of his swords screaming into the troll's eyes toppling the creature and landing upon it.
He swung both blades in a bloody arc upon the dying creature's face again and again and again.
With the creature's death groan Sesh stabbed both blades into the troll's throat twisting them maliciously.
As the monster, died Sesh sat upon his knees on its chest as the blood mist lifted from his heart.
He looked at Inphyy and Aspharr, hatred burning in his eyes. The woman who spurned him and abused him, the man who was his father's favorite.
His lips drew back in a snarl but calmed as he looked away at a movement coming to them from the opposite direction that the goblins had fled.
A battered human soldier who hobbled towards them, from the emblem of the man's breastplate he could tell he was likely from Castle Varrvazzarr.
Aspharr wasted no time in coming to the man's side who then and there fell to his knees.
"The Castle is under attack" gasped the messenger. His eyes had a ghostly touch to them. And the wetness from under his breastplate likely meant we had was bleeding to death, more accurately he was almost dry.
"We need your help, The Ice Gate is about to fall"
Sesh and Inphyy had come to Aspharr's side and looked at one another then at the soldier.
"We continue to Fort Wyandeek, as per our orders"
"Inphyy!" protested Aspharr
"No, we will continued there. I will bring these goblins to justice for all they have done" she said, the fire that had kept her warm in her heart burning again.
"Then you do so without me" stated Sesh, the innocence in his voice returning.
The shock in the face of his comrades was clear, and so was the confusion.
"You can go to Wyandeek Inphyy and satisfy your lust for vengeance. But I will not allow those humans to die. If we leave Wyandeek as it is, that's one thing. But if the Ice Gate falls, the amount of people that could die will be astronomical, the goblins will cut through the Hinterlands leaving only death in their wake. I am not abandoning a castle full of families just so you can satisfy yourself. Light forgive you if you don't come with me Inphyy, because I never will!" he said as he glared at her.
He yelled "I never will!" again for emphasis
The dying messenger in the delirium of his death throes he rasped "Give this to my family, sir knight. Please, save everyone" as he held out a blood stained necklace which Sesh rushed to grasp as the man died, the man had mistaken him for one of the unstoppable Temple Knights.
He looked at the necklace with the naiveté of a child being handed an important task, then he returned to his new state of mind.
Regarding Inphyy coldly he searched her expression which was just as hard as his.
"We continue to Fort Wyande-" she started before he spun on his heel and marched away from them in the opposite direction.
Inphyy's heart dropped, she wanted to say something but the words wouldn't come, the army was watching. Her brother was watching as well, and he looked like he dearly wanted to go with Sesh.
"Aspharr, lead on to Fort Wyandeek. Onto the next battlefield!" she yelled raising her sword expecting a cheer, but the soldiers were quietly shuffling towards the general direction out of the canyon.
She had lost her men's devotion
Inphyy looked back at her brother; he had passed her and was marching with the men. He was only following her because he knew they could not afford to fall apart. And that was more important than breaking away to follow Sesh, even though that's what his conscience was screaming at him to do. She felt as though she had lost him too.
She looked back at Sesh; he was awkwardly climbing up a hill of stones. His step was quick and determined but he looked so small, so insignificant against the mountains. But he presumed to be as big as them as he marched up to pass them.
Soldiers from the army, Aspharr and she looked back to see the half elf working against the mountain's face as he tried to speed towards the castle in distress, a massive bulwark he pretended to save, alone.
Never once did he look back at them.