The sea of white flowed through, bleeding over the gold, and overtaking the gate into sector one, the final sector before the castle. The rest of Laelliandir's army had made much less progress than he. Those in the eastern part of the city still fought in sector five. Yet, those at the center were in the heat of the battle. The center of Magwhen was where most Novanians had gone to defend, and it was a blood bath. Sierra had taken this route, and she fought at the head along with several other great fighters, but the enemy was heaviest and most relentless here. They were at a complete standstill. Nobody was being driven back. Nobody was advancing.
Once Laelliandir's men surpassed the gate and entered sector one, another heavy wave hit them. It was the worst they had seen. The enemy who had pushed and shoved to get through the gate to reach them no longer had any barrier holding them back. They slammed into Laelliandir's troops in a frenzy, stalling the loyalist's momentum. Right at the sector entrance, they were stuck, forced to defend the very gate they had just taken. Laelliandir, still adamant to protect his people, fought at the front lines attacking anyone and everyone that dared come close. As skilled as he was, though, there were just too many. They kept coming. As one fell, two more would be there ready to attack them, and Laelliandir felt the strain.
It was at Laelliandir's weakest moment that Bella found her courage. She had killed no one since she had arrived, but by the time Bella made her way past the gate and into sector one, she saw Laelliandir. He was struggling worse than she thought possible. She shoved past her allies and came to his side swinging her sword into the neck of one soldier, followed by ripping past Laelliandir into another.
"You don't need any help? Hmph." Bella announced her presence as she joined Laelliandir's side.
"Bell! What are you doing here?" Laelliandir yelled in exasperation nearly out of breath, his level of panic evident in his voice. "You get out of here right now!" Bella ignored his comments and focused now on everything she had learned. She parried and blocked every attack that came her way and aimed to kill. Bella ignored her fears and her internal battle, choosing to calm her mind and act as if these soldiers were nothing more than practice targets.
"I'm where I belong. By your side!" she answered his demands as she slung her sword hither and thither finding her mark upon any that approached them.
"You're too stubborn. You will be the death of me." Laelliandir insisted, knowing now he could do nothing, but accept her help no matter how much it outraged him. He was weakened and feeling the strain in his arms and legs.
"You tell me this as I save you? You really need to work on how to talk to me." Bella tried making light of everything. What had frightened her was now exhilarating. Her heart pumped fast, and a strange excitement grew within. Her fear was gone, and she was captivated by the thrill of protecting him. While her entrance into battle didn't change their predicament, it had not hurt a thing either. They were still surrounded and being pummeled hard. However, Bella's arrival triggered one event that would impact their advance into sector one.
Not long after Bella arrived at Laelliandir's side, Albatros also came. He traveled the high walls then made his way down to the lower ones following them all the way to the gate of sector one. He threw himself off that bulwark and came crashing down like thunder in the mighty storm before the gate. With a great thud, Albatros landed upon the ground in front of Laelliandir and his hoard, bringing down his ax in a broad and powerful swipe. Upon impact his shaft tore through the air, colliding into every enemy within his radius, tossing them back with ease. Before Bella, Laelliandir and the armies' eyes, Albatros' peculiar ax had done something unimaginable as it took down eight oncoming enemies, but that was not all. That one swing of his massive ax tore straight through metal and steel, shattering swords and ripping into armor as if they were made of paper, leaving several slain. Unlike any other, his ax's incredible strength seemed beyond possibility. Laelliandir had convinced himself he had imagined Albatros' uncanny actions on the field of battle before, but this time he saw it up close. The moment Bella and Laelliandir witnessed how one swift stroke of his ax barreled through several victims as if they were no denser than air, they knew his ax had some kind of wizardly properties.
Albatros said not a word but swung again, batting the enemy away, and taking the role of the head of their charge. Swinging back and forth killing or injuring any that came his way, Albatros created a substantial dent all by himself. Imaginations could not have conjured such a weapon, yet there Albatros was harboring an ax that seemingly cut through anything. After a few strokes, Laelliandir, Bella and the rest followed his lead, and charged to the sides, steering clear of Albatros' threatening ax. Before long they again made a steady advance into the first sector of the city. Soon the troops of Magwhen also realized that nothing Albatros' ax touched would survive. They called out orders to strike Albatros' ax handle or his head to stop him for he had become such an essential juggernaut for Laelliandir's host. As he wore protective Lamisdoria armor, his head was the only part of his body that was vulnerable. Experienced in battle, Albatros knew he must protect himself from oncoming archers, and he kept the handle of his ax well-guarded from potential strikes.
Eventually, the rebels pushed their way down the main road, before coming upon a fork in the road, a large mansion of a house sitting upon the corner. Laelliandir looked up at the castle and saw only more inhabitants of the keep unloading from within to join the attack. He also noted the bulk of his forces were still nowhere to be seen in the mountains above it. He knew Lonewolf had betrayed him now, for his rebellion would not have left them in such a perilous situation. Charging in with a spectacular surprise attack, victory should have come by now. It was flawlessly executed. However, the core of Laelliandir's people should well have been charging down the mountainside, striking from behind. They weren't there and were not coming. To keep with the plan, he knew what he must do. Albatros or not, they would eventually lose like this. He intended to finish what they'd come here for and keep his end of the bargain.
