Killing Monsters

by R T Islington

  The warlord’s men in futile attempts threw spears and shot arrows, Silva’s thick scales deflected the attacks, never has Silva been cut or his thick hide damaged in battle and enemies flee in terror at the sight of this gigantic silver juggernaut, Darius’s men tried to! Darius began to retreat towards his men but before the warlord could utter the words thousands of unknown soldiers had sprung from the forest and began slaughtering the warlord’s men!

  The mysterious soldiers were not from the lands of Centre Plate, they were the mighty eleven combat unit and donned magically imbued swords and staffs as well as exquisite shields and finely crafted spears, they moved forward in unison taking the lives of every soldier that ran their way and their swordsmanship and spear skills were flawless, they tore through flesh and severed limbs with ease as Darius helplessly looked on.

  What made the elves stand out more was their magnificent armour, the half helms, breastplates, pauldrons, sabatons and greaves were all crafted from platinum and shone elegantly, they bore long gold capes which adjoined to their armour and sewn in was the elven sigil. The elven symbol that was sewn into the capes and displayed on their banners and flags was an outline of a castle sewn in black, two dragon wings either side of the castle and red sewn rubies in all corners of the flag signifying Ruby Top Castle, the greatest of all their megalithic constructions, the elves certainly looked to be the superior race of the known world!

  Staff wielding elves blasted Darius’s men with bolts of lightning that shot through the battlefield, burning through flesh and killing instantly, one seemed to command the cold elements and shot blasts of frost that froze limbs to a point at which they shattered and fell off leaving the victims screeching in pain upon gazing upon their frozen and served limbs. Another elf shot perfect icicles from his staff that seemed sharper than any dwarven arrow, the icicles, when fired pieced through the chain mail and ripped through torsos as if the soldiers hadn’t worn armour at all, and as the battle continued all that could be heard were the screeches from Darius’s men who were outclassed and cut down, it was a one sided slaughter.

  Darius charged through the piled-up bodies of his dead men in a desperate attempt to escape, an elf fired a blast of fire from his staff which missed, and Darius rode off in a cowardly attempt to escape.

  The elf readied another blast of fire. “No,” commanded Vanya as she dismounted from her dragon. “Let the coward run, I know where he flees to. We will make our way there soon, focus on slaughtering his men, and leave nobody alive.”

  Vanya turned and drew her two short swords which looked more like beautiful artefacts rather than tools of death. The twin swords were made from folded steel and the blades were flawless and sharp, the handles were of black leather and the hand guards were of glowing steel.

  Vanya charged at what enemies remained, leading her men with example, she moved quick and slashed through the stomachs of men that opposed her, she severed limbs with ease and her attacks flowed gracefully as she killed with pinpoint accuracy. The way she moved and struck was graceful and she too shared remarkably similar attacks to Yoshihiro, it was clear, she was another fine student of Swordsman Shores. One man charged towards her with a spear bellowing in a great rage, she smiled spun to the side missing the attack and slashing the foes leg, he dropped to the floor and before he could think, his head had been severed.

  The mighty dragon Silva remained on the battlefield and continued to slaughter Darius’s men, some were burned, some were crushed, and some were torn to pieces within the dragon’s jaws. The battle was now over, and Silva taunted. “Try to run, you won’t get far,” as his dragon's dragons scales shone. Silva turned to the War Hogs and begun approaching, Yoshihiro’s men were understandably terrified as this was the first time they had been this close to an unknown dragon, Davorin was a friend of Yoshihiro which put the War Hogs at ease however Silva was not and made this clear as he spotted Yoshihiro upon his land lion. “Look at that, you have little pet cat Yoshihiro! What’s wrong? Had age mellowed you?”

  Yoshihiro’s ferocious land lion charged at the dragon, it looked like a mouse compared the silver scaled behemoth and Yoshihiro stood firm. “Silva, you piece of pig shit, you can fuck off. I’m here to see Vanya, not you. Furthermore, she agreed she wouldn’t bring you.”

  “But she did, puny man! Oh, how I would love to slaughter you and your little army of pink piggies.”

  “Well you fucking can’t, we have a deal. I have the power cube as promised so fuck off and let me see Vanya!”

