The Destiny of Amalah (101 page)

Häkan, Garrick, Michael and Hemi were fighting on the first line, they tried to help each other whenever they could but deep down; they all knew it was every man for himself and only the Gods, skill, strength and luck would keep them alive on this day. The dark army were losing against the four men. Häkan, Garrick and Michael had vast experience and used it to their advantage and Hemi used his two swords, which the dark army had never come across before, and they found it difficult to avoid the blades, which were often deadly.

John and Callan Knight fought side-by-side, one always looked out for the other and they took on the enemy together. They fought with everything they had; weapons, hands and feet and all the strength and grit that they could muster.

Earlier, Garrick and Häkan had made the dark army do all of the hard work and made them come to them; they had been able to take many soldiers out but still many more came towards them to fight and defeat them and take their nation from them and all the nations surrounding Amalah. When Garrick and Häkan saw the army approaching from the sides, they gave the order to break formation and retreat. Once again, Garrick and Häkan had used good and clever tactics and were able to retreat to the forests of Amalah, giving them a huge advantage over Rakan’s soldiers.

The sorcerers on the other side tried to take out the archers but the arrows were coming from places unseen and there were too many at a time, they were too fast, not to mention that they had sorcerers and sorceresses to deal with on their own right.

Now that the fight had moved into the forest it was pure chaos, as people would run, fight and hide. The sorcerers fought each other using all the magic that they knew; energy balls were hurled to and fro as well fire balls that exploded on impact. The sorcerers used spells and potions and both sides turned their enemies into animals or inanimate things or bound them with overgrowing woods and plants. The sorcerers were on the offensive and defensive and they were trying to protect their soldiers at the same time.

The forest was awry with soldiers fighting, sorcerers casting spells, colourful magic flying through the air and archers hiding in bushes and trees. Ellora had long since taken cover but unluckily for her, no one in the dark army had managed to find her until now. The captain had made it his mission to find the archer who was taking out his men. He had taken seven of his men to find her and by the time he found her he only had five men left. Ellora was surprised to find that the dark army had made her position and the captain and his men were surprised to find that the archer was a woman. Ellora seemed out of sight and far from the guard when the captain and his men found her; they dragged her from her position and she managed to quickly take out two with her crossbow before they surrounded her.

‘A woman!’ the captain said, horribly surprised.

‘Yes,’ Ellora said simply, as she reached for her dagger.

‘That won’t help you,’ the captain said arrogantly. ‘You’ll be dead before you use it,’ the captain said, as his soldiers looked on and laughed at the predicament that Ellora was in.

Ellora backed away slowly but the soldiers inched forward with every step she took. She did not want to die, because she did not want to leave Amara alone or Garrick for that matter and she did not want to die leaving Amalah and the nations the way they were, but she knew that she surely would; for there were five of them and one of her and she knew that she could not take them all. She lowered her dagger and inched back and as she thought about her inevitable end, she thought of Kalon “How she had missed him,” she thought to herself and wondered if she would see him again.

The dark soldiers drew frighteningly close to her and as they raised their swords Ellora closed her eyes for she did not want to see her own death. She heard two thuds as two objects hit the soldiers and then she heard a sword slice through skin and the clink of weaponry and wondered why she was not in any pain – or dead yet and so – she opened her eyes. When she did, she saw two headless bodies on the ground; one being that of the captain and then she saw John and Callan Knight standing opposite her and staring at her, while the five members of the dark army were dead on the floor.

‘Princess, you are the best archer in Amalah, we can’t lose you,’ John told her.

‘Thank you,’ she said humbly and with real gratitude. ‘I owe you both my life.’

‘Don’t thank us yet princess, if we don’t win this war, you’ll probably wish that we hadn’t saved you,’ Callan Knight replied.

‘You have a point Callan Knight, but still, I thank you now for even if we do win this war I might not live to the end of it,’ the princess replied.

