SWNOVELS Chapter Chapter Thirty Nine: A Song of Slaughter
It was difficult to accept that he was no longer fighting alongside her. But that did not matter. They had a battle to fight, a prophecy to guard and there was no time to dwell over how he had betrayed her trust. It was painful, for all sane reasons it was extremely painful for Amara to have lost someone she had only just started to trust. But now it was insignificant to her. Once again, she had gone back to being the cold and ruthless Amara that she was well-known for. Her mind was focussed on one thing: the battle. There was nothing even remotely more important than the war anymore.
Once again, Amara spoke to no one if not necessary. She kept her distance. Her soul knew how much she missed Azrael, how much she needed him and how it pained to think of what he had done. She had now accepted what reality had to offer. She had admitted to the fact that Azrael was no longer important to her and all she was required to do was fight in the battle with the entirety her strength. Iris, on the other hand, kept herself busy practicing her skills with Eridanus after the night before when Amara had begun to ignore her again.
She kept herself limited to no one but Eridanus and Leandra who seemed not to have much conversation with her either. How badly she wished to fix everything and tell Amara that it wasn’t Azrael but someone entirely different, was killing her. The moment that she had left the great hall for Amara to discuss war strategies with the other leaders, a vision had hit her mind that showed her how miserable Azrael was in the dungeons. She easily invaded his mind – one which had no power to shield itself, and without Azrael knowing what she was doing, Iris had found out that he was innocent. But who the real traitor could be, was still a mystery. She could not find it out because right at that moment, Eridanus had dragged her away to help her practice her combat skills. Iris understood that it was more important for the battle.
Moreover she did not have enough proof of explaining that Azrael was innocent. What she had was Eridanus’s support. When she had expressed to him her vision, he had believed her immediately, since he had had a similar feeling. His instincts told him exactly what Iris did. They had even discussed it, but since there wasn’t enough proof to show the others, they were unable to do anything about it. Besides, they had still not found out who it was if not Azrael.
Now that the meetings with the other three covens were done and the war strategies discussed, they were all ready to fight. Nobody apart from Lord Lucifer’s coven was aware about what had happened with Azrael. Lord Lucifer did not find it important enough to be revealed to the others. It would only show their weakness and at such a crucial point, that was not okay.
Lord Theodore had a coven of almost a hundred Conjurers; all highly trained in physical as well as mental combat. Lord Vincent had about seventy apprentices since his coven was new, but most of them were strong enough to battle. The new ones were sort of intimidated by Lord Lucifer’s coven and mostly Amara, for all obvious reasons but she preferred to stay away and did not mingle much which gave her the benefit of not being disturbed.
Lady Nysa, on the other hand, had a coven full of a hundred and ten Conjurers, all experienced and trained in combat. Nearly all of them were old enough to be rehearsed in the same and had also fought a battle years ago, for King Abraham the Third. Along with Lord Lucifer’s coven, the army now consisted of about two hundred and seventy warriors. They were all prepared, all skilled and all ready to strike into battle. After Lord Mikhail had sent a message to Lord Lucifer saying that there was no point in waiting anymore and that the King wasn’t to be informed about this at all since he was away with his family, the war was to begin sooner than was said.
And now the army stood outside the gates of Lord Lucifer’s castle. Amara turned around – pushing the pain that she felt without Azrael away – and proceeded to the front of the crowd. Lord Lucifer had already gone to the battlefield with Lord Vincent, Lord Theodore and Lady Nysa. He had ordered Amara to lead the army there. She stood before them all, looking over to see if everyone had assembled. When she was sure each one was there, she began,
“All of the apprentices from the covens of Lady Nysa, Lord Theodore and Lord Vincent, you have our thanks. Your support for us will be well cherished. We hope to win this battle and will fight for as long as it takes to safeguard us Conjurers as well as humans from the wrath of Lord Mikhail.”
Amara felt a chill up her spine recalling the fact that Azrael was Lord Mikhail’s son. She ignored it.
“Tonight we strike into battle. All the healers shall be kind enough to be in the healing quarters for the injured at the battlefield. May the righteous triumph!”
She finished and the army responded by repeating the phrase. They all then proceeded to leave for the battlefield. It was not far away so it did not take much time to reach. When they did, Amara spotted the large army of Lord Mikhail standing at the opposite side. She led the army ahead to where Lord Lucifer stood along with the other leaders. The army assembled behind the three leaders with Amara in the front. Lord Lucifer turned around to face them.
