Last time of The Stones of Fate...
After the destruction of Fort Ness, our heroes found themselves retreating to the underground caves of Loch Ness. After him and Merida have a falling out over the death of Jon, Spiros discovers that in order to defeat the Horned King, he will need to perform a spell in the Circle of Stones that may cut his lifespan in two (if it doesn't kill him). Then our heroes meet up with a group of Vanguards who have arrived to assist them in the fight against the forces of darkness. With a battle plan laid out, its time for our heroes' to put their skills to the test!
Will they emerge victorious?!
Part 2
Vanguard
Spiros had fought in dozens of battles, yet the thought of going into battle against the most fearsome warriors he had ever encountered unnerved him.
That morning, he went around trying to boost morale:
"You've got six vanguards at your back, we'll win this for sure."
"If you get in trouble, holler for me and I'll come to help you out."
"I've got your back, just be sure to watch mine, ok?"
Spiros wanted, more then anything, to stay and help the grunts,the foot soldiers who would most likely die in droves against the enemy. Sadly, the best way he could reduce losses was to destroy their adversary's leadership.
That didn't make him feel any better about it though.
He just hoped the Triplets could get their job done.
If they failed, the naval attack would surely fail. Leaving the ground forces to take the full force of the enemies attacks. They would be slaughtered.
...
Years ago, the young princes had dug a network of tunnels throughout the Castle. Tunnels that greatly aided the escape efforts of Merida and their mother, who had been turned into a bear.
Now, the boys had a different mission.
Earlier, a messenger hawk arrived with a set of orders.
Grab the explosive ballista bolts Castle's armory and load them into the ballista emplacements. Which according to scouts had been set up for days. Then they had been instructed to fire upon the Omegasevrian Airship that, according to scouts, was moving south out of the Highlands.
It would be passing by the Castle just after dawn, so time was crucial.
In exchange for their services, pastries for desert for the foreseeable future. Plus, they got to go on a dangerous adventure and blow stuff up!
What young boy wouldn't want to do that?
They surfaced in the halls of the Castle, Rebel guards were patrolling the corridors and they could hear a man talking with someone from the throne room. After watching the patrol pattern of the guard a few times, the triplets made their move. Sneaking past him as he rounded the corner at the far end of the corridor.
As they crept through the halls, they watched carefully for other guards. Strangely enough, the amount of them strolling through the hallways was surprisingly low. Slowly, but surely they made their way to the armory.
Upon arrival, they discovered that a guard was standing watch. Even after several minutes, he would not move. The triplets decided that they would have move him themselves. Harris gave a series of handle signals and within seconds his brothers complied.
Hamish crept through the shadows and positioned himself on the guard's right. Hubert did so as well, except he was on the guard's left. From the corner, Harris readied his slingshot. Then he sprung out from behind the corner and fired the rock right into the man's forehead.
He slumped to the left and fell down, leaving Hamish to catch him so that his fall didn't create any noise, although Harris had to rush over to help. Hubert caught the guard's spear as it fell, for the same reason. He then lifted the weapon and drove it into the armory lock. After some wiggling, the lock clicked indicating that it had been successfully picked.
It took all three of them to push the door open, but they managed to get inside. After rummaging through spear racks, barrels full of swords, and piles of quivers stocked with arrows they managed to find the warheads.
They were heavy, but the boys managed to carry one in each hand. Carefully, they began making their way out to the courtyard. This had only been the easy part, now this was were things got a bit tricky. If they got caught, the who battle plan could fall apart. They couldn't drop the warheads, doing so could mean death or worse: the scolding of a lifetime. Although, such a blast would help their mother get a head start on their remodel. Which was looong overdo.
...
"What's taking them?" A crew member grumbled.
Young MacGuffin shrugged, Merida had assured them that the boys could get the jobs done. Although some had their doubts, no one completely believed they would fail. Those boys had alluded all of them during the hectic chase through the castle while looking for that 'bear'.
The young Scotsman had been given command of a handful of ships who were to emerge from the foggy cove they were hiding in and lure the Omegasevrian Airship away from the castle, so that the boys would hopefully disable it over the lake. In order to ensure the vessel wouldn't be able to support its ground forces.
At least that was the plan.
The men were anxious, needless to say. Pacing back and forth on the deck, double and triple checking that the ship's two ballistas were locked and loaded with explosive bolts. That last from the four Clan's collective armory in the east.
Every shot would count.
The sound of a bird call brought the crew to attention. Young MacGuffin turned to his first mate and nodded.
"Prepare to cast off, make ready to fight!" The man shouted.
Young MacGuffin drew his sword and made his way to the front of the ship.
...
Kekoa grunted, putting his spyglass away. Quickly he gained his balance before beginning to hop from branch to branch, after a few minutes he arrived back at the rally point. It was here that the main attack force was lying in wait.
"The fleet is moving out." The Vanguard told Fergus as he landed beside him.
"Good, seems like everything is panning out well so far." The King said with a nod.
'Give it a minute.' Spiros wanted to tell him.
They had mustered about 1500 troops this morning. Another 500 were due from the outlying areas, with many of them being called up to fight for the very first time. Spiros was quite impressed, despite Merida's numerous accounts of the clans fighting, they had managed to assemble an attacking force within a few hours.
It wasn't much, but it was something.
Merida looked over to him, trying to decipher how he was feeling.
"You're not nervous are you?" She asked.
Her voice appeared to snap him out of his deep thought.
"Never said that." He replied.
"You seem calm to me." She reasoned.
"Doesn't mean I am." He told her.
She slipped her hand into his.
"How about now?" She asked, squeezing his hand gently.
"Better." He replied, pulling her just a tad closer to him.
"Good." She said, turning a little red.
"Moment of truth." Seona mumbled as she heard the airship fly over head towards Castle DunBroch.
...
The Triplets crept into the courtyard, keeping a 360 degree watch for guards.
In the distance they could hear a large object drawing near. Harris motioned for his brothers to pick up the pace. As Hamitch began to walk faster, Harris heard a guard gasp.
He slowly set the warheads down and aimed his slingshot at the guard to his right . Before he could say the A in alarm, he was unconscious with a huge goose egg on his forehead.
After scanning his surroundings for more guards, he went back to lugging the war heads. Up ahead was the three ballista emplacements...well make that two.
The third had been disassembled by a pair of guards, who were moving to take apart another one. One less ballista was bad but two was unacceptable. The triplets carefully made their way towards the two guards, hoping to get the drop on them.
They attacked quickly and effectively, Harris fired a rock into the back of the first guard's head. Hamish lunged forward with a kick to the back of the second guard's knee. Hubert ran up the second ballista and jumped onto the guard's head, punching him relentlessly.
Harris ran to aid his brothers, sliding underneath the guard's legs and shooting straight up with his slingshot. The guard yelped and fell over, defeated.
