Below the Peak (Sola)(116)

Seeing the trust and faith she had in him in her expressive eyes terrified him. Calemir only looked at her in return.

***

Something is wrong. Nara thought, eyes narrowing. An eerie sensation prickled her skin. She studied the high rolling hills around them. They had crossed the border, and they were now in Kalil, and they were yet to spot a single Kali. The towns they had passed so far were deserted, only encounter they had so far were animals. If the Kalil army had a leg up on them on marching, then they should have encountered them already.

“This doesn’t feel right” she muttered under breath. “No, it doesn’t” Calemir agreed, looking ahead.

“It smells like death” Tarron added ominously. Nara glanced at him. She was torn with his presence and uncertain of his intentions. Was he there to aid her people or the opposite? Perhaps it didn’t matter to him whoever was going to die as long it was humans. Her blood chilled when he looked at her for a little second before looking forward. When the elves arrived, Nara had moved up the lines almost to the very front. She was on the third line, a line behind the king, General Tatu and other commanders and soldiers. Her curiosity of the whereabouts of the Kalil army was answered when they descended a tall hill. Across the vast dried field, General Schmerz and his army awaited. Nara tensed, her whole face turning grim.

A wind of darkness rolled over the army of Murisa. The cerulean dressed soldiers both on foot and horse drew their weapons.

General Schmerz rose his sword high and shouted a battle cry. “Attack!”



The War

Hooves pounded in an earthquake manner against the dusty field as the two armies charged toward each other. Nara gripped her unsheathed sword tightly in one hand whilst she controlled her steed with the other hand. Wind flapped on her face as she urged onward, fierce brown eyes narrowed at the bodies in black armour.

“Shield!” General Tatu ordered as arrows flew high in the grey sky. The front line huddled together and rose their shields high, creating a barrier as several others flanked the king to do the same. A rain of sharp arrows rained down on them, hitting hard on the shields, a few slipping in through the tiny cracks of the barrier and getting their targets. Nara remained at the center as the army broke into a wedge formation. The left and the right wing of the Murisa army returned their foe a favor by hailing arrows upon them as they pursued. The phalanx in tightly knit form pointed their spears ahead. The Kalil warriors withstood their straight-line position even as other men fell to the ground dead from the counterattack.

Almost there General Schmerz clenched his jaw hard, urging his horse to go faster. Heartbeat racing as the steed, sweat beaded on his forehead. Sinewy of hard muscles stretched and bunched under his heavy armour as an intense, powerful sensation glided over his bone. It was the same feeling he had felt when he had performed the disgusting ritual Dagny had conducted. He felt stronger than ever. Schmerz wielded the massive heavy sword with ease in his hand, his whole face turning harsh with unbend determination. Elves or not, he was going to obliterate Murisa. Growling in the likeness of an angry wolf, he swung the blade through the enemy line, chopping several heads.

***

Nara swung her sword as the two armies collided with force and lethal weapons. The phalanx at the front speared the Kali warriors as if they were game for roasting over a camp fire. She wielded the sword in her hand and swung it left and right, stabbing Kali soldiers. She was nervous, but she kept a calm head. Instincts of survival and hunger for winning the war had her fighting fiercely. Breath hitching, Nara leaned back almost flat on the horse when an opponent thrust a sword toward her. The sudden dodging move and her steed’s movement had her body rocking in an awkward rhythm. She let go of the reins and leaped to the ground with a grunt when the attacker advanced on her again. The foe’s sword sliced her steed’s saddle. The horse whined and bolted.

Eyes smarting, she sprung behind the opponent and plunged her sword into his neck. Pushing the body aside, she took hold of the reins and redirected the horse. From the peripheral sight, she caught glimpses of elves fighting. Although the great beings had grace like features and aura, they fought brutally. They moved with frightening speed and attacked with terrifying skills and tactics upon their opponents, drenching their weapons with the blood of the foe.

***

The sky above resembled the ongoing war below, angry grey clouds fought against blue clouds viciously. The blue clouds appearing to swallow the grey clouds…or so it seemed.

Calemir spun on his feet and sliced off two heads with his sword. He was deep in the enemy’s heart, almost surrounded completely by them except for his brother who fought alongside him. Calemir had decided to fight on the ground rather than on his steed. Thus he had swiftly hopped down. Foot on the field, he moved more freely, with slick attacks and counter attacks as oil. The Kali men were almost no match for him, striking them with precise and deadly blows. Being in the thick of the battle caused memories hundreds of years old to claw at the edges of his mind.

“Just like old times huh” Tarron shouted several feet away.

Calemir glanced at him briefly. Tarron flashed him a grin before spearing someone. Unlike him with a sword, his older brother choice of weapon was a two-headed spear. An old time favorite weapon of his. Calemir didn’t respond. Instead, he continued to wound his opponents. He could feel the tides of the war were in their favor. But that was not the case, within a blink of an eye, the tides began to change. As if the Kali warriors had been feigning weakness to fool them, they began to fight with astounding vigor, bellowing howl like cries. A blinding fury emitted from the Kali warriors as they fought back and tore through Muri warriors. An angry black armored man zeroed on Calemir. Calemir trained his keen eyes on the man, brows knitting as he observed him. Beneath the helmet, the man’s face was swelled, teeth gnashing like an animal.