CHAPTER 7 - MABINOGION - Part 1

CHAPTER SEVEN
MABINOGION

The mountain was vast. It would take more than a week to walk around the base and it stretched so high up that clouds covered the top. The city that was carved out of the side was elegant with multiple towers reaching out towards the sky.
The river that must come from a massive lake flowed down the mountain side, through the city and then onwards through the desert creating a section of green growth for miles.
Farms surrounded the mountain, but not to anyone’s surprise, they saw no one occupying the land or fields. The Queen had decided to keep all the humans inside the mountain instead of leaving them where the approaching army could find them.
Abd led the part way around the mountain, to meet a small camp of men he had sent ahead. They had been told to search the side of the mountain and find the old tunnels that led inside.
Abd’s army occupied enough space in front of the mountain that anyone in the towers would see them and know that the Xho had come to fight. Tents were erected for miles as thousands of men and women set up their extensive camp to prepare for battle.
Cullen and his friends camped near the base of the mountain, noticing that the side of the mountain had some stunted tree growth and many bushes but was mostly black rock that Abd told them was old lava flows from when the volcano was active.
The men sent ahead had been successful and found two entrances to the mountain that were blocked by rock falls and needed to be cleared. Then someone could go inside and see where they led.
Roarr was in charge of clearing the rock falls and then organizing the groups headed into the tunnels, since that was what his race did best. Cullen and the others climbed the side of the rocky mountain to help clear the tunnels and explore them.
It took two days to clear the tunnel mouth and then they finally could look inside. Roarr brought the Asrai twins and some of the Kingsguard with him, while Cullen took Tris’tan and the rest of the Kingdom soldiers.
The tunnels were deep and dark. They brought multiple torches so they could see and they walked for what must have been miles underground. Both tunnels led straight to the city and Roarr and Cullen reported much the same thing.
They had each reached and end that was high along the inner wall of the city. Below them they could see the city functioning where it was well lit, but other sections were in deep shadow if they weren’t being used.
They would need long rope ladders to reach the city’s floor, but they could see three separate pens filled with Xho people, surrounded by Hive soldiers and creatures from the Underdark.
The castle inside, carved just like the city from the stone of the mountain, rose up above the city until it reached the ceiling that was a glass dome that was under the river above.
Some sunlight shone through the river and glass to give a strange blue glow over the upper sections of the city. Neither Cullen nor the Dwarf could determine the numbers against them or where the Queen might be except to guess that she was within the castle.
There weren’t many lights near the castle if humans weren’t being led there to work. The Host preferred the dark and could see quite well without light. Cullen knew his men and the Xho warriors would be at a disadvantage in this fight without light.
Both groups crawled back out and used the tunnels to get back outside. It had taken the entire day to reach the city and come back out. Cullen reached the camp by nightfall and quickly found Abd to discuss their attack.
“We’re going to have a hard time in there,” he started, “There’s not much light except for near the pens.”
“We’ll have to carry torches then,” Abd answered. “But we could create flares that a soldier could stick to the wall. That would give off light for a while. It’s a minor explosive that just gives off light.”
“Good. We’ll need plenty of those. My Kingsmen will lead your men to each of the three pens. I think we can gather in strength below the tunnel exits before we have to attack.”
“And at the same time, we’ll have the bulk of my men attack the front gate to distract them,” Abd said as he ate some food that had been delivered for the group of leaders.
“Yes, and use that technique we taught you. Have one line of men fight for a short time, then trade off with men behind them. Always keep a fresh line of men and give them all time to rest in between. The bridge looks big enough for that.”
Cullen reached for some rice and chicken, making himself a plate of food as well.
“What will you be doing?” Fakhri asked.
“I will use the two distractions to get close to the castle and find the Queen. They will be looking for my strength at both battles, but perhaps we can sneak up on her if we aren’t involved in those fights.”
Abd nodded. “Aki said he will fight at the gate, along with Fox.”
“That’s right; he will keep the shadows from attacking your men there. The fighters inside will have more problems but I hope they only face soldiers. I don’t know how they can fight off shadows if they come.”
“Cullen, I should go with you,” Idylls spoke up quietly.
“What?” Cullen asked, surprised. “Why would you want to enter the battle?”
“I can use shadow magic as well, and hopefully defend you from it when you face the Queen,” she responded.
Cullen looked at her carefully. “You would do that?” he asked.
“I would. I would break away from their evil, but I fear for you if you face her alone. And the Dark Master may come as well. You’ll need my help.”
Cullen nodded and took her hand in his own. “I am grateful that you would help. I’ll try to keep you as safe as I can.”
“As will I,” Tris’tan said right behind him.
Cullen nodded to his brother, appreciating his efforts as well. With that decided, they all continued to eat while they could. Come tomorrow they would start the battle.
The Host knew it was coming, but they would have some surprise on their side. Cullen worried about the missing Champions and the Dark Master, called Mabinogion. He had a dreaded feeling he already knew what he would be facing, but he put it out of his mind and settled into thinking who we would take with him.
He wanted the Kingsguard to have some of the Faeries to back them up. So he needed to divide them all into working teams. He could send the twins in separately, and send the Dwarf in with one team, leaving Anton to go with the other.
He knew that his friends would fight as well as they could, but this battle was going to be the worst yet. They had very little surprise to attack, and the environment would work against them.
He sighed and thought to himself; at least I got Sonia free of it all. At least those two will be safe and home, where we all belong. He thought about the people he missed and he hoped they were all well.

