It was nerve-racking to camp so close to the enemy without wretching or wanting to do a number on one of them. The forest was oddly quiet despite the camp being nearly overpopulated by ogres and giants, both of which were notoriously loud creatures. Birds steered clear of the environment; the only ones around being the messenger birds for the enemy side. The smell of rotting meat, roasted animal parts and snake skin made the foul air even fouler and poisonous such that if one would inhale for too long they could drop dead at once.
The dark army did not do much except quarrel and attack each other especially without Oculmus present to intimidate them into behavior. The ogres mostly had to split up fights but even they got into heated arguments with themselves over who was in charge. The encampment had only six Outcasts; all of which were strangely lackadaisical about everything. They only watched, ate and laughed where necessary. Sometimes they said a word or two and their voices were cruel enough to enforce an atmosphere of silence for a number of hours. There were huge bonfires and so everything was bathed in yellow and red light. It was odd to see that a group so closely associated with darkness could not go a single second without light. This became a running joke in Waverly's unit whenever they took turns spying on the dark army.
Earlier that same day, long before the crack of dawn, plans had been executed in full throttle. A unit distracted the enemy by drawing them away from their base while another unit quickly set up the trenches. For the first time ever, Waverly had met the Burrowers. A group of Hammitonians that apparently had been in camp ever since she left the Tyro training ground for her new camp on the hill.
The Burrowers lived underground since they were small creatures and also, very fast diggers. Waverly recalled spotting numerous lumps of earth in certain areas of camp but had never put much thought on it.
The Burrowers were like rabbits and moles, only about four heads taller and a couple of inches wider. They were very self-centered creatures and so only a few of them had agreed to help with digging the trenches. They claimed they were a righteous clan and did not take sides with the dark army. Waverly was suddenly thankful of this when she watched them dig.
It was incredible.
Under a few minutes, an entire trench had been dug up by only six Burrowers. The Elves hurriedly set up everything necessary for their brief stay underground. A pride of lions pulled in three enormous carriages filled with palm tree branches and other plant life that would camouflage the trench with the surrounding. It was a rushed job but it was done so perfectly well that it looked like it had taken years to finish and the enemy had not suspected a thing ever since.
Two units camped on either sides of the enemy so that the dark army was right smack dab in the middle. The ambush was a long couple of hours away and so the Kings army wiled away time by watching the creatures instead. Diarmaid had provided pieces of incredible camouflage clothing for the army, the same one he and his brother had worn the first day Waverly met them.
Waverly crouched low, her nose only inches from the dusty earth. It was annoying to exhale as the air scattered the underbrush under her nostrils, lifting many uncomfortable things into the air and up her breathing hole. The night sky was the darkest blue, like writing ink, dotted with numberless white stars and a bright moon that made shadows line the ground so sharply one could almost feel them.
Waverly shifted her head sideways to gaze at Regent who had a funny looking equipment that he held close to his eyes. He had let her use it once and she thought it was quite fascinating. It allowed her see things in the enemy camp up close and when Regent had put it close to his eyes, the glass on the outside magnified his eyeballs to a hilarious size. Waverly's laugh at the sight of it had almost given them away so Regent did not allow her use the device anymore.
A "pair of binoculars" he had called it.
"Ugh!" Phyllis mumbled in disgust on the left. She wiped her elbow against her white vest, her arms decorated with dirt and underbrush. "Look how they eat like animals."
Waverly squinted her eyes thoughtfully. "They are animals."
"Yeah but still, most animals have manners."
Regent put down his binoculars and retched. He wore a dark green vest and trousers that outlined his slender frame. His long white hair was flat on his back and shone live a silver lake by the light of the moon.
"I can't stand this stench anymore."
Waverly squinted again. "But you aren't standing."
Regent threw her a look. "Now you sound like that Diarmaid, stating the obvious oh so annoyingly."
"Sorry." She snorted.
"I'm going back to camp. I have stuff to finish. Ceylon's going to come and take my spot." He said and began to crawl backwards as carefully and as silently as possible.
Waverly watched him go. "Hey, can i have the binnie coolers?"
Regent frowned amusedly and stretched the device. "Binoculars. Get it right."
