The Beginning of the End

An insight to a demonic battle from a female archery and ambush tactics team member.

 

  We have made it this far, to the final battle. The final battle that will end all of this, the starvation, the diseases, butcherings of innocents and the poverty. We must win. We must fight to the end, or risk the futures of our children and our grandchildren. I never believed that we could have made it this far. But we did. That, we must be thankful for. My fellow soldiers, warriors consisting of men and women, were weary and tired. The war had taken its toll on them. As we neared the battlefield, our leader demanded we rest for nightfall and prepare ourselves for battle the next day. I was too restless to sleep, my swordarm was itching to kill the Kruzacsher b******s, for taking away my family, my life, my world.

 

  I still remembered the day when I had pledged allegiance to these brilliant soldiers. My family had been butchered and slaughtered like animals. I was a broken woman. My baby, only three months old, dead in the arms of her father. Their faces filled with shock and horror, a sight I could never forget. Blood had been splattered across the walls as the Kruzacsher mercernaries swept through the area. Death and destruction followed in their wake. I had been away to see my cousin and assist in her childbirthing, just three months after mine. Our children were to be sworn brothers and sisters. Our dreams and hopes swept away by the careless and unfeeling hand of the Kruzacshers.

 

  I was picked up by the Leader of the Rothkalina soldiers. Strong and brave men they were, never expected a woman to be able to stand on her own two feet and fight a battle. Nevertheless, they took me on their crusade, along with five hundred other strong and courageous women. I had stared at the leader with my eyes, filled with unfufilled hatred and vengeance, on that very day, I pledged my allegiance to eleven thousand men, and women, but we were men in our souls nonetheless. All of us, driven by vengeance and hatred towards the Kruzacshers. Rothkalina was a stronghold of soldiers and warriors. The King had personally picked his five thousand warriors. They had to be strong and willing, fighters yet uncanny, sly ambushers at the same time. All's fair in war and love.

 

  I was trained brutally, just like the other six thousand men and strong women who joined the crusade to fight for vengeance and justice. I told mysef that I would never again have anyone else feel the way that I had felt when I found my family butchered like mere animals. This was for them and for others. Justice will be served.

 

~*~

 

  We readied for battle. Our beasts, sabers, weres and other Mystickal creatures were prepared and our blades were sharpened. The Kruzacshers were not ordinary mercernaries, they were the heartless demons who had possessed men, men with weak minds and souls, easily preyed on by the demonic creatures who seek to rule this land, this dimension. They could not be killed with bullets, it would wound them, cripple them but they would still come crawling through and fighting for a piece of this earth.

 

  Our bows were carefully tended for and our packs filled with as many arrows as we can carry. Our armor made out of the lightest alloys, forged by the most skillful of blacksmiths. Our guns slung over our shoulders, loaded with as many rounds as possible. Women were to carry the Kukri blades, we were trained to fight with both hands, our left must not be crippled, our right must never be the leader. We carried snipers and crossbows, we were the ambushers. We were swifter, faster, lighter than men, able to stay completely, deathly still as we were trained to do so. We were the real deal for snipers.

 

  Mages were huddling over fires, creating powerful blasts of energy, only to be stored and used for later. We were weary of these men and women. But we were soldiers, all of us, nonetheless. Our mages were fitted with heavy armour, to prevent heavier damage, these were offensive fighters, they had hardless any defense. Their bodies were more susceptible to injury and they were to be behind our offensive line and human defensive line. We were to protect them. Powerful druids and priests, they could do the most damage but also die in the process.

 

~*~

 

  Justice on this day, was to be served. The men rode into battle with a loud warcry.

 

  "Fight for freedom of land. We fight for vengeance, we fight for justice! Send these b******s back to whence they came from and stop them from advancing!" our leader cried, and we cheered.

 

  A warhorn resounded from both ends of the battlefield as the Kruzacshers advanced, their gnashing fangs and razor-sharp claws did nothing to scare us. It was our day of vengeance. It was to be savoured.

 

  "All right, ladies! Nock your flight arrows. Flight shooting! We want a dead release for full velocity and full power. Give these monsters a bloody Classic style!" the Lady in Command said with a powerful voice.

