De'Vas Chronicles Book 4: Chapter 25

Those in Castle Markal heard the sound of the army before they ever saw it. The rhythmic beat of over a hundred sets of armor in motion echoed through the forest. The morning sun was still rising beyond the tree tops as defenders took positions on the ramparts. Selena worked to prepare her cannon while Haylee led the archers, with Grace assisting her. Ash could even hear Eva’s and Blake’s shouts in the courtyard to gather defenders should the gates fall.

Despite the chaos around him, Ash was calm. He stared out at the forest where the sound was coming from as he stood on the ramparts, Sparky beside him, purring.

“Here they are,” Grace growled.

Ash nodded.

“Just two days since we’ve seen their scouts, they must have been camping at the forest’s edge,” he said.

A black banner depicting two white suns appeared along the rough road from the castle, carried by an individual in a full set of black armor with more than thirty similarly outfitted soldiers following in rank and file. Behind them were a dozen knights mounted on elks, two of whom wore unique-looking armor.

“Are those runes?” Ash asked as he stared at the odd armor.

Grace growled.

“They are. Probably crafted by some poor slave they have chained to a forge in their castle,” she said, readying an arrow.

Ash ran his tongue along his lower lip in thought, his gaze fixated on the glowing runes of the armor.

“How far is their castle?” he asked.

Grace shook her head.

“Your orc woman should know,” Grace answered.

Ash raised an eyebrow at Grace, but said nothing. No doubt the wolfkin was just saying that since Eva typically followed him everywhere in the castle. Her job as his herald, as she would say.

The army stood just out of arrow shot and parted for the two in the rune-covered armor to approach the front lines. Both were tall and slender, which marked them as elves.

So these are the Exiled Princes.

One lifted his hand and pointed at Cleo’s banner hanging from the castle walls.

“I’m looking forward to burning that bitch’s face!” the elf exclaimed.

Ash leaned forward to try and get a better look at the runes.

“Are the runes well crafted?” he asked, squinting.

One of Grace’s ears canted as she looked at him.

“We are about to do battle, and you’re pondering the craftsmanship of their armor?” she laughed. “Are humans just beardless dwarfs? You’ll see how well it’s made once the fighting happens.”

The other elf cupped his hands around his mouth.

“Those inside, if you bring my brother and me the head of that murderer’s vassal, we will reward you with riches!” he shouted.

Grace growled again.

“Riches of iron chains around our necks and arms,” she said as she raised her bow.

Ash waved his hand for her to lower it, which she scowled at.

“They’re grouped together right now. Let Selena have the first shot,” Ash said as he turned to the unicorn.

Selena nodded as she placed a torch on the back of the cannon. Unlike those on Earth, this one didn’t use gunpowder. Instead, it used a plant native to Vas called Fireweed, which, when dried out, would explode when ignited.

Ash heard the cannon roar and watched as the ball of iron slammed into the row of soldiers to the left of the Exiled Princes. Their armor wasn’t enchanted, and cries rang out as blood and body parts flew through the air.

The army stared in stunned silence at the destruction, some still flinching from the boom of the cannon. Grace fired the first arrow, followed by Haylee, then the other archers. The Princes formed a wall of ice before them as their soldiers scattered for whatever cover they could find. The cannon had done a spectacular job of throwing the army into disarray. The two Princes were screaming orders and threats from behind their ice wall. At first, it was an incoherent mess with both of them, but soon Ash made out one phrase.

“Spellcasters! Kill the archers!” one of the Princes finally yelled over the commotion.

Ash downed the Lightning Resistance potion as he pulled on his magic and looked around the scattered army. Arrows struck at any who wasn’t taking cover behind trees or those with shields. He watched for any sign of magic, then he noticed the ground start to shift in several places.

“Archers! Duck!” he yelled as he pulled on his magic.

Earthen spikes shot from the ground toward the ramparts as Ash lifted his hands, fingers spread out. Streams of Lightning Magic poured from his hands, colliding with the earthen spikes, shattering them into dust. A few made it past him, flying over the ramparts, and one struck an archer in the shoulder who hadn’t taken full cover.

Ash gritted his teeth as he felt the wings sprout from his back and jumped from the ramparts. Ash landed, the wings vanishing before Sparky joined him on the ground a second later. He glared at the soldiers who had taken the break in arrow fire to emerge from their hiding places. He saw many drawn swords, readied arrows, and prepared spells.

“Ash!” Haylee yelled.

He already knew she had her bow drawn and a Water Magic arrow ready. He knew that Selena’s cannon was probably set as well; hell, even Blake, Eva, and Grace were preparing their attacks.

“Take cover,” Ash said, never taking his eyes off the army.

He started walking toward them, Sparky following beside him.

“What the hell are you talking about!” Haylee yelled back.

