Chapter Sixteen:
Counting Bodies like Sheep
Dmitri
HOUR FOUR
Stefan, Gwen, and I got on our horses and nodded to Michael and Ramah, who promised to keep a close eye on us. Martha was already off to the air base, a bit nervous under the pressure we had put on her, but still ready beyond belief for a chance to shine. I wiped blood off my face once more before drawing my sword, which glistened in the afternoon light, as we took off back to the field. The two followed my lead, but while he rode, Stefan was already fidgeting with some type of an electronic remote. He was pinpointing coordinates, mumbling to himself about trajectories and wind flow nonsense that was far beyond my knowledge.
“Where’s Zachary!?” Gwen called over the horses.
“Should be down at the shore! We’ll clean up the stragglers here, then meet up with him! Martha should be coming overhead any minute now!”
“Stefan, Jeremy and I sent ten ships out to block off the main canal. If you’re going to hit The West where it hurts, you’ll need to do it now before they start attacking our fleet!”
“I’ve directed three sizable attacks at the field, and fourteen along the shore. Jeremy sent me the coordinates to where The West ships are located, and I have a target on each one. If we can push them back into their boats, I can fire off each explosion, which will take out if not all, at least three quarters. I’ll need you two to focus on distraction; I'm going to start moving our soldiers to the shoreline to help the push while you guys keep The West occupied. Slaughter what you can and scare off the others. You only have fifteen minutes to get your asses to safety, so make every swing count. Gwen, when I say, get out on the water and drive the ships back into the main canal so Martha can clean up this mess for good,” Stefan explained.
“Got it; give the signal when you’re firing off the first three field explosions,” Gwen said.
“Will do; get to work!” He barked, turning to find his first group of North soldiers.
“I’m in the air, everyone, and things are looking good. The West have two more planes coming in that Kallie and I are going to hit before circling for Stefan’s coordinates. We’re loaded and ready to make it rain on your command.” Martha chimed over the hum of her plane’s engine.
“We’re counting on you, Martha. You can do this, I know it.” Ramah assured.
“Try and keep your sword to yourself over there, Homicidal Joe,” Gwen taunted, which made me cackle a dark laugh and wink to her as we came to our first group. She whipped her own sword free and slashed through two heads, making their bodies drop instantaneously. I whistled in awe as six more soldiers came after us. I spun my weapon once, got a good grip, then upper cut, slicing another in half. His intestines spilled like confetti from his body, and he flopped to the ground in a violent pool of blood.
Gwen, like a true maniac, laughed in delight, then shot towards the next group who were rightfully running away as fast as they could. We lined up our swords, nodded to each other, then scared the men into two lines before our blades came into contact with their throats. Head after head flew from shoulders, and the ones who weren’t beheaded folded like accordions on their way down. In our headsets, Michael and the rest of the teams at base were cheering loudly at our skills, and begged for more violence.
We all sounded like true psychopaths, but the thrill of victory was undeniable for these soldiers. They had become so used to Joshua murdering their friends and family that a taste of his own medicine felt like God had shown his light down on the field. They also couldn’t believe the dedication I was proving, which made me smile even brighter, and confidence bubble within my soul. “Two teams, one towards the shore and one headed for the castle; which do you want?”
“I’ll take the castle; you go for the shore, then meet up with Stefan and get out on the water!” I offered as Gwen nodded, and we split. Archimedes ran as fast as he could to the group, huffing harsh breaths, though I knew he wasn’t stopping until this was finished.
Ramah was barking instructions to Gwen to keep her alive, while Michael chimed into my headset and began to count how many soldiers he could spot. “Eight regulars, with the last Cavalry leading them. If you take care of him first, then you can easily pick off the others, though that’s assuming he’s as weak as the other two.”
“What was his nomination?”
“Ashley McKinley, Sorcerer, which is our benefit at the moment. He can’t use magic without our side doing so as well, and I highly doubt Gwen is looking to get involved in that right now. If he does use it and we don’t retaliate with our own, The Committee will execute him. Problem is, he’s also a swordsmen.”
“I have an idea, then. Keep eyes on my back at all times, and stay quiet unless something happens I can’t see,” I hissed. I pulled Archimedes to the tree line and hopped off, instructing him to stay put unless I signaled before I slid through the brush and into a bush.
The group in question walked through the forest path seconds after I had slipped out of view, led by Ashley who’s horse had been killed at the beginning of the battle. He was currently complaining about this like a child throwing a full blown tantrum. “Mother fucking whore, killing my good horse!? Alexei’ll never by me a new one!?” He whined dramatically.
“Would you shut up!? That monster is lurking around here somewhere, and I’m not looking to get my head lobbed off because you’re pouting!” one snapped.
