Mage War

Interlude Four: The Battle

“We have a situation,” Torr says.

Jade has barely had any time to think since Demien was killed. With all the information the captain of the Wolves freely gave them, and the subsequent murder attempts, Arcadia the kingdom has been in disarray. It’s a relief to know they aren't the target, but they are still in the wolves’ way. Also, they can’t just let the wolves reach Magefell, or else they could be fighting Magefell themselves.

But they don’t have the army to defeat the wolves. There are too many of them, and they’re worth at least three humans each.

But in the week since Jade reached out to them, there’s been silence from the wolves. They haven’t done or said anything.

Clearly, they’d been planning something the entire time.

“What happened?” Jade asked.

“The wolves are mobilizing,” Torr responds. “Some of them, anyway. They're going for ___.”

Jade gasps at the news. Not because the beasts are moving—no, that part is obvious—but the fact that the wolves are attacking ___.

That was where Eren had once lived,

“We need to move,” Torr says. “I’ve already told the others. The Queen has announced that every soldier we can spare will be sent there. We will protect it at all costs.

“We cannot let them take our country.”

— — —

The journey to Hurlet is boring and uneventful, thankfully. They didn’t see any activity near the town, but there was a certain tension in the air that prickled Jade’s senses. Now that they’ve reached Hurlet, Jade sees how desperate the villagers are. Most are preparing to evacuate, and many more and getting makeshift weapons to defend their homes.

Fear is on all of their faces.

Of course, Jade is terrified too. Last time she’d fought a wolf head-on, she’d watched her friend die, and she herself had suffered a broken leg.

Jade had learned that day that the wolves were nothing to play with.

As soon as she arrived, Torr sent her and the rest of the Erenfeld Guards to start setting up a wall to stall the wolves at least for a little before they arrived.

They should arrive at sundown, Torr’d told her, and Jade wonders if they have enough time to prepare.

Hurlet already has a fence ready in case of an attack, so Jade and her friends raised it and began to arm it, setting pikes on it, and crossbows set off by certain footsteps. It was something that would only delay the beasts for a little, but hopefully, it would be enough.

Torr begins to set up a moat with Jin when she arrives. The town is small, but even so, it would take the whole day to set it up. Jade would probably not be able to talk to them for the rest of the day.

After the wall is set up, Jade takes a break for lunch. Her friends do too, the only ones staying behind are Jin and Torr.

Guilia is clearly distraught over Demien’s death. Jade hasn’t had time to talk to her, but she knows Guilia feels guilty for always poking fun of him. Jade herself feels a stab of guilt sometimes, though it isn’t for teasing Demien, She knows deep down Demien liked that part.

No, she feels guilty because it is her fault. By saving Robin, she killed Demien.

She. Killed. Demien.

That’s what hurts the most. Demien would still be alive if it wasn’t for her.

She had to face it, but she just didn’t have the time.

She’d lost three friends recently, and they were all weighing on her heart in different ways.

Zade, of course, is the one that weighs on her the least. He is the only one who hasn't died. She doesn’t blame herself or feel guilty at all. For her, it is her feelings that weigh on her.

Ever since she’d talked to Jin about Zade, she keeps asking herself if she’s in love with him. She’s never thought about it really. Everyone in Erenfeld always talked about it, but Jade has just never bothered.

But she is twenty now, and Zade is gone. She hated that she thought about it more after he was gone.

Of course, she wasn’t sure she did have feelings for him. She didn’t know if admitting it—if it even was true—would help. It wouldn’t get Zade back anyways. She didn’t have any way of returning to Magefell, and she knew Zade wouldn’t return in a good few years.

So what was the point of thinking about it?

Shaking her head, she turns her thoughts to the second person in her mind.

Chrome. She really misses her; she’d been a good friend. Jade had known her for a really long time, and for the first week since she’d died, Jade had been mostly okay. Her subconscious hadn’t really noticed that Chrome was gone. To her subconscious, Chrome was on a trip and would return soon.

Now, though, even her inner mind can’t deny it.

Chrome is gone, forever.

And now, Jade is feeling her absence. Jade can hear her silence. She can see the hole left by her being gone.

If only Jade had done something more. She knows it isn’t her fault, but she just wishes she could’ve done something more.

