Cearbhail:

Sorry that it has taken so long. I've been sick and it's taken me four days just to write this without blanking and passing out from the effort.

Enjoy ^^ ...

[Malik]

Dear journal,

Let it be remembered that today is December 16th. I've been training with Ashley the past day. The rest of the Phatty's men joining us for the fight trained with us. I've told them of our plan and after our training session first thing in the morning and afternoon, we spent the evening preparing for our attack on Wolfe's troops. Everyone seems to be in fighting form. This is it; we're finally going to begin our final assault on Wolfe. I will end his life today, if everything goes according to plan. So, if our attack goes according to plan, December 16th will be known throughout history as the day the big bag Wolfe was brought to justice. And all it will take is a little poison.

Before we can leave our camp though, we just need to make sure everything is in order. I need to check up on Locksley and my sister before I can leave. This is it; I have to do my job as an Assassin at last. Sure, I've killed plenty of nameless guards and whatnot, but this will be my first masterminding Templar. I'm almost excited. I sure hope he gives me the thrill I expect from a true Templar. If he goes down like a bitch, I will be most disappointed.

Malik Ishtar.

….

The camp looked livelier than ever. Every man above the age 16 was dressed in some sort of makeshift armor made out of whatever they could find around the camp. The armor was mostly leather from the deer they'd been hunting. It won't help them much in a fight, but it might help if they manage to catch a stray slash from a sword. If we're lucky, no one will be directly slashed anyway. With some help from Ashley, Harry, and Phatty, we managed to create some weapons other than axes and pitchforks. Now, we had some spears made out the trees nearby, as well as some slingshots. My crossbow will be useful too. I won't be using it though. I have other plans for my crossbow.

The women and children were doing everything they could to finish every single potion Ashley needed for tonight. Cauldrons were still bubbling with every woman in the camp working to make the potions. The women had to keep the cauldrons away from the actual camp and they had to wear special masks that helped keep the steam from the potions disrupting their minds.

The kids were doing everything they could to help make sure all the armor was tight as possible and that every spear was sharpened. They were having as much fun doing it as well. I think the men preparing for the war were just humoring them though. They were more than ready to start their attack. I didn't blame them. There weren't a lot of men to fight, but we had a solid plan.

I walked through the camp over to the tent Locksley was resting in. Harry and Phatty were busy giving their men an inspiring speech to get them ready for the battle. The two of them already had a good crowd forming up around them. My sister was limping over to join them as well. I could see Ashley listening to the speech as well, though she put more attention on making sure her last few bottles were capped and ready to be used.

I stopped by Locksley's tent to listen to the brothers. Harry was standing there while Phatty gave his part of the speech. "Men, tonight we will take the fight to the knights that took our homes away from us… killed our brothers and sisters. They think they have the god given right to take what belongs to us, to claim our lands, for their so-called holy war against the sand-dwellers in the desert. They think we'll just roll over and surrender our lives to their cause, to give our lives for the king that would see us dead before strike a deal for our livelihood. Our last neighbor is on their last breath. The walls of Bricksville will not stand forever and our enemy Wolfe is doing everything he can to blow down those walls. We cannot wait any longer. We are few in number… have wooden poles as weapons, and are adorned in loose leather for armor. For every warrior we have, the knights have more than ten. They are armored for war, and have weapons that will rip through our leather like it was paper. The knights will think they will win, but we have heart. We have trained, we have planned, and we will win. I cannot promise we will return, and many who leave will not be coming home, but what have we to lose? The King has already taken our homes, taken many of our families, and will continue to do so to others like us if we do not do something to show our resolve. Let this be the day we said 'no more.' Let this be the day we showed Wolfe and all his soldiers that we will not take this any longer."

Before everyone could cheer, Harry stepped forward. "Let us review the plan. We will begin our attack only after our witch has successfully dispatched the fear mist among the first wave of enemy soldiers. Every soldier running into the fight will be required to wear a protective mask to keep from succumbing to the mist's effects. Also, avoid direct conflict with any soldiers raving, and keep to the cover of the thick mist while advancing through the battlefield. Our first objective is to secure any and all catapults and other heavy artillery. If at all possible, use these devices against our enemy, if that is not possible, destroy them. Our second objective is to hit the breach team trying to take down the drawbridge. Once Bricks knows we are on the attack, he will commit his own forces to assist us. Our third and final objective is to finish off our enemy. Retreat is not an option: for us or for them. Fight to kill and don't let a single one get away to report their loss. Once our enemy is defeated, we'll do what we can to prepare for future entanglements with John's knights."

