I am sorry for being so late with this chapter, I was busy being a lazy cunt. Now onward to the story.
"Magic" - Magic attack
"Thoughts" - Thoughts
"Talking" - Talking
Chapter 14: A Warm Embrace
Outside of the capital of Minstrel, Kahlan
Emerald eyes glowed with a flickering light as they stared into the depths of the fire. The noise of men walking around and talking came from every direction, but the eyes never left the fire. Hisui sat in silence, her hands clasped together as she remained focused intently on the fire.
The sound of footsteps approaching reached her ears but she ignored the noise. Her tent flaps were opened as the footsteps continued to get closer. Hisui remained focused intently on the fire even as the person kneeled next to her and waited to be acknowledged.
Blinking the focus back into her eyes Hisui rose to address Natsu.
"Have you found any weakness?" Hisui asked.
"No master, Kahlan is securely protected by the wind barrier." Natsu answered. When Fiore's army reached Kahlan they were surprised to see a massive wind barrier protecting the city. They had tried to destroy the barrier with artillery shells, but the wind would shred anything they threw at it.
Natsu had ordered scouts to circle the city and look for any sign of weakness; all the scouts came back empty.
Hisui sighed softly and rubbed her eyes together. "If we cannot destroy the barrier then our only option is to starve the city into surrender and that can take months, even years."
"No, what I want if a decisive blow and that can only happen if that barrier is destroyed." Hisui said impatiently.
"Master I believe I have an idea of how we can destroy the barrier." Natsu said. Hisui stared at her intently and gestured for her to continue.
"I suggest we use runes to force a gap in the wind barrier. With the massive amounts of magic fueling the wind barrier, the runes will be unnoticeable to our enemies. By the time they realize what is happening it will be too late." Natsu said. Hisui searched her face to see if there was any doubt in this plan.
"Are you certain this plan will work?" Hisui asked.
"Yes master, I am sure this plan will succeed." Natsu stared Hisui in the eyes.
"Well that takes care of one problem. The next is quickly moving men through the gap. I don't want to make this like shooting fish in a barrel." Hisui said as she sat down again.
Hisui gestured for Natsu to sit as the meeting proceeded to the next phase.
Natsu sat down and smirked at Hisui. "We don't send men through the gap. We send a MER-1 warhead through the gap towards the city."
"An MER-1 warhead will certainly cause massive amounts of damage, but the radius of the explosion will put my men at risk." Hisui said. She stared Natsu down as she waited for a response.
"While that is certainly a possibility, I believe that we can use their wind barrier against them. The explosion will be trapped by the barrier, increasing the casualties and damage caused by the blast, while at the same time containing it and protecting our men from harm." Natsu explained.
Hisui stood up and walked over to a nearby table and poured some whiskey into a glass. She drank the shot and stood in silence for about a minute. Then she turned around and looked at Natsu.
"I approve of your plan. I want those runes to be done as fast as possible." Hisui said. Natsu stood up and saluted her, and then she marched out the tent and began barking orders.
Hisui poured herself another glass of whiskey and look at her sword on the table with a grim expression.
West of Kahlan, Village
Satsuki's eyes burst open as she sudden woke from her slumber. She took note that her clothes had been changed and her weapon was laying on a wooden table across from her. Then she heard gentle breathing coming from every direction.
Looking around her she noticed that she wasn't the only one in this room. The floor was lined with the sleeping form of people, gently sleeping or groaning quietly.
She noticed that everyone had bandages covering various parts of their body. Some people were even missing some limbs.
Getting off the floor silently Satsuki made her way over to the table and grabbed her weapon. She moved back to her spot on the floor and lay back down silently as to not disturb those around her.
She stared at the ceiling for what seemed like hours why listening to the grunts and groans of the other occupants of the room. After what seemed to have been one hour of waiting the sound of a door opening reached her ears.
Footsteps made their way down a flight of stairs, confirming her suspicion that she was underground. She looks over and saw a woman who seemed to be in her thirties. The woman walked around checking on everyone and replacing towels on some people's foreheads. Satsuki closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep when the woman got closer. When the woman was right next to her Satsuki slowed her breathing and remained silent.
"I know you're awake." The woman said flatly.
"You're the only one in this room who had a weapon on them when they were rescued." The woman remained standing next to Satsuki in silence. After a long uncomfortable silence Satsuki gave up on trying to pretend to be asleep.
Opening her eyes she looked at the woman. Sighing Satsuki scratched her head and spoke softly. "How long have I been out?"
"From the time I got you to now I would say about two weeks." The woman answered.
Satsuki remained silent for a moment as she digested this information. "How did I survive my injuries? I thought I was dead." Satsuki asked.
"You were lucky. Whatever wounded you missed your heart by a hair. However one of your arteries was nicked causing you to lose quite a bit of blood." The woman said.
Satsuki looked down and looked at the mass of bandages that covered her chest. She looked back at the woman, a mist of emotion swirling in her eyes.
"Thank you… For saving my life. I owe you a debt that I will never forget." Satsuki's throat clenched at her final words.
The woman knelt next to Satsuki, a gentle smile on her lips. "Don't bother thanking me; I just wanted to save lives. I believe anyone would do the same as I."
Satsuki laid her head back down and closed her eyes. Sleep slowly claimed her as she thought about what she would do now.
