Last time on The Stones of Fate…
Spiros has a talk with a man named Shirley who reveals that a segment of the Roman Military is illegally experimenting with Atlantian technology and making automatons: immensely powerful and complex machines of war. Afterwards, a war meeting goes awry when Spiros and his friends argue that Balor is a bigger threat then the rebellion. Subsequently, they are imprisoned for their own 'safety'. Our heroes manage to escape that night, with the secret blessing of Queen Elinor and King Fergus. They set off to stop Balor from amassing his army. However, the Romans are in the highlands and Lord Dingwall is in hot pursuit,
and now...
Chapter 9
Dusk
Spiros awoke with a yawn and stretched his arms; he quickly realized he was on Angus' back when he started to lose his balance. His eyes bugged out as he flailed his arms around in a desperate effort to keep himself on the horse. He quickly wrapped his arms around Merida's waist, causing her to yelp.
"Oi! Good mornin'." She said with a chuckle.
"Where are we?" Spiros asked, trying to take in his surroundings.
"Well we spent the night in that cave you fell asleep in, got up, loaded you onto the saddle and got on the road again. We passed through a town a few minutes ago and we should be coming up on our destination by day's end." She explained.
"How have I managed to stay on the horse this entire time?" He asked.
"You've been resting you're head on my back, and Seona is behind us. When you started falling off, she rightened you." She replied.
"Ahem!" Seona grumbled.
"You might want to let go of me, before she stabs you." Merida grumbled.
"Oh right...sorry." Our hero murmured, returning his arms to his sides before taking a second look at his surroundings. To his left was a narrow lake, the early morning light reflecting off of the water, making it look as if the lake was filled with shimmering fire. To his left were a series of high rolling hills, a small heard of deer were watching them from the top of the biggest hill. Past those hills, the stars could still be seen far off in the western sky.
He had always wondered what those stars were, why were they called stars? What were they made out of? Fire? Silver? Gold? Was there someone who was asking the same questions? Were they off on a quest to save their home?
Home
Surely he couldn't call this land his home. His home was in Greece. All that remained was a pile of rotting wood and dusty bones. Could he truly have a home again? Even though he wasn't native to this land of northern soil. What was stopping him from having a home anyway? There was nothing that said he couldn't. Perhaps it was the fear. The fear that this place ,where his heart felt most secure and at peace, would fall because if the evils that would pursue him.
He narrowed his eyebrows in determination.
No.
Whatever he called this place, he would not allow it to fall to the forces of darkness. It would be a never ending siege but it was one that he was willing to endure. A cool morning breeze ruffled his hair. He inhaled deeply before continuing to admire the surrounding landscape. Meanwhile, his chain loosened itself just a bit.
"Beautiful isn't it?" Merida asked.
He snapped out of his thoughts and nodded after a slight delay.
"Welcome to the Isle of Skye." She told her friend with a grin.
"You see those rock formations, on the slope of that mountain that's just over there?" She asked pointing to the horizon.
He squinted before replying.
"Yeah...I see em."
"That's the Sanctuary, and the biggest rock is called The Old Man of Storr. That's the place we're heading to."
"We're almost there." The Greco said with a grin.
She nodded.
"Hey, the others are stopping for a bathroom break so if you guys want to get off and stretch your legs, now is the time." Seona told them.
Merida promptly had Angus pull off the muddy road and onto a patch of grass where they could have breakfast while he grazed. The duo hopped off and promptly set up the makeshift dining area. Spiros laid out a blanket that he got from Seona's backpack while Merida took the biscuits and jam from her own backpack. While Merida and Spiros made prepared the meal, Seona took the saddles off the horses and placed them side by side next to the eating area. Shortly thereafter, the others returned from their bathroom break and sat down to eat.
The sun was now just barely creeping into the sky, it was still very early though. Spiros was a little surprised, they were actually making decent time. He felt something poke him in the neck. He looked around, but no one was acting abnormally. He continued to eat when he felt the poke once again. He looked over to see Merida looking at the rising sun. He finished his breakfast and stood up.
