Teito's POV

The wall rocked with the force of each blow of the battering ram. The arrow that he just released flew wild never reaching its target. Teito couldn't help the growl that escaped his lips. The fight only just begun and already it was frustrating him to no end. Still his hand sought another arrow from his quiver.

It didn't immediately come back with one and he wasn't surprised. He didn't have an unlimited amount of arrows. Eventually he was going to run out of them. By the fact that it took his hand a moment to find an arrow he knew he only had a handful left. A short glance around told him the others were in no better positions. Soon they would be out of arrows and the enemies would break through the walls.

A roar drew his attention to the sky. Mayhem and Mercy had taken to the sky only a few moments prior. He didn't know how much more experience Mayhem had. Deep inside though he knew it was far too much for the young Lord to overcome. They had to get Mayhem on the ground soon.

Any thoughts he would have had on the subject was interrupted by another shake of the wall. It was followed by cheers of the men on the other side. It was too late. Mayhem's men had broken through the wall.

There were only a few options left for them. He drew his sword from the sheath off his right hip. Other soldiers followed his lead but there was fear in their eyes. Fear would not win this battle. It would only hinder the progress that had to be made in order to win the fight.

He shouted above the telling of their enemies and the roars of the dragons, "Stand your ground! This fight isn't over as long as there is still one man standing. When I came here I was looking for a way to save my friend. When I came here we were divided! There was the Dogs and the Hawks! Now we stand together as ONE!"

Fire returned to the men's eyes. They no longer looked fearful. Now they looked like soldiers who were willing to fight with everything they had. Then they were pulling swords, knives, and axes from their belts.

For his part Teito did the sane thing and jumped from the wall. With the way he aimed himself he fell straight into a horde of men. Cries of surprise filled the air. It didn't stop him however from recovering quickly from his jump.

A sword came down towards his head but he brought his own sword to meet it. Steel clashed against steel sending sparks flying.

He side stepped an axe meant to cleave his arm from his body. More shouts could be heard all around them as soldiers joined the frey. A faint touched his lips as he saw three men jump just as he had done. It seemed his little speech had done more than bring back the fire. It had inspired them to be reckless.

Teito could not allow his thoughts to wander however. This was a battlefield and had to be treated like one. He brought his sword down in an overhead strike. The sword it hit was a simple short sword. The blade wasn't made of a good metal. It chipped where their blades hit.

They disengaged and Teito got a look at his opponent. The man had blond hair and grey eyes. He was wearing heavy plated armor. It would make the man's movements slow. Teito's own speed was faster than most. His strength matched even the strongest of Mayhem's men.

The fight began again with renewed vigor. He blocked a side cut then struck out with his right fist. As a left handed swordsman he could go after different openings than a right handed swordsman. As such he was able to strike out at the blond's throat with his right hand.

Instinctively they man reached up to grab his throat. When he did that Teito took the opening given and cut the head clean from his shoulder. Blood erupted from where the head had been. It stained both his shirt and sword. If he was a weaker man he would have gagged. Instead he pushed the body away from him. It slumped to the ground without a sound.

As he turned around an axe missed his head by mere inches. Immediately his sword was up and his eyes watching the other man. It was just another nondescript soldier. It made him want tisk in annoyance. These men men weren't the ones who he wanted to fight. The one he wanted to fight was on one of the dragons above him. Until Mercy could get him down on the ground Teito would just have to make do.

A roar sounded making everyone turn towards what was left of the gates. What came through them was not human. It took him a long moment to realize what it was. An orc. They were rare to be seen this far south. Given that they weren't allies with Mercy that meant they were Mayhem's allies.

Well he wanted more of a challenge and he got it. The human soldiers took steps back away from their allies. It didn't surprise him that they feared the orcs. Orcs didn't care if you were allies or enemies. All they cared about was killing and power. That was what drew them to Mayhem.

He turned his full attention to the orcs. They held mostly curved swords or axes. Given that orc hide was stronger than human it would be difficult to kill them.

A burst of magical energy had him ducking. Flames went over his head causing him swear under his breath. In the excitement of the battle he forgot about the other mage. His own magic erupted beneath his skin.

A man stood before him. He was about two inches shorter than Teito. He had brown hair and hazel eyes. There was a long sword at his left side and a shield on the left arm. The shield looked like it was made of a good metal.

Many of Mayhem's army was known to Teito. This man was not. However this guy was he wasn't well known. Part of that could be explained by his magic. No one trusted a mage. The rest was up in the air. It could be that the man was new to the alliance. Or it could be that he stayed out of sight for this very reason. Either way it didn't matter. This man would die.

Mercy's POV

Riding on Dorren in his armor was much more difficult than he thought it would be. It had been years since he last fought on Dorren. Stray Dogs was a peaceful alliance and fighting didn't happen often. Unless one counted taking out bandits. Usually that could be done from horseback or on foot.

