With a flash of silvery light a landscape took form in front of my eyes.
Rubbing my eyes while thinking idle thoughts I wondered whether the painting had teleported me straight into the war zone and whether Blue would follow. When my eyes had finally adjusted I turned around in search of Sky.
Schwooosh... I had a dumb look on my face as I stared at the arrow that had missed me by a hairs breath. It was now deeply embedded into a tree trunk. Without further thought I broke out of my stupor and jumped into the closest bushes.
Out of the relative safety of my hideout I scanned the surroundings for the attacker. I was surrounded by a snow covered forest. The trees were spread quite far apart and the leafless bushes didn´t give me enough cover for my taste but it would have to do for now. The snow in the area was painted red in the blood of fallen soldiers. There were corpses with two differently colored uniforms. I figure there were two armies fighting each other just like in the painting. One army wore red the other black.
I wondered for the briefest moment where Blue was but decided to worry later. There were people in the vicinity. The sound of careful steps and heavy breathing gave me a vague idea of their location.
"Snow, nice to meet you and all but could you be quiet? I´m trying to concentrate." I whispered to the snow beneath me. Sometimes I regretted getting this annoying skill as I could never get a minute of quiet. I was desperately trying to come up with a plan but there was no way I could fight an entire group of soldiers.
"Yeah, I know it´s rude but this is an emergency so please give me a break!" I hissed yet the red snow kept crunching.
"You want to help? Great! I need to know what exactly is going on here and who and how many people are on their way here. Do you have some info for me?"
What I learned next was quite shocking. Just as I thought there were two armies in this forest. Apparently they were both pursuing the same target although the forces were hostile towards each other. Who or what the target was ,however, the snow did not know.
"Thank you. Let´s chat next time okay?" I grinned. This target had to be a clue to finding the fools.
Crack!
In a dash I was besides the closest corpse and was about to peel his uniform of when I heard an explosion.
After a few failed attempts I gave up on climbing the slippery thing and began to sprint in the general direction of the explosion. I periodically hid behind a tree or in the snow to escape detection from passing soldiers as I made my way towards the source of the explosions that disturbed the peaceful sound of war cries and clashing steel. There were no close calls despite my laughable attempts at stealth as most soldiers were in a rush. I noticed that they were disorderly and that there were only soldiers with black armor around. Maybe I was close to their main army. The thought made me shudder.
As I once again heard the telltale sign of enemies I ducked behind a convenient boulder and watched as a man in green traveling gear and an equally practical dressed woman ran by.
"There they are! Don´t let them escape!"
I watched as a group of about thirty members of the black army ran after the two in close pursuit. They were closing the distance surprisingly fast but by the looks of them the green clothed people were tired and worn out. They simply didn´t have enough strength left to outrun the soldiers.
I figured they were the target or had something to do with it. They were out of breath, their clothes were torn in several places and they looked like hell overall. Exactly what I would expect the targets chased by two armies to look like.
Just when I was about to interfere screams resounded from my left. Again I hid behind my boulder and watched in glee as the red army started attacking the black one. They didn´t however neglect to send their own men after the green clothed couple.
Metal hit metal and flesh as the opposing groups collided. Soon the first victim tumbled to the ground and was trampled by enemy and comrade alike. There seemed to be neither mages nor archers present so the battle turned into an organized melee as the respective leaders employed their strategies.
I did not stay idle either. Due to the battle I had lost sight of the target and frantically looked around. My effort remained unrewarded, however. I couldn´t find them. They were nowhere to be seen.
I already feared for the worst when I felt a draft of air to my left. A sword came rushing towards my head and I was neither prepared to dodge it nor did I have a way to block. I just crouched there, dumbfounded and helpless, between my boulder and an assailant about to chop me to pieces.
When I was about to kiss my life goodbye the snow beneath the soldiers feet began to move. It was nothing special or powerful. Just the slightest of tremors, that, had it been a magic spell, would not even have qualified for the lowest tier. This tremor saved my life. The soldiers balance was disturbed by the ground shifting beneath his feet and the sword passed by harmlessly an inch above my head. I was just as surprised by this turn of events as the soldier but decided to think about this particular mystery later. Now prepared to face my enemy I decided to employ my usual combat strategy.
Thus I ran with all my might and expertly dived into the melee avoiding sword slashes left and right in search of either a new hiding spot or the target. Whenever and enemy tried to attack me I would step behind another combatant and use him as a meat shield. Sometimes I would trip a passing enemy or kick him in the knee, other times I would throw desert sand into their eyes and leave them to a predictable fate. There was no need to seriously engage in combat with these soldiers. They outnumbered me by far and I had no significant combat power to boast of.
