A Decisive Battle

The sky was shrouded by dark clouds that floated lightly up in the air carrying with them their frightening tell tale storm. It seemed as if it was night but truly one could not tell that it was actually daylight. The sun could not be seen for those dark evil clouds had shrouded its light. War was upon them again and this time it was unavoidable but it was already inevitable that they would have to face it. It would be the final act of war but the most bloodiest.

The Kingdom of Belka was known for its elite soldiers as well as its lush green meadows, freshly grown crops, good cattle and wonderful horses of the finest breed. Their ruler, the Queen of Belka, Claire Eleanor is a wise and just ruler. Her hair is almost the colour of gold and her eyes were pale green. It was she who had raised her kingdom to become what it was and now the enemies want it. The wars she had fought were bloody but she had won every single one of them without having to ever spill a single drop of blood herself. Her adopted children had, by their own free will, had done it for her for they could not bear the thought of their beloved mother having to kill others. She was not able to do such a vile thing due to her kind nature but she dared.

For each and every time she won a battle, she declared peace and harmony and had her enemy sign a peace treaty and become her ally so that he may prosper as well. And it works every single time. Her enemies that became her allies helped rally more kingdoms to her cause and that was to bring peace and prosperity to the people as is their top priority as rulers. They were not meant to spread war and disaster for this is what most would do in greed and selfishness. The people in turn suffer hunger, poverty and death. It was not fair for them to suffer the effects while their dictatorial rulers benefit from the gains and keep it to themselves leaving the people nothing. Queen Claire wished to put an end to this selfish madness and so as news of her good ideals spread across the lands, more and more kingdoms allied to her cause for they too share her dream to finally bring peace to their people.

One group however, disagrees with her ideals and that was none other than King Solomon Cerberus of the Kingdom Solaris. The Kingdom of Solaris was known for their large number of soldiers in their army as well as the king's tyrannical rule over his people. The taxes there were soaring high everyday to support the growing army he amassed while the people had not enough to survive. Because of this, Solomon had use the power of his army to coerce the neighbouring kingdoms to join him or die. This was to ensure that his kingdom would be continuously supported. Solomon now had a current standing of five hundred men at his command. Adding to that were the soldiers from the neighbouring countries which was about another two hundred men. The total was now seven hundred.

Two months before Queen Claire of Belka signed the declaration of peace with the other leaders from other allying kingdoms, King Solomon of Solaris declared war against them. Now her highness, Claire Eleanor prepared for this decisive battle. The weight of her peoples hope for peace was bearing down on her but she carried that burden with her usual grace and strength as she now stood before her adopted children in her quarters.

The eldest, Signum was age twenty. Her hair was tied in a ponytail and is the colour of the pink cherry blossoms that bloom in spring and she had sapphire blue eyes. She stood at a height five feet six inches. The second, Elise, Signum's twin sister, also age twenty. She had long light blue hair tied in a ponytail and shared the same sapphire blue eyes like her sister. She stood at a height five feet five inches. The third, Shamal, age nineteen has short blonde hair with light purple coloured eyes. She stood at the height of five feet two inches. And finally, the youngest, Vita, age seventeen had long red hair she always tied in a single, loose pigtail. She had deep sea blue coloured eyes and she was four feet nine inches tall.

These were her children that were going out to fight, her beloved children even though they were not of her blood. Still, she was not willing to let them go out there and die, she would not but she also could not stop them for they wish for nothing more than her happiness and the success of her dreams. They wished for her ideals to spread and for it to finally become reality. Finally, when their hard work was beginning to bear fruit would they just allow the enemy to crush all those years of hard work? They would have to start over again but the people would have to suffer and that was the last thing that any of them wanted to see happen.

"Allow me to lead the elite group of knights, mother." Signum asked.

"No." the reply Signum received was harsh and commanding, a stern order from her mother.

"But we can help." Vita added.

"No means no Vita and that applies to all of you." she continued sternly.

