Chapter 14: Armeggedon

I flew through the white void and was spat out of the other side. For once, I landed elegantly on my feet. I thought I was finally getting used to teleportation. I looked around and realised we were in the courtyard of the ADMI Academy. I was standing beside Alyximeme, Imbeseel, Stump, Winter, and Oliver, in front of the assembled army of the ADMI. I blushed, feeling embarrassed standing in front of my peers with a disintegrated mustache. I pretended to yawn and then covered my mouth. However, no one seemed to notice my altered look. The ADMI army looked battle-ready and was pointing their swords towards us.

“Hold on, everyone. I am James Dolan. Don’t you remember me? The Eagle Shield? I’ve lost my mustache but I am still me!” I shouted, holding both my palms out.

“Don’t listen to him. They must be possessed by Alyximeme. And look at those peculiar elves. They must be evil. Alyximeme, you sinful dark mage, surrender to the Certified Army of the ADMI!” The director of the ADMI, Jonathan Watari stepped out and ordered.

“He’s right!” a knight within the crowd of the army declared. The soldiers made a circle around him. It was Ivan.

“And you’re not supposed to be alive.” Ivan growled pointing at me.

“Wha-?” I began but before I could finish, Alyximeme interrupted me.

Alyximeme’s eyes started glowing as he stared at the ADMI army and spoke in a calm soft voice, “Dear brave knights of the ADMI, I am no longer your enemy but your friend. Castrum is coming. We are the only force in Raventopia that can stop him. We must join in unity to defend the Light Realm, Raventopia and all dimensions.”

He then looked straight at the director and Ivan. They suddenly exploded.

Purple smoke bursted out of Ivan’s pores while orange smoke bursted out of the director’s skin. When the smoke cleared, instead of the director and Ivan stood two skeletons. Ivan’s skeleton was cocooned in red flames and the director’s skeleton was engulfed in purple flames.

“We are spies for Castrum. We are the Shadowlords of tyranny and anger!” Ivan roared.

They lunged forward.

“Hold them off! I’ll cast a warding spell!” Alyximeme commanded. And with that, he closed his eyes and mumbled some enchantments.

The entire crowd rushed in to hold them off. Swarming them like an intruder to a beehive. Ivan and the director swung their arms, sweeping entire battalions off their feet. Using superhuman strength, they flung soldiers into each other, making them topple down like bowling pins.

I knew I had the only object that could stop them, Excalibur. I charged forward and leaped past the flying bodies. I plunged the sword into the director’s chest. He let out a screech of pain whilst light burst out of the wound and he collapsed. Before Ivan could cry out in protest, I turned around and gifted him a similar fate.

I tidied myself up and walked back towards Alyximeme, helping Imbeseel up from his fallen position on the way. Alyximeme looked up at us and stopped his spell.

“This confirms it…Castrum will be coming.” Alyximeme solemnly said.

For the next few days, everywhere I went, people were frantically preparing for the battle. Alyximeme naturally resumed the Director’s position and discussed war plans with high-ranking officers like Duke Dubois.

At the stroke of noon on the fifth day after we returned to the ADMI Academy, an ADMI scout ran into the grounds screaming.

“They’re coming! They’re coming!” He yelped.

“Get to positions!” Alyximeme magically projected his voice so loud that it could be heard from every corner of the ADMI Academy.

We all marched into a tactical placement. Infantrymen stood in a U shaped line designed to flank the enemy. Cavalry stood on the corners of the U. Archers stood behind infantrymen, using their shields as cover. Several people were sent into the forest with elaborate traps set to ambush and confuse the enemy. I took shallow breaths to stop my heart from beating out of my chest.

Several minutes after we got into position, thunderous feet and bloodcurdling war cries could be heard. I licked my lips nervously and clenched Excalibur in my fist.

Suddenly, the enemy burst out of the woods, several collapsing due to the spikes placed on the ground. The archers let loose a stream of arrows at the bloodthirsty monsters. The catapults and the ballistae fired larger missiles into the main body of the assault. I could see minotaurs charging with their horns facing forward and their arms flapping behind. Goblins, tiny humanoid creatures with their ribs visible underneath their semi-transparent skin and long thin arms wielding clubs and knives, charged forward in large groups. Dragons flew low and were immediately taken down by the rain of projectiles, crushing their comrades beneath them. Trolls advanced waving their weapons and charged straight towards our phalanx.

A particularly ugly goblin jumped on my shield and I had an unpleasant view of its black molars and giraffe-like tongue as well as its worm-ridden armpits. I stabbed it in the stomach until it let go of my shield. A huge troll smashed his club into the shields of several knights and ended up completely covered in arrows so that it looked like a porcupine. It finally collapsed when a wizard blasted it on the chest. Gremlins, winged reptiles with a humanoid body and razor sharp claws tipping their fingers, glided over the heads of the other monsters. They flew over the heads of the infantryman and caused havoc within our lines before being killed by a stray arrow.

“Cavalry, go!” Alyximeme screamed over the chaos.

Soldiers mounted atop horses galloped from the sides of our formation, around the monsters and surrounded the enemy.

Suddenly, a raging minotaur charged into the shield wall. The foot soldiers collapsed due to the strength of the charge. With an enemy within our ranks, we broke formation and brandished our weapons. I swung Excalibur in a wide arc, killing half a dozen goblins in one swift movement. I jumped away from the path of a raging minotaur, stabbing my sword into its ribs as it passed. I batted a gremlin away with my shield before it could claw my eyes out.