Waverly received it and put it to use immediately. She watched a Hag angrily nudge a She-Monster off the tree stump used as seats. She hated She-Monsters because the mere sight of them brought back very ugly memories. It took every ounce of godly strength in her to not dash over to the creature and throttle her. She glanced at Phyllis whose focused brown eyes had turned a dull gold from the light of the bonfire up ahead.
"Do you think we have a good chance at winning?" Phyllis asked out of the blue. Her gaze was still pointed forward but Waverly could not make out what she stared at so intensely.
"I think we have a chance at survival, especially you guys." Waverly replied.
Phyllis turned to her with a look of pure wonder. "By you guys, you mean Elves?"
Waverly nodded still peering through the binoculars. The Hag and She-Monster had engaged in a vicious claw fight. "Yes, Elves. You are all natural survivors so. . ."
"So you think we'll survive because we're engineered that way? Haha, it's cute the way you think."
Waverly turned to look at Phyllis but the latter had already returned her gaze to the mystery object she had been so focused on.
"How do i think? I was only stating what i know."
"I know you were. You have a lot of faith and that's great but i don't think we'll be able to survive, maybe not this time."
"Why do you say that?" Waverly inquired out of concern. Usually, Phyllis was the one who showed firmness in a lot of things but it seemed that something had suddenly doused her hopes.
"Because it is obvious. Look around you - the dark army outnumber us ten to one. And Oculmus has gods on his side, you told me yourself. Even if we do have a chance, it would only take a blink of their eyes for just one of those gods to end us."
"They do not have the right." Waverly stated.
Phyllis jerked her head backward. "Do you think so?"
"I know so. The gods have no right, whether Nysan or Entonian, to take that much lives otherwise we wouldn't be here."
"But they're on his side. They are taking lives."
"Oculmus is an Elemental. Elementals have enough power to create and end life but Oculmus has chosen to do the latter. That is why he is doing this, because he has the right. The gods can only do so much to back him up."
"How do you know all of that?"
"Because it is obvious." Waverly stated and peered into the binoculars again. She was quite shocked to see that the Hag and She-Monster had stopped fighting. They were gaping at a Cruel who had leisurely taken his place on the spot they quarreled over.
"You do make a good point." Phyllis mumbled in agreement. "What i don't understand is why the Entonian gods won't come to our aid. It's absolutely unfair."
"I think it is unfair too but i also think Entonians can only do so much as well. I am sure that they would very much like to go on a rampage but i think something is holding them back."
"Like what? Their parents, pfft. They just don't wanna show up because we're none of their business. Besides, they do not need us, do they?"
"They do need us. What makes an Entonian different from a Nysan? Their behaviors, i presume. Think of it this way - the gods have a fixed path and they always have to go down it whether they like it or not. The last great war lasted for over a thousand years years before Jolan intervened. Do you ever wonder why it happened that way?"
Phyllis looked a bit angry. "Yes, because those gods finally got off their lazy behinds and decided it was time to be heroes."
Waverly chuckled. "Now you sound a lot like Brijjet. I don't think that was the reason. I think they are not allowed to interfere until a certain time."
"What do you mean by they are not allowed? They are the gods." Phyllis offered bitterly.
"I think even they are bound by consequences, like we are." Waverly said coolly.
"What does that mean?"
Waverly sighed. "I mean that if they act rashly, like those Nysan gods are doing now, the effect of their actions would have bad results - probably an irrevocable one. But if they wait until the time is right, then the results would be much better."
"But the gods came to your aid, didn't they? Hero and Helme. Are you telling me that they acted rashly then or because it was their path and the time was right?"
Waverly shrugged. "Could be either. I would not know for sure, you know. I was almost dead."
Phyllis scoffed a laugh. "Sometimes i wonder if you've attended the Council of the Gods before, with the way you talk."
"I just happen to have been taught by my father who's very told."
Phyllis frowned. "Told?"
Waverly hummed in reply and kept silent. Just then, Ceylon squeezed his way through to fit beside her as he was noticeably bigger than Regent.
"Hello, ladies. Any improvements?" He said and winked sweetly at Phyllis who smiled and rolled her eyes but Waverly saw her cheeks take on a deep shade of red.
"Well, not really. There's just more fighting and more eating, stinking and lazing around." Waverly replied.
"So, nothing new. May i take a look?" Ceylon opened his palm and she dropped the binoculars in it. "Do we wait until dawn for our little debacle?"
"That's entirely up to Waverly." Phyllis replied.