The first guard, however, must of had a thick skull because he was getting back up.
The triplets quickly hopped onto each others shoulders with Hubert at the top. The little boy raised his fists. The guard, looking confused, reluctantly did the same. With a quick one-two punch, Hubert sent the man staggering backwards.
The guard lunged forward to fight back, but the triplets side stepped the attack and allowed Hamish, who was at the bottom, to trip the guard. Hubert then jumped off his brothers shoulders and butt slammed the guard's head. Harris followed suit, delivering a pile driver to the back.
The guard groaned before passing out, as if he was admitting defeat.
The boys had little time to celebrate their victory, the bow of the massive airship was now in view. Quickly but carefully, they attached the war heads to the ballista bolts. They had enough war heads for 3 salvos.
Hopefully the war heads would pack enough of a punch.
The ship went out over the lake, its stern barely in view. If the fleet did its job, it would stay right about there. The boys took aim with the first ballista. When they saw the the bolts from the fleet were hitting, they fired the first bolt.
The projectile sailed through the air, slamming into the rear right engine. There was an explosion confirming the hit. The triplets quickly rushed to the second ballista and fired.
Sadly, the shot was too low. The boys quickly reloaded the emplacements. Which took several minutes.
When they were ready to fire, the ship had shifted position. It was now a little higher and slowly turning to the right. The triplets fired again, once again it was a miss.
The boys scrambled to the other ballista, made a quick aim adjustment and fired. The bolt sailed across the early morning sky and crashed into its intended target. The blast sent smoke spewing from the engine that had been hit.
The boys quickly loaded the final salvo and fired them in quick succession. The first bolt hit the hull, creating a large fireball on the side of the ship. The second hit the engine, causing flames to shoot out of the craft. Pieces of debris were falling from the ship, confirming the damage.
The boys jumped for joy, seeing that the ship had stopped moving altogether. Sure it was a little closer then planned but it was good enough.
The triplets began moving to their exit point, knowing their job was done.
...
Spiros grinned when he saw the airship light up like a stack of tinder.
"It's go time!" Isaac said, clearly pumped for battle.
"Damn right it is." Aylin said, readying her sword.
The soldiers behind them drew their swords, axes and spears.
"Get in a line, shields and spears in front, swordsman behind them!" Eleanor instructed.
To her far left, a swordsman was given a long wooden staff with a flag at its top. The flag was yellow with a thick red boarder that had heraldic lilies running along it, alternating in size. This boarder surrounded a red lion rampant with blue claws and tongue. Above the flag was golden spearhead that glistened in the early morning sky.
To far right, another swordsman was given a similar item.
Fergus took his place at the front of the army, to his right were his daughters, Spiros, and the other vanguards that had arrived the previous night. To his left was his wife, clad in full battle armor and surrounded by a small escort, Lord Macintosh and his son Vailean, along with Lords MacGuffin and Dingwall.
Behind them was there was an army, nervously chattering amongst each other. In the distance, the rebels within Castle DunBroch could vaguely be heard shouting at each other, trying to figure out why their own ballistas had fired upon their prophesied 'Herald of a New Age.'
There was some more shouting, then the castle fell silent.
Silence.
The eerie calm left our hero feeling skittish, a sudden noise could send him jumping a into the air faster then a Wyvern giving chase to heard of elephants. A thick fog was rolling through the area, generated by Fa Zhou. This was a wise move considering the fact that they were less then 300 yards from the castle walls and the trees weren't doing much to conceal them.
Who ever had built the castle was a genius, it was located on the end of a peninsula, and surrounded by sheer stone cliffs making an attack from the sea dangerous with a low chance of success. The only way to the main gate was a narrow stone bridge over a deep trench. The gate was open at the moment, but that could change any second.
Charging the gate alone would funnel them all into a kill box that would surely spell their doom should archers move to fire on them. In order for the plan to work effectively, the ground force would need to divide itself into a three pronged attack. All hitting the wall at the same time. Spiros would stay with the center group, crossing the bridge and attack the gate directly. Seona and Isaac would go with the 2nd and 3rd group, quickly forming rock bridges of sorts so that the troops could cross. They would then blow holes in the walls with their powers, giving their groups access to castle courtyard. Spiros would do the same, but to the main gate if need be.
The army stood in waiting, anticipating the attack order. The chilly morning air made everyone's breath visible. The grey overcast skies cast a gloomy mood over the battle field. Spiros could of sworn he felt a drop of rain or two. Next to him, Merida shifted nervously tugging at her armor and checking her quiver to ensure that she had plenty of arrows.
"Get ready." Fergus whispered.
In the distance, the thunderous booms could be heard as the Omegasevrian Airship exchanged fire with the naval force. Isaac rolled his shoulders and took a fighting stance. Spiros did the same, this was it.
...
The Horned King sat in a makeshift throne room in the heart of his Airship. Four bare walls of steel, except one. On the wall across of from him was a map of the known world. He scanned the map hungrily, as if searching for something. When he laid eyes on a section of the map, he grunted and reached out with his hand.
An flaming omega formed over the location the map: The Great Library of Alexandria.
A knock on his door disrupted his thoughts. He turned to the door and barked:
"Enter!"
The door slowly opened, revealing his ally Balor who stepped into the room. The necromancer was dressed in black iron armor with silver omega symbols on the shoulder guards. He wore no helmet or cloak, revealing his deformed face.
He was sickly pale, with pale blue eyes that were sunken into his skull. Hs face was thin, looking almost malnourished. His hair was short and was a mixture of grey on the sides and black on the top. The right side of his face was covered in blue war paint while other side of his face was covered in old brands that looked like glyphs.
"I bring news from the aft observation deck." He began.
"The armies of the clans march on Castle DunBroch."
The Horned King grinned, as if his ally had just told him that his pet dog could now roll over.
"That would explain the destruction of our engine."
"That is what most of the crew believes, we are awaiting orders to attack." Balor continued.
"There is no need." The Horned King told him with a wave of the hand.
"We could destroy them, it would be an easy victory!" The God of Death insisted.
"Yes, but we would loose troops over a battle that does not need to be fought. Besides, the power rests in our hands at the moment."
"How so?"
"To answer your question, I will ask you another question my friend. Why did the Greeks build the Trojan horse?"
Balor blinked several times before shrugging, he had never heard of such a tale.
"They built the horse to infiltrate a city that had walls so high, even their superior army could not surmount them. They hid in this horse, and when the Trojans brought it inside the city walls, they leapt out and opened the main gates. Letting the rest of the army in. The city was razed by morning. Troy couldn't be beaten from just the outside, but from the inside...they never stood a chance." The Horned King told his friend.
"I'm afraid I don't understand..."
"At the moment, together the clans could easily match us when it comes numbers. They could wear us down and eventually defeat us. It would be foolish to attack them head on. So I instructed you to stir up this rebellion, because now the Clan's destruction won't just come from us, it will come from within."
