The Battlefield

Elian thought he knew what an army was; only now, when he was travelling with one, he realized he hadn’t had a clue. It was like an entity of its own, a sea of people flowing across the land. It was empowering and suffocating, and it hadn’t taken him and Kaia long to sign up for scout duty.

They’d been on the road for days, yet had covered remarkably little distance. On the other hand, they’d picked up more people. Soldiers from nearby garrisons and stations. Farmers and hunters from small settlements eager to fight back and settle the score with the bugs. They were still waiting for a company of elves that would join them before they reached Alenia.

They’d also pick up most of the dwarves living there. Brinja and her family were already on the front line, easy to spot through their shining armor and, of course, the small herd of goats trotting along before them. All eager to return to their mountain and retake it. Exterminate every bug intruder.

Messengers on fast horses could be seen in every direction, delivering messages both far away and between officers spread out over the dwindling length of the army.

“There’s another settlement over there,” Kaia pointed to some tiny squares at the horizon. “We should see if anybody wants to join, or if they have food for sale.”

“Let’s go.” Most of their work so far had consisted of just that. Finding people, food, and sometimes horses and carts. It had become routine by now, so he was surprised when Kaia slowed down quite a ways from the buildings. They dismounted, tied the horses to a fence, and crept closer.

“Do you hear that?” she whispered, but though he strained his ears, he couldn’t hear anything but the wind rustling the yellowing leaves.

“No. What’s wrong?”

“Wings. I hear wings, and I smell bugs.” Oh no.

“You mean the wasp things from the mines?” But they couldn’t be here, could they?

She nodded grimly, then pointed. A swarm of them was flying low over the field before them. Some carrying humans and sheep.

“We have to stop them,” Elian whispered. “Can you shoot them?”

“I can hit them, but if they’re like the others, that won’t stop them.” She patted his hand. “Can you use fire?”

“That’d kill them, but I need to touch them, one by one… and they’re so many, and very fast…”

“You’ll be stung within a minute. Can’t you… throw it at them?”

“No, that’d be convenient, but no.” He glanced at her bow. “But that gives me an idea… If I set fire to your arrows, then maybe…it’ll work as a fuse?”

She held one up, studying it, then nodded. “It might work.”

“I don’t have other ideas, do you?” She shook her head, looking thoughtfully at the swarm. It was closer now.

“If one bug catches fire, will it spread between them, or to the ground? Do we need to run?”

“It’ll spread between any enemies that are close enough to touch. But, the ground…”

Images of waves of fire spreading around him, devouring all it touched, made him bow his head, fists clenching by his sides. “I… don’t know. Once cut off from me, it should die out… but…”

Now that he thought about it, he had no idea what happened after he left a fuse in a bug and sent fire through it. Did the flames take just the caterpillar? Or did it leave a burned wasteland in its wake?

How could he not know this?

“...I’m not sure,” he finished lamely. “It’s stronger than normal fire, but will still be put out by water, wind, or lack of fuel.”

“I guess we’ll find out then.” She held out the arrow, point first. “Light it up.”

A second later, the arrow was a burnt black line on the ground, and Kaia was looking at him with pursed lips.

“Not what I had in mind. Try again.”

This time he succeeded, and the arrow whistled through the air, the flame flickering but not dying. It went deep into the body of one of the wasps, which instantly burst into flames and crashed onto the ground, releasing the body it carried.

“Again,” Kaia said, and the air soon filled with arrows taking down the wasps faster than he could follow. She had not joked about being both the best and the fastest, and he felt oddly proud watching her.

“That was the last one.” Elian ran toward the closest body, expecting the worst but… “She’s breathing. She’s alive.”

“This guy too,” Kaia shouted. “It seems the stinger paralyzes, but doesn’t kill.”

“We found a way to kill them from a distance, we need to tell Lieutenant Lucen.”

They quickly carried the stiff farmers into one of the houses, hoping they’d be safe there, then returned to their horses and set off to find Lucen.

