Living in Me (Sequel to Not Gonna Die)

|Chapter 21| Rigged to blow

"If we all go down
If our time is now
We could let everyone know we were here
We could be legends."
-Razihel (Legends)

          It was late morning. The sun shone weakly, promising that this day would be a cool, calm day with some small clouds overhead. It would have been a nice day to sit back and relax, but fate had decreed for today to be a great battle. The army lines were already drawn up on opposing sides of the plain. One army was a mix of a dozen different kinds of armour and all different sorts of weapons and clothing and banners but they worked together well enough, spreading out to form a thick and formidable line of people. Far behind them lay the base of Lord Ghetto, armed only by the few men who could be spared and those who were too injured to fight.

          The other army was drawn up in neat, organised squares, each separated by a gap large enough to walk two abreast. They were silent and still in their burnished armour, showing no signs that they were even aware of the other's presence or even alive themselves. They were simply waiting. Only a stone's throw behind them was the low, squat building that served as their base. This was their last stand to defend it.

          Adam tore his eyes away from the silent line as hooves approached him and he looked up as Herobrine swung down from his horse's saddle, handing the reins to a stablehand who was ready and waiting and the horse was whisked away.

          "Everyone's in position and ready," Herobrine said, standing next to Adam. "You remember the plan?"

          Adam nodded. "We charge forward first to break them, draw back when the rest of the army arrives, stay back and help where needed, the charge forward again at the retreat signal."

          Herobrine gave a small nod as he watched the enemy. "We'll probably have to do that loop a few times before Notch has his explosives in place. If you do see his team, cause mass damage on the other side to give them as much cover as possible, draw the attention away from them."

          Adam nodded again, wiping his hands on his pants. He had been in several battles before and he was used to the feeling that everything was going to go horribly, horribly wrong, but it didn't make anything easier. If Herobrine felt the same thing, he was doing extremely well at hiding it. He seemed completely calm and relaxed as he waited and watched.

          A horn came from somewhere behind the army, two short notes, a signal for them to be ready. There was a surge of activity as swords were drawn and shields came around and horses snorted in anticipation of that first charge. Adam put his right foot back a little, ready to run, and out of the corner of his eye saw that Herobrine was doing the same, his white eyes flaring.

          The horn came again, a short note followed by a long one that droned on and on as the army roared and lept forth, hooves thundering as the mounted warriors charged forward, leaning low over their lances that were aimed straight for the enemy. The warriors on foot were right behind, yelling their war cries, falling further and further behind but charging forward anyway. But ahead of all of them were two blurs of colour that were approaching the enemy at alarming speeds.

          The black warriors instantly came to life, charging forward in their squares that combined together and elongated to form a series of connected arrowheads, approaching in a single uniform speed. One of the blurs of colour split off to the side, fire bursting to life around him as the other kept sprinting forward, heading right for those arrow heads.

          At the same instant, the firey one slid to a stop and sprinted in the opposite direction, fire burning to life behind him, creating a dancing wall of light as he ran in front of the line of warriors while the other jumped high into the air with a yell, fire also burning to life in his hands as Herobrine descended right on top of the warriors, becoming a burning human cannonball that broke the enemy ranks and disappeared just as quickly as he had appeared. A few of the more brave or stupid of the black creatures broke through the fire wall but Adam easily curved back and sliced them with his long sword and they fell dead.