“Are we all prepared?” He asked, surveying the army.
They all gave their responses in agreement.
“Well then, may the righteous triumph!”
They all now faced the enemies that stood before them, comparatively higher in number. But it did not mean that their powers were any less. Lady Nysa turned to Lord Lucifer for a moment.
“Do we need the flag of peace?” She asked.
Lord Lucifer looked at her and shook his head.
“I don’t reckon it matters anymore. He wants a battle then a battle is what he will get. Under the blessings of mother nature and all the elemental Gods, the righteous will triumph,” he told her with a smile.
Lady Nysa retreated. There was a roaring sound from the army of Lord Mikhail. Wasting no time, he announced, “CHARGE!”
The weapon combat began. One by one, the Conjurers from both the armies attacked, crashing into each other in a ferocious symphony. The atmosphere was filled with an array of sounds that echoed throughout the battlefield of Artemisia. Swords clung together, spears clashed and arrows flung in the air, swishing throughout the battlefield, piercing into the skin of warriors. To the far right of the battlefield stood a cluster of Conjurers from both the armies in a fierce swordfight where Lord Lucifer’s army seemed to be succeeding.
Eridanus stepped over a few corpses as he slashed his sword furiously amongst the enemy. The land that was once barren and plain was now covered in blood and gore, terrorizing flesh covering the arena. At the East of the battlefield Amara swung forward furiously charging all of her anger and pain into the warriors of Lord Mikhail’s army. Her ferocity frightened nearly everyone that was around her. She fought bravely, dodging every attack and battling no less than seven people at a time. None of them were capable of defeating her.
South of the field was being ruled by Sienna and Praxithea who battled three powerful Conjurers from Lord Vane’s coven. Two sorcerers swung forward with their spears, ready to plunge into Sienna when she dodged from beneath them swift as a cat, only to have them crash into Praxithea, who fell to the ground amid the pile of corpses, with a spear plunged deep into her chest. Without having the time to pay attention to what had happened, Sienna began attacking the rest of her opponents.
The North was covered with a minimal number of dead because the most powerful warriors were striking forth. Lord Lucifer shot arrow after arrow, aiming at the far end where a sorcerer named Ephialtes was shooting his arrows that crashed into that of Lord Lucifer’s, engaging the two into a fierce duel. Varied colours of light flooded the sky as the enchanted arrows struck one another with equal force. Lord Mikhail was at a distance from Ephialtes, battling Ambrosius. Their swords clung together as they dodged one another’s attacks swiftly and wistfully, sometimes vanishing out of sight and sometimes appearing all the sudden. Ambrosius was not a weak sorcerer. Lord Mikhail realized that now.
Fabian, Lilienne, Rhea and Coronos fought with the Conjurers of Lord Riordan’s coven in the West. There were raging duels of spears and axes swinging and clanging together as the warriors fought with equal malice. Rhea’s axe clashed with that of Acastos’s and she flung his neck to the far end of the battlefield while a spear plunged into her right arm. Coronos and Fabian battled with Lyros and Megaira from as their swords slashes into the flesh of their opponent and Coronus collapsed within the heap of bodies while Fabian dodged another attack.
In the middle of the battlefield, elemental duels had begun. Iris was busy throwing gushes of Wind towards the Conjurers of the enemy and her attacks were being countered by one young witch by the name of Oino from Lord Alistair’s coven. Oino sent Fire while Iris sent her Air. Iris pushed all the teachings of Nicholas into force and her Air managed to defeat Oino’s Fire, in turn burning Oino to ashes. Iris was then attacked by a sorcerer who used his force of Water, only to have her covered in Water from the waist-down. She began to splutter and gasp for air as the Water began to engulf her completely when she was dragged out by Ourania, a fellow witch who started a wild Fire that the sorcerer tried to counter with more Water. Iris managed to escape while Ourania battled in her place.
Back in the East, Amara’s Fire was threatening to swallow up ten Conjurers of Lord Mikhail’s coven. Soon enough all that lay in front of Amara was ashes. She turned around and swished her fingers only to have Water flood out of the earth and flow towards the opponents and fifteen other Conjurers had to struggle to counter her attack with Fire. By the time they succeeded, Amara had vanished.