By the time they passed the city of Alenia, the dwindling army had grown in length as well as width, and was slowly making its way north toward the mountains. Elian and Kaia kept scouting, looking for people as well as signs of the bugs. At first the carts and carriers travelling south seemed normal, but the further north they came, the more people they met fleeing the opposite way.

“Are you coming to join the army?” Elian asked a group of young trappers, who made good speed despite their huge backpacks.

“Just looking for a safe space,” one of them said. “Are you really going to fight the bugs? Once and for all?”

“That’s the plan. They’re breeding in the mountains, so we’ll go there and put a stop to it.”

“The mountains?” The men stared at him. “The bugs aren’t there, they’re not even a day behind us.”

“What? How many?”

“More than anyone I know can count. They filled the ground and the sky, and they leave nothing standing in their path. Good luck taking them on. We’ll continue south. Hole up somewhere…”

Elian let them go and looked at Kaia. “We’re too late. The buggers are already here.”

“Then we fight them here.” She looked around the plain fields and light forests. “It might even be easier here than in the mines. More space.”

“I guess…”

“Let’s go tell the others. We need to get organized, fast.”

*

To Elian’s surprise, Lucen agreed with Kaia, stating that this wasn’t a bad spot for making a stand. It took mere hours to have the lines set up. Dwarves, goats, and infantry were at the front, together with any older mages.

The elven archers had been teamed up with young fire mages and stayed at the rear. This wasn’t the kind of battle the children had been trained for. Messengers rode from side to side, delivering instructions. It all seemed surreal to Elian, nothing in his previous years had prepared him for this. So far, he and Kaia remained on watch duty, riding along the hills, keeping an eye on the massive darkness heading their way. Still too far away to make out individual creatures, it appeared as a dark wave, steadily covering the land.

“More people are coming,” Kai shouted, pointing to the west. Then she gave a shout of joy, spurring her horse into a gallop and racing ahead. Elian followed, wind rushing through his hair from the speed, then a grin spread across his face. The people were a group of Lykar, human soldiers, and civilians. And right in the middle was Kaer.

“Brother, I can’t believe you’re here. We were so worried…”

“We headed south as soon as these guys got a message saying the bugs were the real threat and you were planning something big.”

“Lieutenant Lucen’s messages worked,” Elian exclaimed. “I’m so glad to see you.”

“Likewise,” Kaer said. “But we’ll catch up later. I’m sure we all have stories to tell. But for now, just tell us where we’ll be most useful.”

Perhaps an hour later, they were standing together, on foot, behind the frontline. Kaer and Kaia were talking quietly, and Lior was telling him funny stories from his garrison. Not that Elian listened. His whole focus was on the threat growing closer, darker.

The sky darkened with crickets and wasps, until it lit up as they were met with a rain of burning arrows. Setting the sky on fire. Beneath them, the ground troops moved into position. Beetles at the front.

The world held still for a moment. Blood pounded in Elian's ears. The mark on his hand felt as if it were on fire already. He held his breath. One heartbeat passed, then another and another…

Then they charged. Black met black as the goats met the beetles head-on, then jumped over them to attack the crickets. They were followed by the dwarves, axes raised high as they joined the battle. Elian caught a glimpse of red hair under a shiny helmet, then the bugs reached his position and chaos broke out. Kaer flew into action next to him, chopping off legs and stabbing eyes while Elian set any bug he could lay his hand on on fire.

This was chaos. And it didn’t stop.

The ground was littered with piles of bodies, mostly insects, but also humans and dwarves. And the bugs kept coming. Elian had lost sight of everyone he knew except for Kaia, who was still at his side, but he saw a wave of ice shooting forward, catching a line of massive bugs, making them easy prey for the soldiers.

Lior.

He was kneeling down not far from their position, so they hurried toward him.

“I’m almost out of mana,” Lior panted, standing up and stretching his back. “I might be able to squeeze out a tiny strip of ice, but then…” He shook his head, looking around. “And I’m not the only one. The kids never had a chance to keep up. They’re trained for bursts, not a marathon like this.”