" I'm gonna go for a walk around these hills, we should probably leave in about an hour." He suggested.
" Good idea that will give the horses some down time." Seona replied.
"A bath sounds nice." Young Macintosh murmured, looking over at the lake.
"Vailean, that water is probably freezing. Going for a dip in there is probably going to get you sick." Seona grumbled.
"Well...I don't tell you how to live your life." He replied.
"Do whatever you want pretty boy, but don't come asking me for herbal tea when slime is pouring out of your nose." She chided, standing up to leave.
"Sis, where are you going?" Merida asked.
"I'm not gonna sit here and watch them swim around!" She replied.
Merida quickly understood.
"Heh, um I get it now. I'm gonna go with Spiros in his walk. Where will you be?"
"Scouting ahead."
Merida turned to see Spiros taking off his shirt.
"Are you going for a dip too?" She asked.
"No, I'm gonna take this armor off." He replied, doing exactly what he said before putting his shirt back on.
"Ok, let's go for a stroll." He said with a slight grin.
The duo were walking through a field a tall grass when once again, Merida poked Spiros in, this time, in the side of his ribs. She tried to contain her giggles when he gave her the look.
"Ok that's it." He told her.
She yelped as he picked her up and spun her around.
The duo fell into the tall grass and began to wrestle, but Merida managed to get the upper hand when she sat down on top of our hero and began to tickle his sides.
"Not fair!" He exclaimed.
"Surrender!" She demanded playfully.
"Hahaha, O-ok, ok you win!" He gasped.
She nodded , feeling accomplished and got off of him and laid down on her side. While he remained on his back, trying to recover from the attack. Both of them were still chuckling.
"So...you ready to take on Balor?" She asked, suddenly turning the carefree atmosphere serious.
"I hope so." He mumbled.
"Hey, you won't be alone like you have been all your life. You'll have us to back you up. That scumbag won't know what hit him." She assured him.
"Are you scared?" He asked her.
"A little." She replied.
"Me too."
"Spiros!" Seona shouted from the distance.
He got up to see her standing atop a mound of dirt.
"You might want to come look at this!" She told him.
The Greco pulled Merida to her feet and then set off to investigate.
...
They arrived at a giant crash site. Burnt feathers created a trail that led to a giant impact crater. Then another trail of tracks led away from the site and back onto the main road. It looked as if Visilis had crashed here and then was dragged/led away from the crash site.
"Where is the nearest village?" Spiros asked.
" A place called Trotternish. It's not very far from here." Merida replied.
"We should get moving." Seona suggested.
"Hey guys!" Spiros shouted.
There was a delay before Young MacGuffin replied in his usual gibberish.
Spiros assumed he said 'what' and responded:
"We're leaving!"
"We just got in!" Dingwall protested.
"Well get out, we've got a lot of ground to cover!" Seona snapped.
Soon Spiros was back on his horse and, with his allies behind him, they were speeding towards Trotternish with hope that their feathered friend would be there.
...
They arrived in to find Trotternish under siege.
Guards were rushing out of the fort with crossbows and longbows strapped to their backs. Other guards were manning the single catapult the fort had and the three ballistas and unleashed hell on their foes.
Our heroes brought their horses to a stop and dismounted, drawing their weapons.
"If they cross the bridge, we are all gonna die! Fight! Fight for your lives!" The Captain of the Guard shouted.
"Hey!" Merida shouted, walking up to him.
He turned as a small building behind him burst into flames.
"Princess Merida, my lady, what are you doing here?" He asked while kneeling.
"Forget the formalities sir, what's going on?" She asked.
"These demons came charging from The Storr. Their armor is made of something that I've never seen before. Most of our arrows either bounce off their armor. The arrows that do punch through just tick them off. It takes at least two ballista bolts just to kill one of em!" He shouted as a ball of fire streaked in from the north and destroyed a ballista emplacement.
Spiros suddenly felt ill.
"We're too late." He murmured.
" We believe a Griffin crashed near here, do you know anything about that?" Seona asked.
