Chapter 17
The Battle for Equidor
Renegade Seraph
Seifer scrambled up from his place on the tiled floor. Quickly he surveying his surroundings and stumbled over to an old wooden wardrobe. In haste he grabbed the only item from within, a silver Gunblade. His eyes glistened as he looked at the shining blade.
"It has been too long." He whispered to the blade, as if it could understand. Sheathing the sharp weapon, he placed his hands on the most powerful thing he owned. The Dragon Eye Staff. Next he wrapped a dark cloak about his shoulders and left the bedroom. Guards jumped out of his way as he walked. One of them, who must have thought himself very important walked on Seifer's right.
"Is the army marching?" Seifer asked.
"Yes My Lord, they will be just reaching the out skirts of your city as we speak." The man replied. Seifer nodded.
"Good, ready my horse. I have some runaways to catch." Seifer said, stalking away leaving the man to shout some orders at his fellow guards.
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"Squall!" Zell called, "Thank Hyne you are alright!"
Squall nodded in reply, he then jumped down and held his hand out to Rinoa. She held onto it and slid off of the horse to stretch her legs. After walking around a bit, she wrapped her arms around Squall. Trying her best to share as much warmth as she could. Her soaking hair could not hold anymore of the down pouring rain, instead it trickled down her face and neck in a steady stream. She shivered into Squall, as he did the best he could to warm her. Zell rummaged around in a bag that was strapped to his horse. "Here" He offered, handing Squall a large coat. Squall placed Rinoa's arms carefully into the sleeves; she looked so cold that she appeared ill.
"Are you alright?" Squall asked. Rinoa nodded her head, but her body answered the question with a more honest reply as her legs suddenly collapsed beneath her. Squall caught her before she fell. "Rinoa I'm sorry. I should have looked after you more carefully. Given you something warm to wear before we set off, but I wasn't thinking. I'm so sorry." Squall apologised, trying his best to shelter her from the cold winds and the rain. Rinoa leant into him; too weak to even tell him it was all right.
A loud tremor shook the ground.
"What was that?" Selphie asked. Squall looked up, he had been feeling relaxed. Holding his angel close to him, but his peace was shattered.
"I don't know" Squall replied, looking behind him. Now that he thought about it, this had been a stupid place to stop. They couldn't see what was behind the hill they had just come up over. The only way they would see if someone was approaching would be if they came up over the hill, and then it would be too late. "Lets get out of here" Squall whispered, but it was clear he hadn't made the decision quick enough, for at the horizon could be seen the first wave of Seifer's army.
Squall jumped into his saddle and pulled Rinoa up behind him. He backed his horse up and turned it around. But he was met with another worrying sight. On the other side of them, far off in the distance another army was fast approaching.
"Zell, what do we do?" Squall asked, trying to remain calm. Zell didn't answer, instead kept looking in turn at each army. Both were closing in fast.
Squall flipped a coin in his mind. Which army should they move towards? Reason told him that the one furthest away, coming from the direction of Seadon was the best bet.
"Come on!" He shouted, riding towards the rain blurred army. Rinoa clung onto Squall with her numb hands. The coldness she was feeling was painful for her small fingers. But with every step of the horse her eyes became more and more focused to the faces of the army, which they were moving towards. The leader seemed to be smiling and looking very friendly. She felt Squall relax in her arms when he saw him.
"Squall!" The leader called. They were now moving with the army back the way they had come. "Thought you might need some back up son!" The man said laughing.
"B..but how did you know….?" Squall asked. The dark haired man raised a hand to silence him.
"Your friend Quistis says she overheard you at the bar, she, rather than follow you, did a sensible thing and told me."
"Sorry father. I would have told you but there wasn't the time..." Squall apologised.
"No no, it's worked out better this way anyway." Laguna said laughing. Squall wondered how he could keep a happy appearance when he was marching to into battle. "Anyway who is this young lady?" He asked, noticing Rinoa for the first time.
"Father this is Lady Rinoa Heartilly." Squall replied. Laguna looked at her.
"She doesn't look well Squall, you need to get her out of this rain!" Laguna warned. Squall nodded. "Give her to Branson here, he will take her back to Seadon quicker than you can." Squall looked at whom Laguna was calling Branson. "Trust me Squall, she will be safe!"
Squall nodded; reluctantly he helped Rinoa over onto Branson's horse.
"My name is Sir Artermis Branson My Lord, and I swear I will get her back safely. You have my word."
"Thankyou" Squall replied, as he watched him ride off with Rinoa. Rinoa looked over her shoulder at Squall; Her eyes sad and full of tears, she mouthed the words 'I love you' as she was taken away.
With Rinoa gone, Squall's attention was to the opposition army, they were fast approaching them.
"Squall, let me deal with the army. You go do what you set out to do." Laguna said, as he held up his hand to stop his army. Squall nodded, knowing that he meant face Seifer. Squall called Zell, Selphie, Quistis and Irvine over to him.
"We are going to find Seifer" Was all that Squall said. The others nodded and pulled out their weapons. "Lets do what we came here for!"
Squall rode out the edge of the battleground. The others followed close behind. Here he got his first view of Seifer's army. The sight was not welcoming, what he had not noticed before however was that the army was not human. Though each warrior wore armour of a human, they, the warriors clearly were not. Black scaly skin covered their bodies, and sharp talons were extending out of bony hands. These were truly demons of the sinister dark hells. They bared their slime-covered fangs as they prepared to attack. A wave of arrows hit them from Laguna's army, knocking a few of the down. The arrows continued, only this time they carried fire with them, these seemed more effective.
Squall scanned the place for Seifer, but there was no sign of him. Squall dismounted his horse and looked about him. They were on the edge of the battleground, far enough away from the fight as not to be a target for Seifer's army. Behind them was a cliff; the storm that was blowing the rain into their eyes was lashing the sea in a powerful frenzy. The white waves hit the jagged rocks below them causing the rain to sound ten times louder.
Out of the sounds of waves, and the screams of the battle there was another sound that was heard. A loud clunking of metal was beating into the ground at a rhythm. Squall turned to see a large grey horse stamping towards them. Steam billowed out of its nose, giving it a wild and untamed appearance. Sat on top of the strong animal was Seifer. Before Squall could move Seifer raised the hilt of his Gunblade and hit Squall to the floor. Squall struggled to regain a clear image of his surroundings as he felt the blood on the side of his face with his hand. Zell leapt off his horse to help his master, but was attacked almost immediately by two large monstrous black dogs. The others were also subjected to Seifer's monsters as large flying beasts knocked them all to the floor. Selphie screamed.
"Now that they are busy, how about a little one on one?" Seifer asked, throwing Squall his Gunblade with an evil laugh. Squall smudged the blood from his cheek out of the way and took up a battle stance. "Ha! You think you have a chance against me?" Seifer asked laughing. Squall didn't answer, he didn't know if he did or not.
AN: Wooh yea some action!! Lol. Thankyou for reading, I promise some happier chapters to come. But um not for a while. I've added a new scene to this fic, so it won't be ending as soon as I thought it might. Yey but that could be a good or bad thing. Please tell me what you thought about this chapter. I had to get Rin out of the picture for a while so no romance for a bit, sorry! I was trying to make it realistic, so tell me if you thought I did ok. Thankyou!!!
Special Thanx to these reviewers…
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