Chapter 67 – Dawning of the Great Battle
Mika took a deep breath as the troupe came to a halt at the top of the largest hill in the area. Thus far it was quiet, but it wouldn’t be for long. According to the scouts, the Fire Clan was less than a kilometer away. They would be arriving within a half-hour.
Even though Mika hadn’t slept well, the morning had come much too quickly. It was hard to believe. The girls awoke to the blowing of some sort of horn well before dawn, and they were marching out of the camp just as the sky was beginning to gray.
It was a perfect day though, too perfect for what was about to occur. The air was still, the temperature was mild, and the sky was cloudless. Mika couldn’t help but watch the colors on the horizon change as the sun rose into the sky. She tried her best not to think that this could be the last sunrise she saw, but it was hard to be optimistic.
There was a shout in the distance, and Mika drew a sharp breath. The enemy had been spotted. It was only a matter of minutes. She turned to her friends to find them looking back at her.
“Whatever happens, we’ll make it out alright?” Ayako said, though even she couldn’t keep the slight quavering out of her voice. Even Ayako wasn't immune to nervousness.
Mika nodded. “Yeah. Once this is over we can go back to Japan.”
Kana spared them both a small smile. “It’ll be over before you know it.”
Ayako, who was in the middle of the three, grasped the hands of Mika and Kana. It was a small gesture, but reassuring all the same. “We’ll make it out,” she repeated, more to herself than to the other two.
The warriors around them shifted getting into the appropriate position. About half of the legion, roughly a hundred warriors, were situated on the front lines and would be the first to charge. Mika held her breath and started a mental countdown, estimating when the first wave would charge.
“Mika.”
Her head shot up at Kaito’s familiar, soft voice. He stood slightly off to the side, but had his head cocked in her direction. Their eyes met for a brief moment before Mika looked down. “What?” she asked, voice just barely above a whisper.
He took a step toward her. “Don’t do anything reckless. If it’s too much, get out. Don’t worry about the rest of us.”
For a moment, her mind flashed back to the night in the caves. The night he said something very similar. Back then she had argued, but here, when their lives really were on the line, she couldn’t find the strength. In the end, Mika gave a small nod, but she grasped at pieces of determination.
I have to make it through this, she thought.
No, I will
make it through this.Kaito stood by their side, quietly, gazing off into the distance. Though he was slightly taller, he couldn’t see well over the backs of the massive warriors in the front lines. Even so, he could hear them approaching. “Here it comes,” he whispered to no one in particular.
There was the whizzing of two arrows being released simultaneously, and a few seconds later, the sound of a small explosion. The stink bombs weren’t loud, but they were still easily heard. Multiple shouts sounded in the distance, and then there was the call to charge.
The barrier of people that was blocking Mika’s view began to disappear as they all launched themselves forward across the field. Some transformed as they went, and their light flashed over the open area.
Kana stepped forward, knocking her own arrow and shifted through a couple of people until she found a good spot to take aim. It seemed like forever before the call to let the smoke bombs loose. Kana couldn’t see exactly what was happening, only that there was a flood of people moving about, but she didn’t need to know the specifics to shoot in the general direction.
With a deep breath Kana raised the bow, drew back the string, and focused the arrow. The call to fire came only seconds later, and without hesitation, her fingers let the arrow fly. The second wave of individuals rushed around her and plunged into the field after the first.
It took several seconds for them to clear, but when she did, she was able to see that the smoke bombs had done their job. Kana moved back toward her friends, and Ayako gave her a high-five with a small smile.
All three held their breath, waiting for the final order. Mika tightened her grip on the daggers, and Ayako took hold of Kanrir. Seconds passed, then a minute, and suddenly the sound of a low howl reverberated through the group. They charged.
Kaito stayed by their side for a brief moment as they moved into the field. “Listen up,” he said, almost shouting over the roar of battle to be heard, “whatever happens, stay alive alright? Rely on each other, and don’t go off on your own.”
All three girls nodded.
“Don’t you die either ahouji!” Ayako shouted, allowing a small smirk to play across her face.
He nodded, a light smile highlighting his face, and then raced forward out of sight.
The first enemy the girls came upon was transformed into a fox. It came barreling at Ayako so quickly that she only had time to raise her spear before it tackled her. They both fell to the ground, the fox on top, and Ayako struggling on the bottom.
