The words, 'A hundred to one' kept ringing in Kai's head. How did the expulsion of Babayega's magical power create so many of the evil?
It was now daybreak. No one had slept. No one could sleep.
The village was a considerable distance behind Kai. Abel stood beside him. The chief, Amish and Xander stood together. A few others stood around.
Kai left Katherine back at the village, much to her protests. Ava, who was apparently the chief's mate, would prepare the village in case Adium, the goblin leader's plan went south.
Ahead of Kai stood five trolls, Gruff amongst them. He ordered the other four around. They were about to pummel the land into a valley. It sounded impossible but it turned out the trolls had incredible strength.
Once the evil began crossing the valley, the fae's would use their powers - alongside the elves using arrows - to take out as much of the evil as they could.
"Duff, Tuff and Fluff. The front area is yours to pound." Gruff said gesturing to the land before him. "Buff and I will work on this area."
No one disagreed with Gruff. So the trolls began pounding.
"You hear their names right? It's extremely comical." Abel said to Kai, his expression holding amusement. Kai shrugged.
Abel seemed to always be in a bright mood, even when the atmosphere seemed grim. Kai hoped that the pending battle didn't change that.
Trees fell as the trolls began pounding the land with their fists. Dust began clouding the area, but barely, as the snow dampened it.
"Garett won't make it here soon enough will he?" Abel asked.
There was no doubt that Garett wouldn't make it here in time. The evil would be upon them very soon. To gather an army, then move it all the way here before the evil began their rampage...it was simply impossible.
"We'll fight for as long as we can." Kai said. He couldn't give Abel false hope.
After about a few hours, the pounding stopped. The dust cleared. The land that was before them was now beneath them. Kai was amazed.
"Wow." Abel exclaimed beside him, some others also murmuring their pleasure at the troll's work.
It was perfect for their attack, Kai thought. Then Kai wondered how the trolls would come up from the valley.
"Stand back." The Chief said. Everyone pulled back a little.
Then Gruff jumped from where he was in the pummeled land and landed at the chief's former position. The other trolls followed suit.
It seemed like the trolls had several tricks up their sleeves.
"What now?" Gruff asked, his tone snarling as usual.
"Now we wait." The Chief replied calmly.
Everyone pulled back, some resting on trees, others walking around the area.
Abel went to Amish who stood with Xander. Kai could almost feel Xander's anger as he stomped off, leaving Abel and Amish smiling and conversing with each other.
Wait no. Kai could feel Xander's anger. It was a seething thing.
So now he could feel the emotions of others. It wasn't any help in battle. And he couldn't even control it.
He wasn't sure it was Xander's anger he was feeling now.
Kai unsheathed heros and sat down against a tree. He picked up a sharp stone and began honing the blade, carefully making sure he didn't leave any ugly scratches.
It was pretty easy since he had hands that were trained in fluid movements by painting.
Then Gruff stomped past Kai. Kai could have sworn he deliberately kicked his boot.
"Excuse me?" Kai said as calmly as he could. Gruff turned back and looked at Kai, no remorse in his stare.
"You should watch where you put your foot Malakai." Gruff said.
But this wasn't really about his foot.
"We have no quarrel Troll." Kai said, going back to sharpening his sword. He deliberately added as much disrespect as he could to his tone.
In his mood, he was ready for a warm up before the main battle.
Gruff walked and towered over Kai's sitting form. A deliberate move to deliver a statement.
I am above you.
Kai didn't bother looking up at him.
"You're suppose to be the Ye juai's chance of survival. And even those bloody humans. But since you arrived...your energy, though it's unlike any kind, has been utterly pitiful. You're weak. Your large sword and fighting skills will not defeat the evil. Only the raw ye juai energy within you can stand a chance. You may think you brought hope...but you took what little of it we had." Gruff ended and walked away.
Kai wanted to be angry. Wanted to get up and beat up the troll that was literally twice his size. He wanted to blow up.
But he couldn't. Because Gruff was right. So far Kai had no control over any power he had in him. His speed was useful but he barely had good control over it. His mental powers would be useless in battle.
He was useless.
Kai threw the stone in his hand away. Then angrily jammed heros into the ground. It went through, standing on its own.
It was amazing how strong the sword was.
Hours and hours passed. The evil had yet to cross the valley sized ground pummeled by the trolls.
The sun would set soon.
Abel had at some time come to sit beside Kai. Everyone looked restless except for the chief who stood patiently, watching the other side of the valley.
"What if we got the area wrong? Maybe they're going through a different route." Abel said.
"I'm sure the chief is counting on the fact that the evil can sense our location. If they do, this is the only route to the village." Kai explained to Abel.
"But —" Abel was cut off.
"Hush." The chief said to no one in particular.
He stepped forward again, intently studying the other side of the valley where the trees hid its contents.
Then Kai felt it. Just as others around him began to rise and gather from their location.
Kai rose, Abel rising too.