Capital of Fire, Crocus
Over the past two years Fairy Tail had been very active throughout Crocus and the surrounding cities. Makarov had been visiting friendly guilds, such as, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, and other such guilds. With their network of wizards expanded by the alliance, in all but name, they were able to spread rumors about Hisui throughout the capital.
The rumors placed doubt in the minds of citizens on who is really in power. These planted seeds grew over the years. A soon the fruits of Makarov's work will be ready to harvest.
Capital of Minstrel, Kahlan
Natsu watched the silhouette of the Kahlan with caution for any sign of being discovered. Natsu and a group of run specialists were moving slowly towards the wind barrier that surrounded the city. They did not know if they were visible to the enemy so they moved with extreme caution.
Wendy lay prone with a scoped rifle a half a mile away from Natsu. She was given the task to watch for any suspicious movement while the runes were being written.
Natsu watched the specialists start writing runes along the wind barrier, reaching the length of about thirty feet. Then they began to write on the barrier itself. Runes seemed to float in mid-air. When everything was done the runes were in the shape of a circle, half of the circle was written on the ground while the other half floated in the air.
The specialists looked back at Natsu for a quiet nod of approval, and then with a small amount of magic the runes glowed briefly. A small hole began to form in the wind barrier, small enough that only a finger could pass through. Impossible to notice even if you were standing ten feet from the barrier.
The hole remained open and stable for five more minutes before Natsu gestured for the runes to be deactivated. After that the group made its way back to their camp. Natsu immediately went to Hisui's tent to report their success.
"The runes are stable and ready?"
"Yes, the runes are ready. We simply wait for you order."
"Tell everyone to prepare for battle. We strike when night falls." Hisui said. She strapped her sword to her waist and put on her armor. She could feel the tension in her body, her first battle was about to take place.
Nightfall, Kahlan
Troops laid in shallow trenches surrounding the city in wait. The wind barrier was only visible because of the lights coming from the city. Natsu once again escorted the same small group of rune specialists to the runes. The moon reflected white light off of Natsu's armor. She knew that if it wasn't for the poor visibility that she would have been spotted long ago.
The group hurried along the barrier, towering far into the sky above. Once they reached the spot the rune specialists got into position. Magic power radiated from their bodies as they pushed as much magic possible into the runes.
The runes did their work quickly, widening the hole in the barrier. Natsu looked back into the darkness of the night and raised her hand. She knew they could see her from the scopes of their rifles.
A few minutes Natsu could hear the sounds of a truck driving, the sound getting closer. Soon she could see the silhouette of the truck as it traveled along the dirt with its lights off. The truck carried a MER-1 warhead; the rocket seemed to be too big for a truck to possibly carry.
The truck stopped just of the now massive hole. The platform on the back slowly rose up. This was the moment of truth. They needed to hurry else they would be spotted and lose the element of surprise.
Natsu ran up to the passenger door of the truck. "That's enough, the rocket can go through! Launch now you we will lose the surprise!" The soldier inside nodded and stopped the platform. Reaching to his right he flipped a few switches and lifted a red switch that covered a red button.
Natsu gave him a nod and he pressed his finger on the button. "Firing in, three, two, one, fire!"
A low whistle could be heard through the air as it grew closer.
The engine of the rocket roared to life as the dirt and dust behind was thrown back.
The low whistle was now loud enough to hear over the sound of the rocket engine, and a few more low whistles could be heard growing louder.
The rocket took off from the platform and had just passed through the hole.
"Close the hole! We are leaving!" Natsu shouted and the specialists stopped feeding the runes magic.
The hole was beginning to close when the low whistle became loud enough to know impact was imminent.
The MER-1 warhead had travels a few yards low to the ground when an artillery shell that was meant for Natsu and her group, landed nearby. The shrapnel tore into the body of the rocket causing it to fall into the ground a break apart.
Natsu and the rest were just barely on the truck when artillery shells hit the wind barrier, just after the hole shank enough to block the shell. The truck roared to life as the engine was pushed to its limits. Natsu looked behind her to see the destroyed rocket through the hole.
Then a red glow began to shine from the crash site. She could see it, a large red lacrima. The actual explosive of the bomb. The crash had caused the lacrima to sustain damage. Now the immense magic trapped inside had found a weak point to escape from.
Natsu watched in awe as the lacrima shined, its light growing more intense the more time passed. Then it happened, light so bright that she had to turn her head back to looking to the front. She could see miles in all directions; she could see the army, the trucks, the tents, the artillery guns, and the mountains surrounding the north of the city.
She looked to her left and she saw her fellow men with their mouth open yet she could not hear a sound. They looked to be in absolute agony yet she could not hear their shouts. Then she saw the driver release the wheel to grip his body with both arms. His clothing wrinkled and darkened and his skin turned red. She could feel on her back the slightest bit of heat, a warm glow that seemed to embrace her in its tender hands.
Natsu leaned back into her seat with a content smile as the warm embrace wrapped around her and soothed her. Her seat seems to be made of soft clouds and she leaned back into the warmth.
Then came the blast of the shockwave.
To be continued in chapter 15
I'm sorry for stopping the chapter here, I wanted to make this chapter super long, to make up for this huge hiatus but I could not pass up the opportunity for such a good place to stop. I feel like this ending was the ending of a real episode of a show. Please tell me what you think in your reviews. Yell at me for being lazy; tell me your ideas of what you think will happen. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I had fun making the ending of it.