She remembers seeing Chrome’s head smashed to a pulp. It has scarred her, and it plays in her mind over and over every day. Sometimes, for a blissful few minutes, she is distracted from it.

But it is getting to her now.

And finally, there is Demien. Because she knew it was her fault, she felt the worst about him. She vividly remembered how he’d looked at her as he died. He had been almost peaceful, not blaming her at all. It warmed her heart a little, knowing he wasn’t troubled at the end.

But he’d been so young, and he hadn’t deserved what he’d got.

Jade has seen her fair share of fights, blood, and death before, but it felt like night and day compared to this. She feels like she was innocent before Zade left, and now she isn’t anymore.

Ignorance was bliss.

She closes her eyes, and begins to shake softly. In her mind, she knows this was exactly what she was trying to stop Zade from becoming when Eren and his parents died. But for some reason, the things she’d helped Zade with didn’t seem to be applying to her.

She felt a little like a hypocrite.

“You okay?” Guilia asks her. Opening her eyes, Jade decides to be honest, and shakes her head.

“Not really,” She responds.

“I know how you feel, sort of,” Guilia says. “And you probably blame yourself too. I can’t really help you, I’m feeling the same too. But hey, we’re not all gone, right?” She forces a smile. “We’re still here, and Torr. As long as we’re together and we remember them…”

“They live on,” Jade finishes, “We can’t let their memories die.”

“That’s why I’m still here,” Guilia admits. “If I didn’t want to preserve them, then I would’ve killed myself long ago. But I need to be here for them. My purpose in life is to protect those I love, and preserve those who’ve passed on. Everything I do, Jade, is for them. All I want is to see them on the other side, and for them to be proud of me.”

“I’m sure they are,” Jade tells her.

Guilia smiles for real this time. “I hope they are. Just think about it, Jade. One hundred years from now, Chrome and Demien will still be talked about. That thought is too sweet for me.”

Jade side-hugs her friend, and presses her head to her chest. “That’s beautiful, Guilia. I didn’t know you were so selfless.”

“I’m not,” her friend cringes. “I’m more selfish than any of you are. Every day, I have to fight myself to make sure I don’t put myself first. Most days, I just want to be the one who’s remembered.”

“There’s no problem with that,” Jade tells her. “Also, you act for others. If that’s not selfless…” She trails off. “I think you know what I mean. None of us are perfect, Guilia. We’re all selfish somehow. But of us all, you’re the least of us all. At least you can get over it.”

A tear slides down the other Guard’s cheek, and she wipes it away softly. “Thank you, Jade. What if I fail, though? What if when I die, they’re forgotten?”

“I won’t let anyone forget them,” Jade responds. “And failing isn’t an option. The only possible way you can fail is by not trying. As long as you’re still fighting for them, they will be alive with you. If you die, they will be happy, even if you haven’t done much.”

“I hope so.”

“I know so.”

— — —

They stop leaning on each other when they must return to work. Guilia begins to teach some of the villagers how to wield weapons. It won’t help much, but the villagers are all that matters. If they want to fight, who is she to stop them?

She’s sent to help rig explosives around the wall with Robin, who arrived recently. Robin is unfazed from Demien’s death, but Jade is sure she’s seen plenty of death, and she must keep cool on the outside.

“Heya, sister,” Robin tells her, shaking her hand roughly. “I am pleased to see you. I am ready for this battle. Let the wolves come. I will show them a taste of my fury, if they’re lucky.”

“That’s the spirit,” Jade laughs.

Robin grabs her in a rough hug. “Sister, I will protect you should you need it. I am in your debt.”

“You did save my life, too,” Jade points out.

“It isn’t the same,” Robin responds. “You did the same, even at the cost of another friend. I know how hard that is. We are not even.”

Jade smiles. “It’s good to see you again, sister.”

“The feeling is mutual.”

They begin to set up the explosives, and Robin’s positive, violent attitude serves to calm Jade down, and Jade is sure Robin did that on purpose. She keeps shooting knowing glances in Jade’s direction, and the Erenfeld Guard is thankful to her for it.

