Golden Sun: The Sands of Time
Chapter 13: Now for wrath
Grisnakh stared at the city. An entire line of archers stood on the walls, ready to fire. He chuckled. Such a paltry defense force, and they hoped to stand against the karan? Before the dawn came, the fortress would be taken. He would ensure that. Things were going perfectly.
The only small problem was the matter of Maelgrim riding behind him. His NightMare snorted impatiently, it's soulless eyes staring at the back of Grisnakh's head. Grisnakh swore to himself that before the battle was over, he'd see the corpse of Maelgrim on the ground. Even if he had to see to that personally. Now, though…
Raising his arm to the sky, he let out a roar of anger. To war! To the death of the elves! His soldiers roared as one as well, and began to run in a single wave of death, a single purpose affixed into their mind. The fall of Anthis was at hand.
"Release arrows!" Davion cried. Instantly, a storm of death erupted from the fortress, a hundred thousand razor sharp quills flying towards the ground far below. A single volley, flying as one, piercing the hide of the karan. They staggered, fell back, then regrouped, charging with renewed ferocity towards the fortress.
"Reload!" Davion commanded. An instant later, the sounds of arrows being slipped out of their quiver, and brought to bear against the karan resounded throughout the outer walls.
But before they could attack, something else struck.
Isaac and Felix had long discussed the fact that once the karan entered close quarters combat with the elves, psynergy would be next to worthless, considering that they had no intention of hurting their allies. And thus, they had resolved to release all their psynergy while they still could. After all, why bother hoarding something tat you wouldn't be able to use late. And thus, the power of Alchemy was brought to bear against the rushing sea of darkness that rose to meet them.
"Grand Gaia!"
The earth trembled, then split open, with a beam of pure Venus psynergy erupting from the depths of the ground. Those unlucky enough to be caught in the blast radius fell screaming into the depths of the earth. Clumps of stone and soil flew through the air, knocking back most of the karan.A few of the larger boulders fell on the the sandy ground, smashing the karan at the foremost in the lines.
"Quake Sphere!"
The ground surged up, shaking, roiling, and twisting. The karan tried in vain to keep on their feet, but the unpredictable soil made it impossible. Dropping to the ground, the karan made a clear target for the archers, and another wave of arrows claimed two dozen more lives.
The spell completed, the karan attempted to struggle to their feet. But the spells of the adepts were only beginning.
"Pyroclasm!"
"Flare Storm!"
Raging fire spurted from the ground, a vertical column of blazing fire. Screeching and howling, those caught in the storm of raging flames were incinerated almost instantly, while those outside the fire dropped their weapons, protecting their eyes from the intense heat. Searing flames danced around, licking the legs of the warriors, dropping them to the floor.
"Tempest!"
"Spark Plasma"
Sheba and Ivan released the two spells simultaneously, and a tornado crackling with lightning emerged from the sky, sucking in hapless karan in the swirling vortes, doomed to a slow death of electrocution. Tortured screams filled the evening air.
Still the karan marched on. And a final trio of spells was ready.
"Megacool!"
"Ice missile!"
"Freeze prism!"
A hail of icicles and frozen comets rained from above, shattering the karan's skulls, stabbing through their hearts, their bodies, and instantly freezing any blood the spurted out from the attackers. And from the ground, a deathtrap of razor sharp ice spines stabbed forward, ripping through the flesh of the legs, causing many to stumble and fall face first into the spines of ice.
Many fell, but many, many more surged on. They seemed to sense that by now the special attacks that had devastated their ranks were spent, and they were beginning to set ladders at the base of the outer walls.
Davion fired another arrow into the seemingly endless ranks. So, the true battle begins now…
"I dunno, I think we killed maybe two thousand altogether." Ivan muttered. He was breathing heavily, and leaning against the wall of the fortress. Beside him, Sheba was also panting. The powerful spells had taxed them, and they had poured more energy into it than before. Sheba shook her head.
"That's not enough, Ivan. Not nearly enough." Ivan shrugged. Unsheathing his Tisiphone Edge, he raised it into the air. The Sword of Vengeance caught the last rays of the setting sun, and began to shine. "Then it's sword work from now on." Sheba nodded, and drew her Clothos Distaff. Time to show those red skinned brutes what they were made of.
The ladders set in place, the karan begin the climb to the top of the outer wall. In a faraway corner of his mind, he could hear Davion yelling at the elves to draw their swords. Ivan readied his blade. Not long now…
The first of the karan reached the top of the wall, and leapt down. In a single slash, he beheaded an elf caught unawares. Ivan ran forward, using his natural speed to his advantage. Dodging a vertical slash, he struck upwards. The karan fell, missing his arm.