She used her spear to hold back its front paws, but its teeth were inching closer her throat. As she pushed upward with all of her strength, she could feel its back claws bearing down into her lightly guarded stomach.
All of them had been given a bit of protective gear earlier that morning, but of course, the humans got the worse of it all. Ayako, with a lot of mumbling and grumbling, had put on the thin leather cover, and then covered it up with a second layer of clothes, the clothes Agatha had given them. Unattractive, yes, but very easy to move it. Now, Ayako was thankful that Kana had convinced her to wear it.
However, even though the leather around her abdomen and chest dulled the pain from the fox’s claws, it didn’t stop his teeth from coming at her face. Its breath smelled wretched, like rotting meat and blood. Ayako knew the smell was the last of her worries, but it was still hard to ignore.
There was the thumping sound of a weapon hitting a body, and two arrows sprouted from the fox’s left side. The beast whirled around to face its new attacker after only a split second of hesitation, it charged in Kana's direction.
Before the fox could get too far, Mika, who was standing a bit apart from the other two, threw one of her daggers. It hit the animal square in the shoulder. It wasn’t quite where she was aiming, but at this point, with her shaking hands, she was simply happy to have hit it.
The fox stopped for a moment, and seemed to realize that it was no longer up against one person, but three. It snarled, but hesitated to move, unable to decide which of them was the greater threat. This was its mistake. Ayako charged, and with a couple swift, sharp movements with Kanrir, she finished the job.
The trio all collectively took a breath, and for a moment they all spared a smile. A silent agreement passed amongst them: they could do this.
They moved forward, slowly entering what was now the heated battle zone. Neither of them had seen so much power being used in a single battle before. The land was scorched as those of the Fire Clan burst into flames and shot at their enemy, and the Lightning Clan wasn’t holding back either, thousands of bolts of lightning hurtled across the field. Although the Water Clan was using their power, they seemed to be more of a support rather than the main attack force.
“Look out!” Mika screamed as a stray ball of fire hurtled in their direction.
All three dove to the side, and looked up to see another two warriors headed in their direction. One’s hands were on fire while the other’s sword seemed to be in the middle of a small tornado. It was the first Wind Clan warrior they’d seen.
Ayako was the first to charge toward them, with Mika on her right side for backup when the time was right. Kana stood back, and fired a shot. The Fire Clan warrior’s golden eyes whipped to his partner, and with a flick of the second man’s wrist, the arrow was cut in half.
Mika felt her stomach drop. These two were not like the minors they had fought thus far, they were trained, skilled warriors. Nonetheless, Ayako met them as she would any opponent: she dove straight for them first, and when they blocked the attack, began to pivot, striking in different areas.
Mika would’ve helped her, except that she was now engaged with the Wind Clan warrior. As soon as she neared him, his nose wrinkled. “Human?” the word was spat from his lips, but was more of a comment to himself than to her.
She paused, waiting for him to make the first move, and he did. The Wind Clan warrior held out his hand, and blades of invisible wind shot in her direction. She could only vaguely see where they were going, and only make out the form of it when it was on top of her. With her heart about to go into overdrive, she ran to the side, in a wide arc around her opponent.
If she couldn’t even get close to him, how in the world would she be able to fight? She’d collapse from exhaustion before she would be able to get close. All this ran through her brain in a heartbeat.
No, I have to survive this. We have to get back. There has to be something...Mika scanned her surroundings. There had to be something she could use, if only to draw his attention. A sudden thought occurred to her, and she reached in her back pocket for the LED flashlight she’d had this morning when it was still almost pitch black. As she ran, she turned it up to the highest brightness setting, clicked it on, and when the warrior turned to stare at her, shined it right in his face.
As expected, the warrior stumbled back slightly, not blinded by the light, but simply shocked. Of course he would be, he’d never seen something like a flashlight before. Mika used the opportunity to dive toward him, keeping a dagger in her right hand, and the flashlight in her left.
The warrior was only stunned for half a second, but it was enough time for her to enter his range. That said, she realized upon getting closer, that he wore the air around him almost like a shield. She could see it rippling around his body. The moment, she got an opportunity, Mika struck at the ligament on the inside of the thigh, but instead of cutting through skin, it was as though she hit a concrete wall. It was the air circulating around his body that was making an impenetrable wall.
