Siege of a Castle

Hinin sat down and sat a map out in front of him on the floor. He thought out strategies once they arrived of how he could divide the troops to the appropriate sections. A small candle could be seen lit on a table, his figure be sitting on the floor. He yawned a bit but continued. He planned out in his head thinking of where they may have to stop. He figured that it may actually be easier to continue onto the lake to refill their canteens but then he also figured that would waste too much time. They had plenty of water supplies to last weeks. He shook that idea from his head and sighed.

Fallen stayed up the majority of that night watching over the elf Lorana. He was still contemplating the strange feelings he had whenever he thought of her and as she slept he began to eye her. Her face was so gorgeous and peaceful as she slept. It made him smile and he blushed as his eyes drifted down her body and looked over the voluptuous curves of her feminine figure. Quickly he stood where he was and walked out of the tent through the flaps of the tent. It was odd and he was scared of the new emotions he was feeling. He had never based someone on appearance but the moment he saw her his eyes seemed to burst open to entirely new concepts.

He went out a stones throw away from the camp where he couldn't be seen and stared up at the bright moon that was partly showing in the sky. The radiant light reminded him of the girl and as he drifted around in his own thoughts, Sora strolled up with her sleek fur shining in the light. "Hello Fallen." He turned to see her and smiled.

"Sora...did you see the Elf girl?" He asked.

The wolf nodded, "Yes, why do you ask?"

Fallen crossed his arms and looked from her and back to the sky, "I can't stop thinking about her...it is weird...I feel weird...what is this kind of feeling? Sen never had anything like this written in his books...I don't understand it."

With a sly smirk the she-spirit slid her side against him as she moved closer, "Sounds like you are in love." Her voice was very soft and agile now, showing a compassionate side.

"Love? As in...?" He shook his head, still not understanding the concept of this love.

Sora blinked, "You have no idea what love is?" He shook his head and she laid down beside him which he promptly sat and leaned back against her large soft belly. "Love is something that people feel for each other, as I love you Fallen. We are family. That is love. But what you feel for her is another kind of love...it is a bit more complex with that..."

Fallen looked at her over his shoulder, "But...why didn't Sen ever mention anything of this love? He always taught me about self control, aura manipulation, survival, som--"

She cut him off and licked his brown hair causing it to stick up, "That is because Sen never had the opportunity to learn about love. Because of that he can't comprehend it as you and I can." Fallen blinked at her words and looked down at the grass beneath him. He slid his hands over the moist blades of foliage.

"I don't think I understand yet but...I guess I'll figure it out...right?" He started trying to push his hair back in place. A grotesque expression formed on his face when he felt the saliva. "Ew."

Sora chuckled and nudged him, "You should sleep." And so he did.

After many hours of planning and thinking, he finally wet his finger tips and doused the light. he lay down on his bed and covered himself thoroughly this night seemed quite cold. Hinin shivered lightly as he pulled the covers tightly around his arms, trying to keep warm. After being satisfied with the warmth, he smiled and closed his eyes, going to sleep. He had dreams that night. He wasn't sure what they meant but he did see a man garbed in a long black robe and a hood covering his features. The man had the muscle and bone structure of a elf but when carefully glanced upon the lips, they seemed more human than elf. The man was tall. Something about him seemed too familiar but Hinin couldn't name what. He had a very wry smile on his face as he lifted a bottle of some unknown liquid to his lips and took a drink. He opened his mouth to speak and just before words came out, Hinin heard a large whoosh and instantly recognized it as the flap of his tent, waking him up. Before him, he saw a small rabbit that had apparently hopped into his quarters. There was a slimmer of light fading in through the crack that bunny had made. He smiled over to the rabbit and stood up, off his bed. He gave a big yawn and stretched high and far. "What a dream." he said to himself.

Fallen was awake now as was Lorana. The two were not together as yesterday but quickly met up that morning and walked to Hinin's tent. As the usual after visiting the commander in charge, Fallen told the men to pack up and prepare to move out. While everyone else was busy bustling through their supplies and preparing for another days walk, Fallen and Lorana walked through the corpses of her kinsmen. Her expression became very gloom as her eyes watched over her family and friends that had died from the demon attack of the past day. When she was asleep, the soldiers paid them respect by lining them in a row with the hands crossed over their chest grasping various wild flowers that could be found in the fields around them. Their wounds were now hidden and they looked peaceful.

