Cearbhail:

So... we have a very full chapter ahead. And so many things that could happen. And might happen. I already know one thing in this chapter I didn't plan on doing but did. Anyway, I'm enjoying this. And so should you.

Enjoy ^^ ...

[Olin]

Dear Olin,

Hey… sorry to tell you like this but… we're going to be out for a while. I know you're not comfortable living in my place yet so… if you need anything, just call for Victoria. She's my familiar robin. She'll pretty much do whatever you ask her to. She can cook, she can sing, she can show you where our bathrooms are. She's pretty handy. And if you're curious as to where we have gone: you remember my crazy mentor chef? He really needs my help with a falling soufflé. If we don't keep the soufflé from falling, all sorts of bad things might happen in the future. It might lead to the end of all life as we know it. Sigh… Ok, Olin. I'm going to level with you. I'm not just a witch… I'm also an Assassin. I don't know if you know who they are but… I'm sure you've heard all sort of stuff about white-robbed people running around. Well… I'm training to be one. That mentor of mine… he's an Assassin, and he's training me to be one just like him. Well, he's off fighting some war against a powerful sex slave operator, and I have a personal vendetta with this guy. He singlehandedly almost destroyed my coven. He almost took me as a slave too! So… that's why I'm not there waiting for you to wake up. I'm likely doing things that you'll hear bad things about in a few days. I don't know the specifics of what we're doing, but I know it's going to be one heck of a battle. Just sit tight and I'll be home before you know it. Okay?

Isabella, but just call me Red.

…

Looking down at the note Red left for me, I was finally beginning to understand all those things that had confused me since I've met her. Her mentor always seemed different; I'm just glad my initial fear of him was justified. Seeing him jumping up across the roofs being chased by that young witch Vicky seemed more understandable now. No pastry chef could move so effortlessly across the rooftops; no… he had to a trained warrior. And Red was training to become one as well. If she trusted her mentor enough to train with him, I should at least give him the benefit of the doubt.

I wanted to look at my godsend orb, but after looking around the entire pub for the thing, the only thing I found was the note Red left for me on the pillow. Where was that thing? It brought a sour thought but I think it had to be with Vicky. She just won't leave the thing alone. If they left to go do something, Vicky would most likely take that thing with her. Come to think of it, everyone was out fighting some battle right now.

I paused as that thought got stuck in my head. Red and her sisters, all the people I've come to love are out there right now… fighting. And I was here? Sitting in this pub? Thoughts of my village started to pop into my head again. My family and friends all fighting and dying all around me; my village burning to the ground. I had done little that day to help. I tried to fight, but I ended up running instead. I lived because I left all my friends to die. The note in my hand crumbled when my fist tightened. I could not just sit here and wait. I've done that too much already. I was not going to just sit here and find out later that the battlefield Red went to was nothing more than a burning hole in the ground, her and all her friends nothing but charred corpses in the white sand. I remembered what she said about her family dying in some sort of purge. I didn't want her to end up like them. I did not want her to end up like my family. She was the only good thing I have at this moment. It was time I man up and do something right for once.

I started running through the house. There had to be something here. The kitchen had some pots and pans, but I didn't know what to do with those. The pub had plenty of firewater but… actually, I had an idea. I could use those. I just needed… something… I just couldn't think of what I could use; I couldn't focus enough to figure out what I could use to help me fight. It wasn't like there was an armory in this pub. There was no armor, no weapons, nothing. I found myself walking back into the pub, looking at the firewater. I could use some of that, I'm sure. I've seen it explode before. Enough of that would do something… if I could figure out some other ways of fighting or protecting myself.

"Hey…" A groggy voice called from above me. That made me snap my head up to the stairwell leading to the second floor. Leaning on the railing was someone just a little younger than me. He looked exhausted, and he had an arm in a sling. He was that injured boy that Vicky was always trying to heal. He looked like he was well rested. When I nodded to the boy, he looked around the room with his groggy eyes. "Where is everyone?" He almost croaked it out. It sounded like his voice hadn't been used in days. Last I knew he was sleeping the whole time.

