RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Writer's Block Vanguard International [Issue 15] World of Darkness

"Don't give me that shit, Hearn!" Baxter snapped. "I don't care how long you've been running this show; you've got no business excluding people for shitty reasons like that!"

Priest glared at the prizefighter. "Determining who belongs on the team is part of his damned job, asshole."

"You want in on this too?" Ozzy sneered, turning to face the larger man.

"Ozzy, please," Adem pleaded. "This accomplishes nothing, and our circumstances are rather pressing..."

"Not... now!" Baxter hissed, pointing a finger at the alien without turning.

Epi/Zarch just shook his head. "This is getting us nowhere."

He turned and froze.

Ozzy was still raving. "You can't try and turn this team into a bunch of elitist pricks and expect to be able to keep doing what we're supposed to be doing, Hearn!"

"Uhhhhh... guys?" Zarch murmured.

"Wait!" Ozzy shouted. He was still laying into Danny and Priest. "I don't care who the old guard is and how they feel about our hiring practices!"

"Guys?"

The others kept ignoring Zarch.

"We have rules for reasons," Priest challenged. "We can't unquestioningly accept just anyone with a past simply because they feel like helping us!"

"From what I've heard," Ozzy replied, "it's pretty damn odd that you're advocating that."

"Guyyyyyys..."

"Shut up!" Danny yelled. "We're busy, Zarch!"

<<You've got company.>>

All five heads whirled around. "Who said that?" Ozzy demanded.

<<It's me,>> Phil replied, although the others had no clue where he might be. <<You might want to watch out.>>

"You sure I shouldn't get involved in this?" the telepath asked Ghaelon.

"Given the present situation," the mage replied, "you might do more harm than good. Although the warning was helpful."

"Damn," Phil muttered as he looked on from the edge of reality while the undead army closed in on the Vanguardians.

"Now stow the fucking hostility. We apparently have a situation," Danny said softly to Ozzy. A silent consent came in reply.

Adem quickly surveyed the scene around them. Before them was a mountain ridge, currently covered from end to end with zombies. Many of them were on horseback. They were led by Grimm, his axe hanging from the side of his horse. Next to him, mounted on her own horse, was Viluria.

To their left was a river, working it's way rapidly and violently over the rocks that lay strewn through and around it. To their right was the way they had came, the trail back to Grayavale's castle. Behind them was thick forest, and somewhere in the distance was Godbolt's fortress.

"...Grimm?" Danny said questioningly, stepping forward. Priest, Adem, Ozzy and Zarch stood behind him

Grimm didn't seem to recognise his teammates. Viluria glared at Danny angrily.

A single gesture from the Avatar of Death sent the zombie horde forward, charging at the Vanguardians in attack.

"Shit!" Danny yelled, and stepped back and to the side as a horse mounted zombie galloped past him, swinging a sword down from the side of the horse.

"Brain activity! Cut it off! Decapitation! Skull crushings!" Danny yelled to his team mates as he ducked and rolled to avoid the path of another horse. He jammed a tiger claw into the flank of the horse and a second later it stumbled, throwing it's undead rider to the ground. Priest reached out a hand and helped Danny up.

"The river!" Danny said to him. Priest looked to where the river flowed near them. It was almost all white, the water passing violently over the rock formations on the riverbed.

"You have no idea how much kinetic energy that thing is giving off," Priest said to Danny.

"Go."

Ozzy and Zarch stood shoulder to shoulder a few metres away from Danny, and Zarch had his bow raised. He let fly an arrow at one of their attackers and pierced his target through the skull. The zombie slumped off it's horse, his sword clattering to the ground. Ozzy ducked down and picked it up, decapitating an undead horse as he stood up and swung the sword in a wide arc. Its rider soon met the same fate.

Danny, Ozzy, Zarch and Adem found themselves being forced backwards towards the treeline by the sheer force of numbers being thrown at them.

Ozzy drove his sword into the chest of the closest horse. It remained unharmed, but it slowed enough for Adem to grab the leg of it's rider and yank him down to the ground, there to be met with the blade of Ozzy's sword.

Zarch looked upwards, into the trees. Swinging his bow onto his shoulder, he grabbed the nearest branch and hauled himself up for a better vantage point. He scrambled up several metres and positioned himself on a wide branch, then took aim with his bow.

Three zombies fell from their horses in the next five seconds, all with arrows lodged directly between their eyes.

Danny hauled himself up onto the back of one of the horses, throwing it's rider to the ground as he did so. He jumped from this horse to the next, grabbing its mane tight to steady himself. He jumped to a third horse and found the one he was looking for. He wrapped his arms around the rider.

"Grimm! What the hell are you doing!" Danny yelled.

Grimm twisted around, grabbed Danny with one hand and threw the Vanguard leader to the ground. Danny quickly rolled out of the way to avoid being trampled by an undead horse, and found himself being borne down upon by another one.

Priest tackled it in mid air, throwing it to the ground. He took its rider by the head and twisted it clean off.

Danny stood up and ran for Grimm's horse. Halfway there he was struck by a theory and changed direction. He headed for the horse of the woman who was riding beside Grimm.

Three zombies found themselves with their skulls crushed by a pair of deer antlers as Danny ran.

Ozzy sliced off a horse's head and was slightly disturbed by the thunking sound it made as it hit the ground. He swung the sword back in a wide arc and decapitated it's rider, then drove the sword through the skull of a zombie that had appeared to his left.

Adem ran to the trees alongside the battlefield, narrowly avoiding a few arrows that had been remarkably well aimed, given that the soldiers who had aimed them were currently dead. And had been so for quite some time.

Adem grabbed one of the arrows that had lodged itself in a tree and drove it through the right eye of a nearby zombie, hoping that it would be enough to cut off its brain activity.

He couldn't see the horse mounted zombie behind him taking aim with his own bow.

Priest, as conveniently timed narrative devices would have it, could.

Priest tackled the zombie to the ground and snapped off it's head, grabbing it's quiver full of arrows and hurling them into the nearby trees.

Zarch grabbed the quiver with his left hand and pulled out an arrow with his right, taking aim and piercing another zombie directly through the brain stem.

He saw one of them heading for Danny, a broadsword raised to attack. Zarch drew his bowstring back and let fly another arrow, striking Danny's attacker with such force that he was thrown to the ground.

Danny hauled himself up onto Viluria's horse, and raised a poisoned thorn at her.

"Grimm! Call them off! Now!" Danny held the poison thorn at Viluria's throat. Grimm looked over at Danny, his face revealing no emotion, as usual. "Daniel. Surely you realize this is useless. You cannot win."

Danny tensed as he tightened his hold on the Temptress and raised his thorn to her neck. "I mean it, mate. I'll do her."

"By all means, Danny. Do her. She'll only rise again. And then, we'll do you. . .and Baxter. . .and Different. . .the rest. . ." Grimm spread his hands wide and gazed around at the hordes remaining. "All this. . .It's so much better this way, Danny. Can't you see?" He turned his head back towards the Vanguardians.

"I'll make you see. . ." Grimm's horse began to walk forward when a Twang! sounded in the air and Grimm's shoulder was struck by one of Zarch's arrows. Briefly jolted back by the impact, he grabbed the arrow and pulled it out, seemingly unbothered.

"More Red Archers. How quaint." He motioned with his fingers as undead archers let arrows fly towards Zarch's direction.

"Shit!" Zarch scrambled across tree limbs, ducking arrows and seeking a new vantage point.

Baxter pounded away at zombies with his metal fists, his arms and legs growing heavier, still he fought on, attempting to reach his closest friend among the group, Adem Different.

Adem, non-combative by nature, did his best to defend himself, having found reason to be utterly useless against the nonliving hordes descending upon him and his friends.

Priest stood in the river.

"You leave me no choice, Grimm." Danny jammed his poison thorn deep into Viluria's neck and held it there, giving the poison time to sink in. Nothing happened. Well, something happened. Just not what Danny expected.

A deep abiding stench arose from Viluria's form, so powerful that Danny jumped off the horse to escape it. Looking back, he noticed not Viluria, but one of Grimm's undead captains. "Sod it!" Hearn yelled just before he was lifted up off the ground.

He looked upwards at Grimm's face and saw Viluria behind him, laughing. "Bitch." Hearn spat in her direction.

Grimm raised his axe towards Danny with his free hand. "It will be much easier this way, Danny." He cocked his head to one side. "You'll thank me-"

"CHAAAARRRLIEEEEEE MUUUURRRRPHHYYYYY!!!!!!" Priest stepped out of the river, his body swollen to massive proportions. As Grimm began to motion for the hordes to attack him, Priest slammed his hands together, unleashing a tidal wave of kinetic energy that washed over the Vanguardians and undead alike, knocking everything and everyone senseless.

"Wow, I guess there's one in every story" remarked Drake.

Raptor was confused "What?"

"Oh, you know. Some crazy old pesron shows up and says someone's the chosen one."

"I'm not the chosen one, Ghaleon said you are."

"Oh, hell no. I am not gonna be the chosen one."

"Well, you are the Dragonmaster."

"Yeah, well that does't make me the freakin' chosen one."

"Drake."

"What?"

"Everyone is looking at us."

Drake looks up at the puzzled expressions on the townspeople's faces. "Oh, yeah. Well, they obviously think that you're the chosen one, so try to get them to tell you where the island with the spire is and see if we can get a boat and some supplies."

"Is that all?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Sure thing, chosen one."

"I am not the..."

"Ask them, Nippo."

"And you let him leave?" Godbolt demanded to know from the Red Archer.

The young man trembled, and his voice broke as he answered. "Yes, my lord. He said that he wished to gain his revenge upon the men who captured and humiliated him, to kill the stranger in the wood."

"Fool!" the necromancer shouted. He reached down and unsheated the archer's dagger. "You know what you must do."

The archer took the dagger into his own hands. "Aye, my lord." With all the force he could muster, the Red Archer stabbed the blade deep within his own heart. His form collapsed and became lifeless as two of Godbolt's personal guard carried the body away.

"Prepare him for the front lines," Godbolt ordered as they pulled the corpse around the corner.

"And what now, Lord Godbolt?" Grayavale asked. His palm rested on the hilt of his sword. Fighting the urge to wrap around the sword and strike out against the evil master, armored fingers danced lightly.

"We prepare for battle." Minions began to collect Godbolt's armor and weapons. The first to come was his sword. "The wait has gone on for ages. Now is the time for me to strike out and claim my spoils. The time of planning and building has come to pass. This is the time for action and blood."

Before Grayavale could blink, Godbolts sword was unsheathed and held out away from his horrific form. The once king could not speak. A sharp pain burned from his throat. His hand reached up to neck. When it came back, a dark red hue stained the polished metal guantlet. "It is time for you to prove yourself useful to me," the lord of the undead spoke as his minions placed his armor over his body. "The greatness of your blade and leadership is well known throughout the lands. The requirements that make you a perfect general for my armies. Yet, you have a will of your own. That I cannot allow. In either you or your men." Godbolt signaled his minion with a horn. Quickly obeying, a low note spewed forth and filled the entire castle.

Grayavale could feel his heart slowing as his body began to chill. "It is at this moment that the soul is most vulnerable to attack." Godbolt shrugged off his servants and stepped closer to the kneeling king. "It is at this moment that I prefer to feast." He grabbed the hair at the back of the man's head and pulled the it back. His yellow fangs dug into the wounded flesh as he began to drink the essence of Grayavale. The king tried to fight, but was too weak. Soon, his entire body became limp and fell to the floor.

