The Destiny of Amalah (100 page)

At the front stood Amara and Ellora, who was dressed in battle dress and armed with a bow and arrow and a cross bow, which was slung over her back. Also with them, stood Michael and Thaddeus who had been through the war once before. They were joined by three of the strongest warriors who had not joined the guard, there stood: Callan of Mantor, John of Equer and Hemi of Aradene. By them, stood three of the strongest sorcerers: Zach of Amalah, Imogen of Filine and Hassan of Lansten, and by the three warriors and three sorcerers, stood the most powerful three seers: Dale of Parades, Joaquin of Basimine and Yakira of Santeb.

Behind the front line stood every sorcerer from the school of Amalah and Lansten; student and teacher were together, standing side by side. The sorcerers from Amalah stood tall in the red robes and they were over four hundred strong; while the sorcerers from Lansten stood tall in their blue robes and they were over three hundred strong. Behind the sorcerers stood the remaining guard and Islanders who were close to two thousand strong.

They stood tall and they stood strong and no words were needed, for enough words had been said and now, it was time for deeds; now it was time for courage, strength and sacrifice and now, it was time to march to the north and stand and fight with the others – the time had come. The word was given and everyone began to move. Those on horse back went first and they were followed by those on foot who stood soldier to soldier. They marched hard and fast, and within a few hours they reached Garrick, Häkan and the other soldiers who had been there already. The two groups organised themselves and when everything was ready they stood quietly and they stood fast.

Now, in one line of the massive formation stood: Amara, Ellora, Michael, Garrick, Häkan and Thaddeus. They were joined by the three young warriors Callan, John and Hemi; the three sorcerers; Zach, Imogen and Hassan and the three seers; Dale, Yakira and Joaquin. Behind them stood the sorcerers and behind them, stood the guard and islanders, now eight thousand strong. They were the ones who were charged with bringing down the Azari and the dark army, and saving Amalah and the nations from whatever fate their enemies had in mind.

Rakan, the remaining Azari and the dark army were in good spirits; they had taken Parades and they knew that by now there was no need to take Lansten, for those in Lansten had fled, died or joined Cador and their army – Adriel had been in Lansten for a long time and he had not wasted any of it. By now, the Azari had rested, recovered, regrouped, rearmed and fed themselves, and now they were waiting to march to Amalah to finish what they had started.

On the eve before they were to march to Amalah, the dark army was quiet and only the faint murmur of small activity was heard, as most prepared the battle gear, sharpened their weapons and tended to their wounds, before they went to bed for the evening. Early in the morning the soldiers rose, they ate a heavy breakfast and then organised themselves. They had already been given their orders the night before and so the mornings work went by quickly and smoothly. As they gathered their things together they made their way to a nearby field and began to get into their formations, the army moved quite quickly and when they were done the sorcerers fell in behind them.

Rakan, Rufus, Waldon, Kenaz, Luxor and Bryce donned their all powerful cloaks and made their way to the front of their soldiers. The six stood side by side with their cloak hoods down, revealing only their faces. Rakan stepped forward and walked to the end of the formation; once there, he turned around and walked the full length of the formation and back again until he was standing squarely in the middle.

‘Eight nations have fallen so far. Each and every one of them has fallen to us – because of us. One remains but not for long. The time has now come for us to march upon Amalah and take it, and when we have, the world will be ours,’ Rakan told his soldiers, to which they all cheered.

Rakan nodded violently and then turned to look at his five brothers who nodded to him. Rakan stepped back and fell into line with Kenaz and the others. Waldon gave the word and the Azari, the soldiers and sorcerers made their way to Amalah to fight the last fight before the world would become theirs.

The Azari and the dark army marched on to Amalah. They had been on the very edges of Parades and it did not take them long to enter into Amalah; the Azari and the dark army continued to march, and by the afternoon, they were in the north of Amalah. The guard heard the army approaching before they caught a glimpse of them. The army marched hard and heavy and their stamping feet could be heard from nearly a mile away.