"As the clans and the rebels fight if out, they will wear each other out. In the end, it will leave each side vulnerable to attack. Allowing us to deliver the finishing blow." Balor realized.
"Precisely, which means one less nation to fight later on."
Balor nodded.
"You are truly wise my friend."
"Is there anything else you wish to discuss?" The Horned King asked.
His ally shook his head.
"Leave me then, but please destroy those blasted ships. All the rumbling is making it difficult to think."
...
"Hard starboard!" Young MacGuffin's first mate shouted as three explosive ballista bolts landed in the water in front of the ship.
The crew quickly turned the ship before getting back to their own ballista emplacements. They were pretty close to the Omegasevrain Airship, with their bolts barely getting up high enough to hit the vessel.
Their opponent's were firing on them from the high ground, giving them the distinct advantage. However the top deck's ballista emplacements couldn't fire down on them because they were so close, being unable to angle their ballista's at a low enough. This improved their survivability substantially.
"Incoming!" A crew member wailed as a bolt slammed into the deck, blowing a hole in the ship and toppling most of the crew. When they regained their footing, they began shouting at Gregor about various problems.
"We've got a fire!"
"Sir, mid left turret is out of ammo!"
"We're taking on water sir!"
"Man overboard!"
The screaming of men diverted his gaze to the left. A ship that had already taken four hits was listing to the side. Men were now jumping into the water, some trying to save explosive bolts from the ship's storage hatch.
Then an explosive bolt shot down from the sky, hitting the main mast and blowing it to pieces. A second bolt hit the ship's aft, killing the captain and first mate. The final bolt his mid deck, the explosion got the ship to raise out of the water a few feet. Then with a thunderous crack, the keel snapped in two.
The ship fell back into the water a sunk within seconds.
The crew of Gregor's own ship were in shock at the event, but their first officer snapped them out of it.
"Quit your gawking boys, man your stations! You want to end up them?"
The crew frantically ran across the deck, making repairs, extinguishing fires, pulling survivors from the water and keeping the ballista emplacements stocked with plenty of ammo.
Then Gregor whistled to his first mate and pointed to the main mast.
"Aye aye!" The man replied before addressing the crew.
"Hoist the colors!"
The other ships quickly followed suit, flying the banners of their respective clans.
DunBroch with their longsword over a glyph on a purple field. Dingwall, depicted by a rock over a golden field. Macintosh, with their lyre over a crimson field, and MacGuffin with their cauldron against an olive field.
Then Young MacGuffin pulled a war horn from his belt and blew into it, signaling the ground force to go on the attack. Then he drew his longsword and pointed to the airship looming overhead.
The crew of his longship, along with the others cried out and began attacking with renewed force.
...
The sound of a war horn echoed across the area, time slowed.
Spiros could hear his own heartbeat, he could feel the warm breath of the spear men behind him and the bitter cold morning air numbing his nose and cheeks. He could hear the soldiers behind him anxiously shifting their weight, their shoes crunching on the thin layer of snow underneath their feet.
He saw Fergus draw his sword and point towards the castle.
"Charge!"
Instead of shouting the names of their clans as they surged forward, the army spoke with a single thunderous voice:
"For the Highlands!"
Our heroes sprinted forward, undaunted by the archers gathering on the walls.
Seona outstretched her hand towards the castle wall, the earth shuttered around them. As if Hades itself was about to burst, a segment of the walls collapsed. The vanguard quickly formed a bridge of earth across the trench and led the troops across.
Kekoa charged ahead with Spiros, extending his arm and coating the mechanisms of the gate in a thick layer of ice that would make the gate impossible to close for the time being.
Isaac took a much more...destructive approach. While forming the earth bridge he willed a boulder to come up from the trench. He then sent it hurtling into the wall, creating a rough entrance for him and the troops. He drew his axes and thundered across the bridge as it was completed. Encasing himself in stone armor as he did so.
As Merida ran into the castle courtyard, she notched three arrows and shot a group of archers that were trying to form a firing line at the gate. A heavily built man wielding a war hammer grabbed her as he ran past and lifted her up into the air.
Then an arrow flew into his shoulder, forcing him to drop her. Queen Elinor ran straight at him as he lifted his hammer to strike. She quickly fainted a forward roll before stepping to the left, notching an arrow and shooting him right in the head.
The man fell to the ground, leaving Merida stunned.
"Mum?" She asked.
"You don't get everything from your father." She quipped.
"Elinor!" Fergus shouted from across the field.
She turned to see a foe rushing her with a spear.
A sword came down on the weapon, cutting in two.
The solider turned to see Spiros slicing at his leg, then his chest in rapid succession. The man fell over and Spiros finished him by driving his sword into his chest.
"Thanks." The Queen told our hero.
He nodded, then turned to help a group of Macintosh's soldiers.
Merida noticed an archer taking aim at her friend, she quickly notched an arrow and changed that.
Across the courtyard, Fergus was getting swarmed. Several rebels had surrounded him at spear point. The King was in deep trouble, then one rebel spear men lunged at him. Fergus grabbed the shaft of the spear and pulled the rebel close to him, keeping the spear head tucked under his arm. Then he dispatched the solider with a head butt, and took possession of his weapon.
Fergus flipped the weapon around and swung it in a wide circle, striking his assailants with the blunt end of the weapon. After this he surged forward and cutdown one of the soldiers allowing him break out of the circle, back off and meet up with some of his own men who could help him with the rest.
Nearby, Isaac was cutting down rebels left and right, gradually fighting his way to the throne room. Next to him was Fa Zhou was trailing behind his ally, dealing with stragglers.
He noticed that a group of swordsman were rushing Seona and her sister, who were trying to catch up with Spiros. The young vanguard threw his sword at the swordsman, willing a fierce miniature typhoon to form around the weapon.
The small storms powerful winds gave the sword the properties of a boomerang. The weapon sailed through the group of soldiers, sending them flying into the air, and curved back around to its owner who caught it with ease.
A single warrior rushed into the fray, wielding a longsword. He charged straight at Kekoa, who narrowed his eyes at his attacker. The Vanguard slammed his Bo staff into the ground and the earth beneath the warrior turned into quicksand which quickly swallowed him up.
"YAGHH!"
The young man spun around and raised his staff to block the axe swing of a solider who attempted to sneak up on him. With a grunt he shoved him back into the blade of Seona who was standing right behind him.
She cringed and yanked her weapon out of the solider, who fell to the ground with a heavy sigh.
The rebels were quickly loosing ground, and they began to retreat from the main courtyard and into the seccondary one which was closer to the palace. The only way in was through another archway that was built into the secondary wall that acted as the last line of defense for the castle.
The rebels put archers atop the wall, as well as crossbow men. The rest of the spear men and swords men formed a battle line in front of the archway, blocking the path to the main structure.
