A/N: I'm Sooo sorry this is late. Been really busy. I promise that the chapter after this one will come alot faster. Disclaimer in Previous Chapters. Thank you Onyx and S again!
Katie tried her best to ignore the pain, but it was getting to be too much. She clenched her teeth hard enough to make her jaw creak, using every technique she could think of to suppress the agony shooting through her. Every time the stallion moved beneath her, the motion pushed her back into Troy's armored chest. She fought to think about better things, her home in Sacelon, her adoptive family, and… Neo…
Every time Neo's face crossed her mind, her imagination supplied an image of him lying broken on the ground, blood trailing from his mouth, his soft golden eyes open and unseeing, a sword through the heart that loved her so much. The thought of Neo going to battle, possibly dying in battle, sank deeper and deeper into her mind, making her heart sink further into her body. The thought of him being killed before her eyes plagued her mind just as much as the thought of her own friends slaying her by accident. The more she tried not to think about it, the clearer the thoughts became, until nausea rolled through her and she clamped her teeth to keep from being sick.
She had never seen a battle. Like any member of the village, she had seen injuries, blood and broken bones, even missing limbs if a duel grew too violent, but no one ever died as a result of a monster's duel. She had never seen true war, and now she was riding directly into one. She had never seen death and now, death seemed to be following behind her. Kate swallowed hard, forcing back her nausea as the army continued moving closer and closer to her family. Somehow, on an instinctive level, she knew the coming hours were going to be the most horrific experience of her life.
Troy rode proudly at the head of his newly claimed army. Smirking down at the girl in his arms, he took a moment to rejoice. This would be a day of great victory for him. Everything he had ever desired was coming into his hands. The kingdom was his, the pendants were his, and soon, this girl would be in his bed and he would wield the greatest power in the known world. He sat up straighter in the saddle, feeling like a true king.
Yes, today was his day to shine.
- - - - - - - - - -
The small camp was frantic. Monsters raced every which way, stamping out fires, disassembling tents, checking weapons and equipment, and pulling on their armor. Although it appeared to be completely chaotic, a longer look would have revealed order, even precision, to the movement. The tents and wooden frames fell with astonishing speed, swooped up into bundles and lashed to the pack horses in a matter of minutes. The neat piles of weapons and mended tack were divided out to their rightful owners and bearers. Here and there, monsters bolted down a last mouthful of food or drink even as they pulled on their armor.
At the far end of camp, Onyx had to shout to be heard over the noise. "Susa! A word!" The snarling monster stalked back to her without replying, but listened patiently while Onyx spoke to him, low-voiced. Even Sarah, standing closest to them, could only catch a few words, most of which happened to be 'glory' and 'destruction.' At one point, the whisper 'freedom from your oath' reached her ears, and she whipped around in alarm, seeing an expression of rapture on Susa's dark face. Shaking, Sarah turned and left, moving at a near-run to get away from the dark monster and the terrifying promise her other half had just made.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
As furious as Neo was, he knew Onyx had been right. It would do Kate no good if he exhausted himself before the battle. Hopefully, everyone will recognize her, he thought to himself, the slightest hint of dread crossing his mind. None of the monsters here were fools, but there was no time for lengthy decisions in the midst of battle. The uniform of a soldier meant a soldier, and the soldiers were the enemy. The last thing anyone here wished to do was kill her accidentally, but Troy had made it impossible to guarantee her safety. As he tightened Steel's girth for the third time, he tried to think of anything but her being destroyed, whether by friend or foe. She will come out of this alive, he promised himself. I will bring her out alive and take her home safe and sound.
Then what? Would things go back to the way they always were or had this experience changed her? He couldn't tell, now that the connection between them was lost. It made his heart ache to know that he could not touch her mind, feel her thoughts and her emotions against his own. He held his head up, checked once again that his sword was secured at his side, and continued to prepare his thoughts for battle.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Celtos glanced up from adjusting the greaves on his wrist as Sarah skidded to a stop at his side, leaning one hand on her horse Trinity's strong shoulder, the other braced on her knee. She was breathing hard and shaking, her face too pale by far. Celtos looked her over quickly, finding her fully armored, uninjured and apparently quite unharmed, which gave no explanation for her condition.
"Mistress?" he ventured cautiously, and received no reaction at all. "Sarah!" He said, a little more urgently, and she jumped as though she had only just noticed his presence. "What's the matter?"
Her eyes were too wide when she looked at him, and almost pure grey from stress and anxiety. "She's going to free him from his oath!"
