Cearbhail:

This chapter... it's ok. I'm not overly fond of it, nor do i really hate it. It's just... it's an Olin chapter. That's all. Really. Nothing special about this chapter. Not his first kill or anything like that.

Enjoy ^^ ...

[Olin]

Things are… well… pretty hectic. I did not know quite what to do. The last time I was in the middle of a battlefield: I barely survived; all my friends died; and I was captured by random strangers and turned into a slave to help rebuild a town I did not even destroy. And here I am… trapped in the middle of a battlefield, kneeling in shin high grass stained with patches of blood. People dressed in the thickest of metallic armors, wielding the mightiest of cleaving weapons ever designed, and screaming crazily as they slammed their sharp weapons onto each other's armor surrounded me on all fronts. To make the matters worse, I have an unconscious friend having a coughing fit as he clawed at my chainmail covered arm. I had to knock him out. There was this thick mist we wandered into, and it did something to him. He started coughing, looking around at everything with sudden wide eyes. He tried to fight me. I had to knock him out. It was easy, his body was well beaten up from the trip down here.

Looking down at my unconscious friend, I couldn't help but wonder if the mist had anything to do with his condition. Everyone consumed in the mist was raving mad, all trying their best to kill the person next to them. I seemed to be the exception. I don't know why the mist spared me the fate of going raving mad, but I can assume it has something to do with the glowing orb hanging on my belt. The orb was probably keeping me safe. No one was trying to attack me just yet, and my friend was slowly starting to calm down while being wrapped up in my arms. He looked pale, his eyes dilated to the point where they appeared straight black and soulless. He breathed in raggedly, telling me that he was probably choking on this mist as we spoke. I could not see more than four or five feet in front of me; I couldn't tell where we were anymore. I heard the screams of horrified knights all around me; the sounds of clashing swords; the smells of severed limbs and iron. It reminded me a lot of being in my burning town… being blinded by all the smoke as I heard my friends scream in pain as arrows fell into their bodies. Running into a burning house with an army behind me, all trying to kill me. It was just like then except this time… I have someone in my arms that I need to take care of.

My legs shook as I tried to shake the feeling of dread washing over me. I couldn't just sit here, I had to get to our objective. Right before we ran into this cloud of terror, we were going to head for the walled keep that was being attacked by these knights. We were going to go help defend their castle from the invading forces. And as soon as we ran in, Brian started to change. He started covering his mouth, coughing as we ran through. He started pushing away from me, started to whimper as he looked around. I urged him to continue but when he looked up at me, he screamed in terror. He unsheathed his sword and slashed at me. I jumped back, evading his attack. The orb on my belt must have sensed my distress because it began shining a bright light. Brian collapsed and now… I was stuck in this bloody grass, holding onto my unconscious friend. He was fighting the poison inside him, but I needed to get him out of here and fast.

The only problem was… I didn't know which way to go. I couldn't see that far through the mist, but I could see the shadows of people moving about through the mist. I could see the flashing swords, hear the people scream in bloody murder as they attacked each other, and I could feel the blood raining down all around us. The knights were killing themselves in a fashion most disturbing. I could end up pissing my pants for a few months upon waking up from my nightmares because of this scene. If I tried to stand up and walk further into this battle, I might end up away from our objective and into the thickest part of the war. I didn't want to lead Brian and me to a place I couldn't defend myself from. But… I couldn't just sit here. I might not be affected by this stuff floating in the air, but Brian is obviously suffering. If I don't get him out of here, he might get worse, or even die.

With my shaking legs, I pushed myself up, lifting Brian up to his legs at the same time. His glazed over eyes glanced towards me for a second and I realized he was so out of it that he didn't even know what was going on anymore. I couldn't just stand here anymore. I had to get us out of here. But… where to go? I felt the orb hanging on my belt hum with some sort of knowing. It knew I wanted to find a way out of here. The humming from the orb grew and grew, and as it grew the shadows in the mist became colored. I could suddenly see rows and rows of knights all around us, fighting each other. They glowed like light blue flames or something like that. And off in the distance, a single golden castle waited for me. That was the keep we were heading too. The orb was showing me where it was, as well as the knights I had to avoid.

I nodded my thanks to my little orb and lifted Brian off his feet. Good thing I've spent the past few weeks doing nothing but lifting beams of wood and making houses out of them. I've gotten strong enough to lift a small preteen boy up and carry him across a sodden field. Brian barely protested as I lifted him up. I think he was still too out of it to actually fight me off anyway. As soon as I had him up over my left shoulder, I unsheathed the sword clipped to my belt. I should at least have something to protect myself with.