Our heroes and their army continued their advance uphill, blatantly disregarding the fact that they had lost the element of surprise and their enemy was digging in to repel their rather unorganized assault.
"Regroup!" Spiros shouted as scores of soldiers were cut down by enemy archers.
The loyalist troops rallied to him, asking for orders.
"Form up, I want all spear men to cluster together. Interlock your shield with the shield of the man next to you! No gaps, no cracks, keep it tight!" He instructed.
They did as asked, forming into a shield wall that was shaped like the tip of a spear. Spiros took point, using the Spear of Storms to shoot lightning into the enemy ranks. The Highlanders had done a wonderful job forming up, considering the fact their shields weren't designed to form a Phalanx.
Once the formation was complete, Spiros commanded them to advance. Slowly but surely, the oddly shaped formation pressed closer to the enemy line. The rest of the attacking forces fell in behind them. Arrows, spears and even rocks from slings bounced off the impenetrable shield wall.
Then someone tripped.
No one could blame him, the ground was uneven and slippery from the rain. However, this slip up would cost his comrades dearly. The swordsmen behind him were shot to pieces by the rebel archers who were focusing fire on the gap in the formation.
"Fill that gap!" Queen Elinor shouted from the back of formation, using her bow to take shots at the rebels. A spear man made his way to the front of the formation and took up position, filling the hole in the line.
As they slowly marched forward, Spiros turned to Seona who was pushing her way through the group of warriors. When she got up to him, he asked:
"You ready?"
She nodded.
"Alright, take Isaac and Vailean with you. Good luck!" He instructed.
She then turned and waved to Isaac and Macintosh, who made their way up to her.
"Lets go." She told them when they arrived.
Isaac grabbed onto Vailean, then the two vanguards used a blast of wind to propel themselves into the air. The trio went over the secondary wall and landed right in front of the main entrance to the throne room.
They were greeted by dozens of rebel warriors, but Seona didn't seem worried. Isaac tried to push the doors open, but it was clear people on the inside were barricading the door because it refused to budge.
Young Macintosh had his longsword drawn, and was cutting down rebel warriors left and right. One solider rushed him with a spear leveled at his chest. Vailean sidestepped the charge and cut the weapon in half, grabbing the upper half with the spear point as it fell. He then turned and threw it like a throwing knife at the axe wielding warrior who looked to be giving Seona a bit of trouble.
The weapon struck the warrior in the neck and dropped him instantly.
This allowed Seona to turn her attention to the swordsman that had been trying to bak his buddy up. The Vanguard blocked a flurry of attacks from the rebel, each consecutive slash or strike becoming all the more ferocious and strong.
Her hands were feeling a little numb from holding her weapon so tightly, and the fact that she was constantly deflecting or blocking sword strikes that made her whole weapon tremble wasn't helping the matter.
She quickly realized that her foes were surrounding her. After superheating her blades, she quickly began disarming her foes. Cutting their swords in two or knocking their weapons from their hands.
She noticed that most of the men were standing in small puddles or otherwise wet ground. She leapt into the air and shot a bolt of lightning into the ground, electrocuting the lot of them.
She landed back in the middle of the circle, only for her attackers to fall over into the mud. She exhaled sharply, feeling fatigued.
Then a huge crash brought her gaze up to the main doors of the castle, which Isaac had kicked down with the aid of hurricane force winds.
The trio quickly rushed into the throne room, ready to fight.
Young Macintosh yelped when he saw a crossbow man taking aim at Seona from the corner of the room. He reached over and yanked one of Isaacs obsidian axes out of his hand.
"Duck!" He told her.
She dropped out of his line of fire, allowing him to hurtle the large weapon across the room and into the crossbow man's chest.
"Behind you!" Seona exclaimed jumping over him and delivering a downward slice to the rebel threatening to run the young lad through with his spear.
Isaac noticed rebel guards running down the stairs and outstretched his hand to the stairs. A layer of ice formed on the steps, causing the guards to slip and tumble down.
The three then turned their attention to the throne, where Duncan sat.
He was pale and his body was covered entirety in a cloak. The bags under his eyes indicated that he hadn't slept at all the previous night. His hair was a mess and he his eyes were darting around, eyeing things that probably weren't there.
"Duncan..." Seona began.
"Surprised to see me like this child?" He asked, his voice sounding like it was barely functioning. For a second his eyes flashed, turning blue.
"You're under arrest, for crimes against the Royal Family and its allies." Macintosh snarled, pointing his sword at the man.
"Crimes?" He asked, as if he were surprised.
"Order your armies to stand down." Isaac instructed.
"Crimes, that is rich. Tell me, spawn of Fergus, how many crimes have you comitted against your own countrymen today? Cutting them down, all in an effort to remove me from a throne built on the backs of my people, the common folk?"
Duncan stood, his eyes wide with a crazed fury.
"This throne is ours by right! You are the criminal, girl! You and all that uphold this house of tyranny! No more! You all may have taken my son, my leg, but you will not take me from my subjects! No more will they be left to fend for themselves when bad times befall them! No more sons, fathers, or husbands will be thrown at the Romans!"
Our heroes readied their weapons as Duncan pulled an axe from under his cloak. He allowed the piece of clothing to fall to the floor, revealing the poor state of his body. He had a wooden peg for one leg, and wore nothing but his kilt and boots.
Across his chest, arms and legs were crudely drawn glyphs. All of which had been etched into his skin with a dagger which hung from his side. Dried blood could be seen on the blade, the wounds themselves looked relatively fresh.
Then, they flashed blue and a strange aurora formed around his body. Lines blue and purple energy rolled off his skin like it was being blown by an unseen wind. The man's eyes also had an eerie blue glow.
"Your trial has begun, and I will be your judge, jury and executioner!"
He outstretched his hand and six energy streams taking the shape of vipers shot from his arm, snapping their shadowy jaws at our heroes who scattered to avoid the attack.
"Dark Magic." Isaac snarled.
"How did he do that?" Macintosh shouted.
"He must of made an anima sacrificium to Balor..." Seona explained.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Vailean barked, dodging another attack.
"In exchange for a piece of his soul, Balor bequeathed a fragment of his soul into Duncan. Giving him some of his power." Seona explained, deflecting a shadowy fireball off her weapon.
"Well, what's the plan?" The young man asked.
"We'll have to tear that fragment out of him using a relegatis glyph." Isaac explained.
"We don't have eight hours, four dove feathers, two drops of sacred water and a Wyvern tooth!" Seona grumbled.
"What else would you suggest?" Her fellow vanguard asked, slicing through a black misty viper that lunged at him.
"Helios spear!" She replied.
"That might kill him! Which would more then likely throw the rest of the rebels into a frenzy. If we want them to surrender, we need him alive!"
"True, but if we capture him like this he might just escape and go on a rampage. If we use the spear it will destroy that fragment of Balor's soul!"