It took Celtos a moment to process that. 'She' must mean Onyx, as only one of the four Masters could free a monster from his oath, therefore 'he' had to be Susa, as only his potential freedom could cause such a reaction in the normally unshakable Hikari. Shaking his head slowly, Celtos settled his hands on the girl's shoulders, lowering his head until she was forced to meet his gaze.
"Do you trust Mistress Onyx's judgment?"
"Well, yes," the girl answered, "but Susa?"
"If you trust her, then trust her," Celtos answered, with more confidence than he felt. "She will not allow harm to come to us."
Both of them looked back to the far end of the encampment, where Onyx now stood with Susa, Harun, and Damus, clearly outlining some sort of plan for them. Sarah and Celtos would be standing back with the archers for the first wave of the battle; evidently, neither of them needed to know the initial strategy.
Sarah and Celtos turned back, each facing their respective horses. Each one had a bow strapped to their saddles; the bows that Onyx had gifted them before they left Sacelon. Sarah's gauntleted fingers reached out, moving almost tenderly over the gleaming stock of the crossbow. Sighing, she bowed her head and murmured an Elvish invocation, one that Celtos had taught her years ago. '- May this sword never dull, this bow never break, this horse never falter, and my fortune never fail. - '
Smiling to himself, Celtos echoed the invocation over his own mount and weapons, did one final check of his armor, weapons, and equipment, and silently mounted up. Sarah was only a moment behind him. All around them, monsters were finishing their own last checks and their own murmured invocations, sliding into their saddles as they prepared to move out.
Onyx was closer to them now, speaking to Dian Keto and Amystria. The two healers were standing next to their own mounts, with the loaded pack horses clustered behind them. Onyx had her parchment map spread before them, holding one edge herself while Amystria held the other.
"You two will take the pack horses out nearly two full miles," Onyx was telling them, tracing the lines of the map with her finger. "Here, you will find a series of caves in the foothills, large enough to shelter our entire force. Set up the medical bays and wait there, out of danger, so that we may have a safe respite to return to should we succeed."
"How long shall we wait?" Dian, nearly trembling with tension, spoke so quietly that the eavesdropping Sarah and Celtos barely heard him.
"If we are successful, we should be returning to your position before nightfall. If we are unsuccessful, you shall know. Your pendants," Onyx explained, indicating the pale-blue gem at Amystria's throat and the seafoam-green one at Dian's, "will shatter. Your oaths to me will be at an end, and you shall do as you will. My recommendation would be to leave this area as swiftly as possible. Whether you return to defend Sacelon or not will be your choice." Without giving them a chance to reply, she let the map roll back up and pressed it into Mysti's hands. "Take the map, we will have no need of it. Now, go! Ride as quickly as you dare. Neither of you is a warrior; I do not want you near when the fighting starts. Take the wolves with you for protection."
Both monsters hurried to mount, Stera and Silvis trotting at their heels, and Onyx watched quietly until the string of horses had vanished into the distance before she swung into Masabi's saddle. Motioning the horse to the forefront of the crowd, she stood up in her stirrups, facing the assembled monsters.
"My people," she shouted, her voice ringing clear, "we ride to battle! Are you ready?"
A roar answered her; weapons flashed, horses neighed, and every throat voiced its support.
"We ride!" Onyx shouted again, her emerald cloak billowing around her armor-clad form.
"We ride!" came the echoing shout.
"We fight!"
"We fight!"
Onyx's sword blazed in the early light as she drew it; held aloft, it caught the meager rays of sun and blazed like a beacon. "WE WIN!"
"WE WIN!"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The only avenue out of the city with a force as large as the army Troy lead was the King's Great Road, a path wide enough for ten horses abreast and paved with smooth stone. The Road had been established centuries ago, when all ten of the Houses flourished and Lohan was a center of trade and commerce. It had not been maintained, and deep cracks split the stone in many places, but it was still passable. In some places, it ran between steep hills or alongside deep gorges. It was not a road designed for war. Several points along the road were ideal for ambush, but the thought barely crossed Troy's mind. He knew Onyx was bold, but he also knew she was intelligent, strategic, and analytical. He never considered that she would mount what would well amount to a suicide strike on his immense force.
Until, that is, he crested the first hill after the castle and a field of carnage met his eyes. For a long moment he stared in disbelief, then fury. The corpses of two hundred soldiers lay on the blood-soaked ground. Some of the bodies had been gutted, some decapitated; many were missing limbs. Several in his immediate vicinity were riddled with arrow-wounds, but he could see that the arrows had been taken again after the battle, collected for further use. Still struggling to recover from his shock, Troy barely heard one of his lieutenants calling him.