 

  At her signal, thousands of arrows flew up into the air, almost blocking the view of the sun, and then gravity pulled them back towards the ground, into the flesh of the blasted Kruzacshers. It knocked some of them out but they still kept advancing. As we readied the second set of flight arrows for release, the mages began throwing their own concoction of Magickal grenades into the battefield. Thousands of locked pins burst out of the grenade shell on contact with the ground and burrowed themselves into the bodies of the Kruzacshers.

 

  The first line of men had clashed into the enemies' line. The sudden impact was jarring, I could feel it in my bones. We were not going to make it out of this battle alive.

 

~*~

 

  Night fell and we lost many men. Almost three thousand in total. The other battles had never been as brutal as this. The enemies had also surprises of their own. Both sides had retreated to the covers of the night and prepared for the next day in battle. Apparently, demons could also honour the universal battle truce during nightfall. I kept turning my back to look for any signs of approaching demons, just in case they had decided on a surprise attack. The demons were fierce and this time, they had brought their own trolls and ballistas, mages had almost exhausted their powers by trying to shield soldiers from the flying rocks and spears.

 

  The women have not entered the battlefield, not yet, in any ways. But I have a sinking feeling that we will. Soon. All the other battles that I have fought have never been this brutal. Demons had crouched on all fours, like the beasts in the forests, and swiped with their claws. They ripped necks and feasted on the dead with their fangs. They were unlike the others we saw in the past battles who fought with swords and shot at us with bows and gunnery. It seemed as if the human part of their bodies had embraced their demonic souls and let them feast on us during battle. It was insanity.

 

  Many of our rides had fallen but some had stayed upright, protecting their masters throughout the battle. Our leader had a special weapon forged from the very fires of the Eastern suns. He had commissioned blacksmiths to produce a weapon called the Gunblade. A weapon that is sort of a blend of a gun and a blade. It shot two bullets at a time and must be handled with care. Any off-shot or curved shot will damaged the blade. It was a pure genious invention, yet a flawed one as well. We have yet to see the true nature of this peculiar weapon.

 

  Priests rushed from one end of the camp to the other trying to heal and help others with their injury. They had some sort of a blessing that they can bestow upon others but not themselves. They were very valuable to our army. The most weirdest thing is, when they healed somebody, they had gained more energy to heal others. It was as if some celestial being had blessed them with this power. It was definitely useful. As I lay down on my pellet to sleep, I could feel hands on my head, the priests were suddenly there, blessing me. Their chantings were soothing and for the first time in a long time, I felt the sense of ultimate peace.

 

~*~

 

  Daybreak. The battlefield was strewn the bodies of the dead and feasting Kruzacshers. I closed my eyes to block out the images of my fellow men being eaten by savages. It was still imprinted on the back of my eyelids. I shook the image out of my head and concentrated on this battle. I sat on my saberwolf, it was strong, cunning and brutal. I could count on it to save my life. I trusted this beast. I found it at the edge of the Mystickal forest near the Southern edge. I had came from a battle against the mercernaries when the saber-wolf found me tending to my wounds. I had thought it was to kill me but it licked my wounds instead. As if trying to heal them. Apparently it's saliva had Mystickal healing properties.

  "Stand strong, be courageous." our leader shouted, "This is our battle. Our day of glory and vengeance. Fight for your lives!"

  We cheered as the warhorn was resounded. The women shrieked and lightning broke out onto the fields. Then we advanced towards the Kruzacshers. I tightened my grip on the saddle with my legs and took out my saber and sword. The saber was larger than the sword, I used it with my left hand since it was the dominant hand and I had a better grip on it. The rays of the sun caught the metal and bounced off it. As we neared the Kruzacshers I could see their fangs and claws, they were running like animals! Their backbones had been mutilated to fit into a crouch position. It was gory.

  We clashed into the first line and I was thrown off my saber-wolf. I landed on my own two feet and stood in a battle stance as I searched for the enemy to kill. Hack, slash, hack, slash. Blood splattered onto my face as I sliced their heads off. I could feel the bile rising at the back of my throat. Think of Mira, I said to myself silently, this is for her! Spirit renewed, I headed off to find my saber-wolf fending off five Kruzacshers. I cut them down with one swipe of my saber. Then I hopped onto the saber-wolf's back and headed off towards the trolls to bring them down.

  We gained momentum as we rushed towards them, I tensed and stood on the saddle to launch myself at them. As we neared one of them, I jumped off and took a big swipe at its head. My sword only made it through to half of its neck. It only succeeded in making it furious. Then I quickly used my saber to bring a finishing blow. I hopped off its body and headed towards our Leader. He was shooting at mutiple Kruzacshers, once they were down, they never came back up. Apparently, his bullets must have been charmed.