Sheba, in the meantime smashed her staff down on another karan that had attempted to stab her from behind. An elf ran up, stabbing his sword through the stunned warrior.
Sheba nodded her thanks, and was about to turn back to the battle when a cry came from the main gates. From her vantage point, she could see the huge, silent figure of the battering ram charging up towards the wooden barrier.
Felix cursed and mentally cast Ragnarok. The sword of Venus psynergy streaked down, cleaving through a karan warrior, and knocking him back into another one. So far so good. But more people were coming to lug the huge log that was the battering ram. From below, he could hear the cry to brace the gates. Felix snarled, and grabbing a spear from an elf beside him that been shot by an arrow, he hurled it at the forward karan of the battering ram. It pierced his head, and the karan fell. So much death, and the battle had not even truly started yet.
Feeling a sudden ripple of Venus psynergy, he saw out of the corner of his eye a stream of yellowish geysers erupting from the ground. Isaac? What the hell was he doing using summons right in the middle of a melee?
Turning to get a closer look, Felix's eyes widened as he realized just why Isaac had been able to unleash his spell. The elves in the radius had already been killed. Not too surprising, considering that the entire group down there had been ill-trained volunteers. However, only Isaac was still alive and he was busy trying to fend off attacks from more and more karan that piled atop the ladders. Elves were rushing to aid him, but Felix was the closest fighter available. Hefting his Excalibur atop his shoulder, he rushed to aid his beleaguered friend.
Isaac snarled as he locked blades with the karan currently facing him. The warrior had been blown back by the spirit of Venus that he summoned earlier, but it had recovered faster than Isaac had expected. Now he was trying his best to find good footing to throw his foe back. Easier said then done. The karan was muscular, and fueled by an intense hatred for the elves. Isaac could not utilize the powers of hatred, and thus, was slowly but surely giving way.
Suddenly, the warrior's foot lashed out, knocking the stunned Isaac backwards. The Sol Blade flew from his grasp, to clatter on the ground a few feet away. Roaring in triumph, the karan raised his sword and stabbed downwards, seeking to put an end to Isaac's life.
Never underestimate an adept. Especially one that has djinni with him.
"Mold!"
Abruptly, the sword reversed direction, piercing the karan's own belly. The enemy warrior howled in shock and pain, before slumping to the ground. Isaac grinned slightly, and started for his Sol Blade. Just before he reached it, however, three more karan stepped between him and his weapon. Isaac cursed mentally. There was no way he could defeat three of them with his weapon gone and his best psynergies unusable. The lead one carried a huge axe half his size with a casual air that belied it's obvious weight. With a snarl, he charged forward. Isaac dived under the karan's outstretched legs, and kicked at his back. His foe staggered slightly, then turned. His massive fist flew threw the air, before smashing into Isaac's stomach. Pain exploded through the young adept's body, and he crumpled on the floor.
The karan picked him up with both hands almost casually, then began to squeeze. Tighter, tighter, and Isaac screamed in agony. His ribs had cracked, and he couldn't breath. Everything was going black… Distantly, he heard someone call out his name… then…
"Echo!"
A flash of golden light speared through the karan engaged in the process of crushing Isaac, and a second blow tossed the red skinned warrior high into the air. Isaac fell to the floor, gasping in air and coughing. Felix glanced down worriedly at his friend. "You okay?"
Isaac managed to raise one hand into the air and cast potent cure on himself. Rising to his feet, he noticed the other two karan, along with more clambering up the ladder were heading for the two adepts. "You released a djinni, right?" Felix whispered?
"Uh, yeah." Isaac replied. He still felt slightly dizzy. Felix nodded, and raised his sword into the air. "I summon the guardian of an immortal pharaoh! The ancient tomb, built in a land of burning sands! That which has guarded a tomb for untold centuries! Ramses! Come forth!"
A huge statue swirled into existence, and pounding the ground with a gargantuan fist, summoned up a ton of boulders, dropping them onto the startled karan's heads. After several rounds of boulder-dropping, the huge fist shot forward, smashing and scattering the karan warriors. As a grand finale, it snacked straight into a ladder, toppling it back onto the vast hordes below.
Isaac, in the meantime, had made use of the distraction and grabbed the Sol Blade. Swinging it in a wide arc, he removed the legs from another karan. They were killing as many as they could, and as fast as they could. But they couldn't hold forever. Already the sheer numbers was beginning to force them back, back, back. Isaac grunted as he stabbed his sword clean through another karan. Where the hell were the other elves?