Godbolt walked to a balcony where his minions finished attatching his armor. In the courtyard below, his forces were slaughtering the living army of King Grayavale. Knights, archers, swordsmen all were besieged and murdered. They would soon arise again to fight in the eternal army of Lord Godbolt. Califron, the cursed warlock, moved silently to his master's side and hung the leather cloak made of some twisted creature across his master's shoulders. "Bring forth my true army. It is time we take these lands." Califron bowed and moved away.

Grayavale's pale and blood stained form lifted off the ground and walked up behind Godbolt. "Prepare for war," the necromancer ordered.

"Aye, my lord," Grayavale responded with a bow.

Off balance and wobbly on their legs, the Vanguardians struggled to their feet. The undead army was quicker to regain it's composure. Zarck let an arrow fly, targeting a nearby zombie. The arrow struck the shoulder and pierced the bone. "Not good," the archer replied as body still trembled from the blast.

"We're trapped," Danny said, scrambling back to the treeline. Indeed they were. Grimm's army had them backed up against a raging river and surrounded them on all sides.

"The river," Adem noted. "We can escape in the river."

"It's rough out there," Priest said as he watched the zombies regroup and begin to close in. "There's no way we can stay above the surface."

"And I don't think I can swim," Zark landed on the group beside them.

"I don't believe that it is debateble that we'll all die if we remain here," Adem spoke again. "What does it matter if we die in a river or by a zombie army? In the end, we're still dead."

"But we do have a chance in the river," Danny said, hating the idea of retreat. "Let's do it."

Ozzy charged a tree next to the river, tackling it. The wood splintered and the trunk broke under the momentum and unbreakable metal frame of Baxter. The top half landed in the river as Ozzy stood in the shallow river bank trying to keep the violent water from carrying the tree off. Zarch and Priest grabbed on as it slipped out into the middle of the river. Danny grew gills and dove into the water. Adem took a running leap into the air. As he fell towards the center of the river, his clothing changed to some strange armored wetsuit with a helmet.

The undead archers let loose a barrage of arrows. Ozzy acted as a shield for Priest and Zarch. The shafts ricocheted and splintered off his dirty bronze body. The ex-boxer held on with all his strength, fearful of falling into the waters below and being unable to escape.

"They would like to apologize to the great Dragon Slayer, but none of them are willing to leave now."

Raptor was getting impatient with the bird, "Did you tell them that we have no time to wait?"

"Of course, sir. But none will leave at night."

"There has to be a way to get us there now," Drake insisted.

The old woman who'd pointed at raptor earlier walked over to them. "Oh, man. Not her again," Drake muttered under his breath.

She spoke in a much calmer tone of voice, so that none of the villagers could hear. The bird translated. "She apologizes for her wild entrance earlier. She did not meant to startle you. She is expected to act that way and she hoped to talk to you privately. She does not know why a Dragon Slayer and a Dragonmaster would travel together, but your mission to the Spire must be very important. She knows of one who can guide you through the dangerous areas of the night and who has a way to get you to the island."

Raptor was suspicious of her change in demeanor. "Why does she help us?"

Both the question and its reply were translated by the raven "She says she knows that you are here to help. If you'll go to the edge of the village, you will meet your guide. She also warns you not to be shocked by the guide's appearance."

"Scary enough to warrant a warning. This I gotta see," Drake remarked as they headed in the direction the woman had indicated.

There, they found a cloaked figure. Clearly female, and about six feet tall, she spoke in a low growl. "I am Mauri. I will guide you to a hidden dock. With luck, we will encounter no one on the way."

Raptor was surprised. <<"You speak Italian?">> He spoke in his native tongue.

Drake looked strangely at his teammate, "Well, that's interesting. I understood her but now I don't understand you.

Mauri sounded amused "It is a simple spell."

"So! I am not needed. Then I shall..."

Raptor grabbed the bird's beak between his thumb and forefinger. "You will come. You may still be needed."

"OK" Came the bird's muffled response.

---------------------------------

Mauri removed her hood as they entered the woods. Revealing large, pointed ears and that her mouth contained fangs. As they walked, they learned that she was half Beastman. Her mother was human and her father was a Beastman. while it was unusual, it was not completely unheard of. She had few friends among the humans, but the Beastmen accepted all "half breeds" as their own. The old woman was one of the few humans who talked to her. They made it to the dock without incident where they received their second shock. The boatman waiting for them was a nearly seven foot tall member of the Vile Tribe named Ghort.

Some members of the two groups tried to live in peace. They were a small fraction, but their numbers were growing. Mauri made frequent trips to the Dragon island, and Beastmen made poor sailors. As the boat made its way to the island, Mauri explained what she knew of the island and what they'd find there. "I am a priestess. That is how I've been granted my magical power. We in the order of the Goddess believe that the dragons serve as a link between the spiritual and physical realms. Once in a great while, a mortal being is named a Dragonmaster. A person who can serve as a messenger to the dragons. You received the mark from another world's dragon, but it will still grant you entrance to the spire and the dragon within will not harm you. There is still great danger before you, however. The island is home to fearsome creatures and those in the tower itself are rumored to be worse. I will aid you with my magic and Ghort has agreed to go as well. There is great danger, and there is no guarantee that the dragon there will help you."

"Still, it seems the best chance we have." Raptor couldn't help sounding gloomy.

Ghort grunted and hissed, his species' version of speech. "He was admiring your sword, Drake," the black bird translated , "He'd like to know where you got it.

"Ghaleon gave it to me. He said that it once belonged to a friend and it served him well."

Ghort spoke again when he heard the reply. "He said that the last Dragonmaster was a friend of Ghaleon's. If it's the same sword, there may yet be hope for us all."

"God," Drake muttered under his breath. "I'd better not be the chosen one."

Ghort landed the boat with practiced precision and prepared himself, holding a shield with his left hand and carrying several spears. Mauri held her staff tightly. The four of them made their way through the darkness.

Green Thumb

Phil couldn't concentrate. He was fighting a collision with the physical plane, fighting to stay where he was, beyond, but he couldn't tear his mind from his team's struggle of their own.

"I can't do anything from here," he asked, "without possibly hurting my team?"

"Correct," Ghaelon confirmed. "You have not learned the sort of control needed to combat an enemy over so great a distance."

Phil sighed. "They're getting slaughtered," he protested. "I can't just sit here!"

"Patience," Ghaelon replied. "If you are to fight Gaovulte, you must discern for yourself how best to do this."

Phil thought a moment. "I have to go there myself."

Ghaelon nodded.

"But I can't see!" the telepath protested. "I can't walk! How am I supposed to fight an army of that many?"

Ghaelon just smiled. "We have many on our side as well," he replied, looking around him. "So much life, with voices of its own. Do not think that human beings are the only ones ready to oppose Gaovulte, my friend."

Phil looked around him. Trees of all sizes loomed overhead, taller and stronger than those he was accustomed to seeing on Earth.

But trees were strictly stationary objects, no matter how fantastic they were in the works of Tolkien or Lewis.

At least, that was what Phil had thought before what happened in the town square.

Phil looked at Ghaelon. "You think they'll want to do that?"

The mage nodded. "They have been waiting for quite some time. They need only to choose a leader. And none of the trees wish to lead."

"So what's the solution?" Smith asked.

"I trust you will find it soon," Ghaelon replied with a smile.

Phil rolled his eyes. "Is it ever possible for you to just tell me these things?"

Ghaelon shrugged. "Take it up with Sammitch."

Phil blinked. "Who?"

"Who what?"

"Who's Sammitch?"

Ghaelon thought a long moment. "Some bloke."

Phil raised an eyebrow.

Ghaelon looked down. "I have no idea what just happened. Sometimes, when we peer into the beyond, we can even see past the fourth wall."

"What's the..."

The mage sensed he'd said too much. "Perhaps another time."

They sat there for about half a minute.

Phil rolled his eyes. "Is it ever possible for you to just tell me these things?"

"You must learn for yourself," Ghaelon replied, "otherwise you will be helpless when I am not here to assist you."

Phil nodded. "So I suppose I'd better go talk to some trees," he concluded. He smacked his forehead. "This is the craziest mission ever!"

Thaddeus Q. Godbolt stopped for a moment in his tracks. His minions did likewise, noticing their master's sudden lack of movement.

"Something or someone is controlling that which is mine to control," He stated, staring into the distance. If he was addressing anyone directly, he wasn't letting them know about it.

Godbolt felt the straining of Grimm's control over the undead against his own. It displeased him.

Edulcore, Drake, Mauri and Ghort were walking over the soft sand of the lake shore, in total obscurity. If the night was dark, with no moon and lit just by stars, after they entered inside the enormous cave housing the lake, all went just black.

Ed was walking with one hand on the shoulder of the lizard man, which was doing the same with the cat-girl. Drake was behind Euro, his left hand gripping the long brown mantle that Euro was wearing. His right hand over the hilt of his sword.

Using torches would have revealed their presence to the eons old dangerous beasts that roamed the island. Only Mauri, with her nose typical of a race adapted to live in the darkness of night, was able to stay on path. soon, after they got around a massive rocky cliff, they saw a distant glow. When their eyes became adapted to the light, they recognize the form of a tall tower, emanating a blue gaze.

"The blue spire?" asked Drake.

Mauri nodded. Ghort coughed, and then said: "It is too cold here for me, I am loosing all the energy I cumulated in the day. I must return to the entrance of the cave, to sleep until the sun will rise tomorrow. Farewell, heroes, I don't think we'll see again."

And with those words, the two strange friends disappeared back into the darkness, leaving the two heroes and the bird alone, facing the blue tall tower.

Impossible. That was the only word to describe it. It didn't look like anything that any hands could have built. It looked as though it had grown from the floor of the cave until it reached the top. The cave itself was the largest open space Drake had ever been in. A dozen football stadiums would have fit inside. The ceiling was high enough to hold a good sized office building. The spire itself seemed to glow from within. It was impossible to tell if it was the material that the tower was made of gave it it's blue color, or if it was the light itself.

Drake was in awe. "I've never seen anything like it."

Edulcore searched his ancient memories. "Neither have I"

They made their way to the center of the cave, where the Spire was located. The entire surface was smooth, but at chest height there was the same symbol that was on Drake's arm. The symbol of the Dragonmasters. Drake reached out, just short of touching it. "Do you see a door?"

"No, Drake. That seems to be the only part that isn't smooth."

"Maybe if I touch it..." Drake pressed his palm against the symbol firmly. Nothing happened.

The raven spoke up. "The symbol is not quite the same! It is a mirror image!"

"I hate to admit it, but you're right. Maybe if I touch that symbol with mine..." Drake did just that and the two met perfectly, there was a cool sensation and then part of the Spire's outer wall began to glow. The light became almost blinding and when it faded, part of the wall had become transparent. "Well, we can see inside now. That's sort of an improvement."

"Touch it." The bird piped in.

Drake glared at the bird out of the corner of his eye. "I don't really trust you, but it doesn't look like we have a choice." Drake touched the transparent area of the wall, and it rippled like the surface of a smooth pool. "It's water."

Raptor was still distrustful. "But it's vertical. Nothing it holding it in place."

