Rohan sprinted along the beach as fast as he could, just on the edge of the trees where the sand would not give under his weight. His heavy armour caused him to tire quickly, but he was only halfway to the small village.
A steady drumming sound began to rumble through the air. First from the front of the island, and then all around.
They were coming.
Rohan looked out onto the ocean and could see the rowboats lit with torches drop into the water from the anchored ships. It would take them at least a half hour to row across the shallow waters. It was the ships to the west of the rock, the ones that could get in closer, that he had to worry about. They would still have to row, but it would only take minutes.
The thought of warning Elara and the others before Hectar got to them propelled him across the beach. The forest opened onto the agricultural lands, and he sprinted through the fields of Gentry’s vegetables, the harder soil allowing him to run faster than he had on the sand.
As he made his way through the farmland towards the village, he noticed that people were already outside of their homes. The drums must have awakened them.
“You’re under attack!” he yelled as he sprinted into the village. “PREPARE FOR BATTLEPrepare for battle!”
“Rohan?” A familiar voice rang out above the crowd. “What’s happening? What’s that noise?”
He saw Gentry outside a dimly lit hut and stopped abruptly. Novella was crouched behind her father, and next to them was a young man that he could have sworn he had seen before.
“You!” the young man said, his long blond hair was tied up in a knot on the top of his head.
“You are under attack,” Rohan heaved, ignoring the blond man. “Get your Godstones, get the children to safety, and prepare to fight.”
“How many?” Gentry asked. Everyone else around them was silent.
“Hundreds of soldiers and all of Sable’s Wielders,” Rohan panted. “Get ready for a fight. They are coming from all angles. You are surrounded. Send a few to the north and south sides, they can take down the rowboats from the shore and slow them down. A few more to the west where my ship made landfall. Hectar—”
“Hectar is here?” Gentry said, eyes widening.
“Yes,” said Rohan. “He’ll be in the front, along with several other ships. They’ll be making landfall sooner than the ships on the other sides of the island. That is where the fight will start. Go there, and send some men west. I’ll find Elara and tell her to go to the east. She can wield from atop the rock. Now, get ready!”
The village bustled. Torches were lit, and people scrambled in and out of their homes.
“Gentry,” Rohan said, grabbing his friend by the shoulder. “I’m going to find Elara. We’ll scope out the scene and then I will meet you on the frontlines.”
Gentry nodded.
He let go of his friend and ran towards Elara’s house.
He had barely made it out of the village when, off in the distance, he could see a figure running full speed towards him. There was no mistake. It was his Elara.
“What do we do?” Kuba asked looking from Aurelia to Ion.
“You go with Novella, Kuba,” said Gentry, pointing him towards a small group of children who were gathering outside his hut.
“But I can help!” Kuba said, even though his chest felt like it had a coil wrapped around it. “I can fight! I’ve been learning.”
“No, Gentry is right,” Aurelia said, looking frantically in all directions, fully alert. She turned back to him. “You’re just a kid.”
“A kid with a Godstone!” Kuba pleaded. “My using it didn’t seem to bother you on the boat!”
“You’re right,” Ion said, kneeling down. Ion’s hand fell onto his shoulder. “It didn’t bother us, and you almost died. Let’s not risk that again.”
Kuba looked into his brother’s eyes. How could he explain what Vincent had told him? What the wield on the boat did to him, how it made him feel?
He was stronger now.
“And Spearield is not the United Azanthean Army,” Gentry added, pressing his hand on Kuba’s back. “We do not let children fight.”
Kuba rolled his eyes. He could understand his brother wanting to protect him, but he wanted to protect Ion as well. He began to form a plan. “Fine.”
“Okay,” Gentry said. The friendliness in his face had melted into a hardened worry. “Aurelia, Ion, can you help take Kuba and Novella and the other children to the hideout? I need to get everyone mobilized.”
“Sure,” said Aurelia.
Kuba waited with Aurelia and Ion as the village scrambled to prepare for battle. He was impatient. Aurelia and Ion were tasked with carrying the youngest children. Kuba recognized some of the older ones. Robert and Gentry’s daughter, Novella, stood at his side.
“We’ve got everyone,” said one of the Free-Wielders leading the group. “Follow me.”
“Alright,” Ion said from the front of the small crowd. He had a baby wrapped around his chest.
“Let’s go,” Aurelia said.
“What are you doing?” Rohan shouted. “Go back to the front!”
Elara kept running forward towards the village, looking incredibly focused. Rohan sprinted straight towards her. They were bound for a collision.
“Rohan, move!” Elara said, still sprinting on her path.
“Stop!” he yelled, planting his feet and throwing out his arms, forcing her to come to a halt. “Elara, I’ve warned everyone. You need to go to the front!”
“I saw them. They are coming from all sides!” she panted.
“I know,” Rohan said, still blocking her way. “Everyone is preparing and you need to get to the front. That is where Hectar will be.”
“They need me.”
“Yes, they do,” Rohan said firmly. “They need you on the front.”
Elara hesitated for a moment. “Right, let’s go,” she said, her brow furrowed. “Fill me in on the way.”