I shrugged. "Red said something about a battle. She was going to help her mentor fight some old enemy of hers. Some sex slaver or something."

"WHAT?" He was suddenly awake. He tried to push himself down the stairs, clumsily making his way down. He limped around the room, looking for anyone. I followed behind him. He pretty much looked everywhere around the pub. We ended up outside, looking into the empty charcoaled streets. The boy looked around frantically. "Everyone's gone. Even Vicky." He looked over to me. "Do you know where they went?"

I shook my head. "No idea." I wish I knew though. I couldn't go help them with their fight if I didn't even know where to go. I had more problems than just finding armor and weapons. I had to find them too.

The boy looked over at me. He ran his free hand through his hair, scratching his head. He looked pretty upset, like he was considering something he absolutely hated. He groaned before looking over at me with desperate eyes. Whatever he was thinking about, he was killing himself over thinking it. "If… if I can show you where they are… are you willing to go with me to help them fight?" He looked like he was going to leave even if I declined his offer. Luckily for him, I wanted nothing more than to go help Red and her family.

So… I nodded. "Of course. But… how are you going to find them?"

He groaned and back at the tavern. "A basic tracking spell." He said the words like they were poison. Was he one of the witches too? I never would have guessed. I knew he was friends with Vicky but I didn't think he was one of them. He finally shrugged. "I am the son of a witch… after all." Man, that sounded even more poisonous to him. He must really hate thinking of himself like that. He waved at me to follow him. "But, if we're going to go at all, we're going in style."

"In style?" What the heck did that mean? Clad in full armor with big weapons? Riding in on horseback while our heavy chainmail armor clanked with every trot?

I followed behind the boy as he started walking back into the tavern. We ended up back in the bar, and the boy was next to the firewater stand. Oh… we were going to take the firewater with us? Now, he was thinking. But… he did something else. He pulled on one of the bottles. For a second, nothing happened, but then the wall seemed to shift. There was a puff of dust and the shelf filled with firewater loosened. The boy looked over at me, smirking. "If we're going to fight, we're going to need some weapons." He gestured at me to join him. I walked over to the loosened wall. I helped him move the wall further out so that we could get behind the shelf. There was a single torch that lit upon us opening the shelf. And… I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

There was a secret armory hidden behind the wall filled with firewater shelves. Rows and rows of white robes like the one the French pastry chef wore lined some mannequins. There had to be at least twelve sets of robes all lined up along the walls. Behind the various robes were displays of various weapons. Most of them looked like knives, but some were chains and leather bracelets with what looked like daggers sticking up towards the end. I looked down at the boy to see him nodding his head appreciatively. "So… this is style?" I asked as I looked back at the room filled with armor and weapons. If this was style… I could not wait to be stylish.

The boy looked over at me, smirking. "This is the only style that matters." He walked over to a specific robe, one that looked a lot shorter. It looked like it was about his size. It wasn't quite as white as the other ones. It looked more like a light blue. "Master Laila made all these robes, and Little John made all the weapons. They made this set for me." He gestured to the smaller light blue robes he was standing in front of. "You're just going to have to borrow Locksley's spare." He pointed to the other set of robes near the exit.

I walked over to the set of robes. They looked like they would fit me… if not a little loosely. I'm a lot skinnier than this man, whoever he was. The weapons behind the armor looked pretty unique. There was a bow, a complete belt of knives, two short swords. And one really fancy looking crossbow. I only know what that is because Eric showed me how to use one when I had to go on hunting duty for the slave camp. I wasn't a bad shot either. I found myself smiling as I reached for the robes. The white robes and the long pointy hood seemed to call to me. I might not know exactly why I was getting excited, but I'm guessing it was because I was symbolically accepting the responsibility to go help my friends in their fight. It wasn't the robes; it was the act of preparing myself for a fight. And this was where it began, with getting suited up.

…

[Malik]

There are some things you never want to see. There are some screams that you never want to hear. I had to suffer through the image of seeing hardened knights as they tried to kill each other. I had to suffer as they cried in bloody murder, screaming in the sickest of nightmare-wrecked madness, both in pain and pleasure as they killed each other. And then you have my men. They patiently stalked their prey, letting the knights wear themselves out before rushing in to kill them. When the knights were dispatched, my men would gather the fallen weapons and shields of the fallen knights. It was better than having nothing to protect themselves with.