With a gust of wind the grass shifted around his feet and Fallen gripped the hilt of Bane. Right now he wanted nothing more than to take his living blade and cut down every foul nose twisted, blunt fanged, red skinned, demon that had caused this horrible genocide. Every time that he looked into Lorana's broken expression the anger strengthened and as before, outstretched wings formed over his shadow giving his character a mystic touch. Lorana happened to catch a glimpse of the odd figure cast behind Fallen but as soon as she blinked it was gone. Therefor she believed she imagined it.

"So...Lorana, what will you do now?" He asked as he stared at his feet.

Her voice was touchy and uneven as she was quite upset but concealing it. "I suppose I shall follow you, I have nothing more to do."

Fallen gave her a quirky smile although she did not see it. He placed a hand on her shoulder and continued to mimic something he once watch the humans due in villages near the place he grew up, "It would be an honor to have you accompany us in our journey, my lady." He gave a respectful bow.

The girl blushed and her gloom quickly subsided as embarrassment and flattery replaced them. She took his hand in hers and took it off her shoulder only to let it go and then smiled at him, "Don't touch me." She said smooth and with a playful tone.

He smiled as his face turned red. Feeling a bit humiliated was okay as he was happy that he managed to make her smile again.

Hinin prepared himself for the journey they would make as he packed up and tore down his tent. He yawned again and stuffed the tent into his pack. He then sighed, looking at everyone getting ready. He found a stump of a fallen tree and sat on it, waiting for the day to start. While he waited, he took out some bread and tore a piece off. He then proceeded to eat it and swallow, enjoying the taste of some food sliding down his throat. "Ah and the day begins. "

"More like week." Said Fallen as he seemingly appeared from no where. "So, we should be there soon." He pulled up the hood he was commonly known to wear and peered out from under the shadow it cast over his face. "What is the battle plan for when we arrive? No doubt the lobbing brutes will charge once we are spotted. I'm sure the castle will be holding them off but we will need a proper strategy if we want to survive."

He grinned. "Well I am actually glad you asked. Once we get within twenty meters of our destination, I plan to send thirty men to loop around the left and the bulk of the army will charge from the center. If I have mistaken the distance, which I doubt I have, then while we are fighting, I will signal for the thirty to swoop from behind and take the enemy. This should force them to scatter making it easier for the beasts to be easily picked off. " He smiled. His plan hadn't sounded as terrible out loud as he thought. "Any suggestions?"

Fallen stared at him for the longest time before saying, "That is a horrible idea..." He squatted down in the grass and held his hand up curling his lip, contemplating, as his bright blue flame englufed the area of his arm from elbow to fingertip. The flames thrashed around and waved as he held his hand towards the ground and released a stream that destroyed the grass and left nothing but ash and dirt. The flame faded and he grabbed a stick. He drew a large circle and pointed, "This is the city." Then he drew two Xs' one was close to the city and the other one was off in the distance. "The one close to the city is the demons and the other one is us." Next he made a line behind the demons and pointed, "We will place archers behind these trees and they shall fire on your mark. This will confuse them while also harming their flesh. I have experience in this and I know that arrows probably will not penetrate far into their thick skin but it will still hurt like everlasting hell fire." He threw the stick and sighed, "Some of them will die, the smaller ones. This will lessen their numbers and then I shall run in with perhaps...four or so of your finest archers to protect me while I take some of the bigger ones out myself. I am skilled in killing them and I can do it easily. But the small ones will get in my way, the archers will be required to pick them off. After I take out most of the brutes which should only be...three or four for every twenty? it depends really..." He looked back to Hinin. "That is when you shall lead the rest of the troops in and sweet up the field. Does that sound good?"

He felt a little weak ended when Fallen explained his own plan out. Hinin nodded and smiled. "I am glad you are here to fix my mistakes, young one. Thank you." With this, he noticed the troops were in their two individual lines once more, prepared to move out. He stood up and walked in front. He turned around, not feeling the need to shout out the names and further waste time. He then held one hand up in the air and waved it forward as to tell them to march. He was feeling a bit moved from his dream but he was not sure why. He had never met the man and yet he found a certain closeness that he could not explain. He shook the thought from his mind as he walked.