  “Typical human, selfish and greedy. Do you know of the great indignity Vanya suffered pleading with her elven superiors to seek permission to save you! If you had not had that power cube, we would have left you to die human!”

  Yoshihiro marched forward atop of his lion, the lion roared and remained fearless as the dragon lowered its head to glare at Yoshihiro with its magnificent silver eyes that looked more like flawless diamonds. Silva opened his giant mouth and roared into Yoshihiro and his lion, the smell of flesh and fire made the swordsman eyes water and gusts of wind nearly knocked the lion back. “Step aside Silva, this is stupid. Let me see her.”

  Out of nowhere Thunder leapt into the air and charged at Silva, Thunder positioned himself in front of Yoshihiro and the dragon, much to Hiroki’s despair who charged after his overconfident dragon who was dwarfed by its mighty elder. “Move out the way you wicked bully!”

  “My, my! What’s this? I wasn’t aware of another little hatchling,” joked Silva spitefully.

  “I’m not a hatchling, I can fight, I killed a troll today!”

  “Did you now! Tell me little dragon, have you learnt to fly yet or are you scared of heights.” Silva laughed, the dragon seemed to enjoy bullying those he deemed weaker than himself.

  “Fuck off Silva!” roared Hiroki. “Thunder will be a grand dragon one day, then you’ll be the one that’s small!”

  “Hiroki! Oh, how you’ve grown, I remember when you were a boy and you used to shit your pants and cry in the night because you feared the dark. Tell me boy . . . do you still have nightmares about your dead parents? Parents you were too weak to protect!”

  “That’s enough,” roared Yoshihiro.

  “Yes, you remember those nightmares don’t you Hiroki, you must still be scared, scared of once again becoming the weakling you once were!”

  Thunder charged, enraged, and wanting to defend Hiroki’s honour, he butted into the broad scaled chest of Silva, it was more of a pin prick as Thunder was still weakened and insignificant compared to the brutish dragon. “Stop it!” yelled Thunder.

  Silva continued to verbally taunt the War Hogs as it spread its wings to reveal a wingspan which was easily eighty meters in length, the black underside of its silver wings created a mass shadow. “Look, this is real power little dragon! If Vanya commanded, I’d kill you all and feast on your corpses.” Once again, Silva glared at Yoshihiro. “She doesn’t love you anymore. That ship sailed a long time ago.”

  Hiroki noticed those spiteful comments cut through Yoshihiro with ease and seemed to break his spirit, and as Yoshihiro reached for his sword in anger Vanya appeared!

  “Okay boys, break it up.” Vanya stroked and caressed the side of Silva’s head as the brute seemed to relax. “Honestly, I can’t take you anywhere can I Silva!” Yoshihiro froze as Vanya smiled at him seductively, her eyes sparkled, and the atmosphere changed dramatically as the two ex-lovers laid eyes upon each other for the first time in years. Vanya spoke again to Yoshihiro, she seemed infatuated by him. “Well . . . Hello handsome . . . have you missed me?”

  Chapter 22:

  Love and Blood

  Several hours had passed since the War Hogs’ victory and the mighty elves dominance on the battlefield. Yoshihiro remained on the battlefield with Hiroki, Thunder and a few hundred of his best men, Ragrim, Crow and Jadar had begun to make their way back to Cutthroat’s Grasp with the remainder of the War Hogs and the injured, they were to ready the settlement for Yoshihiro’s ta
keover, it was to be his settlement now he had defeated Darius. Vinnakeon and Tawarkion also joined them, the elf and woodlander were known throughout the settlement and had decided it would be best if they began informing the settlements people of Darius’s defeat and Yoshihiro’s pending arrival.

  The field of which the battle was fought on looked more like a graveyard now, the grass was a mix of black and red and had been saturated with blood, in truth, it looked like a mass red velvet carpet made from blood, thousands of corpses laid sprawled out upon the soil waiting for the crows to pick the flesh from their bones and severed limbs and clumps of flesh were scattered throughout the once sparse field. The heat had begun to drop, and finally shady patches of cover appeared in small pockets which were quickly filled by the wounded and tired. Hundreds of men began making their way back through the forest to Cutthroat’s Grasp, with Darius now defeated, Yoshihiro could enact his plan.