“After what he did to Kyle, I really don’t want to run into him either,” another chattered, hugging herself nervously.
“He’s all bite, yet no bark, which is terrifying. Let’s you pet him, then bites your fingers off when he gets annoyed. Joshua truly trained him well, I suppose. Imagine if he had stayed in The West? We would win this war in less than a year.”
“Yes, well, he didn’t, so now he’s a problem. Joshua really wants his head, which means he’s probably scared of him as well. If someone scares Joshua Eckles, then they scare me ten times more. They should have better prepared us for this…” Ashely growled.
As they passed, one girl who was in the back of the line was looking around, her teeth chattering as she did. I could see half of her hair had been chopped by a sword, which meant she must have had a few good run ins before this group formed up. I didn’t enjoy killing women, but she was a West soldier, which meant I had to do what needed to be done.
I waited until she had made sizable distance between she and the group before I grabbed her arm and whipped her around, with just the tiniest noise escaping her as I jerked her into the bushes and silently knocked her unconscious. I hoped, for her sake at least, she wouldn’t be awake by the time Stefan’s explosions went off.
Ashley paused, then turned over his shoulder in worry, “Where’s Mary?” He snapped.
“She’s right her-… Oh, fuck!” The other girl whimpered, holding a hand over her mouth.
“Split up and find her, now. Yell as loud as you can if you find Mortimer!” Ashley barked before the group made the mistake of parting.
I slithered through the brush alongside two men, who were standing back to back as they checked the trees overhead. I slid two small knives, custom from Michael’s personal deck, out from my belt and aimed before snapping my wrist, which made them whistle through the air and pierce them both simultaneously. They yelped before hitting the floor, where I dragged them into the bushes and finished them off before moving to my next victims. The other five were huddled together, protecting Ashley who was in the middle of the cluster. He held his sword confidently, though his legs shook a little as he walked.
I thought out a plan quickly before I began weaving a thin white sewing thread, something Gwen said we always had to have on us, back and forth between the trees on either side of the path. The group was far back enough not to see me doing this, and as soon as I was satisfied, I crawled back into my hiding spot and waited. I could hear people mumbling to Michael about what I was doing, but he silenced them, purely focused.
I waited until the girl in their group passed by me to grab her hair and rip her towards me, with just enough time for me to drag her to where I had my thread waiting. I let her scream out, which made the boys turn to see where she had gone, only to turn back and find me standing in front of them with a knife to her throat. “Kate…!?” Ashley whimpered.
“You can make this very simple, or very difficult for yourselves,” I warned.
“It’s five against one, Mortimer. Do you think you’d really win?” Ashley chuckled.
“I bet my life I will,” I taunted.
“How so!?” He declared, raising his weapon.
“Why don’t you come find out?” I chirped, slitting her throat to piss Ashley off further. He yelled once in anger before he charged forward blindly, his team on his tail.
I stood casually and slid my hands into my pockets, and even yawned, which made him fume. Had he been trained properly, he would have seen the white thread gleaming in the light, but he was too focused on his emotions to think clearly. As soon as he and his team hit the thread, they tripped, and got tangled just long enough for me to strike. I actually laughed as I watched them squirm, then pulled my sword free and demonically ghosted forward.
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“How ya’ doing over there, Pretty Boy?” Gwen chimed.
“Almost finished… Four!” I called, aiming the sword like a golf club before slicing the first man’s head off. His friends shrieked, but Gwen laughed at the sound.
“Hurry up, would you? We still have a few down at the shore, and Stefan said we only have two minutes left. I have the canal blocked off for now, but their ships are right on our tail.”
“I’ll be there, relax,” I joked, cutting the next one. I was so caught up in being cocky that I forgot that Ashley wasn’t just an ordinary soldier. He had cut the thread around his ankles using his boot buckle, and waited until I went to kill the next soldier before springing up. Michael went to cry my name, but I skillfully twisted on my ankle and dodged the blade that came down, which made Ashley gasp a little in shock.
He recovered quickly, though, and spun himself before grabbing my shirt and socking me hard in the jaw. I paused, cracked my aching face, then turned to him with a violently dead serious expression. The look broke him, and he shot his hand out instinctively. A thin icicle flung from his palm and sliced my cheek, making everyone at the castle watching gasp. Ashley realized what he had done, and smacked his hands to his mouth in horror, “Fuck…!?” He cried.
I creepily turned to him, blood slipping down my face from the small wound, “Now you’re making me angry…” I growled.
“They’ll kill me… They’ll kill me?!” He sobbed to himself.
