By the Red Moon Part 37
The pouring rain and flashing lightning continued on as the great fight to defend Pisces continued. Soldiers by the scores were falling on either side, however Dekim's men still greatly outnumbered the humans.
Wufei sent Nataku through the skies to take the fight to the bridge. Taking a deep breath, his green dragon unleashed a wave of flames onto the ogres as he slashed those close enough during their spinning flight maneuver. About a dozen others followed the swordsman's lead to try and alleviate the strain on the doors to the kingdom.
"Here they come!" Mueller cried as several axes chopped away at the main door. Once the frame was weakened, the monsters on the other side took op their battering ram again to make a long running start.
Just as the main door fell and its barricade was knocked away, Trowa and Heavy Arms were amongst those that had soared into the courtyard to assist the ground troops. Twin blades in hand, the scout cut into arms, necks and whatever else he could reach as his red-and-gold steed used both flame and talons to tear away at the stampeding force.
The Virgonian army Commander charged in as one of the first humans to meet the struggle. Not hesitating for a moment, Mueller used his long blade to reel off any attempts on his own life to return the favor with speed and grace as his fellow soldiers moved in to fight and fall around him.
Close by, Zechs grunted in the effort of stabbing upward into the thick neck of a challenger only to have to turn and block another strike. Every blow and obstruction resonated deeply in his bones from the sheer and overwhelming power of the giants that were challenging him.
Along with several gifted that stayed ground level to offer their help, Catherine glared as flames poured out from her hands at the beasts moving into the kingdom. For as far as she could see, gifts ranging from homing the lightning as a weapon to quakes in the ground to shake the enemy off balance were being used.
High overhead, the battle for the skies raged on. Ingier lowered his neck to plow with his round shield head-on with three oncoming skeletal dragons and their ghost riders to shatter them. All the while, Anna continuously fired upon others with her arrows at the same time ducking response beams fired on her.
Staying as close as they could, Wing led Scythe through the pounding rain to where the less fortified doors were under attack. The white steed released a deep growl before setting those ogres on the ladders aflame.
Right behind him, the black dragon took a more direct approach to spin and whip her massive tail into the beasts that went untouched. She hit with such force that the screaming soldiers she hit were crushed as they were launched into the ocean.
When they were finished clearing what was left of the right bridge, Heero slapped the side of his steed's side and shouted over the noise of the battle, "Now the other one, Wing!"
Duo gripped his handhold tight as he and Scythe followed after the soaring team. As they crossed over the main bridge, the knight and prince had to avoid being hit by arrows shot up from below as well as shots made from the ghost riders that met them in the air.
Tired as his arms were becoming already, the prince did his best to work past it as he swung at the dark-robed demons. Heero had told him how important it was for him to not tire. Whatever it took, Duo was going to keep swinging and dodging for as long as he could. Before him, he mimicked the Captain's fluid movements as he turned within his saddle.
Finally, they reached the far left bridge and their dragons swooped down to work at clearing that half-mile stretch. Peering over his shoulder and past the main bridge while Wing torched the ogres that had come very close to scaling the water walls, Heero noted that the right bridge was quickly refilling with more dark soldiers.
Cobalt eyes narrowing, he muttered to himself, "They just keep coming." Focusing his attention ahead again, the knight managed to lower his head just before a launched spiked ball removed it from his neck. The knuckles of his hand gripping his sword whitened in strain as he resumed his assault.
Odin was torn between both fighting and calling out orders to the men. Bringing Peacemillion back to the walls, the Commander sat up in his seat and yelled to the bowmen, "Prepare to engage in hand-to-hand combat! They have their own climbing up from within! Those who can spare it, continue to fire down on of the bridge while the others give cover!"
The warning came just in time as the troops turned in time to watch a handful of hissing ogres make their way to the top of the steps. Red eyes shining, they were surprised to find that their immediate targets were armed and ready for them. That still did little to slow the creatures as when one fell, there was another right behind them to take their place.