“Already?” Elian said, holding up his hand, balancing a flame in his palm.

“You’re not getting drained?” Lior asked, then smacked his forehead. “No, of course not. You’re still the prodigy that never runs out of mana…” He shook his head, looking out over the never-ending black and green mass. “You could probably kill all of them by yourself. Set the ground under their filthy bugger feet on fire.”

“I couldn’t…” Elian started automatically, but Kaia gave him a long look.

“But you could, right? You could save many people.”

“Or kill them. One mistake, if I lose control over a fire that big…”

“You won't.” She placed a hand on his arm, then swept her other arm around the battlefield. “I don’t need to be militarily trained to see that we’re losing too many people. Many more will die if you don’t protect them.” Her claws dug into his arm. “Maybe all.”

“But…” Unfortunately, she was right. She had shot her last arrow an eternity ago, and the elves were out too. Or had stopped firing for some other reason. Exhausted mages were wielding swords or knives instead of magic. The normal soldiers were moving slower, and many were injured. Red blood was mixed with green and black all over the field.

He closed his eyes, feeling his mana rush through him as strong as ever. His magic pulsed, begging to be used, eager as always.

Burn them. Burn them. burnthemburnthemBURNTHEM

“It won’t work,” he said. “People are so spread out, there’s no way I can avoid…”

“I’ll handle that.” Lior gave him a tired grin. “The golden duo doesn’t give up, right?”

“Never.”

“Then let’s do it.” He walked a few steps forward, then knelt, placing his right hand on the ground. A thin strip of ice, perhaps as wide as a hand, shot out in both directions… creating a white line across the field. “Everyone get behind the line. Now. Spread the word!” He yelled at the top of his lungs.

Others picked it up, the instructions flying across the battlefield, and surprised soldiers staggered toward them, lining up behind them.

“Your turn,” Lior said, grinning. “Fry those buggers!”

Elian swallowed hard, then stepped forward. He needed some distance to be on the safe side. In case…

The buggers that had stopped for a moment, confused by the human retreat, then started moving toward him again. There were so many of them. Like a sea, a plague…

A hand landed on his shoulder. Kaia.

“I trust you. Best fire-wielder.” She smiled at him, then her ears twitched, and she grinned. “I’ll stay right here, and I expect to not get even a hair on my tail singed.”

It wasn’t safe. He wanted to send her off. Far away. But he knew it was futile. She’d never leave. She’d just stand there and… trust him.

A cricket was suddenly right in front of him, mandibles clicking much too close to his neck. He slammed his hand into its side and let his magic free. As soon as the bugger burned, he knelt down. His hand touched the ground… and the world in front of him went up in flames. Further and further it went, and it took all he had to force it to spread only forward. The soft pressure of the hand on his shoulder reminding him of what he’d lose should he fail.

But he didn’t fail. When he finally raised his hand from the ground, the people behind him were still alive. Safe. Cheering.

“Told you, you could do it. You are the best fire-wielder, with the hottest flames.” She patted his shoulder. “The hottest fire-wielder. No doubt.”

He just stared at her, and then, as the mental tension drained, he suddenly felt exhausted.

“Did we win?”

“Yes. We’ll need to hunt down the rest, but most of the insects are gone. Killing the leftovers will be easy.”

“Good job!” Lucen came running toward him, a fresh gash bleeding through his sleeve. “We’ve got it from here… As soon as the ground cools down enough for us to walk on it… we’ll mop up the rest.”

“Good.” For some reason, he was feeling numb. That wasn’t what victory was supposed to feel like, was it? Next to him, Lucen, Eigon, and Lior were already planning a swift sweep of the mines as well. Sending the uninjured forces to deal with any survivors while the enemy was still weak.

He leaned against Kaia, watching the tip of her tail move, sending up small clouds of black dust. He smiled at her.

“I can’t wait to get back home.”