My plan of attack was going better than expected. I never thought we'd take this entire battlefront. I thought something would go wrong, but boy was I wrong. Everything was going according to plan. We'd made quite an impact so far. But, the element of surprise was quickly shifting away. Sure, the thick cloud of fear mist was still thick enough to hide me and my men. The only thing the knights knew of the cloud was that whoever it touched ended up screaming like a raving maniac. They could hear the swords clashing, the people screaming in pain as they fight and die, but they couldn't see the bodies yet. They didn't know the carnage within the cloud. They did not know of the advancing army. They only knew one fact: they could not get near the mist. It was because of this that the knights were avoiding us. But that worked in my favor as well. It left me with less people I needed to kill to get near Wolfe. And it also drew a lot of the knights' attention away invading the now crumbling walls of Bricksville.

I made sure I stayed behind the thick cloud as I walked through the battlefield. I used my Sight to see through the thick mist. I knew Ashley would lead the mist to the catapults, and it couldn't have waited any longer. Like I mentioned earlier, the defensive walls were starting to fall down in Bricksville. Any longer and we'd be chasing the army through the town, and we couldn't use our fear mist inside Bricksville. Too many casualties on the other side.

I looked back at the trees filled with Lockley's men. They had arrows filled with the fear mist. When I nodded, they released their first volley of the concentrated mist. I tracked the arrows as they started falling down around crowds of knights. The effect was pretty immediate too. The arrow would fall, the bottles would shatter, and a small mushroom cloud of fear mist would blast out, just enough that a small crowd would breathe some in. Sure, it wouldn't last long like that, but it would do enough in that small time frame. The knights it hit all started coughing but that was soon replaced with knights attacking each other. There was a straight shot to the catapults.

The cloud was starting to slow down. Ashley might be getting tired. If that was the case, the cloud would start dissipating soon. And then we'd lose our only edge and our only cover. I had to do something drastic. As if on cue, I could see something over the horizon of the trees. I had to use my Sight pretty hard to see them, but I could clearly see Vicky, Red, and Lucy leading the whole coven of witches towards us. They were riding on brooms. What? Since when could witches fly on broomsticks?

Laila could see them too. "Is that Red?"

I looked back at Laila. "Stay behind me and cover me. Ok?"

She nodded. "Of course, brother." She looked down at her bandaged leg. "I will try my best."

I broke for a sprint for the first catapult. It was beyond the cloud of mist, and once I left the mist, everyone would know I was here. I just couldn't wait any longer. I'd rather let Wolfe think I was here and behind everything. I wanted to take him out stealthily, but this was more important. I had to protect my friends. If they got caught in the crossfire, I could be looking at a lot more dead bodies. Time to show myself just how much I've grown. I'm an Assassin! I can do this! I've been put in charge of my own den, and it was time I acted like a true Assassin and protect my family.

I broke through the cloud, revealing myself to the stunned knights. Some of them couldn't believe I was actually here. Then again, I'm guessing half of them didn't even knew I existed, or even what I was. Since there were tales of fairies and witches living in these woods, they might have thought I was some sort of malevolent spirit coming to fight them. My sister was right beside me as I sprinted up to the first few stunned knights. Before one of them could respond to me properly, I snapped my hidden blade out, catching him right in the face. I quickly pulled my knife out and jumped out at another knight right behind him. I kicked him as hard as I could, and he went flying back. I snapped around and slashed at another knight just starting to ready his sword. My sister dispatched the knight I knocked down. I could see her struggling to even bend down. I shouldn't try to rely too much on her. Too bad she wouldn't listen to me even if I told her to stay back.

Most knights started to notice me. I had just enough time to yank my hidden knife out of my latest victim's neck before a knight slashed at me with his sword. I thought he was about to make contact, but as he started to bring his sword down his knee gave out. I heard a snap and saw a bolt sticking out of his kneecap. The knight cried out in pain as he went down. I brought my hidden blade right up under his Adam's apple. He stopped screaming.