Mika felt her stomach sink, and a minute later, she felt a pain across her back. She cut the scream off in her throat, and instead jumped sideways in a blind attempt to escape. There was another sharp pain across her right shoulder.
She jumped up quickly, but unsteadily. Movement in her peripheral vision caught her eye. Ayako was still going head on with the Fire Clan warrior, and by the looks of it, she was making about as much progress as Mika was.
A cold shiver ran up her body. This was what fighting a real demon was like. As Kaito had said weeks ago, there was a difference between a sparring match and someone who was trying to kill. Actually, now that she stopped to think about it, this warrior was playing with her more than anything else. He’d had the opportunity to kill, and he hadn’t. Instead, he was satisfying a curiosity: what exactly is a human capable of?
Mika drew a slow breath, and positioned herself to charge again, but there was a sudden movement behind her. One moment, the Wind Clan warrior was standing there, sword raised to attack with his wind, and the next, a huge gash had opened in his chest.
She jumped to the side to get a better look at who it was. “Sadam,” she breathed, as the water clan warrior’s name came to mind.
Mika looked up, searching for Ayako, and found that Bastir was standing next to her, with the Fire Clan warrior writhing on the ground in pain.
“Finish it.”
Mika looked up at the man, whose voice drew her back to her own situation. She glanced from him to the Wind Clan warrior, who was hunched over the ground as if in pain, and her blood ran cold.
Finish it? Her mind repeated.
She knew what the older man was offering. He was giving her the chance to redeem herself. The claim the fight back and gain a victory. But... Once again, Mika glanced at the Wind Clan warrior, and dropped her head. “I-I can’t,” she said softly. “He’s incapacitated. Isn’t that enough?”
Sadam’s features seemed to harden in disapproval, and with a flick of his wrist, the warrior gained a fatal wound and dissipated to dust.
Mika looked away from the scene. “Thank you,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. She made an attempt at a bow, but the cut in her back stung in protest, so in the end, all she could do was lower her head in gratitude.
Sadam gave her no further acknowledgement as he went to collect Bastir, who was apparently working with him. She knew then that she had failed some sort of unspoken test. She really wasn’t cut out for war.
Mika trudged her way over to Ayako and Kana who were both staring at the spot the Fire Clan warrior had been defeated. Like Mika, Ayako hosted a few wounds, one on her right shoulder, and another on her left wrist, but none were severe. She was glad that they’d both managed to make it out in one piece, more or less.
“Mika!” Kana exclaimed when she saw her disheveled and bloody appearance. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I think so.” Mika replied with a small smile. “It hurts, but I don’t think it’s deep.”
Kana nodded and gazed off into the distance. They were still on the outskirts of the battle, but to go into the thick of it, even if they stood on the friendly side was hazardous. Explosions sounded from the battle as the powers of the demons clashed together. Circling above the area were a few Wind Clan warriors, transformed into their full form.
Slowly, the girls started off in the direction of the main battle. They were still quite a way off, when they caught sight of Grinwald surrounded by five or six other Fire Clan warriors. Even from this distance they could tell it was him with the giant axe. Immediately, the three ran off in his direction.
By the time the girls neared Grinwald, he had cut down one of the warriors, but he was a bit worse for wear, showing smaller cuts along his arms, and one cut above his eye. Ayako, sneaking behind one of the warriors as she approached, managed to take them out while they were unguarded, lowering the count to four.
A swift glance passed between Ayako and Grinwald, and the four Fire Clan warriors swarmed forward to deal with their new enemies. Grinwald kept most of them occupied while the girls worked together on one particularly large warrior. He may have been strong, but he was neither bright, nor quick on his feet. Compared to the other two, the girls had no problems dealing with him.
Mika hacked away at important muscles every time she got the opportunity to get within his attack range, while Ayako kept his sword busy. It was Kana that dealt the final blow only a minute later. With an arrow sprouting from his chest, the warrior collapsed.
In the time the girls had taken to dispose of their warrior, Grinwald had taken out another. They now had the enemy outnumbered four to two. They were reasonable odds, and Mika would have been hopeful except that the two remaining seemed to be good fighters.
