Reckless Abandon - The Secrets of Avelina Chronicles 2

26: Lyra and Aubrey

Just as Archer and Kaitlin were discussing the Island's fate, Ellis and his men were marching quietly, beyond the forest boundaries on their first delve into war. All the travelers and vampire soldiers were behind him, Clarke and Lyra pulling up the rear, so they could quickly get to safety if anything went wrong. They could see a few of Walter's men gathering at the front of the castle, lazing around the village after their training. Some were drinking, others were talking in groups, relaxing after a hard morning's work. Turning to his men, Ellis decided it was time for battle. If they could take the first lot by surprise, while they were on break, the rest would arrive to find out what was going on. Hopefully they could get to Edward easily, before the real war began.

"This is war, it's not the time for speeches. Just be safe, kill as few as possible and get out alive." He explained, as they reached a point five minutes from the forest clearing. With a few simple hand signals, that they now all knew, he sent them off in their groups, to their various strategic points within the forest edging.

Scouts had found the best areas for hiding, in case of an ambush or for injured men to go. They now had a good line of sight to the city and the village, with shelter for his men. The bows and arrows were on the front line, ready to advance on the village to give warning to the innocent villagers. With a bird call, that had been prearranged, Ellis called the front lines to move forward.

Stalking the grass slowly, they crept out of the forest in rows of three, towards the village. About two foot out of the forest, they knelt and sent off their first warning bows to the villagers. There were screams and shouts as people began running out of the village square and back into their houses, collecting their wives, mothers and children. They ran for their only safety...the inside of the castle. Ellis could see that guards were trying to block their way, worried that travelers were disguised as people from the village, no doubt, hoping to get close to Edward. But the villagers fought for their safety and took out two guards in the process, packing into the castle, in fear.

The villagers departure left the square free of innocent victims. The few remaining soldiers, who had been confused with their stampede towards the castle, had no time to retaliate against the first flourish of arrows. Before they could regroup or make sense of what was happening, the second line of archers stepped forward and let off their arrows. Then the third line. The break allowed the first and second rows to reset their quivers. The guards on break in the square were now so bombarded with arrows that instead of fighting, they ran back behind the castle to warn their squads that they were being attacked. Ellis called to his men again.

"No man gets left behind. If you see an injured man, you stop to rescue him...even if it puts your life at risk. If we cannot trust each other or help when help is needed, we are worth nothing." He reminded them, his voice feeling hoarse as his throat went dry with anticipation.

The battle was only moments from beginning, but already, it felt as if each second were an hour and each hour were a day. It had taken almost ten minutes for the first three rows of archers to shoot off their arrows, in succession, causing panic. To Ellis, it felt as if a whole day had gone by already. He could see the look on his men's faces. They were ready to die.

Freedom was worth dying for and each and every soldier, vampire, traveler or human, showed it in their eyes. Their faces said everything he needed to know. No man would back down. They would fight to their last breath. They would die for him and for freedom and to restore Edward to his own body. There was such a look of unity and faith and determination in their eyes. Ellis knew without a doubt that even if they lost, every man before him would rather have died trying to gain victory and freedom for their people than to have stayed at home and risked failing to win victory.

Almost an hour after his warning attack, Ellis sent two men with Clarke and Lyra, to take the long way around the grounds and try to reach Edward's body. He was so frail that he couldn't be moved any more, not even for public appearances. Lyra took Clarke and the two soldiers by the same road she had escaped the castle from, taking them straight to Edward's chambers. It had been three weeks since he had made his last appearance for the villagers and given orders with Walter's voice. Since then, he had become so consumed by Walter's spirit that he couldn't even move his lips anymore.