Mia's POV
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Everyone is here. Thousands of troops lined up on our side, thousands on theirs, all waiting as the sun dips lower and lower into the sky.
The silence that surrounds us doesn't help the nausea currently dancing in my stomach. It's as if even the birds know something is going on, and every other critter went to hide, because the only noise is the swish of the wind caressing the dunes of snow, sending sparkling white mist blowing around on the stinging air. It's a cold evening, just our luck.
I'm currently standing next to Knox and Rose at the front of the troops. Half of us are on horseback, half on foot. Knox, Rose and I are all on horseback, staring down Elmer and his massive army. The only reason I'm able to keep my face calm is because of the simmering rage right underneath as I stare at Elmer. The memories are still fresh in my mind, the horror he put me through. Put my friends through. My mom. Everyone.
In this moment, before the battle starts, I realize that I want to kill him. I've never felt that way towards anyone.
Suddenly, as if my thoughts drew him to me, Elmer's eyes snap to mine. A dark, terrifying smile spreads slowly on his face. I simply stare back, eyes hard, unfazed.
I am going to kill you. The words run in my head over and over like a mantra.
"Any minute now," Knox says as the army starts to shift around us. thousands of bodies moving like the ocean around me.
I go to tell Knox that I love him, but before I can the sun finally disappears and a loud horn blows, echoing in the valley between us.
Just like that, it has started.
Just as my elf eyes adjust to the darkening landscape everyone surges forward, a stampede so great I feel the ground shaking even up on a horse. I keep my eyes on the Cin's black armor as my horse rides closer. My heart is beating faster than I think it ever has, but at the same time I finally feel ready. Especially when I know I have thousands of elves by my side. Plus, I have a pretty cool advantage.
Using memorized tricks from the previous day I feel the warmth of the Heartstone, using it to send the Cin racing towards me flying backwards, far enough that they disappear from my view into the darkness.
I don't even think I'm truly processing what's happening as the two lines of our forces meet- light and dark armor meeting each other in a clash of blades and a deafening battle cry from both sides.
I immediately lose Elmer in the chaos as two Cin on horseback barrel towards me, spears poised. One throws, and I sweep my blade up, knocking the spear to the side. Before the fallen spear can hit the ground I use the Heartstone to lift it up in midair and send it flying back to my opponent. I send the second elf down with the same technique before I even see the first one hit the ground.
I thought, before today, that it would be hard for me to kill anyone like this. It does make me feel a little nauseous if I think about it for too long, but I can't think now, not with everything going on around me. It's either kill or be killed, and I know these elves plan on taking over both worlds, destroying both of my homes. I can't be afraid of fighting now.
The arrows sent down from our archers are silent, barely a whisper of air as they hit their targets. Shouts and cries echo throughout the field as Cin fall. It's getting darker, dark enough that even my vision is limited. I barely see the arrows hitting people all around me. Our white armor blends in the snow, but their dark armor blends into the shadows as night descends.
A movement in my peripheral vision catches my attention, and a gasp of surprised escapes me as I catch an arrow in my left hand, the tip an inch from my face. Before I can react, an arrow hits my horse.
"NO!" I cry, panic hitting me at the fact that this is happening only seconds into the battle. My beautiful horse falls, and it's all I can do to not get crushed as I scramble off of him. My chest is heaving already as I crouch down, a pang of sorrow hitting me at the sight of the poor creature on the ground. The horse's breaths come out shallow and weak. I can't leave him like this. As quick as I can I rest a hand on his still warm belly, taking power from the Heartstone to put my horse asleep- one he won't wake from.
"Mia!" I hear a shout over the sounds of battle. When I turn I come face to face with a Cin, a snarl on his face. I whip my sword out, but before I can attack a blade is shoved through his back, coming clean through the armor of his stomach. Warm blood sprays my face as he collapses face first into the snow. I didn't notice until now that the snow here is no longer white, but stained pink and red with blood.