It felt like the serpent in the woods. Like the shapeshifters from Belvedere. Like Viktor's mind.
Only where the other minds felt like it was clouded by fogs, these ones felt like...death. The emptiness in them was so heavy that Kai wished he couldn't feel their minds.
Then something stepped out of the cover of the trees. Kai walked towards the edge of the land before the valley to have a closer look.
It was pale white. Stood on two's like a human. Naked but no private part. Long claws on both hands and legs. Canines that looked sharp and strong enough to cut through the hardest bones. Eyes that glowed red. A head without a single hair.
It was hideous. It was beastly. And it's image would strike fear into any heart. The evil was here.
"What the...?" Kai murmured.
"Dead gods." Abel murmured beside him.
Then another like the creature came out. And then another. Then two more. And three more. They kept coming out till Kai couldn't count them.
And that was just the front line.
It was now unearthly silent. As though breathing even a slight bit louder would cause the world to twist.
Then the first of the evil to come out suddenly breathed in deeply and forcefully let out a hissing breath. Short and abnormal.
Then it did it again. And again. Then the one beside it did the same process. Then both of them were doing it. Before long all the evil were doing it.
If this was their war chant, it certainly had the probable desired effect of fear.
Then the first evil suddenly screeched so loud that Kai unconsciously gripped heros tighter. He didn't need to read their minds to know how they felt.
They were hungry.
It jumped down into the valley without fear of its life. If one could call it life. It landed with a crunch. But then it stood up again and began charging for them, limping as it did so.
Then another screeched and jumped. And then they all began pouring into the valley. Like mindless beings. They kept pouring. There were so many.
The chief stretched his hand towards the valley.
"Give them all you've got." He said grimly.
Then fire poured from his hands and onto the valley. Kai felt the wind current gather then lash out so violently towards the evil that it tore holes through some of them.
Then it dawned on Kai. The fae's were elementals. Kai watched three other fae's grit their teeth. As their hands rose, so did a portion of land in the valley.
It lifted, carrying some of the evil with it. Then they turned it upside down and slammed it with tremendous force, causing a booming sound, and crushing a large amount of the evil.
"Aim for their heads! Ready!" Amish called, her arrow nocked, and her grip unwavering. "Loose!"
The elves let their arrows fly. All the arrows Kai traced hit a target. The elves had amazing eyesight and accuracy.
Kai noticed that it took about three headshots to bring one of the evil down. Luckily the elves had more than enough arrows.
"It's actually working." Abel said with a grin. Kai unintentionally felt the excitement of everyone around him.
As though disappointment sensed their excitement, the evil stopped pouring into the valley. They just stood at the edge of the other side, watching and breathing in a feral manner.
One of the evil took a few steps backwards.
"You think they have enough mindfulness to retreat?" Abel asked Kai.
Then it began charging forward again.
"I doubt." Kai said as the evil unexpectedly jumped very high.
It was going to land right on Kai's side of the land.
"Get back!" The chief shouted. Everyone pulled back except the chief who stretched out his hands.
The incoming evil slammed against an invisible wall and fell into the valley. The chief had set up a barrier. Another evil jumped. And before long all the evil were jumping.
The chief gritted his teeth as every impact pushed him backwards. The fae's moved forward to help him.
"No!" He protested. "It's a futile effort! Go! Prepare yourself for battle!"
"We're not leaving you!" Amish said, the screeches of the evil rising as they gained more ground.
"You don't have a choice! I'll hold them as long as I can! Go now!" The Chief said.
Amish made to move forward but Xander grabbed her arm, then shook his head.
The chief was right. There wasn't much of a choice.
"Go!" The Chief shouted at them again, losing even more ground.
Kai pulled Abel backwards. Everyone began running back towards the village grimly.
There was no other choice now. They had to fight these things.
They had to go head on with the evil.
******
Katherine heard faint screeching sounds. It made the whole village go silent. She could only hope that was the evil screeching in pain.
She and Cen were with two goblins and an elf in the nursing cabin for the ye juai children.
Adorable tiny things in a cot. Except for one of the kids who already weighed half of all the children put together. A baby troll. It didn't make her any less cute though.
This was Katherine's station. She'd die before she let anyone hurt the children. And she was sure Cen would do the same.
The Mohjan girl was silent, but she wore her determination on her face.
Soon, there were murmurs from outside. And then the sounds of boot scurrying into the village.
Kai.
Katherine ran out of the cabin. The group that went out earlier in the day was now back. By their grim faces Katherine could tell things didn't go very well.
She walked and searched through the now crowded area for the face that would ease her rapidly beating heart.
Then someone grabbed her arm from behind and whirled her. She turned to meet beautiful locked hair and unwavering gray eyes.
"Thank goodness you're alright." She said to Kai, embracing him.
"Hey Sky." He said, brushing her hair backwards.
"What happened out there?" Katherine asked but Kai was focused on Ava who stormed towards Amish.