With nothing else I needed to do but watch out for the knights, I decided to sprint as fast as I could towards the keep. Hopefully they'd see that we were not the enemies, but I doubted it would be so easy. Chances are… I'm going to be dodging more arrows soon enough. So… on that note, I took off running towards the keep. I kept my eyes open for the knights running around in the mist, looking for more things to fight. Some knights ahead of me bumped into each other. The mist so was thick, I doubt they even saw each other. That didn't stop them from plunging their swords into each other. Right in front of me too. I watched two knights stab each other in the face. That was a sickening thing to watch. As soon as they did it too, their little blue flame bodies vanished from in front of me. I guess that meant they were dead.

When something green appeared in the skyline, I decided to look up. I couldn't believe it; I saw flying girls on brooms highlighted in green flames. I mean, I couldn't see through the thick mist so… I could only see them just now flying around. I guess those were Red's friends flying around up there. I saw some of her friends right above me so… I guess it would have to be them. What on earth was going on? I didn't have time to sit down and reflect on it. I had to get moving. More knights were blinding walking towards me. If I didn't hurry, I'd be the middle of another bloodbath.

I readjusted Brian on my shoulder and sprinted towards the keep. As I got moving, I could hear surprised knights behind me clashing with each other. They would have ended up right on top of me. I couldn't let myself stop. I was still running in the blind, and I was tripping over what looked like discarded swords, arrows planted in the soil, corpses of knights, as well as puddles of blood, limbs and anything else you could imagine seeing on a battlefield. I even saw an arrow with an eyeball stuck in the middle of it. That was sickening, but I didn't let myself stop because of it. And the further I went into the more silent part of the battlefield, the most discarded part, the more sickening body parts I ran into. It was like walking into a post massacre, a silent graveyard. And that's how it felt. It felt like I was walking into the realm of the dead.

I walked on in silence as the sounds of battle became more and more distant. I didn't feel the need to sprint for my life quite as I had before. With the amount of pointy deadly things right underfoot, I had reason to take my time. No need to trip on something and end up as a display for future generations to look at. So, I walked. And I walked carefully. Sooner, rather than later, the mist started letting up. I was beginning to see the castle ahead of me, without the need of the orb to give me the visual. Brian was still out cold over my shoulder.

"Olin?" That sounded like Red.

When I glanced up, I could see her sitting comfortably on top of her broom, sitting like a proper lady on a horse, riding sidesaddle. She was wearing a black lacy dress with her favorite red hood and a rather pointy hat. Why was she dressed like that? She clearly didn't need that pointy hat with that hood/cloak. I nodded to her. "Morning, Red!"

She smiled as her broom started flying down to meet me. When she landed, she jumped off her broom. The broom spun around before flying right into her open hand. "Well, I did not expect to see you out here." She looked from me over to Brian over my shoulder. "And… is he ok?"

I shook my head. "No." I pointed back to the mist. "Whatever that stuff is… it's messing with his head."

Red started coughing, and that's when I realized that we were still inside the mist. I reached out to her with my arm supporting Brian. As soon as I gripped her hand, my orb started glowing again. Red's coughing quickly quieted up and she looked more relieved. "Oh, that's why you aren't affected." Red nodded. "I told Vicky leaving the orb behind would be worth it."

I nodded my thanks to her. "And it's good that you did. Otherwise, we would have never caught up with you. Chances are… those knights back home would have gotten us."

"Knights? What knights?" She sounded worried, but I couldn't just not tell her. She had to know.

"When we left to find you, the knights, your friend included, chased us. Brian got in a fight with some kid that I guess bullies him or something and well… the knights know that Brian is with the Assassins now."

Red looked distressed over hearing that. "Ok… we'll make it right. I know a very talented little girl that's very good at making people forget things." She looked around for a few seconds, looking up at me, and then over to Brian. "So… what are you doing here anyway?"

I found myself shrugging. "We wanted to help. And when we got here… Brian figured that your Master was going to fight the commander or something like that. You witches would probably cover him and do as much damages as possible, and we figured that the walled city was being protected. So… since no one was really protecting it at the moment… Brian and I were going to head to the town and help protect it."

Red nodded. "That's… pretty smart actually." She rubbed her chin. "I didn't have a plan when I came here. I just covered Malik. So… protecting the town should be our first priority." She nodded again. "I'll make the call, and we'll give you some cover while you run. I'm sure whatever's going on with Brian, Vicky can fix." She spun her broom around, planting it behind her as she sat down. Without another word she took off into the sky. "Good luck, Olin! We'll talk after the battle!"