"Which...would make it easier for Spiros and Merida to defeat him, right?" Macintosh said, looking to Seona to conformation.
"Exactly!" She replied.
Isaac nodded after some hesitation.
"Lets do it."
Seona narrowed her eyes and went on the attack. She stepped into the line of fire and put her weapon in its sheath which was strapped on her back.
Duncan turned his attention to her, hurling a large orb shaped pulse of shadowy energy at her.
The vanguard gracefully caught the orb in the palm of her hand like it was an apple being tossed to her. She crushed the orb in her hand, its dark energies being absorbed into her body.
She reached behind her and willed the small water pocket underneath the room to rise, shooting the through the floor and submitting itself to her control. She thrust her closed fists at her foe, the water condensed itself into two powerful streams which hit Duncan with the force of a small tsunami. He was sent crashing into the wall and as the water fell to either side of him, forming large puddles, he fell to the floor with a thud.
Seona drew her weapon and willed iridescent light to coat the weapon. Upon completing the process, it looked like the sun itself had its blinding rays rolling off her weapon. The air in the room grew hot and dry, which left the ice on the stairs to slowly melt.
Isaac and Macintosh closed the distance, but their foe quickly rose to meet them. He hurled a crescent shaped wave of shadow at them, forcing Isaac to stomp his foot and will a wall of stone to shield him from the attack.
Macintosh hurtled over the wall as the energy wave hit it. The young man opened with a downward slice, locking blades with his opponent. Duncan did his best to push Young Macintosh back, but they were evenly matched in terms of strength.
The rebel leader opened his mouth and exhaled, a black mist coming out of his mouth. The young man felt his eyes begin to water and his throat close up, he dropped his sword and began to wretch.
"Vailean!" Seona screamed, shooting a blast of air at him which caused the toxic mist to dissipate. She quickly began sprinting over to him, while Isaac went on the attack to cover her rescue run.
He sprinted forward, barreling toward Duncan. With an angry yell he smashed into him, shoving him to the ground and engulfing his fist in flame. Duncan swung his axe at his attacker, who grabbed the axe blade with his hand and kept a firm grip on the weapon.
Slowly, it began glowing red hot and with a jerk, Isaac took the axe from him and bent the glowing blade out of shape. The vanguard threw the weapon aside and picked Duncan up by the collar of his armor.
"You're finished." He snarled.
Duncan scowled and struggled to get free but Isaac simply shook his head and threw him across the room into the stairs.
Across the room, Seona was struggling to keep Young Macintosh alive. She was trying to get the toxin out of his lungs, but he was too panicked and wouldn't keep his mouth open. He was acting like a fish out of water, gasping for air.
Seona shook her head and brushed her hair out of her face.
"Damnit all." She grumbled, leaning down and pressing her lips to his.
Vailean inhaled sharply, allowing her to will the air in her lungs to transfer into his. She then willed the poisoned air to come up and out his nose. It was so diluted by this point, it had no effect on either of them.
The two then separated, with Young Macintosh gasping for air while his face turned red.
"That was entirely platonic, got it?" Seona told him.
After he stopped coughing, he grinned.
"Keep telling yourself that."
She responded by smiling before punching him right in the gut, knocking the wind out him. She quickly arrived at Isaac's side with a scowl, while Vailean tried to recover.
After rolling down to the bottom of the stairs, Duncan groaned and rose to one knee. He was bleeding from the nose and looked weak.
Isaac went to restrain him, when he fired a stream of purple energy from his palm. Isaac brought his axes together in the shape of an X and blocked the attack. When the energy blast no longer obstructed his view, he lowered his weapons to find Duncan lunging at him with a spear.
The weapon hit its mark, going into Isaac's ribs. Seona yelped in alarm and used her weapon to cut the spear in two. Duncan fired another energy stream that sent Isaac rolling backwards.
Duncan then allowed the dark energy that surrounded his body to intensify, he lunged at Seona his hands moving to grab her throat. She ducked as he sailed over her.
The Vanguard whipped around and threw her double bladed sword like a spear. The weapon sailed right through Duncan's chest. Leaving him unharmed due to her enchantment on the weapon. The blade did impale a ghostly looking man who came out of Duncan's body along with the weapon. The sword embedded itself in the wall, and the ghostly man dissolved into thin air. Duncan's dark energy aura faded away, leaving him on his knees and out of breath.
Seona walked over, thinking her foe was defeated.
He snarled and sprang to his feet, grabbing her by the back of the neck and kneeing her in the gut. She cried out and dropped to the ground, feeling ill. She tried to fight back, but she was unable to focus and use her powers.
Physically, she was weaker the than her adversary.
After winding up, he kicked her in the side. She cried out, feeling a agonizing pain in her ribs. Tears were in her eyes, and she tried to call out to her allies for help but her voice didn't work.
With his foot, he rolled her onto her back and put a knee on her chest. She struggled, but was unable to move.
"Take a good long look girl. Take a look at the monster your family created. Your father, made me into what I am. Perhaps you should be as scared of him as you are of me." He hissed, putting his hands around her throat.
"What other horrible things will come to pass if your father continues his rule? How many more rebellions will arise because our crops fail, while you eat bountiful feasts. How many babies will die in the cold, because there houses have been washed away while you sit by the warmth of your fire place?" He asked.
Her vision began to tunnel.
"After I have killed your parents and your sister, the crimes of your line will be nothing but a cautionary tale to future rulers of this land. Never again will the people be so neglected. I promise you that." He released her from his grasp.
She gasped for breath, her body shaking with fear.
"I hope you will appreciate my mercy. Perhaps, after some time in the dungeon as my prisoner...your loyalties will sway." He gently put his hand to her face, causing a shiver to run up the vanguard's body.
Seona shut her eyes, trying to focus and summon anything to help her get our of this situation. There was an alarming hunger in Duncan's eyes, a gaze that terrified her.
"GRAGHHH!" Duncan screamed.
She opened her eyes to see a bloody blade protruding from her assailants chest. He looked down, reaching for the blade as if he desired to pull it out himself. He turned his head to see Young Macintosh scowling at him.
"No prisoners will be taken today." He snarled, yanking his sword out of the rebel leader.
Duncan fell to the side, hitting the floor with a soft thud.
Seona scrambled backwards, clearly still shaken by the event.
"Hey..." Vailean began, getting on one knee and reaching out to her.
The vanguard looked up at her ally and willed a ball of electricity to form in her hand. There was still fear in her eyes, like a rabbit cornered by wolves.
"Take it easy, its me your friend." Macintosh told her.
She took a shaky breath, casting her gaze downwards.
"We need to check on Isaac, he's hurt. You good to go?" He asked.
After a brief hesitation, she nodded.
"Yeah."
"Okay." He replied, getting up.
She got up as well, walking over to the far side of the room and yanking her weapon out of the wall. She tightened her hold on the weapon's grip before moving to join Macintosh and Isaac.