He knew he could fight this battle from the castle. He could rely on the archers, cannon, and his magic, but he knew there would be a cost. The battle would drag on, and there would be mistakes, there would be deaths.

“Take cover. I’m ending this,” Ash yelled back.

He heard more protests from the castle, but he continued to approach the army. The exiled Princes peered around their wall of ice at him, first with looks of confusion, then amusement.

“Brother, Blackthorn must truly be dead. There’s no way she would take such a fool as a vassal!” one said.

The other laughed.

“Do you wish to take the cat or me? I’m unsure which will be the more challenging fight,” replied the brother.

“Well, let’s see if he survives this first!” one said as he lifted his hand.

Ash didn’t stop moving as the ice spike formed in the elf’s hand and launched at him. He summoned his Lightning Shield Spell, causing three balls of Lightning Magic to float around him, one of which blocked the ice spike.

Not even strong enough to damage the shield.

“Okay, Sparky,” Ash said, feeling part of his magic shift to the elemental cat.

The blue cat beside him started to grow and change shape until a wolf the size of a van stood beside him. Many of the soldiers took a step back, and one even screamed.

“It’s an elemental!” he dropped his sword before running.

The Princes stared at Sparky, eyes wide with fear, as they quickly formed ice spikes. Sparky charged and jumped over the ice wall protecting the Princes, whom he ignored to attack the soldiers instead. Screams erupted from them as the elemental tore into a soldier. Spells struck Sparky, but he shrugged them off before pursuing the spellcasters.

The Princes watched the large wolf made of Lightning Magic run rampant through their forces, Ash completely forgotten.

That was something he was about to change as he held his arms out, feeling the Lightning Magic course through them as he aimed the Bolt Cannon at their ice wall. When the spell fired, it was deafening. The ice wall stood little chance and was shattered as it flung the brothers back. One brother rolled along the ground with broken blocks of ice, his body remaining unmoving. The other’s runes on his armor glowed green as he caught his footing and stood. Ash drew Riptide, activating the magical blade, and resumed his approach.

The standing Prince’s face was bloody from a cut, but as the armor glowed, the wound stitched itself closed. The healing elf looked at Ash, then his still downed brother, and finally Sparky’s massacre of the soldiers. Fear filled his eyes as he lifted his arms into the air. Ash thought the elf was about to surrender when a thick fog poured from his hands.

“Retreat!” the elf yelled as the fog spread around the battlefield.

Through the thick fog, Ash heard the sounds of armor clanking as it grew more and more distant. He kept his guard up, in case of an attack, as the mist slowly faded, leaving only corpses and torn up ground in its place where Sparky had chased the elves.

A cheer went up from the castle, and Ash turned to the unmoving Prince. When he approached the elf, he jostled him with his foot, then gave a swift kick. When he still didn’t stir, Ash knelt down and felt for a pulse.

Alive. Just unconscious.

“Sparky, let’s go back,” Ash called out as he grabbed the elf’s foot and started dragging him back to the castle. Cheers went up as he approached, and the gates opened.

“Well done, son!” Blake greeted.

The bearkin rushed from the castle with a few beastkin and orcs, two of whom quickly bound the Exiled Prince and took over bringing him into the castle. The others drew swords and moved toward the soldiers lying on the ground, though they all gave a wide berth to Sparky, even though he was back in his cat form.

Ash knew they would be looting the dead and putting any survivors to the sword. He met Blake’s grin and smiled at the bearkin, patting him on the shoulder.

“Thank you, Blake. I want to talk to our guest when he wakes up,” Ash said.

The two of them moved into the castle’s grounds. Immediately, Haylee was there beside him, the otterkin racing down the stairs of the rampart, jumping over the last three steps.

She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. He placed his arms around her in an embrace and felt Haylee squeeze him.

“Don’t do things like that,” she said, her voice muffled in his chest.

She looked up at him with a pout.

“My heart about jumped out of my chest when you flew down there!” Haylee said.

Ash smiled at her.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” he replied, kissing the top of her head.

Haylee narrowed her eyes at him before burying her face back into his chest.

“I’m still mad at you,” her muffled voice said.

Ash held Haylee as he looked up and saw Selena making her way down the stairs. The two of them shared a smile.

“Your cannon was very effective,” Ash said.

The unicorn beamed at him.

“It was,” she said as she walked up to him.

She placed her hand on his shoulder and leaned up to kiss his cheek. Ash caught Haylee peeking up from his shirt to watch it before reburying her face.

“Not as effective as you and Sparky, though I agree with Haylee. Please don’t do things like that, for our sake,” she said.

Ash put his arm around Selena and pulled her into a hug.

He wouldn’t say he did it to keep the two of them out of harm’s way. He knew that would just get him into more hot water, so instead, he just held them both. His girls.