As the guard, Islanders and sorcerers finally caught sight of them, they muttered and swore under their breath, some took in a deep breath and it took them a good few seconds before they realised that they had not yet exhaled. Those in the front looked on the army before them and they too felt scared, they wondered if they could lead and they wondered if they could hold and defend Amalah and then they realised they had no choice – they had to.

The dark army marched closer until they were just about a hundred metres away from the guard and the formation continued to march until they were directly opposite the guard. The guard looked on as the soldiers became parallel with them and then turned to the left to face them. Rakan, Rufus, Waldon, Kenaz, Luxor and Bryce, stood in front of their soldiers and stood shoulder to shoulder with each other. By now their hoods were on and only they could see each other’s faces.

‘It’s good to be home,’ Waldon said.

‘Yes, it is,’ Kenaz agreed.

‘And here we shall stay,’ Rakan said.

‘I see everyone in Amalah has turned out today,’ Kenaz observed. ‘But mostly I see Amara; she wears a cloak like ours,’ Kenaz said very surprised.

‘How can that be?’ Waldon asked.

‘It appears Maddox was not the only one who knew how to make the cloaks,’ Rufus said.

‘Perhaps not,’ added Bryce. ‘But they were not as powerful and skilled as he, for they would surely have made more than one cloak given their situation.’

‘That’s true,’ Rakan said in agreement. ‘Anyway it matters not, whether they have one cloak or two, we have six and an army twelve thousand strong and another four thousand to arrive from Lansten the next night. ‘They do not stand a chance,’ Rakan said.

‘Do not be so sure Rakan,’ Waldon said, cautioning his friend. ‘They will defend Amalah to the death and those in the front look pretty powerful. We have seen some of them from when we took the other nations. By all accounts, they should have died but now, they stand opposite us ready to fight again.’

‘Forever cautious, Waldon,’ Rakan said. ‘I know you are a great soldier and you weigh matters up before you speak and act, but ask yourself, honestly – do you really think they stand a chance?’

Waldon looked at Rakan for a few seconds before he spoke: ‘They stand some chance – yes. How big a chance I do not know, but Rakan see what I see; your father and Häkan, great leaders of the guard, Amara an Empress, sorcerer and wearer of the cloak. Ellora an archer, Dale of Parades – which troubles me, for she is a powerful seer and look, I see empaths, sorcerers, maverick soldiers and the woman from Mantor who fought me and Kenaz before out running our soldiers – so yes they stand a chance.’

‘I agree with Waldon,’ Kenaz said. ‘Do not think this war will be easy Rakan – it will not.’

‘No, it will not,’ said Luxor. ‘But has it been easy taking eight nations? No – it has not. One nation at a time was taken and one nation at a time fell. None of it was easy but we have succeeded nonetheless and it will be no different in this case.’

‘I agree with you both and you are right Waldon, we should not be overly confident in this situation but Luxor I agree with you more – Amalah will fall just like the others – Amalah will fall.’

‘Yes, it will,’ Rufus said. ‘But it won’t, if all we do is talk about its fall rather than actually bring it about.’

Rakan looked at Rufus and raised his eyebrows before he spoke: ‘You have a point Rufus.’

‘I thought so,’ Rufus replied.

‘Are we all ready?’ Rakan asked.

‘Yes,’ they all replied.

‘Then I will give the word,’ said Kenaz.

Kenaz broke line with the others and stepped forward, he looked ahead and observed the army in front; he had once been a part of the guard and now they were enemies. He looked at the front now and spied Ellora, Amara, Michael, Garrick and Häkan immediately, then he observed the council and some of the people whom he’d seen in the nations. He looked on Callan Knight and smiled to himself, he would have to finish what they had started in the inn in Mantor; he would make sure of it – he would, or Waldon would.

Kenaz then looked to the sorcerers in the blue and red robes and then the guard behind in full uniform and battle dress and then, he turned and looked at his own army and smiled. They looked far more ferocious and menacing than the guard did – and indeed they were. They too wore in a uniform and battle dress. They were dressed in all black and the only other colour visible was silver and that was the weaponry that they all brandished. He knew his army would show no mercy and he knew that they would not stop until they had reached southern Amalah and crushed the guard en – route. He turned to his soldiers and shouted at them:

‘ARE YOU READY?’