  I hacked at the Kruzacsher behind him and got a swift thanks before rushing off towards the trolls again. My saber-wolf came up beside me. We cut through their ranks and made it to the ballistas before being swatted by giant boulders. Whack! As one flew over my head, narrowly missing my brains. Another one rolled towards me and I sliced the stone in half. My blades were not ordinary stuff. There were so many Kruzacshers, they just kept coming and coming at us even after we sliced them down.

  Then as I reached the top of the hill where the ballistas stood. I saw thousands of children. No, not children, Kruzacshers. Oh my god. They ran towards me with their giant teeth gnashing together and their claws outstretched. Many of them had been mauled or bitten, some had missing limbs and body parts. Then I saw my niece, dressed in a pink dress, she had grown. She launched herself at me and I tensed for the impact only to find her body splattered to bits by a bullet. I whimpered as I stared into the eyes of my leader.

  "Keep it together," he shouted.

  Then charged towards them and hacked his way through. He was killing children. I headed towards the ballistas and swiped at them. Preventing more boulders and spears from raining down onto the battlefield. My armour was torn at one hip where a Kruzacsher had take a bite out of me. I was bleeding profusely. I did not pause, I did not care as I hacked through their ranks. Then the children finally made their way towards me. I paused. It was all the time they needed to rush at me and take a bite. I screamed as they bit into my arm and I swatted at them.

  My vision started to grow hazy as more children rushed towards the battlefield for a kill. The warriors had all paused and the children had taken the chance to eat them alive. All across the battlefield, the Rothkalina warriors were dying. Screams from men were thrown up into the air. I lay there on the bloodied grass, twitching as my lifeblood poured onto the fields. Our battle was lost. The war was lost. The Kruzacshers had won.

~*~

  Night fell as my blood congealed and cooled. I could still see, the sky was laid out for me. I heard sounds of scuffling boots nearby. Then a little whisper here and there, the number of scuffling boots grew and there was a distinct sound of chinking battle armour. The boots paused at my side. I saw a face in my vision. His eyes were blue, startling powder blue in contrast to his dark green, almost black, hair. I twitched as he spoke.

  "I've seen you fight. You were a mighty warrior, a woman, I'm giving you a chance at eternal life. But only if you pledge your alliegance to my group of Vampires, eternal fealty and loyalty. We will join forces to fight against these Kruzacshers and push them back to the hell realms that they came from. What say you?" he asked, in slow grim and dreaded tones.

  I twitched and then nodded. I felt a warm wet liquid being poured down my throat and my vision turned black. I could vaguely hear his voice as he commanded me to sleep. Then the loud squish of wet grass as he stalked off.

~*~

  It was approaching dawn when I opened my eyes. The rising sun burned my skin and set it on fire as I ran towards the trees for shelter. My body was repaired. There were no bite marks or chunks of body parts missing as I examined myself. Eternal life for eternal fealty. I stared into the direction of the rising sun. There was a part of me that yearned for sunlight. But there was another part of me that was pulling me towards the forest, towards a destination where I would probably find that man there. I twitched. As I stared out into the battlefield, it was littered with the dead bodies of my fellow soldiers and the carcasses of beasts, the rotting flesh of the Kruzacshers.

  I heard a snuffling behind me and found myself staring into the eyes of my saber-wolf. I patted its head and it drew back for a moment, no doubt I smelled different. Then it licked my hand and then nuzzled itself against my thigh. I stared out into the battlefield one last time and then walked into the dark forests. Leaving my soldiers behind, but not my mission.

~*~

Author's Note

I'm deciding if I want to keep the story or not. To continue or to trash? My story is situated in a different dimension, where Ylva was also from. This piece happened way back in the past. Guns exist because it was brought there by one unsuspecting idiot from our dimension here. There are no vehicles because beasts outrun them. There is no need for them. Comments and queries are greatly appreciated. :D

Reviews

[Micco Gibson]

I really enjoy this story, maybe even more than Ylva's. You should definately continue this, it's very interesting so far... and maybe add a prolouge? Just an idea. And by the way, when you write "Mystickal" do you mean "Mystical" or "Magickal" and "Magical"? I noticed that in this story and your other one... Or did you mean for it to be like that?

Anyway, great story!

-Micco