***

Tik and Sonia trudged up the side of the mountain through the thick layer of snow that was always present in the peaks. They had both forgotten what snow could be like through their time in the desert and they laughed and played while they walked.
It took a few days to climb into the upper reaches and both were quite tired when they reached the very top. They were grateful to hear a yell as the climbed up that last bit of the trail.
Two Dwarves, waiting outside to see who came back, greeted them warmly and quickly had them inside. They were brought to the eating hall right away and found the Dwarven King there, with Grimm and the Dreamweaver.
“Where’s Cullen?” Grimm asked abruptly, standing and looking past them as if Cullen would walk in any minute.
“Well it’s nice to see you too Grimm,” Tik laughed. But his chuckled fell short when he realized no one else was amused. Sonia suddenly gripped his hand.
“What’s happened?” Tik asked, afraid of the answer.
“Sit down Tik, Sonia and we’ll tell you,” the Dreamweaver said, turning to Grimm to get him to sit as well. “And then you must tell us when Cullen will return.”
“Go ahead,” Tik said as he sat and put his arm around Sonia. The Dreamweaver raised his eyebrow at that and intuited that things had changed during the time these young people had been away.
“The High King,” the old man began, “Cullen’s father, has been killed. The Realm has been taken by a man called King Nicu, a Rathian Horse Lord that attacked and killed the rightful King.”
My God!” Sonia gasped. “Oh Cullen!”
“We don’t know when he’ll be back Dreamweaver,” Tik answered. “He’s fighting another war against the Host!”
“What?” more than one voice asked.
Tik sighed and leaned back to settle in. “We found a new land, inhabited by a people that call themselves the Xho. It means Lost in their language. They call themselves that because they had been attacked and taken over by the Host.”
“And Cullen seeks to free them?” Grimm asked impatiently.
“Yes,” Tik answered. “He has freed two of the three cities. He was on his way to free the third when he sent us home. We hoped – well we hoped to find peace, but this means Cullen will find another fight waiting for him.”
“Yes,” the old man said wearily. “We need him to gather the forces of Faery if we’re to have any hope to beat back the Rathian Lord.”
“I think we can send one of my special birds,” the Dwarven King interjected. “But I don’t think we should tell Cullen why he’s needed.”
“No, he can’t receive this information through a carrier. We must tell him ourselves,” the Dreamweaver agreed.
“Tell him that we made it here safe and that he’s needed right away. I’m sure he’ll fight the last battle but if he’s successful, he’ll know to come right away,” Tik offered.
“Prepare a message Dreamweaver, and I’ll get a bird ready. I have some trained to search for specific people. It should reach him soon.”
The rest of them fell into discussions about the war against the Host, and they had many questions for Tik and Sonia. They spent the next few hours explaining the trials they went through. Tik did most of the talking, as it was clear that Sonia had been most affected by being taken prisoner.
The Dwarven King sent the white hawk out that evening, sending it north east, looking for a mountain and Cullen.