  The fearsome leader would declare himself ruler of Cutthroat’s Grasp and free the slaves and whores, he would bestow upon the people of that settlement freedoms that they’d never had and see to it that nobody would ever go hungry again, in time he would rename the settlement too, as at last, the War Hogs now had a place to call their own and more importantly after this recent battle, somewhere to rest and plan their next move. Yoshihiro had dreamt for many years of leading his men to victory and building their own kingdom, he had visions of fine sleeping quarters, masterful training areas, exquisite stables for their cavalry and the finest markets and food traders in all the lands. Yoshihiro had accomplished this through the power of his sword, he had fought battle after battle, led his War Hogs to countless victories and cut down many evil foes, and now the cold-hearted killer dared to smile.

  Yoshihiro had been sharpening his katana, the whetstone graced the sword smoothly, he turned to Archie and smiled, he had now regained some of his strength thanks to some potent woodlander healing remedies from Tawarkion.

  “I would have been killed if it wasn’t for you Hiroki. You saved my life, thank you.” said Archie. “I may be dying anyway but I’m not ready to go just yet, it seems fate has more plans for me!”

  “It’ll take more than broken ribs to beat this knight!” spoke Hiroki reassuringly. “Your ribs were broken but that potion was strong, Tawarkion is a master healer, we were lucky to have him.”

  Archie gazed upon the sky and smiled, he was lucky to be alive and he knew it. “I really need a nice warm soft bed; I’ll sleep for days!”

  Yoshihiro joined in to reassure his old friend. “Don’t worry, when I take Cutthroat’s Grasp, you’ll have the best bed in the settlement my friend.”

  Yoshihiro’s lion who was now loyal to him rose beside him and roared at an approaching figure, and as Yoshihiro turned, those butterflies once again fluttered in his stomach at the sight of Vanya.

  “Well I hope you’ll treat those people better than that warlord did Mr Hiroto!” warned Vanya playfully as she approached in her immaculate battle armour.

  Vanya’s armour was flawless, she donned a thick platinum breastplate that had engravings of dragons upon it and her pauldrons, gauntlets and sabatons were also of platinum, armour that was not covered in platinum was made from thick white leather which was sturdy and battle ready. “Silva is off hunting down our fleeing foes, so you have me to yourself now . . . just like the old days.”

  Yoshihiro blushed and hastily changed the conversation. “Cutthroat’s Grasp will be liberated. I will build something new there, a beacon of freedom and a stronghold for my men, it will be glorious.”

  “Well, let’s hope the East doesn't wipe us out before I get to see it. You're so close to achieving your dreams now.”

  The mighty elven warrior was as beautiful as she was fierce, she had thick locks of long blonde hair, stunning green eyes that seemed to sparkle, a petite figure and she stood an inch short of five six. Like all elves her skin was smooth and white as snow, and she had small freckles around her cheekbones and naturally pink lips, her cheeks were rose red, and she donned a vast array of platinum eleven jewellery that encased flawless gemstones. Vanya’s necklaces, rings and gauntlets were all crafted flawlessly and encased glowing emeralds that matched her eyes, her jewellery was uniform except one thing, a ring on her index finger. This odd ring was carved from jade stone and the top had an image of a butterfly engraved into it, it was a ring Yoshihiro gave to her many years ago on Swordsman Shores when they were teens.

  Vanya was an elite elven warrior and one of three guardians to the king and queen, a platinum brooch was placed upon her right breast symbolising this status, the broach was circular, diamonds were imbued into the inner rim and another diamond was shaped into a sword and sat in the middle of circle. Vanya was the leader of the elven warrior unit and had the respect of all her people, she was however disliked by many as unlike most elves, she and few others did not consider themselves the superior race and she had often led her comrades into battles defending other races who fell victim to unspeakable brutality, her decisions would never be overruled by the king and queen as they admired her desire to bring peace to the lands and protect the innocent, regardless of race. It was common knowledge throughout the elven lands of her previous relationship with Yoshihiro and this was frowned upon heavily, the elves tend to breed with their own kind to keep their species pure, cross breeding was viewed as vulgar by most elves.