"Sir!" Lieutenant Kaen finally bellowed, and Troy swung to look at him. Keeping a tight grasp on his reins in case his horse decided to bolt, Kaen knelt down next to the body he had found. "It's Lieutenant Jacobs, sir."
Disbelieving, Troy dismounted his fidgeting horse to get a better view of the corpse. It looked… burned. Jacob's armor had melted across his chest and stomach, burned away until the inside of the destroyed body was visible. The two bodies on either side of the dead lieutenant were burned beyond recognition, both completely black. Vaguely, Troy was aware of several of the young soldiers behind him emptying their stomachs onto the road, and mentally scorned their weakness.
Kaen nudged carefully at Jacob's cheek, rolling the limp head to the side. "His throat was cut." Troy was opening his mouth to reply to that when a wordless shout echoed from across the field. A soldier, a young soldier, was on his knees, trembling, at the base of an ancient oak tree overlooking the road. Troy stared up at the tree, then cursed violently. He unleashed his fury by kicking the corpse at his feet, sending Jacob's head reeling sideways with a gout of blood. Kaen gave a cry of protest, and Troy's gauntleted fist swung. Protesting was disobedience; disobedience was punished. Troy's fist caught Kaen in the cheekbone, and the man fell.
The insignias of the fallen Houses were carved into the tree. It was impossible, and yet… here was the proof. Onyx had slain his men, shattered this small force so completely, so thoroughly… For the first time, doubt began to filter into Troy's mind. 'If she can do this, even to such a small force, is there a chance that she could prevail?'
Troy shook his head slightly. Impossible. No one, not even some demon-begotten bitch of legend, could defeat the King's Army. "Back to rank!" he shouted as he swung back onto his horse. "We march on!"
Lieutenant Kaen lay, unresponsive, half-fallen over Jacob's body where Troy's fist had thrown him. Troy shouted the man's name once, and received no response. When he looked more closely at Kaen's crumpled form, he saw the unnatural, twisted position of the man's head and cursed. He'd snapped the man's neck with his blow. Furious now, he pointed at a sergeant from Kaen's division. "You!" he snapped, neither knowing nor caring for the man's name. "You are hereby promoted to lieutenant. Do not fail me as he did," he ordered, pointing at Kaen's fallen form. The man managed a stuttered reply and a trembling salute before mounting Kaen's war-horse and carefully reining him back to Kaen's former division.
Ignoring the murmurs of doubt and trepidation that swept through his troops, Troy urged his horse forward, the stallion's heavy feet dancing between shattered corpses as he sought the road again. Because the army was following him, Troy could not see the expressions growing on the faces of his men.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The moment Kate saw the scene, the first thing she did was lean over the horse and vomit. It horrified her to think that this was something that Onyx and her friends had done. These men had died and it was all because of her. She tried hard to keep her mind set on the fact that these men were evil, they were the enemy and deserved to die. When Troy hopped off the horse to look at the bodies Kate just closed her eyes and continued to look down at the ground. A river of blood running under the horse caught her eyes and she found herself looking into it as if waiting for it to give her a message of some kind. She threw up again when she saw Troy kick the dead body of one of his men. It wasn't until her eyes moved up to a young soldier beneath the tree that she realized, this was Onyx's work and that the battle she was being taken into was going to look very much the same or even worse.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The army was a half-hour's ride from the field of slaughter when Kate's head began to itch. It wasn't much, just an annoying little twinge over her left ear, but it became more annoying as time went on. When she tried to sink into meditation and block it out, it increased sharply until it became a needle-like pain. Her concentration slipped for a moment, and suddenly she 'felt' Onyx's presence in her mind.
'KATE!' The Yami's mental 'voice' was nearly a shout; she sounded exasperated. The shock of it forced Kate to stifle a yelp, but if Troy noticed her sudden stiffening, he gave no indication.
'Onyx? How are you in my head? My pendants - '
'I'll explain later. Right now, listen. When you see the signal, get off of that horse and move away as fast as you can.'
'I'm not sure I can walk, Onyx.' It was a hard admission to make, but it was the truth. Days worth of beatings, combined with the forced ride, had driven her body past the point of pain and into numbness.
'You'll have to try.' Onyx's voice was sympathetic, but distracted. 'Just remember. When you see the signal, get off the horse.'
'What is the signal?'
'You'll know when you see it.' And with that, Onyx's mental presence vanished, and all of the telepathic yelling in the world wasn't going to call her back. Kate didn't have much time to worry about it, though. Shouts began erupting from in front of them, those few soldiers that Troy had sent ahead as scouts and guards. Looking forward, Kate cried out in astonishment. A high ridge was almost directly ahead of them, forcing the road to curve sharply to the right barely a hundred feet from where they stood. On top of that ridge, Onyx stood silent, alone, unmounted, her sword sheathed on her hip. Her face was as blank as a stone, but the mere sight of her, with the rampant gold stallion displayed on her armor, was enough to send many of the soldiers into fits of panic.