All around, Duo heard the wails and screams of both human and dragon as they were cut down. He watched during his constant struggle as men were run through, the ogres penetrating their chain mail as if it was made of paper. Blood shot up in the air. Limbs and heads were detached from their bodies. Great steeds collapsed into the ocean along with their riders, never to resurface.
Panting from the effort of his struggle and the building panic, it took everything in the braided teenager to not fall into despair at the sights and sounds flooding him. His own life counted on him keeping his head focused on the task at hand. He could not allow himself to think of those fallen or the fact that they had loved ones somewhere who had hoped to see them alive again one day.
That thought alone had Duo's blood boiling enough that he was able to press on.
* * * * * *
At the main bridge, Wufei took a big risk in bringing Nataku close to the thick of the hoard that was about to enter through the damaged door. The risk of plowing through the mass cost him in the form of an ogre managing to jump atop his saddle by the time he broke through the other side.
Smiling through the dripping slime on his face, the monster swung the serrated-edged axe down. His wide eyes quickly narrowing, the knight raised his blade up quickly enough to deflect the blow. Their skirmish continued and a few marks were landed on both halves.
Frustrated when a few mid-air twists failed to knock their attacker off, Nataku moved for a sharp turn straight up for several miles before turned for a hard nosedive. Still able to hold on, the ogre swung with one arm as the other clutched around the end of the saddle. Gurgling out a laugh, he broke through the blocks to slice across Wufei's left shoulder, sending blood flying and shredding away that half of his harness.
The swordsman cried out on pain, but quickly recovered just in time to notice that the ocean was feet away. Lowering himself against his saddle, he closed his eyes tightly right before Nataku turned upside down to skim the surface. At the force of the water at his back, the ogre cried out and lost his grip to spiral off into the sea.
Pulling in sharp gasps of air as his steed turned herself uptight again, a dampened Wufei smiled widely and pat her scales with a sighed, "Good girl." A jolt of pain shot through his left arm and he examined the exposed, bleeding gash in his shoulder.
Since there was simply no way that he could stop for medical attention, what was left of that sleeve was torn off and turned into a wrap that was tightly pulled around the wound. Hanging onto his sword as he and Nataku spun to go another round, Wufei silently thanked the good spirits that it was not his right shoulder that had been struck.
* * * * * *
After a good run at the ghost riders up high enough that the air was beginning to thin, Anna was making herself more and more a target until enough of the skeletal demons banded together to simply overwhelm her and Ingier. Resorting to both her bow and simple sword for closer fighting, the archer screamed in pain when a beam tore all the way across her back in an upward diagonal.
That was enough to render her harness useless and she was pitched from her saddle by the sharp smack of a tail of bone across her side. As she fell screaming, Ingier found the riders and their steeds closing in to hold him back. Seeing and hearing his human fall, the blue-purple went mad and let out a wild roar.
With no concern for his own safety, the steed shot downward after Anna. Taking a few hits but not feeling any of them, Ingier released all of the fire that he had in his lungs to clear a path for himself.
Eyes wide as she continued to descend, the archer held onto her bow tightly and gasped in shock as the city was quickly coming up. She could make out Dekim's men pouring into the streets to begin taking out the few civilians that had not made it to the caves in time. No one in sight was spared despite their cries and pleas before they were run through.
Then the tops of the trees were close enough that she could count the leaves on them.
Just then, Ingier flew past Anna and rounded back up to catch her in his saddle. Holding onto the edge tightly, she pulled herself back to sit upright during their steep ascent. A wide smile on her face, she laughed, "Oh, I love you, you crazy lizard!" Looking over his sides and back, she gasped at their sight of the burn marks in his scales.
In a rare moment of actually tearing up, the archer tore her gaze away at the evidence of the danger that Ingier had put himself through to save her. Turning that concern and sadness into rage, she reloaded her bow and fired on the ghost riders when they came back into range.