Once the speech was finished, the warriors began to go over their squad formations. I didn't need to stick around for that. So, I turned my attention back to Locksley's tent. Pushing the flap open, I could see the proud archer begrudgingly lying down in a bed, one of his arms in a makeshift sling, and one of his legs wrapped tightly to two flat pieces of wood. He's broken an arm and a leg when one of his fighters landed on top of him. He didn't like the idea of sitting out, and I didn't plan on letting him sit this out.

As soon as I walked through the flap, Locksley was looking up at me with drowsy eyes. "Was it just me, or was there some sort of uplifting war prep speech going on? Are you leaving for the battle then?"

I nodded. I pulled out my crossbow. "I could use your help. Think you can cover me with the crossbow?"

"I can't walk, can't use my right arm… what good will I be for you?" That was a good point. He probably couldn't load this crossbow easily with just one hand, let alone fire it.

"I was going to ask you to cover me from a treetop. Plenty of distance from the actual combat, and a great vantage point. You would be able to cover me from up there without ever moving. As for loading, why not have someone load the crossbow for you? One of your men perhaps? You just have to pull the trigger." It sounded like a pretty good idea. And seeing the way Locksley was sitting up from his bed, I could tell he was getting excited over the idea too.

That smile of his broke open. "I think that could work. I've never fired a crossbow with just one arm before… but how hard can it be?" If I knew how our luck worked, it was probably going to be a mess. Everything we've done up to now as far as fighting King John had been nothing but a mess. I wondered at how many ways we could screw this up. One way would be for Locksley to miss every shot with is crossbow and possibly hit me instead of anyone around me. But that was pretty unlikely since he never missed a shot during out various hunting parties.

Locksley checked over the crossbow a few times before nodding. "I think I can do it. I've never been a crack shot with my left hand, but I think I can cover you fairly well." Locksley groaned as he started to push himself up onto his legs. He almost fell over, but he reached for the long quarterstaff he was using as a cane. "Show me the battlefield and I'll get myself set up. Give me six minutes and I'll be ready to cover you."

I nodded. "Let's go meet up with everyone then. I'm leading the march."

Stepping outside, the first thing I saw was Laila standing right in front of me. "I'm coming with you." She said as she glared into my eyes.

I looked down at her bandaged leg. Just a few days ago I shot a crossbow bolt into her thigh. She could barely walk let along fight. But the look in her eyes, the fire she'd gotten from listening to Phatty give his inspirational speech, told me she wasn't just going to sit here and wait for us to finish the fight. Even if I told her to stay here out of concern to let her leg heal, she would ignore me and go into the fight anyway. She isn't very good at following my orders either. So, instead of trying to talk her out of going, I nodded my head. "Ok. Get your gear ready."

She spread her arms out. She was dressed in her robed and had her hidden blade attached. All her tiny knives and short swords were ready to go as well. She also had a crossbow that she had obtained during one of our raids on the castle. "I'm all set. Let's go."

So, this was it. We were finally going to do something good for this kingdom. I just hoped nothing bad happened in response to this. If killing Wolfe triggered another purge of some sort, or retaliation to the Pig family, we would just have to continue fighting. My job was to create chaos, and these families were just going to end up fighting Wolfe anyway. With me leading the attack, they might survive to fight another day. And that hope was enough to make me break my vow to not kill anyone important. I only hoped this didn't end badly, because if it did, I would have to be the one to clean it up.

…

[Red]

"Hey, Red. Is Marik back yet?" Lucy asked as she walked into the dining room.