“They must’ve followed the group that came through Sable earlier this month,” he said.
“Where are the children?” she asked.
“I told everyone to prepare,” Rohan said. “The children will go underground. They will hide.”
“Good,” Elara said as they approached the stairs at the base of the giant rock. “Positioning?”
“Most are coming to the front. I sent some to the sides and the back of the island to fight.”
Elara nodded, moving to climb the stairs. Rohan grabbed her hand, the warmth of it made him smile.
“I’ve missed you,” he said, looking up into her eyes. “And I am so sorry.”
“As am I,” Elara said, cradling his face in her soft hand. She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. “Thank you for coming to warn us. I know how much you are risking.”
She leaned in to kiss him again, and this time, he swept her in close, pressing her as tightly to him as he could. The feeling of her body melting into his consumed him.
For a moment, it felt like everything was okay. But as her hands untangled from his hair and her lips dropped from his, the gravity of the situation returned. He held her gaze for a moment.
The ground began to rumble. The Free-Wielders of Spearield were running out of the forest towards the beaches. More than half of the island’s inhabitants had come to the front. They stopped in front of Rohan and Elara, awaiting instruction. Elara stepped forward.
“We have lived here, free of Hectar, free of Apollyon, and free of Azanthea for decades,” she yelled out as the crowd gathered. Samantha and Robert pushed to the front, taking their places next to Rohan as her advisors. “Today we defend our freedom, our lives, and our home!”
The crowd roared, holding their weapons and Godstones in the air. The light of dawn began to peak over the rock.
“Time for battle!”
Chapter 44
Spearield, 1st Day of the Month of Fire 1114 A.F.F.
Rohan stood atop of the shield-like rock, huffing from the run up the
stairs. The salty air stung his lungs. Elara made it up to the platform right after him. He held out his hand to help her up the last step. She placed her hand in his gracefully.
For a mere moment, they stood there, hand in hand, taking in the terrifying sight of dozens of rowboats making their way to shore.
In that moment, it was them against all else.
Rohan looked out at the larger vessels anchored in the shallows. The ships were further out than he had thought they would be, and he was immediately thankful the cannons were out of range. The skies may be on their side after all. Rohan scanned the waters for any sign of Hectar.
“He’s in the lead,” Rohan said, pointing out the rowboat ahead of all the others. Hectar was already in shallow waters.
Elara nodded and opened a small pouch she had been carrying, pulling out her blue Godstone. Her eyes went white and she lifted her arm towards Hectar’s boat.
“NOW!” Hectar’s voice rang across the ocean and up towards their rocky perch. The entire crew of his boat leapt over the sides, just as the Free-Wielders came sprinting around the bend of the rock. Moments later, their boat was crushed by Elara’s giant wave; she had been too late.
“Charge!” Hectar roared with his sword hoisted in the air. The soldiers from his rowboat sprinted forward through the shallow waters. Rohan watched as they prepared their wields and cast at the Free-Wielders. A parade of elements clashed in the morning air. Hectar followed them, slashing his sword at anyone who dared get in his way.
The fury of wields grew thicker. As more soldiers jumped out of their boats and into the knee-deep water, Rohan lost sight of Hectar.
Elara raised her arm again and took out one for the incoming rowboats, sinking it into a whirlpool. “Find me Hectar,” she shouted over the battle cries below. She capsized another rowboat, this time with a fury of waves.
Rohan scanned the battle for Hectar. When he found him, he was in knee-deep water, moving away from the centre of the battle. “There!”
Elara swept both her hands out in front of her and a twenty-foot wave rose out of the sea. It rolled towards Hectar, but before it hit him, he splashed down flat into the water. The wave rolled right over him, his heavy armour sinking him to the bottom of the shallow waters.
More soldiers piled out of their boats. Most were not Wielders, but it was a numbers game, and the islanders were losing. Rohan gritted his teeth. He needed to think. If he was caught fighting for the Free-Wielders and they lost, he knew exactly what Hectar would do to Libby.
A sudden panic welled up in Rohan’s chest. He needed to get away, to hide his face. If he was seen, his daughter’s life would be over.
“Focus on the ships. Hectar can’t do this alone,” Rohan said to Elara. “I’m going to help at the rear.”
“Be safe, my love,” she said, her white eyes never moving from the sea she was laying waste to.
Rohan nodded, but did not say anything in return.
He ran down the rock staircase. The sounds of muffled screams from the other side of the island’s rock vibrated in his ears. He looked back up to Elara, his powerful wife. She was atop the rock, stirring up the ocean and sinking ships.
Rohan got to the bottom of the stairs and leaned his head against the rock wall, unable to make a decision, though he knew he had to do something. As soon as he moved around the corner of the rock shield, he would be immersed in the fighting.
But which side would he choose? If he fought with the Free-Wielders, he was condemning his daughter to death, but he knew in his soul it was the right thing to do. If he fought with the United Azanthean Army, he would be killing his friends, who may reveal his identity as their spy anyways. But they may not, and Libby would live.