"Yes, he's in the stables. It took awhile to get him to trust us but eventually he allowed our doctor to bandage his wing." The guard replied.
"He is my mount, thank you for helping him." Spiros told the man.
"Incoming!" A guard shouted as a giant crystal spear flew impaled itself the catapult. Tiny bolts of red lighting shot off of the crystal before it exploded in a flash of light. The men that had been operating the machine were now nothing but charred skeletons and the catapult itself was on fire.
"Nothing is stopping them now." The man said somberly.
"I beg to differ. Macintosh, MacGuffin follow me, let's go!" Seona shouted charging into battle.
"Let's go see Visilis, then we can help my sister." Merida suggested.
Spiros nodded and with Merida and Dingwall in tow, they set off for the stables.
...
Seona resisted the urge to gawk at her foes.
They were clad in dark grey armor comprised of interlocking steel plates that gave the suit a smooth streamlined look, only their mouths' were exposed . Singular red veins of what appears to be lave ran up the arms, legs and back of the creatures. The veins in the arm ran up to the shoulder and created the last symbol of the Greek alphabet.
The Omega.
The veins on the legs and back converged to create the same symbol of the chest. They had four red slits where their eyes should have been and another Omega symbol was engraved into the crest of their helmets. In their right hands were curved black swords. Blood red flames danced off the edges of the blade. In their left hand were weapons that looked light crossbows. Except when fired they shot out three crystals simultaneously in a horizontal line.
Those were the common soldiers, the officers had helmets that were golden and were shaped like an omega and their armor was made of polished silver. Instead of red lava in their armor veins, it was molten gold. They had elongated crossbows that shot bolts of lighting and they were even tougher to kill.
When the creatures roared, they revealed their two rows of serrated teeth and their thin black snake like tongue along with a pair of six inch fangs. They walked with a slight hunch, as if they were stalking an animal. Their feet were Y shaped and they only had three fingers, as opposed to five and even in their slouched posture they stood about seven feet tall.
Seona charged one of them and sliced it across the chest with her double bladed sword. The beast shrugged off the blow and swung at her with its own sword. She ducked and tried to drive her sword through its gut. Once again her blade practically bounced off the creature's armor as if it were a toy.
She made two more quick slices but there was still no effect, her adversary sliced at her again and missed by just an inch.
MacGuffin charged in and took a golf swing at the beast's leg. The creature snarled as the axe partially cut into its leg. It hobbled to face Gregor and roared. The young man responded by swinging his axe again, this time at the beasts head. In reposes it ducked and punched him in the gut, sending him staggering backwards into another Omegasevrian, he was smacked aside by the advancing officer.
...
"Visilis!" Spiros shouted, hugging his friend's head.
The Griffin cooed and nuzzled him. The Griffin was still covered in bandages, the crash had really done a number on him.
"We don't have time for much of a reunion buddy...we failed. The Omegasevrians are tearing this town apart." The Greco said somberly.
The Griffin growled.
"You know where you crashed?" Our hero asked.
Visilis nodded.
"I need you to take as many people as you can to that place, because if they don't get out of dodge. They're doomed."
The Griffin nodded.
"I'll tell the Captain of the Guard about this, you two should get to the front lines." Dingwall suggested.
Merida and Spiros nodded, heading off to fight.
...
Young Macintosh continued to back pedal as the Omegasevrians continued to advance. He was using a crossbow he had picked up from a fallen guard to shoot at an officer that was advancing on him. Four crossbow bolts were protruding from the creature's chest, but it didn't seem to care about that. Vailean shot his last bolt into the creatures head, it snarled and charged him. He drew his sword and swung it at the officer's head, partially cutting through its armor. The beast wailed as orange blood spurted from its neck. Macintosh yelled and shoved the creature away before decapitating it with a second strike.
Then from the rooftop of a house to his left, another Omegasevrian jumped down and tried to stab him. He rolled backwards narrowly avoiding the attack. He scooted away from the beast as it advanced on him, just as it raised its sword to strike a pair of arrows sailed into its chest. One arrow bounced off but the other managed to punch through. Then an electrified spear was driven through the creature's gut. Spiros snarled and smacked his foe's head with the edge of his shield. He then pulled his spear out of the creatures gut and stabbed it again. Finally it fell over and died.
