Sol's Shine and the Kingdom of Terra

Chapter 18 Death's March

 As morning began to rise, the rain was starting to fall. Ella's large marigold flowers were surrounding the small town of Barrow. Ella was starting to exhaust herself however. With bags under her eyes, she kept using her magic to detect the town's surroundings with the roots that dug underneath it. Her own father came outside to see Ella kneeling on the ground with her hands glowing green. "Have you been out here all night?! Ella you need to come inside, it's pouring." Vincent said to her. "I can't leave yet. The dwarfs can attack at any time."

"No one is going to do anything to us when it's raining. It's not even safe for the archers to climb on top of the flowers in this weather and no airship would fly with these conditions either. Just go to bed." Vincent did his absolute best to get Ella moving but she wouldn't budge from her spot. Not only was Ella tired, but the rain was making it hard for her to understand the environment.

With every droplet of rain, she could sense a small change. It was up to her to pinpoint what could be conceived as a threat or not. Ella was even starting to wonder if she was overdoing it like her dad was saying. Just when she was about to listen to her own father and admit defeat, Ella started to sense a huge change among their horizon. "Hold on. I can sense the dwarves approaching from approximately three kilometers away. They brought different equipment this time! I think... one of them is a bit taller than the rest." Ella looked at her dad and stopped using her magic. "I don't know how many there are. I had to stop counting after five hundred." Vincent wasn't sure what to say. He was frozen with fear until Ella snapped her fingers. "Warn the princess!" Ella said, too tired to move on her own.

Vincent picked Ella up in his arms and she began to doze off to sleep. As he carried his own daughter, Vincent rushed through the town of Barrow, trying to figure out where he last saw Princess Crystal. He approached a bakery where he could see through the window, the princess finishing up her own breakfast. "Princess!" Vincent called for her and panicked. Her attention went from her own food to Vincent in a hot second as soon as she heard someone call for her. Crystal came outside as fast as she could to see Ella being carried by her father. "Is she ok?! What happened?!" Crystal began to worry.

"Ella is fine but she's just tired. She said that the enemy was at least three kilometers away. Over five hundred of them!" Vincent wasn't sure what to do but Crystal's instincts kicked into overdrive. She immediately looked to the nearest knight that was standing by. He was listening in on what Vincent was saying too. "Take these two out of Barrow! Quickly!" Crystal ordered and pointed the knight in the direction of Luminar. Before anything else was said, Vincent was following the knight escorting him and his daughter away from danger. As for Crystal, she had to make herself loud and clear for the other soldiers in town. "EVERYONE LISTEN UP!" She said at the top of her lungs.

Everyone who heard her had their eyes on the princess now. Crystal walked through the town and took out her sword. "THE ENEMY APPROACHES AGAIN! GET TO THE FRONT LINES AS FAST AS YOU CAN WITH YOUR WEAPONS DRAWN! THE ENEMY STANDS STRONG WITH OVER 500, 3 KILOMETERS AWAY OR LESS. GET MOVING PEOPLE!" After saying what she needed to, she began to run and pick up the pace herself and put on all the armor she could with the amount of time that was left.

Word began to spread from soldier to soldier in case not everyone heard Crystal's warning. In no time flat, knights were lining up, ready to face their foe. Barrow wasn't big enough for every soldier present there to present them some shelter. Most of the soldiers that were getting ready had set up camps around the town and were struggling to get themselves together before the upcoming attack. But for the most part, the soldiers that were ready to charge with Crystal were standing on the frontlines and everyone was told to join them as soon as they were ready.

Crystal took one good look at the collapsed tower the dwarves managed to take down and made up her mind. "WHOEVER STANDS WITH ME, CHARGE!" Crystal raised her sword and pointed it ahead of her. The soldiers charging forward let out a desperate cry but it wasn't to be mistaken for a cheer. The soldiers that were ready to fall wanted to avenge their families, fight for their kingdom, and protect what was still left.