Spells began to shoot everywhere. Colours illuminated the night sky and created patterns of horrific Deaths everywhere around. As Amara shot a curse of paralysis, her mind went straight to Azrael, thinking about how he had the power to paralyze through his eyes and how helpful it would have been if he were there with her.
***
“Your name; it means immortal, doesn’t it?” Azrael asked.
“I didn’t know that,” Amara replied, turning away.
Why am I blushing? She wondered with annoyance. It was not good for her. She needed to get rid of that warm feeling surging inside of her whenever Azrael was around.
“Have you ever-ever loved . . . someone?” He suddenly asked with hesitation.
Amara snapped her head towards him. She was not expecting such a question. Her heart stopped for the fraction of a second and she blinked. What was she to reply? She could not bring herself to tell him about Leo. Why should she anyway? Azrael was nobody to her. He was just a coven member, or maybe a friend whom she felt comfortable with; but that did not mean that she could tell him everything. It was only Iris; maybe it would only be her and no one else that she would reveal her history to. Amara did not wish to do the same with Azrael. She still did not trust him enough. Iris, on the other hand, she had blind faith on.
“No,” she told him, hoping that he would drop the topic before it had even begun.
Azrael looked at the forlorn expression on Amara’s face and decided not to talk about it again. It was obviously a sensitive matter and as much as he wanted to find out what had hurt her, he did not wish to spoil the moment. He did not want to leave the woods. He wanted to spend more time with her, if that was even possible.
“Did you know that there are wandering spirits in this forest?” He said to her, looking around in awe.
Amara watched him in amusement. How could she not know about that? Those spirits were her solace. They were her shoulder to cry on before Iris came and joined the coven. Amara chuckled at his question and he looked at her in confusion. Before she knew it, she was laughing unnecessarily.
***
Amara forcefully pushed that thought out of her mind and slashed her sword into a throat. Her eyes were blazing fire.
The earth trembled, winds went berserk and the birds vanished in fear. The atmosphere was drenched into a carnivorous rain. The warriors roared and screamed in attack. The skirmish of the two armies created the cry of unrequited horror as bodies were slain. The wind howled and the trees swayed on one side, glaring at the attack that Lord Mikhail threw onto a warrior from Lord Vincent’s coven. Lord Mikhail sailed into the air, hovering over the enemy and plunging his spear into body after body.
The earth shivered under Eridanus’s spell that disarmed a foe, making her fall to the ground in unbearable pain. His eyes glowed with what seemed like unspeakable fury. He shifted to push off another attacker, throwing him onto the ground and Eridanus shoved his sword into his throat. The combatant fell on the ground.
Iris had joined Sienna and they began mind duels, manipulating and burning their foes down. The armies fought fiercely with one another, slaying almost equal numbers of the enemy. Iris and Eridanus were in two different parts of the battlefield, communicating to each other with their minds. Whenever Iris was faced with a danger that she thought she could not fight, Eridanus would guide her while fighting his own battle. It appalled Iris when she saw the strength that his mind held. Continuing a duel with a powerful sorcerer and at the same time sending her guidelines as to how she should fight back was something that very few of them could do. It took a lot of mental power; and Eridanus seemed to have plenty of it. Iris admired his strength.
Far away out of sight, Leandra trudged from corner to corner, silently disarming Lord Lucifer’s army without anyone knowing it. Being in his army, she stealthily fought for Lord Mikhail. He gave her signals as to whom she should end and she succeeded from time to time. But nobody’s attention was on her. And nobody found out what she was doing. The chaos was multiplying minute by minute and there was no time for anyone to look at what the other was doing. Leandra found her task to be easier than what she had imagined. Yet she stayed careful so as not to be spotted by anyone since Lord Lucifer’s numbers were decreasing faster than they were supposed to, seeing how strong the army was.
There was a sudden flood of Water in waves upon a side of Lord Lucifer’s army, which threatened to drown them all. Lord Theodore fought the Water by throwing a gush of immediate Wind in its direction, instantly transferring the Water back to Lord Mikhail’s army. A few drowned, others dodged and saved themselves. On the opposite side, Amara ignited a wild Fire that began to spread towards Lord Mikhail’s army. In answer, Lord Mikhail channelled the Water from attacking his army to extinguishing the Fire.