"Where is he? Where's Nathaniel?" She asked, her voice laced with fear.
"He..." Amish cleared her throat. "The evil crossed the valley through unexpected means. He bought us time by creating a barrier."
Ava's face dropped. For a moment it was as though she looked at nothing.
"Nathaniel." She whispered softly, clenching her fists and shutting her eyes tight. She was trying to hold back tears.
The chief sacrificed himself to buy everyone time. Katherine felt sorrow for his mate. The goblins who watched the kids with Katherine had explained how one almost never finds another mate should something tragic sever the connection with the previous.
"Ava." Amish placed her hands on Ava's shoulder. Ava opened her eyes and nodded. "The evil is here! We fight with armors. That way making skin to skin contact with them will be difficult. Gather your weapons. We're going to war."
And like that everyone was moving. Katherine and Kai went back to their cabin. Amish sent Kai a silver armor which Katherine helped him put on.
It fit him well. He sheathed heros, looking like a true warrior.
"I hate this armor. It limits my movement. And I hope my forelocks don't get in the way." He said, trying to look up at his hair which was obviously impossible.
He was trying to calm her. Trying to create a semblance of normal. Katherine smiled.
"I want you alive guardian. This armor gives you a shot at that. And don't make excuses to cut your forelocks." Katherine said, playfully flicking his cute forelocks. Kai sighed.
"Please. Please stay alive. I know it seems impossible but...but I'm sure we can survive this." She said pathetically. She couldn't help being naive.
Kai kissed her forehead, then hugged her.
"I won't let anything happen to you." He said. But he wasn't assuring her of his life.
******
Amish walked into Abel and Roudog's cabin. Roudog was currently helping out Sharaya and some others set up emergency tents for recuperation outside the village.
She doubted Roudog would be leaving the green-eyed Sharaya's side.
She stepped in to find Abel struggling to fit into armor. Her heart clenched a little at the thought of him, swinging a sword, trying to fight those monsters.
"Abel." She called.
"Oh hey." He said. He eyed her for a moment, taking in her silver armor. "You look like a beautiful warrior." He said with a smile.
She smiled back.
"Thank you." She said.
"I found this over there." He gestured to a large chest. "Do you guys just leave armors lying around. And these look so old, but in great condition. Strange."
"We keep an armor in every cabin. These are from the Armageddon." Amish said.
"Really? Unbelievable." Abel said, grinning as he tried to force on a glove.
"Abel." She called again.
"Hmm?" He replied.
"You're not coming." She spilled out.
He stopped pulling on armor and looked at her.
"What do you mean I'm not coming? You need all the help you can get." He said
Amish took a step towards him.
"Listen I get that you know a little bit of fighting but this is different."
"I can help Amish." He protested.
"Abel. Please." She walked to him and took his hand in hers. She traced his palm with her finger. "Not every battle requires you to fight. There are some battles where you just have to stay put." She said.
She lifted her eyes to him, a tear escaping her.
"And I don't want to lose you." She admitted.
His eyes held hers. He lifted his palm and wiped her tear. Then he leaned in and claimed her lips.
Something special. He was something special to her. She didn't want to lose him.
It was a slow kiss. One that held more emotion than she had experienced in all her years of existence. He drew back, leaving her wanting more, as usual.
Then he nodded. She smiled. He was now focusing on something else behind her, his gaze withering.
She turned to find Xander standing outside the Cabin, waiting for her.
"I'll hopefully see you soon." She said to Abel as she walked backwards and out of the cabin. She took in his dark eyes, his short brown hair, his pretty smile, his tan skin, his scent.
Everything about him. She wanted to be with him so bad.
She needed to survive...so she could live.
Every fighter wearing armor began moving, their count was more than two hundred. She was leading. Xander, Ava and Kai were right behind her.
She had asked Kai to go further back as he had no experience in battles. Kai had simply shrugged then said...
"We're facing feral's. None of us have an my experience in this."
They were out of the village, then past the recuperation site, before they began hearing trees fall.
Then they saw him, still gritting his teeth, legs digging into the ground to hold as much as he could against the evil on the other side of the barrier pounding continuously mindlessly.
Ava was already moving but Amish grabbed her arm. It was no use.
"Nathaniel!" Ava screamed, tears streaming from her eyes.
The chief looked back. His sleeves torn and his arm bloody. The moment he let down that barrier...
"Ready?!" His voice thundered even in his exhaustion.
Amish nodded.
"Nathaniel." Ava murmured as more tears streamed from her eyes.
"I love you!" The Chief said. Then he let the barrier down.
"Ava." Amish tried to pry Ava from seeing something that would hunt her for eternity if they made it through this. But Ava pulled away.
"No." She said.
The chief didn't stand a chance. He was immediately ripped apart by the evil. Tears streamed from Ava's eyes.
Nathaniel.
The first of many more deaths.
Then the evil began charging for them. With every strength Amish had, she screamed with ferocity...
"CHARGE!"