Halion stands over me, blade dripping crimson, his other hand outstretched to me. I take it, scanning him for injuries. He appears to be fine, thank god.
"You okay?" He asks, eyes darting behind me as he asks. I stare at him, then the trees. He must've come down from his post.
"Yeah, you?" I reply quickly. Three Cin come racing at us before Hal has a chance to respond, and he immediately pulls me to him until we're facing back to back. My whole arm shakes as I block a crushing strike from the Cin attacking me- a young elf, black hair tied behind him, sword similar to mine. He's so young. His face is full of anger as he yells, swinging his sword again. I grunt in effort as I parry the blow, pulling more power from the Heartstone as I kick him in the gut, the power sending him far, far away. By the time I'm finished Halion has already taken down the other two, but I can't miss the rip in his sleeve, the blood shining under the moonlight.
"Hal-"
"I'm fine," he yells over the noise, shaking his head. "Go, find Elmer!" I nod, swallowing the terror clawing at my throat as we split up, and I'm suddenly alone again. The darkness doesn't help either- my adrenaline picks up more out of habit as I turn in a full circle, trying to see how we're doing. The white and black armor is easy to differentiate, but I can't tell how much of either force is left when we're all mixed together.
The Heartstone continues to heat up the more I use it, consequentially draining my energy just a bit more. But training did me well, and adrenaline keeps me going as I keep fighting, as the moon keeps rising. As minutes pass, or hours. I can't be sure. The moon is full, meaning even now there is a grey-blue glow covering everything.
I only saw Knox once, and he didn't even see me. But with the way he was swinging around two blades at once, eyes sharp with focus, lithe and deadly- I doubt he's even broken a sweat.
Cin don't follow rules. There are no rules of war for conquerors. They will play dirty no matter what, they don't care about honor. I learn this as two Cin come at me at once- one in the front, one at my back. Blades whir past my head as I duck, simultaneously grabbing a dagger from my boot and lashing out, slicing the leg of the Cin in front of me, who stumbles just long enough for me to swipe the sword out of his hand and turn, bringing my sword up to meet the one behind me. The elf growls, pushing his blade down as hard as he can. My arm starts to shake, and I know I won't be able to hold him. So I dart out of the way and let my blade drop, his weapon shooting down with the momentum and slamming into the snow. I don't hesitate to finish him, because a split second later I feel a blade hit the armor at my back, but before it can push past the armor I spin away, using the Heartstone again, this time to melt the Cin's blade. He kicks my blade out of my hand and lunges at me. I barely see him, a blur of motion, as he tackles me to the ground. My head slams into the snow, my helmet falling off. I punch up blindly, but miss, and receive a punch to the face in return. The metallic tang of blood fills my mouth as the Cin on top of me, older with a snow-caked beard, attempts to pin my arms to the ground. I thrash, finally grabbing the small blade in my thigh holster and finding the slit in the side of his chest plate. He roars, grabbing my blade-holding hand and pushing it down with full force towards my leg. I just barely move my leg away enough, but I still feel tendrils of pain explode in my thigh as the blade slices it. I cry out, my leg jolting, but I grit my teeth and send the energy pulsing in the Hearstone into my blade. The dagger glows, white hot, and its energy sends it slamming up into the neck above me. The Cin slumps on top of me and I push him off, gagging at the blood now smeared on my own neck and armor, a violent painting on the stark white of my chest plate. By now my hair is barely hanging onto the braid pulling it away from my face.
My chest heaves in effort as I stand, cringing at the pain that throbs in my leg. Head on a swivel, I press a gloved hand to my thigh. It comes away wet with blood, which looks nearly black in the moonlight. I hear shouts, and see a group of black-armored elves pointing to me. Great, I think, trying to steady my breathing as I find my sword and slip my dagger back into its place. Four Cin come at me, slicing through anyone in their way. I look around for help, but everyone in white around me is occupied. I don't see anyone I recognize. My courage falters as I see the four beasts headed my way, swords as long as my leg in their hands.
