Chapter Text
For the longest time, there was nothing but the flare of fire, and ash in the wind. The shouts and screams were becoming unbearable. Steeling herself against the cries of anguish surrounding her, Dreya ducked under her opponents warhammer, her sword flashing forward with a mind of its own. The Gumm-Gumm's eyes widened with surprise, his foul breath hitting her as Dreya sunk her sword deep into his middle. Gritting her teeth she tugged hard, wincing at the wet sound of her blade pulling free. The soldier's corpse crumbled, splattering Dreya with cold lake water and slick gore. She shivered.
Her arms were heavy, her legs ached, her lungs burned, but Dreya dared not stop because another troll was swinging their long shafted axe to bring it down on her head. Dreya raised her shield to brush the blow aside, thrusting quick and forward, she stabbed with her sword, the blade taking the soldier under the chin, she twisted it loose before pulling away, stepping back as the troll fell. A heavy scream resounded from her left and out of the corner of her eye Dreya could see Cobalt's heaving from as he smashed a shield into another gumm-gumm. His blade darting at everything that moved.
Soldiers were crawling along the lake, some burned, other's coughing up water, most were dying. Dreya swallowed thickly, shaking her head in a desperate attempt to shut out the painful pulsing within her skull, dully aware of the sounds of battle around her. The clash of blades, the thunder of shields meeting shields. The pause was a mistake.
A hammer caught her shield, driving it down, splitting the boards, and a knife flew over the rim to pierce her shoulder. With a yell, Dreya hauled the shield up, feeling a stabbing pain rip through her arm, and smashed downward hard into the shoulder of her attacker. A shocked pained gasp escaped them and Dreya came forward intending to cut them down, recognizing an impure. The changeling recovered quickly, rolling out of the way whilst throwing another barrage of knives with his uninjured arm. Dreya cursed and dropped down to one knee, hiding behind the remains of her shield, that was now little more than splinters of wood. The knives sailed past. She glanced up, the changeling was gone.
A frustrated scream shuddered throughout the night and Dreya rose and turned to catch sight of Damascus. Glinting brightly against the flames and smoke, the Trollhunter fought against two changelings that were clinging to him.
Breathing heavily Dreya watched in shock as just behind him, slipping out of the dark, baptized in pitch slick incor, Gunmar the Black erupted out the Gumm-gumm ranks.
She stopped breathing.
Dimly she heard Cobalt yelling in warning, just as she tried to call out. Their voices were lost in the chaos. Cobalt ran towards his cousin, and without a thought, so did she.
Madness followed.
Running along the Lake's edge, Dreya watched as Damascus threw off the two changelings, wenching himself to the side, just dodging a blow from Gunmar's axe. A third changeling ran out of the water, and began to drag the others away.
She and Cobalt were closer now, where the fighting was thickest, joining the remains of Damascus's first regiment. They could not break through Gunmar's line.
With a roar the Trollhunter charged forward, the sword of Daylight flickering towards his attackers chest. Gunmar stepped back. The Clattering of seething steel rang.
Damascus whirled around landing a backhanded blow with the hilt of his sword. Gunmar's head snapped back and he staggered off balance. Advancing, Damascus leapt up high. His sword raised above his head. Gunmar recovered enough to scramble out of the way, raising his axe in a wild wave to block the cut. The screeching of steel rang out horribly.
Damascus landed, his back to Gunmar, pale eyes blazing.
For the first time since the battle started, no one moved.
An uneasy silence fell upon the open field.
A wave of fear washed over Dreya as she realized something was wrong.
A low gurgling sound came from Damascus and one gauntlet covered hand rose to his throat.
And Dreya felt her heart plummet.
Gunmar's axe had scraped across and above Damascus's gorget and had slid deep into his neck.
The Trollhunter wavered a bit, his eyes misted, and collapsed.
Cobalt screamed with anguished rage.
Don't
She tried to stop him. But he forced her roughly to the side as he charged. Gunmar turned to watch him approach, sidestepping to trip him with his axe.
Dreya made a move to hel but a soldier tightly held her back.
Cobalt hit the ground with a force the vibrated throughout the land.
She looked away.
An awful shattering filled the air.
Saying nothing Gunmar stepped away from Cobalt's whimpering form, motioning to one of the Changelings, who moved closer to him.
They exchanged words, though from where she was Dreya couldn't hear what was being said. After a moment the Impure, stepped back and brought a horn to his lips.
The familiar wail filled the air.
Immediately the remaining Gumm-Gumm's and changelings turned and followed Gunmar back into the dark, leaving the survivors of the Trollhunters armies behind.
The dark waters of Lake Regillus began to sparkle as the sun slowly began to rise.