Katie was startled enough by Onyx's sudden appearance that she didn't see Troy's gauntleted fist moving until it struck her full-force in the side of the face. The strength of the blow knocked her cleanly out of the saddle, sending her crashing to the ground almost ten feet away.
"You little bitch, you led them straight to us!" Troy's face was incandescent with rage, his voice a shattering scream. "I'll kill you for this!"
A flash of movement from high above caught Kate's eye. Rolling her head slowly, she tracked the dark blur and slowly brought it into focus. It was Harun, the Harpie's Brother, and he was carrying something in his arms. Something that glowed with the crackling white power of lightening.
"Susa," Kate whispered in amazement, as Troy swung to follow her gaze. Harun was carrying Susa directly over the main body of his army, and the deadly monster was literally glowing with the power of the lightening contained within his body.
Onyx's unbelievable first strike clarified itself in Kate's mind a split second before Harun reached the very center of the army, where the men were clustered thickly together – and dropped Susa straight into it.
Susa Soldier was filled to the brim with the energy he commanded. He released every last ounce of it as he hit the ground. A pure white dome of energy rose up from where he had struck, rising and expanding, burning across the ground in all directions as it engulfed everything before it. Men ran screaming before it, but as soon as the energy wall touched them, there was nothing left to scream.
Terror surged through Kate, giving her the strength she needed to force her abused body to its feet, force her legs to move as she staggered away from that horrible, killing wall of light. Even as she moved, though, she could hear the burning rush of the wall slowing down, and could somehow feel the energy dissipating behind her. Glancing back, she watched as the wall slowly vanished into white ghosts of mist, leaving a blackened circle of earth in its wake. There was nothing within that circle, no bodies, no bones, not even rocks. All of it was gone, reduced to ash in the wake of Susa's power.
"I'll kill you for this, you demon-loving little whore!"
Of course, the circle hadn't come within a hundred feet of Troy. Onyx wouldn't have risked her like that, simply to eliminate him. Kate heard the steel-on-steel scrape of a sword being drawn, the thunder of hoofbeats closing in on her. She tried forcing her body into motion again, but it was like willing a puppet to move. Her body was too far gone to respond to her mind's commands. She could barely feel the weight of her body, barely feel how her feet were planted against the ground. Although her eyes saw with horrific clarity as Troy threw his sword, the spinning blade catching the light, her trembling legs would not move. She saw the blade hurtling towards her, but barely felt the impact against her unprotected back.
Then fire exploded through her, burning across her entire body. She could feel again, feel the steel blade embedded in her back, feel the hot blood already pouring from the wound, feel her life seeping away onto the hard, pitiless earth beneath her. A scream ripped itself from her throat, and suddenly a roar echoed it. She could just barely make out the sudden blur of Onyx's movement, shooting down from the ridgeline above, slamming Troy from his saddle and onto the ground barely five feet from where she lay. Her eyes were clouding over, growing darker by the minute, but the last thing that registered in her mind was how Onyx's green armor suddenly looked black.
And then there was nothing.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"You will pay for that, Troy." Onyx's voice was a low growl, a tone scarcely even human. Troy grasped for his sword, his hand meeting empty air.
Up on the ridgeline, he could see more figures beginning to emerge. Damus was standing at their head, his face twisted in concentration as he focused on the teardrop-shaped gem suspended between his palms. Sarah stood to one side of him, a Lohan-made crossbow steady in her hands. Celtos was on the other side of the mage, a longbow already drawn, aiming behind Troy at the men remaining to him.
There were barely two thousand of the ten he had started with. The rest were dead, or deserted. Two thousand men against a force of demon monsters, against this… creature in front of him. Troy's heart shook in his chest. For the first time, he realized it. He was facing his end. This dark demon in front of him, and her people ranked along the ridge with arrows and blades and palms full of fire and majic. There would be no mercy here.
In front of him, Onyx raised one hand above her head, her own gauntlet flashing in the sunlight. When her hand whipped downward, a single word sprang from her lips. "ATTACK!" And Troy could only watch, helpless, as what was left of his army fell. Arrows pierced throats and eyes; white-hot bursts of majic killed instantly, effortlessly; other bodies fell, screaming, wreathed in flame. Any attack they launched bounced harmlessly off an invisible wall that surrounded Onyx's people. The King's Army of Lohan fell in blazing ruins.