“Yes, they surely will. What a pity that Joshua didn’t teach you to better control yourself when he had the chance. Someone needs to fix your bark collar,” I scoffed, wiping my face.
Ashley, blinded by fear, darted at me again, but this time I was more than ready. As he went to slice my head off, I full blown grabbed his blade, which made him squeak and freeze. The blade did, admittedly, cut into my hand a little, but it was nothing compared to what it could have done, and I was grateful it had become this dull from hours of battle. I jerked the sword free and threw it into the brush, then shot forward and grabbed his hair so I could whip him around.
His last comrade had wiggled free, though his sword was nowhere to be found, so he decided to try hand to hand combat. I was trying to snap Ashley’s neck when I felt the sting of a foot to the back, which made me lurch forward a little. I had to let go of Ashley to duck the next punch, which made him hiss happily and whip around to get his own in. “You only have thirty seconds to get back to Archimedes before it’s too late!?” Michael cried.
“Where is he, where is he!? I can’t stop anything now! Someone find him!” Martha shrieked through the communication line.
“Coordinates for the closest one!” I yelled to Michael, which made Ashley and his teammate raise an eyebrow.
“Uh, Uh…!?” He spewed the numbers to me quickly, and I began to do the math in my head as I backed towards the tree line. In the fifty seconds I had, I needed to draw these two towards the explosion, while also ducking for cover. There was no way I was going to reach Archimedes in time with them on my tail, so this was my final option. I took off towards the field, which made them both raise an eyebrow, but follow automatically.
Overhead, I could see the planes flying over us, their shadows casting on the grass. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” Michael screamed bloody murder. The boys realized what was about to happen, but embraced their demise in hopes they could finish me off before the bombs dropped. I began to panic a bit, and my mind raced as I thought of a way out of this.
A light bulb flicked, and I skidded to a stop, turning fast to run back towards the boys to make sure they stayed in the field. “DMITRI, FOR FUCK SAKE, GET OUT OF THERE!” Michael sobbed, but I had tuned him out completely at this point. The Cavalries, castle, and any soldiers who could see this happen from the shore were screaming in horror as the bomb that had been released fell faster and faster towards us. The two men reached out to try and grab the back of my shirt, but I threw my hands up as the bomb hit the field.
HOUR FIVE
Michael dropped to his knees, a hollow whimper escaping his chest.
Stefan and Zachary had rode back to the field as soon as the explosions were finished, and jumped off their horses to survey the damage. Stefan was crying hysterically and didn’t hold back as he stumbled through the grass searching for any sign of life. Archimedes, when he heard Stefan’s cries, shot through the brush and skidded to a stop, huffing in fear as he scoured the field for me. When Stefan saw the sadness in the horse's face, he wailed apologies and threw his arms around Archimedes in agony, completely devastated beyond belief.
Zachary walked over the obliterated bodies of Ashley and his teammate, placing his hand to the ground. He picked up a small fragment, which when he turned it in the light, revealed to be the handle of my broken sword. He covered his mouth and ducked his head, sighing softly to himself. “God damnit, not another one…” he whispered sadly.
Archimedes paused for a moment when he heard a whistle echo through the air, which made Stefan look up sadly to him. “I'm so sorry, buddy. I'm so sorry…!” He sobbed, but blinked when Archimedes abruptly shot into the tree line. Stefan turned to Zachary, who shrugged, before the two attempted to peer through the tree line to see where he had run off to.
After a few moments the horse raced back into the field, neighing happily.
Stefan fell to his knees and wailed in pure relief as Archimedes and I halted, I smiling weakly on his back. “Hey, Zachary; I may need a new uniform after this,” I chirped, gesturing to my shirt, which had been blown half off during the explosion.
The castle erupted in screams of victory, and Stefan scrambled to throw his arms around my waist with a hysterical cry. Zachary shook his head in shock, placing his hands on his hips with a smile as I ruffled Stefan’s hair lovingly. “How the ever-loving fuck did you survive that?”
“Rule fifty-seven; should someone use magic on the field when Common Weapon is in place, one retaliation is granted to nullify execution on both sides if agreed upon. Three seconds before the bomb hit the ground, I used a teleportation spell and got as far as I could on an impulse. It was weak, but it saved my life, as Ramah assured it one day would. Thank God Ashley shot that icicle at me, eh?” I said with a cheesy grin.
“You son of a bitch! You are so lucky you’re alive!” Andrew sobbed through our headsets, which made us all laugh hysterically as I stole a sword from a random body.
“You gonna be able to continue like this?” Stefan asked, poking my exposed skin.
“Please; let’s go, we have a fight to finish.” I said, smiling confidently to the two.