The four of them sat in silence, not knowing what else to say since their mother had said no and as their Queen her cold harsh words meant finality. But was it really the right thing? No, because she was denying them the right to fight for their kingdom, for their own freedom. But was it worth the risk of losing them in the quarrel that was between her and the enemy? If she truly loved them she would not stop them from doing what they wanted to do. She could no longer hide from them the ugly truth from them as she had been able to when they were younger. No, they were no longer the young children that she had saved years ago. They were beautiful, spirited young women who vowed to fight with their mother alongside their country for their shared dream of building a peaceful land where all is equal and the people have the right to be heard.

"The reason I said no was because you all have not been knighted yet." Claire finally said solemnly, hiding it with a sweet motherly smile.

Her children stared at her in bewilderment but even that could not hide the joy in their eyes. Claire felt like crying in sorrow for she feared the death of her children but she also felt like hugging them and telling them how much she loved them. In a matter of hours, Claire managed to gather her entire court and her revered knights to witness this glorious moment. Before her now knelt not four little girls but five powerful women who are about to become the knights they deserve to be. Claire raised her gold crested sword as she stepped forward before Signum.

"I hereby dub thee the Blazing General, Signum a knight of Belka," gently placing the flat side of the sword on either side of Signum's shoulders.

"I grant thee the Flaming Sword, Laevatein. Guide your comrades wisely."

Signum lifted her hands to receive the sword. Its sheath was white with the hilt a slight pinkish colour to match her hair. Signum knelt before her mother and queen, Claire in show of gratitude. The queen then moved onward to stand before Elise.

"I hereby dub thee the Dragon Warrior, Elise a knight of Belka," repeating the same procedure as she had done with Signum.

"I grant thee the Dragon Blade, Valken. Let your spirit and strong will be your strength."

Elise too lifted her hands to receive her weapon, two in fact. Both had blue hilts and sheaths, one sword longer than the other. She bowed in respect before Claire in endless praise. Reaching Shamal, she continued the process.

"I hereby dub thee the Knight of the Lake, Shamal a knight of Belka,"

"I grant thee the Gentle Breeze, Klarer Wind. May you support and aide your comrades."

Shamal received the longbow with pride. Its shaft was painted a beautiful lush green and the bow was carved in the shape that looked almost like a pair of wings joined together. She gave her thanks with a bow of her head. Finally arriving at Vita, Claire was almost in tears because she found doing what she was doing was the most difficult thing she had ever done. Knighting them and preparing to send them out into battle. There was no turning back now.

"I hereby dub thee the Scarlet Iron, Vita a knight of Belka,"

"I grant thee the Black Iron Count, Graf Eisan. Let your physical strength be the strength of your voice."

Vita was given the seven foot long heavy iron staff. The entire weapon was painted a bright red. She bowed before Claire in joy. All the weapons had the names of their owners and titles engraved on them together with the names of their weapons themselves. The ceremony was almost complete and Claire felt like she was going to burst into a flood of tears.

"Now, rise dear knights of Belka. From this day forward you will be known as the Cloud Knights. May your weapons serve you well and that you take good care of them in return." the queen declared, trying her very best not to let her sorrow show on her face or in her voice.

Signum, Elise, Shamal and Vita gave their queen the royal salute and the crowd cheered in unison. Claire retired to her chambers the moment the ceremony was over to cry in silence. She had doomed her children even though she knew that she could not deny them their right. She loved them very much but was cost for loving them was far too much for her to bear. To love means to lose. She hated that proverb for a reason and she still hated it. Signum had sensed her mother's distress since the day began and she know knew what it was. She alerted her sisters about this matter and now they stood silently outside her door listening to their mother cry. Elise and Vita could not take it any longer so they entered and they immediately hugged their mother. Claire stared at them in surprise with teary eyes.

"Do not cry any more. If you wish that we not fight then we shall not," Elise began.

"You just need to say the word and we will not fight." Vita finished.

Claire looked at the two that were on their knees before her and the other two that were still standing at the door with a sad look. She burst into another fit of tears. The four of them spent the night in their mother's room as company and to comfort her pained heart. There was only two more days before King Solomon's army would be upon them. As her children, they all knew what their mother feared and there was nothing they could do if her nightmares were to come true and all of them were sacrificed in battle. The two days flew by in quick succession as the soldiers prepared for battle. It was two hours before dawn and Claire's children were in their rooms, prepping themselves. Claire had given them special uniforms to wear. They were white with gold lining, Claire's special emblem engraved on the front and the kingdom's insignia on the shoulder plates.