"Macintosh get off your butt!" Merida shouted as she ran past him.
"Yaaaahhh!" One village guard shouted as he charged into battle, reading his crossbow to fire. He fired only to be impaled by a pair of orange crystals. He screamed in agony and fell over, dragging himself behind an overturned wagon to shelter himself from more enemy fire.
Two of his fellow guards rushed to his aid, when they tried to pull the crystals from his chest they quickly turned black and exploded, sending tiny bits of razor sharp shrapnel flying through the air in every direction. All of them were now dead.
"How many more are there?" Seona shouted.
"At least a few dozen, maybe more!" One guard wailed as he stuck his body out from behind a crate to fire his crossbow only to be incinerated by a bolt of lightning.
"Set up a line of fire!" Merida shouted, trying to organize the scrambled and terrified defenders.
Spiros was forced to analyze the battlefield, trying to find a way to turn the tables on his enemy. The village was split in two. The southern section of the village contained the fort, the Inn, and the stables along with about seven houses. All of which were on fire. The fort was small, it was a stone building with a small iron gate for an entrance on the western wall. Outside the northern wall, were the two remaining ballista emplacements. They had a clean line of sight that over looked the northern section of the village, which was separated from the southern segment by the bridge that crossed over the raging river rapids. The northern segment of the village was significantly bigger than the southern area. There were mostly houses here, aside from the blacksmith, the now destroyed market and Royal Embassy, where Merida and her family would stay if they ever came to visit.
The Omegasevrians were advancing on them from the north, coming down the hill that The Storr was located on. This gave their ranged fighters a distinct advantage over the people who were now fighting at the base of the hill, because they could fire down on them. The ballista emplacements, although powerful, we're too few in number to be a game changer. Spiros knew what this meant, they would not be fighting to control the area or completely destroy enemy forces. Instead they would have to buy time for the civilians to evacuate while waging a war of attrition on their attackers, killing as many of them as they can so that, in an attempt to conserve his forces, Balor would be forced to have them withdraw and thus give Spiros some breathing room so that he could plan his next move.
"Merida, hang back here, injure as many of them as you can!" Our hero instructed.
She nodded and continued firing.
"Seona, I'm letting you off the chain. Fire, lighting, water. Whatever you can dish out, do so. Hit em hard."
The Vanguard ran off, but not before electrifying her blade.
"Fellas, fight your way up the street. Get people out of their houses, across the bridge and get them out of here. Give them our horses so that they can pull wagons or load up to six people onto Visilis. He knows where to go."
The three boys nodded and split up. Spiros then turned his attention to an approaching Omegasevrian Officer. He charged the creature and locked blades with him. A ballista bolt sailed past him and skewered an Omegasevrian solider that was attempting to join the fight. The solider was carrying along metal rod with a distorted crystal formation at the end. Before dying, the solider chopped off the back half of the rod and lit the forward section ablaze with his sword. The crystal formation shot off the rod and sailed wildly through the air, it crashed just a few feet away from the ballista emplacement with a thunderous explosion. The blast overturned the weapon and rendered it ineffective for the time being.
...
Wee Dingwall kicked the door to a burning house down to find two little girls hiding in the corner, next to a pile flaming wood.
"Mama." The smallest child wailed. Dingwall noticed the body of a women pinned beneath the pile of wood. He suddenly felt queasy.
"Girls, girls. Come with me please." He pleaded.
The eldest girl shook her head.
"I need to get you both to come with me, I'm gonna get you out of here." He explained.
"Who are you?" The eldest girl asked.
"My name is Eoghan, I'm from Clan Dingwall."
"There's monsters outside." The littlest girl whimpered.
"My friends and I will make them go away, I promise." He told her, walking towards them.
They shuffled over to him, flinching every time they heard a scream or an explosion. Slowly but surely they made their way to the front door where he stopped them.
