Sages, Chapter 8: The Blood and the Battlefield
POV X
August 15th, 0200. North-Western Front of Bælan.
They came several hours ago. They fought, and valiantly, at that. For a good while, their forces held their ground, even against the opposing forces; they were so well renowned for their hostility and superior fire power.
That all changed when Company 103 showed up.
They were an elite group of fire mages. Completely unknown to any Bælanian intelligence, they took them by surprise. There was nothing that they could do.
In fact, surprise was merciful more than anything. Nobody would've stood a chance, even if they did know that it was coming. Through ignorance, their lives ended quickly, although painful and crude still applied by all reasonable circumstances.
Fire. Burning. Death.
Just a few long moments later, the battlefield was quite. All was still but the wavering flames that burned away the last of life within the reach of vision in the darkness of the night; all was silent except the crackling of the glowing fire, as well as the ringing noise that still pierced through his ears. Struggling to remain in a conscious state, Bakla grasped onto the ground in front of him, trying to pull himself up from the wreckage. From what, though? he thought. It was a strange sensation; he tried to gain leverage with his feet, but he couldn't seem to catch onto anything. He tried to free his legs from the large, heavy object that laid atop of them, but he could not. It was when he looked back to see what it was when he realized that it was nothing but empty space that held back the senseless lower-half of his body.
He turned back to look in front of him from his helpless position on his belly. His vision was still somewhat blurry, but he didn't require much of it to see what there was to see. He laid in the middle of what seemed to be an endless field of bodies, extending around him from each side. Red and yellow uniforms, embroidered with the official emblem and pride of their people laid tattered, bloodstained, and burnt to a crisp on the lifeless figures. Just a few feet in front of him, he saw his own general's forage cap, a staple symbol to his being. It lay tattered in the dirt; smoke still rose from the ashes, almost taunting him with the pure, unsuitable, immoral death that spread through the air in the form of a putrid scent.
Then, a sign of life: footsteps.
Bakla couldn't tell where it was coming from, but it was nonetheless the unmistakable sound of another living person. And they were getting closer.
Oh, joy! Another survivor. Perhaps this won't be hopeless after all...I, and maybe others too, can be saved.
The footsteps ended and trot into the dirt several feet from his face; the crippled remains of his hat were crushed by their sudden appearance. Bakla opened his mouth, speaking with the intention of addressing the fortunate salvation of his subordinate. "Soldier! I-"
Bakla's body went limp. He looked up not to see the face of a fellow soldier of scarlet and dandelion, but that of the royal night's blue and dark, stormy gray that defined Agu Morran presence. He could not identify the figure's species, but that was hardly relevant. He didn't know who his killer was, and he never would.
The soldier drew his blade from the sheath on his hip. He held it up above Bakla's head in residence for a quick moment, pausing as if unsure of how he wanted to serve the killing blow. In those last moments, there was nothing left for the marten to say, to hear, or to even think. The pure insanity that had claimed his reality within a matter of hours was so unbelievable it simply couldn't be true. His eyes watered with the release of his denial, hoping that if he were to die, at least he could do it with more purpose that to be unfairly slain like this!
No...not like this...why now, why like this?!
He tried once more to move his legs, or even his arms for that matter, as if to take a swing and the soldier's legs and bring him down with whatever strength he had remaining. Alas, there was nothing to be gained. The mere spark of just trying to move sent a splitting pain through his nerves; the burn marks covering his body stung like a bolt of lightning from the heavens above.
With the wave of the soldier's arms, the blade came whooshing down toward him. It was an act of mercy.
No...
Bakla's consciousness dissipated, and with one closing thought, it fled the soil's of Theria, never to return.
POV Bodey
- Windstrom, Aey'Áris.
"It's just him?" Kovarti surmised, dashing over to my side as I heaved Aiko's half-conscious body over to the covert hideout in the bush that the remaining lieutenants now huddled behind.