‘If we remain here talking we certainly will not,’ John said interrupting them both.

‘Then let’s go,’ Callan said putting on an expression that said: “What are you waiting for.” before she broke into a wry smile and gently took hold of the princess by the arm.

‘Stay with us princess,’ John said. ‘With your arrow and our swords we should get through this.’

‘Then I will stay with you,’ Ellora said decisively.

The three made their way back to the thick of battle and stuck together throughout. Elsewhere in the battle there was pure chaos now that the formation had spilt up, there was fighting everywhere; Amara Thaddeus, Zach and Imogen were in the heart of the fight and Michael fought with them, remaining at Amara’s side far as long as he could until he was needed elsewhere. He knew he was needed but he was reluctant to go – but in the end, he left her to fight with the others and went to fight with Garrick and Häkan and the guard.

In the beginning when the war had started, the six Azari remained where they were. They did not join the fight they simply looked on as their soldiers and sorcerers went into action; watching from afar. When the fight moved to the forest, Waldon and Kenaz were the first to join in and then they were followed by Luxor, Rufus and Bryce and as each one joined the death and mayhem increased.

At that point, the grounds where the war had begun and the forest in which it continued were filled with bloodied bodies; dead and alive. The air was filled with the stench of death, blood, sweat and fear, and was made up of an array of colours as the sorcerers worked their magic against the dark army and dark magic.

The Empress and her guard were fighting hard, they were being driven south into Amalah city but they were inflicting heavy losses on the dark army. They had prepared well, for they had set many traps in the forest and Rakan’s army fell into many. The guard were concerned though, for even though they were inflicting heavy losses on the other side, they did not expect to be driven back quite as quickly. The senior officers were even more concerned but they led their men anyway and they took advantage of the stocks and supplies that they had hidden in secret caves and stashes within the forest. The war raged on from day through to the night and when night came, the guard acquired the distinct advantage. They knew the lay of the land and the traps that they had set, become even more unavoidable to the other side.

As the new day dawned, the dark army pushed the guard even further south but the guard – even though they were retreating south by force; had a new found hope. They knew that the heavy fighting in the night had significantly reduced the number of the army and they knew that, now on the numbers they had a chance – they could win if they just kept fighting, harder and for longer.

Time went on and the morning passed and the guard retreated from the forest and into the open lands, with the army hot on their heels. The guard and sorcerers took cover in villages, huts and inns where they made use of the stocks and supplies that Garrick and Häkan had organised. Once again, Ellora and the archers used their bows to deadly effect as they fired from the buildings that they were hiding in.

As the archers kept the army at bay, the guard took food and weapons and retreated further south so that they could regroup and make another formation. Not long after most of the guard had retreated, the archers began to regroup too. They retreated south to join the guard and sorcerers and as they pulled back; Ellora, in company with Callan, John and a few remaining archers, changed their arrows to flame tipped arrows and they fired them at the ground, the surrounding buildings and into the air. When they hit the ground, the ground burst into flames trapping many of the army; and once the village was ablaze, they had enough time to retreat and rejoin the others.

They collected their horses and rode to where the guard were now stationed and then they rode to where Garrick, Amara, Michael, Häkan and Thaddeus were now standing, which was at the front line once again. When they reached there, they dismounted the horses and released them, the horses sensed death in the air and they fled as soon as they were given a slap on their rear to indicate their freedom. When she saw that Ellora had arrived safely, Amara ran to her sister and hugged and kissed her.

‘Ellora, Ellora, thank god you are alive,’ she said kissing her constantly on the face and holding onto her.

‘You too,’ Ellora said, hugging and kissing her sister back. ‘I have Callan and John to thank for my life though,’ Ellora said.

‘Thank you Callan, Thank you John,’ Amara said to them.

The two nodded and went to stand with Garrick, Häkan, Michael and Thaddeus. They shook hands and hugged and then stood shoulder-to-shoulder, ready to face a new wave of fighting. They looked on and could see the now burning village and none of the dark army coming through it.

