Ahh, yes our first proper introduction to Shane in this AU. I've had to mess with his plans a little bit cause he and Abeke don't have the connection they do in the books. Meanwhile, I've gotten some work done on Against the Tide, but again, I've been struggling with it lately.

-owl

Conor sucked in a breath as he wiped his ax on his pants, leaving a bloody streak big enough to make anyone think he was going to bleed out. The battle wasn't going well, and they were about to be overrun. Abeke and Lishay were almost out of arrows, and the worst part was that they hadn't seemed to do any damage whatsoever.

If they died here, there would be no one to oppose the Devourer or Conquerors. Erdas would be lost. Forever.

Currently, there was a lull in attackers, and they were doing their best to regroup. Elephant priests were bringing more arrows to Abeke and Lishay. Meilin and Jhi were helping the wounded. Meilin had the Bamboo Panda and was treating the worse wounds that Jhi couldn't help.

Meilin carefully handed one of the robed priests the Bamboo Panda. "Use this to heal the wounded. I will take it back when the battle is over."

"Can we get to the boat?" Conor questioned, sinking to the floor.

There were footsteps behind them before Tarik could answer Conor. Rollan had returned.

"Well," he panted, "the lake is draining, but nowhere near fast enough to sweep away the boats and crocs. On the up side, there are Rhino Riders approaching, as well as a contingent from the Zhongese army, to the best of my discernment."

Meilin looked over from where she was treating a broken leg. "What colors were they marching under?"

"Silver and crimson."

Her face split into a large smile. "That's my father and his men!"

Tarik offered a wane smile. "The tide may yet turn in our favor. We need to get out there, though. There isn't much else we can do here. Rollan, can you ask Essix if the coast is clear?"

Rollan's gaze turned distant for a moment, then he nodded. "We're clear for the moment. I'd estimate ten minutes until the first of the boats make it to shore. It looks like a third of them turned around in response to the Rhino Riders."

Tarik nodded, and they left the pyramid. Tarik and Meilin were in front, Lumeo on the former's shoulders and Jhi taking the passive state on the latter's hand. Conor and Rollan followed behind them, Briggan staying by Conor's side. Abeke and Lishay took up the rear, Uraza and Zhosur at their sides.

Conor knew that this could very well be his last battle. The odds weren't looking good, even with the Rhino Riders and Meilin's father and his men. But, even if this was how Conor was going to die, this was so much more than he had ever expected for his life.

Looking around, Conor could see that they were outnumbered nearly three to one, even with the multitude of Rhino Riders and Zhongese soldiers. That same realization came to the rest of the group at the same time.

"If you're going to help," Rollan said, seemingly talking to no one, "now would be a great time."

What on Erdas was Rollan talking about, or to who was he talking? Conor had more questions than answers. "Who are you talking to?"

"Um... Dinesh, I think. He owes me, unless he was just—"

There was a deep rumbling sound that came from the pyramid, and the ground beneath them began to shake. Then the top of the pyramid began to rise, just like it had when Dinesh spoke to them. However, rather than uncurling into an elephant, it became a sphere. The sphere got bigger and bigger, until it had to be nearly a hundred yards in diameter.

It tipped forwards, slowly, slowly, slowly. Then it began to roll down the pyramid, gaining speed and somehow size as it went along.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Rollan screeched, throwing himself out of the path of the ball.

The ball bounced up, the result of hitting the bottom of the pyramid, arcing high in the sky. As it did so, it got impossibly bigger, and when it came back to the ground, the effects were monumentous. With a thud, the ground shook as though there was an earthquake. The water that was in the lake was no longer in the lake, rather it was in the air. The boats belonging to the Conquerors, crocodiles, and snakeheads were also in the air.

Then, once the ball had stopped bouncing, it began to shrink slightly as it took the form of Dinesh the Elephant. The elephant then began to charge at s mass of Conquerors, the ground shaking with every step he took.

"Where should we lend our aid?" Abeke asked, checking the arrows in her quiver.

"We'll get trampled by the rhinos if we try to help the Riders," Conor said, leaning down and slicing a snakehead in half with his ax, even as the fish tried to bite him.

Meilin sighed. "My father won't need our help. He and his men are all accomplished fighters. We would again be in their way. I think it would be best to go and help Dinesh."

Tarik nodded in approval. "That sounds like a good plan."

The battlefield was chaos, nothing more nothing less. With Dinesh helping by utterly demolishing boats and crocodiles alike, the tide was turning in their favor. Though they tried to stay as a whole group, it wasn't really feasible in the chaos. They ended up in pairs. Tarik and Lishay, Rollan and Meilin, and Conor and Abeke.

Conor liked fighting with Abeke, they were a good pair. Briggan and Uraza fought well together also. Together they fought, shooting and slicing and hacking at anything that came near them. Beside them, their animals kept their adversaries in easy to reach positions to be dealt with.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the waves of Conquerors waned. That in itself was a relief, though it was quickly overshadowed by catching a glimpse of General Gar on his crocodile.

"That's the Devourer," Conor hissed, shuddering from the memories of his dreams.

Abeke smiled fiercely, a strange glint in her eyes as she grabbed an arrow from her quiver. "I think I know just where to put this."

"Abeke?" A voice from behind them drew their attention away from Gar. To their surprise there was a boy. Only a few years older than them, he was bigger and stronger than they were. And he gave the impression that he knew them, or at least Abeke.

She frowned. "Do I know you?"

He shook his head. "No, you don't. But I—"

Another Conqueror soldier swung at Abeke while she was still looking at the boy in confusion. Conor leapt forward, using his ax to block the blade bound for Abeke's head. The handle of the ax, with the assistance of another sword, stopped the soldier. Abeke was then quick to plunge the arrow in her hand into his eye, sending him to the ground in pain.

"I'm Shane," the blond boy said, lowering his sword. "I don't want to fight for — I can't leave. I was there, at the battle with Arax, and I saw you all fighting together. I can't stop thinking about that, the friendship between you all."

"What are you getting at?" Conor asked skeptically.

Shane sighed. "I'm the nephew of General Gar. My parents forced me to join the Conquerors, but I don't want to be here."

Abeke looked puzzled. "So you want to change sides?"

Shane nodded. "I — I think so."

There then was a horribly loud trumpeting, drawing the attention of everyone. Dinesh was in the middle of a pile of fallen Conquerors, beginning to walk back to the pyramid.

"I now declare the battlefield even. I will await the victor of the day."

When Conor turned back to Shane, he saw the boy running, panicked, towards one of the fallen soldiers.

Abeke gave him a blank look. "What just happened?"

Conor could only shake his head in confusion.