Rei, Izumi and Onyx were also returning from their fights. They didn't look like they had any struggles in defending the commoners in their respective areas. Glancing at Rei's belt of icicles, Amadeus was impressed that he didn't have to expend any icicles to defeat the battle-wizards in his area. He must have done it solely with his frost dagger. Majority of the Nobles had been caught by surprise by the additional resistance provided by the Exiles that Amadeus had brought back with him. With only a handful of battle-wizards left, the scattered remnants started to flee in terror, only to be taken down by Old Jarbus' monstrous Eadren.
Loud cheers resounded from among the commoners, thrilled to have pushed their Noble attackers back. Amadeus didn't share their optimism. He knew it had been too easy. The Nobles were far from done. "Stand ready," he whispered to his team. They nodded back at him, ready for more.
"Stay alert," shouted Old Jarbus from above to his commoner troops. "Don't let your guard down. That was only the first wave. The Nobles always send in the rookies first to test the ability of the enemy. You only pushed back the sacrificial lambs!" At this reprimand, the field of commoners fell silent. "They will attack again with a stronger and more experienced force. Shields up, weapons ready and keep your brothers in arms alive. One weak link is all it takes for many deaths to happen."
As the commoner's raised their shields, another wave of battle-wizards surged from White Harrow. This time, the battle-wizards spread themselves out, and they filled up the sky as numerous as the stars. The second wave. Amadeus braced himself for the impending attack.
This time, the battle-wizards chose to spread out and formed a layer above the commoners, showering down a constant stream of flame, ice, and what looked like waves of concentrated air. The concentrated air split the earth upon impact, leaving deep grooves in the snowy ground. Old Jarbus, Bastian and Bianca weaved in and out of the Nobles, taking them down one at a time. Despite their efforts, they could not take out the Nobles fast enough and the commoners below paid the price by bearing the brunt of the attacks.
Amadeus gritted his teeth, frustrated that there was not much he could do without outright abandoning his defensive position outside the building which held all the women and children. Those commoners whose shields had shattered under the barrage of attacks were getting hit by the elemental attacks. Some of them screamed in agony as the fire engulfed them, while others were shattered into pieces and being frozen solid by the ice attacks.
"Close the gaps!" Old Jarbus roared desperately as he ran his spear through one of the battle-wizards. The Nobles were ignoring the three Avianath riders and instead focused their attacks towards the grounded commoners. The commoners below reacted to Old Jarbus' command immediately, scurrying together to close in the gaps left by the dead. Amadeus felt sick to his stomach when he thought of them stepping over the dead to close the gaps. The dead were without a doubt people whom he had known from as far as he could remember. The bakers, the smiths, the tailors; all of them people he had spoken to in passing throughout his lifetime in the commoner camp.
One grunted softly and looked at Amadeus with concern in his eyes. It was as if he could sense the turmoil within just by looking into his eyes. Amadeus was really surprised how well One understood him, even though they had only just met. It was as though One read his mind. One glanced quickly at the fray where the battle-wizards were showering down death from above before turning back to Amadeus, raising his eyebrows questioningly. Amadeus knew what he was asking and nodded without exchanging any words.
Immediately, One took off towards the heat of the battle, brushing off the fire and ice falling upon him without flinching. The fire turned to ash upon contact with his rocky skin and rolled harmlessly off his shoulders. The ice splintered into tiny chips as they struck with his back and pattered weakly onto the floor. Passing the group of commoners huddled together under their shields and fearing for their lives, he stepped over the bodies of the fallen.
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 :)