We all mounted our horses, listened to Zachary’s orders on where to position ourselves, then took off towards the shore. The field was still on fire as we split and rode towards our waiting teams, but calmed enough that we could move through it. The flames swallowed any decaying bodies we had left behind, making clean up easier for later. My exposed skin ached from the heat that radiated off the flames, but I continued to push through, shaking off any weariness from the long fight and explosion. I had to watch myself; following the bomb incident we were reaching hour six, and I could feel my body slowing down, though I was determined to bring as many of our men home as I could.
Andrew sent Michael back into combat, who was grateful to join us. He met us at the shore, then choose his own team to go protect. My team consisted of Jordan, Molly, Xavier, Remi, Sarah, Jocelyn, and Pharah, who were just as tired. They had been powering through these men for hours, with a ten minute break in between, and some had sustained injuries that should be getting treated immediately, but adrenaline blocked out their pain. When I arrived, I jumped off Archimedes and began slicing men in half in a blind attempt to put my last bit of energy to good use.
We kept pushing The West soldiers back towards their boats, which we had left afloat hoping Stefan’s plan would work. The smart soldiers had already gotten their asses on the ships, and were beckoning their teammates to follow suit, oblivious to the aerial attack coming their way. Gwen’s distraction worked like a charm; they were so hung up on trying to get their ships around ours that every other thought was put on the back burner. I knew if we stayed on the grass that we would be safe from the explosions, but the problem was taking care of the stubborn stragglers in the meantime. My current outfit made me an easy target, but the soldiers knew damn well they weren’t going to get close enough to even try and kill me after the incident in the field. Martha had swung back around with round two of she and Stefan’s attack, and was approaching with such a fierceness that it was palpable even down at the shore.
“Two!” Stefan called through the network, signaling the two minute mark, and my ninth hour on the battlefield. My team could see I was struggling, but didn’t dare interfere for multiple obvious reasons. I thanked them silently for that, because my pride wasn’t going to let me walk away from the conclusion of this long fight.
“Please let this work!” Pharah groaned as she ripped her sword from a soldier’s stomach.
“Just hold on a little longer, guys. We’re almost in the clear!” I encouraged.
The West finally had enough.
After losing three of their Calvary and most of their comrades, they accepted defeat and retreated to the canals. Stefan was rambling orders to our soldiers on the shoreline, who darted to safety, though made it look like we were retreating as well. Gwen had already pulled the fleet back, acting as if we were on the retreat, and watched safely from the docks with a hungry smile.
Stefan’s eyes flicked back and forth wildly as he tried to make sure his calculations were flawless. Martha’s planes flew overhead once more, signaling the air raid coming the boats way. The West figured out pretty quickly what was going to happen, and attempted to haul ass out of the way, but it was too late. Stefan laughed like a mad scientist as the fourteen bombs fell into the ocean, violently exploding the boats one by one. Body parts and blood coated the shore, and a few of us who were too close. An arm actually smacked Jordan in the face, which made my team laugh hysterically as he gagged and ended up throwing up in the bushes.
Any stragglers that had made it miraculously were collected and shoved onto a remaining ship, then sent home with a very clear message, Don’t mess with The North Kingdom. Once the last ship sailed off, the shore erupted in celebration.
The staff back home were already cheering for our victory, and had begun preparations to welcome us with medical attention, food, and much needed rest. Everyone embraced one another, laughing at the smell of blood on their friends and rambling on about epic personal moments during the fight. The Five Cavalry met in the center of the shore, where Michael, Gwen, and Martha embraced me warmly in relief I was alive. “What a hell of a fight. Good job everyone, really. Talk about some flawless team work today!” Stefan said proudly.
“You’re bombs really saved the day, you pyromaniac. Remind me never to call you stupid again,” Martha joked with a giggle as Stefan rolled his eyes.
“My bombs? Martha, you were amazing up there! We’re going to make an excellent team, blondie, I just know it!”
“You two were both phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal. I couldn’t be prouder if I tried.” Michael sang, hugging each of their shoulders with a gigantic grin.
Martha turned to me and gave me a good look over, scowling slightly, “How ya feeling, trooper? You must be exhausted?”
“I am, truly, but we still have a lot of work to do. There’s plenty of soldiers who need help getting back, and the cleanup will take days…?”
“Dmitri, you said your limit was six hours, and this is going on the tenth, not to mention your injures. You really should take a break…?”
Martha cut off as I squished her cheeks together, which made us all collectively laugh, “Shut it worry wart, I’ll be fine. Let’s focus on getting everyone home, first. If I can’t do it, I’ll head back, ok?” I promised.
“Fine, fine, you stubborn mule…” She sighed, nudging me playfully as we split to help escort the injured back to the castle.