"Yeah, must be magic. So, I guess we walk in." Drake held his breath, and walked in, quickly followed by the others. For a few moments, it was exactly like walking underwater, except they didn't float. The wall of water was several feet thick, but they were all dry when they stepped out. The Spire's interior looked to be made of ice, but it wasn't cold. Not even to the touch. There was a large staircase on the far side of the expansive entryway, a wide pool took up most of the middle.

Raptor sprouted his wings and took off toward the stairs, Drake started to make his way around. Just as Raptor reached the center of the pool, what looked like a geyser shot up, but it stopped looking like a geyser just below him when it sprouted fingers. "A water elemental!" The raven shouted as Raptor just barely dodged its grasp. The entire pool began taking shape, becoming huge and humanoid.

"Oh, crap," Drake muttered as he pulled the sword from its sheathe. He charged at the elemental and swung at one of its legs, its makeshift mouth howled in pain but it seemed to recover quickly as it slammed a fist mere inches from Drake's quickly dodging body. Raptor streaked past the monster's "face" cutting a long slash. "Up the stairs, Raptor! We can barely scratch that thing!"

"At last! You're being sensible!" The raven commented as it shot up the staircase.

Raptor circled widely around the elemental, it seemed to have difficulty stretching far beyond the edges of its pool. "Drake hurry!" Raptor also made it to the opening of the staircase.

Drake ran as fast as he could, occasionally slicing at tendrils of water, keeping the elemental back. The stairway was too tight an area for Raptor to fly in, so he and Drake ran up the stairs as the water rose, filling the stairwell below them. "It's slowing down!" Drake shouted. Finally, they reached a point where the elemental couldn't reach.

"Well, there goes out way out." Raptor said.

Drake looked up the stairs. "Yeah. Only one way to go."

The two men began climbing the staircase, Drake in front, holding the sword raised, ready for any menace. Euro was behind, looking back, his bill hawk axe in the right hand, the raven perched on his left shoulder.

Drake looked down. "The steps are becoming softer, one by one", he said.

"Yes, like mud" remarked Edulcore, looking at his boots sinking in the steps.

And then, all of a sudden, the whole stair collapsed into sand. Euro and the bird took flight instantly, while Drake had the reflex to grasp a narrow overhang from the wall, and remained hanging from there, the sword still in the other hand.

The cloud of sand, before falling on the ground, took shape again, this time like a colossal living statue, made of hard rock. The gigantic hand of the being was closing over Drake, that on his part was trying desperately to defend himself with the sword.

Euro landed over the stretched arm of the giant, and began hammering it with the bill-hawk axe, to no avail.

"Ed, fly away! Fly away!" shouted Drake, as the other hand of the monster, an earth elemental like Nip called it, was ready to slap and smash Ed. He fled at the last moment, when the hand hit the other arm of the giant in a cloud of dust and debris.

As drake jumped over the arm, climbing toward the back of the neck, Ed landed over the monster head, and started again to hit it with the bill-hawk. He was hammering like mad, with the only result of breacking the steel of the axe. "Merda!" he shouted, and then kneeled over, desperate. But then, he noticed that his own drops of sweat, falling on the surface of the rock, where making wisp of smoke andminuscular holes.

Ed smiled, and dove to the ground, where his presence awoke again the water elemental. The mass of water exploded out of the pool, like a geyser able to follow the complex flight path of Ed.

The raven followed his master example, and began to fly in convoluted circles, followed by another constantly changing water tentacle.

And then, at some point, from opposite direction, the two flying beings headed toward one of the leg of the giant, changing direction only at the last moment to avoid impact. the same was not for the water tentacles, that impacted heavily over the rock hard leg.

A big cloud of vapor filled the room. Ed and the raven rocketed up, and the Italian was able to take Drake at mid air as the monster crumbled down below him, vanishing in the water pool.

As the two Vanguardians landed safely over a balcony, the dust clouds settled down, reveling how the two elementals nullified one the other becoming embraced for eternity into a mass of slime.

"A literal giant with clay feet, Ed!" observed Drake.

Ed just snorted, seeing that the corridor, the only way the had to move away, had a big brazier on the opposite end.

They took one more step forward, and sparks shot up.   As the sparks fell, they left a burning outline, once again vaguely human in shape, but very tall.   "Great, it's the balrog."  Drake stared at the fire elemental as it stood there, it wasn't standing in the brazier, it stood just in front of it.   "Ed."
 
"Yes, Drake?"
 
"Distract it."  Without looking to see if Raptor was doing as he requested, Drake charged forward.
 
"What is he doing?"  Raptor said as he took off.   He came very close to the elemental, just barely dodging its swing.  Drake dodged around the monster's legs and  went to the brazier.   He took a deep breath, gritted his teeth and leaned his shoulder into the hot metal.   The sound of sizzling and the sick scent of burning flesh filled the air.   Drake roared in pain and then, with a last powerful shove, he tipped the brazier over onto its top.   The elemental went away in a huge puff of smoke.
 
Raptor asked the first of two obvious questions. "Are you OK?"
 
"No.   But I heal quick."
 
Raptor asked the second one.   "Are you insane?"
 
"Probably.   Let's go."
 
Drake's arm was healing quickly, but not as quickly as would be needed.   "So, I guess we know what's next."
 
"Yes," responded Raptor.   "Water, Earth, Fire..."
 
The wind started to pick up and swirl throughout the room and the opening behind them closed.   There was no visible way out of the room  "So, any ideas?" Drake asked grimly.
 
"Other than the one that the universe is a fundamentally unfair place?   No.   Sorry."
 
"Great, time to improvise then."  Drake held his sword in his good arm.   He felt a huge, invisible fist strike him in the chest that sent him hurtling into the wall behind him.   The sword clattered to the ground as the wind held him stuck to the wall.   It released him and he fell to the ground.
 
"Drake!"
 
"Raptor!   Get moving!"  Raptor took off, feeling a blast of air just miss him. He tried to figure out just what to do. Drake crawled to his sword, his arm was still healing rapidly. It looked awful, but he could use it now, for all the good it did him, It was just painful and a little slow. "Where's Spaceball 1 when you need it?"

"What's spaceball 1?" asked Raptor, as Drake was weaving his sword in vain. "Never mind!" continued. His mind was trying to focus over the few notions he had from High School, about winds and atmosphere.

"Wind, air that moves from high to low pressure areas. It's the sun to power it. But we are in a closed tower in a dark cave... Air, made of seventy percent nitrogen, less than thirty of oxygen, traces of other gases..." As his mind was trying to find something useful, a big, invisible hand slapped him toward the internal, curved wall of the tower, very hard. Ed looses his senses. But what Drake saw, was nothing he could have expected. Euro was not there anymore. Instead, a tall man, tanned, with short curly black hairs, a short black bristly bear, a dirty white vest, was standing in his place. A brown bag, seemingly made with a calf stomach, was under his left arm.

"Demon, let me show you the gift of Aeulus, that the blue haired god gave to me, Odisseus, king of Ithaca!"

The man opened the sack. And instantly, a veritable tornado shook the whole of the tower. Everything began to twirl. Drake grabbed the raven, put it under is arm and rolled behind a corner in the corridor, shutting his eyes and trying to curl his body to resist to the fierce wind.

drake opened one eye just for a moment. The man that replaced Euro, Odisseus, or Ulysses, was standing in the middle of the passage, like being unaffected by the tornado, as the whole world was whirling in the storm. Then, all went silent, and calm.

Drake stood up, Nip still under his arm. The bird freed himself from the embrace, and fled over his master. euro was back, massaging his head.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Well, it seems now we have discovered how this planet affect you. Your past incarnations replaces you in battle. Actually." explained drake, still surprised by the happening.

"Who I was?"

"Ulysses. With the winds from Aeolus"

"cool. Now just hope I don't turn into Siegfrid when we face the dragon" said Euro.

The smile on the face of Drake died all of a sudden.

"Can you control it?"

"I'm not even sure I understand it, Drake."

"Look, we could be in a lot of trouble here. I mean, having the mark of the Dragonmaster seems to make me safe, but you don't have any kind of protection. If you go all historical up there, you could be dragon chow."

"I'll be fine."

"Maybe, but we also need the dragons' help. The situation on this world is way too big for the team alone."

"I understand, Drake. And you're probably right, but I won't let you go alone. There will soon be a child who will need a father, and I mean to deliver him safely."

"Yeah, thanks. And I'm sorry if I've been bossy."

"It's all right, Drake. It's funny though."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if you weren't leaving, Danny may have had to worry about his job."

"Yeah, well he can worry about filling mine instead. You know, I can't help noticing something."

"What's that?"

"There's no way out of this room."

The raven, almost forgotten, spoke up. "Look here! Another symbol!"

Drake investigated. "Yeah, same as outside. OK, I'm gonna touch it with mine. Get ready, this could be it..."

Drake touched his symbol to the one on the wall and they vanished in a flash of blue light.

------------------------------

They reappeared in a large room made up of four interlocked circles. One blue, one red, one black and one silver. The floor of each circle seemed to be made up of small tiles, the tiles of various colors were scattered where the circles met. Frankly, the floor was a sort of minor detail, when you consider the fact that there was an enormous blue dragon in the blue area of the room. It was probably a little bigger than Drax, but not by much. Unlike Drax, its form was much more like a dragon from European tradition; covered in scales that sparkled like blue gems and with huge, leathery wings.

"Welcome, Dragonmaster of Earth. I am Psidon; patriarch of the blue dragons of water." Its voice rumbled like distant thunder.

"Uh, hi," was Drake's lame reply.

"You've come a long way and have faced grave peril to come here. Your mission must be urgent."

Euro spoke up. "We've come to get your help against Godbolt."

"Yes, I know of this. You were once a dragon slayer, in a past life. I will not condemn you for such acts, for you are a new man now. Not all shall be so forgiving."

"I thank you. The other dragons were very different. From both you and Drax, the dragon Drake is bonded to. I consider Drax a friend."

"So you say." Came a voice from the red area behind them. "Why should we trust you?" They turned and saw that a red dragon had appeared behind them. It couldn't be told by it appearance, but its voice seemed to indicate it was female."

"I agree with Pyra." Said another female dragon, a back one this time. "We cannot trust a dragon slayer, no matter how may brief human lives he's lived since then."

"You think all humans are out to kill you, Umbrial." Said the last dragon to appear, this one silver. "Perhaps the dragons of earth should choose a leader who is less paranoid."

Psidon broke in. "Personal bickering will help nothing, Argent. We need to listen to these humans."

"Why should we listen to humans? Especially a dragon slayer." Pyra spoke with disdain.

"He is with a Dragonmaster. That alone shows that he has changed much." Argent, although obviously ancient by human standards, seemed younger than the others.

"Regardless of what you think of his companion, this one is a Dragonmaster." Psidon indicated Drake. "They passed our trials to arrive here. Our own customs require us to hear what they have to say."

"Of course." Argent replied. "But you didn't have to convince me."

"Very well." Umbrial clearly didn't share Argent's enthusiasm.

"We will hear this Dragonmaster and his strange companions." Pyra didn't bother to hide the threat in her voice. "It will have to be a very convincing tale, however."

"It is decided, then." Psidon seemed more hopeful than Umbrial and Pyra's grudging acceptances should have caused. "You may begin."

"Ok, it's like this;" Drake began and the three shared all they knew about Godbolt.

Danny was the first to come out of the river. Adem was second, his strange aquatic suit morphing back into robes as Danny's quills started morphing back into normal skin. Then came Priest and Zarch.

"Where's Baxter?" Danny asked.

Everyone looked at the river. No sign of him.

