The Battle Begins

John jerked awake, his covers flying off his body as he heard what sounded like explosions in the distance. A quick look out his window allowed him to see smoke billowing from Warden’s Woods. Every so often, an arrow would shoot off into the sky and explode. John immediately knew what that meant.

“So they’ve finally arrived...” John mumbled to himself as he got out of bed and equipped his armor from out of his bag. He made his way to the door and opened it just in time to get an earful of yelling.

“ALL MAGES AND ARCHERS TO THE BATTLEMENTS! PRINCESS SYLVA WILL GIVE YOU FURTHER ORDERS! ALL SWORDSMEN AND LANCERS, REPORT TO THE GATEHOUSE! THE GENERALS WILL GIVE YOU FURTHER DIRECTIONS THERE!” finished Idena, as she flew around the castle bellowing out her orders.

John made his way out of his room and rushed his way war room to meet with the others.

“Status report?” asked John as he was still going through the doors.

“Ranger General Kornac has engaged with Order forces in the woods. His rangers are doing their job and slowing them down with their traps. They are sticking strictly to guerilla tactics and picking off as many as they can with minimal losses,” reported Mikuru.

“But if the warning arrows are any indications, they are losing ground far faster than any of us have predicted. It’s only a matter of minutes until they are fleeing the woods back to the castle,” a worried Miho informed her king.

“I see,” John said as he stroked his chin in thought. “I heard Idena rallying the forces to their locations. How do we look?” asked John.

“Princess Slyva and Uratha are on the battlements preparing the long range troops. Fran is at the Gatehouse preparing our melee forces. They’ll be split between her, myself, Miho, Idena, and you,” answered Mikuru.

“I see. And have the non-combatants been evacuated to the safehouse?” John said as his Mom, Yuria, and even Vanessa flashed before his eyes as he thought of the non-combatants.

“Yep yep. Your mom actually took charge of that. Seems she couldn’t really sleep with all the sudden changes her life just had so made sure Mimi and Yatina got there first and then began helping others get there,” Miho told John with a smile.

“Thanks, Miho, that makes me happy knowing she’s safe. Let’s head down to the main gate and get the troops split up,” ordered John. He turned around and was about to leave but was stopped by Mikuru.

“One more thing, John. It seems the Grey Jedi haven’t arrived yet. So we are lacking some troops. Hopefully they do arrive and haven’t lied to us,” a skeptical Mikuru told John.

“I agree, Mikuru. But we don’t have time to worry about that. Let’s focus on the battle at hand,” John said and the three left the war room and made their way to the Gatehouse.

“Fall back to Zone A-3!” roared Koranc, over the sounds of explosions and screams. The High Elves followed their leaders orders, as they moved from tree to tree rather quickly. Kornac had made sure that his rangers set up their standard zipline and treetop bridges that were common in their forests as a way to quickly get around. That decision had saved countless lives in this battle since the Order’s forces couldn’t really counter the elves as the archers picked off one soldier after another.

“Sir, they’ve set fire to Zones A-3 to D-3!” reported Aleria. Kornac grumbled in acceptance of the news.

“They’re trying to pin us in with flames. We’ll redirect to Zone B-5. The traps along there should weed out some of their forces while we get to the forest’s edge. At that point, we must make a rush to the castle and hope they can provide cover as we get to gates,” decided Kornac as he looked up the legions that marched through the forests, the Order’s banner flying proudly towards the castle where his leader resided. “We must protect Princess Sylva at all costs!” declared Kornac as he rushed with his troops to the new zone, making sure to draw as much attention to himself so his troops have a better chance of getting to castle unscathed.

“BURN IT ALL! BURN IT ALL TO THE GROUND!” commanded Lord Brighton as he watched his troops whittle away thanks to enemy ambushes and traps. That the warlock John Newman had been able to set this all up so quickly was a clear indication that John had been planning all along to betray him and the Order. That these losses happened was a clear sign from the Lady that he was doing her work justly. “We will show these godless heathens that the Lady will not sit by and allow them to continue their evil ways! We shall purify them by fire even!” roared Lord Brighton, to cheers from his troops as they continued to march on.

The loyal troops of Lord Brighton continued their march through the woods, their eyes peeled to find any sort of upcoming ambushes or traps. These foot soldiers knew their lives were secondary to their goal of making a safe world for their families, so they marched onward into known danger without an iota of fear.

On the back lines, the Order’s gunners attempted to provide cover-fire with their Excalibur OSA-29 Tactical Rifle. They spent far too much time shooting at spots where the Elves were instead of where they are, much to their anger. That did not stop the loyal archers from providing a constant spray of bullets to make each Elven shot a risk. The mages, however, took their lord’s outburst quite literally and had done nothing but lobbed fireballs in their general area. The mages smiled as they saw the lush greenery burst into flames, spreading rather quickly through the dense foliage of the forest.

“Father, are you sure we should burn down the forest?” asked Moira, not entirely sure of her father’s plan.

“Of course, my daughter. These filthy heathens wish to hide behind its foliage, to travel branch to branch. We can regrew the trees, but only once the infection has been removed from it,” Lord Brighton told his daughter. “Do not worry, I’ve done this many times before. We are the just ones here, else the Lady would have surely shown us a sign to stop, do you not agree?” asked Lord Brighton, his words chosen carefully to make it so his daughter must side with him, else she look like a possible traitor to their cause.

“O-of course, father. We will crush the warlock and his allies. It is what we must do, for it is the Lady’s divine will!” spurted Moira to appease her father, even if she wasn’t 100% sure if this was the truly correct action to take.