Fallen and Lorana grouped back together in the march of the soldiers and made small chat as they headed towards the large capital.

Once they were roughly a mile away from the destination, He haulted the army and explained the plan. "I will be allowing Fallen to choose the archers that will be going with him. And I will choose the rest. "

Fallen took the time to stare into the souls of each soldier who carried a bow and when he could determine the best skills he chose five. They each gathered around him and then he noted some of the other archers for Hinin with considerable mention. After he was prepared to fight he walked through the crowd to find Lorana and spoke with her personally. "Lady Lorana, I would like you to accompany me if you would be to honor me in battle." He knew that she had faced large demons before and would be great aid for his quest. She though about it for a long time before replying.

"As you wish. My wounds are mostly healed although I am still a little sore, I would love to destroy the vile creatures whom murdered my people." Her expression became very tense and determination glinted in her eyes.

Fallen could also see this in her soul and revealed his pleasure with a smirk that revealed his pearly fangs. "Fantastic, I would love to see how one such as you could handle on of these creatures."

She placed a hand on the pommel of another sword she was carrying and returned a smile in place of his smirk, "Then you shall."

He looked at Fallen and with a nudge he said "When the attack is made, be sure to signal. Wouldn't want the best soldier in this army to die after all. " He hoped his message was taken the correct way. He then chose which archers would be lining up. He chose about fifteen archers and sent them where needed. He then gathered the rest of the soldiers which consisted of around fifty-three, in a large mass, preparing to consume whatever they met. He stood at the front. They moved up about twenty feet forward and waited, so they could see the signal when given. He waited.

Fallen then chanted some orders as well, undermining Hinin's authority although he did not mean to. He told most of the archers to go behind a tree line behind the demon's position as well as send around thirty or so tot he other side. They followed with the archers but continued across the tree line to get on the enemies flank. The enemy was now completely surrounded with no where to run, and no idea they were about to fall.

With the unsheathing of his mighty blade; Bane, the battle began as he sprinted down towards the battle. His flaming sword was a beacon to the archers and a distraction as well. He watched with a smirk as many of the lesser demons fell as the arrows sank through their hearts and skulls. Others lay crippled or pinned to a tree. Then the clash began. First he sliced his blade down in a diagonal slice loping one of the large bruits in two. A few arrows flew over his head from behind and landed in the bodies of more lessers' that survived the wave of arrows before the battle commenced and then the blood started to spill.

Glancing to his side he then noticed that Lorana was wielding a magnificent blade and he couldn't help but watch her form. The blade was tempered steel that was more white and silver. It was curved on both edges and seemed to ripple like water yet remained as strait as a razor. At length it extended about the same distance as her forearm if not just a few inches longer and the hilt was only long enough to hit one of her slender hands. It was wrapped in wire as was his own and the hilt was basic although the front was tipped and carved into the head of an eagle that craned out over her first two fingers with an open beak. Then he noticed the pommel which glinted with a pure, refined diamond that glinted in a rainbow like sheen as the sunlight refracted through the odd shape. At this point he also happened to catch a glimpse of similar shades extending from the blade itself, it was mixed with diamond dust to make it an invincible blade.

He watched as her liquid figure shifted from movement to movement and cut down her foes as if they didn't even stand before her. He figured her style was unbeatable when he suddenly realized his distraction endangered his own existence and turned to meet the blade over a large bruit swinging down toward him. Just in the nick of time he managed lift Bane above his head and yield the oncoming demon steel as sparks ignited from both blades. In a quick flourish of magic he removed one hand from the hilt and rammed it into the demon's stomach with a burning globe of flame that ignited the creatures skin and burned a hole right through, sealing any opening.