They finish it just a couple hours before sunset. Torr and Jin finish their small moat as well. Once again it won’t stop them for long, but each little delay is worth it. As long as the wolves are at least slightly injured from the moat, the wall, and the explosives, then it’s a win in their mind.

Nervousness settles around the villagers as it grows darker. Jade assumes the wolves see better in the dark, so a battle in the dark will be an advantage to the monsters. She wishes they could delay the battle until the next day, but sadly, the wolves were in control here.

Some of the villagers desert and leave, panic in their eyes. Most stand strong, though. Jade has met only a few of them from back when Eren lived here. The others she didn’t want to meet. It just wasn’t worth it to meet people who would die.

She wasn’t really hopeful for the outcome of this battle. The wolves were just too strong for them. Of course, Jade would try anyway, but she was steadying herself, preparing herself for her possible death.

It would be worth it, if she could save Magefell, and in turn Zade, in the process.

A shout came from the wall, and dozens of soldiers scrambled down.

“THEY’RE COMING!” One yelled. “GET READY.”

Torr looked at her and nodded. She returned the nod and unsheathed her sword.

Breathe, Jade, breathe.

A roar erupts from behind the fence. From her vantage point, Jade watches as hundreds of wolves emerge from the darkness. The torches Hurlet lit are enough for her to see that the wolves only sent a small portion of their army here. Only four or five hundred.

Still, that will be enough to wipe them out.

At the front, Jade sees the captain of the wolves. He’s smirking, confident in his victory.

Come for me, you bastard! I’ll kill you!

“CHARGE!” The captain yells, and the wolves do just that, scrambling for the fence.

The first wave crashes into the wall. Thankfully, the wall doesn’t fail. Some wolves yell in pain, felled by the pikes inlaid in the wall. Most stumble back, preparing for another charge,

“READY, RELEASE!” Jin roars, sending her arm down, and the first volley of arrows strike the wolves.

The screams of terror and pain light a fire in Jade’s heart, and she smiles as the wolves fall.

Then they get back up. A dozen stay down, but most of them are still alive, arrows sticking out of their chests or heads.

What will it take to kill these bastards?

The second charge causes the wall to tremble, but still it holds.

“RELEASE!”

The second volley of arrows fells more wolves, but still they charge.

The third charge finally knocks down a portion of the wall. The following explosion that Jade rigged earlier lights up the night, and sends a wave of warmth down Jade’s body.

She watches as wolves are sent in the air, spinning, screaming, bleeding. Then everything is sent into darkness as the smoke blinds her view.

The night is silent. No one moves. The tension is palpable.

Where are the wolves?

Suddenly, there is a yell of rage, and the wolves are swarming through the hole in the wall.

Jade stances herself.

Game time.

“CHARGE!” Torr yells, and Jade runs, Robin by her side, straight into the wolves’ midst.

Out of the corner of her eye, she can see more wolves trying to knock down the rest of the wall. She must be careful, because once they do, it will explode.

The first wolf who attacks her is using an axe. She ducks his first swing, and thrusts her sword into his leg. With a roar of pain, he slaps her and she’s sent back. Jumping back, she lunges at him again.

The wolf falls forward, and she dodges out of the way as it lands on the ground, sightless eyes staring at her. There is a sword embedded in its skull, blood and brains spilling on the ground. With a squelch, Robin kneels and tugs her sword from its head.

“Let’s go,” She says, running at the fray again.

Immediately, Jade is set on by two wolves. Desperately, she fights them, and as a sword slices her arm slightly, she winces. They are clearly stronger than her, and she needs to find a way to fight them easily.

She scores a hit on one of the wolves’—a female— left arm, severing it, and it groans in pain, but keeps fighting. Jade stumbles back as they advance on her rapidly, blocking their lunges.

An explosion rocks her world and throws her backwards. Her vision blurs and she lays on the ground, dazed.

The wolves must’ve gone past another part of the wall. She was too close when the explosion happened. Thankfully, she wasn’t close enough to get killed. Still, she is in pain, and everything around her is in flames.

Chest heaving, Jade tries to breathe, but breath is scarce. It feels like suffocation, and the smoke reaching her lungs isn’t helping. She needs to stand up.

