Chapter 12
Forest War of Three
Frozen…that’s what I was.
It was that moment your body braced itself for the impact. The coming pain and damage you weren’t sure you would survive. But then I didn’t know what they were waiting for. It was as if some sort of signal needed to be given before the battle could commence. And looking at both sides, well it meant that the word suicidal was looking less like an exaggeration and more like a certainty. As let’s just say I hadn’t foreseen this day ending with me now smack bang in the middle of what looked like a war of nightmares. And the battle line was more than just a symbolic statement, as the two forests that met at this point couldn’t have been more different from each other. And at the place where burnt orange roots covered the ground like fire snakes, it was mirrored on the other side by deathly grey powdered earth and dead trees.
And at the centre of where two nightmares met was where I was stood, with each opposing army either side of me, that had come to claim their rights to the other.
This became apparent as I looked left then right over the wave of creatures. One side that had moments ago been born from thousands of spider webbed eggs, and the other that looked to have been waiting for this very moment to be allowed to finally break free from the prison of their trees and fight, as thousands emerged up from the ground of roots.
But then, I wasn’t the only one that looked to be stood in their way of domination. The three mighty figures that had arrived still remained waiting on the sidelines, as if their only reasons for being there was to jump in at the ready in case they were needed. They had approached from the only side that wasn’t overtaken by creatures, cutting off both my escape and any others caught in the fray that didn’t want to fight.
They each sat upon large beastly creatures that looked battle ready, telling me that in all likelihood they never intended to just watch to see how this war turned out. But more like they were at the ready to pick a side. Each of them were different in size, and so was their choice of ride, but from so far away it was hard to make out the details. All I could detect was that the one on the end was considerably larger than the other two and he carried what looked like a massive hammer of war.
He was sat upon a great snarling beast that didn’t exactly look built for speed with its huge hanging belly barely held above the ground on its thick scaled legs, reminding me of a demonic crocodile. However, its tail curled up like that of a scorpion with a deadly bulbous stinger that was tipped into a point. Its head was covered in some kind of plating and the huge curled horns that came from its head acted as a way for the big rider to hold onto his beast.
The other two were similar in size to each other, with the one positioned in the centre sat upon a creature that had the body of a scaled horse. It had dark red horns running down its back framing where the rider sat. The head was a snarling lizard shape, that was also covered in armour, one that looked bolted with chains attached to it so the rider could use them as reins.
The last of these men was at the other end and sat upon a figure of a bird, covered in hard feathers that looked like rust coloured metal plating. This continued over its head and its snarling mouth was biting around a gleaming silver bar that had chains attached to the ends so this too became a way for its rider to control the beast. And like all three of these Hellish creatures, the masterly figures that sat upon them were all covered in armour, ready for battle. Each wore a horned helmet of black pointed plating, with each section interlocked in such a way that all three looked like dragon heads. They stood at the ready, looking demonically regal and proud against the backdrop of the changing sky behind them.
In fact, it made for a startling sight and I think it was the reason Hell was always depicted as a reddish place, because the sky beyond the dark clouds looked as if it was on fire. It was reds, and dark oranges without the yellows and pinks of a pretty sunset. However right now, the clouds were parting above them and instead of the blood night sky, an eerie greenish dark glow was breaking through.
Then a mighty roar could be heard coming from behind me, and this quickly answered my question, as this had been the signal they had all been waiting for.
This was when all Hell broke loose…literally!
The two sides started running towards each other as the ground shook and I was left with nowhere to go. I was only wishing that I had some kind of weapon in my hand, just so I knew I wasn’t going to go down without a fight, no matter how pointless it seemed against such hellish odds. But then, something drew my eyes away from the oncoming danger, as the middle rider pulled a flaming blue sword from his side and raised it up in the air. The action made sparks of power light the space around all three of them before he then pointed it towards the battle. This was a signal for the other two to join him and charge as one. But this wasn’t all he did with his sword and soon I was thankful, as he wasn’t done yet. Because instead of keeping it raised and pointing to the enemy, he lowered it to the ground and leaned to one side on his beast’s back. This was so he could scrape the tip of the blue sword along the ground as they travelled into the fray.
It sparked blue before the forked flames suddenly turned into icy shards that now shot forward and travelled straight ahead of them. In fact, it didn’t just travel ahead but it came right at me before I was quick enough to escape the impact, I turned making it only a single step before I was completely surrounded. Massive shards of ice shot up from the ground like the teeth of some icy dragon as it rose up from beneath me trying to swallow me whole.
“AAAHHH!” I screamed and dropped to my knees and covered my head trying to protect myself from whatever was trying to consume me, closing my eyes tight and waiting for the end. However, it was one that thankfully never came. So, after a few seconds longer of cowering, I braved opening my eyes and found myself encased in an icy cage. It indeed looked like teeth that had interlocked above me, with wider gaps in the thicker parts of the surrounding arch of fangs and ones I would only barely be able to fit my arms through.