Winds gushed from end to end, throwing the warriors in different directions. Water flooded the area, diverging into other corners. Earth began to crack from underneath them, swallowing a few. Flames burned down the trees along with some warriors. The elements clashed together creating sounds that rang around the battlefield. A distant but faint melody began to hum in their ears as the weapons chimed and curses flew. Cries of pain were heard, attacks witnessed and souls injured. Lord Mikhail’s army was defeating person to person, but Lord Lucifer’s seemed to be succeeding somehow.
Amara was fighting bravely. She fought faster and better than anyone and everyone. She had defeated a lot of warriors and slain many. There were more injured in Lord Mikhail’s army than in Lord Lucifer’s. Leandra still clung from tree to tree, hiding herself while muttering spells; a curse here to paralyze, a chant there to kill and disarm Lord Lucifer’s army. Yet nobody knew where she was and what she was doing. None were paying much attention either. The ones getting affected kept wondering how they suddenly lost their weapons and got defeated. A few had already been paralyzed and were unable to fight. Leandra’s silent attacks were confusing to her victims but hardly anyone was able to pay attention to that.
A highly unusual and perplexing elemental duel was going on between Sienna and two witches from Lord Alistair’s coven. They were both channelling their Earthly energy in her direction while Sienna battled using her Spiritual forces. It was a rare fight. Sienna’s Spirits were invisibly whirling around in protection while the Earth kept throwing levels of mire into her eyes. The Spirits circled around her, forming an unseen shield that did not let any of the Earth’s forces shatter her power. Eventually when their force could not match that of Sienna’s, they dropped on the ground in defeat. Sienna glared at the Earth furiously and it cracked immediately, swallowing the two witches inside.
At Sienna’s right, Fabian and Lilienne were battling five Conjurers from Lord Vane’s coven. They were throwing elements as well as weapons in their direction, which, neither Lilienne nor Fabian were able to handle. They were starting to fall short of energy as the attacks shunned them effortlessly. It was difficult to battle their enemies that were trained in dark witchcraft. It made their responses weaker. Intense efforts were made from Fabian to counter the attacks but nothing seemed to be working. In the end the two apprentices of Lord Lucifer had to accept defeat as Death began its way to greet them.
The new Conjureres in Lord Mikhail’s army were finding it hard to stand before Lord Lucifer and kept looking for an escape. The only ones capable of handling the strength of Lord Lucifer were a handful of learned Conjurers that had training in dark witchcraft. It was quite an amusement for him when he saw the new ones struggling before him before a few of them fell dead. Lord Lucifer felt that he should let them scamper off at times, so he could battle those who were worth his time and strength. The new ones were just too incompetent for him. While he was battling a few feeble sorcerers, Lord Lucifer connected his mind to that of Erasmus’s and sent a message to him.
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Erasmus, upon receiving the message while he was meditating in clear concentration, pushed himself up from the floor and glanced at his shackles. They unwound themselves from his limbs, setting him free.
Moments later, there was complete silence in the King’s castle. Spending weeks and weeks in the prison, Erasmus had meditated and gotten all his powers back even stronger than ever. Although the dungeons were designed to prohibit the prisoners from exercising their powers, with Lord Lucifer’s discreet and extremely planned out help that he received through owls, Erasmus had managed to get his powers back.
He walked out of the cell after he was done putting every guard and every Minister to sleep. The King wasn’t present in the court anyway, which made his work easier. When the entire palace was unconscious, Erasmus ventured out of the dungeons and left the King’s palace in no time. He gathered a few weapons from the armoury and began to make his way to the Mines of Jestlesine. His hours were numbered. Having no time to spare, he had to reach the Mines of Jestlesine located right at the east edge of the mountains of Lunaire, get the desired work done and then head to the battlefield as Lord Lucifer had instructed him to.
When Erasmus reached the Mines of Jestlesine, he gathered what he had been asked to and carefully started to make his way to the battlefield, which was far enough to last a day if he walked. Teleporting seemed like a viable option seeing as how much energy he had accumulated during his time in the prison. He shut his eyes and vanished from the Mines, landing outside the battlefield where from a distance he saw the combat happening in unspeakable ferocity.
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A deafening screech was heard. It silenced the entire arena. The warriors turned to look at the source of the sound and their heads craned upwards watching the vision of wings flapping in the air furiously as a horde of creatures ascended towards them. Iris stood on her tiptoes and frowned, turning to an apprentice of Lord Vincent who stood beside her with his weapons in mid-air since nobody was moving.
“What are those?” Iris asked in awe as the creatures moved closer.
The apprentice blinked once and then spoke, “Dragons.”