I had to shake my head. I don't like this. I don't like this one bit. I thought that when we came back from the camp, Malik and Robin would be waiting for us. We've been back in town for a full day, but I haven't seen Malik or Robin at all. Not only were they not here, but Ashley isn't here either. I know she left to tell Robin we made it to the port and were allowed to help rebuild the town, but she never came back. And from the looks of it, no one came back here either. The house looked like it hadn't been used in several days. The plates I left out for Malik to wash were still sitting in what made up our sink, and the table had a layer of dust as thick as the snow outside. There was no evidence that anyone had been here since I left with my coven. It was weird because Malik would never leave the house in this state for an entire week, and that worried me. If they weren't here, where were they? More than that; if they had gone somewhere for a mission or for training… why hadn't I been told?

Lucy sighed as she looked up at the ceiling. "Something isn't right about this." She looked down at me. "Think something bad happened?"

So many things could have happened while we were gone. For all I knew, they were captured by the King or something. Malik and Robin might be rotting in a dungeon cell, being tortured by the knights or something like that. I had to shake the image of Robin strapped to a whipping post, a huge sweaty man grunting as he waved his huge whip across Robin's back, drawing a cry of both pain and anticipation. I don't like how it felt to think of Robin in such a situation.

"Think they're out hunting or something?" Lucy just kept running through various questions, pacing around the room. She was just as worried as I was. Everyone was trying their best to return to what qualified as normal for us. Living in our two buildings was hard on everyone. Up until the raid, we all had families, parents, and our own houses. Many of our houses were burned down, our parents slain. We were our family now. That being said, we didn't know each other that well. I, myself, only really knew Lucy and Mary. The others… well… I only ever met them on occasion during training or something. And suddenly, I am the Mother of everyone? I'm not even the oldest of our group, and I'm the Mother? How did that work? Does Mother Goose know something I don't?

"I don't know what to think." I looked over at Lucy. "Have you heard anything from anyone else?"

She shook her head. "Everyone's been out looking for Malik and Ashley. No one's seen anything."

"I know where they are." Vicky suddenly walked into the room, holding onto the mysterious orb she keeps stealing from Olin. Olin must be taking a nap if she was allowed to carry it around like she was. I was actually watching while she unconsciously continued to run her fingers over the etched designs built into the golden orb thingy.

"Oh?" Lucy asked as she turned to look at Vicky. "How'd you find out?"

She shrugged. "Tracking spell. Simple, really." She walked past us and climbed up onto one of the pub tables. "We are here." She placed one of her fingers on the table. "Malik is here." She slid the same finger straight down. "Laila is here." She really didn't move her finger. "Ashley is with Malik and Laila. And the green arrow guy is over here." She moved her finger to the right, just barely. She looked up at me. "We can go help them."

"Help them?" I had to ask as I looked over at Lucy. I looked back at Vicky. "What's going on?"

"It would seem that Malik has ended up in a war between Wolfe and a villager of commoners. He is, in this moment, marching his small army to a massive battlefield, and he is planning on assassinating Wolfe. All in the hope that killing Wolfe will somehow make the lives of the villagers better. He seems to have forgotten what happens when he causes mischief." Vicky stated as she jumped off the table, using her control of Air magick to slow her fall to the ground. I knew Vicky was really good at magick and could find stuff out that no one else could, but there were moments where I wondered how she learned the stuff she did. The way she mentioned it to us, you would think she assumed we already knew what was up with Malik. She didn't sound surprised by it at all. I wonder what else she knew. She must get that from her mother… the knowing things the rest of us don't know, and not mentioning it until it needs to be mentioned.

Lucy scoffed and crossed her arms. "What happens when he causes mischief? He saved a lot of our lives."

"And condemned a lot more." Vicky reminded us. She released a sigh before shaking her head. "I should not say that. I was also to blame for my actions that night. To hold that past against him would only make light of the person he has become since the incident." Vicky shook her head. "I cannot say for certain if his actions will make the lives of the villagers better, but if he does not act, the village will fall to Wolfe's forces. And that would be bad for all of us later on." She looked over at me. "We need to help Malik."

So… Malik was actually planning on killing Wolfe? I couldn't just sit here and wait for him to come back. He was my friend, kind of my mentor, and he had one of my sisters with him. This was a no-brainer honestly. I looked at Lucy and Vicky. "Tell everyone to get their wands ready. And dress for combat. I can feel a storm brewing. And we're going to rain on Wolfe's parade." I had my own beefs with Wolfe, and I honestly couldn't wait to show him just what I can do now.