When Claire met them out front the sight of them made her tremble with pride but also in fear and angry sorrow. They all wore light armour to move a bit faster and to allow their movements a little more freedom. Elise had at most two dozen daggers hidden under her clothes for emergency use and her blades were hanging on her hip. Signum had her sword hung on her belt. She had a dagger hidden in her right boot. Shamal held onto her bow while two quivers holding about fifty arrows each were slung over her back. Vita had her iron staff ready in her hand.

They looked so serious Claire felt like laughing. She hugged each and every one of them, tying a gold coloured ribbon on each of their wrists for good luck. When the horn sounded the four of them saddled their horses. Signum smiled wistfully at her mother who returned her gesture with a smile of her own and a slow, solemn wave of her hand. The queen watched as her children rode off into battle with tears sliding down her pale cheeks.

The Cloud Knights had a long sit down the day before to discuss a strategy. What were they to do when their own army was short by three hundred men? Their allies had not planned on having a war and thus most of their soldiers had been sent home. Their total was now four hundred men. Added to that number were the Golden Knights which were ten men in total and the Cloud Knights which were four of them. The number is only increased by fourteen and that was not a lot considering the size of the enemy's forces.

Having received scouting reports from a soldier who lived near Solaris, the fact that the enemy had catapults only made matters worse. The Belkan army rode through the forest and when they came to the clearing, Signum ordered the men to take their positions immediately. The meadow is this clearing had several small hills near the forest and that fact gave them an advantage. Signum had placed about fifty spearmen and one hundred swordsmen in the front lines, using the hills to hide them from the enemy's eyes. The archers took advantage of the thick brush in the forest where Signum hid fifty of them. The other fifty archers were positioned to support the front liners which included Shamal.

Vita had ordered the Golden Knights stay back at the palace to protect the queen should they fail, to take the queen to safety. The rest however, do not wish to fail. Fifty soldiers were put aside under Vita's command for the advancing force while fifty more were under Signum's lead. The remaining fifty were to follow Elise to sabotage the catapults while front line soldiers distracted the enemy. Signum who was going over her plans in her head opened her eyes when a soldier walked up to her.

"General, the enemy was seen approaching. It would take them about two minutes to arrive within proper view according to the scouts." the soldier told her.

"We shall continue our wait. Signal me only when the enemy makes an offensive move." she ordered.

The soldier nodded and returned to his post. The clock was ticking. It was only moments before the enemy strikes. She closed her eyes for a few moments to clear her mind, opening them only when she heard the sound of horses in the distance. They were here. Signum raised her right arm in the air, fingers spread wide. The front line soldiers tensed up and readied themselves. Vita gritted her teeth when she heard the sound of approaching horses as well as the battle cry from the enemy infantry. The moment Signum fisted her hand, the soldiers that were hiding attacked. Vita then hurriedly signaled Elise to let her know that she could go.

The enemy was caught off guard and was too stunned to move, allowing the swordsmen and spearmen to finish them off. Even with numbers greater than their own, the Belkan knights managed to take out the enemy's forwarding group which consisted of one hundred of their infantry and fifty of their cavalry soldiers. Elise's group was advancing quite quickly through enemy lines without being detected due to being distracted out front. The blue haired girl had taken her soldiers on a long walk around the enemy camp and came from behind. They knocked out several soldiers and charged straight for the catapults. Elise knocked out the joints and the main mechanics on the catapult. Satisfied that no one would notice until they loaded it and fired, she led her men away from there.

Successful as she was, Elise had been unable to locate the final catapult and that was a bad thing. Unfortunately, when more soldiers started piling around the area, she had no choice but to leave or end up being killed. She would not have minded if it was just her but she would not sacrifice her men. Upon hearing the news, Signum ordered Elise to prepare for an assault. If her sister could not locate the tenth catapult, it means that Signum will have to personally find it herself. She had never thought her sister unable to find one catapult but considering the situation of things, it was acceptable.

