The dwarves ran around in the dark, there was only one question in my mind, What's next? And Fyena knew the answer before everyone else, the carnation of the Last Born was announced promptly after the funeral of the late Emperor. Both at one night, it would never happen in other lands even if there was a war before. It was also announced that the last born would lead the war the following day.
"Why," I said.
Fyena glanced at me without blinking. She took a deep breath and leaned forward, "Did you expect ogres?"
"Yes, but not so many."
"The winged creatures?"
"No."
"Did you know they had them?"
"No."
"Do you know what else they have?"
I leaned forward too, "we need to leave."
"Once we get the answers. Sure."
I sighed, "The answer is no use, if we die."
"Do you have a better way?"
"You do."
She took a sip from the tankard which she held in her hands for longer than ever, "They have their troops near the tower. If we sneak into the other side…"
"That's worse than dying with the dwarves."
"I heard the dwarves have some ships on the shore. We can get out of this hell in no time."
Even if we reached the other side somehow, we have to come back alive, I understood why the elves called themselves wise.
"Is there another way?"
The sun was already up when we reached the field and it wasn't the same as the day before. The corpses were removed, some were burnt, there were traps, the towers were rebuilt with a stone basement, there were long stakewalls, and more landships.
"Follow that," I said pointing at one. We never bothered to find our unit, as soon as we got in we started to devise plans. The trumpets roared and we saw the Last born marching to the front. That was the first time I saw him so close, grey beard and hair, wrinkles around his eyes, he must have waited too long.
"Move," Hyena hissed.
I ducked down and started following them, the gremlins were unleashed, the ship protected us from them, and acted as a huge shield. We were joined by a few dwarves who used the shield to reload their barrels. We were heading forward quite fast, it seemed to be possible until Fyena stopped us, the ship halted. Well I never missed the ogres and I never asked for something better. Trolls of about twelve feet each, just walked into the field.
"Get going," the dwarves banged the ship.
We followed them without any questions, the ground started to explode, the trolls fell down one by one. There was an explosion before us, the ship halted again.
"What's that," Fyena said.
The door opened, dwarves rushed out from the ship, "It's a trap."
The ship burst as we fell behind. The war-horn roared as we got up, I realised the dwarves had sensed something I didn't. They started to create a formation. A dark figure rose in the north, about ten feet, white as the clouds, a wild crag cat the rider stepped down as the dwarves passed signals. Vyrarth. We tried to go with the formation, shields were raised before us.
"You won't stab our backs," a dwarf before us commented sarcastically. "Will you?"
The dwarves laughed together before spreading in random directions. They ran towards the half-elf dodging the trolls and gremlins, they were joined by another dwarf who was no other than the last born. Vyrath pulled his axe from behind, a rain of arrows landed before him. The dwarves immediately pulled their shields, some were saved, some got stuck. Vyrart raised the axe and pointed it toward the last born, the cat hopped from its place and landed on the last born who swung his hammer and smashed its face. Three different shots landed on its back at the same time, the three dwarves tried to reload their barrel for the next round when it happened. The cat jumped to the other and ripped his shoulder flesh off, it then jumped to the next dwarf and caught his hand, then another and another, at last he came to the last born who was crawling back with his hand. It caught his head between its teeth and pulled it separately. The cat turned to check on Vyrarth, he raised his hand and drew a circle in the air. The cat turned back and snarled in the field. Vyrath walked back into the shadows as it started to rip the dwarves one by one.
I started running just to realise I was late and Fyena was way far ahead of me. I could hear the screams behind me, one by one the cat got everyone and finally I slipped down as it caught my back. I pulled the musket and took a shot, it fell behind, I released the casing and took another shot and another, it backed like a real cat, then the musket was empty. It stood up and started to walk in a circle, I walked with it just a few steps away, I picked a shield and dropped the arm, then picked another and stopped walking. It circled me, growled and hissed. I held the shields tight when it threw itself on me. I swung the shield and caught the same place the late born did. Before it could stand I landed the other shield on the other side. I crawled back away from it and stood up. It shook its head and came to sense, without waiting I swung again and went for the right. It was a precise one, blood splattered, the white fur was all red, the cat fell down with its jaw and eyes wide open.