Many cities were destroyed. As were villages and towns. The entire country seemed to have been decimated. And yet, in none of those places, could we find any sign of the invaders. No hints of the size of their army, the weapons that they used. We had no idea where they made camp, when they marched, how they were securing their supplies. It was as if ghosts had swept through the country, sucking up all the inhabitants of the Republic and burning their settlements because of spite, not necessity.
“We should be approaching the capital any time now,” said Bain Rusta from atop his equi.
“And what do we do if it’s deserted too?” asked Kelser, who was walking beside me.
I glanced over my shoulder. The army had only started marching an hour ago, and shouldn’t be too tired. Marching to the capital wouldn’t be a problem, but what would come after could be a challenge. If the capital had fallen, we would have no choice but to swing back around and head towards the Singing Horde’s homeland. The Republic’s capital was the farthest city from our border, since it was built on a river delta. Bain Rusta remarked how the city used to have the most beautiful beaches in the world. In quieter times, even the elites of the Kingdom would come to vacation there.
By this point the river had split into distributaries and the delta was fanning out. Bain Rusta and his commanders were the only ones who knew the path to the city, since we had left the road behind to try to cut off whatever force was attacking the Republic. We also did not want to have to fight the enemy’s forces out in the open without joining up with what remained of the Republic’s army. Clearly, the enemy was too dangerous to take on alone.
Shouting in the distance. A scout raced up to us on his equi. He said one of the scouting parties was fighting an unknown enemy. Murmurs in the ranks of the army. Bain Rusta directed his commanders to calm the soldiers down. Kelser headed to the humans and began preparing a party full of magic users to support the demon soldiers.
I pressed my foot into the ground, and rubbed it across the earth in an arc. The crunch of gravel was replaced by a rumble and a thud, as the land punched me into the sky. I used air and motion magic to propel myself forward, sending two long magic hands to connect to trees on either side near the front of the army. The magic hands pulled me forward, sending me hurtling over the heads of confused demons and spooked equi.
The wind whistled past my face. I squinted as I was propelled towards the sun, my vision blurred by blaring sunlight. I yelled to declare my arrival, the sounds of metal clanging against metal, enraged shouts, and military orders filling the air. I had expected the battlefield to hush at the appearance of a yelling elf sized bullet, but it only quietened down a little bit. I blinked rapidly, prepared fireballs in my hand, and shot them into the sky. The fireballs exploded into sparks, finally grabbing everyone’s attention, and a tense silence hung in the air. I looked around and frowned.
A group of young demon soldiers was glaring at a squad of tall, armored soldiers. The enemy soldiers were much better equipped than the demons, donning full plated iron armor, heavy shields, and a helmets that covered everything but the eyes. The enemy soldiers were staring resolutely at me, keeping the demon soldiers in the periphery of their vision. They were wielding strange pike-like weapons, four to six meters in length, which extended far out of their closed formation like the quills of a porcupine. And since they had their backs to each other, they were defended from all sides, although I could tell that they did not find the situation ideal. After all, the demons had surrounded them on all sides, and although the demon’s spears weren’t as long, it would surely only be a matter of time before they managed to get close enough to render the long pike-like weapons worthless. Now that I had arrived with some flashy fire magic, the enemy soldiers were confronted with an even more difficult situation. I could cook them inside their well-armored and well-defended formation without ever getting in range of their weapons. Even though the only part of their faces that I could see were the eyes, they told me everything I needed to know. These soldiers were tense and desperate. They would probably do something stupid soon, like rush forward in every direction to try to break through.
“Stop!” I yelled just as the enemy soldiers began to step forward.
The demon soldiers also knew what their opponents were planning, and had formed their own ranks on all sides. Before they could take advantage of the enemy’s hesitation, I pushed a bunch of them back with magic hands. A couple of demons stumbled and fell over, wide-eyed, with many others finally letting go of their blood-lust and concentration to give me confused looks. Even the enemy soldiers seemed surprised.
