WAR Part 2

Dawn came and went while most of the city slept. It was somewhat difficult to find rest knowing the enemy was camped outside the walls, but people managed as best they could. Cullen, completely exhausted, slept soundly without trouble. Tik and Sonia stayed up later, keeping each other company while worrying after Cullen’s welfare.
In the late afternoon, when everyone had risen and gone to eat, Tik made his way back down the halls quietly, making sure no one saw him walking with a large blanket in his hands.
He slipped past pages and squires, managing to duck into the Dreamweaver’s rooms without being seen. He emerged just a moment later with something bundled in the blanket. He made it back to his own room, again without being seen and he stashed his prize with his belongings.
He openly walked back through the halls towards the dining room where everyone else was eating.
“Where have you been?” Sonia asked in a hush.
“Trying to protect Cullen,” Tik answered just as quietly. “You’ll see later, I promise.” Sonia let it go at that, trusting Tik more than anyone else in the world. They had been through so much together and they both cared deeply for Cullen, who sometimes seemed beyond them both and they took great comfort in each other’s company.
Grimm and the High King were speaking with Cullen and the other Faery royalty. All of them were grouped at a large wooden table eating out of trenchers of food, meats and starches, food that would give them energy for the coming battle.
“I think they will try the same tactics tonight, with creatures first, then Goblins and Duergar, with something else after, maybe Dark Fae,” Grimm was saying as he ate.
Cullen nodded his agreement, “Yes, I think so too. They have better numbers than us and can afford to throw away lives in order to tire and weaken us.”
“The Daoine Sidhe will be ready to fight again by horse. That seemed to break them last time!” Dagda reassured them.
“And we will take on the Goblins and the others when they come!” Garm, the Dwarven King added.
“This time, after the Goblins come, we’ll need support from the sea,” Cullen stated while looking at Seithenin and Manawyddan pointedly. “Will the Merrow be ready?”
“Yes, of course Cullen. They will have legs for the battle and will fight as hard as any of you,” the Sea God responded. “And perhaps I will use some magic. Do you think the Champions will fight as a group?”
“I don’t know. There are five of them left, but I think they are arrogant and self-assured of their power. They may challenge me one at a time, like the Fox did, but who can say?”
Cullen made another small sandwich with bread and meat from his trencher. He was drinking only water, keeping away from the stronger drinks the Faeries seemed to like. Even the High King was drinking strong ale, but Cullen wanted his head clear.
He could feel the Asrai as they practiced and readied for war. Queen Gwyddneu said they would fight tonight, adding their strength to the forces assembled. Many of them would go into battle with just a loincloth, so they could transform into bigger stronger werewolf bodies.
“Have the Kingsguard had any trouble assembling tonight’s fires?” Cullen asked the High King.
“No,” he answered, “The Host seems to have retreated back into the local forests under cover of their black smoke. I think they travel all the way from the caves to get here under cover.”
“I’ll use the wind to make sure it doesn’t cover the battlefield at all,” Manawyddan said quickly before anyone had to ask.
“I’m prepared to brother,” Cernunnous offered, making eye contact with Cullen. Cullen grinned and felt positive about their efforts. They had spent hours planning and rethinking strategy and now they were as ready as they could be.
When they finished eating, it was just growing dark and everyone assembled their armor and weapons and went to ready their horses. Sonia noticed Tik’s blanketed bundle but he just winked at her and she didn’t ask any questions.
Cullen led the procession to the walls and he blew his Horn three times as they approached. Whoever was near him would cheer as he rode past and sounded the Horn. The Dwarves, marching down the King’s Road began a rousing battle song about smashing heads and killing foes. The human soldiers learned it quickly and joined in.
Cullen was deeply affected by seeing humans and Faeries working together to protect the human settlement. Elves, Dwarves and Asrai all walked among the humans without fear. When they fought together, they watched out for each other and the amount of their casualties showed the combined efforts were working.
Cullen embraced Sonia quickly and hugged Tik before he crossed the threshold and exited the gates. He rode his horse towards the command tent and released it there to go walk among the soldiers who would answer the first charge.
Cullen had learned many of the Captain’s names and the names of the sub-Captains, and they had accepted him as the son of their King as well as a commander in the fighting. He wondered if the magic of the Horn had something to do with how quickly they assimilated him into their ranks, but whatever the cause, the effect was exceptional.
As full night came, so did the black smoke. It blotted out the stars and the moon as it crept over the sky above the bonfires. Manawyddan stood atop the castle walls and summoned the storm winds he was feared for and he sent them blustering out over the killing fields. The smoke washed away, back at the coming hordes of the Host.
Again, the first attack was made by creatures of the underground world in which the Host thrived. Spiders, scorpions, centipedes and beetle came swarming out of the night, capering towards the men who waited.
There was no need for strategy with the animals, soldiers just waited until they arrived and then systematically slaughtered them as fast as they could. Some of them had hard enough shells that it could be difficult to thrust through, but often if the men worked together, they could flip the beetle over and kill it upside down.