Groaning, she tries to push herself to an upright position, but her mind swims, and her vision grows dark again. As her sight gets gradually better, and her ears stop ringing, the carnage reaches her.

The explosion wasn’t supposed to be this powerful. There are dozens of bodies on the ground, many screaming in pain or for help. Most of the bodies are humans. Thankfully, Jade doesn’t recognize any of them.

Turning to the side, Jade sees a severed arm on the ground, and she retches, scrambling back, where she bumps into something.

Or someone.

It’s a man, his body charred black, and half of his head burned completely. The other half stares at her soul, his mouth open in horror.

Jade gets up. The world is silent, peaceful in this part of the city, the flames the only moving things.

But in the rest of the city, the battle rages on.She must keep fighting.

And she must find Robin.

Last she saw, Robin was fighting next to her. She had to be nearby when the explosion happened.

Hopefully, she will still be nearby.

A quick search of the site of the explosion turns up nothing. Jade finds an Arcadian Guard or two, but other than that, there is no one she recognizes. She doesn’t have the time to check the carnage.

She must return to fight with her friends.

As she passes, men and women call out to her, pleading for her to help them or put them out of their misery. Jade can’t help but cry as she sees it. Some of the men weren’t killed by the explosion, but by the wolves, their body parts ripped to shreds, blood staining the ground.

This is what a battle feels like.

Jade has never really been in a serious battle before. This is unlike anything she could’ve ever imagined. It is worse than anything she could’ve ever imagined.

A war was a thousand times worse. Hopefully, that would never happen in her lifetime.

Finally, she reaches the battlefield, where the cries of the fighters fuel her need to live and fight. One wolf snarls and lunges at her, but she dodges slightly, her footing off, still reeling from the explosion. The wolf already has a wound in his side. If Jade can exploit it, then she can win this fight.

Easier said than done.

The wolf knocks her down, pinning her to the ground. It roars in her face and raises its hammer, intent on smashing in her face. With a fierce laugh, Jade catches his hammer with her sword, severing her sword, but turning the direction of the hammer. With the broken part of her sword, she stabs the wolf’s side, causing it to scream, and stumble back. Then it falls down, fainting. Blood and pus pours from the wound.

Recognizing the danger she’s in, Jade locates a weapon, raises it, and smashes it down on the wolf’s head. The head breaks like a pumpkin, smashing its juices over her, and splitting it in two.

She looks down at her weapon. It’s an axe, beautifully and intricately carved. She doesn’t have time to look at it, though, as a shadow looms over her in the torch’s glow.

She turns to find Torr standing next to her, fighting another wolf.

“I’m glad you’re alive,” He tells her as he fights, sweat beading down his back. “I was worried about you. How are you holding up?”

“Fine,” She responds, teeth gritted as she herself took on a much bigger animal. “How’s the battle faring?”

“Horribly,” He says. With a grunt, he removes the wolf’s head from its shoulders. “Damn. I was fighting that beast for five minutes. We’re losing badly, Jade. The wolves are all mostly still alive, but we're losing people rapidly. Have you seen the others?”

Jade shakes her head, relief flooding through her as Torr helps her out with the wolf. “I haven’t. I was with Robin when the wall exploded, but I didn’t see a corpse.”

“I haven’t seen any corpses of them either,” Torr responds. “I did see Guilia a few moments ago. She’s fine, if a little scratched. We’re all tired, though. I don’t know how much longer we can hold up.”

The final section of the wall explodes, and men and beast fly in the air to the west side of Jade. The next second, more animals pour through the city, tearing at scattered villagers, and torching the houses. Some women are screaming in pain in what Jade imagines is a horrible experience, and she refuses to look at that scene.

She must focus on the battle.

The wolf retreats from their attack and turns to a villager weilding a pair of tongs. He is clearly unskilled, and very young. Jade tries to reach the wolf, but it pounces on the man—the boy—ripping him to shreds, tearing into him like he would in a stick of meat. The boy screams in pain and helplessness as he watches his flesh and blood torn off his body.

Jade’s axe smashes into the wolf, killing it.

I’ve killed two of these things, and helped kill another. I’m a powerful warrior, and killing three has been enough of a challenge. How much more is this going to take?

She is knocked to the ground by a fierce blow, but recovering, she realizes it isn’t an enemy.