Grinwald was occupied with both, and it was clear the two were wearing him down, not attacking him head-on, but darting around, forcing him to move. The girls jumped into the fight without hesitation.
The four made sort of a circle, facing outward and attacking as the enemy got close. In that way, it did help with protection, but it’s impossible to kill an enemy without moving. Ayako was the first to break forward, attacking rather than defending.
She struck at one of the warriors, who had particularly red hair and bright golden eyes. His face was devoid of emotion though, making him extremely hard to read. She blocked the attacks that he sent at her easily, but was making no headway on hitting him at all.
Mika did her best to provide her own back up, darting around the man and trying to get close, but she rarely saw an opening. The couple of times that she did manage to get within close-range, the warrior would withdraw several steps, forcing Ayako and Mika to move to meet him once more.
Kana was the last to move forward, firing an arrow every now and again when both of her friends were out of the way. It was when she stepped away, that the Fire Clan warrior made his move.
In a flash of speed, he vanished almost completely from their line of sight, and the next they saw, he had his sword embedded in Grinwald’s back.
The mighty warrior fell slowly. It was as if the time of the whole world had suddenly stopped completely. Though Grinwald didn’t go without making his mark on the warrior he was fighting, who was now standing still within his attack range. With a great heave of his axe, he cut the warrior in front of him, and the enemy vaporized on the spot.
“No...” Ayako heard herself whisper. Then more loudly she shouted. “No! You – You!” she sputtered, to angry to throw out all of the vulgar words that were forming at her lips. Ayako charged blindly as the Fire Clan warrior. With his sword somewhat occupied, Ayako landed a fatal blow. The battle was over.
Mika and Kana were already at his side, doing the best they could to stop the blood. He hadn’t disappeared. He was alive, but the state that he was in now was worse than death. Slowly the blood oozed from his wound, but all of them could tell that this was not something he could recover from.
“Don’t die Grinwald!” Ayako shouted. Her mouth was dry, so the words came out hoarsely. “Don’t...”
Slowly his hand found her, and he gave it a bit of a squeeze. “'S all right,” he managed between a small cough. “It’s been fun, fightin’ with the lot of ‘ya.” His eyes moved behind the girls, and they all turned to look.
Kaito approached slowly, and knelt down at the man’s side. His hand was already glowing as he reached it toward the old man.
Grinwald raised his arm, and grasped Kaito’s wrist. “Don’t,” he managed hoarsely. “I’m too far gone. ‘Ya’ve already given up enough on my account.”
Kaito shook his head slowly, and his jaw clenched. For a moment he seemed utterly lost for words, but he managed the phrase. “I’m sorry Grinwald.”
Grinwald nodded his head slowly. “Young Lord, please, do me one last favor.” When Kaito met his eyes, Grinwald continued. “My boy at home, please, look after ‘em. He’s justa’ lad. Won’t understand, when I don’t come back.”
“Of course,” Kaito replied, his voice barely above a whisper. “I’ll keep an eye on him.”
“No!” Ayako interrupted. The tears that she had managed to hold back until this point finally filled her eyes. “You can’t give up that easily! You –” Grinwald and herself weren’t exactly the best of friends. He’d helped her out more than once, but that wasn’t what had caused her emotional attachment. He had reminded her so much of her dead grandfather whom she’d lost three years before. She didn’t want to go through that again.
She vaguely felt the pressure of Mika’s hand on her shoulder, but she didn’t respond. She gripped Grinwald’s hand, as he slowly started to turn to ash.
The others all seemed to explode. Somehow time seemed to have slowed down, perhaps because she didn’t want to lose him. “Grinwald,” she choked out between sobs, relishing speaking his name one last time.
“Take care of yourself, Ayako,” he said with a small smile before the rest of him faded and drifted away on the wind.
Ayako wasn’t sure how long she sobbed for, clenching her fist that had only moments before, held his hand. Even Kaito, held his head down in a moment of remembrance.
The battle raged on behind them, but in the minds of all four, it was forgotten for the time being.
A/N~ Shorter chapter. I think I need to practice writing emotional scenes. There's some art to writing it I just don't think I have yet. Well anyway, enjoy the action-packed chapter~
<==Chapter 66
It's officially in my top five 'reads' as it isn't published. But for one thing, you HAVE to publish it. 