‘That should hold them for a while,’ Häkan said.

‘Not for long though,’ Garrick said.

‘How long?’ Callan asked.

‘An hour at the most,’ Garrick said.

‘Enough time to eat the supplies,’ Häkan said.

‘Good, I’m starving,’ said Callan. ‘Not to mention I could probably drink a lake.’

‘Behind us, there is food,’ Garrick said. ‘Help yourselves, Callan and John, eat and drink and then return to this rank.’

‘Thank you,’ John said.

‘Can I get anything for you?’ Callan asked.

‘We have already eaten Callan Knight, but thank you for your offer.’ Garrick said.

Callan nodded and she and John turned to go and get some food and drink. They made their way into the ranks and the guard supplied them with food and drink, of which they ate heartily and greedily and then washed it down with water. They filled their water bottles up when they were done and returned to the front ranks with Garrick and the others, feeling regenerated. Ellora and Amara stood at the front with Garrick and the others and they talked among themselves.

‘I was so frightened for you,’ Amara said to her younger sister. ‘Frightened that I had lost you.’

‘I know, I felt it and I felt the same for you,’ Ellora said.

‘I am glad that you are safe and well princess,’ Michael said.

‘Thank you Michael,’ Ellora said; ‘and I am so very glad to see that you are still safe and well.’

‘Let us not give thanks until this war is over,’ Garrick said as he turned to face them all. ‘We have only just begun and it would be unwise to tempt fate or irk the gods.’

‘Quite right,’ Häkan said. ‘Give thanks after.’

‘Amara, Ellora and Michael looked at the two men for a few moments before they nodded and agreed. The front rank became silent again until Callan Knight and John returned. They positioned themselves in between Garrick and Ellora, and John asked the guard commander what was happening.

‘The flames are abating,’ Garrick said, in a matter of fact tone. ‘Soon the remaining soldiers will emerge at the other side and make their way here. I anticipate they will be here within the hour.’

‘And in that time?’ John asked.

‘Stand firm here or rest easy behind the ranks,’ Garrick answered.

‘I cannot rest easy,’ John said.

‘Nor can I,’ Garrick said; ‘and I wager that few here can, not until the end anyway.’

‘I wonder when that will be?’ Callan said joining in the conversation.

‘As do I,’ Garrick said soberly.

Amara and all of those in the front line, watched in a hawkish manner as the flames in the south died down and the soldiers begun to emerge. The guard and sorcerers had created a flammable liquid and they had doused it into the ground and when they retreated the archers had set it ablaze as planned. The plan had worked to devastating effect and Rakan’s army had not only lost many in their number but they had spent much time trying to escape the village and carry on the fight. They eventually left the village and as they did, they regrouped and went back into their formation before they began to march south to fight again.

‘Here they come,’ Garrick shouted and as he shouted, there was movement among the ranks as the guard, Islanders and sorcerers made ready their weapons or made any preparations that they needed to make.

The dark army marched forwards and the six Azari glided ahead of them and as they made their way, they looked a frightening sight. As they drew closer, the dark army once again begun to make the menacing war cries that unnerved many of those standing to defend Amalah. Many were already filled with fear, for they had seen friends, family and fellow soldiers full in battle and it had been a gruesome and horrifying sight. Many wondered how they themselves had managed to survive so far and many more wondered if they would survive for much longer.

The dark army drew close, and within the hour as Garrick had predicted: the dark army reached them and they once again went into battle. As the battle commenced many fell to the ground within minutes but for more the fighting raged on. Just as before, the dark army pushed the guard south and before long they were fighting on low ground with hills to their right and another forest to their left and when they reached dead centre Waldon and Kenaz pulled their men back. They somehow managed to retreat at least a hundred metres and soon the soldiers and the guards were facing off once again, with their swords at the ready.