Into The Storm

52

Rosalis and Uliraf made their way into Frinnor the next early morning, being prepared to raze it to the ground. They stood at the road heading into Frinnor, composing themselves. Uliraf turned to her.

"Do me one favour." He told her.

"And that is?"

"Don't die."

"Only if you don't." She leaned into him and planted a long kiss onto his lips and they made out. They broke away after some moments. Uliraf nodded.

"Right. Let's do this."

They both made their way into Frinnor, ready to start the war. Thousands of knights followed in their wake, including the reserves, adding another two thousand to the legion. The three siege towers stood in place, manned by archers and swordsmen, ready to be mobilised. Uliraf held up his hand and a second later, he swiftly swept it forward, allowing the attack to go through. The 130 foot high and 160 ton siege towers proceeded to slowly trundle towards the city, pushed by the heaviest and burliest of knights. The rest of the army followed behind them at a steady pace, being in no rush. Suddenly, tens of arrows were pelted at the towers, uselessly sticking into them, no damage being caused. The towers made their way to the wall and the ramps were released, crushing the parapets, spraying chunks of concrete everywhere. The swordsmen poured out, killing the archers easily. One knight grabbed an archer and threw him off the battlements, letting him plunge a hundred feet to his death. Six knights held a battering ram and proceeded to ram it into the wooden door, breaking it apart. There was the crack of bark and the door splintered, swinging wide open. The army charged in, ready to commence with the slaughter. The knights of Frinnor were no match for the knights of Wolfholde. One knight swung his mace into his enemy's face, brutally breaking it apart. The skin tore open, the skull caved in on itself and shattered like an egg. Blood splattered everywhere, followed by a scattering of bloody teeth. The defeated knight was already a corpse before he hit the ground. Rosalis swiftly cut down the friends that had turned into her enemies. One knight dropped his sword and collapsed to his knees, begging for his life. Rosalis delivered not one ounce of mercy to him as she slashed his throat open, moving towards her other targets. Quickly, corpses of knights littered the city, themselves being unprepared for the attack. The pyromancer made his way forward, burning entire forces of knights. He laughed as he released two streams of fire at a charging group of knights. They dropped to the ground, screaming as they were cooked in their armour. The pyromancer sent out a burst of flame that set a knight's hair alight. He screamed as the flesh on his face bubbled, boils bursting. He collapsed to the ground, dead. The pyromancer summoned a whip of fire and slashed it at an attacking knight. The whip wrapped itself around him and he screamed in agony as it cooked him alive, suddenly turning him into stone. The pyromancer slashed the fire whip at the statue, breaking it into tens of pieces. The pyromancer flew up into the sky and proceeded to release more streams of fire, burning tens of knights, enjoying every moment. Rosalis and Uliraf easily stormed the palace, their armour stained dark red with blood. They killed the knights, kicking their corpses down the stairs. Rosalis' eyes caught sight of one knight and she noticed him as the messenger that infiltrated Wolfholde. Without waiting, she pursued after him. He ran away from her, escaping. Rosalis ran through the armour and grabbed something from a shelf with her left hand, her sword still in her right. She kept running after the messenger and suddenly skidded to a halt. The messenger looked at her, grinning, a kriegsmesser in his hand. He swung at her and she just managed to parry the attack that was sent towards her way. Rosalis quickly realised that she was no match for the three and a half foot blade, and so, she had no choice but to flee from the fight. The messenger pursued after her with the intent of cleaving her neck from her torso. Rosalis dashed into a corridor and dropped the objects that she had in her left hand. The messenger ran down the corridor when suddenly, some pottery broke beneath his foot. The explosive caltrops suddenly blew up, tearing one of his legs off. He laid on the ground, bleeding out heavily from the stump, in shock, gasping. Rosalis stopped herself and then turned, looking at the dying messenger. He reached out to her, gasping, trying to say something, but the pain was too much to bear. Rosalis quickly walked up to him and grabbed the kriegsmesser. She stabbed it down onto his chest, performing a mercy kill. The messenger smiled for a second before his heart stopped completely. Rosalis released the grip, letting the sword stand on its own, swaying slightly. A knight of Wolfholde made his way through the castle, chasing after two knights of Frinnor. He slowed his pace as he made his way through a corridor, having lost sight of his targets. With his sword clutched in both hands, he crept around, searching for his enemy, looking around everywhere. Suddenly, he screamed in agony as a waterfall of hot sand fell on top of him, falling down from a murder hole above him. The fine sand easily penetrated through the gaps in his armour and burned through his tunic, scorching his skin. He collapsed to the ground and died screaming. The knight up above looked down at the corpse and then took a spade, proceeding to shovel the sand into the burning furnace, letting it cook. Rosalis made her way through the castle, still cutting down knights when suddenly, she bumped into someone. She roared a war cry, turning, going in for the kill. The other knight did so as well, reacting just the same. Within an instant, they both stopped and stared at each other. Uliraf looked at her. Having been reunited, the couple quickly proceeded with slaughtering any knight that dared face them. Rosalis and Uliraf burst through a pair of doors and killed some more enemies. Suddenly, a group of knights converged onto Uliraf and he sliced through a pair of them, but was ultimately outnumbered. The knights stabbed at him, spearing him to death. He cut another one down, but quickly, his strength was gone and he collapsed to the ground, profusely bleeding out from the giant stab wounds. Rosalis cut down one knight, having to walk backwards to get some distance, when suddenly, she slipped on a puddle of blood, crashing to the ground. She stabbed the knight through the knee and then finished him off, ramming her sword into his screaming face. She stabbed her sword into the remaining knight's leg, crippling him and finished him off, stabbing him through the chest. Rosalis fell to the floor, gasping up at the ceiling, herself fatigued. She turned her head and saw Uliraf's corpse right in front of her. She caressed his face, her eyes not believing what they were seeing. Suddenly, her eyebrows twisted themselves in a fury and she roared in rage, jumping up. She proceeded to make her way to the throne room, cutting down anyone that was foolish enough to face her. She continued forward, leaving a bloody trail of corpses in her wake. Suddenly, two knights came at her from both sides, spears pointed at her. She grabbed hold of one spear and thrust it into the second knight's chest. Releasing it, she turned, killing the remaining knight. She moved forward, killing yet another knight. Another knight came at her and she parried the attack, delivered a brutal punch to his face. The knight's features broke, his skull splintered and his face ruptured, spraying blood everywhere. His corpse collapsed to the floor, his face an unrecognisable mess. Rosalis executed her final enemy and then burst into the throne room, her dark red sword dripping with blood. Not one small glint of steel could be seen. "Custodians!" She shouted, her booming voice echoing through the hall like a crack of thunder. As if they were summoned, they all came out and stood in front of her. Seeing her stained sword and the trail of corpses that she had left, they all drew their swords out and proceeded to close in on her. Rosalis fought one, cutting him down some small moments later and then fought another. Two more came at her and she deflected all of the attacks that she could. A sword suddenly pierced itself through her plackart, wounding her chest. They all closed in on her, and one custodian went to swing at her neck, prepared to deliver the killing blow.