As if in reply, a troop of elven warrior rushed up, swords drawn, and began engaging the karan in combat. One of the elves looked at the two exhausted figures of Isaac and Felix. "Take a break, kids. We'll handle this."
"Kids?" Felix muttered under his breath. Isaac merely shrugged it off, and started down the stairs.
Just then, the sky behind them exploded with red fire.
Garet held his ground, concentrating as blasts of fire issued forth from his hands. After getting knocked around a bit, he had made the lucky discovery that the ladders were made of wood. After requesting for several elves to cover him, he had begun the process of torching the ladders in his section of the wall. It was hard work. The karan had caught on to his schemes, and more and more of the brutes were aiming projectiles in his general direction. He winced as he saw one of the elves beside him fall with an axe in his forehead.
Abruptly, he felt a surge of heat and caught a glimpse of a dragon made of fire crashing down behind him. Turning, he saw the smoking corpse of a karan on the floor. Flashing a quick thumbs up to Jenna, he was about to return to burning the ladders when he saw a karan rise up behind Jenna, spear in hand.
"Jenna!" he cried. Before he could do anything, Jenna jerked as the spear passed cleanly through her shoulder. Staggering, she collapsed to the floor, and lay still, a pool of rapidly spreading blood.
Garet's eye began to glow with the fury of Mars. The karan stepped over the still form of Jenna, and began to charge him. Either the warrior didn't notice that Garet was now covered in a reddish aura, or he didn't care. Either way, it was the last big mistake he would ever make. Raising a single hand into the air, Garet cried aloud to Mars for aid.
"Liquifier!"
A storm of firebeams shot forth from the ground around Garet, flying into the air, then swooping down to converge on the rapidly approaching karan. The warrior didn't even have time to scream before he disintegrated into ash.
Skidding to a halt besides Jenna, Garet began digging in his pack. Pulling out one of the rare Waters of Life, he poured the contents into Jenna's throat praying she wasn't too far gone yet. A second later, he gasped in relief as he noticed the ugly wound on her shoulder closing up.
Jenna groaned, and sat up, dazed at first, then as she remembered what just happened, she shot to her feet, Salamander rod at the ready. "Where's that stupid karan? I'll cook him!"
Garet merely pointed to the pile of ashes that once had been the red-skinned warrior.
Just then, the cry came from below. "They've broken through the dam! They're in the drains!"
Davion stabbed his long knife through the throat of the nearest warrior, and then yanked it out. The battle was fiercest around his spot, and nearly three hundred of his elves had already been slain. Alex was beside him, blasting any karan who came close with a spurt of water. Drawing another arrow, Davion was about to fire when a karan arrow, tinged with black poison, pierced his shoulder.
Dropping to the ground with a cry of pain, he yanked the arrow out. Dammit. He could feel the poison working it's way through him already. Uncorking an elixir, he downed it, and felt the curative drink battling the poison, trying to purge it from his body.
Alex noted his cry of pain, and cast Ply. The healing spell soothed the fiery wound, but could not close it. Davon shrugged it off. As long as he could continue fighting, he had to. The lives of all Anthis depended on it.
Sheba unleashed Destruct Ray, the flashes of lightning illuminating the darkest recesses of the underground tunnel. When the report had come that the drains had come under attack, a group of elves had turned to defend this place. She had been in the middle of them, and had been caught up in the rush. She wished that she were still aboveground. The underground air was stifling, and she could barely see when she wasn't casting a lightning based spell. At least she hadn't been harmed yet. Her primary role had been to hang near the back, blasting any karan that managed to break past the elven defenders with her psynergy. Draining work, to say the least. Opening her pack, she was about to grab a psynergy crystal when she detected a marked change in the air.
Looking up, she was able to catch a slight glimpse of the karan forming a tight wall around a strange metal sphere. The sphere was beginning to glow…
No! In a sudden moment of clarity, she knew. She knew what the strange metal sphere was. "Everyone!" She cried. "Get away! Get away from the-"
The bomb exploded, the sound deafening in the narrow tunnel, and all was plunged into darkness.
Grisnkah stood, surveying the battle. It seemed to be going well. They may have been losing many soldiers, but they still had more than a million left. Just then, he heard the soft thud of hooves. Turning, he saw the Dark Knight staring down at him. Despite being unable to see his face, Grisnakh could sense the disdain the dark one had for him.
"I do not see you at the front, Grisnakh."
Grisnakh snarled. " Practice what you preach, whelp. I don't see you charging forth into battle either."
