A King's Legacy Ch. 20-21

Mollis had an arm around his prince immediately, holding tight as his footing threatened to fail him as they rode the pillar down a ways. The prince heard more muffled speech, and suddenly felt himself rocketed forward, leaping far through the air before the pair landed on something soft and light, but rolling a good ways as the impact jarred them. The prince heard a loud collision behind them as the pillar crashed into the left handed wall, causing a good portion of the barricade to collapse, dropping archers to their deaths as they were crushed beneath collapsing stone. Mollis had saved the prince for the time being, but the mage wasn't sure how long that mercy would hold as the Earthwyrm burrowed back deeply into the ground and out of sight with a roar.

Mollis heard a shout to his left, and turned to see Captain Rix, Oust, and Sir Corper running his way, leaping over trenches and carving through fiends quickly. The hare was glad he had boosted them so far to the left after all. Mollis stood and focused himself. The hare shouted an incantation, and small spears of stone shot forth from his hands, skewering the closer fiends and clearing the path for his captain to reach him. The bull was shouting to the mage again shortly, his overpowering voice cutting through the sharp ringing in the rabbit's ears as his words reached him.

"WE CANNOT HOLD AGAINST IT! YOU NEED TO GET THE KING OUT OF HERE!" Mollis opened his eyes wide, glancing over the battlefield as his captain's words registered with him. The fiends were quickly overtaking them, the front lines that still stood being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers. The fiends had cleaved a path through half of their central forces, and continued to swarm between the walls, dividing the troops as they had their fill of flesh. The catlike demon was darting through the battlefield, slicing open orcs with its tails as it jolted through their formations. Mollis watched the demon run passed an orc, and with a flick of one of its whip like tails, slice the head clean off the victim, never slowing as it charged onwards through the ranks, leaving a trail of dismembered and dead orcs in its wake. Prince Tyfin suddenly spoke, shouting his disdain.

"We will not abandon them! We have to find a way!" Mollis nodded firmly in agreement when he replied, speaking to the bull.

"If we get Aster for a moment, I can do the rest... But I don't know if he's even still alive, he was thrown from the pillar when the rune exploded." Captain Rix grunted, not liking the idea of the prince staying on such an uncertain battlefield with such a revered greater demon lurking below.

"WE CANNOT STAKE EVERYTHING ON THE CHANCE HE LIV-" Prince Tyfin spoke up once more, cutting off the bull as his vision and hearing slowly returned to him.

"Find him! We have to make this work. I will NOT abandon our allies here." The proud bull groaned, but gave a small bow to his king. The staunch captain turned to Oust, and shouted his orders.

"FIND THE BOY AND BRING HIM HERE! I WILL PROTECT OUR KING!" Oust nodded decisively, and darted off towards the fallen pillar without second thought, finding himself strangely concerned for the human's unknown fate. Sir Corper followed a bit behind the tiger, unable to keep up in a sprint, but knowing that his student found trouble easily. The captain turned, facing the approaching fiends stoutly as he tightened the grip on his axe. Mollis took his place beside the bull the same as he had for many years, preparing himself to let loose a bit with the prince at the ready to recharge him. Mollis raised his arms to fight beside his captain, and tossed a friendly jest towards the bull.

"You know Captain, can't say I'm a fan of the new look. I always did like you best when you were horny though." Despite the grim situation and the insulting injury to his horn the jab was aimed at, the bull couldn't help but crack a smile. The rabbit really did know him better than anyone else. Mollis was the one person that could dish out that type of teasing on the same level the bull could. Well, the one that could get away with it anyway. Mollis spoke once more before he began chanting, determined to flip this battle back into their favor, determined not lose anyone else on that day.

"You hold the line, I handle the rest." The bull snorted, having full trust in the hare's ability. He gave him a mock salute before taking a few paces forward to meet his enemy head on. When Mollis got bossy about something, he was usually right anyway. The captain had trusted the rabbit with his life a thousand times over, this time was no different. The bovine answered with enthusiasm, and a bit of playfulness with his long time ally as he tore his axe through two fiends with one bone shattering swing.

"YES SIR!"