Mercy could tell that Mayhem was as at ease with his dragon that he was uneasy with his own. He should have practiced more. Given his hatred of Flare he should have been more prepared for this fight. With or without Klien's arrival this was an eventuality. It was only a matter of time.

His hands gripped the saddle tightly as Dorren took a dive. The green Dragon was excited to to be out, to be free. When he wasn't hunting Dorren mostly kept behind the castle. He rarely got to stretch his wings for more than a few hours. Despite this being a life or death situation Dorren wanted nothing more than to be free.

All Mercy wanted at the moment was for Dorren to stop diving. He enjoyed flying when it wasn't in a suicidal way. As they got closer to the ground he saw a disturbing sight.

Orcs had come through the gaping hole in his gate. It wasn't something he had seen at first. In fact he would not have noticed them at all if it wasn't for Dorren. Through their link he sent praises.

A bond between Rider and Dragon was different than any other bond. The longer their minds were connected the stronger it was. Some bonds could allow full thoughts to be passed between them. That was only in rare instances. His bond allowed a word or two but that was it. Mostly it was just images and feelings.

An image of fire appeared in his mind seconds before Dorren breathed it. They flew close enough to scorch the orcs but not so close that the spears or axes could touch them. A foul odor entered the air. It was similar to that of burned animal hides. The odor burned his nostrils and if he had been a weaker man it would have made his eyes water. He was able to control himself at least for the moment.

While he wasn't nearly as sensitive to magic as Kliem was, he could certainly feel the magical energy Klien was giving off. It wasn't just him either. A man stood across from him. He was brown haired but Mercy couldn't see his eye color. He was at least two inches shorter than Klien. That didn't mean anything however. It was all about a person's power. Power was something the brown haired man was not lacking.

Mercy had a small amount of magic that he never used. It was always just beneath the surface of his skin. In this instance not exercising his magic was not going to help him. His magic was practically useless at the moment. Even Mayhem who hated anything to do with it had more magic than him. Lukas the young orphan who was less than a third of his age had more magic than him.

Klien's magic was extremely powerful and he was well versed in using it. When Lukas revealed that he was a mage there was untold anger in Klien's eyes. Like someone had hurt him the same way they were hurting the child. To prevent more misunderstandings about Lukas' abilities he moved him to the castle.

At first he was wary of everyone but slowly he was acclimating to his new surroundings. The person he seemed closest to was XIII. The older soldier took the kid under his wing. When he wasn't training for the upcoming battle he was teaching Lukas. Klien was supposed to teach the boy magic but war preparation kept him away most of the time. According to Klien the boy would be even more powerful than him. If anyone would know it would be the Black Hawk leader.

The brown haired man below was even more powerful that Klien. How the other expected to win against him was a good question. Then again Klien was a skilled swordsman. He could try to use swords rather than magic.

His attention was turned back to the battlefield when a heavy body slammed into Dorren. It was Sombra, Mayhem's Dragon. Looking into the saddle he was surprised. There wasn't a rider. He was certain there had been a rider in the saddle a few minutes ago. Where did he go?

His eyes scanned the battlefield looking for Mayhem. A second taller brown haired man was on the north side of the wall. He was clashing with a familiar grey haired man. It was Eon and suddenly the reason why Klien and his men were there came rushing back to him. Eon was predicted to die in this battle.

Blue's POV

Watching from the castle as the fight began was the most difficult part of being the nonviolent one. She hated wars more than anything else. Teito couldn't help himself however. Fighting was in the young Lord's blood. Anyone that thought otherwise was blind or an idiot. Despite that she would follow him to the ends of the world.

A familiar sensation flowed over her. It was her seer powers activating again.

She stood in the middle of the grounds once more. Orcs were rampaging all over the place. Teito was fighting with a mage. Magical energy was visible surrounding them. Fire and blue lightning were surrounding and going after both men. It was difficult to tell who was controlling what.

Blue lightning struck Teito suddenly in the chest. The young Lord was thrown across the courtyard by the sheer power of the magic. Blue willed her friend and comrade to get up. He couldn't die there! It was not his time to die.

When he began to move she let out a sigh of relief. He was alive if in a lot of pain. Slowly Teito made his way to his feet. There was a look she had never seen before in his eyes. It wasn't his usual overconfidence. Instead it was silent resignation of something. Like he knew what was going to happen before it happened.

His lips moved but no sound reached her ears. Then like a shadow something came up behind him. At first she thought he didn't see or sense the person. It took her only half a second to realize that he did but he didn't care.

She wanted to shout to him. Make him understand that this didn't have to happen. That he could live to fight another day. When the green eyes turned to look straight at him. It was like she was frozen in place unable to move.

He mouthed the words she so feared to hear from him, "I'm sorry."

Then he began to fight with renewed vigor. The second person she realized was Mayhem. If Teito was going to die here, he would take the traitor with him.

When she came out of the vision she felt a wetness on her cheeks. It took touching it with her hand to realize that she was crying. She had saved one friend only to lose another. It seemed no matter what they did this night, they would lose at least one friend. If it wasn't Eon then it would be Teito.