And all Troy could do was watch.
"Now you see?" Onyx's voice, soft and measured, drew him away from his dying army, only to the greater horror of her presence. "This is what you have brought upon your people. What you have brought upon yourself. We are the Daughters of the Forbidden Houses. We are those who cursed the kingdom."
"The King's Bane," Troy whispered, memories flashing back to him. "They call you the King's Bane."
"Fitting enough," Onyx replied, shifting her stance slightly. "You call yourself King, don't you, Troy?"
For a moment, Troy felt his breath stop in his throat. There wasn't enough air in his lungs to force a reply, even if he'd known what to say.
"You tried to destroy the House of the Wolf, Troy," Onyx whispered, shifting again, crouching forward. "So it's only fitting that the Wolf shall destroy you." And before Troy's eyes, she began to change. Her long hair became short and coarse. Her elegant face pushed forward into a long muzzle, and her teeth extended into tearing fangs.
Before Troy's disbelieving eyes, Onyx had become a wolf. The last thing he heard was the echo of her quiet voice in his head.
'Goodbye, Troy,' she said simply. And then she attacked.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sarah dropped to the rocky ground on top of the ridgeline, her breath coming in short pants as the crossbow fell from her nerveless fingers. Celtos dropped to one knee beside her, setting a careful hand on her shoulder. The long-range fighters had done everything they could. The warrior-class monsters were moving down to the field now, weapons ready, prepared to deal with the surviving soldiers. If there were any. Staring down at the blackened, bloody field below them, Sarah didn't think it was likely. It had been a massacre.
'Sa-chan?' Onyx's almost tentative mental query brought her head up, sharply. Onyx was never tentative.
'I'm here. What is it?'
'Send Neo down.'
"Oh, no! Katie!" Sarah scrambling to her feet in an instant, fear and anguish blocking anything else Onyx would have said from her mind. Hearing his lover's name, Neo, just as spent as the rest of them, was on his feet and running for the path to the road before Sarah could even stand.
When they got down there, a horrific sight greeted them. A blood-soaked, black-furred wolf waited, a silent sentinel over Kate's still body. Not twenty feet away lay Troy's barely recognizable form; his throat had been torn out so violently that the white of his spine glistened beneath the blood.
Neo gave a wordless shout, throwing himself to his knees at Kate's side, tears already running down his face. A wail tore itself from Sarah's throat, and she buried her head in Celtos' chest, her entire body shaking as she cried.
'Stop sobbing, you idiots, she's still alive!' Onyx's mental voice startled them all, but not quite as much as the words themselves. Emerald-green eyes glared at all of them over the wolf's blood-soaked muzzle, no doubt cursing them all for fools.
"Alive?" Neo's fingers automatically sought out the pulse at Kate's throat, the rise and fall of her chest, and when he found both Sarah thought he might faint from sheer joy. His relief was short-lived, though. "She is alive now, but she's so weak. Her body won't last much longer without healing."
'You need to get her to Dian and Mysti.' Onyx's voice was careful, but listening closely, Sarah could hear it shaking under strain. Onyx had depleted most of her energy in the fight.
As carefully as he could, Neo gathered Kate up into his arms. Moving her could well make things worse, but leaving her here would only guarantee her death. "Steel won't be fast enough," he said suddenly, thinking out loud. His gelding was a fine war horse, who would have galloped unblinking into the mouth of Hell if Neo asked it, but he was not young and he was no race horse.
A faint crunch of bones grinding spun his attention back to Onyx just as she staggered to her human feet. "Take Masabi," she ordered, her voice hoarse. "He's the fastest horse here."
Neo bowed his head to her, awkwardly. At another time, he would have stammered and blushed; never had another person been allowed to ride Onyx's stallion. She'd raised him from birth, and he was her horse alone.
As though reading Onyx's mind, Damus appeared at the bottom of the ridge, leading all of their horses behind him. Silently, he left the others standing there and led Masabi forward. Onyx held the stallion while Neo mounted, resting her forehead against the horse's silver brow.
"Take them to where Dian and Mysti are," she told the horse in a low whisper. "Katie's very life depends on your speed." Leaning back, she passed the reins to Neo, making sure he held them secure in one hand while he cradled Kate with the other. "Now go!" she shouted, and the stallion leapt, his slender body flying across the ground from a standstill. It was seconds before his speed lost the others to Neo's view.
Staring down at the girl in his arms, Neo shifted his grip, pressing his hand against the wound in her back. Closing his eyes, he called up every ounce of life energy he could spare and poured all of it into her body.
"Live, Kojika," he whispered, as Masabi's speed whipped tears from his eyes. "Please, live."