Of Master and Apprentice (Book 3)

Chapter 24

After filling their stomachs with breakfast, the refugees got busy fortifying their camp to prepare for the contingency of the demons striking back. Luna helped with drilling the militia, some of which she had trained herself. Though she did think that it was pointless training them with swords when most of those weapons were held by the men, leaving them with nothing but sharpened sticks as makeshift spears along with some bows and arrows.

Miranda told Luna to stay back with the reserve troops before she marched with the first batch. Her plan was to diplomatically get their way in. But if that fails, then they would have no choice but to fight. The refugees got nervous when the archers on the wall greeted them with their fully drawn bows, ready to fire.

"Greetings, inhabitants of Kinderley," Miranda said diplomatically. "We are refugees from Stonefall. I assume that you've all heard about the tragedy that our dam had burst and that our entire city has been flooded."

"A tragedy that we have caused to destroy you rebels!" A familiar face appeared amongst the archers.

Miranda's eyes widened at the sight of the light auburn haired girl that stood on top of the wall. "Aeziana?"

"What was your name again? Miranda?" she asked in a mocking tone. "So you raised an army in an attempt to overthrow the rightful government? I tell you, that isn't going to happen!"

At that rate, Miranda's hope for diplomacy was killed. There was no way Aeziana would let her in to the city. Though she might let the refugees in for the sake of ruling more subjects, but letting a rebel in would definitely ruin everything.

"Kill them all!" Aeziana ordered. She turned around and left the battle before it even began.

The archers released their arrows and watched as they sank their heads into the refugees' flesh. Miranda managed to parry those that headed in her direction before it got to her. With a quick thought, she used her magic to drag down the archers and ordered the refugees to seize their bows and arrows to use as their own.

"Things aren't looking good," Luna said, watching the battle play out in the distance.

"No it isn't," Janus added. "Everyone, to war!"

The refugees charged forward, shouting their war cry. They arrived to help take out the archers on the wall, taking some losses on their side. The gates still remained shut, so Miranda bust it open to reveal that a legion had been waiting behind it.

The demons advanced and engaged the humans at the gate. Many of the poorly trained refugees fell to the demons. It was Miranda and Luna that relieved the pressure on the gate before the humans could advance into the city.

The refugees stormed in and were met by nothing but the empty streets. The only thing that kept the streets from being completely deserted were dead demon bodies with arrows sticking out of them. The locals must've known about the battle, that's why they emptied the streets and sought refuge.

"Be careful," Miranda warned. "This could be a trap."

The refugees stopped and stared at the site for a while before advancing slowly, skimming through the city as they make their way to the castle at the far end. The heard a sharp cry coming from the sky and as they looked up, a legion of airborne demons had filled the air and swiftly struck down at the rebels.

"Defend yourselves!" Miranda shouted. She stabbed the demon nearest to her and launched angelic fire at the next one.

One of those demons landed right on top of Janus, causing him to drop his rifle and it slid several feet away. The demon gaped its mouth when Luna tackled it, plunging her sword deep into its flesh.

"You alright?" She let out a hand.

Janus took her hand and stood up. "I'm alright."

He jerked and pulled her out of the way before raising his leg to kick a demon that appeared behind her. He swiftly drew his knife and plunged it into the demon's chest. The demon shrieked in front of Janus. He heard a loud bang, and in a flash realized that a hole had appeared in its temple.

He looked over at Luna who was holding her revolver, pointing it towards the dead demon. Janus pulled the knife, its blade covered in demon blood. "So we're even?"

"Guess we are." Luna got up.

The rebels managed to survive the wave, taking minor losses on their side. They advanced further and before them lay the walls of the Castle of Bones. The archers were stationed on the battlements and had their bows fully drawn. The rebels stopped at the sight of the archers on the wall, they didn't want to take the losses they did at the front gate.

The silence was broken by the scream of one of the demon archers falling off the wall. The crowd noticed a cloaked figure had appeared on the battlements and he was the one who caused the archer to fall when he kicked down the next one. He released an arrow at the next, and the next, and the next. Another hooded archer also appeared on the opposite end of the wall doing the exact same thing. In front of everyone's eyes they finished off the archers one by one before disappearing behind the wall.

The crowd stood speechless and waited for the next thing to happen. After a few seconds, they heard rumbling behind the doors as it slowly opened to reveal the two hooded figures that cleared the wall. They were the ones opening the door from the inside.

"Come on!" one of them said. The voice sounded female.

The rebels stormed in to the castle bailey. Many demons lay dead, some of which had arrows sticking out of their bodies just like the ones in the street. Could those two actually be the ones who did it?

"You two were busy," Miranda said.

"Couldn't have done it without him." The hooded girl toggled her cloak to reveal the face of Pandora.

The other archer toggled his hood as well and revealed his grey hair and eyes. "Good to see you, Miranda."

"Good to see you too, Ferdinand," Miranda greeted. "Come on. Everyone into the castle!"

The rebels stormed in to the castle. The first thing they saw was a room made of black stone. Along the walls to the left and right were three giants skulls. Some demons were stationed in the room but they were vastly outnumbered by the rebels and were killed before they could put up a proper fight.

"These skulls lead down to the hatchery," Ferdinand said. He approached one of the skulls and with a wave of his hand, the skull opened its jaw to reveal a staircase that descended into the dark abyss. He opened the other remaining skulls. "Miranda, you go confront the Bone Lord, there shouldn't be much of his legion left. We can handle the rest."

Pandora and Ferdinand led the people down into the hatchery. Luna wanted to come with them, but Miranda grabbed her arm, preventing her. "No, Luna. You're coming with me. We're going to confront the Bone Lord in his throne room."

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Wow, that was a long chapter. Stay tuned, it's about to get a little longer in the next one as we'll have three fight scenes taking place simultaneously. Thanks for sticking with me for this long, adventurers. Join us next time as we confront the Bone Lord once and for all. As usual, feedback and votes are always much appreciated, so don't forget to leave them.

I dedicate this chapter to rosieMS the third and final host of the Candlelight awards. Hope you're doing fine, wishing you all the best hosting.

-Zyrofern