Episode 31: Part 2
A gang of Fomorian guards appeared at the entrance of the great hall and drew their weapons, moving to cut off their enemies. The Alliance warriors immediately responded with their own weapons and began to move toward the door. The allied soldiers were outnumbered but they figured if they could fight through the press and secure the door, it would give the knights enough to time to kill Balor. As the sounds of clashing steel and fierce fighting echoed in the cavern, the five knights turned to confront their final enemy who advanced while hefting his axe. With each step he took, Balor seemed to grow in size and strength, adding a few extra feet and pounds of muscle. He slowly peeled off his eye patch revealing his enchanted Evil Eye while dragging his weapon on the ground which created sparks in its wake.
Flickering light from the torches lining the room danced along the walls while Stephen drew back a silver arrow and prepared to fire. As the other four prepared to go head to head against the warlord, Connor turned to Laura, "Okay… any bright ideas or brilliant tactics?"
"Right now, let's just hit him with everything we've got," the Winter Knight responded while moving to attack first.
"Works for me," Quinton chimed in nervously while joining the charge.
Stephen led off the attack and let loose his arrow and it exploded into a starburst volley which Balor easily swept away with a great swing of his axe. As the arrows shattered, Laura made a leaping attack and slashed at the torso of the warlord. He staggered back a moment before giving a laugh as the magic armor he war absorbed the majority of the frigid strike. As Laura moved to slash again, Balor swept the blunt face of the weapon around and bashed her away while Quinton and Noelle charged in to engage the enemy next. Just when they brought their blades around together, Balor blocked their slashes with his own counterblow and the force of his weapon against theirs sent them both flying backwards.
No sooner did he deal with them, Balor growled as he felt a fiery blade slash into his back armor and give off a small cloud of flames. He whirled around in fury to see Connor trying to press his attack and get in another blow, "Forget about me?"
Balor grunted as the Summer Knight drove his blade into the side of the warlord but then began to smile. In what would have been a critical wound to any other Fomorian, Balor didn't seem to slow down or show any weakness. "That was a good attempt boy, but do you think my true power really lies there? Your weapons cannot harm me."
Connor gasped as Balor pulled the blade from his side with the knight still holding on, and fling him across the room. Connor hit the ground and struggled to rise as his friends gathered around in a defensive formation.
"So predictable," the warlord snorted as he zapped the head of his axe with some energy from his Evil Eye. Balor hammered the ground and let loose a rolling quake of earth and flames which tore up the floor of the hall and swept over the knights. The sheer overwhelming force of the attack knocked everyone down and left them dazed and bruised. Upon seeing the human knights knocked back, several of the Elven soldiers of the Four Courts broke off their efforts to hold the door and moved to confront the warlord instead.
Long moments passed as the knights struggled to rise and shake off the hit they had taken. Once the stars began to fade and the heads stopped swimming, the five turned in fear to see Balor move forward sweeping his axe back and forth in powerful reaping cuts. A mixed group of Summer and Winter soldiers who tried to stand in the way were swept aside and instantly killed by the Fomorian's blows. Across the room, a few Spring and Autumn soldiers turned their crossbows to fire on the warlord but Balor turned his Evil Eye upon them and fired a beam of his sinister fire. Before they could discharge their weapons, the Elven archers were instantly vaporized.
"Oh no… this is looking really bad," Noelle gasped in growing dread.
Connor rose to his feet again and readied his blade, "Maybe so, but we've got to do something. We can't let Balor win. Not now… so follow me!"
The knights moved together in a blitz attack to try to overwhelm Balor in a rush of steel. Despite their brave counterattack, the warlord held his ground. Connor struck first but his slash was deflected and the knight was knocked aside by a vicious shoulder check. Quinton followed up, aiming to hamstring his foe with his sickle but Balor swept his horned helm around and knocked the Spring Knight away to the other side of the room. Laura moved next and shielded her advance with a powerful spray of razor sharp ice and blistering snow. The warlord grunted and stumbled backwards a moment while using his weapon to block the attack. Moments later, Laura's ice shield was completely negated as Balor unleashed the powerful fiery magic of his Evil Eye and cooked it away. Laura gasped as her magic was overpowered and she was thrown aside into some nearby tables. In the momentary confusion and chaos, Noelle used the opportunity to dart in and make a leaping thrust with her sword. Balor gave a furious roar as her blade pierced trough some of his armor and into his torso.
Like Connor's prior attack, Balor largely shrugged it off and lashed out at close range, clamping down on the Autumn Knight's neck, "You impudent little girl!"
He lifted her up and began to squeeze, trying to choke the life from her but she stubbornly fought back and used some of her martial arts training in desperation. She gave his wrist a karate chop before throwing her legs up in a snap kick to his chin. Balor dropped her and reeled back in sudden surprise before recovering his wits. With his other hand, he brought his axe around in a downward hacking motion to try and split Noelle apart but Stephen rushed in just in time to tackle her out of the way. Both knights tumbled and skidded away on the floor, dazed and relieved at the same time.