I looked around for any sign of Wolfe. I could see him standing near his command tent. He wasn't looking at me though. He was looking up at Red, screaming orders to the knights around him. His knights started pulling their bows out, aiming up at her. I knew it… he was going to have them shot down. I snapped my fingers and pointed at Wolfe, looking back at Locksley. I hope he got my message. He must have because not even a second later, I saw more arrows raining from the treetops over towards Wolfe. That didn't stop the first volley of arrows flying up into the sky. The witches were not expecting it. Vicky barely had time to raise a shield. A few witches cried in pain and fell from their brooms.

I cursed and took off in a charge. I watched as Jack and Lucy fell to towards the ground, both crying in pain as they did so. Knights were racing towards where they would land, their swords more than ready to welcome them. I had to get there first, but I knew I wouldn't. They were falling too fast, and just too far away from me. That didn't stop me from trying. I ran through the knights as I raced towards the kids. Too many had died for this stupid crap already; I would not let a single one die anymore.

Knights all around me tried to stop me. I don't know what came over me. I hardly remember it. More than twenty knights turned to fight me. Their armor was thick and covering everything, and I wore nothing but my robes and loose leather armor. That didn't stop my throwing knives, slashing away with my short swords, or even my hidden blade. I just seemed to blur through my enemies. As the first three knights came up to me, I pulled up a throwing knife with my free hand. I threw it at the center guy, sticking out my index finger to the one of the left. That was my signal to Locksley at which one I wanted him to kill. It wasn't even a second later. The knight crumpled over, clutching his eye through the narrow opening in his helmet.

That left me with just one to kill. Well, that one and the wave of the other knights right behind him. Laila was still struggling to catch up to me. It was up to me then. I screamed and ran my hidden blade into the knight's neck. I quickly pulled the knife out, reaching for my short swords. Time to do this right. I'm so going to have some fun with this.

I charged right into the line of knights. Some of them had bows out, all aimed at me. The others with swords were already swinging at me. I didn't have many tricks up my sleeves, but I did have a couple bottles of fear mist. I smashed the pummel of my sword on one of the bottles, cracking it. Fear mist started leaking out, turning into a light mist as it sprayed out. Time to dance. I used the fear mist to my advantage as I dodged the first slash. I danced around the attacker, who was slow because of his heavy clunky armor. As soon as I spun around him, I knew my mist had gotten to him. He was already coughing. Time to kill someone. I spun my short swords around as I looked around for a second.

I didn't have much time to decide. My first victim was already starting to rave. I had to do this quickly. I pointed off to my left and on cue bolts appeared all over those knights. I charged off to the middle. The knights with bows were starting to shoot at me. The knights with swords were starting to charge. So… I rolled across the grass. Arrows fell down around me, and I managed to get through with only a few holes in my robe tails. But that's where it went wrong. My robe was pierced, pinning me to the ground. While not a permanent thing, it did slow me down enough to make me an easy target. And that's what it made me.

Here's where things get… dicey. I don't really remember what happened. But, as the knights started getting close enough to slash me, I took a deep breath. I let myself calm down. Time slowed down for me. And before I knew it, I had my short swords raised above my head. And I had caught an overhead slash from a broadsword. I pulled myself up, ripping my robe tail as I did so. I slid my swords down the length of my enemy's sword. I ended up cutting off the man's hands. And as he screamed in horror. The three knights behind him were just getting ready to stab me. My hands blurred and they ended up stabbing handless man instead of me. And their heads ended up severed from their bodies. Seeing the archers behind this wave of headless knights take aim at me, I decided to be creative. I dropped my short swords. I grabbed the broadsword from the handless pincushion and turned to one of the archers. So… this thing was heavy. But I managed to throw it. And it landed on an archer. Didn't kill him. That's right… it did not kill him. A massive heavy instrument of death… and I throw it… and it doesn't kill my target.