It looked like some kind of domed cage made of ice and the second the two battle sides collided I was more than thankful for it! Because this was when I realised, it wasn’t breakable like ice, but it was more like clear granite that looked wet to touch and something I didn’t think wise to check, fearing the ice would travel up my skin.
However, the moment the first spider creature decided to investigate, I realised that this wasn’t the case, as touching the ice wasn’t a problem. What was a problem was the long clawed limbs that reached through and tried to grab me. Naturally, I moved back into the centre and was left with nothing but a prayer that the cage would hold up against them.
But I wasn’t without my uses, as I did manage to kick out at some of the tree people when they used their roots to reach me at the centre. However, without a weapon, I was pretty much spending my time trying to prevent them from getting to me and causing damage. And the moment there was a break in their attack on the cage, it gave me the chance to look further beyond the ice that surrounded me.
I found the rider in the centre, the one with the sword, watching me, despite swinging his weapon and taking out any creatures within its radius. His focus was on me not the battle he had become a part of. My own focus, however, was on all the madness that was going on around me. This included the way the creatures started tearing into each other as the war truly began.
The tree creatures would lash out with their great rooted limbs, swiping across the spiders who either managed to scuttle away as they jumped back to the dark trees they were born from or were merely flattened and died. On the opposing side of the battle, the spider creatures took a different approach, where they worked together in groups, using the swarm of bodies as a collective to consume the whole of the tree people. This worked effectively in overpowering them as they would spit out streams of webbing and cocoon them in seconds. And this was how the battle was fought.
But as much as I was thankful for my protective cage, it didn’t
stop my mind from questioning the motives of the three that were battling in a war of two sides, for they seemed to fight for neither side but for themselves. So, what they had in store for me, I didn’t yet know. All I did know was that it was obvious they hadn’t come here to pick a side.
Although, I had to say, from the looks of things, the three fighting were an army in their own right! The larger one steered his beast into the most crowded part and started swinging his hammer and taking out wave after wave of any creatures that foolishly tried to surround him. His weapon looked like the foot of some demonic oversized elephant that had been dipped in black steel and decorated with a gilded band.
It ploughed into them, knocking the tree people on their backs and squashing the spider creatures in a burst of broken bones and sticky webs, that clung to his hammer making a mess. This effectively proved that out of the two creatures, they were the hardest to kill. The difference was that once the tree people were down, then they struggled to get back up and had no choice but to let the ground absorb their bodies, taking them back into the forest from which they came.
The last of the three, who was sat upon the battle bird was also getting ready to fight but he did so from further away as his creature took its position on the sidelines. He then pulled a gleaming gold and black bow from his back and I watched in utter awe as he pulled the string taut, before creating the arrow to fill the void. He did this by blowing a line from where his fingers created the tension, all the way to where his other hand held the bow.
I was amazed to see that what followed the air blown from between his lips was the creation of a flaming arrow appearing from nowhere but his deadly breath. Then, once whole, he let it fly after first aiming high. It soared through the sky in a graceful arc before coming down to inflict the terror it was intended to. It hit the ground and burst like a small explosion of flames, igniting the creatures as easily as if they were made from sun baked kindling. He continued this move over and over, which became an effective way to break up the masses.
As for the one with the blue flaming sword, he travelled directly towards me with speed. At the same time swiping out with the glowing blade and turning all it touched to ice before the beast kicked out its hind legs behind him, shattering them on impact. After this he skidded his beast to a halt right in front of me. He then dismounted and used the reins to smack the creature’s rump, creating a loud thwack sound. This made it go charging off through the battle, killing all in its path as it did, mainly with the front of its armoured head, as it butted out like a bull. After this the rider came close enough to the cage, one he had created to ask,
“Are ye alri…” I cut him off quickly just as one of the spider creatures started to attack the cage from the other side, making me shout,
“Quick, give me a weapon!”
I couldn’t see his features under his black helmet, other than the dark auburn hair trailing from underneath it. Which meant it gave nothing away regarding what he thought of my demand. But well, seeing as he hadn’t yet handed me anything, I kicked out at the long boney arms that tried to reach inside again and grab me.
“NOW!” I shouted as another one grabbed my ankle and yanked me towards it, this was after my kick hadn’t been as successful as before. The rider saw this and without thinking pulled another blade from behind his cloak and slipped it through the gaps, barely just making it fit.
“Here!” a stern voice replied, and I reached out as far as I could to grab the handle, doing so just in time before I was about to become a meal. I turned quickly and stabbed straight through the spider creature’s skull. He twitched around before releasing my foot. I then pushed myself back, kicking against the strengthened ice at the same time removing the blade from its head. After this I swung it around and took off any limbs that were inside my space, making them howl and screech in a high pitched scream of pain.
Then I reversed my steps so my back was up against the cloaked rider, now with only the icy wall between us. He took up this stance as if trying to protect me from anything that would have reached my back. Then with a skilful roll of his blade twisting in his hand it signalled to all that approached that he was ready to do battle. He sliced through the first wave of creatures in front of him, turning both halves into ice as they separated and slid off the blade.
