Woodland Prince

Chapter 6

Arthon

I awoke to the shouting of warriors and something not quite human. I threw the quilt from my legs and jumped into my lightweight leather armor. My twin blades were ready to go already so I ran as quickly as I could in the direction of the screeching. That lead me outside the main gates where a raging battle was taking place. Elven warriors were everywhere, raining arrows from above, slashing the enemy below. But all I could see of an enemy were shapes and shadows, as if they were hidden by mist from the forest itself.

I could see elves attacking these wisps of smoke, but not effectively. One warrior appeared to be caught in the middle of several hidden figures and I saw a gaping hole appear in the left side of his armor. The elf continued fighting, though I knew he would not last much longer without help. I sprinted over to him and started swinging my blades, hoping to get in a few lucky shots.

After a few moments of the warrior and I fighting back to back, the hidden figures started to drift away from us. I nearly cheered, but then I caught on to where they were drifting. The ElvenKing had joined the fight and all the hidden figures were converging on him. They emitted this strange clicking noise that reminded me of the giant spiders in this forest but with more rhythm and apparent coherence. The clicking was getting louder and louder as the approached the King and his mount.

The warrior beside me started to shout at his companions, "to the King! To the King!" and he charged to the king himself. I followed him into the swarm, noticing the blood start to seep through his garments. His armor was different than that of the other elves, it seemed to denote him as a leader, perhaps a captain in the royal guard.

To the king's credit, he was holding his own against the hidden figures. I knew part of that was the height his mount gave him along with the mighty swings of antlers. The beasts were starting to learn though. They began to step back and draw what seemed like bows and arrows of mist. It would not take long to fell the gigantic elk and the king atop it if their weapons were as difficult to detect as the bodies themselves. I️ try to shout for the warrior, call for shields, but it's too late, the misty figures release their first volley straight into the ElvenKing.

The beast screeched and threw the king over the edge of the bridge. Several elves leapt for the edge as well, desperately trying to catch the king. The warrior who was by my side managed to catch an ankle and the edge of the bridge. The remaining elves sprinted to help pull the captain up. The hidden figures continued to advance, seemingly bent on taking the stronghold.

I️ continued swinging my blades, hoping that I️ was causing some damage. Eventually, I️ was standing between the entrance to the kingdom and the forest. The king and the captain had been carried inside, both had been hit by the misty arrows. The other elven warriors had fallen into ranks behind me, shields and lances drawn.

A light suddenly hit my eyes. The sun was rising over the mountains. I felt a small joy in my chest, believing that the light would make it easier to see these creatures, but when I️ turned back to the direction of the misty figures, they had disappeared.