No, it didn't do anything dramatic. It's not like I threw the thing and it impaled him. One: this thing is really heavy. I can't muster that kind of strength to make it hit like that. Two: that archer is heavily armored. Three: I'm clumsy half the time. And pretty incompetent. Hey… I can admit it. But I'm also pretty badass when I need to be. Even stabbing with everything I had I would not be able to impale him. So… while I wanted to impale one of the archers with a flying broadsword of impaling doom, I settled with the sword landing shy of the archer, hitting the ground tip first, and then falling down onto the archer, hitting him just enough that he missed his shot at me. The arrow whizzed past me, hitting that raving knight behind me. I think he died. Or turned his attention over to us. One of the two.

Laila had finally caught up with me. She didn't say anything to me. She just pounced on some knights off to my right. She was a lot faster than me. Her hands were like blurs. Knights tried to swarm her but she just danced around them, and limbs would just fall off. I decided to get up and help her. There was no way we would get to Lucy and Jack fast enough if I just sat here.

I didn't have time to recover my short swords, so I thought I'd just wing it. Laila seemed to be handling herself, but there were some knights off to her left. They were starting to make their way over to her. I could not allow that. So, I took off, tackling the first knight I could. I slammed my fingers into his eye slot. He cried in pain as I dug his eyes out. I kneed him in the crotch, grabbing his sword when I had the chance. I sprinted past him. The other knights going after my sister were starting to pay attention to me. One slashed at me, I spun past him, slamming my sword into the guy's chest. I didn't get past his armor, but I did knock him over. I jumped back, slamming my sword into his chest. Limited plate mail was becoming more prevalent now, so killing these guys was becoming easier too. This guy was only wearing chainmail, as were the knights ahead.

One of the knights ran over to me, slashing. Sensing danger, I spun underneath his blade. I brought my borrowed sword straight up, catching his arm. I brought my arm down as well and I heard his arm snap. I didn't have time to finish him off though; another knight was attacking me. I jumped off to the side, making him miss me by just inches. I slammed my sword into his knees. He crumpled over sidewise. He tried to catch himself on his sword, but a clunk to his head told me Locksley caught him first. He was doing a good job of covering me. Ok so… I killed what? Three, four knights? Laila had killed ten.

Sigh… she's getting the better of me. I can't let her show me up. I dropped the sword and continued to race over to her. Another wave of knights was starting to come over the hilltop to face us. I pulled out my unspent bottle of fear mist, popping the top. I threw it over to the knights. I pulled out a throwing knife, and I threw it at the bottle. The bottle pretty much exploded like the other ones. A small mushroom cloud of almost clear mist puffed out, consuming the knights. They paused as they tried to wipe their eyes. They groaned, they started rubbing their eyes… you can imagine what happened next. They started killing everyone they could see. And not just me. They kept the line pretty busy. Good for us.

"Don't you dare touch us!" I could hear Lucy scream. I had to hurry. She needed my help. Just then, the line of knights ahead of me exploded into fire. I had to cover my eyes as a knight flew over me, screaming in horror as his body was alit with fire. The entire field around Lucy was raging with fire. She stood there, breathing heavily as fire roared all around her. Jack lied right behind her, reaching up at his head, screaming in pain as he rolled around.

"My head, I think I broke it!" Jack cried.

Lucy, still fuming with flames covering her body, looked back at him. "You'll be fine, Jack. I'll make sure of it." She looked over at me. "Hey, Marik. How about some support?"

I nodded. "You plan on healing him?"

"No. But she does." Lucy pointed up at the descending Jill.

She looked concerned. "Don't worry, brother. I'm coming!"

I turned my attention to the hilltop. More knights were getting ready to fall upon us. I looked over at Laila. I looked over at Lucy. "Ok… let's buy some time."

"You have my support as well." Vicky called from above. "Nottingham Coven, exterminate!" Now… that's a battle cry.

Cearbhail:

So, I'm still running the same gag with Jack and Jill and Jack breaking his crown. Anyway, next chapter should be pretty interesting. I plan on having Brian and Olin join the fight with a full perspective on both of them. That's right. Next chapter is all them. And then... we'll have the giant climax with Malik vs. Wolfe. Or Red vs. Wolfe... or both vs. Wolfe. Not sure yet.