...
Elinor pulled an arrow from her quiver and stabbed a rebel swordsman in the eye with it, forcing him to back away from her. She then notched the arrow, spun around and shot the axe man that was fighting her husband in the back of the head.
Merida was surprised by her mom's fighting skills. She would never expected such a thing from some one like her mother. Who fought with the same characteristics that made her an excellent queen. She remained calm and composed. Projecting an attitude that said: "I own this battlefield".
"Hey Princess!" Aylin shouted.
Merida turned, notching three arrows upon seeing that target her comrade was pointing out. The vanguard had used a blast of wind to send three crossbowmen flying into the air. Loosing one arrow at a time, our heroine dispatched them before they even hit the ground.
Spiros cut down another group of swordsman, much to his disturbance the combatants that he was going up against were getting younger. Some were even younger then he was. The Vanguard began making it a priority to wound the younger combatants, a feeling of sickness overcoming him as he realized the body count for both sides was continuing to rise.
He looked around, Merida had been forced to shoot a girl about her age in the chest. She had been armed with a simple longsword and a helmet that was obviously not her own.
Behind the rebel's defensive line, he could see Seona and Young Macintosh emerge from the castle. They were both struggling to support Isaac who appeared to have been wounded.
In the sky, the Omegasevrian Airship loomed overlooked the battlefield. It was still clearly disabled, but its occupants had yet to make any visible fuss about it. No troops had been dispatched in retaliation.
Our hero stood in the middle ground between the two opposing armies. Aylin was shooting a stream of flames at the enemy lines, and the rebel archers atop the walls were getting ready to fire a salvo of arrows into the loyalist lines.
Spiros stepped into the path of the stream of fire Aylin was projecting.
"Enough!"
He willed a gust of wind to shoot out from around his body, extinguishing the flames and sending the incoming arrows high into the sky, where they wouldn't harm anyone. The rain itself even stopped falling, hundreds of water droplets floating freely in mid air.
"Stop!" He shouted, looking to both sides before sheathing his sword.
Merida pushed her way to the front of the loyalist ranks.
"Spiros, what are you-"
"This has to stop." He explained.
Fergus looked baffled.
"Lad, they-"
"They? Sir, with all respect, you are no different from them."
He raised his voice so that both sides could hear him.
"Your all fighting for the same thing! A better future, not for yourselves. For the ones who will follow you."
The Vanguard turned to the rebel ranks and pointed at a spear man, who looked no older then twenty five.
"Why are you here? Why are you fighting?"
The man shifted uncomfortably, but answered.
"My children, they're starving. The roof over our house has a leak, letting the cold air and rain in. My youngest daughter goes to bed shivering cold and hungry." He began.
"Im guessing Duncan told you he would fix that. He promised to help, didn't he?"
The man nodded.
"He told me help would come quickly, i didn't know what else to do...what choice did I have?"
Spiros turned to Queen Elinor, looking her right in the eye.
"Your majesty, put yourself in this man's shoes. Merida, the boys...they haven't eaten on weeks. Harris is coming down with a terrible sickness. Someone comes along and offers you a way out,even though it sounds a bit dodgy. What would you do?"
The look in the woman's eyes changed. She no longer saw the people across from her as opponent's, but as fellow parents who were struggling to make the best choice for their families. Even if it meant crossing blades with their fellow countryman.
She lowered her bow, while her daughter joined her friend in the middle ground. She too had lowered her weapon.
Spiros turned to the man he had just spoken to.
"Man to man, put this madness behind you. Come with us, fight the real enemy. Then when this is all over. I swear I will use everything in my power to help you and your family."
"Give me reason to trust you." The man grumbled.
"Can you give me a reason as to why not?" Our hero replied.
"It's just Duncan-" the man began.
"Duncan played in your fears to draw you to his cause. He wants the same thing you want, a better future. He took it to far though. Two wrongs do not make a right. He allied himself with a entity who could care less who wins. We're just stepping stones to him. We can change that though, together. If not, we will die together." Spiros explained.
The man cast his gaze downward. Several of his colleagues stepped forward, joining the Greco and Merida in the middle ground. Slowly, more joined them from both sides.
The man and a dozen others or so remained.
He dropped to his knees.
"Kill us or imprison us, but know that we will not be retied to our puppet strings."
Spiros sighed in defeat, turning to a pair of DunBroch soldiers.
"Get something to-"
"LOOK OUT!"
A burly arm shoved the vanguard to the ground. The sound of a crossbow firing, followed by a cry of pain from Fergus clued him in on what had happened.
Spiros got up and marched over to the man with the weapon in his hand.
"You had your chance." The Greco hissed, drawing his sword and leveling it at the man's throat.
"DEATH TO-"
Spiros silenced him by extending his arm.
The Vanguard ordered the others tied up, while he went to check on Fergus.
The King had a crossbow bolt in his gut, Spiros tried not to show any emotion as he examined the wound. The last thing he wanted was Elinor or Merida to get even more worried.
"I'm going to have to pull it out, if we leave it in there it will keep slicing you up and make the bleeding worse." The vanguard explained, smoke rolling off his hand.
"What are you going to do?" The Queen asked.
"I'm going to have to cauterize the wound. It'll stop the bleeding almost instantly...but it's going it hurt." He explained.
Elinor took a firm hold of her husbands hand, while Merida turned away and put her hands over her mouth. Spiros yanked the bolt out and pressed his free hand to Fergus' wound. He cried out as a sharp hot pain could be felt on his gut.
"Done." Spiros told him, removing his hand.
Fergus groaned and rolled onto his side, asking his wife to give him a minute. Next to him, Spiros drew his sword and electrified the blade before pointing it at the airship that sat high in the sky.
Merida made her way over to his side.
"We need to get up there." She grumbled.
He nodded slowly, realizing that the battle with Balor and the Horned King was fast approaching.
...
On the bridge, the God of Death and his ally stood overlooking the most peculiar change of events. The Greco that opposed them had managed to unite the warring sides, who were now setting up defenses.
The Horned King snorted as they scurried around like ants.
"Should I dispatch the troops to finish them off?" Balor asked.
His comrade nodded before leaving the bridge.
"You heard your King, begin landing the troops!" The God of Death barked.
...
Several loud SHINKs followed by the sound of a chain extending brought everyone's attention to the castle lawn. Huge ballista bolts were impacting the edge of the lawn, attached to the bolts were huge chains that led up to the airship. After a few minutes, troops began sliding down the chains and landing in the castle lawn.
Within the span of ten minutes, there were hundreds already on the ground and many more on the way. Merida began leading archers onto the outer walls, while her mother ordered the main gate closed and the holes in the wall patched up.
Our heroes scrambled to fulfill these tasks, along with moving the wounded into the throne room. The Queen had hoped that the rebels who had joined them would bolster their numbers, but the huge amount of wounded and dead prevented this. When he rebels joined the loyalists, the army returned to its original size.