While I was preoccupied with surviving I noticed the battle gradually changing as more and more enemy soldiers joined in on both sides. The conflict seemed to be reaching the last stage in the rune picture.
Just as this thought occurred to me a scene I recognized played out in front of my eyes. There they were, dressed in black, a mage and an archer fighting back to back in the midst of a sea of red soldiers.
Sweat dripped down their faces as they rained death on their opponents. They still weren´t too deep in the enemy´s ranks.
I made my way towards them, gradually making out more details in the crazed melee. The black archer wore clothes reminiscent of the hero Link from one of my favorite console games, just that his clothes were black instead of green. His companion wore not so traditional combat mage clothes. Unlike normal mage robes combat mage clothes were not nearly as loose and the pointy head was exchanged for a simple hood. These clothes gave him the necessary mobility to survive even in closer range.
I dived through the crowd, their attention taken by the mesmerizing display of ability in front of them. Nobody stood in my way as I approached the two but I soon encountered a problem with my current plan, or lack thereof. I hadn´t really given it a thought before but... how in the heavens was I supposed to get these two out of here? They would most likely attack me on sight as I was not wearing a black uniform. They wouldn´t trust a stranger just like that and I didn´t have the power to forcefully get them out of their predicament.
Suddenly the scene I had encountered not too long ago sprang into my mind. They were blown to bits as their situation turned disadvantageous.
A plan at the ready I bode my time, it was about to get hot.
__________________________________________________________________________________
pov change: BlueSky
I watched as the pseudo mermaid touched the picture without even looking at me as he was enveloped by light and faded away.
I paced in front of the runed wall not knowing what to do. I wanted to touch the wall and help the dunce, I really did but I was also angry.
I thought about the short time I spent with this dude I randomly met in the character creation. Of course I knew why he was necessary though I didn´t want to tell him. Some things are simply too personal to tell even your closest of friends, so how could they be told to a stranger?
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
I was so happy to finally be able to live again, I was so overwhelmed by feelings when I got my new body I never even thought about the choice of factions. Truly, it was a blunder on my part but that didn´t mean I would just forgive this wannabe man.
"Damn!" I hit the wall. There was no use grumbling and mourning my body. It was idiotic. Especially with what I had planned. I wouldn´t destroy this body. I couldn´t.
My mind made up I smirked at the runed wall watching Murphy as he made his way deeper and deeper into the warzone. He showed a special interest in two silhouettes and tried to find them again but it was futile. I could see him drifting away from them in this endless sea of enemies. I now shifted my focus on those two. What was so special about them? The picture was fuzzy and I couldn´t quite make out what they looked like but the entire situation seemed so... familiar. Two people hunted by the members of two armies. A red army and a black army. This place was... the FutureForest?
My eyes widened as a suspicion grew in my heart. I sprinted back to the text wall.
< Doomsday brings light... too obvious... how could I have missed this?>
Doomsday was the day the first war started. It was caused by a love affair between the faction leader of the Darkness faction and the daughter of the Fire faction´s god. It was a forbidden love, obviously, and when it came to light due to the Lightning factions plot the two factions tried to break the couple up. However the stubborn lovers chose to run away together. It was a disgrace to both factions so they sent their respective armies to kill the couple. Of course this also lead to infight within the factions because the lovers were popular and had many friends. But despite the opposition, armies were still dispatched.
In their pursuit of the same target the armies eventually clashed. This battle would be known as the beginning of the end. Doomsday.
_________________________________________________________________________________
pov change: nobody in particular
The lovers were desperate. No matter where they went, no matter how many enemies they killed they were unable to escape. Covered in dirt, sweat and blood they continued to run for their lives. They had been on the run for two weeks already. Exhaustion had long since settled in, even the last bit of adrenaline long since used up and their lifeline, a bag filled to the brim with potions, had long since been emptied of its healing contents.
Felicity Hellfire and Nathan Raven were at the end of their ropes. Death was approaching. They knew it and strangely did not feel even an ounce of fear.
When the pursuers finally encircled them and they knew there was nothing left for them to do, bruised and battered as they were, they hugged in one last effort to stay together until death would part them.
The soldiers seeing the loving couple could only give them sympathetic looks. They were members of the Darkness faction, wearing the proud black armors of the elite knights, and they knew their faction leader- no, their former faction leader Nathan Raven personally. They had shared many adventures together and considered Nathan a friend and respected superior- that is, until he had betrayed them and their God for a woman belonging to a different faction, not just any woman as that would have been forgiven after a small scolding. He just had to choose another God´s daughter.
