Author's Note: Hello everyone and welcome back to "The Winter Child!" =D This chapter is where the action begins to pick up, and I (as always) had a lot of fun writing out the epic battle scenes within it. XD
I'd also like to thank you all for your wonderful, wonderful feedback! =D I really wasn't expecting "The Winter Child" to receive this much attention (79 reviews and over 7,000 views?! I don't deserve this QwQ). But to be honest, I wasn't expecting anything, haha. XD I'm satisfied even if I receive just one review, but from the bottom of my heart, thank you guys for all of your love and support! ^u^
Anyway, right down below is the next part of the "Insidious Shadows" arc! =D I hope you guys enjoy it! ^u^
~ XXXVII ~
Insidious Shadows, Part Four
Like tentacles of ink, they crawled out of the dark
Amber eyes flashed with lust
Teeth gnashing, fingers like tusks
This was Pitch's ilk, and in the shadows, they lurked
Seeping out of the shadows, like puddles of murk
...
The Wind whispered through the empty village. Every light was out. The Guardians stood outside, hidden in Big Roots' shadows, eyes waiting. Watching. They gripped their weapons in hand, the only sound audible being their breath. The steady thump, thump, thump of their hearts beat against their chests. None felt surprised that they could hear it.
The Moon had been blocked out by an ocean of clouds. Dead leaves rustled against the ground, performing a sorrowful dance in the Wind. Chimes jangled in the distance, a haunting melody perfect for this type of night.
With no light to guide them, the Guardians had to rely on their senses to detect anything. Was that a scampering squirrel, or the shifty movement of a Fearling? Were those thumps the sound of nightmare hooves, or the Bear lumbering around in the forest? All of these twitches, flashes of movement, and any sound or item visible left the Guardians on edge. They weren't fearful, just alert. An important thing to have when outside late at the night.
They could no longer hear the reassuring yammering of the children behind them. Sandy had sent his streams of dreamland shortly after they had stepped inside. The children were fast asleep, and Ombric was watching over them. Nothing had come after them…yet. But the Guardians were confident that they would be fine.
At least, that was what everyone hoped. There was no telling what the shadows would bring. After two hours of standing hidden in the dark, nothing had appeared. The night was eerily silent, leaving the Guardians even more unsettled.
Everyone jumped when Tooth suddenly whispered, "Are you sure this will work?"
"Positive," replied North, although now he was beginning to doubt his own plan. He had expected faster results. And yet there the Guardians stood in the night—cold, leery, and nonplussed.
"Well, they aren't takin' the bait," said Aster. "Maybe they somehow heard what we were goin' ta do and," he made running motions with his middle and index finger. "Scampered off."
"We would've noticed something though, wouldn't we?" inquired Toothiana. She peered into the darkness, her amethyst eyes like lightbulbs in the dark. "Maybe they're plotting something?"
"What could they possibly be plotting?" asked Aster.
Tooth shrugged. "I'm just listing possibilities."
"We wait a little longer," said North. "There are Fearlings and Nightmares here. We'll just wait until they show themselves."
"And how long will that be?" asked Aster.
"I don't know their schedule," North jeered. Aster deadpanned.
"I'm sure something will appear in time. We just have to be patient," Sandy said, dreamsand sparkling over his head.
"Right," said Aster, light sarcasm decorating the edges of his voice. He sighed heavily. "I could be inside sketching or spending time in the Warren, but no. I'm stuck out here in the cold waiting for Pitch's bloody Fearlings ta show up."
"We're doing this for the children," reminded Tooth. "Let's not forget that. Just think of how thankful they'll be to sleep peacefully again."
North nodded. "Toothy is right. No matter how long it takes, we wait for Nightmares and Fearlings. We will take care of them, and everything will be fine."
"You make it sound so simple," remarked Aster.
"I'm known for that," North said cheerfully, then went back to focusing on the darkness before him.
During their conversation, something had changed. The shadows had shifted. They rolled in and out like the tide. The darkness pulsed as if it were alive, a frightening sight if you were there in person. The Wind stilled. The leaves settled against the ground. The air froze.
It only took a few moments for the first Fearlings to emerge from the woods.
They leaked out of the shadows like pools of ink. Their arms were thin like sticks, and their fingers were long like branches. Their amber eyes flashed malevolently, black steaming from their mouths and noses. The shadows rolled into them, making them seem far bigger than they appeared. They eyed the Guardians, low hisses echoing from the back of their throats. The sound was ancient and enigmatic. Not quite like a whisper, but not a hiss either. It was cracked and old, ancient and dry. The Guardians gripped their weapons; the sound sent shivers down their spines.
A sudden screech forced them to look behind the ancient beings that had first emerged. The Nightmares formed before them, the nightmare sand from which they were birthed took the form of several horses, all in different sizes. Some had horns sticking out of their mouths, and rings hanging from their noses. They were built like well-oiled machines, large and working. Their manes flowed behind them, strips of shadow. The same amber eyes that their precursors possessed glittered with the same malice.
Their breaths were raspy, letting the Guardians know that Pitch's creations weren't entirely perfect. The Nightmares were still beings to fear, for in large numbers, they could be lethal. From what the Guardians could see, there was a reasonable number of both, but they stayed vigilant, knowing that more could come and take their place.
The Nightmares pounded their hooves against the ground.
The Fearlings screeched in rage.
The Guardians raised their weapons. They would waste no time.
One. Two. Three. "NOW!" shouted North.