White magic flashed in the corner of my eye, I saw Alyximeme fighting a horde of monsters. I rushed to his aid, stabbing a goblin. Alyximeme did not seem like he needed much assistance. He blasted trolls and minotaurs with spheres of energy. He was using a whip of Aura and swung it around his heap like a cowboy. Once it touched the monsters, they were instantly reduced to ashes.

“There! Get to Castrum!” Alyximeme yelled as he pointed somewhere.

I fought through the dense crowd of monsters, closely following Alyximeme’s lead towards the direction that he was pointing. After slaughtering at least a hundred monsters I came face-to-face with the most fearsome figure I had ever encountered.

Castrum had three heads. The one on the left was a wolf. The one on the right was a bear. The one in the middle was a lion. He had a human chest and arms that held a lance. Below his waistline, instead of two legs was a snake tail.

“ALYXIMEME, YOU ARE A FOOL TO EVEN ATTEMPT TO PROTECT RAVENTOPIA. WE OUTNUMBER YOU A MILLION TO ONE. YOU CANNOT HOPE TO WIN.” Castrum boomed.

“Yes, your army may outnumber the ADMI army, but I called in a few more friends.” Alyximeme replied.

Without warning, another war cry exploded through the battlefield.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

The familiar sound of automatons slapping the ground with their feet filled the air.

“The cavalry’s here!” Grubby’s familiar voice announced.

I was overjoyed to see Grubby. I noticed that Stump had already arrived at his side and was giving him a big hug. Wait…how are we going to tell him about Urf’s death? I thought.

Castrum roared in anger and slithered forward but was stopped mid-tracks by a blur of metal which knocked him onto the ground.

“GRAH!” Castrum pushed the assailant back with his spear.

I recognised that it was Imbeseel after seeing the Arnold Schwarzenegger sized biceps. Before Castrum could rise, he was pushed back to the ground by a high-pressured hose of water and then a fireball. I looked where the attacks had originated. I saw the red and blue robes of the mystic elves. Castrum swung his lance, making them back off just as Stump jumped onto his neck and began stabbing Castrum with his knife. He was shook off before he had the chance to stab Castrum’s eyes out.

Castrum slashed his lance in an X shape so that none of us could advance. Suddenly, Grubby rushed forward, somersaulted through the waving lance, stabbed Castrum in the chest, and leaped off his torso.

The assembled Eagle Shield stood before Castrum, with Urf’s bravery and spirit within each of us. We charged forward as one and attacked.

Hours later, the battle continued but we were all bone-weary. In contrary, Castrum did not seem to be losing any energy and had a superhuman healing factor.

“At this rate… can’t beat him… I’ve gotta… use … my trump card.” Oliver declared between breaths.

“No! You can’t!” Winter pleaded.

I was unsure what they were talking about. This marked the first time Winter showed an emotion other then annoyance or anger.

Oliver took a sigil engraved on a stone and activated it. Immediately afterwards, Oliver’s eyes glowed with blue energy.

“Let’s go, bastard.” Oliver growled.

He raised his arms and twin beams of energy fired out of his outstretched hands in rapid succession. Castrum attempted, unsuccessfully, to weave past the machine gun blasts of magic. Orbs of water formed around Castrum and sprayed him with pressurised pulses of water.

“Amazing…” Alyximeme muttered, “the Uqwah sigil, gives the user an unlimited boost of Aura for five minutes. After that…”

“What happens afterwards?” I asked.

Alyximeme looked me in the eye. “Unpreventable death.”

I stood, shocked, as Castrum was forced onto the ground. Despite being seconds from death, Oliver seemed to be having the time of his life. He was bubbling with energy and a big grin was plastered on his face. Blue tentacles burst from the ground and wrapped Castrum around his limbs. As Castrum struggled to free himself from his Auric bonds, Oliver suddenly collapsed. We rushed to his aid.

“No, no, no, no!” Winter cried.

“P-promise me…” Oliver murmured.

“C’mon, stay here.” I growled.

“Where is he go’in?” asked Imbeseel.

“Kill that scoundrel for m-me. The b-bonds won’t hol-hold him for long.” Oliver murmured, and closed his eyes.

I stared at Oliver’s limp body and turned around. I walked up to Castrum’s temporarily strapped body and stabbed him in the chest with Excalibur as I let out a guttural howl. Unexpectedly, Castrum’s eyes began to glow. Wisps of smoke curled around his mouth as he spoke in a voice not his.

“There was once light and goodness’s son,

Born in a time darkness had won,

He would either save,

Or darkness shall raze,

Shall he save, then darkness is done.”

Castrum grunted and his body disintegrated into black ashes. Excalibur fell onto the ground and shattered into pieces as its final victim vanished. There went our promised gift to King Regnavius and King Danewort. At least our problem had now solved itself.

“What the heck was Castrum on about? Is it a prophecy? Sounds lame. Where’s Urf when we need him?” Grubby wondered out loud. Yes, I wished Urf were here too. He always had answers. I pretended I did not hear Grubby’s question and looked away. Winter rolled her tear-filled eyes.

“I do not know, but I got a feeling we will find out.” Alyximeme answered, stroking his beard.

Abruptly, a beam of white light burst through the ground. I looked around, white light poked through patches of grass everywhere. Then, the ground burst open, revealing a white void underneath our feet. The white light widened, spilling knights and monsters into the light.

“What’s happening?” Stump asked, scared.

“I don’t-aauugh!” Alyximeme began, but was stopped when a hole appeared and he fell into the chasm.

I looked around frantically. The light had nearly covered every inch of earth. Without warning, the ground I stood on disappeared and I spiraled into the abyss.