"Ok girls, we're gonna have to run-"
"What if I'm not fast enough!"
"You will be, nothing's gonna happen to you. I won't let the monsters get near you but you're gonna have to run as fast as you can, ok?"
The girls nodded as mangled chunk of crystals flew down and destroyed the house across the street. They screamed as crystal fragments whizzed by the front door.
"Spiros, Merida, cover us!" He shouted as they bolted out from the door way.
The Greco drove his sword into the officer's gut for a sixth time, dispatching him. He then sprinted to his friend's aid. He put up his shield and back pedaled, keeping any projectiles from hitting Eoghan or the girls he was escorting.
A large crystal spear slammed into the vanguard's shield with such a force that it knocked him to the ground. He groaned and yanked the spear out his shield, throwing it into the crowd of advancing foes.
Merida had gone through two and a half quivers of arrows and had only killed six Omegasevrians. Eoghan and two little girls ran past her with Gregor in tow, who had two injured guards slung over his shoulders and a mother and her infant directly behind him.
"Do NOT give them one inch of ground without a belly full of Highland Steel!" Macintosh shouted, cutting off the leg of an Omegasevrian solider and then stabbing him in the back once he collapsed.
"Vailean, behind you!" Seona shouted from across the battlefield.
He turned to see an officer charging at him with his sword ready to strike, but a village guard intercepted the beast, jumping on him and trying to pull him to the ground. The creature merely snorted and plucked the guard off of his body like he was a leech and threw him into a pile of burning lumber.
Then the officer shrieked as a ballista bolt impaled him in the side. Vailean turned to see Wee Dingwall manning the ballista after a member of the crew had been killed by stray fire.
The two little girls he had escorted across the bridge were now in line for evacuation, there were about 30 people waiting for a ride out of the village. Luckily the guards were prioritizing mothers, children, and the elderly by putting them on Visilis. The Griffin was taking off and landing every few minutes, the other evacuees were being loaded onto wagons and carriages.
Meanwhile, our heroes were struggling to hold the line as casualties were beginning to mount. There were only a handful of guards left and now the Omegasevrians were attacking from the north as well as the east. One of the guards informed Spiros that there was a bridge about a mile down river that was completely unguarded. The Vanguard sighed.
Why were they barely telling him this now?
Their foes were continuing to advance, our heroes were now setting up a last line of defense in order to hold the bridge. There was still a dozen people left to be evacuated. MacGuffin shouted out something and prepared to fight his axe.
"Gregor's out of crossbow bolts!" Merida yelped.
The young man jumped out from behind a pile of lumber and went on the attack. He charged an Omegasevrian and took a swing at him. The creature ducked and avoided the blow, it sliced Gregor across the chest, leaving a burn and an open wound where the edge of the blade had struck him. Gregor scowled and punched his foe in the head, sending him reeling. The beast roared at him and charged, tackling him and pulling an obsidian knife from its sheath which was strapped to right his shoulder. Gregor punched his foe in the head once more but it hardly phased him. The creature raised his knife and prepared to strike when an arrow sailed into his hand, causing him to drop the knife. Gregor got a hold of the weapon and stabbed his foe in the chest before shoving the creature into the raging river.
"These guys are kicking our butts!" Seona shouted as she recovered from a punch to the gut from an Omegasevrian officer. Spiros charges into assist, driving his sword into the creature's back and then drawing his crossbow and putting a bolt in the back of his foe's leg. The officer screeched in agony, spun around and swung his sword at the Greco. The tip of blade cut him just below the left eye.
Our hero was sent reeling as he tried to cope with the stinging of the cut and the agony of his skin being burnt. The officer got up only to find Seona jumping onto his back. She dropped her double bladed sword and drew two small throwing knives, driving them both into the back of the creature's neck. The officer exhaled and collapsed, dead.
Another officer who was just coming down the hill let out a series of screeches, the small army began to withdraw.
"They're retreating, advance lads!" The Captain of the Guard shouted.
About half a dozen guards surged forward, drawing their swords and giving chase to their foes. They made it to the edge of town before they were killed by the incoming reinforcements.