By the time the front line soldiers were worn down, their enemy was now left with four hundred men. Shamal ordered the archers to fire. On the other side of the hill, arrows rained down from the sky, knocking out several soldiers. The blonde archer mounted her horse, advancing and left the remaining archers to do their job when she received signal from her elder sister. Signum and Vita whirled their mounts around and charged forward. Elise jumped onto her own horse and ordered her men ahead. The Cloud Knights were the first to charge into the fray. Shamal shot down anything in her path, shooting arrow after arrow in rapid fire. Vita grabbed nearby spears and tossed them at soldiers a distance away while she used her other hand to swing her staff and knock away any oncoming soldiers.

Signum drew her sword, the blade slicing through flesh and bone as she rode past several soldiers. Elise pulled out her swords and jumped off her mount, her blades swiftly turned in her hands as she killed a soldier. She twisted her body, ducking in motion as she swung her sword upward killing another. She moved so very quickly, the soldiers could not catch onto her unusual movements. Shamal was surrounded, having fallen off her mount but she was not at a loss, not yet. Vita was watching out for her and the redhead came to her rescue, jumping in the middle of the circle Shamal was in, striking a nearby soldier and grabbing his spear. Shamal pulled out another arrow from her quiver and readily strung it up.

King Solomon watched the battle unfold atop a hill safely with fifty soldiers as his guard. He ordered the catapults to be fired. Signum watched as ten huge rocks shot out into the sky and smiled when nine fell short and hit the enemy's own men. One more however reached across and hit several of Signum's soldiers. The Blazing General was not pleased but this provided her with location of the tenth catapult. She charged forward, killing several soldiers along the way and grabbing several weapons and threw them at the men handling the catapults. She dismounted beside the tenth catapult and hacked at the contraption's mechanism.

King Solomon gritted his teeth in anger as he watched four women take out his men and sabotage his catapults. He drew his sword and ordered the rest of his men to charge forward. Elise noted more cavalrymen heading this way after hearing the sound of hooves treading the ground. She ran to her sister's side and warned her. Signum ordered the remaining men to withdraw to the forest. Signum grabbed her sister up with on her mount nearby and rode at the fastest speed toward the forest. Shamal and Vita were last to leave with the rest of the men, the blonde still firing arrows, trying to shoot down the king. Her arrows could not touch him for he was blocked by his men. "What cowardice to hide behind his men instead of carrying his own shield," Shamal thought with anger.

Signum signaled to the fifty archers to ready their arrows. They are going to make their last stand. The soldiers that just came in took to their hiding places together with the archers. King Solomon only had sixty men left after their catapults backfired and killed most of his soldiers. The Belkan army however, had fifty archers left added to that were twenty more survivors and the Cloud Knights. When they were in range, the archers let loose a shower of arrows. The remaining few of King Solomon's soldiers continued their futile charge and were killed by the Cloud Knights and their twenty soldiers. The king was knocked off his mount and barely managed to dodge Signum's strike. He scampered to his feet as he watched the young woman before him fall into her battle stance.

"I will not lose to a mere woman!" he shouted in anger.

He charged forward, raising his sword and striking. Signum parried and dodge his attacks swiftly. Twisting her body, she brought her sword across her midsection and sliced cloth. King Solomon had only just noticed her attack at the last second and managed to avoid it. Signum continued her offense and brought her sword down upon her enemy, cutting and slicing at him. His chest plate came loose when Signum cut the straps. From behind him, Vita swung her staff vertically and hit his legs from under him. Shamal followed up with an arrow that pinned the king to the ground. Solomon raised his right hand to strike Signum but Elise threw a dagger that hit the sword out of his hand and stuck one in the ground near his face as a warning gesture.

"As you can see, my sisters and I are no ordinary women. We grew up in a fighting arena as children and were saved by her majesty when her soldiers shut down the place during a raid," Signum told the frightened king.

"Fighting comes to us instinctively," Vita added.

"It is second nature to us. However, we use these skills not to kill aimlessly but to end only this war," Elise continued.

"After this, peace will be easy. We shall allow our mother to decide what to do with you. Pray that she be merciful." the blonde archer finished.