I waved to her really quick before securing my hold on Brian again. I didn't have time to just sit here; I really needed to get out of this mist. So, I was back to sprinting. And I guess this mist just likes to be thick because I guess it was not just thinning out, I was literally on the edge of it. As soon as I stepped out, I could see a whole new battlefield. Rows and rows of knights were shooting arrows up at Red's family. Her family was doing their thing, which I hadn't really seen much of until now. I can see why the townsfolk are scared of them. Watching that little Vicky girl, the one that makes me scared to live, was standing up on her broom like it was nothing more than a step. In her hand was a simple strip of wood. And with one wave, a could see a whole gaggle of knights lifted up into the air. And with another wave, they came crashing right back down. If she could do that without really trying… what wasn't she showing us?

I watched as Red flew up to the busy Vicky. While the two of them talked, more knights shot arrows up at them. The arrows just bounced off some invisible shield, flying directly back at whoever fired the arrow. More than that, the arrows would explode, taking out more knights surrounding the group. When Vicky looked over at me, I saw her nod. She pointed over towards the castle. I looked over there, seeing a legion or two of knights marching up to a broken down gate. I could see townspeople standing on the other side, preparing to defend their city. I had to hurry.

But… not too quickly I guessed. I did not know Vicky was just having me watch the advance of the knights just to watch her end it. That little pick up knights thing started back up and I watched as the two legions just floated up into the air. I looked back at the little girl, surprised to see that she could even manage that from so far away. But… it wasn't just her. Every witch had paused, all focusing their pieces of wood at the castled keep. They all looked focused. Vicky glanced at me with a strained face. And with a sudden flash inside my mind, I could hear her screaming at me. Don't just stand there like an idiot! Get your butts over there! We can't hold this forever!

I nodded my thanks to her and took off in a sprint. A sudden breath of life entered into me in the form of a wind. It was almost like someone had come up behind me and helped me lift up my legs. Sprinting became easier and next thing I knew, I was running even faster than I'd ever run.

I don't even know when I made it to the floating army. I don't remember the full run down here. I just ran and ran until I made it. I was pretty tired but at the same time, I felt more alive than ever. Sure, arrows had been fired down at me as I sprinted, some knights had run to catch me. A few witches not busy levitating knights flew by to give me a helping hand. Every time a knight got near me, a broom-rider would swoop down and basically kick them in the head. Maybe it was a boring way to attack someone, but I think it had to be surprising to the knights. He just looks up and sees a person on a broomstick just come swooping down to kick you in the face with their thick combat boots. If it weren't for the two flying beside me the whole way down, I don't know if I would have made it in one piece.

"We're your backup." The boy with short blond hair said as he flew next to me.

"Just leave them to us." The girl with long strawberry blond hair on the other side of me winked as she lifted herself into the sky. Jeez… she looked as young as Vicky. She couldn't have been older than ten or so. How young are some of these fighters anyway? They shouldn't be here on a battlefield. They should be home waiting for everyone to come home. The boy looked a little older than me. He looked like he was related to the little girl. Maybe they were brother and sister? That would make sense.

"Sukey, wait up!" The boy screamed.

"No, Paul! They killed our sister! I will make them pay for that!" The girl screamed as she flew in front of me, waving her wand. And just like that, all that wind that was helping to push me along sent a wave of knights rushing towards me into the ground.

That's how I ended up at the castle: Sukey and Paul. They helped keep me clear of all things coming towards me. And as I came up to the levitating knights, they came crashing right back down to the ground. It was actually quite loud. I wish I could have covered my ears before they were suddenly deafened by a few legions of knights crashing right down in front of me. As soon as they hit the ground, a few didn't get back up. A few started to struggle, and a few started to get up. The village people rushed out through the broken gate with their makeshift spears and swords to kill the stunned guards. I watched as the villagers quickly made sure the two legions were finished off before they rushed back into the town. I followed in behind them with Sukey and Paul on my coattails, almost literally.

As soon as I approached the broken gate, I was welcomed to spear tips nearing my throat. "It's ok! I'm here to help!" I think. I really hope so.

Since Sukey and Paul were standing behind me, I guess they had orders or something. The smaller girl smiled as she walked in front of me. "I have a message from your leader's brother addressed to the leader." She held out what looked like a letter.

One of the villagers standing in the front, a strong burly man wearing a plaid shirt, took the note from her. "A letter for me?" He opened it up, reading it. "Ok, I think I get it." He looked out towards the battlefield. "Well…" He looked down at me. "Welcome. We'll get you some tea once this whole thing blows over. If you're really here to help, you can help us rebuild this broken gate." Wow… something I actually know how to do… build things out of nothing.