"Gargoyle!" Seona shouted.
The creature was at least 15 feet tall, it's tan skin appeared to be leathery, rusted steel armor protected its shoulders, wings, tail, chest, belly and knees. Instead of eyes, it had gill like slits that flared open on occasion. Its head was similar to that of a dog with mange, pointed ears, large fangs and dagger like teeth, elongated snout and patches of moss here and there. It's legs and tail we're reptilian while it's arms and torso were humanoid. Small metal pipes ran down its back, which were pumping out puffs of foul smelling black smoke every now and then. The creature had an iron grate over the hole in the center of its chest, inside that hole was a blazing fire. The Gargoyles wings were incredibly bat like, but were riddled with holes and tears. The beast lumbered down the street with a bit of a limp, the only limb that wasn't helping it walk was the left arm, which held a bloody halberd.
"Fall back!" The Captain of the Guard shouted, leading his forces across the bridge. Our heroes followed suit.
"Aim for the head!" Macintosh told Dingwall as he sprinted across the bridge.
The crew of the ballista promptly began firing at the creatures head, but it didn't appear to have much of an effect. The bolts either missed or shattered on impact. One lucky shot managed to hit the eye slit, causing the creature to roar and shoot flames from its mouth. It then dropped its halberd and pulled an obsidian spear from its back. The creature threw the spear with a growl and then picked up his halberd and continued his advance.
"Run!" Seona told Eoghan, who scrambled away with his crew from the ballista as the spear took it out.
"We're in serious trouble!" Macintosh grumbled.
"We've gotta take out the bridge, and keep him from crossing the river!" Spiros shouted.
"Good idea, Seona get a boulder ready!" Dingwall shouted.
"HELP!" a woman cried.
"There's still someone over there!" Merida said, pointing to a woman who was covered in soot stumbling out of a house. The Omegasevrians were now rushing down the hill, eager to wipe our heroes out.
"We have to help her!" Eoghan said, getting ready to sprint off.
"I'll go with you, come on!" Spiros told him.
The duo set sprinted off across the bridge.
"Coveting fire lads, make every shot count!" Macintosh shouted.
"Princess pass me some arrows!" A guard shouted.
Merida promptly gave him a handful of arrows. She was down to half a quiver.
"I'm out of bolts!" a guard shouted, throwing his crossbow to the ground in frustration.
"Same!" another hissed.
"Gregor, go to the fort and grab as many bolts and arrows as you can!" Seona instructed, picking up a crossbow from a dead guard.
He rushed off to do as instructed.
...
"Ma'am, we're gonna get you out of here." Dingwall told the woman as they reached her.
"GARAGHHH!" The Gargoyle snarled, swinging his halberd at Spiros who had just shot another crossbow bolt into the beast's head.
"My legs broken." The women wailed.
"I'll carry you, Spiros let's get the hell out of here!" He assured her, taking the women into his arms.
"Right behind you brother!" The Greco replied, sprinting away from the Gargoyle.
The duo made their way to the bridge as crystal, bolts and arrows whizzed by them. Occasionally, Spiros would stop, spin around and fire a bolt into the crowd of advancing Omegasevrians. He did this for a final time when they reached the bridge.
"Get her across, I'll be right behind you!" The Greco ordered.
The Gargoyle and the Omegasevrian army was now very close the bridge.
Dingwall got the woman across the bridge and handed her off to the guards who loaded her onto Visilis. The Griffin flew off with the last flight of evacuees.
"Civvies are out of the village, let's get out of here!" The Captain of the Guard shouted.
"Spiros get over here so I can destroy the bridge!" Seona screamed.
"They're closing in!" Merida shouted.
Spiros fired one last bolt into an officer's brain before turning and running across the bridge. When he was halfway across, an obsidian arrow struck him in the back of the leg. The Greco dropped to the ground.
"SPIROS!" Dingwall shouted, running out to help him.
"They're on the bridge!" A guard yelped.
Eoghan helped Spiros to his feet and led him across the bridge.
