The Ambush

Through her spy glass, Ifiel studied her surroundings and focused on a man who was shackled by the neck to a wooden pole in the middle of the field. The man wore the same iron armour as those back at camp. There was no doubt of it, he was one of her trooper.

 

The strange thing was the lack of will present in her warrior. That man just sat on his calves beside the gigantic wooden pole. His arms laid restless on his thighs showing that he had resigned to his fate. His head was locked facing upwards to the sky; his eyes had no purpose left inside just like an empty soul.

 

Ifiel bit her lower lip. She had to do something. Clad in simple leather garments, the leader of the protectors stood up from the vegetation.

 

"Come, Chales."

 

She whispered with anger resounding in her voice as she showed her open palm to her medium. Just before Chales responded, Benieth, who was beside her, dragged her back to a prone.

 

"Hey! Don't act to rashly would you."

 

He whispered to Ifiel while maintaining visual of the open field. Ifiel tried to pull back from his grip. She gritted her teeth, ready to speak. Benieth flashed her his eyes and at once she stopped herself from talking. She knew that he, too, knew that he needed to do something. These people deserved nothing like this.

 

"At least wait for the main body to link up before we strike."

 

Ifiel looked at the direction the voice came from. It was Benieth's blue hair companion, K. Her soft expression mixed with a sweet gentle smile. A smile that would put one's heart at ease. Ifiel lost the heat in her head and nodded to K's words.

 

Carefully, they shifted their location to higher grounds. They were roughly a kilometer away from the enemy's encampment. Silence was the only known thing around them. Their eyes trailed across the whole camp; ensuring no sudden occurrences happened around. Soon night came. A dark blanket rested over the whole area. Visibility became poor. Then flames, like little orange stars, started to litter all over the bandit's camp.

 

The bushes behind them rustled. Benieth unsheathed his sword a little; prepared to take on any hostiles present. A man came forth from the shadows, his heavy armour clinked as he advanced. Then he knelt behind them and spoke.

 

"My lady. We've arrived. What are your next orders?"

 

A smile flashed across the teens face as she looked at the man.

 

"Let it rain."

 

Ifiel exclaimed at the top of her lungs as she pushed herself off the ground. Archers behind them locked the arrows and released them from their bows. Quickly, the knelt low and a second volley was sent to the target. Rows of arrows whistled loudly as they soared into the sky. Right after shooting, Ifiel released the seal on Chales and called for her blade. Shortly after, her members followed suit and drew their own swords.

 

Ifiel raised her cruel smiling blade above her head and then slowly brought it parallel to the ground. At once her own army gave a loud war cry, one that resonated deep into the woods; one that made the birds flee. Quickly, they rushed down the hill and towards the camp.

 

Surviving bandits recovered from their daze and drew their weapons out. Realising the quick recovery, Ifiel swung her blade at the cluster of struggling bandits. The wind around the blade just flowed behind its smile and piled up there. The moment the blade went to the other end, the accumulated wind shot across the plains, cutting through the group of enemies.

 

The fellow from the patrol platoon was in her sight. She signaled for the warriors to continue their advance. Reaching the man, she skid on her leg and knelt beside the panicky man. her eyes studied his face. Fear was plastered thickly on his face; his pale white face housed widely stricken eyes and quivering lips. Bravely, Ifiel smiled.

 

"There is nothing to fear now."

 

Swiftly, she started to figure out how to break the chains as she assured the man.

 

"Leader," the man paused and looked at her," Trap. It's a-"

 

His shaky voice was abruptly cut off. Ward, sticky fluid decorated Ifiel's face. She stopped working her arms and touched the liquid with her shaking arms. She took a look at her hand. Crimson red blood clung on to her fingers. Blood.

 

She shifted her gaze to the man; tears stinging her eyes. Long thin wire strands could be seen wounded around his face; deep wounds sliced down into his flesh. A trap. Ifiel was sure that she did not hear wrongly. It was too late; she had took the bait already. But-

 

She lifted her sword arm above her head at once. A resounding metallic clank spread around her. Sparks flew as a heavy broad sword smashed down on her sword. Anger raged in her as she stared at her aggressor. She shouted and a burst of wind raged around her; blasting the attacker to get flung up meters into the air.

 

Ifiel got up on her feet and surveyed the situation. It was bad. More enemies were appearing from behind the knoll that was behind the camp. They were waiting. Ifiel sprinted to where most of her men were and commanded at the top of her lungs, "My fellow warriors, leave at once! We have to regroup."

 

Her troops slowly pulled back as they fended off attacks that came from the bandits. While she continuously sent blades of wind to the group coming from the knoll, Ifiel looked out for Benieth in the midst of the chaos. He was not to be found. Had he fallen to the sudden attacks of the bandits. She did not know but prayed not.

 

An anguished scream of pain suddenly rang from behind Ifiel. Immediately, she spun around and saw that her men had surrounded a man of gigantic built. At once, the features of the man was burnt into her mind. He was tan with black hair that was tied into a ponytail and had eyes that seemed to glow like a savage beast. Scars were apparent everywhere on his body like as though he had been treated surgically over several wounds.

