Cain hadn't forgotten about Andrew in the slightest. He'd wondered exactly what the man had been up to all these years and what his relation to the Crown Prince had been, and it appeared he was going to finally get his answers.
"Well well well, look at this!" Andrew sneered down at Cain. "I'd heard the descriptions from the knights but thought, surely it couldn't be my bastard half-brother, could it? Yet here you are."
"I take it you've come to fight?" Cain got to the point, wishing he'd had time to put on some armor.
"Of course. Why else would the Emperor send me? You killed his son. He's not going to let you off lightly. No no no. He asked that I try to take you back alive so he can make an example out of you."
"And how exactly do you plan to do that?" Cain gestured towards the forest. "You can't come anywhere near me."
"But you can come here."
"I have no reason to."
"Not even for a snippet of news about your friend, Sir Maddox?"
Cain tried not to let his reaction show but failed to stop himself from the smallest frown. "Not even if you had him up for trade." He lied.
"How cold-hearted." Andrew put a palm to his armored chest and glanced back over the men he was leading. "Did you hear that? What a true villain! Throwing away his allies like they were yesterday's trash. "
"Are they human?"
"What was that?"
Cain nodded towards the men behind him. "Are they human this time? Or demons, like the last one you sent after me."
This time Andrew's face grew steely. "Demon summoning is a crime. One that you and your friend have committed repeatedly and continue to do so. I on the other hand have been...Had been working with the Crown Prince to find a way to put an end to it. So I assure you, the men behind me are 100% human. Can you say the same?"
"Not at all. That makes things easier." Cain replied, hearing the servants finally begin to catch up from the mansion behind him. "But I am curious, what kind of magic are you using then? I've traced one demon's summoning back to you and confirmed your friend the prince had some strange power over them. Did he teach you some tricks of his own?"
"All you do is spout lies." Andrew's eyes briefly glanced towards the army, making sure they didn't believe the smaller blond. He was such an audacious man. "But yes, as a matter of fact, I did take on some of his skills. One of which I tested on that little naked friend of yours. It didn't do what I expected, but still effective."
Cain wanted to snap back and point out that what he'd targeted was a dryad and not a demon, but he held his tongue. He could only imagine what other ways Andrew would find to torture the creature if he learned what he was.
Nonetheless, the man's bold banter revealed that he did indeed have some way to deal with an army of demons. That meant he was uninformed and ill-prepared because Cain's army was not comprised of demons, but of humans and a dryad. This was why he didn't want Catalina on the front line.
"So what do you plan to do now?" He asked, to which Andrew placed his helmet back on and raised his fist.
The rows of knights shifted, and they all brought out enormous shields and began scaling them together until they looked like one single armored unit. He watched, perplexed about what they were doing until Andrew gave the order and they started moving closer to the tree line.
Once they were within range, Cain signaled for the hidden servants to toss their rounds of bombs toward the oncoming forces. Each ball of fire and shrapnel bounced off the enormous form, with some being tossed back and causing the servants to dodge further into the trees.
Cain himself was nearly hit and stumbled out of the way as another ball came flying at his head.
"Stop!" Cain ordered the servants, who ceased their tossing. Then he eyed the dryad, who looked more tired than he'd ever been in his entire life. Whatever spell Andrew had used, it was draining the energy from the creature. They didn't have much time.
In a low voice, he leaned in. "Can you still manage?"
The dryad nodded, and they watched as the army finally came within reach. Then the creature faded into the shrubbery and unleashed chaos.
Yes, the shields protected them from above but did nothing from below as roots ripped upward, dragging the formation down and breaking holes in the wall. As soon as there was a big enough gap, Cain signaled for the servants to continue throwing bombs again, but that was when the knights completely broke form and rushed the trees. Some had bows aimed at the servants, others tossed bombs similar to the ones they used.
This normally would have been no problem because the dryad would make sure the trees would defend them from above, but he noticed they were not reacting as fast as they did last time, allowing men to make it beyond the border and quickly overwhelm the servants.
"Shroud them!" Cain shouted to the dryad, then was sent flying through the trees until he smashed harshly against the side of a large oak.
He plopped to the ground and gasped for air, then slowly got back up to his knees to see that Andrew had gotten off his horse and body-slammed him.
Realizing he had no choice but to fight now, Cain got to his feet, then snatched one of the passing knights who had gotten passed the tree line and snapped his neck. From there he made sure to break as many arms, or legs as he could get his hands on, if not at least punching dents in the enemy's armor. Then when he and his half-brother were face to face with no one between them anymore, they paused for the briefest of moments before swinging away.
Cain's first thought was to end it quickly by forcing him from the trees with one great blow, but quickly learned that wasn't going to happen as his brother was able to somehow match his ungodly strength.
He must have learned that Cain had the pearl's power. Perhaps he'd used his connections with the Crown Prince to get his own pearl? Whatever the source, this was a fistfight now, and blow after blow reigned down as the two of them fought.