I started to walk away, I thought of something I should have thought of first. With how much Vicky had to move her finger down the length of the table, I was guessing wherever Malik was, it was not nearby or a quick walk. If he was about to start a war, we would need to get there fast. "How are we going to get there?"

Vicky smiled. She must have already thought of that. "In style." In style? What kind of answer was that? In black and white stripe leggings with black frilly dresses and pointy hats and shoes riding a broom? That kind of style? My question was answered as soon as Vicky took off her giant yellow duck-faced hat and ran over to her personal drawer. She pulled out black and white leggings and a very large pointy black hat. Yup… style.

…

[Malik]

I've scouted out this battlefield before, but it never looked as big as it did right now. You could tell that Bricksville was on its last defenses; the wall was already starting to fall down, holes showing up in the many layers of bricks, the drawbridge already half-burnt down. Whatever archers existed inside Bricksville were lining the walls and shooting whatever they could down at the advancing armies. This fight had been going on for days now. How did they survive for so long? That wall must be something else to keep Wolfe outside for more than a week. Either that or it took him too long to get his catapults up the large hill leading to the main gate.

From where I was standing, I could already see my plan of attack. There were a few ways I could go to get to Wolfe. His command tent was near the end of the army, and his catapults were just in front of it. He had some sort of wooden spikes set up in front of the catapults and in front of all that was the main attack force waiting to march into the town. The catapults were being loaded for another round of fire ballistics to fire at the drawbridge. Once that thing went down, the knights would charge the city. I had to stop that.

I turned around to look at Phatty and Harry. "Start the attack." The two of them nodded and slid their protective masks up. The row of warriors standing behind them started sliding their masks up too.

I looked over at Locksley and his men. "Do it." The few men nodded and rushed for the trees. Bottles of the mist hung on their belts. Their job was simple: spread the mist around at critical points. Locksley's job was simple: cover me.

I focused on Locksley, nodding to him. "If you get a shot at Wolfe and you think you can drop him: take it. Don't hesitate."

"I will, don't worry." He said as he turned to his chosen tree. He started pulling himself up by his one good arm and his one non-favorable leg. I wondered how long it would take him to get up there. I hope not long. Didn't matter, we still didn't have our mist covering the battlefield yet. That was Ashley's thing.

Speaking of which, it was just about time she did her thing. I could see her kneeling down, her eyes closed in what I assumed was mental preparation. I could already feel the wind starting to pick up. She finally opened her eyes and looked back at the row of women dragging around three giant cauldrons filled with the fear mist. The women tipped all three cauldrons over and Ashley rose to her feet. With a loud scream she pushed her hands out; a giant wind rushing past me like it was alive. The liquid mist quickly turned into a thick cloud that took to the wind and quickly rolled down into the battlefield.

I checked to make sure my own mask was on properly, and I only did that because for half a second I thought I could see the faces of my warriors shift into some sort of monster's. My mask had not been tight enough, and if that was all it took to make me see something out of my nightmares, I shuddered to think what the knights would see when the mist fell upon them. I looked out to the battlefield that awaited us. Knights were watching the mist that rolled in to meet them, some of them pointing and drawing attention to other knights as it descended upon them. I waited with bated breath as the mist rolled over the first few knights. The other knights were watching with curiosity as well.

The first knight to feel the mist started by screaming in horror. He looked around at a knight nearby him and unsheathed his sword. He charged at the knight, taking him by surprise. The knight managed to slam his sword into the other knight's breastplate, knocking him over. By now, the mist had fallen around the other knights standing around. Slowly, I started seeing similar results with them as well. It was hard to stay professional when the battlefield was slowly turning into a walking horror story. The knights were raving mad, slashing at each other like they were fighting their devil itself. For all I knew, that's what they thought they were doing.

I looked over at Phatty and Harry. "Proceed with the attack. You know your objectives. I will go for Wolfe and his commanders. You will do whatever it takes to save your last town." I looked back at my sister. She was looking weary and tired, but ready to go. "Stay behind me." She nodded. I turned to look at the battlefield. Time to end this fight.

Cearbhail:

So, the final battle of the arc will begin, and then maybe one last chapter where they're all at home. Not sure when I'll start the second arc, but I think I'll take a break for a while, maybe.