Chapter 283: TLOC (30)

The sun began to set, and to everyone's surprise, the front gate opened.

"The front gate is open! Charge!" Eric screamed and the remaining 1,000 forces charged in through the front gate.

The soldiers charged in, Eric on horseback leading the way, slicing through the humans while stampeding over others to clear a path and break their formation.

Sora noticed Stefania struggling, alone, defending as best she could with the shield.

"You got my back sis?"

"Always."

Sora charged toward Stefania and allowed the humans to shoot arrows at him. When he was nearly 30 feet to Stefania, a human had sliced Blaze's front legs, sending Sora flying through the air.

Stefania quickly rushed over and picked Sora up, threw him on the back of Belladeon and could hear him crying.

They watched as the humans stabbed the horse through the chest, and all life left the horse's eyes.

"Blaze, no! You were such a good horse. You will not die in vain my friend, please be at peace," Sora said while weeping.

Stefania took off on Belladeon.

"I'm so, so sorry about your horse Sora. Let's make sure we win this battle and bury him ok?"

"That sounds nice. Thank you. Stop right here, I'm going to clear a path for you."

Sora jumped off the horse and with his left eye illuminating, he screamed, "BLACK WINDS HOWL," and a giant burst of yellow and black energy came out more quickly than it ever had.

It sliced up nearly 300 humans, and Sora managed to steer it away from the elves.

"That was impressive Sora, we've almost won, let's get to Jax and company and formulate a plan to end this!"

Tears still flowing from his eyes, he nodded and hopped on with Belladeon, holding Stefania tightly. Not because he had to, because he wanted to. Her warmth made the pain more bearable.

Stefania rode full speed ahead, using her shield for cover and turned to kiss Sora on the forehead.

"This will be over soon," Stefania said, as the moon now stood in the center of the sky, covering the foggy battlefield in darkness.

The sun began to set, and to everyone's surprise, the front gate opened.

"The front gate is open! Charge!" Eric screamed and the remaining 1,000 forces charged in through the front gate.

The soldiers charged in, Eric on horseback leading the way, slicing through the humans while stampeding over others to clear a path and break their formation.

Sora noticed Stefania struggling, alone, defending as best she could with the shield.

"You got my back sis?"

"Always."

Sora charged toward Stefania and allowed the humans to shoot arrows at him. When he was nearly 30 feet to Stefania, a human had sliced Blaze's front legs, sending Sora flying through the air.

Stefania quickly rushed over and picked Sora up, threw him on the back of Belladeon and could hear him crying.

They watched as the humans stabbed the horse through the chest, and all life left the horse's eyes.

"Blaze, no! You were such a good horse. You will not die in vain my friend, please be at peace," Sora said while weeping.

Stefania took off on Belladeon.

"I'm so, so sorry about your horse Sora. Let's make sure we win this battle and bury him ok?"

"That sounds nice. Thank you. Stop right here, I'm going to clear a path for you."

Sora jumped off the horse and with his left eye illuminating, he screamed, "BLACK WINDS HOWL," and a giant burst of yellow and black energy came out more quickly than it ever had.

It sliced up nearly 300 humans, and Sora managed to steer it away from the elves.

"That was impressive Sora, we've almost won, let's get to Jax and company and formulate a plan to end this!"

Tears still flowing from his eyes, he nodded and hopped on with Belladeon, holding Stefania tightly. Not because he had to, because he wanted to. Her warmth made the pain more bearable.

Stefania rode full speed ahead, using her shield for cover and turned to kiss Sora on the forehead.

"This will be over soon," Stefania said, as the moon now stood in the center of the sky, covering the foggy battlefield in darkness.

Away from the battlefield, the human Commander and his men arrived at King Charles Kingdom [SilverCrest] around midnight.

The Commander sent his men to the medical bay, dismounted his horse, tied the horse outside the castle and approached the castle's doors.