"Yes, that would seem to be the case," I responded as I gently rested the frail, damaged wolf against a nearby tree. Kovarti, Jadia, and Corow all kneeled, paying their attention to an erratic mixture of the madness ensuing in the village and each other. Tokato laid on the ground several meters away, still in a deep trance from the blow that he took from the now-vacant mage that had attacked us earlier.
I turned to Jadia, who was gazing at the dousing flames from the far end of the village; they swayed wildly in the large gusts of wind that the oncoming storm brought. "What's our situation?" I asked her.
"Not good. They've got their forces everywhere on the north. Their squadron of fire mages is still raining down chaos over there." She paused for a moment, then looked at me with a face of great calamity. "They'll be over us in a matter of minutes. We've sustained heavy casualties; if we stay, there's little chance that we'll be able to hold them off. I recommend we call the mission off and get the hell out of here."
I looked down to the dirt, my mind racing with dismay of our still faltering situation. She's right I though. We've got no other options.
"Do we know about Riicau and Nuuva?" I asked, grasping onto weak, hopeless straws. Jadia simply shook her head. "Sir, you saw the flames. They might as well have jumped into a volcano."
"Alright then. Jadia, grab Tokato; Corow, you get the wolf," I ordered, glancing at the two of them. "Round up any troops you find and get your tails back to Bælan. Now." The two felines nodded and grabbed their respective fallen figures, dashing through the woods and out of sight. I turned to the wolf remaining beside me, a stern but loyal look in his eyes; his ears perked up and ready for what we had to do next.
"Kovarti, you're with me. We're gonna go show those mages a piece of our mind."
A small nod from the wolf; and with that, we were charging headfirst into the towering flames.
POV X
Destin, Suria.
Eris was at a loss for words. "You want me to what, father?"
"You heard me, girl. You're gonna go there and fetch it for us. Simple as that," repeated Tarik, her father, who stood on the far side of the cabin's room, leaning against the wall. With sleeves rolled halfway up his beefy, gray-furred arms, they lay crossed in front of his chest; one hand held a bag with the offered funds upon her return, the other held a pipe to his muzzle. The raccoon's voice was gruff, and a similar complexion could be used to describe his furrowed face. The general, wearing a uniform highlighted with his nation's unique green and orange colors that stood out in the dimly lit room, was still silent.
"Just think about it, Eris," her father continued. "You've got a very unique set of skills here. You'd be paired with a few members General Ontako's stealth division. We already know the rough location of the artifact's historical position."
"Not to mention," Ontako added, glancing at Tarik. "It's likely that there will be people from both side of the war up there, searching for it. You can take a ride on their shoulders." Her father gave a quiet chuckle at this idea.
Eris still stood before them with disbelief in her face. Her father attempted to reassure her. "Open your mind, girl! If we can get our hands on the artifact, we could finally settle our disputes with Sibia and Bodora; we'll show them once and for all who the real powerhouse of this area is! And that's just the beginning of how great a power we would have control over."
Eris stood up. The slender raccoon's thin muzzle was tense with anger on her fresh face. "And why should I help with that? I'm half Bodoran too, father!" she exclaimed with hostility.
"Haha, are you now? You still mean to cling on to your mother's defective heritage?" Tarik said facetiously. "That place is just a huge mess of political turmoil. Be glad that you no longer live there."
Eris clenched her fists, trying to hold back her rage. Oh, why couldn't mother still be around? Father has always been this way, I suppose...and Miles had always agreed with him, too. Hmm... Eris released her tension and sat back down, now reworking her brain to advertise the positive aspects of the situation. She glanced at the two figures from across the room.
"Alright, I'll do it. But maybe next time, it can wait until sunrise?" Eris concluded. Both Tarik and Ontako chuckled. "You're just like your brother, you know that?" Tarik said with a grin. "Miles would've said the same thing."