I looked back at Sukey. "Can you guys help with that?"

Sukey smiled. "Why not? We already did that a lot in the port."

When arrows started falling down around us, Paul sighed. "You two handle that; I will keep archers from hitting us." He sat down on his broom and took off into the sky. Almost immediately, he started waving his hand around with that little piece of wood. And just like that, the arrows flying towards us were bouncing off some invisible shield like before. What is this magick, and how do I learn it? Knowing something like that would have saved the lives of my family when the enemy clan tried to invade us. Come to think of it, they were only after my special little orb. And seeing what it can do has led me to believe that what they were fighting for was more than I had bargained for. They were willing to kill everyone just to get to it, and now I was stuck with it. Something as powerful as this godsend orb of mine shouldn't be used at all. And as it turned out… I might be the only one even capable of using it at all. If that clan had gotten away with killing my family, the orb might have been useless in their hands. Everyone in my family, including me, would have died for nothing… not a thing at all. Just a useless round golden orb to be puzzled over. Something to drive yourself mad with trying to figure out. Gods… I shouldn't let myself think like this. There was something I needed to do. I needed to help protect this town.

As I shook the thought away, I found myself still standing outside the keep's gateway. I grabbed onto Sukey's hand, and I rushed into the broken keep. I looked around for things to do, things I could help with. Coming towards the gateway was a gaggle of people were rushing up with new wooden beams. The wooden beams looked just the right size to be built into a barricade. It looked like the village was planning on using the wooden beams to enhance the already existing gateway, making it even harder to get through than last time. I like the idea. I rushed over to the building supplies with Sukey right behind me.

"Hey, what's the rush?" She tried to pull her hand free from me. When I looked over my shoulder at her, I could see that she was looking outside the gate, where an entire legion of knights were riding towards us, bows out and aimed. When I looked from them over to her, I could see that she was focusing on her brother, who was getting ready to engage them in a fight. "He's not that strong." I could hear her mutter under her breath.

I sighed as I looked from her over to the leader. "We'll go out and buy you some time. We'll try to keep the knights busy while you make your barricade. Sound fair?"

The man nodded. "God's speed."

I bent down to set the unconscious Brian down in the safety of the town and I turned to look at Sukey. "Think you can watch my back?"

She smiled as brightly as possible. "Of course!" She pulled out her little piece of wood. "My wand it at the ready!" Oh… it's called a wand. Got it.

Looking at the gear I was toting around on my belt, the knife in my left sleeve, the sword on my belt, throwing knives that I have never thrown before… I was beginning to think that I might just get through this. I was dressed like a whacked out monk but whatever. I have so many weapons, I could at least get lucky with one of them, right?

I nodded to Sukey and let go of her hand. As soon as I jumped through the broken remains of the gate, she flew right overhead of me on her broom. With a wave of her wand, a slight breeze overtook me. I felt really light again. Ready for a fight. And right in front of me, a good twenty or so knights ready to be taken on. I just hoped I was ready for this. I haven't really fought anyone yet. This would be my first real battle. Two short swords, one long sword, plenty of knives, and a crossbow loaded with a full cartridge of bolts. I think I should be just fine for this battle.

What was I thinking? I wasn't just some warrior. I wasn't trained in how to fight. Sure… I'm a Norseman. We grow up fighting, and I guess in some way I should feel just fine on the battlefield. But… training was just training. This was the real thing. I could die… anyone I really hit could die as well. Because of what I would do, families would lose their fathers… sons… brothers. Just like my family. I was suddenly the invading family on theirs, except…

When I looked back at the village building a barricade, I had to remember why I was here. I was here to help protect my friends… my family… and now, I was helping to protect this town from their invaders. I was being the frontlines for the kids like me, the ones that might end up homeless by the end of the fight. I don't know what this town did to deserve the knights coming in to kill them all. Maybe they had some powerful artifact like my own town did, or perhaps they're just in the way. Whichever it is, I could not just let these knights do as they wanted. I had a mission now, and I wouldn't just let these knights walk over anyone else. I dropped my long sword and unsheathed the two short swords more fitted to my style. It's not a halberd, or even an axe, but they will do just fine.