* * * * * *
"Heavy Arms!" Trowa shouted when his steed reeled her head back with a pained wail. Her right side took the full hit of a dragon spear that had been fired from one of the tools that had been brought within Pisces' walls. And she did all that she could to crash on the ground in such a way that it would not harm her rider.
Shaken violently within his saddle at the impact, the Scout hung on as Heavy Arms slid for several feet along the gravel and grass on her uninjured side. Gasping to catch his breath, he scrambled to sheathe his blades and release himself from his harness when they came to a stop and jumped down to inspect the damage since everyone around had run to avoid being crushed by them.
His skin paling, Trowa breathed, "Dear spirits, no." The whole of the jagged metal end was buried within the red scales of his dragon's torso as its shaft rose up from its point of entry. Blood ran from the wound and there was no way of telling how deep the weapon had embedded itself.
Running to Heavy Arms' head, the First Scout's heart ached when her pained black eyes turned to him and she led out a high-pitched whimper. Eyes stinging, Trowa placed a hand on the end of her nose and whispered, "Just hang in their, girl. It's my turn to look after you now."
That said, he removed his blades from their sheathes and spun when a pack of yelling ogres ran for him. Spinning and cutting, the knight fought back while Heavy Arms continued to use what strength she had to rain fire down on their attackers even in her prone state.
* * * * * *
King Septum shouted in victory in taking out a couple of towering beasts that had charged him. And that victory was short lived when he was struck hard in the back and knocked to the ground. Completely knocked from his senses and his body aching from the blow, he struggled to push himself up,
Only able to raise his head, the king's eyes widened with a start at the sight of the ogre standing over him with a club. Chuckling, the red-eyed creature lifted the weapon with both hands over his head. With a cry, Septum's eyes squeezed closed in preparation for the end.
However, the sound of metal ringing quickly followed by a sickening thunk had him looking back up just in time to see Zechs revealed as his would-be-killer fell dead.
Letting out a relieved puff of air, Septum accepted the offered hand from his fellow royal to get back to his feet with a very sincere, "Thank you."
The tall blond smirked and nodded firmly in response, "Of course." Looking over his shoulder, he froze in shock at witnessing dark troops storming up the palace walls in the distance.
"Spirits," Septum breathed in disbelief beside his friend, wiping away the rain from his brow. "They have already taken the castle. At this rate, it won't be long before they find the tunnels to the caves."
Knees buckling, Zechs all but whispered, "And if they look hard enough, they will find the tunnels leading down to the caves." He left out what would come next if that were to ever happen.
It needed no mention... It was too horrific to even think.
* * * * * *
Gripping the bars of his cell, Orsloiv listened to the hoots and hollers of what could only belong to the beasts of Dekim's army. Heart racing in anticipation, he snickered deeply and waited for them to arrive. The wait was not long before the few guards that had stayed behind in the castle screamed and gurgled their last breaths.
One-by-one, the prisons down the stretch were opened with screeching metal being pulled from its hinges with brute strength. The weeping prisoners within were as mercilessly killed as those soldiers that had stood against the ghastly force. At long last, he watched with a smirk as his door was yanked open, the metal giving away with a howl.
Just as expected, the glowing red eyes that greeted him glowed in the dimness that was the prison chamber. One thing that was nice to be linked to Dekim was that all of his minions could smell the influence of the Keeper on them. "Well it is about time you and your men arrived," Orsloiv sneered.
The advisor walked past the beast without resistance and ran down the crowded hallway as the other ogres paid him no interest in the midst of their slaughtering. He was not a threat to them and so they would not pose a challenge to him.
Already, Orsloiv's mind was set to the task of finding a horse and making his way from Pisces. Once he was past the embattled humans, he would be able to sail past the dark army and off to his freedom.
Then he could return to his master to learn how to serve him next.