With that said and done, they took Solomon and any surviving enemy soldiers back to the castle. Upon seeing her children come home safely, Claire burst into tears and gave them all a loving, motherly welcome. Hours later, after the surviving soldiers were treated and on their way to recovery, Claire gathered all her court members to the hall where Solomon was to have his trial. Queen Claire Eleanor of Belka sat at the head of the hall, Signum and Elise sitting on her right while Shamal and Vita sitting on her left while the criminal, Solomon of Solaris knelt before them.

"King Solomon Cerberus of Solaris, do you hereby admit to your crimes of igniting a war between two kingdoms?" the head judge in the hall asked.

The king did not answer. Instead, he spat in the direction of Claire. Vita growled and Signum's brows drew into a frown. Elise raised her hand and with a flick of her wrist, sent a dagger flying past Solomon's ear as a warning to what she would do to him. If her mother let him go, Shamal felt obligated to shoot him down before he even manages to step out of the castle compounds.

"Will you not answer the question civilly and agree to a peace treaty Solomon of Solaris?" Claire asked in her usual sing song tone of voice.

He looked ready to spit again but when he noted that Elise had once again raised her hand, he knew he only had two choices at the moment. Accept the peace treaty and leave with his life and body parts intact. Insult the queen and rouse the temper of her children, he would not live to see the next sunrise. Although, there may be a third option which was to kill the queen after accepting the treaty and taking control of her kingdom. Now there was a plan. Solomon swallowed up his pride and nodded in agreement. He signed the peace treaty and then extended his arm in a friendly gesture. Being herself, Claire accepted his hand and shook it gently but found herself being pulled forward and held in a life or death situation.

"Move so much as a muscle I will kill her!" Solomon warned as he backed out of the hall.

Elise was not given the chance to toss any of her daggers. Signum pulled her sisters aside when Solomon dragged their mother out of the hall. They grabbed their weapons and prepared a quick plan to get her back. They didn't bother to change out of their dresses and dashed off in different directions. Solomon knew he would die but at least she would die with him.

"Do you think that you can escape with me like this?" Claire asked him.

"I don't intend to escape. I plan to kill you so that my brother would have a chance." he hissed.

Great, another war was all that she needed. As if. She would have her soldiers deal with this little problem when this was over. She looked up to see Shamal stringing her bow and arrow behind the curtains of an open window. She knew they would come, her children. Out of the blue, Elise came forward in a hurried charge. Solomon was about to break Claire's neck but Elise use her sheath as an extended arm and hit him in the face, breaking his concentration. She skidded and twisted right, grabbing hold of her mother's waist and pulling her out of harm's way. Shamal fired her arrow when her mother was in the clear. The arrow pierced Solomon in the chest as Signum and Vita appeared to restrain him. Shamal purposely aimed to miss his heart and so he did not suffer anything life threatening, for now.

"It was a rather risky thing for you to do. I for one would not have chanced such a plan if the odds were too low." Claire said.

"Then how on earth did you know you would win the war?" Solomon asked through his pain.

"I didn't. I had no faith in being able to win. It was my children and my knights that believed they would succeed. I merely gave them the tools to help them." she answered.

Solomon did not know what else to say. Vita was debating on whether or not she should push the arrow further in just to see him scream in pain for what he had planned to do to her mother.

"Now, for your sentence, I Queen Claire Eleanor of Belka decree that King Solomon Cerberus of Solaris be sentenced to imprisonment for life. Your kingdom and all its allies will be given to your brother who will be part of my alliance. Your idiocy has now been rewarded and I hope that your people are happy." she declared angrily.

Solomon was kept to his sentence. One and a half months later, the peace treaty was signed, Solomon's brother, Ronald, was among the rulers who agreed to peace and prosperity. War no longer ravaged the lands and the all lived happily ever after.

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I always wanted to write that happy ending part. ^^

This story kinda came outta nowhere, anyways I needed a story to write about in the cerpen competition at scool. for those who don't know, cerpen is malay for story writing or essay to say for short. so i came up with this. I find it quite nice so I hope u enjoy though slightly brutal... i didn't include any magic in this story cause that wud make this story even more long winded n that wud not be good. ^^

ENJOY!