"Bell. You need to follow me now." Laelliandir insisted after dispatching one troop. Bella was not about to argue with Laelliandir as she still didn't understand what was going on. She kept her eyes on him as she fought, still surprising herself at just how well she held up in her first battle. Laelliandir backed away from the heat of the front lines but pursued any that dared attack. Bella followed his lead, doing the same. Laelliandir led the two toward the five-story stone estate with a black roof and red oak door. While Bella did not understand why, she still pursued him. "Tear them down!" Laelliandir shouted to his troops as he continued to depart, Bella only a couple paces beyond. Albatros also noticed them leaving and was torn on what he should do. Was he supposed to lead the charge or follow? He didn't like the sound of either, but he understood Laelliandir's plan and knew his best course of action would be to buy as much time as he could. Laelliandir planned to bring his uncle and the Overlords to justice, and as much as Albatros wanted to be at his side and protect Bella Luna, he also realized just how important a role he played in holding back this army.
"Get in there!" Albatros furiously roared out to Laelliandir and Bella, before ravaging an oncoming enemy. "I'll hold them off as long as I can!"
Laelliandir and Bella looked back in surprise for they had never heard Albatros raise his voice, much less yell.
"Come Bella." Laelliandir beckoned as he ran through the yard and upon the mansion door. He opened it with haste and jolted inside, Bella right behind him.
"What are we doing? They need us?" Bella questioned.
"Basement. There is a secret pass that will lead us into the castle."
"Of course." Bella thought." Next time I should ask what the sard is happening?" Whatever was happening, she knew it wasn't good, and life would never be the same.
Chapter Twenty Seven
Ensnared
S ince King Casen's mad crusade had terrorized and pillaged several regions, Magwhen had experienced an overload of
new and homeless citizens moving into their lands. Thousands had lost their homes and had nowhere else to go. The Overlords had yet to decide how to handle the new population. Should they place the people in old homes in different provinces or expand Magwhen? Until they made a final decision, the temporary solution was to move and house many of their own soldiers within the first five floors of the castle. Another army base operated a few hours away that also housed many military folk, but given the influx of several thousand new soldiers, there were not enough living quarters to go around. The overcrowding had lessened once the bulk of Novanian forces headed out in pursuit of the rebellion days earlier. Even the large castle in Magwhen housed far fewer soldiers than was typical, but Laelliandir's present attack on Magwhen brought out almost all the remaining troops from the castle.
The top five floors of the Novanian stronghold were home to the High King, Queen, and their family, along with their servants, Neighraellium, Lonewolf, and a few other friends of the core family. Thus, these upper floors were off-limits for anyone else. When the war horns blew, and the fighters emptied from the castle, everyone on the top five levels was ordered into hiding. The Overlords, their bodyguards and Lonewolf would hide away if they chose, but the rest secured themselves elsewhere. As a precaution, the servants had taken to the place where they did laundry every day and set up sturdy wooden bars to lock any from getting in should the enemy breach the castle. All the rest of the royal core family, friends and people of significance, took cover in the eighth-floor library. It had three entrances and exits, which they secured with bookshelves, and Pathorus Maelor even used his master key to lock them up safely for good measure.
After the castle had become primarily vacant, the Overlords, bodyguards, and Lonewolf watched the battle unfold from a large balcony that protruded from the ninth floor of the castle. It was a large walkway that circled around the front of the castle, giving a perfect view of the city below. One floor up and about the center of the keep there was a much smaller balcony made just for the Overlords of Nova which resembled Lockage's royal overlook. However, as the battle for Magwhen was fought below, Novanian's most essential figures remained on the large balcony of the ninth floor. Here the Overlords stood side by side, clinging to the stone railing as they viewed the city in turmoil below. Scattered around them were twenty-four of their personal bodyguards and Lonewolf.
The Overlords were dressed in regal garments of red and gold while Lonewolf wore all black. The elite guards were armored in gold Novanian colors, however, because of their essential roles, their armor was much more elaborate. From the shoulder blades, and down to their gauntlets were foreboding razor-sharp spikes that had been forged from the armor's metal. About their helmet were also two larger, yet just as sharp spikes that sprawled out like a bull's horn. Their weapons were many and of all kinds. Some were giant broadswords, while others carried twin blades, maces or axes, depending on the preference and skill of the guardian. Overlord elite guards were some of the finest fighters in all the land, typically trained by the White Lions or a sword master of that caliber and had been tested in great arenas to prove their worth for selection. They existed but for one purpose. To protect the Overlords.
"They'll take sector one in time if we don't do something," Lonewolf explained to the Overlords. The Magwhen fighters gave a strong effort in the center of town, but as Laelliandir's soldiers overtook sector five, the Novanian troops joined in at the city's core. Sector six had become nothing more than a prison to the cities' guards, so Laelliandir's soldiers bypassed that area once they removed the threat in sector five, and joined their allies. In sector one Albatros was obliterating Magwhen's soldiers and dominating the front lines. Still to come were the last several hundred Novanian soldiers and castle guards that took residence in the first two levels of the castle itself.