  Yoshihiro rose and before he could speak Vanya wrapped her arms around him, he could feel himself blushing as Hiroki and Thunder giggled like children in the background. Yoshihiro finally freed himself from Vanya’s loving hug, though he didn’t want to. “So, let me guess, you want your power cube now? Fine, I have it.”

  “Oh, don’t be so miserable, there’s plenty of time for that. I thought I’d check up on the old man first!”

  “Don’t kick a man when he’s down!” roared Archie playfully. “Have you know, I’ve been told I look good for my age.”

  “I was joking old timer. You know it’s a shame you’re not an elf, I know a lot of single mature ladies of stature that would love to marry a brave knight!”

  Archie roared with laughter. “My days seem to be coming to an end, spending my last moments with a beautiful elf seems like a good way to go!”

  Vanya drew her attention to Hiroki. “You’ve grown into quite a handsome young man Hiroki. The last time I saw you, you were no older than twelve.” Hiroki felt his cheeks burning as the gorgeous elf showered him with affection.

  “It’s good to see you again Vanya. Do you still bake those legendary pies?”

  “How could I forget! You always had a sweet tooth. I’ll tell you what, I’ll sneak you away back to the west with me and then you can eat as much as you want.”

  “Just like old times,” groaned Yoshihiro. “I’d train the boy and then you’d feed him with cakes and treats!”

  Everyone was laughing and it seemed as though Vanya was a member of the War Hogs herself. Hiroki looked upon Yoshihiro as he reminisced about the past with his love Vanya, they looked happy sitting next to each other holding hands like husband and wife.

  Vanya petted Thunder on the head, they had never met before. “Sorry about Silva earlier, he’s just protective of me, but don’t worry, when you’re a grand dragon, you’ll be the one bullying him!”

  “I’ll be strong, even Davorin thinks so. I killed a troll today too!” boasted Thunder.

  “I’ve known Davorin for years, if he thinks that, then there must be some truth to it.” Vanya gazed into Thunders eyes. “You know . . . there is something special about you, young dragon. A power lies within you far greater than most dragons. I see tough times ahead, but many great things for you and Hiroki.”

  Time seemed to pass like seconds as the warriors spoke, joked, and laughed until Yoshihiro called time on the gathering and rose to his feet. “We should make our way back now. Archie needs a bed and we have much to discuss.”

  Vanya jumped to her feet. “Agreed. Also, Silva will be back
soon. I think it's best that you two stay steer clear of each other.”

  “He’s a cold-blooded brute, that fucking dragon.”

  Vanya punched at Yoshihiro playfully. “Hey! So were you too once!”

  The two lovers laughed again whilst they gazed into each other's eyes. Yoshihiro regained his composure again. “Okay, let’s go. Hiroki, place Archie onto that cart over there, ride the horse to Cutthroat’s Grasp along with our remaining men. Me and Vanya will make our own way there.”

  “Okay, I’ll see you there.” said Hiroki.

  Only Yoshihiro and Vanya remained on the battlefield once the War Hogs departed. Yoshihiro looked around upon the corpses, blood stained grass and scorched ground. The smell of dragon fire and explosive rubies still lingered in the air, further reminding Yoshihiro of the battle and the men he had lost.

  A sombre look fell upon Yoshihiro until Vanya leaned into him and kissed his lips. “They fought for you with honour Yoshihiro, as all your men do. You no longer fight for power, instead I feel it, you’re fighting for peace and justice.”

  “I’m still a monster.”

  “No you’re not, you’ve changed. I think Hiroki and his dragon have changed you . . . for the good. Your spirit is calm, and you defend the innocent, you have mellowed.”

  Yoshihiro kissed his love once more. “Have you ever ridden a land lion before.”

  “No,” giggled Vanya. She approached the lion and ran her hands through its thick red mane and the lion purred deeply. “Where did you get him? his magnificent.”

  “Let’s just say . . . we found each other.” Yoshihiro whistled, and the lion rose, the two lovers mounted upon the brutish lion and began to leave the battlefield to discuss their plans.