===

Oust was running near full speed, the nimble feline crossing the battlefield with his impressive agility with ease. The tiger effortlessly leapt over the trenches as they came before him, and was outrunning the smaller fiends with no trouble at all, easily avoiding them all together. This was the main reason Captain Rix had tasked the tiger with fetching the boy, Oust was always the fastest runner among them. He made it a bit more than halfway to the base of the pillar when something caught his eye on his right side. Between the flashes of bodies, something was running beside him.

Oust turned his head a bit to his right, and quickly realized it was the smaller demon with the three tails. The fiend was moving closer to the tiger, a tactic Oust recognized as a predator running down its prey. It seemed this demon enjoyed the chase. Oust accelerated, pushing his legs to the max as his vision tunneled and his surrounding blurred in his focus. The beast could hear his heart beating strongly as its pulse cheered his thumping footsteps on. The tiger was occasionally grabbing hold of larger protruding stones as he ran, and used the power behind his arms to snatch himself ever forward as he did so, adding the smallest boosts to his speed. Even still, he heard the crunch of earth from the demon's steps grow ever closer. When the tiger had neared the goal, in the last part of the field yet to be overrun by the smaller fiends, a whistling sound filled his ear... Oust turned his head just in time to see a flailing tail flick across his field of vision, the bony white spike on the end cracking sharply against his cheek.

Oust had shifted just enough for only the very tip to cut into him as the whip left a small, bleeding mark under his right eye. The tiger ducked back in surprise, not realizing how quickly the demon had chased him down. Oust lost his footing as his attention was demanded elsewhere, and the tiger fell, just in time to avoid another flash of the tails striking towards his midsection.

Oust rolled on his side several times before he could catch himself, leaving a spatter of bruises and smaller abrasions on the beast from the rough terrain. The demon sped passed him, taking a bit to come to a halt. It turned back towards the tiger, and began closing the distance once more with ridiculous speed. It seemed to the tiger that the longer this thing ran, the faster it was getting. Oust knew he was a poor matchup against a demon with such reach on him, so he had tried his best to reach the base of the ruined pillar and simply stay ahead of it. He had almost made it, but the assumption he was faster than the demon had almost cost him his life... Before the tiger could ever truly recover, the demon was leaping towards him, a tail flicking to either side, preventing him from escaping. The tiger had been cornered.

Aster couldn't help but scoff at the parallels of the situation at hand. There was an eerily uncanny semblance to the way the tiger had cornered him to use his shield back in The Selection. Just as the demon was about to make contact with the downed tiger, a golden shield appeared to defend the beast. Aster did just as he did back then, and used his left arm to tilt the shield, and toss the lunging demon up and over the tiger. Luckily for Oust, Aster was a fast learner. The boy had a second shield up behind the beast, sparing him a strike from the center tail as the monster launched over and away from him a good distance. Oust had snagged off Aster's helm back then, teaching the boy an important lesson about accurately gauging an opponent's reach.

The beast looked to the boy in surprise, and saw there was a good measure of red blood staining his neck, arms, and armor. Aster had a pretty serious injury on the back of his head... Even still, the boy was wearing a stupid grin after the assist that pissed the tiger off in a way he didn't really comprehend as he rose to his feet. Even so, Oust knew he was both relieved to see the runt was alright, and grateful for the save. The human called to the tiger in a labored voice, speaking to him for the first time since the kiss.

"Hey Oust... You look like shit." Oust quickly glanced down at his blackened, blood-soaked fur covered in dirt, and back to the boy. The beast gruffly answered him in turn.

"I don't think you can talk, runt." Aster huffed a little, and simply nodded. He pointed down to his ankle as he did so, and Oust saw he was keeping his weight off of it, leaning into his spear. The boy spoke again.

"Yeah, I don't think I can, I'm hurt, but we can compare scratches later, we aren't finished here." Aster nodded behind the tiger, and Oust turned, seeing the demon was rushing in once more with a ferocious snarl. Its tails all whipped to its right side, preparing to swing them to the left. It never got the chance as it came to an abrupt stop when Sir Corper snatched a hold of all three whips with both hands, and braced heavily. The demon shrieked in pain, and quickly turned on the bear, bearing the sharp claws of its forelegs.