Haha, yeah Eris thought to herself. Her silver eyes shone with a newfound determination. In one paw, she clutched the small, golden key that she kept as a necklace; it was a gift from her mother. "Just one question; how exactly do you expect us to get up to the north so quickly? The only way that doesn't interfere with Sibian-claimed territory is through the Viscay, but that would be quite the pledge. You can't seriously expect us to get up through there; it would be weeks!"
"Ah, yes!" the general exclaimed, suddenly very excited. "We have prepared you an...alternative method of travel! I believe that you will find it quite interesting."
Eris bore a mystified expression. "Alright...what is it?"
POV Bodey
- Forest Outskirts of Windstrom, Aey'Áris.
As I ran through the forest, I started smelling something strange. Then I started feeling something strange. Then, I looked behind me and observed my tail.
Oh, I'm on fire. That explains it.
I quickly brushed it off and tried to ignore the burn marks that the mages had left all over me and I charged through the continuously burning maze of trees. When Kovarti and I had run into them, they simply launched an attack on us and used some sort of smoke spell to disguise their escape. That asshole of an ice mage, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen. At that point we had decided that it was probably best that we evacuated before the fire had time to make the situation any worse. Since we made that decision, I had lost track of Kovarti, who had trekked off on his own to go rescue some of our own forces that may or may not have still been alive. Additionally, I was on fire.
Well. It got worse.
In front of my vision, all I could see was a giant mass of flames, glowing in the slowly dissipating night sky in exchange for the morning light, come a few more hours. I could hardly even tell that they were trees anymore; everything around me just looked like fire. Smoke wafted through the air, the toxic fume causing me to choke at it's presence. The further I ran ahead, the slimmer the chances of my survival appeared to be. The fire was consuming the forest faster than I or likely anyone else could cope with.
As I patted out more flames that had caught onto my fur, I noticed the outline of a person, lying on the ground in front of my path of travel. The figure, or corpse as I soon discovered, was lying underneath a downed tree. I trotted up to the figure and saw something that I didn't like.
It was Corow. And I didn't need to take his pulse to figure out that he was no longer alive.
Dammit! This is not good.
Thinking quickly, I glanced around for my latest acquaintance, only to show that there was no sign of the wolf being anywhere in the obvious vicinity. That's good; he must've been able to escape. But in his condition, there's no way that he got far...
I frantically searched around for him, but to no avail. I figured that if he had any two cents, he'd of taken the same clear-ish path through the trees that I was attempting, so I proceeded to make haste down said path.
After continuing down a path with both downed trees and trees trying to down themselves on me, I came to find the wolf lying on the ground, passed out from either exhaustion, suffocation or both, and with a plethora of burns and other physical injuries that notified me that despite him still being alive, he wouldn't be for much longer.
"Shit!" I yelled allowed, even though I was well aware that there was nobody around to hear me. "Stay with me, Aiko!" I pulled the canine up and heaved his light, almost lifeless body onto my broad shoulders and began to charge forward, through the bush; what would have normally been relatively easy for me was now made extremely difficult from my lack of oxygen. I felt my tiredness begin to take it's toll; my consciousness wavered, and my vision grew blurry. Come on Bodey, you can do this. If we can make it to the river, we should be safe from the fire there. All we have to do is make it to the river!
More trees fall as I run for our dear lives. One of them almost crushes us right underneath it; I dodge using what little agility I had left. Come on Bodey. Stay awake.
More trees, downing every second. Somewhere on my body, my fur is once again burning; considering the tattered, ripped and burnt state of both my clothing and my body, it could be anywhere. Or everywhere. Stay awake!
My vision continues to fade away. My legs feel weak and wobbly. My paws feel strange; the soles of my feet are now making contact with the heated, jagged ground, for my boots are next to nothing. Stay awake, Bodey. You're better than this, you know that.
More trees fall; fire is everywhere. Stay awake Bodey!