***

Awake at dawn, Cullen was going through his forms, practicing with his Sword and focusing his spiritual pressure to better use his Weapons. He was standing alone in a sandy area away from the camp.
He heard the hawk before he saw it, hearing its cry as it circled above him. He looked up to see its white shape hovering in the wind overhead. He lowered his Weapon and watched it as it slowly came down.
Guessing this was no ordinary bird, he put his arm out as he had been taught by his father when using his own hawks for hunting. The bird landed roughly on his arm and its talons gripped his skin. He wished he had a falconer’s glove.
He noticed the note right away and carefully undid the tie to pull loose the small piece of fabric that had been written on with a delicate hand.
Tik and Sonia arrived safely. You must come home right away. Something has happened and the Realm needs you. please come soon.
Cullen read it more than once. Something has happened? But they didn’t say what. He was grateful to know his friends had made it to the Dwarves, but what happened and why wouldn’t they say? It must be bad he thought, guessing for a few moments before shaking his head and decided he wouldn’t know until he returned.
He decided he wouldn’t tell the others so as to not distract them. It was bad enough he would be wondering, but he needed the men to fight at their best. He thanked the bird and lifted his arm to send it off and it took flight quickly, flying away towards the desert.
He stood there, looking at the ground, trying to clear his mind of the distraction.
“Cullen?”
He turned to find Idylls walking towards him across the sand. She was wearing a fitted leather tunic and breeches, with her white hair tied back and her luminescent eyes glowing in the dim light of dawn. Even dressed for battle she took his breath away.
“Is something wrong?” she asked, her voice sweet and kind. She was so different from the majority of her people, Cullen wondered if there were other jewels within her race that wanted peace as she did.
“Nothing to worry about right now,” he answered, putting the message behind him and stepped towards her.
“You looked dressed for battle. Are you prepared to do this?”
She looked up at him now that she was standing close; she was slightly shorter than him and so delicate looking. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“I’m as ready as I can be. At least I’m not fighting my own mother. I don’t think I could have faced that.”
“Do you miss her?” Cullen asked gently, hoping he wasn’t forcing her to face painful feelings.
“No, not really. We weren’t close like human families. I was going to have to fight her eventually, but I would have lost since my heart wasn’t in it.”
Cullen looked pats her to see the camp coming to life.
“But you’re ready to fight Hrim?” he finally asked.
“I am,” she smiled. “I never liked her.”
Cullen laughed softly and took her hand. He led her away from where they had been standing and brought her back down into camp to find the Kingsguard waiting. They were all dressed in their leather armor and had their weapons oiled and sharpened.
“Roarr and Gwydion will go with Cat, Dog, Worm, Feather and Heat in the first tunnel. Gwaelod will lead Stone, Crow, Bray, Deep and Farmer in the second tunnel.”
The men all switched around to stand in the proper groups. They exchanged looks as they nodded to each other for luck.
“Tris’tan, Idylls and I will go first into the first tunnel and begin trying to get through the city before you attack. The attack on the gate will have already started. Anton has chosen to go there with Fox and Aki.”
Cullen waited a moment for questions and seeing no one ask, he nodded and motioned for them to get ready. A selection of Xho had already been chosen to go with each team to guide the trapped Xho to freedom.
The two groups followed Cullen up the mountain and into the two tunnels. Aki, Abd, Fox and Fakhri led the rest of the army towards the wooden bridge that connected part of the mountain to the front gate of the city.
The soldiers lined up, ten men across, with rows and rows behind them of more men that would trade off to keep fresh men always facing the front of the march. Aki and Fox would stay up front to fight against the Queen’s shadow if they came.
As they marched across the bridge, they could see that the front gates, doors made of stone and metal were closed, but there was no section of the city that overlooked it and made it defensible.
Fakhri had already designed multiple explosives to deal with the front gate and volunteers ran up to the doors and set the all along the base of the massive gate. Then the men ran back to wait while the fuses burned.
The explosion was deafening and almost blinding to see. The doors blew open and were barely hanging on by the posts that ran through them. As they swung apart, Hive soldiers came rushing out to stop the Xho soldiers and the battle begun.
Fakhri’s men threw a few more explosives to begin and then it was Host against Xho as the first warriors from both side clashed together to fight conventionally with sword and spear.

Cullen reached the end of the tunnel and looked out over the city below. He closed his eyes and said a prayer to himself. He prayed to Cernunnous despite the Faerie’s contention that he wasn’t a God. Cullen had been raised to worship him and he still prayed to him when he prayed.
“What are you doing?” Idylls asked when she saw his lips moving.
“I’ve never gotten used to the killing,” he answered. “I know this is war, but taking a life seems wrong to me, though I must do it. But I don’t have to like it.”
Idylls looked at him with new interest. This man was so different from the majority of her race, she found him intriguing and interesting. She decided right then that she would fight to stay by his side until she had learned everything she could about him.
Cullen unhooked the rope ladder they had constructed earlier. With climbing pitons they hammered on end into the rock so that it would hold their weight. Cullen went first over the side and crawled down the ladder until he reached the floor fifty feet below.
He remained crouched even though they were near no light source and he looked up to see Idylls coming down in the little bit of light that existed in the city. The soft blue glow from the waterfall illuminated the city.
Tris’tan came down next and the three of them started off into the city streets, headed away from the pens of prisoners and somewhere towards the castle. They jogged silently and if they heard anything, they avoided it.
Behind them Gwaelod led his team to the floor of the city and they also quietly crept through the street towards the pen that was closest to them. They managed to get close enough to see the lit pen walls that had gas lamps lit above them.
In the light, the Asrai warrior saw a large group of Hive soldiers as well as a pair of spiders. The Xho fighters lined up behind the more experienced warriors from another land and prepared for battle.