Waverly knew what they meant. Their previous agreement to disorient the dark army with, as they called it -woolgather - was yet to be implemented as the right moment was yet to present itself.
"Don't you worry. It is going to be all in good time." Waverly said to Ceylon then yawned tiredly. "I have been on watch for almost six hours. I'm taking a break." She announced and began to shuffle backward too.
The trench was hot but the Burrowers had intelligently added a transparent skylight, slightly similar to the one Waverly once had in the room of her old axis subdivision. It was a thin opacous protective cover like a fishing net, woven from the very slender, very fine threads of cobwebs. It allowed for air and light to penetrate the trench.
Soldiers took up almost all of the entire space and so Waverly appreciated the cool evening air that the skylight permitted. She strolled past a Vestonian who was bent over studying a mini map similar to the one in the coliseum. Regent was sitting beside him, tinkering with a hundred tiny things out of which Waverly only recognized a set of fairy lights and a thick black shapeless leather material.
"What are you doing?" She asked, kneeling in front of him.
He was intently focused on joining the two ends of a twisted wire with a heated iron rod.
"I'm trying to make sure my next invention doesn't dud."
"What is it going to be?" She had seen a few of Regent's creations and they were amazing, although often faulty. Nonetheless, it was exciting to watch him create something new entirely out of scrap.
Regent looked up briefly with a sly smile. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see."
Morning came in such a rush that Waverly was not sure she had slept at all but there was no time to think about it. She prepared alongside the others and picked up a loaf of bread then walked up to Phyllis who was already fully armored.
"Are you ready to play?" Phyllis muttered as she put on her helmet.
Waverly finally understood what it meant to be stealthy. The journey to the battlefield was not done on foot but via trees. Thankfully, she had learned how to climb just as perfectly as Wood Elves. They swung silently from tree to tree in the faint violet light of the breaking dawn until at last they reached the everglade. It was a very elaborate marshland filled with hammocks, water and brimming vegetations. It also swarmed with dangerous insects.
"Vissēpon! (Hornets!)" Ceylon spat and swatted away the wasp.
Waverly glanced around in high alert to prevent getting stung. The Vestonians helped by torching the insects with white hot flames.
"You know, i really wish i was them right now." Regent whispered as he watched a fire mortal toast one of the hornet's nest to ash.
Just then their unit leader, a fire mortal named Junette, beckoned on them to take positions. She literally blew steam from her ears which indicated that she was unhappy.
"How long will it take for them to draw those filthies to us?" She spat angrily, gazing forward at the spot where the dark army was supposed to emerge.
"You should relax." An Elven soldier advised. "We switched roles at the last minute, it should take a while."
Waverly glanced at Phyllis who gave her a half-hearted thumbs up. Their unit had initially been tasked with luring the enemy to the battlefield but according to the Elf, they had handed over the responsibility to their brother unit on the opposite side.
The wait did not last long because a sudden uproar soon filled the forest. It came as quite a shock but nobody moved.
"Stand your ground!" Junette ordered.
Waverly turned to Regent but he put a finger against his lips to silence her. "Not necessary."
Soon, the enemy came to view. They were trying to defend themselves against the other unit and were completely oblivious of the army behind them.
"Now!" Junette yelled.
The group charged and mixed in with the dark army. Pretty soon, Waverly could hear cannons going off from every corner and it brought a silly satisfied smile to her face. The assault had begun proper and the dark army had not been not expecting it. There were more than three hundred units dispelled all across the forest and each one had an enemy camp or two to deal with. Waverly knew the Elf King had joined in on the assault alongside King Lameth who was rumored to be quite the skilled warrior and Luanda as well, King Asherah's daughter. Waverly would have given anything to watch the princess in battle but alas, there were hundreds of leagues between them.
The battle on Waverly's unit came to an end quickly and she felt quite disappointed.
"I honestly thought that that would last much longer." Ceylon piped and threw a dagger at a serket. The creature hissed and wrung together like melted iron.
"Come on, the others need us." A Hammitonian said and ran through the everglade.
"I thought they had it covered." Phyllis stated, kicking away an armor plate.
"You heard him, more fun!" Ceylon urged and ran after the Hammit. Phyllis followed and Waverly did likewise. They ran through the trees, swatting away branches at intervals until they found themselves rolling unexpectedly down the craziest hill imaginable.
