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14 - War

At first, it seemed like the battle would end quite quickly. The side that had the number and cavalry advantage quickly took the upper hand, killing or incapacitating the other side's mages and archers in short order. As much magic as the lightly armoured soldiers threw at the knights, they simply didn't seem to notice or be affected by it. At this point of the seemingly decided battle, Zalia heard a resounding crack. She watched as the ground itself seemed to crack open and a large creature made of dirt and stone ripped itself free of the earth.

Zalia hesitated, watching the large, dangerous looking elemental start swinging. Her sense of self preservation was eventually overcome by the urge to help and she started running down the hill. A fight between two unknown kingdoms or factions was not something she wanted to get involved with but faced with watching the giant earthen elemental rip the two armies to pieces she had to act. She doubted she would be able to kill the thing, let alone harm it, as it was probably a high rank. What she did think she could do was heal those who were injured or dying and provide them an opportunity to get out of there.

Zalia watched as the battle took a complete turn. Faced with an outside threat, the humans stopped slaughtering each other and banded up to face it. The insanity of the situation wasn't lost on her, she didn't have any information about why the battle was taking place let alone why or how the earth had decided to get up and start a slaughter. The armoured knights immediately began harrying the elemental, riding around its legs as the slow being swung at them. The monstrosity stood at what she thought to be ten to twelve metres tall, barely seeming bothered by the bombardment the remaining mages and archers were throwing its way. Some of the foot soldiers found some courage and started attacking but quickly backed off after two were immediately crushed by large, too long arms.

After a minute and a half of running and one knight presumably dead after being smashed into the distance from their horse, Zalia arrived.

? - Gold rank

She immediately used her Protection of the Wilds skill on all the unconscious and wounded soldiers who couldn't walk. A few of the foot soldiers noticed her but didn't attack, thankfully. She also let her healing aura affect everyone nearby, the healing only a small amount but hopefully enough to make a difference. As some of the soldiers that weren't conscious started looking like they weren't going to die anytime soon, she released the Protection of the Wilds from them,

"HEY, HEY!" Zalia screamed at the foot soldiers.

A few of the soldiers looked over and saw what she was trying to do. They came and grabbed the now somewhat stable soldiers and made for the treeline. Quickly after, the others who weren't able to contribute to the fight started helping as well. A few actually seemed to look relieved that they had something to do, their commanders too focused on distracting the elemental to direct them. She watched a few of the mages run out of mana, some a bit too far over the limit falling unconscious. The archers started running out of arrows and began moving the unconscious mages away as well.

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Now that she was closer, Zalia did notice that most of the soldiers wearing the green and brown colours were unconscious or dead, the remaining alive ones having taken their comrades and retreating back to the east after she yelled at them.

Soon, the battlefield was free of the dying and only the dead remained. All the remaining foot soldiers, archers and mages had retreated. The ones in colours of red and yellow going to the west. Zalia grabbed a few arrows she saw from the ground and a roundel dagger from a body before she too retreated, going to the west. She decided that meeting with the army that had a bigger remaining force might be beneficial to her, hoping they would have a sense of gratitude for her efforts. She checked on the one forcefully demounted knight before she left, finding him dead as his whole chest plate had been crushed in. The rest of the knights quickly caught on and retreated as well, the elemental looking a little worse for wear but nowhere near defeat as the cracks and cuts mended slowly.

Zalia followed the stumbling soldiers, those incapable of walking themselves being supported by others, back to a large war camp. A host of tents in neatly formed lines ran along one side, a few bigger ones along another. The camp itself was surrounded by a slightly raised earthen wall with the ditch the dirt had come from dipping down on the outer side. She followed the wounded soldiers to a group of bigger tents, still allowing her aura to heal those around her slowly. She went in and got to work, giving those with worse wounds mouthfuls of Frozen Heart. There were a few other healers in the tent, some using spells and others binding wounds with lengths of cloth. She quickly ran out of her small supply of Frozen Heart, deeming the sacrifice definitely worth it considering the horrible wounds and injuries she saw. Her aura was greatly weakened when healing so many people at once but it provided an extended timeframe to bind and heal the worst of the wounds, stabilising those with lesser ones.

It wasn't long before a woman in full plate came into the tent, walking up to Zalia.

"Thank you stranger, for your help. Who are you and from where do you hail?" The woman asked.

"I'm Zalia, I come from the north. I wouldn't stand idly by and watch so many be slaughtered, no need to thank me. Who are you people and why are you fighting each other?" She replied, asking a question in kind.

"I am Knight Alara, leader of this war party. Our allegiance is owed to the Kingdom of Endaria and its monarch. The others are a splinter of our kingdom, claiming that the king is unworthy and cursed. They seek to dethrone our rightful king. You do not know of the war?," Alara replied, seeming confused at Zalia's lack of knowledge.

"Oh boy, I really don't want to get involved with this. Just had to come help the warring humans Zalia, nice one," Zalia thought.

"I'd like to talk with you later, once I have finished healing these injured. Where can I find you?" Zalia asked, looking pointedly at the groaning and crying soldiers around them and ignoring the question.

"The biggest tent, over there," Alara responded, pointing.

Zaria looked at the woman, a bronze rank much like Glemp. She had tan skin, black hair and green eyes. She stood there, helmet under one arm and the other resting on the pommel of her sword.

"Be with you shortly then," Zalia replied, getting back to work.