"Oh man… thanks for the save Stephen. I owe you one," Noelle gasped in gratitude as he helped her up.
"We can settle up later," the Silver Knight replied while turning back to the battle at hand, "How are we going to bring Balor down? That guy is built like a tank and shrugging off everything we throw at him."
The other knights regrouped around the two and fell back as Balor stalked closer like a predatory animal cornering its prey. Connor watched the Fomorian lord close in and furiously racked his brain for a new strategy when he saw Balor's Evil Eye flicker. Balor had said their weapons could not hurt him and that his body was not where his true power lay. Perhaps all that had been tied up in the enchanted eye of the warlord. If they could strike back and get at that eye, they would possibly have a shot at victory.
"Okay knights, new plan. I say we go stick Balor right in that eye. If we can take it out, it might weaken him just enough."
"Are you nuts?" Stephen exclaimed incredulously, "Did you see what it did to those Elves? If we even get close to that thing, it'll vaporize us for sure."
His argument was cut off as the knights saw the last of the Alliance soldiers fall to the overwhelming number of Fomorian troops at the door. Even with their newfound advantage against the heroes, the Fomorian warriors stayed back and gave their leader room. No doubt they were afraid to get in the way and didn't want to interfere in Balor's personal battle.
The Summer Knight ignited his sword, "Only one of us has to get that close to that eye Stephen. We'll use everything left in the tank if that's what it takes to protect ourselves. Everyone?"
The five focused their will and raised their weapons together, "Sidhe Armor!"
The five knights paused a moment to draw on the rest of their strength and call upon the golden power of the Faerie Lords. As they emerged in their golden wargear and radiated colorful auras of elemental energy, all the Fomorians including Balor recoiled from the bright light. The warlord snorted and pounded his axe on the ground, "Give it up humans. There's no way you're going to survive. The battle is over."
"It's not over until we say it's over," Laura retorted as the five friends changed their formation and prepared for one last coordinated strike. The Winter Knight pointed her rapier to the ground and gave a nod to Stephen in order to signal the attack. Stephen drew back a charged arrow and aimed it at Balor. At the last moment, he aimed it at the cavern ceiling above the monster and fired the bolt. The arrow struck the rocks above and blasted a small avalanche down upon the head of Balor.
The warlord growled in surprise and shrugged off the momentary disorientation as several large rocks fell upon him and distracted him. Laura drove her rapier into the ground causing a sheet of slippery ice to quickly spread out and surround Balor, causing him to lose his balance. While the Fomorian leader slipped and teetered about for a moment, both Quinton and Noelle acted in tandem, channeling the power of their rings to blind Balor with a brilliant thunderclap and blow him over with a powerful gust of wind. As the Fomorian troops shielded their eyes, Balor slipped again on the ice and fell over onto his back, momentarily blinded and deafened by the last attack.
Without wasting a moment, Connor charged forward with his sword and slid on the ice toward the fallen form of Balor. As he slid close, the Summer Knight jumped and turned his blade downward aiming right for the sinister glowing eyeball of the warlord. A sizzling and popping sound was heard as the tip of Connor's blade struck home and drove down into Balor's skull. Everyone held their breath watching in shock before Balor screamed in pain and rage. A powerful burst of malevolent energy erupted from his ruined eye and blasted Connor backward. The surge of energy that spread through the room was so powerful that it knocked down everyone present and killed a few nearby spriggans. As the five knights toppled over from the blast, they writhed in stunned pain from residual effects and felt their armor dispel too.
The mortally wounded Balor continued to wail in agony as he desperately staggered to his feet while powerful rays of dark fire continued to stream from his ruined eye. The knights stayed down and ducked as the beams of lethal energy swept around the cavern, cutting clean through the tables and ornaments of the room. As Balor continued to thrash about and reel from side to side, his fiery rays swept around and struck more of his own Fomorian troops that were still in the room. Handfuls of spriggans and lesser fiends who were caught in the line of fire were instantly incinerated and destroyed.
Finally, Balor gave one more groan before falling to his knees and releasing a death rattle. The great warlord of the Fomorian host collapsed to the ground face-first and began to combust as his magic eye burned him up from within. Everyone stopped and stared in amazement as Balor disintegrated, leaving only a red blazing ball of evil fire which continued to burn on the ground and quickly melt through the stone floor, probably back to whatever hellish place it had originally come from.
"Is everyone okay?" Quinton croaked as he rolled over in exhaustion and pain, "Is Balor really gone?"
"I think we've got a few more important problems to deal with," Laura groaned as she pulled herself to her knees and watched in dread as the remaining army of Fomorian minions began to close in around them.