With the creature in agony he pushed with his might and made it fumble, quickly he took the opportunity and cut from the shoulder down tot he center of his chest before the blade became stuck. Placing his foot next to where the blade was stuck, he pushed and pulled to free himself and then let the body drop before him. With a large number headed towards him, he was left to exhaust a lot of energy by releasing a stream of blue flame from his engulfed left hand and started burning the creatures until they fell dead. When about twenty had died by his aura he had fallen to one knee and supported himself by leaning on Bane which was planted in the ground. "ATTACK!" He ordered the rest of the soldiers to commence in warfare.

Hinin raised a blade and shook it forward, ordering the men behind him to charge. He charged as well, unsheathing his second blade. Once in range of the nearest demon, his onslaught began. Right and left he swung his blade, cutting down any opposition that approached. Blood flew everywhere as the rest of the soldiers arrived behind him, cutting and slicing as well.

Now Fallen and Lorana ran through side by side and in the heat of the moment everything seemed to slow. His keen eyes absorbed every moment and every flinch of his enemies as he continued to cut down any in his path. The flaming blade in his grip never stopping burning and many men would dash out of their way as the duo continued to fight. Sometime in the middle of the battle, they were both circled by demon bruits and Fallen uttered a low grow as a warning and as one began to charge, a arrow with an orange flame flickering at the tip gushed through it's shoulder causing him to halt and look where it had come from. Suddenly a second arrow flew through his skull and he fell back to the ground with blood spilling on the blades of grass below.

Fallen glanced up at where the arrows had come from an on top a wall where archers were standing in the city, he noticed one girl had a bright orange soul, she was a Werewolf. A grin peered on his face and he nodded a bit, I must repay my wolf-sister for that. With this he dashed off and continued to slaw the rest of the demons around him with a rapid series of movements and techniques that were being uploaded to his consciousness by the living sword.

He continued to slash and gash, feeling almost entranced in the violence and gore. One by one, he struck down enemies dead. He felt no shame in any of it. These were creatures of evil. Once he had a second to look around, he gazed across the bloody battle field. He then saw a figure, a man walking amongst the crowd of demon and human bodies scattered across the bloody grass. The man was garbed in a long black cloak made of leather. A hood covered his head. Hinin instantly recognized him as the man from his dream. He started to run the man but then remembered he was in a battle. He ducked under a blade and struck the demon down the spine. Hinin did a roll in front of a demon, landing one blade in it's stomach. He then slit the being's throat. He then searched the field for the cloaked man with his eyes.

"FALLEN!" Sounded a loud grotesque voice over the battle field, even the demons stopped in their tracks to gaze at the figure that stood in the middle of the field. It was a rather large demon with crooked horns and the dark scorched skin. His snarl was ugly and his expression was fairly ignorant. The eyes at the center of his face glared and the rest of his body stood ready to attack. "You pathetic whelp! Your master killed my god and you must pay!"

The strange WereChild smirked, "Ah, Earovack. I thought I killed you." He gripped bane in his hand and prepared himself to fight. He knew Earovack from an old battle and was sworn enemies with the creatures. This specific demon was one of the right hand soldiers in the dark god's army and when Fallen's master; Sen, killed him, this demon was not pleased. "You can't beat me. I proved this last time..."

"How dare you! Mutt-Breed!" He pointed his blades towards Fallen and challenged him with a grunt.

Fallen snorted, "How dare you call me a mutt! At least I am no Hell-Spawn! You evil ugly son of a bitch!" With this the man darted for the demon with Lorana clasping out at him in an attempt to step Fallen from doing something stupid, but it was too late. Luckily, he made the first hit through Earovack's rib cage.

The demon raised his own blade and sliced downward at Fallen as he groaned in pain.

Quickly raising his blade to block the upcoming blow saved his life but the demon's strength was too much so Fallen had to use Earovack's momentum to force the blade aside and step back. Now he decided using aura was the best option for him and as he summoned the blue flames around his left hand once more, the demon had done the same with his own red aura. They faced each other and seemed to stalk in a circle, staring at the other. Their shadows continued to sway across the ground as their bodies shifted from position to position under the ground. Branches and twigs snapped under their feet and the cool air nearly froze the sweat on his flesh.