Suddenly, like a miracle, the adults of Santoff Claussen burst out of their houses. The weapons and traps that they had prepared earlier in the day sprung to life. Stardust bombs were shot from catapults that stood on the roofs, bursting into bright bouts of light that made the Nightmares and Fearlings screech in pain. Nets were thrown over the thrashing horses, and they magically pinned themselves to the ground, keeping the wretched horses in place. The fireflies of the forest sped forth, shooting toward the Fearlings like thousands of bullets, their lights burning the shadows.
The other creatures of Santoff Claussen emerged from the woods. Squirrels and chipmunks took their part and threw acorns and pinecones at the intruders. The Ber cut and slashed through many of the dark demons, leaving little remains behind. The Spirit of the Forest, who didn't often make an appearance, arrived with her jewel-encrusted sword, hacking and cutting at Pitch's ilk, slicing through them as if they were butter.
The Wind raged, pushing back the many Nightmares and Fearlings, and fought to make their way to Big Root. It was like a miniature Armageddon; the Guardians fought alongside the adults. Aster's boomerangs sliced through several Fearligns at once. Tooth's wings weren't only fast, but dangerous daggers of their own. Her blades flashed as she tore them through the sand-made Nightmares and shadow-formed Fearlings. Sandy's dreamsand whips moved like lightning. They whipped like vipers, beating away the darkness that threatened to envelop the village. Nightmares screeched in pain and horror upon being turned back into their original form. When the villagers saw the bright flashes of dreamsand, their confidence was boosted forward, and they continued to fight.
Some Nightmares and Fearlings turned away upon being beaten once or twice. The more obstinate few stubbornly stayed, attacking with everything that they had. They screamed with fury; they knew that the children were just beyond them. They wanted to feast on their fear. To hear their screams and their cries as they stormed in on them. But Santoff Claussen wouldn't let that be so. They loved the children, and wouldn't let them suffer at the hands of these monsters.
The Guardians felt fearful themselves, but they wouldn't let this emotion show. They needed to protect the children. They needed to protect Jack. This feeling fueled every single one of their attacks. Nightmare sand burst in all directions. The screaming of Fearligns could be heard all the way to Santoff Claussen's border.
This was the first battle against Pitch's creations in ten years.
And those fighting in it wouldn't let it be won by the enemy.
…
You perhaps wondered if the children would've been woken by such a ruckus. But there is no need for pondering. The children had never fallen asleep at all. They've been awake and alert this entire time, watching the battle from within Big Root.
You wouldn't sleep in the middle of the most epic battle to take place, no matter how much you state that you wouldn't. The children were—well, children! This type of thing thrilled them. It piqued their curiosity. None of the children in Santoff Claussen had seen a Fearling or Nightmare up close before (all except for Jack, of course, but he didn't talk about the encounter with anyone but Katherine).
The windows were stuffed with children, young and a little older, eyes glued to the battle taking place outside. Their eyes were wide with awe, mouths agape as they watched their parents and the Guardians defend their village against the shadowy intruders. Excited filled murmurs and exclamations filled the air. Everyone strained to get a peek at the fight.
Jack, being the shortest of the group, had to pull out a stool to see what was going on. Katherine stood next to him, and together, they oohed and ahhed at the fight taking place outside. None of the children knew that their parents were such skilled fighters. And the Guardians—oh, the Guardians. How heroic they looked in battle! Who they knew to be an inventor, dentist, consultant for the Tsar, and painter were warriors, fierce and true. The children couldn't have felt any prouder.
"Who-ho-oa! Did you see how Ma dropped that stardust bomb on that Fearling?!" exclaimed Sascha. "What exceptional aim!"
"If you think that's cool, look at what Dad just did to that one Nightmare!" remarked Tall William. "He nailed it right in the face!"
"Go, North!" Jack cheered as the ex-Cossack slashed through three Fearlings at once. He knew that they were supposed to be sleeping (Sandy had doused them with an extra dose of dreamland so they would sleep through the battle), but the children had been crafty and used one of Ombric's spells to cause the dreamsand grains to attach themselves to their blankets. Not one grain touched any of them, and so, once Ombric had entered his library to assist the Guardians from within, the children had leaped out of bed and clambered to the windows, witnessing what was taking place.
Ombric knew that the children were awake (he had been young once, so he knew that the children would do this), but he didn't send them back to bed. The children only wanted to support their families, and they had been through enough with their nightmares already. This was the most excitement that they had seen in a while, and they felt far from scared watching their parents take on the Fearlings and Nightmares. He stood in the doorway of the library, watching with a light smile on his face as the children cheered for their families.
"I didn't know North could handle a sword so well," remarked Petter. "Let alone two!"
"You think that's surprising? Tooth has swords!" exclaimed the youngest William. Everyone agreed with this statement.
"Well, of course, she does," said Katherine. "How do you think she'd defend herself."
"She has a house full of teeth. Anyone who broke in would get scared and run away!" stated William the Absolute Youngest. The children laughed at that.
"I hope they win," said Sascha
"They will," reassured Jack. "We just have to hope and believe."
Ombric's first lesson that he had ever taught the children: was that real magic came from believing. So, the children began to rehearse the words "I believe, I believe, I believe…" as the battle took place outside.
None of them noticed the rising shadow creeping up behind them.
Author's Note: Jack: Moon, you need to stop it.
Stop what?
Jack: The cliffhangers, woman! You're leaving everyone in awful suspense!
I know. That's why I do them.
Jack: ...
As you all have probably figured out already (or if you've been following meh since the beginning XD) I am a cliffhanger addict. There is not one story of mine without a cliffhanger, and there shall never be one as long as I'm sitting at this keyboard, hehehehe...
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you in the next (and last!) one! =D
Until the next chapter!
~BeyondTheMoon1203