When Waverly stood up, she was in another layer of grassy clothing.
"Huhn, this actually works." Regent complimented, gazing down at his leaf covered armor.
Just then, something flew into their midst. It was jagged and round; black in some places and fiery red in others. In fact, it looked like it had partly caught on fire.
"What is that?" Phyllis wondered and took a step forward.
Waverly's eyes widened when she suddenly recalled where she had seen the object before.
"Fireball!" She yelled.
The object made a clicking sound and released over a hundred explosive tinders that sent everyone flying back and torched the forest.
Waverly staggered to her feet, her vision clouded by heavy smoke and her ears ringing with an all too familiar, annoying high-pitched noise.
"Phyllis? Regent?" She called.
From behind, someone growled angrily and Waverly felt all the hair on her neck stand on ends. She turned and realized she had just missed a dangerous swing from a Quagmire's axe. She released Calaire and attempted a cutting arc but the monster sidestepped and shoved her to the ground.
She turned hazily and blocked its strike just in time with the crescent then rotated her opponent's blade, causing it to let go of its weapon. She kicked up with both feet, knocking the monster in the chin and it staggered back.
Her vision immediately cleared. She scanned the area for her friends and fellow comrades. Her gaze first fell on a fire mortal who had sustained a deep leg injury and was desperately trying to crawl away. The enemy appeared from every corner and a second round of battle began.
Waverly faintly realized that as they fought, they pushed the dark army farther and farther into Arwen. She did not even notice that the day had slowly dragged to night until she saw the moon overhead and heard a familiar voice call repeatedly for a retreat.
She punched the She-Monster in front of her but the creature stubbornly advanced despite the blow. Waverly angrily lassoed the creature and threw the other end of the rope around a tree trunk. The tree leaned sideways on her command and forcefully yanked the She-Monster, splitting her in the middle.
"Holy Gayl! That was nasty." Regent commented from behind.
Waverly retrieved her lasso and went over to him. He was panting heavily and so was she.
"Do you have any idea where we are?"
"I guess. . . we haven't entirely crossed over Arwen. Do you know how massive the In Between is?"
Waverly wore Calaire around her wrist and snapped it. "I have a pretty good idea."
"Let us join the others, come on!"
They stayed in the trenches that night as the journey to and from their respective camps would take up valuable time. Only the Kings and a few other Generals returned back to the realm. They had stormed the biggest enemy camp nearest the sea but Waverly heard rumor that Judson was nowhere to be seen during the fight.
The next day, the battle resumed and to everyone's surprise, the enemy multiplied in numbers but that did not stop the alliance from prevailing. They hacked down every creature including the biggest ones. The third day came and Gibbers joined the fight; stone men half as large as the Giants themselves but twice as strong. It took combined effort to bring them down but again, the King's army prevailed.
The fourth day brought ground shaking news. A few hours before they were to leave for battle, Waverly spotted Merula speaking with Junette. She approached them and greeted the Elfin.
"Morning, Merula!"
"Morning, Waverly." Merula greeted back.
"Is something wrong?" She inquired, trying to decipher the drawl in Merula's tone.
"We received word last night." The Elfin began calmly. Her tone was the only thing that indicated she was gloomy. "All three Gypsie Kings were murdered."
"What?" Waverly felt a sickening cold grip her lungs.
"Upon arrival to their realm, they were attacked - walked right into a waiting massacre. Half the realm has been overtaken by Outcasts. They have no ruler as we speak and most of the people are being held hostage in their own homes."
"What can be done?" Junette asked. Her armor, just like the rest of the fire mortals, always reminded Waverly of Levi but she tried hard to put it out of her mind.
"Nothing can be done. It was inevitable. We can only keep fighting."
"The dark army keeps increasing. I'm sure you have noticed." Junette said.
"I don't know how they do it but they have found a way to transport reinforcements fast. We have to be on the lookout. Those things are as cunning as they are ruthless."
"Our forces won't be able to hold off their manpower much longer if we don't. . ."
Waverly turned and walked away from the discussion toward the enemy camp. It had been cleared out a long time since their surprise attack. She spotted Regent and Ceylon amassing a number of leftover spoils from the war even though there was nothing particularly valuable to collect.
"I get all the scraps." Regent said.
"And i get the pointy things." Ceylon added.
Waverly was about to say something when Ceylon suddenly dropped his handful. He pointed at a bronze dagger embedded in a broken shield that Regent carried.