With a loud roar, Fallen released his furious soul fire towards the demon who countered in a similar jet of flame to counter out Fallen's own. They stood pushing back and forth like a reverse tug of war as the flames between them wavered in strength but were overall equal in power. He arched his shoulders and then pushed forward to blast through the demons evil energy and scorched his chest. While the beast was immobilized by the pain he grabbed a spear underhanded and then proceeded to throw it. His aim didn't fail him as it penetrated the right shoulder, forcing Earovack to drop his twisted iron blade.

With an ugly glare, the beast roared and charged at Fallen. Before he could dodge, the horns on his head impaled the socket below Fallen's right collar bone. Now he could no longer hold Bane, just as Earovack could not hold his. The two of them were now to face down in hand to hand combat. Fallen was shorter by two feet and had no where near the muscle mass that Earovack has. The demon had the advantage and he know it. Showing his pleasure with a smile of jagged yellow teeth, the demon muttered, "Now you die like the dog you are."

"Shit..." He said as the demon charged again. Taking a few steps to the side he managed to dodge the first attack and then something caught his attention. It started raining and the sound of thunder clapped through the air just seconds after a flash of lightening. Fallen smirked and held his good arm up, "It appears the Gods' are with me." Another bolt of lightening struck down to the Earth landing in Fallen's palm as blue flames wrapped around the electricity and contained it. The area clapped with a loud boom and the ground below him cracked into a shallow crater from the sheer force of Fallen's catch. With one last attack he forced the lightening at Earovack and with a bright flash of light and another clap of thunder, the pure energy tore through the demon and nearly made him explode as it blasted a hole through his chest and cooked the rest of him alive.

He fell to his knees after using such a vast amount of his aura and panted. Staring at the remnants of his dead enemy, he noticed streaks of electricity still pouring into the ground from the corps. This made him chuckle and he felt as though he would soon pass out. At this moment he felt a slender hand grab his shoulder. He looked to see Lorana kneeling beside him with both shock and worry.

Meanwhile, Hinin had been fending off all who came at him but when the battle had taken place, the demons seemed to have stopped. This gave him a pretty good chance to cut down them with very much ease. He sliced here and there, keeping an eye out for the mysterious figure that seemed to have just vanished. He suddenly heard what sounded like a voice in his head shouting Hinin! He turned around, assuming it had come from behind him only to find no one in sight. He then heard out loud one of his soldiers yell "Hinin look out!" He turned just in time to block a charging demon's blade with both of his. The demon forced him to his knees, the blades crossed acting as a shield from the large sword now pushing it's way towards his face. He felt his strength giving way when suddenly, the man fell to the ground, writhing in pain. When Hinin stood up and approached the pained demon, he saw an electrical charge pulsing through his body. Hinin raised one single blade up and then brought it down on it's neck, killing him. He then looked around, searching for the cause for this but found none. He wondered if it had been the Werechild but then he didn't see Him either. He sighed and charged back into battle.

The battle field was now thin enough and the demons were dispersion. The battle still continued for several more hours but it was no longer a pain staking war. Since Fallen had used too much energy, Lorana helped him inside the city walls and there she let him rest where a few medics could tend to his wounds. Once she knew he would be okay she decided to sit beside him and rest. They both gave a lot during the battle and she was exhausted as well.

Fallen glanced over her form and noticed small cuts and bruises that were minor but still appeared painful. He was glad she had been with him through the course of the battle, he may have not made it if not for her. Another quarry that made him ponder was the strange Were-Wolf that had saved him from a bruit earlier on.

Once Hinin noticed the fight was over, he leaned over on his knees. He panted from exhaustion. Suddenly, he felt a surge of pain shoot through him. He knelt down and realized that, throughout the battle, he had gotten cut on his arms and back. Blood covered his armor covering his arms. He growled slightly and stood up, feeling weak. A medic came over worried but Hinin sent him away. His vision then returned to the man he had seen. He wondered if he had just imagined it. The walk back to the camp wasn't too bad but it saddened him to see how many soldiers had been lost. Nevertheless, it was a victory though. When he got back to his camp site, he crawled into his tent and removed his armor. He then began cleaning the wounds and patching them up. None of them were too deep of wounds but he knew he would be very sore the next day. Finally, once the patch work was done, he sat on a chair and leaned over on his knees, his shirt off. He sighed, drinking some of the water he had in his canteen. Suddenly, remembered the voice in his head. The voice knew his name. he then thought it might have just been his imagination again playing tricks in the mist of battle. He looked down and let out some stress he built up through the battle.