“We are not here to fight you,” I said to the enemy soldiers, then I turned to the demons on my side, “look closely, friends. Don’t you see who they are?” I pointed to the tall, armored soldiers, using a bit of light magic to highlight the well-hidden but revealing little formations on the backs of their armor. These metallic protrusions would be completely unnecessary and wasteful for all but one kind of being.
“Fairies!” shouted a demon commander as realization dawned on his face. He began telling his men to stand down, and the demons even opened up the back of their encirclement. The fairies, for their part, didn’t ease up their formation at all. They had been surprised by the demons’ reaction, but didn’t say anything. Once the encirclement was opened up, they inched slowly backwards, trying to put some open space behind their backs so they could retreat if necessary.
“Wait,” I said, once again stepping forward. I had left the lines of the demon soldiers and walked dangerously close to the fairies’ pike-like weapons.
The fairies tensed up, but one of the tallest fairies finally quipped to her compatriots. The other fairies heard what she had said, but I couldn’t catch it. I strained my ears, and realized they weren’t sure what to do. Looking around, it seemed like they didn’t have a commanding officer, and the tallest female fairy was only directing the others since she happened to be well-respected.
“We came from the Izlandi Kingdom,” I said, “we heard that you were being invaded by the Singing Horde, who were being assisted by a mysterious force. These demon soldiers are here as reinforcements for your capital. Tell me, is the capital still standing?”
The tall female fairy stopped talking to the others. She looked around. Nobody else was coming forward. She did not lower her pike as she stepped just an inch out of formation and spoke loudly: “We are a scouting party sent out by the orders of the Senate. The capital lost contact with the rest of the country a few days ago, and all of our hunting and scouting parties have failed to return. You are the first beings we have encountered on our mission. We must assume that you are responsible for the invasion of the Lux Republic and the isolation of our glorious capital.”
I blinked. The way this tall fairy talked was especially pompous and self-righteous. I mean, if the tall stature and militaristic appearance hadn’t already done so, her voice and mannerisms completely shattered my expectations of what a ‘fairy’ was supposed to be.
“You don’t even know that it is the Singing Horde that is invading you?” asked Kelser as he arrived with his contingent of humans.
“Who are you?” said the tall fairy. Many fairies in the formation pointed their weapons at Kelser.
“My name is Kelser. I am a human,” he said, casting a little fireball over his fingers. The fairies stared at the fire in trepidation.
“Human? Is that a species of beastman?” asked the fairy.
“No,” said Bain Rusta, as he arrived on his tired and panting equi, “they are a completely different type of sentient beings. They live past the great mountains to the South of our realm. Please, noble fairies, lay down your weapons. We seem to have barely made it to your city before whatever force has been ravaging your countryside. You must take us to the Senate, immediately!”
The lead fairy gave Bain Rusta a suspicious glare. “No, we cannot trust you. You have brought an army deep into our country, on the pretense of assisting against an invasion we cannot confirm has occurred. If you want to come with us, you must all throw down your weapons and return with us as captives.”
Bain Rusta got off his equi and walked over to me. It was the first time I had seen the old demon with an angry face. “Are you so blind you cannot see the truth that is right in front of your eyes? Have they stopped teaching you your own stories, your own myths, and legends, the very foundation of your society? Look more closely. Over here, at the one who stands next to me. Do you not realize who has come to rescue you from utter ruin?” Bain Rusta pointed at me, in particular at my ears and face, and glared at the fairies.
The lead fairy frowned. It was another fairy, a shorter one whose chin was only a little bit higher than the top of my head, who slid his helmet off just a little bit so he could get a better view. His eyes widened, his lips trembled, and he struggled to get out the words that seemed to be caught in his throat.
“Elf!” shouted another fairy.
“Great elf!” shouted another.
Soon, the tightly knit, heavily armored unit of tall fairy knights wielding menacing pikes and robust shields, dropped their weapons in a frenzy and collapsed, kissing the ground with their mouths while shouting something about elves and victory.
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