And despite their God´s leniency towards his foolish faction leader, even going as far as offering to forgive him if he cut ties with the woman, Nathan had disobeyed.
The soldiers gritted their teeth at what was to come. Even if it meant murdering their once trusted companion, superior and friend they could not stand down here. Nathan´s death was their God´s will so they would obey.
And as the black clad men and women approached the hugging couple with drawn weapons, in a flash of light a demon appeared next to them.
The demon looked around in feigned curiosity, taking in his surroundings and the scene in front of his eyes. His gaze eventually rested on Felicity Hellfire, a look of relieve brightening up his stern face. With renewed determination he turned towards the dumbfounded knights of darkness and began to smile.
After all, sending people of to the netherworld with a frown wouldn´t do.
_________________________________________________________________________________
pov change: Murphy
There they were. A mage and an archer in the midst of enemy lines, fighting in growing despair as try as they might, they were unable to part this red sea of Fire faction soldiers to get back to the safety of their own ranks.
The overconfident attitude from the beginning began to crumble as streams of sweat ran down their bodies dampening their clothes in places, not that anyone saw it, clad in black as they were.
I was still weaving through the red ranks, more relaxed this time as I had stolen a red cloak from a living person, peeling of blood soaked clothes from corpses just isn´t my style. Camouflaged in almost neon red I felt safer though I kept circling around the pair of fighters, slowly getting closer.
I wasn´t bothered by their continued resilience. The increasing anxiety on their faces spoke volumes. These guys would die if I didn´t act within the next 2 minutes. All the components of my simple albeit hopefully effective plan were ready.
My genius plan went like this: Let the fighters fall into despair then show them a way out of their dilemma.
Simple enough, ne?
Once they were desperate enough they wouldn´t be too picky about who came to the rescue after all.
It was time to commence the plan.
I raised my hand holding a certain ruby red shard and began a short chant
"BruzelBruzel, Knusprig, Bruzel sie Knusprig!"
At the end of this mighty chant the shard transformed into pure fire magic and flew towards the mage and the archer.
In an explosion that was more show than power a smokescreen was created. I instantly rushed into the smokescreen and wrapped the confused, exhausted and coughing pair in two red spare cloaks I had gotten after I stole my own. My genius plan encompassed diving into the crowd and running away, as most of my plans do, really.
Thus I dragged them into the crowd that was also coughing, that was a good AOE technique! Good thing I had wrapped a piece of cloth around my mouth and nose before I let loose that cloud. My eyes still burned as smoke got in but I endured and as I didn´t cough at all I still kept most of my vision. My puzzled charges however didn´t see anything as they had coughing fits and running eyes. They certainly got the worst of the explosion, they were in the center of it after all. I figured they believed it was their companions plan all along thus the little resistance while I was dragging them along.
We made our way towards the outskirts of the battle. That wasn´t particularly hard in the confusion. I was afraid people would stop us, thinking we were deserters but that never happened. Maybe they saw the pitiful sight of two people in agony from being exposed to the black smoke in the front and pitied us.
"Who the hell are you?" Archer
"The man that saved your life."
"Man? Where?"
"..."
"....you meant yourself?" He said that like a statement so I didn´t deem it worthy of an answer.
"The name is Murphy, but we can introduce ourselves later, we are still in the midst of enemy territory."
The archer looked at me with bloodshot irritated eyes. That smoke really did a number on him.
"How did you...?" As he was about to ask how I saved them he noticed the neon red cloak he was wearing. That was enough to make him understand what was going on. With a look at his mage companion he did as I said and followed me away from the battle. Only when there were no more soldiers of either camp in the vicinity left I stopped and sat on the ground. I was exhausted. Being constantly surrounded by countless enemies really can drain you. How unexpected. I didn´t do any real fighting after all.
But if I was tired then these guys were half dead. The mage had finally calmed down from his coughing fit and was looking around curiously. He sent me a skeptic look but still took a seat next to me. The archer attentively scanned the surroundings, searching for what?
"So Murphy," he pronounced my name in a weird way, I couldn´t quite place it.
"care to explain some things?"
I decided to first greet the snow as it was again annoying me and maybe ask it to keep watch for me.
As I was talking to the snow the fools I just saved gave me incredulous looks. I tactfully ignored them.
"Back to you guys..." I said this as nonchalantly as possible."Who are you?"
_____________________________________________________
Author´s comment
Battle scenes are hard to write...
My respect for people who can write them has risen tremendously.
Please tell me about any mistakes!