By now, the only thing that the exhausted and battle weary friends could do was watch in desperation as the remaining monsters closed in on all sides of the dark cavern, intent on exacting revenge for their fallen lord. As the knights huddled together, Connor wiped some grime from his face before putting a protective arm over Noelle to shield her from harm. Despite having defeated the Fomorian leader, the knights felt their hearts sink into despair at their desperate situation. Balor might have been gone, but they were surrounded, alone in the dark, outnumbered by enemies, and no longer strong enough to fight any longer. They waited for the steel of the vengeful Fomorian weapons to end them when a loud gushing sound was heard.
The floor began to tremble as the humans and monsters all stopped to stare at the surreal sight before them. In the spot where Balor's Evil Eye had melted through the cave floor, a powerful geyser of water suddenly erupted and began to gush out in gallons at a time, as if some underground lake had suddenly been tapped. Everyone jumped to their feet and scrambled about in confusion as water from the deep recesses of the earth continued to well up and fill the room. The Fomorians immediately forgot about the knights and scrambled to evacuate the caves, but the crowded hall of enemy soldiers only caused more chaos and bodies falling over each other.
"What the hell is going on here?" Stephen called out as he waded through the rapidly filling cavern.
"No time! Let's go!" Laura shouted as she pushed forward and tried to lead the others out into the rest of the caves. At the rate the caverns were filling with water, it was likely they'd never make it back up to the surface in time, but they had to try.
Amid the press of fleeing bodies, the water rose ever higher and the knights found themselves separated from one another. Connor pushed past a flailing spriggan and brushed aside water trying to reach out to Laura. She extended her hand and their fingers briefly met but the water splashed them again and they were lost in the confusion. He thrashed about in fear and desperation, trying to find his friends in the dark watery cavern, "Laura! Quinton! Noelle!"
Before he could shout out anything more to his friends, a fresh wave of water streamed out and engulfed the Summer Knight, tossing him end over end in the water. As he spun, he felt a strong current pulling him in some direction, but it was impossible to tell which way was up or down in the darkness of the water filled caves. All he could do was hold his breath for dear life and pinch his eyes shut. If he was going to drown with his friends in the darkness of this terrible place, he decided he'd fight back and cling to every precious second of life he could. As the current continued to grow and the churning waters rose ever higher, the five knights and all their Fomorian enemies were swept away and greeted with the darkness of possible oblivion.
An indeterminate time later, Connor slowly regained consciousness and felt warm sunlight on his face. The sound of chirping birds greeted his ears as he lay half submerged in some pool of water. His whole body ached and felt weighted down by lead but he managed to slowly crack an eye open. Once his vision cleared, he could see, he was lying on the edge of a small freshwater spring. He was surrounded by trees and it looked to be some wooded clearing, but it was hard to tell where exactly. He was still submerged in the water from the waist down, but his back was against the slope of the ground leading to the still pond. Even more unusual, a host of small colorful pixies bobbed and floated around the pond as if keeping watch on all five of them.
As the Summer Knight sat up slowly, he looked over and saw his four other friends also laying at the edge of this natural spring. Like him, they were slowly coming to with a chorus of groans and disoriented mumbles. Once they had all fully regained their senses, they pulled themselves up from the water and lay drying off on the grassy ground. The pixies continued to float idly around the pond and didn't seem perturbed at all by the intruding humans.
"What happened? Where are we?" Noelle sighed stretching her arms out.
"We're not dead... are we?" Quinton mused but his question was met by gentle laughter from a familiar voice.
"No Quinton. You're not dead. In fact, you're very much alive," Kristen smiled as she entered the faerie glade followed by several member of the Alliance army. "We weren't sure what happened when the cave systems suddenly overflowed with underground spring water. It some searching, but we finally found you guys. It's a miracle you five ended up here... and that this fresh spring was connected to the cave system."
"What about the Fomorians?" Stephen sighed in exhaustion, "When we defeated Balor, his magic eye must have melted the earth and triggered some underground well of water. We were the only other survivors."
Kristen smiled gently and shook her head, "None of the other Fomorians washed up. Either they all drowned in the caves or were washed away to some other faraway place."
"So it's finally over then?" Laura said while trying to lift her head. "We finally won?"
She was exhausted and sore, but her voice and the curl in her lips betrayed a relieved smile. Kristen leaned on her staff with a protective look over the five young people before giving a warm smile, "Yes... the threat of Balor and the Fomorian army is finally over. Our job here is done."
"Oh... that's nice," Connor yawned as he felt all the fatigue and soreness that he and his friends had endured over the past year all seem to come and hit him at once, "I just... need a minute or two to take it all in."
The Druid exchanged smiles with the other Elves present on the faerie springs before turning to her charges. Each of them looked ready to fall back asleep from their harrowing near death experience, "Take as much time as you need. We can sort out all the details later. The war is finally over and it's time to rest now. God knows the five of you have earned it."
A/N:
Thanks again for sticking it out with me this long everyone! I'll be posting the official ending chapters to this series in the next few days so just hang in there. We're almost home free!