By the Red Moon Part 36
Hundreds of archers and soldiers were lining the top of the water walls protecting Pisces. And by the massive, closed doors to the three wide bridges leading from the mainland, thousands were prepared with their steeds and weapons to defend the kingdom within.
Perched atop the wall with Deathscythe over the center door of the realm, Duo squinted his eyes to see better through the downpour of rain beyond the clear shield. "What are they doing now?" he asked softly. Leaning forward in his own saddle, Heero peered forward to see the same dark shape walking up the flat bridge.
"A messenger," Odin frowned deeply. Along with the many around him, he watched the heavily armored ogre come to a stop only a couple hundred feet away from the doors. Raising his head, his red eyes scanned the crowd of soldiers.
Eyes narrowed, the archers hooked arrows to their bows and pulled back to fire.
Atop Ingier, the helmet on Anna's head glistened when a flash of lightning jumped from cloud to cloud above. Drawing back on her own bow, she told the others, "Steady. Wait for the order to fire." She never even flinched when Nataku and Heavy Arms flew up to land at either side of her, taking up the last bit of space available.
Opening his arms, the gruesome monster stood in defiance of the arrows aimed for him and shouted, "Humans, I come with a chance for you all to spare your lives! Give Prince Duo over to us and you will all be spared!" Raising a hand, he pointed to the rider of the black dragon near the back of the army in sight and bellowed, "He is all that we want!"
Duo's eyes widened with a gasp as every eye around fell on him. Instantly, Wing and Heero pressed as close to him as they could protectively. Scythe's eyes turned white as her head fell back with a piercing screech.
"Fail to hand the prince of Sanq over and you will all surely perish this day!" the messenger yelled, his voice rumbling deeply in his chest. "Save yourselves while you still have the opportunity!"
Armored and gripping the hilt of his family sword, King Septum swallowed roughly and turned his gaze to his braided friend. His eyes filled with profound sadness, his stomach fell out in knowing that he was the one to put him in this terrible position.
Whatever promises were being offered, their word was worthless and everyone around was more than aware of that. Otherwise, someone would have spoken up. And it was for more than simply not giving Dekim Barton what he wanted. It was about protecting the person who they had all come to respect and care for.
Taking a deep breath, the leader of Pisces looked up to Odin seated on Peacemillion's back. "Let us not keep them waiting on our answer to their offer. That would be awfully rude of us," he smirked. Hearing those words, Duo swallowed roughly and began to breath heavier.
A smirk tugging the corner of his mouth, the Commander continued to stare at the messenger and called, "Anna, would you please be good enough to pass that word along?"
The red-headed archer grinned darkly but kept still as a statue otherwise. Her arrow focused on her mark, she replied, "With pleasure, sir." Closing her left blue eye, she sent the jagged metal-tipped arrow away.
Easily breaking through the bubble dome, it shot downward with such speed that it sang through the air before it sank into the thick neck of the ogre with a thunk. Not even having time to widen his red eyes in reaction, he was dead as he fell back like a rag doll to crash against the brick bridge.
Stunned, the dark army watching stood with their wide eyes looking on their first casualty. The Pisces army was equally as shocked and silent.
Anna smirked to her fellow archers, "See what I mean about their necks being a weak spot?" The men who had not known the female knight, or her skill, before then nodded slowly. Wufei chuckled deeply beside her with a light nudge in her side to silently praise her shot.
Eyes narrowing, the ogres and other monstrosities raised their weapons overhead with a deafening cry.
Many of the Pisces soldiers began to shake, but held their ground alongside the woodland troops. Those with dragons gripped their handholds tightly and wrapped their free fingers around the hilts of their swords, spears and other weaponry. Their steeds growled fiercely and vibrated in anticipation of the fight to come.
Odin looked to his right and cried, "Gifted!"
Quickly, a pair of twins, a blond young man and a blond young woman, moved to the front of the line to step onto the high ledge of the wall.
Raising their glowing hands overhead, they each produced a giant ball of light that grew larger than they were. Once they gained enough power, they hurled their spheres at the bridges to the left and to the right.
In a massive explosion, the passage ways erupted in a hail of brick and clay where they were impacted at their centers. When the dust and glowing embers faded, each bridge had a mile-long gap that had eroded away into the ocean to leave the main channel the only one in tact.
Septum swallowed roughly at the sight. While the plan was his own, it was still a difficult thing to see a part of his homeland already destroyed. They needed to make the points of entry limited while still keeping at least one way out for their own forces. And only having one bridge would severely hamper the ground troops who would only be able to cross so many at a time.
Raising his sword, the dark army's Commander looked back and yelled in a gurgling voice, "Bring down the walls and the dome! Spare no one but the prince for Lord Dekim!" Chanting and cheering, the hoard moved forward to run across the three-mile long bridge while their demon riders took to the skies.