"He was with me but we got separated in the confusion," Zarch said.

"Shit!" Danny said. His quills grew back before they could completely disappear, and he jumped back into the river.
Swimming against the tide proved to be extremely difficult but not impossible. Danny adapted his lungs so he didn't need to breath, which gave him all the time in the world. The problem was that Ozzy's time was probably running out.

After swimming for a bit Danny saw Ozzy sitting in the bottom of the river in spite of the strong current, crosslegged and holding on to the little air he had left inside his mouth. When he noticed Danny he raised an arm and touched his wrist with a finger from his other hand, meaning "About damn time!".
Danny reached Ozzy and morphed his legs into the heaviest thing he could think of so the current wouldn't drag him, and his arms into the strongest thing he could think of so he could pick up Ozzy take him to safety. The aussie from the future looked incredibly weird with giant elephant legs and big gorilla arms.

"He's taking too long..." Adem said. "Should I go in there too?"

Before anyone could say anything, something came flying out of the river and fell heavily to the ground.

"Ouch," Ozzy said, arms and leg spread in the dirt.

"You're welcome," Danny said as he came out of the river.

"What now, chief?" Priest asked as he and Zarch helped Ozzy get up.

"Retreat, regroup and reattack." Danny answered.

"Sounds like a plan," Priest replied.

As the group started getting back on the move, Zarch approached Danny.

"I don't know if this is the best time to say this or even if it makes any difference," he said, "but I wasn't in the Strikeforce."

"Xiang said all your references checked," Danny stated.

"Epicenter was in the Strikeforce. I hopped into his body in Antarctica, after he quit."

"You were in Antartctica?" Danny asked. A hint of regret for not going himself could be heard in his voice.

"Yeah. When the body I was using got killed I jumped into Epicenter."

"Then you were lying about what you told us about the Strikeforce?" Ozzy asked.

"I wasn't lying," Zarch said as he turned to look at Ozzy. "See... my memory works in a strange way. The memory of the people I inhabit, rather. Some things I remember when they're asked to me, like the stuff about the Strikeforce. Others, stuff like skills and technical knowledge, come when I have to use them. Most memories come through dreams."

"That's interesting," Danny said. "You were right."

"About what?" Zarch asked.

"It makes no difference. Let's get going."

Memories.

Of distant past.

Fragments. Images. Colors and sounds.

A blue sky, after months of heavy clouds and endless rain.

The sea, its level rising, day after day. By feet.

Me. My name lost to my memory, and never recorder to myth.

The top of the mountain, yet the waves touched it. A strange man, like I never saw before. Short, bulky, big bony eyebrows.

His leg broken, after his boat washed ashore by the storm. A big marine crocodile threatening him.

I killed the beast, big as five men. I saved the strange man, he became my friend and counselor.

It began then. The curse.

To live the same thing through ages. Each time a new person, a new hero, each time the same man, that I discovered immortal, at my side.

Each time battling and killing the serpent.

I was Ninurta, killing Kur. I was Herakles, killing the Hydra. I was Perseus, killing the Orca. I was Bellerofonte, killing the Chimaera. I was Cadmus, killing the Draco. I was Krsna killing Kaliya. I was Sigurd killing Fafnir. Now I am the Raptor, and one day I will kill the Leviathan.

Edulcore Cicciotto shook heavily, like a chilling wind had blowed around him.

"Dragon Slayer, what bothers you?" asked Psidon.

"Don't you feel it? Don't you feel the smell of dragon's blood over his hands?" roared fiercely Pyra.

Drake was looking at Euro in terror. His teammate's form was phasing in and out reality at very short intervals, each time replaced by different peoples, all of them armed with menacing blades.

Then it ended. Euro fell on his knee, but then raised his face, to look directly at Pyra. "My hands can be soaked in dragon's blood, and if that is a guilt, even if it were other times, and others dragons as well, I will pay for it, I promise to you. But we are here not to ask you to help us. We are here to ask you to fight for your world. To end the age of terror Godbolt has started, and that is embracing the whole of this planet as a cold winter of the souls.
I can't tell you if men and dragons will be friend one day. But I can tell you a thing: there will never be THAT day, if you don't fight today".

Euro got up, standing in front of the dragon, sweating for the struggle endured to keep his past incarnations away, his body minuscule under the raised neck and heavy head of the winged reptile.

Boiling columns of steam erupted at intervals from the nostrils of the ancient being. The head, the size of a elephant, lowered until the yellow eyes were at the same height of Euro's one. Pyra spoke: "Agreed, mortal. Today we fight. Tomorrow we'll judge your sins!"

And then, the whole place glowed in a blinding blue light. Before they could open their eyes again, Ed and Drake felt the wind over their faces. They were riding over the back of Psidon, among the clouds.

The land, below them, was far and confused.

The dragons, behind them, were hundreds.

After the giant first spoke to Mason Templar upon the latter's fall, it ceased to speak to him again for several hours. Templar spent the time nursing his bird, cooing in her ear as if she were a baby (an elephant-sized baby, naturally) as he used a few scraps of fabric the giant left on the ground as a wrap to enable the bird's wing to heal. It was not a serious wound, thank God, but Erasmus was in no condition to do any more long-distance flying for a while.

The giant scarcely seemed to notice Mason Templar, though he took the occasional long glance over at Erasmus. Templar didn't like it one bit. Yet he was here for a reason and needed the help of the giants.

And so Mason Templar trailed the giant as he wandered along his vast tract of land, scavenging upon the wild game as well as the unique, edible trees the giant farmed. Templar, as he had stated so often and ironically in his long life, was not a patient man, but he put himself in places the giant was forced to see him. He didn't step in the giant's way -- that would have been suicide -- but he made certain that the giant knew he was there and wasn't about to leave until he had an audience with him. Templar also realized after some time that the neighboring property was owned by a small family of three giants, one of whom was obviously the child whose slingshot had taken them down.

One evening, late at night, he snuck over to the immensely-sized building of the giant family and spied Brianna a prisoner of the child. Yet she was treated royally, as if she were a pet. She was in no need of rescue, as yet. And Mason Templar was not eager to bring a young girl into the delicate negotiations he was attempting with his own giant.

On the fifth day of that week, the giant tossed Mason Templar a deer it had plucked from the ground and tossed another one over to Erasmus. He slowly sat down in front of them (causing a minor earthquake as he did so), and he spoke in the language of men with a slow, baritone voice, each word sounded out as if in slow motion:

"Y'are a stubborn one, ain't you?"

This was Mason Templar's moment. The tall, barrel-chested man rose up, his full 250-plus pounds, and addressed the giant in as loud and slow a voice he could manage -- the loud part wasn't difficult, but it was not easy to keep his patience in check long enough to sound out sentences that the giant could understand. If he spoke too quickly, the giant would not be able to understand his words.

"Ho, gentle sir!" he began, waving his arm in what he hoped would be taken as a friendly gesture.

The giant merely blinked out of boredom. It was clear that he didn't see the tiny man as any kind of threat.

"Your land is vast and bountiful," Mason Templar said, and he continued to compliment the giant's property for several minutes. It would not do to rush too quickly into the subject he wanted to broach eventually. He spoke of many other things with the giant, and within hours a lengthy conversation began to take place between them. Templar learned that the giant's name was Brakk.

At one point Mason Templar mentioned the extremely-large giant that Vanguard International had seen when they had first arrived -- the one which had flattened and destroyed the Stormloader as it traveled north (presumably back to Jotunheim) and almost flattened the team itself, as if they were nothing more than ants tread carelessly underfoot by a being too large to notice their existence.

Templar mentioned that the townspeople he had spoken with called the giant "The World-Strider" and paid homage and reverence bordering on worship to it.

Brakk's face slowly scrunched up moments after hearing this, and a low bellowing sound issued from the giant's mouth that was almost certainly laughter. "They're callin' him the 'World-Strider' now, are they?" he said with an amused (and still very slow) voice. "Old Glug-Rump may be the biggest of us, but he can'na hold his drink. Whene'er ol' Glug-Rump drinks himself blind he gets an urge to see the other end o' the world and starts wanderin' south. It's no wonder he couldn'a see you -- we're allays surprised the ol' boy can even make his way back home after each trek. Now there's a giant who can't hold his drink." After explaining this, Brakk began to laugh once again, not stopping for about five minutes due to his laughter being as slow as his speech.

Mason Templar laughed along with the giant, and upon hearing Templar's laughter, Brakk laughed still harder. Templar realized that the sound of his own laughing to the giant's ears must have sounded squirrelly, something like a voice on a vinyl record played at thrice the normal speed. Like Alvin and the Chipmunks, no less. He then realized that the only reason Brakk was talking with him at all was for entertainment purposes. Giants were lonely creatures who rarely saw each other and had few occasions to hold a conversation once they matured to adulthood. They certainly had no social life as humans saw it.

Finally, Templar decided to broach the subject. He told the giant Brakk about the situation in Darkworld and that enslaved humanity -- both the alive and the dead -- were crying out for freedom. He finally asked the giant for help.

Brakk remained silent for more than half an hour, as if considering Mason Templar's words carefully. Up until this time the man had been an entertainment to the giant, similar to a puppet show, but now the man was requesting a boon for his entertainment. Had Templar asked him outright for help, the giant would more likely had caught him up and ground him up for meat as a light breakfast side-dish, but the man had entertained him. Brakk was nothing if not honourable -- he would give the man the payment he deserved for his entertainment.

He spoke in a low voice that sounded like the rumble of thunder: "Man, you ask much of old Brakk. Too much, I fear. It is true that the giants have no love of the dark men who rule your kind, but it seems t'me that there was some kind'a treaty a while back that ensured that men keep outta Jotunheim, and the giants keep outta men's affairs. And now you ask me, ask us, to break that treaty. It's true that you've brought a smile to my old lips and reminded me that I'm still able to laugh, but that's hardly enough to warrant me takin' the trouble to squash a few dark men and their armies."

Mason Templar knew this would probably be the giant's response, so he said, "And will you, giant, wait until the dark men grow powerful enough to destroy even the giants themselves?"

The giant began to laugh again, but Templar stopped him and continued, "Don't you know that the dark men have made alliances with the mountain trolls of Vryngård?"

Brakk stopped laughing. The mountain trolls were the giants' only true enemies, the only race capable of matching the giants' brute force with their own rocky strength. And while the giants were very large and strong, their hides were, ultimately, made of flesh. The trolls, on the other hand, had stone-like hides, for they had been born of the earth directly out of the mountains themselves.

"Are your words true?" Brakk asked.

"They are," Mason Templar said, "and I am willing to prove it to you. If I can show you and your fellow giants proof that the mountain trolls are gathering for war against your kind on the dark men's behalf, will you agree to help us overthrow the dark men?"

Brakk was silent for several minutes once more. Finally, he began to nod his head and said, "Aye. Brakk will stand with you..."

Templar smiled broadly.

"...on one condition." Brakk paused for a great deal of time and bent down to Templar, finally speaking in a low, rumbling voice: "Let me eat your bird."

Mason Templar found himself completely speechless for the first time in a long while.

Danny sat down at a campfire, surrounded by Ozzy and Zarch to his right and Priest and Adem to his left. He was drawing meaningless figures in the dirt with a stick, every now and then looking up to the stars.

"Okay, come morning we split into two groups," Danny said to his assembled team. "Adem and Zarch, you're coming with me."

"Where?" Adem asked.