Shouts, explosions, and the clang of metal could all be heard within the once-serene forest. Luckily Cain's training had come in handy as he parried Andrew's blows and did his best to knock the man off his feet.
As for the armies, it was more of a fight between the knights and the trees. There were only a dozen servants prepared to toss bombs and swing swords, and they knew better than to fight an army this large with what little supplies they had. Once the forest border was breached, they were under orders to retreat.
A scream to his right distracted Cain, who spotted not one but two servants falling to the knights blades. This left an opening, and Andrew took it by sending Cain flying once again.
Rolling across the forest floor, he reached out and clawed at the roots till he stopped and glanced up through blurry eyes. He'd trained in swords and martial arts but didn't think he'd fight anyone of equal strength aside from Maddox. This was not in his plans.
He watched Andrew approach as he grabbed his now-burning ribs and gasped for air. This was when he heard a particularly loud snarl. Out from behind him, Catalina emerged in her true form, with fangs and claws bared as she bounded for Andrew. She took one last leap, aiming her claw at the man's throat, when the man made a dismissive gesture with his arm, causing Catalina to disappear into a puff of smoke.
Andrew had learned the Prince's magic! And now that Catalina was dismissed, it would be days before he could summon her again.
He glanced around, taking note that possibly all twelve of the servants had been slaughtered as the dryad did his best to hold off the remaining army in his weakened state. Would Maddox have made a difference if he were here? Cain wondered briefly before getting rolled over onto his back and having a foot jammed onto his already aching chest.
He sputtered as his oxygen was nearly cut, and Andrew removed his helmet once again. "You were always a terrible fighter Cain. Even when it mattered most. You've failed your servants and now they'll all die because of you."
"St-Sto-Stop!" Cain gasped out, placing a weak hand on his brother's foot to try and push it off.
Andrew laughed. "No, I don't think I will. I think I'll take you back to the Emperor to become his 'plaything'. Then I'll get not only our family domain but several neighboring ones and a heaping pile of gold. I'll go down in history for this. Oh! And when we kill the Chalot Queen, I'm told I and the rest of the unmarried knights will get the first pick of the women in her family as some kind of offering." The blond paused and looked off into the distance. "Ah that's right, you probably didn't hear. I've been knighted! There's going to be a Ball held in the Palace in a few weeks. It was planned before this attack was, so I guess you could say my month has been going fantastic."
The pressure on Cain's chest doubled, earning a pained groan as his half-brother continued to taunt him. "Can't say the same for you, can I? Your ally abandoned you, your servants are dead, and even your magical forest proved useless."
"What about Maddox?" He found himself asking between clenched teeth. Despite the circumstances, he couldn't help but wonder just what Andrew had wanted to say earlier.
"Oh right." Andrew rubbed his chin. "He's probably dead by now. The spies saw him leave here days ago and set up an ambush. As usual, you're on your own."
No. that's not possible. Maddox wouldn't fall so easily...
Then again, the dryad was stronger than Maddox was, and thanks to Andrew he was too weak to keep the army from infiltrating Cain's home.
Part of him believed his brother's words, and it angered him.
His labored breathing grew fast as rage consumed him, and soon he got his second wind and reached up, forgetting all pain, and knocked Andrew off of him.
His half-brother stumbled just long enough for Cain to regain his footing, glaring daggers at the man, then shouted from the top of his lungs before bull-rushing him.
It wasn't a trained maneuver of any sort. He was just acting on instinct as he practically picked the man up, carried him out of the forest, and then spun around with all his strength and tossed him over the fields.
This caused the man to hit the ground and skid, leaving a small crater behind him as his armor dented with each bounce. The other knights saw this and some paused their advance to see if their general was alright.
After a few more bounces, the man skidded to a halt and did not move. Cain stood there, huffing, then glared back at the forces who had witnessed the inhuman show of strength. Some of them were distracted enough for the dryad to pick them up and toss, and with renewed vigor, Cain started attacking the knights one by one, killing as many as possible.
Never before had he used the power of the pearl like this, and he knew he was crossing some kind of line as he used his superhuman strength to rip limbs off and smashed heads. He was on a rampage.
The knights started avoiding Cain, seeing the trail of bodies behind him as the animated trees continued to bury others alive while likewise throwing the remainder from the border.
Cain fought on autopilot to get as many of the knights out of the way. By the time the noises died down, he was standing among the trees, with blood splattered everywhere. Not a single thing stirred.
"Master..." The dryad called. Cain's head whipped around only to recognize the being as he gently stepped closer, a look of sadness on his face. "Oh master..."
Cain didn't understand why the dryad looked so upset. They'd won again! He was about to say so when he instead gargled a good bit of blood. Finally, he looked down and realized that in his reckless rampage, he had failed to protect himself from being stabbed. The blood covering his body was his own, and a broken sword tip stuck out from his side, as well as two arrows from the other.
He stumbled forward, then fell to the ground.
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