Cullen again ran up and down the line, sweeping his Sword across the attacking monsters, smashing them away with force and fire. His Faery blood kept him stronger then the soldiers and he could keep up the pace for hours at a time.
The creatures kept coming for almost an hour before they finally stopped. Quickly the wounded were taken off the field and treated for poison, and replaced by fresh men who were ready to fight. Cullen blew the Horn again and the men stood up straighter and clenched their weapons tighter.
Next came ranks of Goblins and Duergar, with weapons and armor. They attacked in a more organized fashion, trying to use the Duergar to attack low while the Goblins used their superior strength to attack from a higher point.
They were met again by somewhat less than five hundred Dwarves, screaming battle cries into the night and using the many bladed axes and hammers to a powerful end. The Asrai entered the fray as well, staying in groups of three and attacking wherever they saw the humans falter.
No Goblin or Duergar would face Cullen straight on. They all ran to the side and tried to go around him. If they were forced to face him, they would snarl and attack in a mad fashion, trying to overwhelm the young man with the brutal assaults, but Cullen could easily face them without tiring.
The magic of his Shield made the foes bounce off an invisible wall at times, or they would find their weapons reversing direction when they would swing. And the Sword swept them away in numbers, tossing whole groups away into the bonfires, to die from their wounds.
The attack lasted more than an hour and the human men were growing tired. There was no space between the Goblin attack and the attack of the true Host this time. One moment they would be facing a Goblin and second later a Dark Fae would loom out of the night’s shadows and the soldier would be facing a rested, much more experienced and more canny opponent.
The Dark Fae had been fighting all their lives and were a warrior race that went to extreme lengths to prepare for war. They had superior weapons and armor, and they were faster than humans as well.
It wasn’t long before Cullen sounded a double note of the Horn to signal the others. The Host was pushing the ranks of men and elves back, but that’s where Cullen wanted to go. It gave his wall of archers more to hit and he was waiting for support from another direction.
Soon it was evident as the Host turned to the right, to face the incoming Merrow warriors that had climbed free of the ocean and ran into battle on the field. With spears and trident, the faster warlike Merrow quickly turned the tides against the Host.
With another attack from the Daoine Sidhe cavalry from the left, the Host was pinched from two sides and slaughtered. Trying to fight another elf on horseback or a group of Merrows that were fresh from the sea, along with Cullen’s magic, the Host was soon sent back if they could run fast enough to leave the field.
Cullen blew his Horn after them as they retreated. The humans cheered as one as the Dark Fae ran into the night, away from the battle. Cullen walked away from the line as the horsemen and Merrows reorganized. Cullen had a feeling that this was when they would come. Again, after the main battle, a test of Champions.

Walking between two bonfires they came, tall and muscular, their black bodies shining in the light. One was the Crow again and the other was wearing the mask of a Snake. It looked especially life-like since his body was covered in scales as well.
“The Crow carries a Naginata,” Tris’tan informed Cullen from the side, pointing out the long weapon, a staff with a sword on the end.
“And the Snake carries a Vechevoral,” he added, mentioning the second weapon that looked quite similar in that it was a staff with a blade at the end, but it was more dramatically curved and wider.
“Remember what I taught you about fighting against staff weapons,” Tris’tan warned. “They have a better reach than you and they will use combined attacks. Plus we don’t know what powers they have yet.”
“The Crow has lightening,” Cullen commented, remembering facing him once before. “We’ll soon see what the Snake has.”
Cullen stepped forward to face them. They walked close together until they were ten feet away, then they separated and each walked towards the side of Cullen, forcing him to defend a wide front.
Cullen decided to take the fight to them and he rushed forward, straight at the Snake since he knew what to expect from the Crow. He ran across the field slashing his Sword with as much power as he could muster.
Flame and force ripped the air and sped towards the Snake, but he simply spun his Vechevoral in a circle and it negated the blow. Cullen faced him with his Shield forward and used the magic to push the weapon aside while he tried to use his Sword.
The Snake let his weapon fall back, but he dodged the cut and spun away, coming back around to cut at Cullen with his blade. Cullen caught the blow on his Shield and they were both trying to cut the other.
Then Cullen heard the crackle of electricity behind him and he had to slide away to try and block what was coming. He caught the lightening full on the center of his Shield and the force of it tossed him backwards onto the ground.
The Snake rushed ahead, coming fast with his weapon poised to strike. Cullen put the Shield over his body and gave a mental push, letting the wall of force catch the blow and knock the Snake back and away.
As he tried to rise, another bolt of lightning hit the Shield and he was pushed back. He rose and ran as fast as he could at the Crow, trying to get in before another bolt of lightening came.
He caught another blast on the Shield but his motion forward was not stopped. He slashed with his Sword and fire and force blasted ahead of him. The Crow caught it with his blocking weapon but Cullen smashed into him with the Shield and knocked him down to the ground.