‘Yes,’ they replied.

‘ARE YOU READY?’

‘Yes,’ they roared in deafening union.

‘I SAID ARE YOU READY?’ Kenaz boomed again.

‘YES,’ They roared ferociously and deafeningly once again.

‘THEN SHOW ME,’ Kenaz shouted. ‘SHOW THE AZARI AND OUR ENEMY JUST WHO WE ARE,’ he said challenging them.

The dark army once again let out their fearsome war cries and howls and stamped their feet to an unspoken rhythm and as they did, they psyched themselves up for the coming war; the war that was going to be the last one of the nations.

The guard looked on as the dark army continued to make the enormous din, for what seemed like an eternity. Some of the guard gulped in fear and some of them began to tremble slightly. The din was intimidating – even to the most war weary soldier and for some, it took everything they had to hold on to their nerve.

‘HOLD STEADY AND HOLD FIRM,’ Garrick shouted to them. ‘We are all in this together and we will beat them,’ he told all of those present.

As Garrick turned to the front after speaking with the ranks, he looked ahead and as he glanced, he was just in time to see the cloaked figure of Kenaz give the signal to his army. The first two lines of the dark army began to march forward, passing the six Azari as they advanced.

At first the soldiers marched towards the guard, they had their weapons at the ready and they brandished them menacingly. As the dark army grew nearer the order was given and they broke into a run.

‘HERE WE GO,’ Garrick said to those around him.

Those in the front divided in half and retreated from the formation, as they retreated; two rows of archers stepped forward and now stood in front of the sorcerers.

‘ARCHERS,’ Garrick bellowed. ‘READY, AIM, FIRE!’ he commanded them.

The archers drew their bows and fired their arrows high into the air, they rocketed upwards and then began their rapid and deadly descent to the ground where the dark army were. As in Parades, the sorcerers who were running with the soldiers turned most of the arrows into harmless pieces of dust or wood. Garrick was undeterred by the sorcery on the other side and he called forward the second set of archers, as he called them, the robed sorcerers behind him began to chant.

Garrick gave the order for the archers to fire and as they fired, the one arrow that each archer had fired – turned into two arrows as they flew with great speed through the air. This time there were too many arrows flying far too fast for the dark sorcerers to stop them effectively and they landed on their intended targets.

Many of the dark army who were running fell to the ground in agony as the arrows hit them and pierced their body armour and bodies and remained lodged there. Garrick wasted no time with the next set of archers and as he gave them the order and they fired, their arrows doubled as the sorcerers continued to chant and use their magic. The soldiers of the dark army were falling and the six Azari from behind, could see that their numbers were depleting. They sent the next wave of soldiers in and after they had run a few metres they sent another wave after that. Now, the dark army had three waves approaching the guard and they then sent two more waves but this time, the first wave ran at the very end of the formation on the left and they were followed by another wave that ran at the end of the formation on the right.

The second wave of soldiers finally reached the first wave and together, they reached the front line. By now, the archers had left the front line and were taking cover and Garrick, Häkan, Callan, John, Hemi and the guard stood at the front line and started to fight. The dark army rushed the guard and knocked many over as they arrived; from there, swords and battle axes clashed and clinked as once again, everyone fought to the death.

Once again, another bloody day fell upon the nations as soldiers fell to the ground, wounded or dead, while everyone else carried on around them. At that time, Ellora was in the thick of things and she used her bow to deadly effect. Where the guard had engaged the dark army and were outnumbered, she saved them with her bow and arrow. What speed she had, an arrow had barely left her bow and she was already reaching for another and putting it to deadly use. The princess continued to shoot; never missing her target and a captain of the dark army made it his duty to find out who was depleting their number. The other archers had followed Ellora’s suit and they hid in or behind trees and continued to fire on the enemy.