 In his hand was two axes that were roughly as large as a broad sword but something was different about them. Their handles were of half a meter long with inscriptions scribbled across the wooden bodies and the razor blades were like half moons. Energy radiated from them as it pulsated through the veins that were engraved on the blades themselves.

 

That man was dangerous. She knew. Every single hair on her body was standing. He and his weapons radiated fear. The man grinned and swung his heavy axe across the bodies of her warriors. The men surrounding him were immediately cut down like trees that stood in his way. His eyes were on Ifiel, she knew. She could clearly see the gleaming red beads bearing down on her, into her.

 

The man barked ,"It is time to hunt come out and kill those that you see!"

 

A shout in unison came from behind the man. Rows and rows of people came running out from the vegetation and clashed with her warriors. They were sandwiched between two forces. Ifiel's mind worked as she searched for any solution. Anything that she could use to escape. Anything that she could do to help her people to safety. She quickly tried to search. Anywhere, any-

 

Ifiel ducked. A huge gust of wind rushed above her head as she watched the axe sliced the air. He had came for her. She bit her lower lip. With lightning speed, she lashed her slender leg into the stomach of the man and kicked off. Although her attack had connected, she knew that he was still perfectly fine.

 

In mid air, Ifiel cut the air in rapid succession, sending blades of wind to the gigantic man. The man lifted up his axe and blocked the razor compression that rained down on him. The subtle deviation of his axe was being studied by Ifiel as she heard the continuous droning of her attacks being deflected.

 

A different sound rang. Immediately, she brought her sword down meters away from the man. The air around her sword started to cave in and extended all the way to the man. She had elongated her blade. She gave a grunted as her blade slammed into the man and landed on the ground softly. A huge gust of wind blew down on them and a cloud of dust obstructed her view.

She had to get her men out. Gritting, she swung her sword upwards forcefully. A massive force of wind uplifted the cloud along with the huge man. Smoothly, Ifiel brought her sword across the clashing soldiers; catching the enemy foot soldiers as the wind passed by. Beads of sweat trickled down her strained features but she warned herself not to stop until it was all over.

Quickly, the numbers on the field were only left with her fellow warriors while their enemies were trapped in the gust of wind. Shouts of fear could be heard from the rising gust. What futile struggles they made. Eyeing the swirling cloud of dust and swords, Ifiel started to make a continuous circle with her sword. The gentle swirl started to grow stronger into a ferocious pull.

The wind was no longer a gentle beast but instead like an enraged wolf that continued to tear at the footmen that were caught within. Screams of pain and begs for mercy could be heard but started to die off. Soon, the brown cloud started to have streaks of crimson that spread like hellfire; causing the cloud to turn bright red. It was enough.

Ifiel rested her sword arm and the wind started to dissipate. Lifeless bodies dropped to the ground along with their weapons. Blood was one thing that was obvious everywhere for it rained on the bodies; drenching the armour and their steel with crimson red. What dropped and shook the ground was the thing that worried all of them. While the victorious cheers died, more eyes were fixated on the badly beaten rock structure that was stained red.

The structure crumbled, revealing a body that stood strongly. No damage was done. Ifiel stared wide eyed. There was no time to be shocked or afraid. Swiftly, she turned to face her comrades and shouted," My brave warriors return back to camp and await for my return."

None of them moved.

"Go!"

The command echoed through the woods and her men scampered towards the vegetation. She guessed that it was now only her and that guy. Even Benieth would have retreated. Would she even win against such a beast? No, that thought. Was she afraid?

"Oh, little girl," the muscular man mused, "Are you going to wet your pants?"

Jerk. That word shot through Ifiel's mind. She broke into a sprint as she lashed her sword at her target. Thin blades of wind sliced through the air but the man just used one of his axe to deflect the attacks. He made it look to easy. Something was off. Immediately, she stopped her sprint and took a quick step back. Huge chunk of earth jolted out from the ground underneath her. Followed by spikes that trailed her movement.

Gracefully, she leapt about as she cut the sharp rocks with her blade. She had to get close. That thought burned into her mind as she started to meander slowly towards the man. Fiercely, she held on to the blade with both arms and dragged it downwards. Wind started to circulate around the sword and extended the blades reach massively. Its length shot far beyond the man and sliced down smoothly at him.

With both of his axe, the man crossed his blade and  held the blade of wind; preventing it from slicing his head into two.  As Ifiel descended from her fall, she pushed herself forward with a gust of wind. As she accelerated towards the man, she detached her blade from the sharp wind. Within close enough range, she plunged her blade at the man's abdomen.

A heavy force slammed down on the back of her neck. Her body fell to the ground with a huge crash. The sound of metal colliding rang in the air; her blade was seen sent in the air before embedding itself in the ground. Ifiel felt her consciousness seeping away. Was it over? She could hear the man's footsteps getting closer. Oh, how much she wished to hear Benieth's and K's voice once more. There she closed her eyes and was prepared for a long sleep. 

Reviews

[Skai Rain]

This is just the kind of story I love. Good job. Keep it up!