Their trebuchets were loaded and unleashed. At the sight of the giant rock hurling directly at them, Duo ducked with a sharp cry along with the others around him. The dome did its part to deflect the boulder only to have a second and third come crashing against it.
Meanwhile, the archers sent off a rain hail of arrows down to those soldiers approaching the castle. Loading and reloading as quickly as they could, they hit their marks, but still the forces were coming until finally, several of their enemies crashed into the closed grand door. The walls of water trembled against the violent jolt.
Feeling himself panting from panic as he stared in terror at the seemingly endless sea of beasts, Duo was caught completely off guard when a hand cupped the side of his face to turn it to his side. When Heero pressed their lips together in a heated kiss, it only took a heartbeat for him to recover enough to return the gesture, his wide eyes drifting closed.
The Captain pulled back and pressed their foreheads together, locking their gazes as he urged, "Do whatever you can to stay close to me and Wing. Trust Scythe. Never stop looking over your shoulder. And whatever you do, try to not slow down. Just keep cutting and dodging."
Biting his lip, Maxwell did his best to not let his absolute fear show. Gently brushing his cheek with the pad of his thumb, Heero whispered reverently, "I love you. The most important lesson is to not forget that, whatever happens."
It took every ounce of willpower that the prince had to fight the threat of tears when his eyes began to sting. "Love you, too," he whispered brokenly. "No matter what happens."
They were going to die. That was what was going to happen. And this was going to be their final farewell. Impossible as that seemed when they had only just begun to grow in their relationship, that was what Duo had to come to grips with.
Glancing ahead to the line of his friends at the front of the wall, he watched Wufei and Anna. They had just started to prepare for the wedding that they had dreamed of only to have the moment ripped away from them. Now all that they had to look forward to was what would most likely be a bloody and excruciating death after years of narrowly avoiding the same while defending those who could not defend themselves.
Then there was Trowa. Working against both his uncle and former lover, the First Scout had shown nothing but a fierce devotion to doing what was right. A person of that kind of valor did not deserve to be destroyed by what he was fighting against. Still, he never balked when he was needed here and now to fight to the death like a true soldier.
Duo thought of Zechs, who even as a king remained a steadfast warrior. He thought of his aunt and cousin working to calm the hundreds of innocents hidden in the caves. Though he had time to spend with them, it was still by no means enough. Not when he just realized the sense of family that he had longed for.
A grim realization washed over the braided prince that it was terribly likely all of those souls in the caverns were going to be discovered and run down... if they were fortunate enough to have their attackers end it quickly for them. Not all of them would be so fortunate. Unarmed civilians were easy to rape and torture, things that Dekim's men had proven they were not above.
Odin. Lady Une. Queen Sylvia. Mueller. King Septum and Queen Maralee. Sally. Those remaining few knights-in-training from Sanq whom Duo had had the honor of meeting and befriending since joining the army. Not a one of their souls was going to be spared this day.
What was more, the end of this army meant the last chance for this world to survive the threat of Dekim Barton's claim over it alongside the Keeper. Never again would there be another challenge against him like the one that they were beginning to pose. What lands remained would be picked off slowly and surely with their citizens wiped from the face of this realm.
It just was not fair. Though life was normally not always fair, this was incredibly cruel, frustrating and unbelievable. And there was nothing that could be done to change it.
To his surprise, Duo was slowly becoming less depressed about their situation. Instead, he could feel his anger rising over how helpless their cause was. And that anger was slowly building into a rage that he had never felt before.
* * * * * *
Down in the crystal caverns, the muffled sounds of the collisions to the shield reached the hundreds of civilians that had taken shelter there. Sniffling, children clung to their tearful mothers as they stared up to the crystallized ceilings of the multi-colored spaces.
For some, their fears were relieved when a certain blond gifted walked past them. "There are so many here that I can only keep so many calm at a time," Quatre whispered to his wife as they moved through the corridors. Sand Rock, still damp from his entrance through the lake, crouched down low as he followed.
Another boom that was anything but thunder burst through the air, making Relena jump. Placing her hand over her racing heart, she looked up and frowned deeply, "Dear Creator, I hope that dome holds up long enough for them to make some impact against Dekim's men."
Quatre bit his lip and nodded. Wrapping his arm around the small of her back, he gently urged her on with him to continue their rounds.
Far from their presence, Queen Sylvia smiled sadly to the little ones that were crying in the deep blue cavern that they shared. Taking a deep breath, she quietly began to sing one of the more popular light songs that every homeland knew. Sally peered up and grinned at the young royal as she came in to harmonize with her.
Little by little, more voices joined and the hymn continued through the caverns.
Joining hands where they sat together in a scarlet-colored space, Queen Noin and Princess Hilde sang along when the voices carried to their crowded room. Lady Une and Queen Maralee smiled bravely through her fears in the gold-hued cave where they and their neighbors took up.
