The Zero Hour | #Wattys2016

Chapter 21 - The Last Stand (Part 2)

Cracking his knuckles, he bent down and grabbed onto a chunk of the snowy ground and lifted it up in his hands. Pausing for a moment, he surveyed the sky with his eyes which were now aglow. The firmament was dotted with a blanket of battle-wizards. He heaved and the large mass throttled towards the sky with incredible speed and force. Colliding with the nearest battle-wizard, the chunk of earth and snow exploded into pieces. The pieces split into different directions, knocking several of other nearby battle-wizards off their brooms. Some of them were rendered unconscious from the impact and were flung lifelessly through the air. Others screamed in terror and grabbed the air in panic to break their fall. Two battle-wizards with air magic managed to blast the ground with a wave of air to slow their fall. They then turned their attention to One, hurling blades made of air at him.

"Watch out!" yelled Amadeus from a distance. One had his hands full with a second chunk of ground, and took a step to the side to avoid the blades of air which whizzed pass him. They left deep gashes in the ground. With a terrifying roar, One hurled the large mass in his hands towards the sky and several more shouts of terror echoed in the night sky as more battle-wizards were flung off their brooms.

Turning back his attention to the two battle-wizards, One dashed forward without hesitation. Both of them leapt backwards to gain some distance from him but he was too fast. Frankly, when One went into his "battle mode" he frightened Amadeus too. He moved with the speed and agility that would normally be impossible for someone of his size. Grabbing both of them by the front of their robes, One swung his hands towards each other. Both battle-wizards were lifted off their feet and went limp in his hands as their heads collided together.

The three Avianath riders were finishing off the last few stragglers who tried to retreat after seeing their forces thin out. The surviving commoners held up their shields, with uncertainty in their eyes. It was a far cry from their confident cheers before the second wave of attacks. Satisfied, One lumbered back towards Amadeus to take his place again at his side. Amadeus was half-expecting Rei to take a jibe at the unconventional way One had dispensed the battle-wizards, but the Rei had a silent frown on his face and his brows were creased together. He only stared blankly at the battlefield, which was now littered with bodies. Whether they were dead or unconscious, Amadeus couldn't tell.

There was a lull in the battle as the activity from White Harrow had ceased for the moment. What were they up to? Amadeus wondered.

"They're regrouping," shouted Old Jarbus from above. "They must be shocked that two waves couldn't finish up some simple commoners. Use this time to rest and tend to the wounded."

The surviving commoners obeyed without question and scurried towards the bodies, looking for their friends and family. Some pulled the wounded towards the safe building to be tended to, and others knelt and wept next to corpses. Old Jarbus whispered something to Bianca, and both he and Bastian glided down smoothly to land near Amadeus. Getting off his mount, Old Jarbus made his way towards Amadeus.

"The Eadrens need to rest if we are to last until dawn. Starting with Bianca, the three of us will take turns to scout the skies and watch out for the next wave of attack," explained Old Jarbus as he stepped up next to Amadeus. "The Nobles won't attack recklessly anymore. We've lost the advantage of being underestimated. The next wave will be lethal and well thought-out. We need to be rested and ready."

Amadeus nodded and sat down at the stone steps leading up to the building, not needed to be told twice. The stone felt cold to the touch. "How many more hours until dawn?" he asked.

"Oh... I'd say about four more hours to go. Maybe five." muttered Old Jarbus as he gazed at the sky.

Amadeus frowned in response. Old Jarbus had a worried look in his eye again. It was never a good sign when he did.

The waiting time ticked by slowly; the seconds felt like minutes and the minutes felt like hours. The commoners huddled together and spoke to each other in hushed tones. The atmosphere was tense and Amadeus could almost smell the fear lingering in the air. Water was being passed around in buckets. The commoners scooped up the water in a wooden ladle that came with the bucket and brought it to their mouths to drink. Had an hour passed, or two? Amadeus couldn't tell; since he slept through most nights, he had never bothered to learn to tell the time at night by the moon's position.

A horn echoed through the night. It had been blown by Bastian, who had taken over scouting duties from Bianca quite some time ago. Amadeus didn't need to be told, he knew what it meant. Everyone else did too; the commoners rose from their seated positions to pick up their shields and weapons. Old Jarbus leapt onto his enormous Eadren and ascended to his place of command in the sky. Bastian flew next to him and whispered something in his ear while pointing towards White Harrow.

Author's Note: No rest for the weary. It's going to be  a looooooooooooooong night. Tell me when this chapter starts to get draggy :)