The Forgotten Prophecy

Chapter 63

The whole city was thrown into chaos. She could hear the sound of yells and strange shrieks echoing through the streets. She could see people running wild-eyed in every direction, too terrified to stand still. She could make out soldiers roughly shoving them away from the outer parts of the city towards the inner districts and shouting at them to get to safety.

'It isn't full moon tonight,' Ines stated.

'That bastard. He wants to test us,' Matthew snickered.

'I won't let him win this time.' She pulled him by the sleeve and together they bolted towards the city walls.

The streets were so crowded they had to fight their way through, dodging most of the panicking people and pushing others in the process.

'Get inside!' Matthew shouted at a group of children who seemed to be at a loss.

They ran as fast as their feet carried them. They ran whilst their breaths came out ragged and heavy. They ran despite the havoc around them. They wouldn't stop until they reached the wall. They hoped they had time to rally and reorganise the city's defenses, but their hopes were immediately crushed once they faced reality.

Ines had difficulty in understanding what was really going on. The soldiers were rushing back and forth in disarray, whether from just surprise or horror she didn't know. They hadn't even taken positions or weapons to carry out the defense of the city. Whoever was in command wasn't doing a great job in keeping them under control.

Matthew let out an exasperated sigh and ran towards the stairs by the wall. Ines quickly followed after him, taking the steps two at a time. Matthew didn't waste any second. He started barking orders to the fighters and sent them stumbling to their positions, bouncing off each other.

Slowly but surely, instructions were given out and the soldiers knew what they had to do. They had been trained for dire situations exactly like this one. They wouldn't leave their people unprotected, to fall as prey to one man's lunacy.

Ines approached the edge of the wall and looked down at the snow-covered valleys that stretched beyond. She squinted hard and sure enough she could make out a bloody smudge in the far horizon that was getting bigger by the second. The red sun glinted on metal, on the blades of spears and deadly swords. The attack of those creatures was cold and frenzied, every beast for itself.

They were ever moving, their troops breaking apart and coming back together, flowing across the the plains like a thundering storm, always working their way closer. She caught glimpses of beast faces and heard them howling diabolically.

The closer they got, though, the more certain she was that their numbers were not so great as she had feared. What if this is only a trial test for the final and true battle?, she pondered. She didn't want to know the answer to that question.

'How many are there?' Matthew's panting voice interrupted her dark thoughts.

'More than two hundred,' she answered without taking her eyes off them. As Ines studied their forces, trying to discover any pattern behind their movements, she suddenly noticed from the corner of her eye black splinters sailing high, drifting in the wind to meet them.

'Arrows!' Matthew screamed with all his might.

The soldiers reacted instantly. They snatched their shields from the back and positioned them to the front, creating an impenetrable wall of shields. Matthew grabbed her by the neck and pulled her down with him. He lifted his own shield over them, just in time to protect them from the falling arrows.

'Peter! If we go down there, there is no going back,' he said, his voice laced with anguish.

'We know what we're up against. We can do this.'