Chapter 67: Chapter 67
Rima was the first one who sensed the approaching danger as she was the strongest demon with the purest blood in the united army, however, even with her absolute intuition and fast reactions, she couldn’t act time to protect others from the ferocious assault, and in a matter of seconds, the golden shore turned into a bloodbath.
Henry on the other hand, felt completely lost and shaken, as if a whole appeared under his feet, he didn’t even know how it all happened, one second, he was observing the armies as they arrived one troop after the other and began to form their lines, the water was calm, the sky was clear, the golden sands shone with a warm glow under the strange light, the forest looked strange but peaceful, however, right in the next second, the sky was hidden behind with thousands if not tens of thousands of giant arrows coming towards them, and it wasn’t until they were right above their heads when Henry noticed their size, the damn things were huge, they were almost as big as spears, coming at them with the speed of lightning bolts, a scary realization settled in Henry’s mind in that second, that those giant spears were too big to be stopped by their shields and armors.
The first wave of spears fell beyond the front line where Henry and Rima were, nevertheless, the scent of blood and burned flesh mixed with the horrifying and pained screams filled their ears.
The smell was nauseating, the screams were hair-raising, but none was as awful as the sight that met their eyes, blood was splattered all over the shore, turning the Golden sands into a red gritty mess, the soldiers were running around aimlessly, trying to save themselves from the pouring attacks of hell, needless to say that it was of no use, the spears poured down on them like heavy raindrops, numerous and inescapable, turning the ones living creatures into shapeless masses of dead torn flesh swimming surrounded with pools of their own blood.
“Your Majesty! Look out!” by the time Henry turned to the source of the voice, his general and friend who was running towards him in hopes of saving the king, the bloodied tip of the spear was already buried in the ground while the long shaft carried the general’s body as if it was a chunk of ham.
Henry watched with wide eyes as his friend gasped and quivered, blood bubbling out of his mouth while his eyes kept on looking at the sky, the young king watched as life slowly and painfully left his friend’s body, while he stood there, unable to do anything, not even move, not even talk.
For a second, his mind froze, his senses turned numb, the edges of his vision became blurry as he only focused on his friend’s body, pierced by the giant spear, the noises around him turned into a faint buzz, it wasn’t the first time he saw someone dying, nor was it the first time he saw a friend dying, but something about the sky that rained death, and the pain that contoured his friend’s face while the light in his eyes slowly faded until there was nothing left of it but a shady cloud of death hit Henry in a spot he didn’t even know he had, one which once hit, it shut him down completely.
“Henry, Please!” at her urgent voice, Henry pulled himself out of his shock, even though his heart was still hammering inside his chest painfully and tears burning the back of his eyes, he refused to release them, it was all way too painful, bitter, but he couldn’t allow himself to lose his resolution right then with death above their heads.
Looking at Rima who was standing a few steps away from him with her jaw clenched and her arms spread upwards, Henry followed her line of sight, towards the spears, only then he did notice the ice screen which formed above their heads, shielding them from the spears.
The ice screen however was barely large enough to cover few hundreds, even when the ice queen looked as if she was already out of breath while making it, and Henry knew exactly why, the ice queen didn’t feed in days, she was starved and drained, she was at her weakest, yet she didn’t allow herself to lose focus, and instead reacted in time to save many lives, including his, something he couldn’t do, and the cost of it was his friend’s life.
Seeing their queen’ struggle, many other ice demons joined her in her defensive stance, creating shields of their own and joining them with the queen’s, only for them to understand how difficult it really was.
Not wanting to be a useless liability while Rima was doing her best to shield them, Henry scanned his surroundings, his eyes catching everything, his mind not sparing the tiniest of details, the attack was all too sudden for them, taking a defensive stance was their first reaction, the one that spared their lives, but while they did so, all of them failed to notice the few details that accompanied the attack, the ones Henry was taking in.
The spears were not alight; however, a burning flesh smell filled the air, Henry looked at the bodies, some, just like his friend’s, were stabbed, but others were on fire, the demons’ bodies.
Henry’s doubts were confirmed once he witnessed a spear hitting a demon only for his body to be set on flame, the same thing happened to the rest of the demons but to none of the humans.
Seeing this, Henry wondered if it was related to the demons’ structure themselves, however, watching Rima’s barrier and the way it was thinning each time one of the spears hit it, forcing the ice queen and her followers to pour more of their magic to regenerate the shield, made him think that it was not the demons, but the dark magic they carried in their blood.
Henry wondered how could that input be of use to them, but his thoughts were cut short as he heard the ice queen’s whimper, Rima was suffering, struggling, her body was weak and so was her magic, and it was all working against her with the assault, running towards her, Henry stood behind her and wrapped his hands around her waist when she was about to fall on her knees, pulling her to him until her back was pressed on his chest, supporting her while she protected him, as it was all he could do at that moment.
“I can’t…” Rima spoke throw clenched teeth, her breath hitching and her arms shivering, Henry moved his hands to place them on her wrists, keeping them in place, he knew that they would perish the moment the barrier disappears from above their heads, but at the same time, he knew that Rima, who didn’t feed in days, was too weak to keep regenerating the damn thing.
Looking at the forest, Henry wracked his mind, trying to come up with a solution, but nothing came out, the thick trees hid whoever was shooting at them, and the heavy assault prevented them from taking any steps forward, he didn’t know who their enemies were, he didn’t know where they were, he couldn’t see them, if only they showed themselves, then they might get a chance to counterattack or…
If only they showed themselves! Henry repeated in a hushed voice, a crazy thought forming inside his head, it was insane, dangerous, and unguaranteed, he wished he could have Rima’s opinion about it, but one look at the blood dripping out of her nose told him that he didn’t have any time to waste, it was their only chance, and it was his call whether to snatch that chance from the middle of thorns, or perish.
Spotting one of the shadow demons who was standing close to the king and queen, Henry gave him the order, almost in whispers, the demon stared at the human king for several seconds with his mouth agape as if he had grown a second head, however, seeing the determination and the urgency in the blue eyes, the demon was reminded that it was none other than this man, with a good head above his shoulders let alone the outstanding nerves, who saved them from the mirage, he was worth the trust, and also blind obedience, no matter how fishy the orders were.
Spreading the news to his fellow shadow demons who spread them to their surroundings, the soldiers started doing as told, reluctantly as not everyone understood the purpose behind the king's orders, but it was the only life rope thrown at them and they had no choice but to take it, not just because they were afraid of death, but because they were afraid that their deaths would be for nothing.
It was nonsensical, unjust even, and Henry knew that many demons would think he was only trying to save his people, the humans, and leave the demons to get killed, the humans however, understood what their king wanted to do, for it was one of the strategies he developed, the step back!
It was all left to the demons and their wiliness to trust the human king, and while some growled angrily, most obeyed the orders, placing their fate and faith in the hands of the man who already proved himself to be worthy of leadership.
While the ice demons created the shields to protect the fleeing troops, soldiers, mostly humans, mounted back on the boats and sailed back to the ships, using their hands to paddle urgently, the spears managed to hit some boats before they left the perimeter of the shore and Henry caught that, luckily though, the rest managed to leave the range of the light where the ships were waiting in the darkness and chill of the night.