I slid my hood up, keeping the sun out of my eyes. I swung my swords around a few times to adjust myself to the feel of their weight, to the length leading towards the tip, to the shape of the hilt. Everything had to be remembered. I had never trained with these, and I doubt I'll be picking up these a second time. If I'm going to be fighting like this for now on… I would need a personal weapon. And looking at a villager behind me, the one carrying a spear, I think I know which one I would want. I looked back at the villager. "Mind if I borrow that?"

The villager nodded, tossing me the spear. I had to drop the sword in my right hand, but once I caught the spear, I felt better. I spun the spear around to test its weight. It was a makeshift spear, not really all that grand a weapon, but it would do for now. I slid the other sword into its scabbard and let my other hand take the spear. I turned to face the advancing twenty knights. Time to go to work.

I looked up at Paul and Sukey, the two broom-riders just floating above me with their wands pointed towards the knights. "You got my back?" They both nodded.

The first wave of five or so knights charged in to fight me. The furthest line took aim with their crossbows and fired at us. Paul was still doing his thing, keeping that barrier set up to deflect every arrow sent our way. The five advancing knights noticed this and charged even faster, bringing up their shields to protect themselves from the returning arrows. The line of archers protected themselves as the arrows rained down on them. I just bought us a few precious seconds.

"You could probably just take them all out on your own, can't you?" I asked the two witches.

"Getting pretty tired, actually." Paul said. "Can't keep this up forever. Wand's almost out of juice."

"Me too. Better we hurry this up. If we're going to conserve what energy we have left, I suggest you do the majority of the heavy fighting. We'll support you as needed." Sukey said as she flew up behind me, bringing her wand up.

Well, I guess I had no choice then. I looked at my spear, hoping this would go over well. I charged the frontline. Sword tips all pointed towards me and I thought that I was already a goner. There was a thud sound and the knight towards the middle slacked forward, crashing into the other two knights on my left side. As they fell over, the other two still standing looked down at them in surprise. They recovered quickly though. Just not quickly enough for my first attack.

It was pretty surreal when I think of it, and while I was doing it. I had a spear in my hands and then… I just… I thrust it into someone's face. I mean, I knew what I was doing, and I knew what the end result would be. I just… I never expected it to feel like that. To feel the reverberations of steal and wood meeting bones, muscle, and flesh like that. I never expected to feel that numbing feeling of dread pass through my arms, making my heart skip a beat as I pulled the spear out of his exploding face. I never expected to see that much blood fly out of his missing cheek, pouring out of his nose… it was a very surreal experience for me.

His buddy did not seem so lost as I did. He reacted quite normally. He thrust his sword out at me. And then… well… the ground behind him exploded. "I'm coming, Olin!" Red screamed as she flew down on her broom. The rest of the knights turned to fight her but they were met with an equal explosion from her hand. They all screamed as a ball of fire descended upon them, wiping them all out in one blast. And Red did it like it was nothing too. I wonder just how strong she really was if she could just do something like that. And then Vicky… who was even more amazing. What were these people and why were they so strong like this?

As soon as Red got close to me, she slid off her broom, taking a deep breath. She came rushing in, almost throwing me into a hug but then stopped at the last second. "Oh…" She took a step back. She pointed at my new robes. "You have red on you."

I looked down. Red? I didn't see any blood! All I saw was my red belt. "Red? What red? I don't see any blood on me."

"Me, silly!" She cried happily and crashed down on top of me. "I'm Red… and I'm on you. What's your next move?" She whispered seductively into my ear.

"Um…" I know, real poet, right? "Battle first, kiss and make out later?" That was all I could say.

She nodded. "Oh, don't worry about the battle. Master has it all taken care of by now." She looked up at Vicky. "And Vicky says 'hi'. She's glad you came, but mad that you brought Brian with you. Between you and me… I think she likes him." Wow, that was an understatement. Even I could see how much those two meant to each other.

"So…" I tried to stand up, but Red kept me pushed down on the ground. "What are we going to do then?"

She smiled down at me as she closed her hands over my wrists. "I can think of a few things." She stood up, bringing me up with her. "Finish off any nearby knights, and then… we have some fun of our own." She winked at me. Who was this, and what did she do to my girlfriend? Not that I'm complaining but… she just seemed a little different.

"Why are you acting so weird?"

She smiled and showed me a small bottle. "Pure adrenaline, baby! I'm so hyped up… so… ready!" She smiled at me with her teeth showing as much as possible. Oh… she's wired. I bet that has something to do with their increased magic too.

Cearbhail:

And that's Olin's side of the story. Now, we just have to tell the final battle scene between Wolfe, Laila, and Malik. Might be interesting, might be a let down. I hope it's not the latter. I'll try my best to make this next chapter something good, I swear!