Chapter Ten: Keeping it Together

He was numb. So numb that he didn't even feel like himself anymore; it felt like it was someone else's body that was marching threw the snow. Between his hunger, lack of sleep and throbbing head, he would never have been able to keep up if it wasn't for his magic. He was now almost unconsciously using it to melt it away to make it easier for his feet to pass through. He didn't even care now if anyone noticed. Not that he thought they would; everyone else looked just as dead tired as he did.

He was so disconnected from reality that he didn't even notice that the company had halted until he stumbled into the person in front of him. The man gave him a rough shove, then moved away to join the rest of the soldiers as they set up camp. Gray fell into the soft snow a just lay there, letting it fall over his body like a blanket. It felt so good that he wouldn't of minded just falling to sleep right there.

And it seems that he did indeed fall asleep, although he didn't realize it until he felt a boot dig into his side as someone tripped over him. That someone began yelling curses above him and he was violently yanked up from the ground and set on his feet.

Gray managed to stay standing. He stared blankly at the person in front of him, his mind not registering who it was. The only conscious thought he could form was that he wished he would stop yelling right in his face.

He nodded his head, hoping that would satisfy the man and make him go away. That seemed to work; after yelling one last insult in his face the man turned and walked away, leaving Gray to figure out what was going on and what he should do.

As he stood there, his mind slowly began to clear and the pain decreased. It was like this the whole trip, one moment it he would feel just a bit dizzy and then the next he would be in complete agony. However the pain never went completely away. Now it was only a dull throb, giving him the opportunity to think about his situation.

Before he had the change to do so, however, the captain's gruff voice rang out above the noise of the camp. Everyone fell silent and quickly gathered around to hear what he had to say.

"After sunset we will head out and join the main force. Until then, rest, eat, and prepare yourselves for battle."

Gray sucked in a breath. So they were already there? He looked up at the sun and guessed that they only had about three hours till sunset. Three hours to figure out a plan.

He was knocked out of his thoughts, when something heard was thrown at his chest. He doubled over and looked down to see what was throw at him. It was a metal helmet, bearing the colors of the rebel army.

"You're not going to last very long on the battlefield if your reflexes like that."

He looked up to see Clamer causally walking over to him. He carried a sword in his left hand, which he offered to Gray.

"The helmet and this was all I could find for you. You did say you could fight didn't you?"

Gray nodded and took the weapon. After looking It over he strapped it to his belt. He bent down and picked up the helmet, and was about to walk away when he noticed that Clamer was staring off into the distance with an odd look on his face.

"Just a few more hours." he muttered.

Gray looked into the man's eyes and there he saw something that he could only describe as blood lust. The ice mage grimaced at the sight, then turned away.

As he walked threw the camp, he noticed that many of the soldiers had the same demeanor. None of them seemed scared or uneasy. Instead, they all seemed eager for the battle to begin. Eager to begin killing.

"The darkness really has buried itself deep." he murmured as he turned away from the camp.

They were so engrossed in their own bloody thought that no one even noticed when he left.

After breaking away from the camp, he had to climb a tall pine tree in order to be able to see the capital city. There at the top with the pointy needles poking into his back, he could see the city, now coated in several feet of snow.

Gray frowned at the sight. Other than the city wall, there were no visible means of defense. If Ren had managed to get the message to the Prince then he would have expected him to raise the city's defense against the attack. Unless the prince had somehow come up with a better plan, then that was what Gray had assumed he would do.

"Something must have gone wrong." he muttered to himself.

Since there was nothing left for him to see he made his way back down the tree. As soon as his foot hit the ground a shudder ran through the earth. It was just the same as it had been in the passage way only this time there could be no doubt. It wasn't strong enough knock him off balance and it lasted only a few seconds, but in that one moment Gray was shaken to the core.

He fell to his knees, staring down at the ground in horror, his heart racing.

There was something. A demon? He didn't know what, but what he did know was that there was something hidden, underneath the earth. Its power was deferentially demonic, but also different then anything he had encountered before.

He waited until his heartbeat had evened out then tried to stand up. As soon as he had put his weight back onto his feet the pain and dizziness returned. He collapsed on the ground, moaning and digging his fingers into his hair. It felt like someone was pounding inside his head the way they would if they wanted to break down a door.

"Not now." He pleaded, "Not now, I need to get up, I need to save the city."

But the pain continued.

"You're not getting detracted just before our planes reach their completion are you, human?"

The dark mage jerked his head up as the voice dug itself into his mind again. It had become incredibly chatty in the past few days.

"Is there something that has you worried." he seared.

"Remember who you're speaking to." the voice growled, "If I am worried it is only that your pesky emotions are going to muddle things up and I'll have to wait another millennium before I can taste the outside again."

The man rolled his eyes as the voice continued to ramble on.

"I do not see why you don't just do away with the ice mage right now when he is already so close."

"He is nothing to worry about."

"You know he plans on stopping this battle, and yet you continue on as if he wasn't there."

"I'm not going to kill him yet, but if it makes you happy then I'll change his memories around so he doesn't remember his mission."