The Omegasevrain army outnumbered the Scottish three to one. Their advanced weapons also gave them a considerable advantage. Merida knew they would have to start firing now if they hoped to make a dent. She picked up a bloody longsword from the ground and ran up to join her fellow archers.
She raised the sword, and her marksman began notching arrows.
"Fire!" She shouted, swinging her sword downward.
The first salvo of arrows was loosed. The front line of the enemy army took the brunt of the attack. However, none of them fell to the first bombardment.
"Again!" The Princess shouted.
Another salvo hit the enemy lines, a few soldiers dropped but they quickly got up. Wounded, but not slain.
Coordinated volleys were taking too long. Merida drew her own bow and shouted:
"Fire at will!"
Kekoa tapped her on the shoulder, turning her attention away from the battle.
Down below, in the courtyard an injured Isaac had made a fissure in the ground. Deep down, lava could be seen. Kekoa pushed her aside and began pulling the lava from the fissure and shooting a stream of it at the enemy.
Suddenly, Merida had an idea.
"Fire to the flanks!" She ordered.
Several archers cried out in protest, but she repeated the order.
"We need to make them bunch up!" She explained.
The archers did as ordered, causing the Omegasevrians formation to become this large orb. Kekoa directed the stream of lava at them, which did wonders against the enemy force.
Then crystal bolts began whistling by. It wasn't long before many of the archers were being shot off the wall.
"Ceasefire, get down!" Merida shouted.
Kekoa was forced to get down as well, allowing the stream of lava to drop back into the fissure behind them.
Once again the enemy army was marching on the walls of Castle DunBroch with little to stop them.
Then in the distance a war horn sounded. Merida peaked over the wall to see reinforcements arriving onto the battlefield. Instead of a mere 500 though, it was a astounding 2,500 soldiers.
At the front of the formation sat Aaron, the Captain of the guard who had bought our heroes the time to infiltrate the Great Library. Next to him was The Witch, with her crow on her shoulder. A longsword hung from her side and she had a staff in her right hand. She sat atop Angus, who reared up a whinnied.
To their left and right, flag bearers waved a flag that differed from the Royal one. It was a flag with a white X going through its navy blue field. Others in the large formation held similar flags. The first two lines of the formation were composed of men on horseback. Behind them was a mix of spearmen and swordsmen.
"The calvary has arrived." Merida told her fellow archers.
...
Aaron turned to the old woman sitting on the Clydesdale next to him.
"Are you sure you should be up here with the rest of the men?" He asked.
"As long as you stay out of my way, I'll be alright." She replied.
"Alright." He muttered, drawing his sword and turning to address his troops.
"Men! The Four Clans call upon us to aid them on the field of battle today! Should any of you have grievances with them, put them aside today! Today, you can show them that we will come to there aid whenever they call! So that they may one day return the favor!" He shouted.
The men replied by pounding on their shields to the beat of the war drums that were playing at the back of the formation.
"The Princess herself and the Lord's son defended my home, so I intend to return the favor. Stick together, fight together and give no ground! Some say it was fate that we came here today , I say let fate allow me to split the helm of the first foe I meet!"
A solider gave him a flag with an iron spear point at the bottom of the pole. He raised the flag and waved it around, inciting a thunderous war cry from his troops.
"To the King!" He shouted, spurring his horse into a gallop.
The rest of the forward line cried: "Charge!" and surged forward.
On the castle's outer walls, archers were again firing into the Omegasevrian ranks, who were desperately trying to fight off the attacks from the front and the back.
Aaron held the flag up, its lower spear point pointed at an Omegasevrain officer who's last sight was a spear tip being thrust into his head. Aaron released the flag which remained stuck in the head off the officer as he fell onto his back.
The man drew his sword and begun swinging as the other 500 horseman collided with the rear of the enemy lines. Less then half a minute later, the rest of the ground force arrived to join the fight.
...
Merida instructed her archers to mind their aim, the battle occurring outside the castle walls made it difficult to shoot a foe without hitting a friendly.
The Princess gasped when she saw someone fighting against an Omegasevrian officer. A boy with bleach blonde hair, longsword and shorter then the rest.
"Wee Dingwall!" She cried out as a crystal bolt shot by her head, forcing her to duck.
When she popped back up, he was no where to be seen.
She blinked several times, had she just been seeing things?
No doubt it was Balor, playing tricks on her.
She grumbled a few curses before returning to her shooting.
...
The Witch was pulled of Angus by an Omegasevrian solider. She leveled her staff at her foe and a blast of blue energy hit him in the chest. The creature staggered but lunged at her with its sword. The old woman back peddled in order to escape the reach of his blade before drawing her own sword and sliced at the leg.
Her foe cried out in pain before being run through by a spear from behind, but he whipped around and cut his attacker in two. The Witch stepped forward to attack his leg again, only for him to turn his crystal crossbow at her.
He fired and she managed to deflect all three projectiles off her sword into the sky. Another swordsman charged in, swinging his sword at the same time his foe did.
Their blades connected with a shower of sparks, but the Omegasevrian kicked the swordsman's legs out from under him and plunged his sword into his back. A rebel axe man finally brought him to his knees, bringing his weapon to bear against the soldiers back.
The Witch stepped forward and stabbed him through the chest with her longsword, finally slaying him. The axe man removed his weapon from the creatire's spine before crying out as three crystal bolts hit him in the back.
The Officer that had shot him crushed him underfoot as he went to confront the old woman who took a fighting stance, two other swordsman came to her side. Looking frightened but determined, the trio charged as the Officer took aim with his crossbow.
Across the battlefield, the Horseman managed to split the attacking Omegasevrain force in two, driving one half along the castle walls and back towards the cliffs where they were arriving from via the chains the Airship had set up. The other half was left to the rest of the ground force, who were attempting to stop their efforts to join with the other half of the army.
Merida watch this unfold from the castle walls, only becoming alarmed when she realized how close the horseman were getting to the Omegasevrain deployment zone, which was likely in range of the airship guns.
This was confirmed when a large group of horseman were sent tumbling through the air as an explosion shook the castle lawn. A second blast destroyed another few dozen horseman. Aaron appeared to have noticed this and was trying to get his men to turn around and get out of range.
"Get out of there!" Merida shouted.
Aaron turned around and began swinging his sword back in the direction from which they came
"Fall ba-"
An explosion silenced him.
Merida pounded her fist on the cold stone wall, turning her angry gaze to the Airship. On a balcony of sorts on its side, a figure emerged.
...
The Horned King pointed his newly reconstructed weapon at the ground below him.
A doubled bladed scythe, black smoke rolling of the blades. He inhaled and let his power flow through the weapon. The blades slowly became engulfed in a white fire with a black aura.