In a split-second decision I sheath my sword, leaving my hands empty. I bring them up to the Heartstone, feeling how hot it is in the center of my chest plate. I take a few deep breaths, pulling the power into me as the four approach, breaking off to surround me. I keep my terror in check- as much as I can, anyway- as I focus on the power that seeps into my veins, pulsing with my heartbeat. I think of what I want it to do, and slowly grab my sword, my hands lightly glowing as if I held sunlight in them. The four Cin seem unfazed as they finally surround me, yelling Elvish curses and snarling. They all lunge for me as I bring my sword up. They don't have time to regret it as I bring my sword down, slamming the tip into the snow. Pure power explodes from me, a bomb of magic and energy that sends them- and multiple other Cin around me- flying away. Everyone in white armor is unscathed.
Fatigue rubs its dull claws down my spine as the last of the power drains out of me. Remembering what Knox said to me earlier, I pull the transport stone from my pocket and throw it down, reemerging in the trees next to Elanil. She is crouched on one of the huge branches of a tree by the Bhailewood wall, bow in hand. A line of Elven archers crouch next to her in a line all the way down the branch, piles and piles of arrows next to them.
"Mia, oh my god, I saw an explosion- was that you?" Elanil says, rushing to me. Her grip on my shoulders is strong as she assesses every inch of me for injury. When she gets to my leg her lips press into a thin line.
"Sit," she says quickly, pulling medical supplies from a pouch at her side.
"Are you a medic?" I say breathlessly, looking out at the battlefield. From up here, I can see that we're gaining land. But they are too, and I can't tell who is winning. It looks even from here. Everyone looks so small, like ants on a deep red carpet.
"Yes, and once I fix you up I'll head down to the battle. Can you take my spot up here?"
I wince as she cleans the wound, wrapping a thick bandage around my leg and tying it tight with expert precision.
"I- are you sure? Shouldn't I be down there?"
Elanil gives me a look, then smiles and hands me her bow and quiver. "Mia, you've done so much already, I'm sure you're drained from that last blow. It's been three hours. Let me take over for a bit. Plus, all the Cin are kinda looking for you. It's probably better you're up here."
Three hours already? I open my mouth to argue that everyone down there is tired too, but El disappears in a cloud of smoke, a long, curved blade in her hand. I huff out an angry breath, but I fill in her post and nock an arrow, honing in my vision as best I can, letting an arrow fly down, down, down. It hits the mark.
For at least an hour I stay in the trees, letting my fatigue heal, dodging arrows from the Cin every few minutes, jumping up and down as arrows whiz by.
Terror seizes me every time an elf near me is hit- the way the life drains from their eyes, how they slump like a rag doll. Some of them slip over the edge of the branch and fall hundreds of feet down. It's when I'm sitting up here, not actively fighting, that I feel the horror of war in every fiber of my body. How easily I could die.
As I'm loosing my second to last arrow, I spot him. He's standing in the ring of shallow snow that was impacted by my explosion. Elmer. He doesn't see me, but my vision hones in on him, clear as day.
I nock my last arrow, aiming for his leg, right where he hurt mine, and fire. It hits perfectly, and I watch in smug satisfaction as he drops to one knee, face contorted in pain, hands hovering above his leg. Slowly, he raises his gaze to the trees, to where I sit, legs dangling over the edge. I give him a smile dripping with venom and raise my hand, wiggling my fingers in a wave. His glare would've been enough to send me six feet under a few months ago. But now I just want to kill him.
Now is my chance.
I'm just about to transport down to him when I watch him disappear in a puff of smoke.
My smile drops.
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I always thought that if I ever wrote a book the battle scene would be super short, but I think I did okay- At least it's more than one chapter LMFAO. I'm not comparing myself to acowar- I think the battle scene is forty something pages. I could never.
- A