"Not for long. Not all our fighters have even made it out of the lower halls of the keep just yet," Ishanna Maelor cautioned her trusted adviser. Pathorus Maelor was not so sure.
"That traitor. The whole House of Javalla has betrayed us. Damn Laelliandir and that filthy minotaur. Albatros must be stopped. Why haven't the archers on the wall brought him down?" the worried King questioned.
"Doesn't matter. They'll collapse in an hour. We outnumber them," argued Ishanna. The golden troops had far greater numbers than Laelliandir's host, but Laelliandir's surprise attack had already claimed far more of Magwhen's army than his own. Still, from their vantage point, it appeared as if Magwhen would prevail for soldiers continued to unload from the castle, while Laelliandir's host had nothing more to offer.
"I beg to differ, my Grace. Albatros alone has become such a threat. If he is not stopped soon, I wonder if he will be. The minotaur is bringing down the soldiers in great numbers. He's absolutely ruining them. The archers can't risk taking him down without hitting our own. His armor is too mighty at any rate. They are clustered too close. He is not even the only threat down there. Look see, your Majesties." Lonewolf pointed to the center of the city where Captain Seira and countless others braved the front line, taking down many Novanian soldiers on their own. Now, Lonewolf secretly agreed that Laelliandir's army would fall in defeat within the hour, but he could not say such things. He intended to make his leaders fear that failure was not only possible but inevitable unless they did something. "Many of these men and women were trained by Orion himself. If not by them personally then other sword masters. These are warriors you once sent out on your front lines. They are not soldiers! They are lions posing as soldiers. For every one of them, you need a dozen on them all at once. They are too fast. They are too strong, and they aren't showing any signs of slowing down. With warriors like that, they will eat through our defense and climb all the way into this castle in no time. Laelliandir's troops have strong morale. They are glowing, and if this keeps up, we are all dead." Lonewolf’s words tumbled out as he behaved as if he were panicked. He revealed to the High King and Queen a side of himself different from his typical overconfident sly persona which had won their trust and a position as their private adviser. Even the far more stubborn Ishanna Maelor feared the outcome. Lonewolf's words were chilling, and they wondered if he was right.
The royal couple now observed the fine warriors Lonewolf pointed out, and with paranoid thoughts, planted by Lonewolf, they were left shaken. These champions were brutal, and almost nothing slowed them down. In their minds, Laelliandir's fine-tuned warriors were becoming more invincible, while Albatros had become a giant who could tear his foes in two. The Overlords exchanged glances and argued on what they could do. They had to act quickly, for if Lonewolf was right, everything they knew was about to come crashing down.
"You are responsible for this. You're in charge of making sure our guards aren't spies. This is your fault!" screamed the High Queen to her husband.
"My fault? This is Laelliandir. I told you that blasted wedding was not a good idea. You went right along with it. You and Neighraellium!" The King accused his wife before turning back to Lonewolf. "And you! We turned one of our greatest assets into an enemy!" Lonewolf, who did not want to be the target of their rage, spoke up again.
"You may be right. Both of you may be right, but we can't blame each other like this right now. We have to stop the ones down there and take back this city. Afterward, there will be plenty of time for this talk. I have an idea that just might work." The Overlords both looked to him, eager for counsel. Lonewolf peered to his left, right, and all around to the two dozen mighty guardians who waited in silence. "You have some of the finest challengers in the land yourself at your disposal on this very overlook, my Grace." Lonewolf didn't complete his thought, but his meaning was clear enough. The Overlords looked at their bodyguards. Their guardians had only one duty and sending them out to fight was unheard of. Much like Lockage in the north, these guardians were trained only to protect them. They did not fight in battles. They were the unspoken shields of kings and queens remaining in the background like shadows. It had been this way for
centuries.
"We can't go around without them," said Pathorus Maelor.
"Preposterous! The personal guards of the standing power shall not leave the side of their leader under any circumstance." Ishanna Maelor rejected Lonewolf's suggestion by quoting the law verbatim.
"Unless excused by the leaders themselves," Lonewolf added the part of the law that Ishanna Maelor had left out. "I don't think you have a choice. Who will be powerful enough to stop them? Neighraellium is gone to battle the rest of Laelliandir's little rebellion. The rest of your strongest are now down there fighting against you. You have to send them out there. Excuse them long enough to dispatch these enemies. Lock yourselves in your room. There is also a balcony there to watch over all of this." Lonewolf pointed up to their chambers. "Lock every single door leading to your chambers and stay hidden and safe until your bodyguards return. I see no other plausible action." Lonewolf used all his manipulative power to persuade the couple until the Overlords agreed. The bodyguards were but slaves with no real opinion. If they had thoughts on the matter, they would never speak them. Their purpose was clear. They existed only to protect their leaders, and to obey their every command.
"That could work," said Pathorus. With fear growing by the moment, Ishanna looked down for a moment and then back to her guards and Lonewolf panicked.
Medley of Treason Page 27