Meanwhile, I continued to hack at any limbs or roots that tried to get to me, feeling uneasy when the thicker roots managed to make the cage crack.
“Look, I don’t know who you guys are and I have no idea what the fuck is going on here, but I am not sure this cool little cage of yours is gonna last much longer!” I shouted before lashing out again, this time stabbing a spider creature in the chest and finding myself fighting against the sticky webbing when trying to get it out again. Note to self, stick to chopping limbs and stabbing heads.
The rider grunted before whistling and raising a fist in the air to signal to the others. He then extended two gloved fingers out and jerked them first left and then right. This must have been a silent, ‘clear the path boys’ as this was exactly what they started to do. The bulkier of the three, started to swing his rounded hammer from left to right so it created a seesaw effect. This became a very effective way of clearing a space, as the impact managed to take out at least five or six spider creatures at a time. As for the tree people, he took a different approach and hammered his weapon down into the ground, creating a wave of earth to travel at speed towards them. As soon as the flowing hump hit their legs, it caused them to go down as it took them off balance.
As for the other rider, he let more flaming arrows land, doing so as if lighting a landing pathway framing both sides of where the big guy stood in the centre, then he called out,
“THREE, TWO, ONE…”
“And the flaming deed is done,” the rider in front of me muttered as the big guy suddenly twisted the handle of his hammer, igniting the whole thing in a lightning of green sparks. Then he dropped to one knee and pounded his now glowing weapon to the ground, twisting his body into the movement. The effect of this managed to create a green gust of power to blow back the arrows at just the right moment as they all exploded at the same time. The force from the hammer’s power on the ground made sure the destruction caused blew away from him in the right direction.
This epic move managed to destroy hundreds from each side all at once and just as the wave of annihilation was now travelling this way, the rider in front of me turned. Then he raised his blue flaming sword up and touched it to the top of the ice cage, making it blind me with light, as if he had just created a forcefield to envelop the cage.
This lasted only a few seconds and I found I was still blinking away the spots as my vision cleared enough to see the two other men now walking towards their comrade. Their beasts were following behind them as the space had been cleared enough for them to do so without needing to fight, thanks to the perfect and effective explosion.
“Well, look whit we git ‘ere boys, nobody said this jab cam wi’ a bonus prize!” The one with the bow in his hand said as he approached, doing so in a heavy Scottish accent; a handsome lilt to his voice that was easy and playfully teasing. And the closer he came I could see that he was definitely more stealthy looking than the other two.
The only way to describe how he was dressed was more of an assassin than that of a warrior like the other two. A thick leather coat was fitted tight to his body due to the black chest plate that was strapped to his torso. It came down to his knees and a strip of what I assumed was his clan’s Tartan was seen underneath. Padded brown suede was another layer that acted as a protective lining and matched the heavy boots that reached to his knees. Armoured shoulder pieces matched the scaled dragon helmet and was strapped across the chest plate at multiple points.
What completed the look were the dangerous elements; daggers and spiked throwing discs were also strapped and hung from different points on the three rows of belts that tapered in at his narrow waist. His gleaming black and gold bow could be seen f
rom behind where a leather holder for it was buckled over his shoulder and at his waist.
Gods, but I could just imagine how long it took these guys to undress at the end of the day! Not that I was thinking about them getting naked or anything. And well, as for the biggest one, who was most definitely all brute strength and reminded me of Ragnar in size, he was dressed more like a God of war.
But, unlike the other men, he didn’t seem concerned about having as much armour on as his comrades did, as he was near naked from the waist up. A crisscross of thicker leather and metal straps kept a massive shoulder piece in place. It was one that had been decorated with hammered steel and stitched leather that held rows of demonic teeth and horns, a theme that continued down one arm with the rest of the armour to match that covered his skin. His other huge muscular arm was left bare, with nothing more than a series of symbols tattooed on every inch of skin, with only strips of his natural tanned flesh colour peeking through the ink.
Around his waist he wore the same clan tartan in a sash that was fixed at his waist by the thicker belts which were also decorated in fangs and horns. He wore trousers that looked as though they were made from a scaly brown animal, with boots similar to the archer and as he rolled his shoulders, his large muscles bunched, showing an impressive display of abs at his belly.
The guy was terrifying and looked like a killing machine!
“Aye, well fur now I suggest we continue tae focus oan th’ job.” This was said by the one in front of me in answer to the archer’s comment, doing so at the same time he lowered his sword, telling me that he was also Scottish, although his accent wasn’t as strong.
I wished I could have seen their faces, but with their helmets on, then it was only in size where they differed. All three of them were tall, with the muscle clad one being half a foot above the rest. But the one with the sword had wide square shoulders telling me he wasn’t short of an abundance of muscle himself. The joker of the group with the bow was the slimmest of the three, but his height put him in between the other two.
Kingdoms Of Hell: Vampire Paranormal Romance (Transfusion Book 7) Page 11