"Godbolt's fortress."

"What?" Adem asked, somewhat incredulously.

"If we're going to mount an attack on the place, I want to do some recon first," Danny said.

"We're going to attack the place?" Zarch asked.

"We are, yes."

"I see..."

"Listen, Zarch. I'm giving you a chance to be useful. I'd pay attention if I were you," Danny said. He wiped his foot across the ground, erasing the images he'd left there.

"We're here," Danny said, making a mark with his stick. "The fortress is about here," He said, making another one about a metre away. "The river runs along here." He draw a wavy line that crossed near to the two points. "As far as we know, Grimm and his zombies are still somewhere around here." He made another mark about a foot away from their current position, in the opposite direction from Godbolt's fortress.

"Jotunheim is off here, to the north. Where Mason and Brianna are. The dragons are this way." Danny drew two arrows that pointed to locations outside his current reach. "Hopefully the people we've sent there are soon on their way back. And hopefully they'll be able to find us once they return..." Danny said, suddenly drifting off into thought.

"And us two, Danny?" Ozzy asked.

"You and Priest are on Grimm duty."

"What?"

"We need Grimm on our side. Someone needs to give him a good proper slapping and get him back thinking straight. You up for it?"

"Sure," Priest said.

"Good. Then we're settled. Tomorrow morning, we head off."

Earl was finally going to bed. Brianna was in a little cage next to him. She sat there, scowling, until she heard a noise. "Mason?"

Sure enough, Templar was huffing and puffing and made it to the nightstand where Brianna's cage was standing. "Oh great, you're here to rescue me, right?"

"Eh, lass, normally I would be, but I just wanted to tell you to lay low for a while. I'm off on a mission -- sort of a secret, really." Mason saw Brianna's mouth drop. The smile was gone. "It's man business, you see. Too dangerous for a lady. You'd be better off here."

If Mason was trying to make Brianna feel better, he failed miserably. "Mason!" she hissed. "Let me out now!"

But Templar was already crawling back down the string of Earl's toy bow. "Just...lay low! Mu-hahaha! Onward, to save the day!"

***

The cage was more ornamental that practical, so Brianna had no problem getting out after all. "Finally! Danny's probably waiting for his Giant Army! And all I have is a nine year-old!" She sat down. "Think, Brianna, think. These giants aren't all that violent. They have no reason to help us. We're like little toy soldiers to them. Cowboys and Indians. Who cares what little tin men --" Brianna stopped herself, as if afraid to let the idea out.

She looked at Earl. He was sleeping with his slingshot. All around the room, his toys were scattered about the floor. There was a yo-yo and some rope and a huge club twice as wide as Templar. "This is so wrong...Danny going to kill me when I bring him a kid."

Brianna flew over to Earl and stood next to his ear. "Eaaaaaaaaaaaarl!" she said slowly. "This is...your...subconscious!"

Earl mumbled softly. "Subcue..."

Great, now what? "Listen, George's friends are in big, big, big danger. You've got to help her friends, okay? You can fight all the bad guys like you do when you play. It will be fun! Oh --" she said, before rushing back to the cage. "Her name is Brianna. B-R-I-N-N-A! Call her Bree-ON-nah!"

Earl mumbled some more. "Bree-bree..."

Brianna grinned and went back to her age. "Right, now to wake him up! Skreeeee!"

Earl jumped out of bed. "Stop making that rackett, Geor -- wait, your name is Bri, isn't it?"

"Yes! Yes!" And to herself, "It worked!"

Earl grabbed Brianna's cage and shook it from the excitement. Brianna rattled around inside it, bumping into the walls. "Earl -- umph -- I neeeeeeeeeeed you to s-s-s-s-stop shaking the cage -- ow!"

The door opened, and Brianna fell on the bed. "Can I really help you fight the baddies?"

"Sure thing, Earl."

"Will it be like playing 'Giants and Trolls'? I love playing that!"

Brianna scratched her head. "Well...I suppose. You can even use your slingshot."

"Yeah!" shouted Earl.

"Quiet! We can't wake your parents!"

"Yeah," said Earl, much softer. He gathered up his toys. There was his slingshot and some marbles for ammo. He also grabbed his 'lasso' he used while rounding up 'Trolls and Oxes'. His big 'Troll-Huntin' Club' was in one hand and his yellow Yo-yo in the other.

To top it off, he even wore a red hat. "Can Blue come too, Bri?"

"Blue? Who's Blue? A friend of yours?"

"My dad's dog had puppies. He said I can keep Blue, since he's the runt!"

As if on cue, a four-ton blue-gray floppy-eared beagle-mix came thundering in the room. Brianna shrugged. "The Runt? Sure. The more, the merrier, right? Say, any of your tin soldiers have weapons I could borrow?"

***

It was three in the morning when Earl lead Blue out of the house. He was dressed in his 'Troll Beatin'' clothing. Brianna was riding on Blue, which was not to different from riding on top of a train. "Alright, let me do the talking. I'll tell you who's friend and who's foe! Now let's go!"

Danny, Adem and Zarch were huddled together in the protective shade of a bush several hundred metres away from Goldbolt’s fortress. And even being this close felt horribly dangerous.

The building itself was immense, and the most heavily fortified structure Danny had ever encountered.

“That’s a pretty fuckin’ big castle,” Danny said. Zarch nodded.

“I’ve seen bigger,” Adem said. Danny turned and looked at him.

“Not on this planet, of course.”

The height of the building rivalled that of the tallest office buildings Danny had seen back on their earth. It was at least a kilometre wide, and made of tightly packed grey brick. They didn’t even want to hazard a guess as to how thick the walls were.

Rising up against the four corners of the castle, watching over the land that surrounded, were four statues of identical women. They were decked out in warrior’s garb, and all carved from the same midnight-black stone.

Stone towers rose up from the roof of the fortress at regular intervals, each staffed by heavily armed red archers. They kept a ceaseless watch on the castle’s boundaries. Along the edge of the rooftop were threatening looking spikes, discouraging any and all unwelcome visitors.

Set apart from the walls of the building was a separate outer wall that surrounded the entire structure. It was about twenty feet high, and archers patrolled it. Surrounding the outer wall was a manmade river, about twenty feet across at it’s widest point.

“A moat? He has a moat?!” Danny exclaimed. He didn’t want to hazard a guess as to what was living in it. He’d had enough experience with the aquatic life of this dimension.

There appeared to be only one entrance. There was a drawbridge cut into one section of the outer wall, that looked to be wide enough for three men on horseback to enter side by side.

“I don’t envy the workers, alive or dead, who had to build that castle,” Zarch said.

Around the fortress was a clearing. The area had been completely cleared of trees and plants for at least a hundred metres around the castle.

“Okay. We can do this,” Danny said.

“Do what?” Adem asked.

“Take the castle,” Danny replied.

“Are you insane?!” Zarch asked.

“A little.”

“Three of us against them?”

“Not just the three of us! I’m going to get help,” Danny explained.

“Should we accompany you?” Adem asked.

“I’ll be quicker on my own,” Danny said. Adem nodded.

“Remember the observation we made earlier? That red archers regularly patrol the area surrounding the castle?” Adem said, something grabbing his attention.

“Yeah,” Danny replied.

“They’re coming this way.”

“Shit!”

Danny dove backwards into a nearby bush and turned his skin dark green. Zarch and Adem ducked behind a nearby tree, Adem altering his clothing to match Zarch’s and appear as one of the red archers.

The patrol quickly came upon their location. Six men clad in red leather made their way through the trees, keeping an eye out for anything unusual.

“You there! Behind the tree!” One of them yelled in their own language.

“…us?” Zarch said, stepping out slowly. Adem followed, just as carefully.

“What are you doing out here?”

“I… I thought I saw a boar pass by here a moment ago. I’d like to eat well tonight,” Zarch said, keeping his bow raised.

“Make your way back to the castle with us. There have been reports of outsiders causing trouble nearby.”

Adem shot a look down at Danny while Zarch spoke to the archers. Danny nodded slightly and crawled back further into the cover of the bushes. He waited a few moments until he couldn’t hear the archers anymore, then turned and burrowed his way out.

Then, he hunted.

He tore through the forest on the powerful hind legs of a cheetah, not letting anything stand in his way that could be dodged with a single step or torn to shreds with a set of tiger claws. He came across a log blocking his path and he cleared it with one jump, hitting the ground on the other side and continuing without breaking stride.

His coyote’s ears were pricked up and he filtered through all the sounds that bombarded him.

Birds. Several hundred metres up. Harmless.

Something in the undergrowth is searching for grubs. Possible food source.

A tree branch is creaking. It’ll fall soon. Don’t be under it.

Somewhere… voices?

Danny lifted his head and sniffed the air, his wolf’s nose trying to make sense of the smells around him.

The same animal from before. The possible boar. Must remember where these things were for later.

Trees. Every tree has it’s own smell. He’d never noticed before.

Waste. Animal waste. So many things use the forest floor for a toilet.

And everywhere he turned, the odour of decayed and rotting corpses. Grimm and his army of zombies. They were a while off, but… they were out there. Not safe. Danny hoped Priest and Ozzy could return Grimm to the fold.

And, perhaps if Grimm starts thinking straight, he could bring his army to their battle. More reinforcements would always be good.

Danny leaped to the side on his left foot to dodge a tree that had appeared in his path and bounded back with his right, returning to the path he was on. Suddenly something caught his attention and he spun around to face the tree. He sniffed. He closed his eyes and sniffed again.

Somebody had stopped to urinate against this tree. Recently. Somebody human. Danny was on the right track.

He kept running. Vines stretched across his path and he slashed them to pieces without thinking. His legs kept pushing him forward. The voices he’d heard were getting louder. He kept his ears up and his nose forward, and he knew he was getting somewhere. He’d soon find help.

One of the voices struck him as familiar. As he got closer the voice got louder, and he realised why.

“Sam…” He whispered as he ran.

In a nearby clearing, Sam was debating strategy with Sir Justin.

“You’re a poopyhead!”

“No, you’re a poopyhead!”

“We’re just sitting here doing nothing,” Justin was yelling at Sam.

“We need a plan. If we try to take Godbolt now, on our own, we’d get ourselves killed!” Sam yelled back.

Dozens of restless knights surrounded them, roasting the flesh of a deer-like creature they’d found and killed. A few were drinking water from the stream they’d come across earlier that day. Night would soon fall, and many of the knights seemed to be of the impression that they’d made camp.

“Sam!” Came a voice from the trees, breaking up the debate. Sam spun around to face the source of the voice.

“Danny!”

Ozzy and Priest marched through the forest on the trail of Grimm. Even their substandard human noses were enough to follow the smell of the decayed undead soldiers.

“Grimm’s army reeks,” Ozzy said.

“At least we know we’re getting closer,” Priest replied.

“How do we know he’ll listen to us? He just kicked our asses last time,” Ozzy said,

“I haven’t really thought that far ahead yet,” Priest said.

“Damn.”
………………………………………………………………………………………………
“You want do what?” Sam asked.

“Take Godbolt’s fortress,” Danny said.

“Yes!” Sir Justin exclaimed.

“Vanguard versus hundreds, maybe thousands of archers?” Sam asked incredulously.

“Not all of Vanguard,” Danny answered.

“Well who’s there?”

“Me… Adem… and Zarch.”

“Zarch?”

“Epicentre. Whatever. That guy. Matthews.”

“Three guys versus Godbolt and his army?” Sam said.