Every inch of my body aches and stings in pain, as if I am trapped in a swarm of jellyfish. You're a warrior, Bodey. Fight!
There is an opening up ahead, likely the river. You must stay strong!
My consciousness continues to slip away. I'm falling asleep. Stay awake!
Hey, isn't this nice...a nice...comfortable...bed...of fire...no! Don't...
Stay awake! Stay...stay...stay aw..aww...awake...
POV Eris
- Destin, Suria.
Out in the east, I could barely see the first sign the beginning of the sun's rise. That said, the skies were still pretty dark; there was little illumination from the stars or the moon, due to the heavy cloud cover that blew across the world above me.
Reluctantly, I followed my father and General Ontako out of our home and through a path in the woods. With the large trees around us to block the wind, the mosquitoes were quick to find me. Already an unpleasant night, I see.
"It's quite the night out, isn't it?" father commented. I shot him a glance as I trotted up beside him. "You mean you're not getting eating alive?" I protested.
"Haha, nope. I guess you inherited your mother's 'mosquito magnet trait. My, did she used to complain about that all the time!"
I grinned at the thought of it, but quickly washed it away before the memories turned on me and became depressing grievances.
We turned at a junction in the trail, veering off into a secluded part of the forest, heavily shielded from the outside. Curious...what could I possibly be seeing here?
"Well, if this was something that you needed to hide, I think you chose the right place. You can hardly see a thing," I observed. The general approached a closed gate at the end of the trail and proceeded to open it with a key that he swiped from his pocket. The serval turned around and faced me with his hand positioned and ready to open the gate; his face wore a rather mischievous grin. "Ready to see what's back here?"
I nodded to him, although nervously. He opened the gate and led us in. The first thing I saw was the tower of fire that shot towards me, sending an intense wave of heat towards me and barely missing the point at which it would've scalded my face off. "Rigby! Be gentle," the general shouted, at the source of the sudden burst of flames. I couldn't quite place a paw on what surprised me more: the fact that there was still a forest present there, or the very nature of the beast that my eyes were then drawn to.
Not possible.
"Ummm...father?!"
"Well look at that!" my father marveled, ignoring me comment. Him and the general stood side by side, their faces radiant with the strange joy of what they saw. "You were right, Ontako. He really is quite the beauty!"
Rigby the Thitusan Copperback hovered over thirty feet above me. The dragon had brightly painted scales which shined in a mixture of black and the copper-like color that they were known for. They're native to the Thitus mountains, but the general's choice of bringing this creature made sense to me. According to the books that I read as a child, the Copperbacks are supposed to be one of the most gentle and safest dragon species in Theria. Although that's hardly saying much, given the fact that, you know. It's a dragon.
"This is insane," I retorted. "You expect me to fly a dragon to our destination?"
"Well, I don't see why not," Ontako reported. "He's quite the experienced passenger lift! He'll even fly back to me on his own once you're done with him. Isn't that convenient?"
For the second and far from the last time that day, I was speechless. "This is insane...but I guess I'll do it, father!" I yelled to him, mocking the still-giddy expression on his face while trying to accept a more positive outlook. I turned to the dragon, who now held his head down to my level. The sheer size of him was enough intimidation to supply me for the rest of my life.
"Hello, Rigby," I said to him in a soothing voice, attempting to coax the dragon. He made a quiet huffing noise, which I chose to accept as a note of affection. I moved up to his muzzle and gently patted his nose. "Why, aren't you a good boy!" Maybe this won't be so bad after all, I thought.
Rigby returned my kind gestures with an big, affectionate lick in the face from his large, slobbery tongue, accompanied by an additional strong whiff of the incredibly putrid breath that emanated from his mouth. I stood in front of him, stiff as a board and stunned with disgust. Upon opening my eyes, I could've sworn that the creature was smiling at me.
"Get your things together, girl," my father said, patting my on the back. "You'll be leaving at sunrise."