"I got you brother." He assured him.
"Thanks." He replied.
"They're almost halfway across!" Merida shouted.
She noticed a hooded archer perched in a tree across the bridge. He was taking aim at Dingwall and Spiros. She promptly readied an arrow and fired.
The arrow sailed through the air and...missed.
Completely.
The hooded archer let his own arrow fly, it implied itself in Eoghan's back. He shouted in pain but continued forward. They were almost there, but so was the Gargoyle.
"Spiros." He groaned.
"What?"
"Make sure you take care of Merida, I wouldn't want to lose her to anybody...except you." He said, shoving Spiros to the end of the bridge, turning and facing the Gargoyle which was just passing the halfway mark on the bridge.
"Eoghan run!" Vailean shouted.
"Seona, destroy the bridge!" He replied.
"Don't!" Merida pleaded, reaching into her quiver for another arrow only to find that her supply was spent.
The Omegasevrians were sprinting across the bridge, by the time the injured young man got across the bridge they would be across as well.
"I have to!" Seona shouted, pulling up a boulder from the earth.
"No don't, Macintosh get out there and help him!" Spiros ordered.
The Omegasevrians were about to cut Eoghan down with their swords, they only had seconds now.
"SEONA!" He shouted.
She shut her eyes and sent the boulder flying, the bridge and all those on it were sent flying as the hunk of earth tore through the structure. Wood and bodies fell into the river below, along with the Gargoyle who shrieked as the current carried him downstream.
Seona dropped to her knees and screamed.
Spiros shut his eyes tight and directed his gaze to the ground.
Vailean dropped to one knee and drove his sword into the ground. He stared down at the ground with a vicious scowl.
Gregor's shoulders sagged, he bit his lip as it began to quiver.
Merida dropped to her knees, shock made her limbs go numb and she began to cry.
...
The funeral wasn't much.
The Captain of the Guard, whose name was Aaron, gave Eoghan his final rites. The makeshift grave site was just a pile of rocks with a few flowers atop it.
Spiros decided to say a few words.
"Eoghan Dingwall was a brave man. He saved two children and their mother from an unrelenting onslaught of death and destruction that had invaded their home. It is with a heavy heart that we say good bye to him today. I hope that his final act of courage and valor is one that we can all be proud of. It takes true bravery to sacrifice one's self for the well being of those that he cares for. His death will not discourage us, no it will spur us to ensure that all men, women and children in this land and across all lands will know
bread, peace, and justice."
The others nodded in agreement.
The service concluded shortly thereafter.
...
While the others scavenged for supplies, Spiros went to pay his respects. He took a single feather from Visilis and placed it standing up on the grave.
"Clear skies and fair tailwinds, my friend. Thank you." He murmured before going off to see Merida.
He found her sitting under a tree, sobbing.
He didn't say a word, he just sat down next to her and held her as she cried.
"I'm sorry." He told her.
"Ten years I knew that lad. Ten years and yet in the blink of an eye, he's gone." She whimpered.
"It happens sometimes, as sad as it maybe. It's just a part of life." He told her.
"I-I could of saved him, b-b-but I missed. Now he-he's gone." She told him.
"Don't blame yourself, it could of happened to anyone of us." He reminded her.
"I-It is my f-fault DAMNIT!" She shouted.
"No it's not, you cannot torture yourself like that. Trust me, I've been there." He chided.
"I k-k-know I said I was scared before b-but now...I'm terrified. Who else are w-we going to lose?" She asked.
Our hero pulled her in closer.
"Oh I-I hope it's n-not you." She whimpered.
"It won't be. No one else is dying on this quest. I promise." He said firmly.
"Don't say that." She pleaded.
"It's not like you have a say in who lives and who dies."
He sighed, she had a point there.
A.N- Thanks for reading everyone. I'm not going to ask if you enjoyed this chapter, because chances are, you probably didn't. Well the end is in sight, I'm anticipating that there will only be three or four more updates at the most.
Until next time, remember that for every dark night, there will be a beautiful morning.
-Wolf out