“And Sir Justin’s knights, if they’re up for it.”

“It is the battle for which we have spent years preparing,” Justin said.

“And maybe some zombies…” Danny said, continuing.

“What?”

“Depending on how Priest and Ozzy go. And maybe dragons. And giants.”

“Maybe?” Sam said.

“Hard to tell how the other guys are going. Our phones aren’t exactly working here.”

“You plan to go into battle without knowing who you have on your side?” Sam asked.

“I was just about to try getting in touch with them,” Danny said.

“How?”

“Um… by getting you to think really hard towards Phil.”

“Why me?”

“…I’m really tired from all that running I did…”

"Listen, Baxter, I don't expect you to understand," Priest said, as he began juryrigging a device together. "But about a year ago, I was in a similar situation to the one Grimm's in now. We were on a mission. Something. . .took hold of me. They could've killed me or left me for dead. But they didn't. He fought to save me, I owe him."

"I guess I can understand that." Ozzy's limbs were growing heavy from the weight of his skin, now almost completely metal. Weak strands of sunlight glinted off of him.

"I've absorbed Grimm's energy before. I can sense his presence. Hopefully, I can get through to him that way."

"And if you can't?" Baxter asked, brushing yellow leaves from in front of his face.

"We're zombie food."

"Are we there yet. Bri?"

"Few more miles, Earl."

A few minutes later. "...Are we there yet?"

"Earl!"

***

Sam and Danny we still talking when they heard some thundering footsteps. It took Danny a moment to realize what they were. "Hmmm...from the North...See, Sam? Our army of Giants!"

As if on cue, Blue came crashing into the clearing and pinned Danny into a tree. The giant blue puppy pressed his nostrils against Danny's chest and began sniffing the young man.

"Blue! Bad puppy. Baaaad puppy," sad Brianna. She was holding Blue from behind the ears.

Earl was following shortly behind them. "Bri, I'm staying below the treeline, just like you said. Now can we step on the bad guys yet?"

"Brianna?" said Danny, his voice an octive higher. "Don't tell me this is our Giant Army."

Banshee rolled her eyes. "I knew you were going to kill me for this." She jumped off Blue and and stood in front of Danny. It wasn't exactly eye-to-eye, as Brianna was much shorter than him. "It's not my fault. First, Mason and I get ambushed -- and nearly killed -- by this boy here. Then, I get held hostage and forced to eat some nasty oatmeal. Afterwards, I'm nearly strangled by a leash and stuck in some cramped cage. And to top it all off, Mason left me because he had some sort of 'plan'. And now you're complaining that I only bring one giant? You better be glad I brought any!"

Brianna accidentaly screamed the last bit, and every bit of glass in the entire camp broke into pieces. "I hate when I do that." She turned back to Danny. "So, where's the battle? You have someone for me to beat up? Because let me tell you, Mister, I'm kind of in a violent mood today."

Danny was slowing recovering from Brianna's 'speech'. "Actually, I think we have just the right job for you."

Brianna caught the smile on his face. She lifted an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Remeber a while back when you figured out how to demolish walls with your scream? How about using that trick on a certain giant castle nearby? If you destroy the foundation, the whole castle will colapse!"

"So what are you making, exactly?" Baxter asked, as they continued on their path.

"It's an energy receiver. The energy Grimm's giving off is different than his usual energy. It's further down the spectrum. I'm going to use this to try to move his energy back to it's proper place. Retune him, as it were."

"You mean like a radio?" Baxter looked at the man incredulously.

"Yeah. . .something like that." Priest slapped his device together with a final few clicks. "Let's go!"

"Jesus, that stench smells really damn close now," Priest said, covering his nose with one arm and holding his makeshift energy receiver in the other.

"So we're almost there," Ozzy said, slowing down slightly.

"What now?" Priest asked.

"I guess we try and talk some sense into him. Or zap him with your raygun there..."

"My power over the undead is not yet complete," Grimm yelled at Vilura, exasperated.

"You command an impressive army," She replied, gesturing widely with her arm to show him the thousands of zombies that now obeyed his every whim.

Ozzy and Priest were listening from the cover of the woods, Priest making ready with his enery receiver.

"You have any idea if that thing will work?" Ozzy whispered. Priest shrugged in reply.

"Because I think I have a plan..." Ozzy said.

"This world should be mine!" Grimm yelled, storming across the camp with his arms raised in frustration.

"It could be..." Ozzy said, stepping out of the trees.

"If he wasn't indestructible, I'd kick his ass," Priest muttered under his breath.

"Baxter!" Grimm said, twirling around and wielding his axe like a pointer.

"Oh. It's one of them," Viluria said, less than thrilled.

Ozzy threw up his arms in a gesture of peace. "Whoa, whoa! I'm not here to fight."

"Then you're here to die," Grimm replied.

"You know as well as anyone that it'd take a lot more than an army of zombies to stop me."

"We'll see."

"Listen, I know what you want... and I know what's in your way..." Ozzy said, walking forward carefully.

"You know very little."

"Godbolt," Ozzy said, coming to a stop a few feet away from Grimm.

"What?"

"Godbolt. Lord Gaovulte. King Dick. Whatever you want to call him. He controls the necromantic energy in this world. He's your opposition," Ozzy said, nervous despite his confidence that Grimm couldn't hurt him.

Viluria remained silent. She liked where Ozzy was going with this.

"Your point..." Grimm said through clenched teeth.

"We're taking the castle!" Ozzy said with an uncharacteristically cheery tone of voice.

"The castle? Gaovulte's fortress?" Grimm replied.

"Yeah, that one. It'll be fun."

"The task is practically impossible," Grimm stated.

"Can't hurt to try."

Grimm cocked his head to the side at this.

"We can get you to Godbolt. With your army on side..." Ozzy swept an arm out at this point. "We can do it."

"Phil!" Sam thought, as hard as he could. He concentrated on the mental image of his teammate, hoping that somewhere out there Smith could hear him.

Sam was sitting in the midst of a cluster of trees, trusting to Danny's guess that closeness to nature would be a conduit to Phil's mind in this place.

"Phil!"

"...Sam?" Came the reply, somehow soft and distant. But still clear.

"You can hear me!"

"Sort of."

"Where are you?"

"It's hard to say."

"...what?"

"Oh, you mean my body. It's where we left it, at camp. About a half day's walk from where you are now, south of the fortress. Ghaleon is watching over it."

"And your mind is... where, exactly?"

There was a soft rippling of the leaves in the trees above Sam.

"I'm getting some help."

"...right. Danny needs you to help us get in touch with the others."

"I really can't think to you for long..."

"Can you tell me where Drake and Ed are?!"

"They... they have some dragons. Lots of them."

"Well, that's good."

"They may not be able to help you take the fortress. Gaovulte has summoned... something terrible. The villagers have heard tales of the rebels fighting Godbolt's forces, and are beginning to rise up. All over the continent. Something under Godbolt's command is keeping them in line."

"So Ed and Drake's dragons might be needed elsewhere?"

"Perhaps."

Gaovulte rode swiftly towards his fortress, surrounded on all sides by dozens of his red-clad soldiers. The great structure suddenly loomed into view before them, and they entered the clearing in front of the castle.

Gaovulte noticed out of the corner of his eye a squad of eight red archers returning from a patrol of the perimeter. They apparently hadn't found anything unusual. He took a small amount of comfort in this.

They reached the entrance to the castle, facing it from the opposide side of the moat.

"You! Lower the drawbridge!" The soldier at the head of Gaovulte's formation yelled, pointing his sword at the guard who stood atop the outer wall.

The guard saluted in response, and pulled hard upon his lever. The great iron chains groaned under the weight of the bridge as it slowly lowered, opening the entrance of the outer wall and bridging the gap across the moat.

Gaovulte and his men entered, the eight man patrol squad quickly following them.

All the while, Godbolt concentrated hard on the tool he knew he now needed.

Guards badgered all the way to his inner sanctum, the private room he held for himself and those few he allowed to enter. A few guards followed him in, bothering him with talk of the villagers revolting against the guards that had been posted there.

"These outsiders; these interlopers... they are to blame here," Godbolt declared. "The peasants no longer know their place. Their heads have been filled with dreams that are beyond their means."

Godbolt marched the window of his room, looking out to the west. A few guards hovered silently near the entrance.

"Human soldiers have proved ineffectual in quelling these riots. It is time to call the mountain trolls into play," He said.

Somewhere far to the west, something that had lain dormant for some time deep inside a cave stirred to life.

It felt the pull of Godbolt's magic, driving it to the waking world. It stood, clearing itself of the moss and weeds that had coated it's body in the years it had been hibernating.

It slowly made it's way to the surface.

In a nearby village, a group of peasants were celebrating the recent lack of red archers tormenting their village. This was a happy day for them. A cause for joy.

An old man sat cradling his niece in his lap, telling her again of the soldier he had defeated and sent running into the forest.

His story was cut short by the sight of a dozen red archers entering the village from the treeline.

"We aren't scared of you anymore!" The old man yelled, gently setting his niece down. He raised his own home made bow and arrow to them.

He dropped it to the ground as a mountain troll crashed through the trees behind them and slowly stepped forward.

The troll was huge, easily as big as five men set atop one another. Its arms were as thick as tree trunks, its legs even moreso. Its skin was a mottled brownish grey, and looked thick enough to repel even the most well aimed of arrows.

It roared at the villagers. Several of them wet themselves.

Adem and Zarch walked at the back of a squad of red archers, having joined them when the archers had come across the two on their patrol of the castle's surroundings.

Zarch walked with his bow strapped to his back. He'd given his sword to Adem, the sight of an unarmed red archer being somewhat unusual and likely to draw attention.

In the distance, they noticed a huge contingent of soldiers approaching the entrance of the fortress.

"Our Lord has returned," One of the archers said, turning to address Adem and Zarch.

"Hopefully with good tidings," Zarch replied in their language.

Adem, Zarch and the six other men quickly fell in line behind Godbolt and his soldiers.

"You! Lower the drawbridge!" They heard the soldier at the front yell at the guard manning the entrance, and soon all the men were entering. They faced an arch in the wall of the castle proper once they were through the outer wall, and everybody spilled inside.

Adem and Zarch followed the others to the mess hall.

Danny had returned to drawing things on the ground with sticks.

He'd drawn a large square in the dirt, about a metre across either side, to indicate Godbolt's castle. Then a circle around this square, to indicate where the thick treeline of the forest met the clearing around the castle. A wavy line was his moat.

"Across the front wall of the castle is a watchtower. There are others, but I imagine we will be approaching from the front, where the entrance is. So this one is our priority. We take out this watchtower, then we advance," Danny explained to Sir Justin.

"How do we disable the tower?" Justin asked. A perfectly reasonable question.

"Brianna can do it," Danny said, pointing a thumb over his shoulder to where Brianna was entertaining Justin's knights with stories of her Earth.

"Tell us more of Superman!" One knight yelled.

"Well... he's not real, he's a story..." Brianna admitted.

The knight sighed. He sounded a little dejected.

"The second she takes out the watchtower, we advance from the treeline as quickly as possible. Godbolt will most likely have red archers stationed outside the castle, and he'll send more out the second we're spotted. So we have to take as many of them out as we can before we're outnumbered," Danny said.

"You expect us to be outnumbered?" Justin asked. "We have quite an army here with us."

"We can hope not to be, but we have to take it into account. Better to overestimate than under," Danny replied. Justin nodded.