Sir Corper simply snatched back on the tails, released his right hand, and cut them off with a rapid swipe. He quickly moved his left arm, still clutching the severed tails, up to block the swipe of the paw. He grunted a bit as the tips of the claws dug into his forearm, but he unflinchingly balled up his right fist and swung it destructively into the monster's ribcage, knocking the demon off of him as its chest collapsed beneath the brutality of the strike. The demon darted away immediately with a limp, running back a good ways towards the river before it stopped to glare back towards the party of three as it healed up. Sir Corper held his stance firmly, breathing heavily all the while. He called to Oust and Aster, never taking his eyes from the demon.

"You were wise not to fight it, you aren't fast enough to catch those tails yet, but I am. You have a mission, young one. Go... I will handle this one." Oust was uncertain about leaving his teacher alone to fight that thing. He spoke his worry quickly.

"Master... You're out of breath..." The bear smirked, and laughed a bit before he answered his student.

"Yes, I am. That's what happens when you're old and you have to do this much damned running. It's my job to make sure you live long enough to understand that one day, but I won't fall to such a weak opponent. I can handle this, or do you doubt my word's credibility?" Oust quickly bowed in acceptance. He would trust his master, and turned to Aster instead as he called out to the human.

"Can you run?" Aster shook his head weakly, feeling a bit helpless. Even a broken ankle wasn't enough to keep his guilt at bay it seemed. Oust didn't hesitate to hastily run over to the boy. He knelt down, and turned his back to the human. The tiger looked over his shoulder expectantly. Aster wasn't catching the hint, mostly due to his skull injury, so the beast motioned with his head for the boy to jump on. Aster finally realized the intentions there through his nauseating dizziness, and suddenly felt embarrassed of all things. Here he was in a battlefield with a growing list of serious injuries, and he was reluctant to accept help even then. The tiger shouted a bit firmly, snapping the boy back to reality.

"Aster!" The human took a sharp breath, and settled his frazzled brain a bit, shaking his head gently in attempt to clear it. He stumbled forward a bit, and braced with his spear as he lowered himself down. When he secured an arm around the beast's burly neck, he released his staff entirely, knowing he wouldn't be able to it anytime soon, and that he could always come back for it later. Aster rushed to catch himself against the solid frame. He hissed out a bit as some weight was forced on his ankle, but the tiger quickly stood, and gently reached back to grab both of the human's thighs with an encompassing grip, giving the boy some needed support. He shrugged Aster's weight up easily as the boy wrapped his other arm tightly around the beast's neck. Aster rested his head against Oust's shoulder, his mind swirling.

Oust looked back towards his teacher, and saw the bear still eying down the demon. He turned, and bolted off back towards the prince in determination. Aster still had a single thought searing into his mind, one that brought him a very misplaced feeling of happiness in light of his current condition, making him question if he really did break his brain during that fall. Oust had finally called him by his name.

Sir Corper watched the demon recover, its tail sprouting once more before it quickly split into three separate whips. A loud crunch sounded as the demon's ribs popped back into place. It lowered its front half in a crouch, and began growling in a defensive manner as it slowly circled the bear, flicking its tails in attempt to intimidate the opponent. It's glowing red eyes were constantly met by the seasoned warrior, as he only held his stance, and slowly turned his head to keep a steady eye on the monster. They were sizing each other up well when the creature finally broke the stare, and gave a quick look behind itself towards the river and the village beyond. It jerked its snarling head back towards the bear one last time before it shifted course, and chose to seek out easier, and weaker prey in the village. Sir Corper chased the creature without hesitation, but was greatly outclassed by its running speed. The demon leapt across the river within seconds.

===

Stahl felt a hefty hand grabbing at his shoulder, pulling him back a step right before the crumbling earth dropped him into a trench. The wolf turned to see the orc chief had saved him once more, though Crag was not smiling anymore. The chief spoke gruffly.

"We need to push towards the center. If they split us in two now, we are finished." Dally yelled back nearby, in a tone laced with exasperation.

"Oh, sure, cause we still have a shot against the FUCKING EARTHWYRM ITSELF, right Crag? We need to call this loss for what it is, and get our people as far away from this place as possible before we ALL become demon shit." Stahl spoke up, knowing his opinion would probably matter little to either skilled ally, but feeling the need to keep hope alive for his comrade. The husky had grown on him through the battle.

"We have a chance still... Aster has a way, we just have to wait for the right time." Dally snapped back at the wolf.

"Oh? And when exactly is this right time, Aschefell?" Stahl sighed a bit before he answered.