"Hey, that one is mine."
Regent looked down at his handful and retreated. "No. It was in my pile so it's mine."
"We agreed that i get the pointy things, you're cheating." Ceylon said and lunged for Regent in an attempt to grab the shield but the latter moved away quickly and he missed.
"We did not agree on anything. You just said you wanted pointy things and by the way, i need a knife too."
"You already have one." Ceylon said as he stood up from where he had fallen. He looked furious.
Waverly watched them quietly, unsure whether the reason she made no reactions was because she had witnessed the pair fight and bicker so many times that it seemed quite normal. Despite this, her senses went into autopilot.
Something was unusual.
"It wouldn't hurt if i had two, would it? You only take knives so you can throw them away." Regent said with a deep frown.
"For good reason. What are you gonna do with it? Cut wires to make another lousy device that won't work?"
"Hey!" Regent barked angrily. "Show some respect."
"Give me the dagger." Ceylon ordered.
"No! If you want it, you'll have to go through me." Regent challenged. He dropped his clutter of scraps to the ground except for the shield with the dagger in it.
"You asked for it, rotken vèrise rācao!" Ceylon spat.
Waverly gave a sharp gasp and covered her mouth. Regent looked like he had taken a deathly blow to the gut. His face went from a hurt frown to a dangerous glare.
"What. . . did you just call me?" He asked, his right eye twitching.
Waverly wanted to move but found that she was truly rooted to the spot. Her feet literally refused to leave the ground.
"Rotten widower rascal." Ceylon translated with a snarl and took out his own dagger.
Regent fumed. He pulled the dagger free from the shield. "How dare you?"
"Regent, don't!" Waverly yelled, struggling to unplant her boots from the earth but it was fruitless and the boys did not seem to have heard or acknowledged her at all.
"The truth really does hurt, doesn't it? Ceylon taunted. "You're always making stuff because you still have a hard time moving on from Havilah."
"Don't say her name." Regent shouted.
"I will say whatever the hell i want to, you coward." Ceylon shouted.
And they attacked each other.
Waverly thought the day would never come when she would have to watch hopelessly as her friends tried to kill themselves. They wrestled with unnatural strength as if something unseen had them under its thumb.
Waverly began to scream for help but there was no one around. She turned her gaze to the wrestlers again and began to plead with them but they were far from obliging.
"Ceylon, Regent! Stop it! Both of you. You're going to kill each other. Stop fighting!" She screamed.
Regent suddenly plunged his dagger into Ceylon's shoulder and Waverly gave a shocked scream which caused an effect that somehow broke her free from whatever held her back. She raced toward the boys and pushed Regent away with an unintended, godly force. He somersaulted and crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.
Only a few seconds passed before he stood up, unharmed.
"You shouldn't have done that, égin Alluna opiao." He muttered.
Waverly retracted her head, feeling strongly offended. Regent had just called her a little copycat of Alluna. She was already on the verge of anger herself when she saw it - fiery red flames. It licked around Regent's eyes and the roots of his white hair like a ribbon. She turned to Ceylon who had the same red flames around him as well. He stood up, ignorant of the blood dribbling down his shoulder and the fact that Waverly stood between him and Regent.
The boys glared maliciously at one another, twisting their daggers in readiness to attack. They sprang forward at the same time but Waverly was ready. She channelled some godly strength and shoved them apart as they got close, a burst of light indicating that the action was indeed unnatural. Both boys tumbled back and fell to the ground.
They got up with their hands plastered to their temples and Waverly was glad to see that the rage in them was gone.
Ceylon winced as he carefully withdrew the dagger out of his bleeding shoulder. He looked very surprised to see himself injured.
"What on earth happened?" Regent asked, shaking his head slightly. When he caught sight of Ceylon, he rushed to him. "Who's done this?"
Waverly panted as she turned to face him, still feeling slightly angered by his insult.
"You did."
Regent wore a look of horror and utter confusion. "What?"
"No, no." Ceylon said, waving his hand. "We did not fight, we were collecting spoils."
"Yes." Waverly flatly agreed and pointed to the scattered objects on the ground. "Until you were completely taken over by a godhead."
Regent and Ceylon glanced at each other and said in unison. "What do you mean?"
"Fira!" Waverly replied. "She has been unleashed."