His head snapping up and turning to the sounds of the song traveling towards them, Quatre smiled widely . Extending his gift, he could feel a natural ease falling over those singing whom he had yet to reach.
"Well, that is certainly a big help," he sighed in relief just before jumping at the sound of another muffled crash above.
In spite of the tremors, the song continued to spread as more chorused in.
* * * * * *
At the ground level, Mueller and the soldiers behind the barricaded main door were working as best they could to block it with everything that they could get a hold of. On the other side, the dark troops managed to get a long battering ram that they had taken shelter under to take running starts at ramming the blockade.
Watching the pile of wood and metal shards that trembled with every hit, the Commander removed his sword when a crack formed in the door. "Prepare yourselves, men," he yelled over the noise of the crying, growling force. "They are coming through." Bright ringing of metal rose up as hundreds of swords were drawn.
Over the heads of the army, the dome was starting to show early signs of weakening. As boulders continued to rain down, they were actually denting in the bubble a bit before they were bounced back off. The beams being shot from the hands of the scores of ghost riders only added to the instability of the bubble.
"We are not going to have the shield for much longer," Trowa warned as he stared up.
"Right," Odin nodded firmly. His sword in his raised hand, the Commander looked over and back to the lines of dragons that continued to shake in wanting to prove themselves. "Riders, prepare to fly!" The swish and ringing of metal filled the air once again as the knights adjusted their helmets and armor.
As Anna reluctantly stopped firing to save as many arrows as she could for the next round of fighting, Wufei took the opportunity to take her hand and pull her towards him for a deep kiss. Taking full advantage of the moment, she responded in kind.
When they pulled away for air, the swordsman breathed, "I will see you on the other side, Anna. May the good spirits watch you, love."
Nodding, the archer took a deep breath. This was not the time for tears, as they had both known that this day would eventually come. And they were going to meet it fighting until the end, as they had always wanted as knights. They may not have been able to have their wedding, but they were already married as far as either of them were concerned.
Her mouth curling in a sad smile, Anna replied softly, "You as well, husband-mine. I will be waiting for you. And it really has been a pleasure, Wufei." Swallowing roughly, the other knight grinned back and leaned in for one last, sound kiss in appreciation.
Straightening in their saddles, they looked ahead to the masses that continued to pour over the bridge in spite of the onslaught befalling them from the archers and gifted. "Do not let them take you quietly," Wufei said without looking over.
"Don't worry, you know that I'm a screamer. As for you, I will personally kick your ass in the next world if you do not take out at least ten of these bastards." It was one last coy remark before the chaos began.
Another couple of boulders crashed and were hardly deflected off of the weakening, bending shield. Finally, a third broke completely through to tumble into the courtyard and crushed almost a dozen screaming men who could not move away in time. As the bubble fell completely apart in water particles, so came in the pouring rain.
The cold, heavy droplets came as enough of a shock to Duo's system that he gasped while the loud patter of the rain bouncing off his helmet filled his ears. Within seconds, he was dripping wet along with everyone else around.
The swarm of ghost riders and their beasts howled as they fell into a swift descent.
Eyes narrowed, Odin screamed, "Fly!" Instantly, all of the steeds reeled their heads back and let out shrill shrieks before they climbed high into the air. As one of the first to take off, Peacemillion released a beam of flame that cleared a path for her and the Commander as he slashed at their closest challengers.
Wing was followed closely by Scythe as they plowed another path. Gripping his sword, Heero managed to take on the first rider that came close. His white dragon was having a bit of his own game fighting with both flame and his talons against the skeletal steeds.
Duo managed to dodge a sailing beam that had been fired at him. Quickly regaining his balance in his saddle, he plunged the deep curve of his blade through the torso of the robed rider that had struck at him.
A piercing wail that sounded like an animal broke from the demon as it disappeared. Scythe made quick work of the dragon by crushing it with a hard swing of her tail.
Everywhere he looked, the prince only saw more and more dark troops moving in. Already, the ground forces were utilizing ladders to scale the walls of water. Others risked the swim to the damaged bridges to take their strike on two less guarded doors.
They were going to break in. There was absolutely no question with their numbers and strength. When they did, the army would be completely devoured and those citizens in hiding would be next.
Growling deeply to himself, Duo focused back on the riders that were closing in.
...And that rage inside of him continued to grow.
* * * * * *
From the highest balcony of his palace, Dekim stared east to the brighter skies beyond the gloom of his control. His skin tingling from his excitement in learning of the battle taking place in Pisces, he smirked to himself.
It would not be long now before everything that he could possibly want would be in his grasp. Very soon, he would be as powerful as the Keeper himself.
What a glorious day that was going to be.
TBC...
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