"But we do have Earl and Blue. They should come in handy. And hopefully soon we'll have Priest, Ozzy and Grimm," Danny said.

"And this would be a good thing?" Justin asked.

"A very good thing."

Danny returned his stick to the ground.

"So Brianna will approach from here, and take out the watchtower." He drew a cross through where the tower would appear on his drawing of the castle. "Then we charge towards the front." He drew a big line from the treeline towards the drawbridge."

"Then, afterwards, we have a party." Danny drew a stick figure version of himself wearing a party hat and holding a balloon. "I don't know where we'll get a balloon, but this is only a rough plan at this stage."

Brianna flew through the air while staying as close to the treetops as possible, to avoid being spotted. She noticed Danny and Sam leading Justing and his knights through the gaps in the leaves below her.

In the distance, she could see Godbolt's fortress. To her, it looked like the most dangerous place she could imagine. The giant black statues adorning it's corners were menacing figures, even from this distance.

She broke free of the forest and hit the clearing around the castle. She increased speed, not wanting anyone to spot her before it was too late to do anything about it.

In the castle's front watchtower, two guards sat staring at the world around them.

"You think red really looks good one me?" One asked.

"Oh, yeah. It brings out the red in your hair."

"I always thought it was a little garish. Why can't we be the 'Purple Archers'? Purple looks good on me."

"You can't get purple dragon's blood to dip the leather in, silly."

"Damn."

They didn't notice Brianna approaching until it was too late.

"Hey, is that a bird shaped like a woma-"

Brianna's scream tore through the bricks at the base of the watchtower, tearing them apart from the mortar and toppling the entire structure.

Below, in the area between the castle and the outer wall, guards covered their ears at the sound of the scream and dodged falling rubble. One was knocked unconscious by a falling stone.

"Something approaches from the south entrance!" A man yelled from the outer wall.

"What? And how many?!" Someone yelled from the ground.

"There is no word from the watchtower!"

"That is because the watchtower is lying AT MY FEET!" The guard on the ground yelled, kicking the corpse of one of the guards with his left boot.

"Everybody get out there!"

Brianna turned away from the remains of the watchtower and headed back for the forest, where she really, really hoped that Danny and Sam were waiting to give her some back up.

Her hopes paid off.

Danny and Sam, with Sir Justin and hundreds of knights at their back, poured out of the forest.

Upon the back of the great dragon Psidon, Ed and Drake watched the ground pass by quickly below them.

"Even at this speed, it's beautiful..." Drake said, staring at the land below them. Trees passed by quickly, and rivers that carved out elaborate shapes in the ground.

"Yes," Ed said, nodding his head. He watched the land below with his keen avian vision, noticing details that Drake could not.

A particular sight suddenly caught his attention.

Several miles below them, there was a small village. It had a couple of dozen small stone huts, and it was situated near a stream. Nothing unremarkable about it.

But marching through the village, brutally beating any peasant brave or foolhardy enough to stand up to them, was a dozen red archers.

And at their back, a huge, disgusting grey creature.

"No..." Ed whispered.

"What?" Drake asked. Ed called his attention to the scene below.

"PSIDON! TAKE US DOWN! NOW!" Drake yelled.

"This could be happening all over the continent!" Ed yelled, leaping off the dragon's back and pleading with any who could hear them.

"The people in these villages need your help!" He yelled as loudly as he could, to as many of the dragons as would listen.

Psidon, Drake upon his back, dove for the village below. Ed noticed a few other dragons peel off from the pack and take flight in other directions. He hoped they were going where he thought they were.

Psidon tore towards the ground, the mountain troll in its sights. Drake held on for dear life, finding it hard to get a handhold.

As Psidon neared the troll, Drake leaped off and tackled a red archer to the stony ground.

The dragon's great claws tore into the troll's shoulders. The creature screamed, reached up with its huge arms and grabbed the dragon's legs, tearing it down out of the sky and slamming it into the ground.

Psidon whirled around and snapped at the troll's neck with his mighty jaws. The troll countered with a well aimed punch to the side of Psidon's head.

This, of course, just seemed to make the dragon angry.

"You really don't want to piss those things off," Drake said, ducking to dodge an arrow that flew above his head as he stuck out a leg and tripped up a red archer. He sprung up and grabbed another around the neck, spinning him around with all the force Drake could muster and pushing him into another archer, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

"Well... this is it," Danny said, turning to Sam.

"Yeah."

"Should be fun."

"Weather's nice. Sunny."

"Yeah, it's a good day for it."

"You want to yell something inspirational, or should I?"

"You can, if you want."

"CHARGE!" Sam yelled, with all the vocal power he could muster.

Behind them, Sir Justin raised his sword to signal his knights to attack. Justin's horse lurched forward and dove past the two Vanguardians, who ran to catch up with it. Danny wore his cheetah hindquarters to keep up.

"Shields to the sides!" Danny yelled, signalling the knights who carried the largest shields to either side of the formation. The shields were made of hard wood, and of an immense size. A single one was as tall as the man that wielded it.

"Horses to the front!" Sam yelled, and stood to the side to allow the mounted knights to move forward, to lead the charge.

The effect was that the knights moved swiftly towards the castle in a tight formation, protected from the sides by a practically airtight wall of shields. A wall of horses led the charge at the front, a short way ahead of the second wave of knights who moved on foot.

The horses were led by Sir Justin, atop his black stallion.

The men on foot were led by Sam.

Danny bounded between the two groups on his hind legs, keeping the group co-ordinated.

Three hundred red-clad soldiers spilled out of the outer wall's entrance and across the drawbridge, taking up defensive positions along the moat.

"Hold steady!" The lead man commanded, keeping his soldiers firmly placed at the water's edge. The drawbridge was raised to keep the castle safe from invasion.

Along the top of the outer wall a hundred more archers were lined up, bows at the ready. Arrows were notched and muscles were strained as they set their sights firmly on the approaching army.

Danny's eagle eyes noticed the archers first.

"Shields up!" He yelled back to Sam. Sam signalled for the men behind him whose shields weren't being used to raise them up.

The knights held their shields up in front of their faces at an angle, hoping to deflect any arrows that may come their way.

Atop the wall, the archers' general held his arm up, keeping his men at the ready.

He looked down at the approaching line of horses, watching them make their way quickly towards the castle. His gaze caught Sir Justin's, and they held eye contact for the briefest of moments.

The general dropped his arm. The archers let fly.

A hundred arrows left the wall and flew through the air simultaneously, hurtling towards the ground and the approaching line of horses.

Forty-two horses were struck with arrows in that first wave. Eight were killed instantly when cold steel pierced vital organs, and they fell to the ground leaving their knights riderless. The knights just grabbed their swords and ran forward.

Several horses slowed their pace, arrows lodged in their legs and flanks. Painful, yes. But fatal... no. These great beasts were too well trained to let a little pain stop them from bearing their riders forth to glory.

A second wave of arrows let fly.

Sir Justin looked about frantically, watching as horses and their riders fell around him. Several men took arrows in the weaker points of their armour, falling to the ground in a spray of blood and a flailing of limbs.

About two thirds of his horse mounted regiment were left after the two waves of arrows. He kept urging them forward, until they were a mere few metres from the line of red soldiers a the water's edge.

Suddenly, with the wall of horses broken and the knights on foot soon behind them, the line of red soldiers charged forward with the passion and urgency born of blind faith in their leader.

The archers atop the outer wall had stopped for a moment to reload when a shadow from above caught their attention.

Brianna screamed with all the energy she could muster, sending a dozen of the archers flying from the wall and hitting the ground below hard. Several of the men passed out from the trauma to their auditory systems.

Brianna banked hard to the left and turned suddenly, dodging the wave of arrows that followed her attack.

The sworld wielding men who had been waiting at the moat's edhe were now charging through the line of horses, slashing left and right in an effort to damage horses' legs and thus dismount their riders. They were meeting with an alarming level of success.

Justing, still atop his mount, swung his sword down in a wide arc, decapitating one of the red archers and slashing another's shoulder on the backswing. He wheeled his horse around and aimed a kick at another opponent's face, sending him crashing to the mud.

The horse broke the man's back with it's mighty front hooves as Justin charged along the riverbank, his sword never ceasing it's movement for even an instant.

Sam's right arm became a forcefully wielded broadsword and found it's tip embedded in the torso of many a red archer as they surged forward into the fray.

He grabbed a red soldier's arm with his left hand and drew the man toward himself, impaling his enemy on the tip of his right arm.

He turned and glanced at Danny to make sure his teammate was okay.

Danny was fine.

He moved so fast and fluidly on the hindquarters of a cheetah that the red soldiers couldn't predict his movements. He ran forward faster than they could keep up, towards the moat and the castle entrance.

His right arm shot out towards a red soldier's neck and his claws embedded themselves deep in soft flesh. He withdrew them and a spray blood coated him. He didn't seem to notice.

A sword blade ricocheted harmlessly off his exoskeleton, so Danny turned around and spat poison into the eyes of his would-be attacker.

A replacement squad of red archers hurried up the ladders to the outer wall to take the place of the ones Brianna had disposed of. They quickly took their positions at the top of the wall and armed themselves, barely taking a second to prepare before firing arrows into the battle below.

Sam watched helplessly as two men two his left and another to his right fell to the ground dead, arrows embedded in their necks. He stomped through a puddle of blood that had appeared before him and kept moving forward.

Brianna came back around towards the top of the outer wall for a second attack on the archers. She screamed at one corner and noticed a half dozen of them collapse to the ground, before the other nearby archers noticed her and pointed their bows in her direction.

"Crap!" She said to herself, and quickly flew out of range. An arrow flew right by her, and she could feel it's movement in her feathers.

She headed for the treeline and yelled at the top of her voice.

"EARL! BLUE! NOW!"

The young giant came stomping out of the trees, his faithful dog right on his heels.

"The guys in red are the bad guys!" Brianna yelled down at them.

Danny watched as his carefully planned military formation collapsed around him. The shielded men at the sides were each fighting their own hand to hand battles. The horses were scattered across the battlefield.

Any semblance of order and planning had given way to the chaos of war.

This, of course, was to be expected.

To Danny's left, one of the knights died at the tip of a red soldier's blade. The soldier withdrew his sword from the young knight's torso and swung it at Danny.

Danny ducked the sword and drove his claws upwards into the red soldier's neck, killing the man almost instantly. Blood spilled down the front of his red vest.

This just made the colouring of the leather more vibrant.

A red soldier suddenly went flying through the air above Danny, hitting the ground with a sickening thud.

Danny turned in shock to find Earl the giant picking up the soldiers and throwing them. Blue was bouncing along the battlefield, trying to catch them.

Danny was amused by the game of the boy and his dog.

Godbolt stared down at the battle from his watchtower, the highest point of the fortress.

His Red Guard had the invading knights outnumbered, of that he was certain.

But this giant. This abomination of a creature from Jotunheim. This would present a difficulty.

Gaovulte's will flowed outwards through the castle, to the great black statues that kept watch over the surroundings.

Sam looked upwards at the southeast corner of the great square castle. He could have sworn something just moved.

His right arm lashed outwards, decapitating an approaching soldier. He ducked a sword swing and cut another man off at the knees.

He looked back up. Something had definitely moved.

Then he realised. The statue. The great black stone statue of the womanly figure that was at least sixty feet tall.

It wasn't just ornamental.

"Shit!" He yelled to the knight against whom he was now standing back to back.