It was an impossible choice. Rohan slammed his hand on the rock. Having to make it petrified him. He looked down at the Godstone he was holding in his hand and shook his head. As much as he loved Elara and this land, he had chosen his daughter once before and he would do so again and again. Forever.
Rohan grabbed the hilt of sword, preparing to pull it from its sheath as a figure came reeling around the far side of the rock wall.
Rohan recognized the unmistakable armour and build.
It was Hectar.
His stomach dropped. He looked from Elara to Hectar. He should have left her sooner to rejoin his troops.
But now he was stuck between Elara and Hectar. Between Elara and Libby.
He clutched his Godstone tighter, feeling the connection with it. He looked up at the rock platform on which Elara stood. She was so entranced in her wield that she hadn’t even noticed Hectar. Or she had, and she expected him to defend her.
Rohan sighed deeply as he called upon the powers of his Godstone. He focused on the rocky stairs and platform. The rocks cracked and crumbled, and the staircase and platform merged into a giant slide. Elara tumbled down it.
She cried out in pain as she hit the ground, her body a tangle of flailing limbs. Rohan quickly forced the rocks back into their original place.
He quickly glanced at Elara’s hands. They were empty. Her Godstone must have been lost in the fall. He pulled his sword from its sheath, placing the tip of it under her chin.
“Rohan?” she whispered, still swaying from the impact.
“I am so sorry,” Rohan said, his voice trembling. “I have to…”
“You don’t.” Elara’s eyes were filled with tears. “Please.”
Rohan turned to check on Hectar’s progress. He was nearly upon them. “I do. For Libby.”
“Do you not see?” Elara said. “They have made her into one of them. Your daughter is gone.”
“Don’t say that!” Rohan shook his head. His daughter could still be saved.
“What about me? Us? You’ll sentence us to death?”
“I’ll get him to take you alive,” Rohan said, his sword still pressing against the underside of his wife’s chin. His heart was tearing into pieces. “I’ll tell him we need to question you.”
“I will not be a traitor,” she said. She took a deep breath and brought herself to her feet. Rohan took a step back, but kept his sword pressed firmly under her chin.
Rohan looked back again. Hectar was close, probably within earshot. “Please,” he whispered. “For Libby.”
“You will have to kill me,” she said. Her messy hair flowed down her back, and she held her chin high. She looked resolute and proud.
Rohan hesitated.
“If you don't kill me, he will,” she said. “If you’re going to do it, do it now.”
He knew she was right. But Hectar wouldn’t just kill her, he would torture her first. Rohan had witnessed Hectar’s torture methods. He shuddered at the thought.
“I’ll get him to bring you back,” Rohan said, scrambling for a solution. “Then I can get you out.”
“I will die here with my people!” Elara spat out. She wrapped one of her hands around the blade and pulled it closer to her neck. Blood dripped down from where its edges dug into her palm. She did not wince.
“You chose your side,” she said. “And I chose mine. I will die here, on these sands, with my people.” She looked deeply into his eyes, and he knew, in that moment, that she wanted it to be him, not Hectar. It was the only courtesy he could give her. He closed his eyes, holding back the tears. The wind caught her hair and her flowery scent surrounded him. He inhaled deeply, wanting to remember everything about it.
“I am so sorry,” he whispered, clutching his sword with both hands and pressing it into her throat. “My love.”
Aurelia jogged through the tropical forest, Ion running next to her. She was careful not to run over the protruding roots. She breathed deeply, preparing herself mentally for what lay ahead.
She glanced over at Ion. She was nervous for him; he had never been in a fight like this before. Neither had she, but she had endured more than Ion in her short life. He was just a guy from a small village who had been thrown into this mess. Yet, she was glad he was at her side.
> They ran through the village on the outskirts of the palms, the forest opening into a sandy clearing. Aurelia could hear the battle cries coming from the beach on the other side of the rock wall. As they crossed the empty void of sand, the sounds of the ocean’s waves and the faint, distant screams sent a chill up her spine. This was the calm before the chaos.
“Wait,” she said, throwing her arm out in front of Ion as they approached the house on the side of the rock. They stopped in their tracks. “Something is wrong.”
There was a figure collapsed at the bottom of the stairs; a messy pile of red and black.
“Elara,” Ion whispered.
Aurelia’s eyes widened. It was Elara. Her porcelain skin was just visible beneath her dark hair. “No!” she screamed, and they took off, sprinting towards the lifeless figure. Aurelia kicked up sand as she slid onto her knees, stopping right next to the body. Ion did the same.
Elara’s torso hung forward, her face in the sand. Aurelia did not see any sign of life. Her stomach lurched.
“Who could have done this?” Ion said.
Aurelia shook her head, her eyes closed tightly. She couldn’t form words. Elara had been her last connection to home, to her father. And she was the most powerful Wielder on the island. What would they do now?
They were both silent.
Slowly, Aurelia inched herself closer to Ion. “Where is her Godstone?” Aurelia asked as she scanned the scene, a rush of panic overcoming her.
“Maybe the soldier who did this took it?”
“She should have it,” said Aurelia. She threw her hands into the sand, scrambling around to find the Godstone.
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