"That's something you should have done from the start." the voice said before fading away.

The dark mage sighed and set about the task of rearranging the ice mage's memories.

He had lost all sense of time as he was engulfed in a world of pain. He could vaguely sense that the light was fading as the sun sank towards the horizon, but that was all. He knew that he needed to get up, needed to do something, something important.

Slowly he stood to his feet, using the tree next to him for support. As he did, it seemed that the pain was lessening. He blinked several times and looked around. It was dark. In the back of his mind, he knew that this meant something, but the answer wouldn't come to him.

As he thought about it, it slowly faded from his mind until he couldn't even remember what he was trying to remember.

Trying to make sense of it all he began exploring his surroundings. He picked a direction and began walking in it. As he walked he, started to hear noises, men yelling and shouting, a loud cracking and the sound of something breaking apart.

His heartbeat quickened and he broke into a run, eager to see what was going on. As he broke through the grove of trees he came upon a massive sight and suddenly the confusion he felt before tripled.

The first thing he saw was the capital city and he barely recognized it at first, the wall that surrounded and protected was now falling apart, giant gaps were carved into it and it looked to be on the verge of collapse.

Moving his gaze, he saw the giant army that surrounded the city. Thousands of soldiers stood in formation ready to charge in as soon as the way was made clear. All of them were yelling and shouting in anticipation.

An uneasy feeling crept into Gray's stomach; he felt like he knew he should have expected this but he didn't know why.

Another loud crack reverberated through the air, like splintering wood. Gray flinched as a massive rock was flung at the wall, ramming threw it and creating another crater at the top. He looked again at the army and saw that they had set up over a hundred catapults, built specifically for the destruction of the city.

The ice mage took a step back from the horrifying scene. He clutched his head as it started to throb again as he was torn apart by this new dilemma; should he run down there and attack the attackers? Should he defend the city? Or should he just turn and run away.

He looked back down at the bloodthirsty army. He knew one thing for sure; as soon as that wall fell everyone in that was doomed to be killed. He looked over at the wall; another round of catapult fire and it would collapse.

He could afford to think anymore, he had to act.

Without a moment of hesitation, he sprinted forward, straight in the direction of the rebel army. Before the men had a change to react, he pushed them aside, eyes set on the wall, aiming for the section that had been broken down the most.

He heard shouting behind him as he shoved the soldiers aside, breaking through the ranks. He felt a brush of wind as an arrow whizzed passed his face. He flinched but kept going.

Finally, he reached the wall. Grabbing hold of the rock he started to climb. Using his magic to make himself a foothold whenever he couldn't find any he made his way to the top in less than a minute. He slung himself over to the other side and jumped onto the street below, the impact stinging his feet.

Spinning to face the wall, he threw his fist in his open palm. After calling upon his magic he placed both hands on the rock. A thick layer of ice immediately shot up, filling in the empty space and making the structure whole again.

Just as the spell was complete he heard another crack and the rock about ten yards away fell to the ground, creating a gap about fifteen feet wide. The ice mage sprinted to the location. As soon as he skidded to a stop in front of the destruction he already had a spell ready. Half a minute and the gap was filled in with ice.

Before he even had a chance to catch his breath the wall again collapsed a few yards away. Just as he was about to run over to it another portion of rock was torn threw, this time back next to where he had repaired the first one.

"I'm not fast enough," He growled, "The only way is to fix this whole thing at once."

He then stopped where he was, putting a hand out to support himself against the wall.

"But I don't have that kind of power." he said, hanging his head in defeat.

He stared down helplessly at the scattered bits of fallen rock and piles of snow. His mind was straining to come up with a solution. He only had a few minutes at best.

Then it hit him, at the same time a giant missile broke down the part of the wall he was leaning against. Immediately he was thrown to the ground as the rock rained down upon him. On instinct he made himself a shield of ice but that was quickly shattered by the heavier bits, leaving his body to be bruised by the falling derbies.

After the rocks had stopped falling, he slowly pulled himself to his feet, forcing the rubble off his body. As he stood his ears were suddenly assaulted by a deafening battle cry. He looked to see that about thirty yards of the wall was now lying in pieces, giving him a clear view to see the rebel army charging straight at him.

Gray immediately fell to his knees. Drawing in a breath, he dug his hands into the snow and closed his eyes. The battle cry and the pain of his aching body slowly faded as he concentrated on the coldness that surrounded him.

Sure he, didn't have enough power within himself to cast such a massive spell, but wasn't he in Isvan, the country surrounded in ice?

Drawling upon his ice devil slayer magic he took hold of the ice that surrounded him, reaching out as far as he could and gathering it all to himself. Once that was done, he proceed to change its shape, forming it into a wall that couldn't be broken by normal means. He could feel his own magic being stretched to the limit as he struggled to control this massive amount of energy. He could feel his body begin to shake with the effort of it all, but he continued to hold on until the spell reached its completion.

Just when he thought he would run out of magic power the task was finished. Completely drained, he let his body fall back, leaning against the ice he had just created, and letting his mind fall into unconscious rest.