"Rise now, creatures of the shadows...serve your king!" He bellowed.
The earth complied, a fissure opened in the ground and black mist began pouring from the earth into the sky. a horrifying group of creatures emerged from the mist.
They were the upper half of a human torso, growing out of the hunched back of a dog. The human half had one free clawed hand, in the other it held a filthy golden sword covered in soot and ash. The dog had brown overgrown teeth that looked like daggers, the same could be said about his rider. Who's ribs appears to be slightly melded together as if to form armor.
The worst part was the creature had no skin, leaving its pulsating red muscles and yellow veins exposed for all to see. The dog had no eyes, but the pair of red eyes on its rider indicated that they worked together to find prey.
These Nuckelavee sprinted after the fleeing horseman, jumping onto them the way a cougar would attack an elk. Although most managed to escape, the horseman's numbers had depleted severely.
Then, the ground started to explode yet again. This time, something emerged from the craters. They were huge creatures, standing over 10ft tall. They had short stubby snouts, and milky white eyes. They had huge interlocking teeth that looked perfect for shredding flesh. A huge horn protruded from their fore head and curved down towards the tip of their nose. Two more horns protruded from the side of their head, resembling the horns of a bull.
They walked like gorillas, hunched over and supporting some weight on their knuckles. Their long claws resembled that of badger. They must of had an acute sense of smell, because they sniffed the air for barely a minute before charging forward. Howling like rabid dogs.
As they charged, Aaron managed to push his dead horse off of him to the point where he could slide out from under it. He was wounded, but he limped back alongside a few other survivors of the airship bombardment.
The new wave of Omegasevrians pressed their attack, hoping to chase down Aaron and his men and kill them. Upon realizing their leader was trapped between the advancing Warbeasts and the Omegasevrian counter attack, the horsemen rallied forming ranks and preparing to charge in, scoop up their leader and rejoin with the main force.
After thundering across the open ground and closing the distance between themselves and the Warbeasts, the horsemen weaved in between the monsters doing their best to dodge the swift swipes from their claws.
Although a few horsemen were slain, most were able to get by without much trouble. The next problem came with the charging Nuckelavee, who were yipping and growling as they closed in.
One jumped up and tore a horseman from his mount, the fierce canine tearing the mans throat out upon landing. Another tried the same thing, but was met with a spear to human half's chest. Black blood poured from the wound while the dog kicked and howled in anger. The horseman yanked his spear out of the creature, leaving it to tumble away. Without its rider, the creature staggered around unsure of where to go.
A horseman trotted up to Aaron and pulled him up onto his saddle. The two took off after while the other survivors were retrieved. Of the 500 horseman that had arrived minutes before, less than half remained.
...
Merida was searching for Spiros, leaving Gordon in charge of the archers atop the wall.
When she found him, he was checking the pulse of a young man.
After standing by for a minute, she spoke:
"Anything?"
He shook his head and got up onto his feet.
"We need to end this." She resolved.
He nodded, casting his gaze to the Airship in the sky.
A sharp whistle from the vanguard called Visilis to the battlefield. The Griffin had been resting on a near by hilltop, overlooking the battle. The creature landed amongst the courtyard. He was clad in crystal armor that protected his head, neck, torso, and legs. Isaac and Spiros had made the set for him last night.
Our heroes got onto the Griffins back, eager to get onto the airship.
"Hey, Princess!" Aylin shouted.
Merida turned to face her.
"Either both of you come back, or neither of you. Understand?" She instructed.
She nodded.
"Be sure to give Balor our regards." Macintosh told Spiros.
"Be careful, the both of you!" Elinor told them.
"Ready?" Spiros asked.
"Lets do it." Merida replied.
The Griffin spread his wings and with one fluid motion, took to the sky.
...
Another longship was sent to the bottom by the Omegasevrain guns. Leaving only two ships left to fight the airship. A explosive blast sent a column of water into the air and tossed Young MacGuffin's ship around a bit.
Despite this, the first mate continued it bark orders at the crew.
"Helmsman bring us about! Keep changing course to throw off their aim!"
Another near miss sent a wave of water crashing onto the deck.
"Gun crew, continue to fire!"
The duo continued to load explosive bolts, unphased by the explosions that were going off around them. Then a thunderous explosion shook the water, drawing attention to the ship that was next to them.
It's stockpile of explosive ballista bolts had detonated, vaporizing the entire ship. Only a few chunks of burning debris was left floating on the water. Then another blast, this one knocked Young MacGuffin onto his back. When he sat up, the bow was gone and the ship was listing forward and to the left.
Above them, he could see Visilis darting around the airship. Desperately trying to avoid enemy fire, as long as he was on the run like that, he couldn't drop Merida and Spiros off onto the airship.
Acting fast, he shouted a string of gibberish at his first mate who nodded .
"Rope, got it!"
Another explosive bolt slammed into the water near them, which made the deck roll underneath their feet.
The first mate returned and offered the rope to MacGuffin who then ordered him to abandon ship.
The man stuttered for a bit, but nodded after a stern look from his captain.
"Abandon ship!" He shouted, hopping of the boat and into the water. The rest off the crew followed suit.
Gregory went to man the ballista when another explosive bolt struck his ship. The vessel groaned as it leaned forward even more. MacGuffin was sent tumbling down the near vertical deck only to be stopped by the mast.
Upon impact, he cried out as a wave of pain shot up and down his spine. Despite this he grabbed a handful of explosive warheads and tied them together using the rope. He was careful not to make the knot too tight or too loose.
After doing this,he crawled up the deck towards the ballista, which was angled up at the airship with the last bolt locked into its firing mechanism. Carefully, Gregor tied the group of warheads to the shaft of the bolt.
Then after clambering to his feet, and getting a solid footing he pointed the ballista at the enemy's midship. Then he fired, praying that the warheads that were haphazardly tied on would stay in place until the last moment.
He watched the bolt sail out of sight, several seconds later a series of explosions dotted the midsection of the airship. He could even see a large fire getting underway.
He sighed with relief as he observed his handiwork. The sinking ship quickly got his attention. He realized the ship was sinking fast and so he jumped overboard,failing to anticipate the next obstacle on his path to survival.
As the ship sunk, it create a current of sorts that pulled all the things surrounding it back towards the doomed vessel. Gregor had never been a good swimmer, so he was no match for the pull of the the sinking ship,
He tried to fight as best as he could, kicking with all his might and struggling to keep his head above water. Sadly, he grew tired. His muscles began to fail him and he was struggling to keep his head above water.
As the last of the ship sunk beneath the surface, he followed.
...
A.N- Hello everyone. First off I just want to sincerely apologize for my absence. You all deserve better then that as my readers and I am truly sorry that you had to wait for such a long time. If you have lost interest, I don't blame you.
For those who are still here and willing to go on.
Thanks for reading! From the bottom of my heart.
Wolf out