Cullen kept moving forward, hoping to end part of the battle quickly, and he raised his Sword again to strike while the Crow was trying to raise his head.
As Cullen brought the Sword down a gust of wind picked him up off the ground and threw him away over his opponent. He used the Shield to catch himself but he hit hard. He was back on his feet a second later but his vision went blurry and he wobbled.
He saw the Snake slash the air in front of him with the Vechevoral and Cullen felt the wind that came from the weapon. He raised his Shield again and blocked most of it but around the edges of the Shield the air cut his leather and his skin beneath.
He glanced at his arms in alarm, seeing the blood well up at the cut and he looked back at his enemies. The Snake could use wind against him! That was his power. Another blast of lightning came with wind right behind it.
Cullen was hammered and pushed back to his knee, trying to withstand the wind rushing over him. He heard a strange sound beyond the rush of the wind and he realized the two Dark Fae were laughing.
Cullen struggled to his feet, leaning into the wind and he took a step forward. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a white flash, and rushing towards the masked figures, were two Asrai warriors, cousins to his brothers. They howled a battle cry and dove ahead to stop the Host fighters.
Cullen cried out for them to stop as he suddenly rushed forward to reach the masked warriors. The Asrai got close, but one was blasted with lightning and the other cut to shreds with air.
Cullen saw both their bodies, one shredded and bleeding a stark red over pale white flesh, and the other blackened and smoking, as they fell.
Cullen’s anger came on so fast and so strong that it blinded him. He careened into the two Fae, smashing both of them to the ground, and he cut the air with his Sword, forcing fire and force to rent through them both.
Wind and lightning came back at him and he was knocked back once again. He tried to move back towards them but the air kept pushing him away. He could see the army behind him moving forward, ready to sacrifice more lives to help Cullen, but he couldn’t let them do that.
He pushed through the raging wind and lightening, forcing himself to walk forward. He slowly reached them, but the continued to back away and keep throwing magical attacks at him. His arms and legs were getting cut by the wind and he couldn’t seem to block it all.
The Shield was getting heavy and his arms were getting tired. But he took another step and another after that, determined to reach them and make them pay for the lives they took.
Suddenly another figure rose up behind them and Cullen saw another black sword with red runes whip through the air. Fire and force smashed into the two warrior’s backs, sending them forward in a fall straight at Cullen. Cullen cut with his own blade, sending another magical blast at them from the front, tossing them back again to fall against the ground.
He rushed forward and reached them at the same time as the other figure. In the firelight, Cullen saw who it was that had helped him, but he needed to strike before anything else.
He cut down with his Sword, using the magic and the force of his own arms, cutting through the chest and neck of the Crow. Wielding the second blade, Tik did the same to the Snake, killing the Dar Fae at the same time as the other.
Cullen looked up into his friend’s eyes and he scowled. “What are you doing?” he yelled. “That sword is dangerous!”
“You needed help Cullen! I couldn’t watch you get hurt again. You’re bleeding all over and they kept hitting you with more and more!” Tik’s anguish was clear on his face, his love for Cullen was written there as he shouted back at his friend, all the fear and concern welling up.
Cullen saw Tik’s face, and saw him tearing up and he relented. “Thank you Tik for coming, I’m sorry I shouted at you. But give that blade back to the Dreamweaver!”
“You may need me again when the next ones come!” Tik pleaded.
“Let us try everything else before you try that again, please!” Cullen let his own concern for Tik stand out in his words. He grabbed Tik and hugged him and led him away from the bodies. “Please.”
Tik nodded and gratefully surrendered the weapon. Cullen turned back and collected the other two weapons from the dead warriors.
“But there’s something you can do for me,” he said. “Later when we are rested.”
Tik looked at him quizzically but nodded once again. The pair walked back towards the army and didn’t even turn to see the last three Champions collect their dead.
Sonia ran into Cullen’s arms after he handed off the weapons and she wept openly on his shoulder. “I can’t watch this anymore Cullen,” she moaned into his ear.
“It’s almost over my love; bear with me a little longer please.” He held her while he walked back to the command tent to face the others.
“Are you alright boy?” Grimm asked.
“There are mostly superficial cuts on my arms and legs,” Cullen responded. “I can still fight. But I need some food and some rest. I think tomorrow they will throw everything at us.”
“I think you’re right son, the lights are flashing red and orange. They look very angry to me,” The High King said, his tone fearful. “Let’s get everyone inside the gates to rest and eat and then we’ll talk about the next attack.
Cullen gratefully walked behind his father, with Sonia by his side. He watched Tik very carefully; worried that using the sword might have some affect on him. He wanted this war to be over, so they could have normal lives again.
Ever since Tik had been taken by the soldiers, it had been one long fight, traveling and working towards protecting the Kingdom, against fearsome monsters of legend. Cullen wondered what life would be like after, but he agreed with his father, it was better to think about the future in positive terms, rather then let the fear of battle take over and wear you down.
He squeezed Sonia tighter and she pushed back against him.