"I can't say for sure when it will happen, but we have to keep fighting. Mollis still has a lot of firepower to use too, so we aren't without hope, but we need to do as the chief says, and push to reinforce our center to keep that hope. We need you too, Dally." The husky groaned loudly in protest, but finally nodded, yielding to the majority vote. The three started carving their way through the denser fiends with what was left of their battalion, moving at a slower pace than they were hoping to, but seemingly with enough time to hold the line... That is, until Stahl felt another rumble beneath his paws.

The Earthwyrm resurfaced briefly, immediately aiming down the center of the walls. The demon reared back, and leaned forward, opening its mouth as it shot forth another blast of flesh stripping sand at impossible speed, leaving a cloud of dust to rise above the screaming voices of the warriors just a short ways from the wolf. The Earthwyrm had partially carved a line down the center of their forces with a single strike, and dove back down immediately, taking with it the bodies of the closest victims. It took maybe five seconds for the attack to be carried out before the monster retreated back out of sight. Stahl saw the orc chief advance regardless, hoping to alleviate the holes in their army. The wolf followed, as did the husky, although mumbling a string of curses under his breath.

After barely holding the center together long enough for the army to tighten up and regroup a bit, Stahl saw another row of larger stone spikes form around the left side to offer a bit of reprieve from the dense numbers, and knew Mollis had made it off the pillar. If he was using magic like that, the prince was definitely with him to recharge. The wolf could only pray his mate was with them still. About half of the fiends had fallen, but the allied forces had lost around half of their formation as well. Stahl saw another ice formation pop up nearby from Dally, and made a suggestion to the orc chief nearby.

"If we get Dally and Mollis near each other, we can play off their defenses even still. The prince can give Dally some power also, because I know he has to be running low." The wolf nodded towards the panting husky, and the chief concurred.

"Get him over there, I'll stay and help build up our forces around you. Good luck." Stahl nodded swiftly, and cut his way over to the husky, telling him the plan. The pair fought their way closer towards the prince's formation, and Stahl was admittedly relieved when the hulking brown bull came into his sight. As they neared, Stahl called out to his captain and his prince. As Dally went to the prince for some more power, Stahl caught up the situation with his captain and the hare as he looked around, and asked the question burning at his mind.

"Where is Aster?" Mollis gave him a sodden look briefly before he continued his chanting, striking down groups of fiends with his more powerful spells. Captain Rix answered him.

"THE TIGER IS GRABBING HIM, THEY WILL BE HERE SOON. HOLD THE DAMN LINE UNTIL THEY ARE!" The bull cleaved apart a fiend just as Stahl carved into his own. A moment later, and a large wave of electricity surged across their portion of the battlefield, temporarily stunning the fiends, and letting the warriors have a moment to shift as they needed. Dally retook his place beside the wolf with a smile, looking refreshed as he spoke with a little less hopelessness in his tone.

"That bloodskill really is incredible... That was even stronger than it usually is." Stahl smiled, feeling they maybe still stood a chance after all. The wolf felt a familiar rumble under his paws, and braced himself for impact. The Earthwyrm resurfaced, aiming directly at the husky, the bull, and the wolf as it reared back suddenly, and launched a powerful blast of sand towards the three. They jumped out of range quickly, but the Earthwyrm turned its head as its blast spewed forth, following the bull this time. Mollis made a wall of stone raise to cover the beast within seconds, giving the much needed cover from such a terrible death. It had been just enough to spare the bull, but the Captain quickly had to leap out of the way once again when the demon dove towards him, returning below the surface without a pause. Captain Rix tried to turn and drive his axe into the monster, but felt it bounce off easily with a ringing sound as the demon made its descent unscathed and unhindered in the slightest amount. The bull quickly shouted.

" WE HAVE NO WAY TO EVEN PIERCE IT, WE ARE WASTING OUR TIME AND OUR FORCES HERE MOLLIS! NOT EVEN YOU CAN BRING THAT THING DOWN!" The hare was panting heavily, never having used so much magic in a single day. He wasn't usually the only real mage in a battle of this size either though... Still, he didn't want to give up. Mollis felt a tender hand on his shoulder, and felt the prince give him another hefty sum of power, steadying the rabbit's breathing just enough for him to respond.