"That demon...seemed to know you, and that master of yours? Did he really kill a god?" She seemed very curious and as Fallen eyed her, he knew that he could not just ignore his past anymore. With a sigh he nodded to himself in general acceptance of letting others know his story. First, he waited for a medic to pull off his tunic and chain mail and this allowed everyone to see his collection of large long scars covering his torso and arms. Lorana covered her mouth when she saw the grotesque sight. A long line went down his right side as well as another scar starting on his left shoulder blade and moving over his collar bone and down between his chest and down to his hip. The last one was under his breast and moved over his rib cage. Each one had little prods that reminded himself of a centipede. It had been caused by poor stitching but the overall grasp that someone could have survived such wounds was simply amazing.

"I had just run away from home and I was just running in a random direction. It took me weeks and at first I thought I was getting no where. After crossing the mountains it was nothing but thick forest and eventually I did run into someone...It was odd but at first I thought I ran into a tree or something and fallen back. When I looked up I saw a young man with white hair and emerald eyes. He stared at me and for a moment I saw his soul...I have yet to see anything that matched it for it appears as if he were a god. At first I thought he was a WereChild like me but I just could not see his animal form. So I smirked to see if he would reveal himself but at the sight of my teeth he only raised a brow and stared at me. After that he kinda took me in and began to train me for some odd reason. It was intense and I gained many scars from it. I would have died but he found ways to heal by the use of aura. Another thing I have yet to see...Eventually we did encounter some demons but it still confuses me. That man is an ancient being. The only ones who could be older than him would be spirits...but anyways, that is my master."

Once Fallen tried his best to explain the story. He looked around to see that a few soldiers had also been listening and at first they didn't believe it but then one soldier said, "Wait...it wouldn't be a man named Sen would it?" Many of the other soldiers knew what he spoke about and became even more surprised when Fallen nodded,

"How do you know my Master's Name?"

"It's a song..." Said the soldier and Fallen blinked a bit surprised. "I think it goes something like..." He stopped to ponder then recited a few of the lines.

After a time God's created life,
After water,
After earth,
After air,
After flame,
There was a place of darkness,
In place of the light,
One child born and betrayed,
His mother and uncle betray him with no right,
In a quest of vengeance portrayed by hate,
A story had begun,
A song to be sung,
The legend of one named Sen.

"Or something like that..." Said the soldier. "It goes on for many verses about his quest and ends with him taking his mother and uncle to Hell. It is a very sad story but I always thought it was just that...a story."

Fallen shook his head, "From what I understand...that all happened. I think, five hundred years ago?"

Hinin heard the conversing of the men in the camp but paid it little attention as he relaxed on the chair. He preferred to stand away from the crowd. Even if the crowd were his own men. He had made a poor choice on the part of a leader and decided that once he got back, he would have to decide exactly which path to take. He figured that path would not lead him to captain-ship or leadership or even higher in the ranks of the army. He knew where it may lead him but he was very curious and very worried of the outcome. Hinin moved off of the chair and onto the floor, thinking about that figure. He then heard the voice once more. The voice said Hinin, Pay attention, this takes a lot of energy to say this without saying it. Meet me on the edge of the tree line. Hinin was shocked by this so he went to the Were-child and said "Hey, Fallen right? Meet me in my tent. I need your advice on something or rather I need a judgment on what you would do on something. " We patiently waited his response, hoping it would be positive.

Fallen had eventually re-equipped himself with his chain mail and tunic as well as Bane. He had several bandages covering parts of his body that would hold new scars. Such as his shoulder and a few smaller nicks. After this he head into Hinin's tent and stood before him, "What is it?"

He thought for a minute of how he should go about wording what he wanted to ask then said "A few nights earlier, I had a dream of a man in a black cloak. Today on the battle field I saw that man walking amongst the demons. Another thing, I have heard a voice calling to me twice now that seems to be in my mind. I was told to meet this person at the edge of the forest outside of the campgrounds. My question..." he paused looking at him. "Is do you think it is a trap?"