"Command Igor, what brings you here at this time of night?"

"Wake the King. The elves attacked our Kingdom and will likely take it over."

"You're kidding?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?! Let me meet the King, now!" Igor shouted.

The guards opened the castle door and one of the guards rushed to the Kings quarters.

The two guards standing outside received the message and woke King Charles.

"So they've finally made a move. Interesting. Why now, of all times?" the King thought.

The King calmly made his way to a small meeting room, where the other guard directed Igor.

"Apologies, your Majesty. Our Kingdom will fall by morning. The elves launched an unexpected strike from underground, around 4 am yesterday. Fortunately, we minimized the initial damage and the hollow wall on the west side worked wonders. We slayed over 1,000 elves with ease. We also managed to take out over half their forces. I'd say around 8000 elves died in battle."

"What brings you here, rather than accompanying your men on the battlefield?"

"A war is not lost in one battle. Even if the battle is lost, information must be shared and if no one got out alive, we couldn't make plans for a quick counterattack," Igor stated.

"My guards tell me 500 men marched with you. Do you see them as capable in a battle for a Kingdom?"

"These are my best men. I see no reason to lose them in a losing battle. Instead, we regroup, send notice to the Emperor and squash them."

"You've much to learn, Igor. Perhaps if you and the 500 men stayed, and you gave a scout your horse to get the message here, the battle may have ended in our favor."

"Apologies, your majesty. I put the Empire before my individual Kingdom."

"Which is exactly why you will be leading an army of 20,000 back in two days time."

"As you wish, your majesty."

The King walked back to his chamber, wrote a letter and handed it to a raven.

"Take this to the empire my friend," the King stated.

"Everything ok, what has my husband awake at this hour?" the Queen asked.

"Commander Igor's kingdom will fall by morning. It's no worry, he will lead an army double the size back in two days time."

Giving a kiss on the Queen's forehead, the King said, "I love you, rest up."

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With the elves' keen eyesight, they made quick work of the remaining humans, using the dark and fog to their advantage.

Sora found Blaze, closed his eyes, and kneeled, crying again.

"Thank you my friend. For protecting me and being such a good horse. Rest in peace with the god of Nature. I'm sure Eden will look after your kind soul." Sora said as he closed the horse's eyes.

Stefania teared up, Mina gave her brother a hug and offered to help carry him to bury him.

The two of them carried the horse outside of the castle, Stefania used her magic to create a grave and tombstone.

Sora stood up, and Stefania hugged him, looking him deep in the eyes.

"Without you and your sister and your noble horses, we may not have won this battle."

"We couldn't have done it without all the elven contributions, including the thousands of elven lives lost."

"Don't beat yourself up brother, we did everything we could. We planned, prepared and improvised. We are going to have to use the barrier of Justice Themis gave us because the humans escaped."

"Let's escort all the remaining elves to the underground network. We should also close up the area to the North, around five miles North. They certainly reported we attacked from underground," Stefania said.

The three of them walked, cloaks full of crimson stains, yet not a single blood mark or stain blemished their pristine, gifted armor.

They gathered the remaining elves, beaten and bruised. They asked if any of them wanted to say anything to the fallen elves, and a younger elf stepped forward, with a somber face.

"Thank you to all of the fallen warriors who allowed us to reclaim the land and Kingdom I once called home. May your souls rest with Eden," the young elf spoke.

"HOO-RAH, HOO-RAH, HOO-HOO!"

Everyone chanted the elven battle cry, including Mina and Sora.

Sora then spoke.

"I apologize for the number of elves we lost today, but I bring great news. When my sister and I met Themis, she left us with gifts to balance the war. One gift, known as the barrier of justice, will protect MeadowSong for three months when placed. An invisible barrier will surround the Kingdom, including underground, and any enemy who steps through it will disintegrate to ash!"

"HOO-RAH, HOO-RAH, HOO-HOO. FOR THE FANG FAMILY!"