"What?"

"That!"

The statue slowly became animated, first raising it's arms in a gesture that defied the very concept of stillness. It ducked its head forward slowly, tearing away from the grey stone of the castle. It pulled it's back away, leaving exposed grey brickwork behind it. Finally came the legs, tearing themselves up from the ground and stepping effortlessly over the outer wall.

The living statue dove forward and tackled Earl.

Earl was stunned as this statue that was as tall as he was grabbed him around the midsection and drove them both to the ground.

Seventeen men, from both sides of the conflict, died instantly as the weight of the two titans came crashing down upon them.

Earl rolled over and threw the weight of the statue to the side, breaking free of it's grasp. Blue jumped to the aid of his master and went for the statue's legs, finding his teeth disappointingly ineffectual against the thick, impenetrable stone of the statue's hide.

Earl kicked the statue once in the head with his great right foot, chipping off some of the stone and sending the statue sliding across the ground. The statue grabbed him by the foot and pulled him down, then stood up and drove a stone foot into Earl's back.

Blue's protective instinct kicked in. He dove at the statue, keeping him away from Earl.

"EVERYBODY BACK! AWAY FROM THE GIANTS!" Danny yelled. Sam echoed his instruction. The battle swept westwards, away from the dangerous clash of the two behemoths.

Let's join the story of Aaron, shall we?

Aaron was only four when the red archers, under the comman of Lord Gaovulte, came to claim his village. But he has vivid memories of the day.

Aaron remembers clearly when his father died. The archers came to claim his home, to take the family's meager belongings for themselves. Aaron's father stood up to them, valuing the wellbeing of his home and family moreso than his own safety.

The archers killed him then and there, before Aaron's eyes. They ran him through with a sword and left his body in the doorway, stepping over it as if it wasn't even there.

They then took Aaron's mother. They took her into one of the other buildings in the village. At the time, he didn't know what they were doing with her.

Of course, he now had a better understanding of the depths of brutality the red soldiers were capable of.

But at the time, all he knew was that he didn't see his mother for several hours. And when she came out, she was never the same.

Aaron had fostered a hatred of the red archers throughout the rest of his life. When he was sixteen, he heard tales of a man by the name of Justin recruiting followers for a rebellion against Gaovulte.

Most townspeople dismissed the tales as just that... tales. Stories. Legends circulated to give the people hope, but nothing to place too much confidence in.

Aaron believed differently. He had to. He sought out Justin, and pledged his service. He spent the next four years training for the day when they would face Gaovulte's forces and free their world.

The day had come.

He didn't know where these people had come from. The ones that stirred Justin onwards towards his revolutionary battle. The one named Sam and later the one named Danny, who both seemed to possess powers borne of magic. He didn't know them and he didn't really trust them.

But Justin did, and Aaron followed Justin's orders.

So Aaron found himself at the edge of the forest about to charge down towards Gaovulte's fortress in a battle to the death against the red archers.

This was the moment Aaron had been preparing for his entire life. The moment all his rage, all his confidence, and all his hope had been pushing him towards.

But right then, at the back of an army of knights about to charge into a deadly battle, all Aaron felt was fear.

He gripped his sword handle with his right hand, and held his small wooden shield tightly against himself.

Then came the order to charge.

He couldn't remember making the decision to move forward. His body was simply swept forward on a wave of men, regardless of whether or not he actually wished it.

He raised his sword and moved forward, and hoped that he wouldn't die.

Then arrows started raining from above. He tried to dodge them, to run back to the relative safety of the trees, but he was closed in on all sides by his fellow knights. Lateral movement was impossible.

So he held up his shield in front of his face. He momentarily froze in fear every time he heard the thwack of an arrow against his shield. He was certain he heard one strike and shield and stick there, but didn't dare lower it to check.

The battle moved forward. He knew he was getting closer to the enemy.

And suddenly, the enemy was upon them.

Soldiers dressed in red leather spilled in through the cracks in the ranks of the knights. One of them raised his sword against Aaron.

Aaron panicked, and parried the blow with the front of his shield. He drew his sword back then thrust it forward into his attacker's chest, watching the man in red fall down dead in front of him.

Aaron noticed something moving in the corner of his eye. He only realised it was an arrow when it lodged itself in his neck and he died.

"Sir Justin!" Sam yelled to the mounted knight above him.

"Sam!" Justin replied, pulling his horse to a stop next to Samuel Dawson.

"There are too many of them!" Sam yelled.

"We fight anyway!" Justin yelled back. He charged forward upon his horse and swung his sword downwards. It lodged in the head of a red soldier and he shook it loose.

"We fight or we die!" Justin yelled. He pulled Sam up onto the back of his horse and they raced through the fray.

"I'm worried that there are three more of those statues! Earl and Blue are having trouble with one of them!" Sam said, raising his voice to be heard over the sounds of battle.

Sam's leg shot out sideways and slammed a man in the face. His sword arm lowered and decapitated a red soldier.

Red soldiers came at the knights from all sides. When they managed to defeat some, more seemed to appear from an entrance elsewhere in the castle. Arrows still rained down from the top of the outer wall.

Sam realised with horror what was happening. The red archers were closing them in.

The arrows were raining down at the edges of the battle, driving people inwards. The red soldiers on the field pushed in from every side, boxing in the knights.

"Damn it, we're being herded!" Danny yelled. Sam spun around.

"Danny!" Sam yelled.

"Sam."

"How's it goin'?"

"Not bad. You?"

"Little busy."

"Yeah."

"This here is a problem."

Danny nodded in reply, then drove an armful of porcupine quills into a man's face.

"We may be about to die," Sam said.

Danny shrugged. "I had fun."

Knights fell around them. The red archers closed in.

Suddenly a figure appeared on the horizon. It was a large man on an undead horse.

"Justin's knights stand alone," Priest said.

Ozzy appeared on another zombie horse behind him.

"No... not alone," Ozzy said.

Grimm pushed past them on his own horse and charged into the battle below. Thousands of zombies followed.

Priest and Ozzy charged into the battle side by side, on their undead horses. They watched Grimm thunder past them and disappear into the fray, his axe demolishing any red soldier who dared get near him and his horse.

Around them, the forces of the animated dead spilled across the field.

Priest noticed that the knights of Sir Justin were herded together by the red soldiers, cutting off their retreat. Almost the same box formation that had been their offensive strategy at the start of the battle was now their trap.

This was, of course, before thousands of zombies showed up. All under the command of Grimm.

Grimm, who had one goal; breach the castle walls and destroy Godbolt.

The zombies who were mounted on horseback reached the battle first, led by Grimm himself. They clashed with the red soldiers, who quickly dispersed from the tight formation they had previously held.

Priest held out an arm and gestured for Ozzy to head to the west side of the field. Ozzy nodded and galloped off.

Priest himself headed eastwards, taking care to avoid the giant and his dog who were fighting the living statue.

Priest was somewhat shocked to realise that the sight of the battle between the two titans didn't surprise him at all. He'd spent too much time in magic alternate dimensions.

A red soldier charged at Grimm, sword raised and face twisted into a scowl. Priest raised his gun and fired.

Nothing happened.

Priest pulled the trigger again. He was greeted with the same inaction as with his first attempt.

"Fuck..." he whispered. Out of juice.

He threw the gun at the man, knocking him unconscious with a well aimed strike to the head.

Priest wasn't out of the fight, though. He still had a lot of energy stored up. Super strength, however, worked better in close quarters combat.

He dove off his horse, tackling a nearby red soldier to the ground. He picked up the man he'd tackled and threw him hard to the left, striking another red soldier in the midsection and sending them both spilling into the mud.

Priest span around to his left and grabbed another man around the throat, breaking his neck and then wielding the man like a club against another nearby opponent.

On the other side of the battlefield, Ozzy and his horse and charged directly into a tightly knit line of red soldiers.

He swung his borrowed sword and found a red soldier's neck. Another swing slashed a man in the shoulder and sent him howling to the ground.

Arrows bounced ineffectually off Ozzy's silver back as he did the rounds of the battlefield, when something in the air caught his attention.

He looked up and noticed something dropping. He spurred his horse onwards and galloped towards it, hoping to catch it in time.

Brianna headed for the top of the outer wall again, her confidence bolstered by the sudden arrival of Priest, Ozzy and Grimm.

She screamed once, loudly. Once again she was met with archers covering their ears, some passing out. A couple fell backwards off the wall.

She spun in mid air, and doubled back. She'd done this a few times now, and was confident that she was moving too fast for them to hit her.

An arrow struck her wing and tore through her feathers. She wobbled out of control, then hurtled towards the ground.

"Crap!" She yelled, trying desperately to right herself. The ground raced towards her until she was only a few metres above it.

Ozzy dove off his horse and caught her, turning in mid air to take the impact of the ground against his own back and keep her cradled safely in his arms.

"Hi," he said.

From the space between the castle and the outer wall, Adem and Zarch could see Brianna circling the castle above them.

"You think she'll be okay?" Zarch asked.

"She knows what she's doing. She'll be fi-"

They watched in horror as the arrow tore through her wing and she was sent rocketing to the ground.

"Shit!" Adem yelled, and ran up the ladder to the top of the outer wall to get a better view.

He scanned the battlefield, terrified, before he noticed her safe in the arms of Ozzy Baxter. Adem let out a sigh of relief, having just noticed that he hadn't breathed for quite some time.

Grimm presented a terrifying figure. An axe wielding, skull faced man, atop a horse that looked and smelled as if it ought to be dead.

And he was laughing.

With the zombies having cut right through the outer lines of red soldiers, the knights began to spill outwards, joining the zombies in tearing through the forces of Gaovulte.

Grimm did a wide lap of the battlefield, dropping his axe once for every step his steed took. Blood sprayed all across him and his horse, causing a huge red streak along them both. Grimm didn't notice. Even though blood is a bitch to wash out of leather.

An arrow launched from the outer wall found itself in Grimm's eye socket. Had there been an eyeball there, it may have been painful. As it was, it just pissed him off more.

Grimm grabbed the arrow and threw it back up towards the outer wall with enough force to lodge it in the forehead of an unlucky red archer.

The sounds of the battle echoed all around Grimm. The sounds of thousands of swords clashing with shields. The less audible, but more disconcerting, sound of swords meeting their targets in the soft flesh of enemy soldiers. The sounds of men screaming in agony as they met their gruesome ends.

Grimm noticed none of this. He had his sights fixed on the castle's entrance.

Grimm swung his axe down and decapitated a red soldier who had the unfortunate timing to be near him, then Grimm and his horse charged forwards towards the closed drawbridge.

Adem was perched on the outer wall, watching helplessly as dozens of men around him poured arrows into the ranks of his allies.

Someone handed him a bow and some arrows. He emptied them harmlessly into the ground beneath the wall. Something, then, caught his attention.

Danny, Sam, and Sir Justin gathered together near the drawbridge, working together to disable any red soldier who got near them.

Danny's claws and poison glands were working overtime, ruthlessly taking down any enemy soldier he could get his hands on. Sam was much the same.

And Sir Justin presented an impressive sight on the back of his huge black stallion. He was running up and down the length of the moat, swinging his sword almost too fast to see it. The shine of the blade was dulled by the thick coating of blood across it.

Adem despaired to see around half of Justin's forces lying dead across the battlefield, having met their fates at the hands of the red soldiers. Adem never quite understood war.

All he understood now was this his friends needed to get into this castle.