* * * * * *
Over an hour into the battle, numb to the rain, lightning and rolling thunder, Duo continued in his endless task of striking and weaving as Heero had told him... as he needed to do if he wanted to stay alive. Focused as he seemed with how effective he had become in his tactics, his mind was racing elsewhere.
This attack was his fault. No one was about to saddle him with the blame, but he knew that it was his. Dekim clearly wanted him and was going to level through whoever he needed to in order to get what he wanted.
It was because of this that Duo decided that he had some responsibility for the fact that people and dragons were dying this stormy day. And he was helpless to protect those who had been both looking after and fighting alongside him.
Somewhere in the deepest realms of his being, the prince could feel that building rage actually growing hot in the pit of his stomach. How could he be the hope that these brave souls had been waiting for when he couldn't even defend himself without the sacrifice of others?
All that he could hear over the pelting rain against his helmet was the bloodcurdling screams of those dying. His vision was filled with blades flying at him, blood and the collapse of soldiers. Smoke, grime and sulfur were the only scents filling his nose.
Finally, it all became too much for Duo to bear. Shaking his head when he was carried high in the air from harm, he yelled, "Land, Scythe! Take me down!" With a chirp, his dragon looked back at him, her white eyes blinking. Confused as she was by her rider's command, she obeyed his wish and flew off for the center of the kingdom.
Set to engage with the enemy again, Heero and Wing peered back in surprise at hearing the black steed leaving them. "Duo?" the Captain frowned in concern. "Follow them, Wing," he called. Not needing to be told twice, the white dragon turned sharply to keep Scythe in sight.
The sudden shift in direction caught many other eyes as well.
One of the only spaces in all of Pisces that had yet to be touched by Dekim's men was the hillside in the middle of it all.
In that field, Scythe came to a smooth landing and watched her rider remove the straps of his harness to jump down to his feet. His arms heavy at his sides, the prince's limp right hand dropped his blood-covered sword so that his fists could clench tightly while he stumbled forward to watch the fight.
Working to calm himself down, Duo could feel the fury within him burning greater in his chest at the sights of the castle being overrun, the city beginning to burn and how close the tunnels to the caves were to being discovered.
'Breathe,' he whispered in his mind, but the air still came in ragged gulps.
Something was very strange about this overwhelming feeling... and yet almost welcoming at the same time. Never before was anything like this rage felt, but it was still familiar, strangely enough. By the second, the prince was being flooded by its heat.
The ogres and gremlins were drawing near, their sighs focused on Duo atop that little hill and their drive to reach him. His fault. This was his fault and he could not do any damned thing to mend it.
"Duo!" a familiar voice called through the haze running through his mind. He was only vaguely aware of the sight of Heero and Wing landing close beside him.
Another dragon neared, keeping a short distance above them. Peacemillion, the braided teenager realized. Face etched in worry, Odin shouted over the growing roar of the oncoming soldiers, "We have to keep moving from-" What he had to say came to an abrupt halt when a thick spear broke through the front of his chest.
Eyes wide, the Commander's wide mouth opened and closed as blood trickled from its side. The orange dragon let out a howl as her rider fell from her saddle to crash violently to the ground. Frozen in shock, Heero snapped alert and cried, "Odin!" Running forward, he slid to kneel at his mentor's side to carefully turn him.
The dark-clad continued to charge for them. Staring heatedly at them as they entered the field, Duo's panting only came sharper, quicker. Unable to stand anymore suffering, he surrendered to the incinerating heat of his fury.
Looking up as he tried to tend to seal Odin's wound with his hand, Heero gasped sharply and his cobalt eyes widened. "Duo... you... your eyes are glowing," he breathed but the words were completely lost to his partner.
Engulfed by the rage, the prince's braided head fell back and his eyes closed as he released a primal scream that sounded nothing like anything a human could produce.
Then the whole world seemed to explode.
TBC...
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