Maelgrim let out a husky laugh. "I am not here to battle, mortal. I am here to ensure that you lead properly. I will only fight when you die."
Grisnakh's eyes flashed with anger. "Me? Die? You underestimate my ability, Maelgrim."
Maelgrim was silent for a moment. "Mark my words, Grisnakh. As surely as the sun has set, you will not see the next sun rise." Turning, Maelgrim rode off into the crowd of Karan.
Grisnakh roared in anger. Seizing his sword, he gestured for his bodyguard to march forward along with him. He'd show that arrogant little…… "Beware, fool." He whispered to the Dark Knight. "I don't think you're going to see the next sun either."
Sheba slowly drifted in and out of consciousness. After the bomb had exploded, part of the tunnel had collapsed, and pinned her under the rubble. She wasn't hurt, not badly, at any rate, but she couldn't free herself.
In front of her, she could see a tiny group of elves, maybe two dozen in all, trying to hold back the karan that still poured in, fresh and ready to do battle. They were fighting valiantly, but they would not last forever. She wished she could help, but she could barely move. Her body ached all over as well. And it everything was going foggy… there was no way she could cast a single spell, let alone fight… The karan would find her and kill her… she was sure of it… there was nothing… nothing…
Sheba, if everything else fails, remember, I'll protect you. No matter what
Ivan? Could he… Sheba thought. Could he help her? A long shot, but her only chance.
"Breath." She whispered. "Breath!"
The djinni in question popped out. After assessing the situation, she began to try to mend Sheba's wound.
"No, stop." Sheba whispered. The edges of her vision was going grey. "Find Ivan, Breath. Find… Ivan… please"
Breath nodded, then flew up past the karan, too distracted with the battle to notice the purple ball of light, before swooping up into the night air. Sheba could hold on no longer. Dropping her head, she succumbed to the darkness that closed in on her tight and black.
"Fancy seeing you here" Ivan laughed as he jumped over a swing from a karan. "Finished your rest?"
"Yup." Isaac replied. Slashing his sword in an infinity symbol, he ripped through the chest of a large karan, and chopped off the arm of another. The stupid brutes just kept coming. Was there no end to this? The sun had long set, and the endless battle was beginning to tell on the defenders of Anthis.
Ivan stabbed the throat from another karan, and knocked another away with Gust. More nimble than the others, he was still in pretty good shape. The battle was beginning to tell on him, however. He was sweating, and leaning on his sword. Abruptly, he saw a tiny purple ball of light skid down in front of him, before forming into the familiar shape of Jupiter Djinni. Breath, panting heavily, looked up at Ivan.
(Ivan! Sheba sent me to find you! She's needs help! She's in the drains!) Breath squeaked.
Ivan wasted no time. Scooping up the Jupiter djinni, he turned to Isaac. "Isaac! You stay here! I'll go find Sheba!" Isaac didn't have time to nod before Ivan had already started running, down the steps and into the drains.
Picard ducked under the arrows that whined and skipped through the night air. His Masamune was now more red than silver, and it's gleam had been reduced to a sickly shine, an indication of just how busy he had been. The battering ram had broken through the gate in short order, and approximately two thousand elves were now busy fighting alongside him at the entrance, desperate to prevent the karan from gaining even a tiny foothold within the great fortress.
His current foe was wielding a scimitar with both speed and strength, and Picard was hard pressed to keep up with him. With his blood-red skin shining in the light of the torch, he made a fearsome foe indeed.
Lunging suddenly, he knocked Picard's Masamune away from his hands, to lie on the stone ground several feet away. Cursing, Picard ran after it, his foe keeping pace with him, slashing wildly in an effort to behead Picard. Almost there…
Making a wild leap forward, Picard's hands closed around the sword hilt. Swinging it around, he point it straight up, daring the karan to come any closer with this right in his face. The karan however, could not break his momentum, and impaled himself on Picard's sword.
Picard slid the limp corpse off his blade, and was about to return to the defense of the gates when a sudden blast of dark energy scattered all those at the gates. Sitting atop a black horse with empty eyes and flaming mane, Maelgrim strode forward, and summoning up a vortex of black energy, blasted it into the ground.
Previously slain karan and elves now arose as soulless undead, minds and wills now bent to the Dark Knight's will. With a cry, they began attacking the horrified elves, tearing into their ranks with unbridled ferocity.
And from the sky, on a storm of wings, the aerions came down, crying out the doom of Anthis with cold clear voices, and at last all hope vanished, like smoke from a dying fire.