It is Torr.

By pushing her down, he’s saved her from being decapitated by a wolf wielding a hammer. The wolf roars and crashes his hammer into Torr, who smashes into a building and lies still.

Unmoving.

Jade gasps in horror and the wolf turns towards her. She wants to do anything she can, but this wolf took down Torr.

Still, she advances on it, both rushing at each other head-on. It reaches her with its longer arms and swings. With a jump, she sails over the hammer and onto its chest. She feels a pull from behind, and suddenly she’s in the air once more, landing on the ground a few moments later, winded.

The wolf had grabbed her, thrown her off.

The battle is in disarray. All she can see is bodies littering the ground, humans being massacred by the malevolent wolves. The wolves are pounding into the humans—the innocents—punishing, hurting them, raping them before killing them.

It’s a terrifying scene.

And it scares Jade to death.

She needs to run. She can’t do this anymore. She must…

The wolf’s body pounding into her knocks some sense into her. For now, Jade cannot run. She is surrounded by allies and enemies both.

She has to keep going.

The wolf lunges and thrusts, each of his swings more powerful than the last. He seems to be toying with her, enjoying her pain. There is a certain hunger in his eyes that chills Jade to the bone.

He wants her for something else. But she’ll be damned if she gives it to him.

As the beast strikes at her body once more, she lets the hammer hit her, careful to position her body in a way to create the least amount of impact and pain as possible. Still, it hurts like her body is on fire, and she feels a crack in her ribcage, but the wolf hadn’t expected her to do this.

Grimacing, she swings her axe at the wolf, chopping into its head.

It’s dead before it hits the floor.

Jade rushes at Torr as fast as she can, worry in her mind, yet hope in her heart.

To her relief, he is still breathing, but he is unconscious. With a shake from Jade, he comes awake.

“What happened?” He asks.

Jade quickly fills him in and he groans.

“We need to get out of here,” He tells her.

“But the others…”

“I know,” He responds gruffly. “But we can’t afford this. We need to warn the royals about what has happened here.”

With a sad nod of her head, Jade nods and begins to lead him out of the city, careful to avoid the wolves' eyes.

They go deeper into the city, heading in the direction of Arcadia. The wolves don’t see them, intent on killing those they are already fighting. Strangely, Jade doesn’t see many humans. Sure, there are lots of bodies littering the ground, but except for those, most humans are just gone.

Where did they all go?

Jade stops as she sees something in front of her. It’s the captain of the wolves. He smiles at her.

“This is what happens when you fight us. Leave us alone. If you stop, we will stop attacking you. This is your last chance. We will destroy Magefell. Do not get in our way. Or you shall be destroyed.” He turns away, and two wolves turn to face us.

“Quick, in here,” A voice whispers from the side. Jade and Torr turn to see Guilia waving at them. “Come on, run!”

Jade and Torr take after her, running as fast as they can, the wolves chasing them, snarling. Guilia leads them out of the city quickly, to the forest that connects Erenfeld and Hurlet. The wolves keep chasing them, but suddenly about a dozen arrows sprout on both animals. One of them falls, but the other keeps going.

“I’ve got it,” Jade tells her friends, rushing the wolf. Because of its injuries, the wolf stumbles forward, unable to block her. She quickly stabs it in the gut, then splits its head open with her axe.

“Stay down, bastard,” She growls.

“This way!” Guilia yells. “We’re almost there.”

Jade follows her and enters a clearing, and there she sees the army, or what’s left of it. There are dozens of wounded men and women here, but maybe a hundred still alive and uninjured. Just a portion of those who had stayed to fight, but it was a relief to find anyone else.

“Sister, you are alive,” Robin grins, hugging Jade fiercely. “I thought I had shamed myself in letting you die.”

“Just glad to be alive,” Jade responds numbly. Thankfully, Jin is here as well. She hasn’t lost anyone special this time.

Still, they have lost plenty of people and an entire town. She can see it burning from here. Now, she doesn’t know what will happen. Will Arcadia try to attack the wolves, or will they leave Magefell to its defenses?

She doesn’t know, but the captain’s words haunt her.

We will destroy Magefell. Do not get in our way. Or you shall be destroyed.