"Stop!" Someone suddenly shouted. The knights parted, stepping away from Rosalis and a man walked up to them. He stopped in front of Rosalis, letting his cape settle down. Rosalis chuckled.

"So," She said. "Frinnor has a regent king."

The regent king looked at her. "You need to stop this." He told her. "Call off the attack. Stop the war. You are better than this. You need not slaughter the entire kingdom because of some personal vendetta."

"The kingdom is mine!" She shouted, her fury echoing through the hall.

"Yes, I agree." He said calmly. "But you are losing your grip on reality. I can help you."

"I see what you are trying to do here. You are trying to trick me. You want the throne for yourself."

"I don't want it. Look, let me explain. I–" Before he could utter another word, Rosalis swung her sword at him and one of the custodians deflected the attack, clashing his sword with hers. He went to stab at her. "Stay back! That's an order!" The regent king shouted, drawing his sword out. The custodian sheathed his sword, and so did the rest. They surrounded Rosalis and the regent, letting them do whatever they wanted. Rosalis swung her blade at him and he deflected it. Both of them swung swords, one trying to kill the other. Rosalis parried attacks, retaliated with her own. The regent did the same. He fought against her and then suddenly drew out a dagger and deflected an attack, stabbed it into Rosalis' throat. She gasped, her eyes wide in shock. The regent drew the bloody dagger out and Rosalis collapsed to the floor, writhing around in a quiet agony, choking on her own blood. He looked down at his dying enemy. "I'm sorry." He told her. "You left me with no choice."

Rosalis tried to say something, but all that came out were splutters of blood. Blood pooled out everywhere, squirting all over the throne room. Using the last of her strength, Rosalis rolled over onto her stomach and began to drag herself over to a balcony. The regent gestured and one of the custodians that surrounded them both stepped to the side and let the dying knight through. The regent slowly followed after her as she left a large smear of blood.

"Where are you going to go?" He asked her. Rosalis suddenly pushed her sword, letting it skitter across the floor and off the balcony. She suddenly dragged herself over the edge and plummeted down the mountain, splashing into a lake. The regent king quickly stepped over to where the smear of blood ended and looked down in shock. The knights went to pursue after her. "Leave her." He commanded without turning, still staring down at the lake. "She is not our problem any longer." With nothing left for him to do, he turned and walked back over to the throne, sitting in it.