Chapter 91: Battle of Imlanor (Part 2)

The night over the elven realm shrouded the valley in pitch-black. Not a single star or moon illuminated the beautiful walls and towers. The only visible lights were the fires from siege engines battering and engulfing the city into devastation. Thousands of men and elves died outside the city walls. Soon the third stage all but fell to Angloth's advance.

King Elphon of the high elves ordered a full retreat after king Celbror suffered a terrible wound. The royal guard carried the wounded elven king inside the city. Naemon held the rear to buy time for all the defenders to enter the capital. His group was the last to pull back inside before the guards barricaded the gate. Archers on the wall provided ranged support, and the city guards braced the only entrance to enter. The time arose for the final defensive stage.    

The host of Angloth encircled most of the city on the east and south side. Since the elven capital stood on a steep hill, it became challenging to scale the walls. And with the majority of Angloth's air units dead or still fighting Ashara and Alvadir, the only way in was through the front gate.

As an octagon shape with fortress-like bastions on every point, the ancient vandar built the city to withstand attacks by demons the size of dragons during the first great war. A two-layer wall system protected the main palace that housed a series of underground tunnels in the case of total loss. The inner wall compliments more archer and scorpion towers than the first wall. Imlanor remained unassailed as the oldest and most defended settlement in the west.

Inside the palace's halls of healing, Lana remained beside Jushiro's bed while watching the carnage from the window. The sight of war was unlike any amount of violence she experienced as an adventurer. Flaming boulders pounded buildings that set the vicinity ablaze. Many defenders scrambled to extinguish flames while trying to evade the falling stones. Ladders and grapple ropes attach to the walls where the orcs endeavor to scale.

Soon she gazed far to the south where the main gate lies. She glimpsed the silhouette of a large object. Hauled by war beasts and trolls, the contraption soon came into view, and Lana dreaded what it could be. A large battering ram with a cast iron drake. Outside, orcs and men chanted, "Fafnae!" the closer the ram approached. Drums sounded deep in the pitch-dark valley. Wrapped in chains wielded by massive trolls and hauled by reptilian beasts, the iron drake slowly crawled. Raemous rode beside to guide the ram through the path toward the hill.

Her hand gripped her sword tightly as her fears grew. She turned to an unconscious Jushiro.

"Wake up, Shiro. Please, wake up," She said.

The battle of the elven city remained halted at the great gate. Scores of orcs fell, trying to breach the only entrance in vain. Nearly an hour passed, and the walls soon littered with bodies of both invaders and defenders alike. Blood leaked and coated the once white walls in crimson. The elves and western men fiercely fought sword and hand to keep the orcs off the walls and bastions. Sigreth and Bronir led the wall defense with Finglo and other commanders. With his blade dulled and broken, Bronir threw it aside only to use his iron gauntlet fists. With each mighty blow after another, Bronir pounded the faces of his foes into bloody mush.

The number of killed and wounded started to mount quicker. King Elphon directed all wounded into the halls of healing and rallied all able warriors at the main gate.

The ram soon edged close to the city until a thunderous roar sounded throughout the valley. Beliri descended and breathed fire on the ram. She opened her mouth and reduced the siege engine into a molten puddle. All the beasts and soldiers in the area died or fled the scene in terror. All the defenders cheered, and Lana grinned in slight relief. The action boosted their morale and enabled them to gain their second wind. Soon all the uplifted gaieties halted into horrid silence.

An arrow-shaped crimson beam shot at Beliri and blew away much of her left-wing. Beliri let out a scream of agony before crashing into the inner city. Ashara fell from her saddle and smashed through the window of one of the nearby buildings. Lana struggled to fathom as she fearfully trembled while watching from the tower. "Ashara! Beliri!" She dashed out of the room and descended into the city. She followed the trail of smoke and debris caused by Beliri's impact. She found the girls, but soon they all heard the sound of an explosion to the south. Raemous unleashed the power of his ve'blad and shot multiple attack spells at the main gate. It took three shots to bring down the strong gates of Imlanor as hordes of orcs and anglothans poured inside. The eastern tides collided with the beleaguered defenders, but their numbers were too vast to hold at the gate.

"Fall back to the inner ring!" King Elphon ordered.

A mass retreat enabled, and many fled the outer city. Many perished as the orcs swarmed and trapped them in the districts. A sheet of corpses littered the streets, and through the broken gate, Raemous casually strolled. The feeling of exhilaration ever grew as he edged closer to his target. Finally, he could glance at the central palace ahead. He saw the gate to the second ring ahead, where his forces engaged the weary defenders.

"So deep I trek through the lands of the rightful first with blood under my feet. Yet so far, I fear the dream lies out of reach. The Mimameidir that the firstborn gifted this world to heal it from the great darkness. Yet, after all the good and companionships accomplished, the lesser ones forever feared what they couldn't comprehend or control. Finally, my goal to write the wrongs and fulfill their wishes is nigh. No matter how cruel. All I do is for the great or good. For Areth,"

As Raemous prepared to chant another spell to bring down the second and final gate in his path, a loud thunderclap reverberated from behind. He turned his head and saw Alvadir, bloodied and weary. Raemous knew how he struggled to keep his weapon up from overexerting his power. He attempted to brush him aside by sending his bodyguards after him. But suddenly, a pair of swords clashed and pushed the anglothans back. Both opposing men stood surprised by the arrival of some individuals standing firmly, shoulder to shoulder. Sigreth, Arthoria, Finglo, Bronir, Fia, and Josarth stood before the astonished eastern commander, weapons in hand. He grinned with satisfaction to face off with the best fighters in the west.

Without hesitation, both sides charged and fought before the gate of the second ring. The kings of the men and elves braced for a final stand. Survival was the only option as the host of Angloth flooded the outer ring in a tide of malice and blood lust.

Laying wounded in the rubble from Raemous's spell, Beliri remained unable to change form. Lana and Ashara stood by her side as orcs were fast approaching. A company of elven guards and rangers sent by king Elphon joined to aid them. The girls and elves engaged the orcs to keep them off Beliri.

Thousands perished left and right, and buildings fell into ruin. The once fairest and free of all western realms run red with the blood of the dead and dying. The sun rose over the war-torn valley, marking the beginning of a new age in Areth as the halls of healing gleamed with a bright amethyst glow.

There he emerged from his slumber radiant with burning purple mana. His hand grasped the side of his bed, reducing it to ash-like particles. His glowing eyes turned from bright blue to deep red-violet. One word he uttered in the silence, "...sverdsal..." The area around him shinned as a cloak of mana enveloped Jushiro's body. Clad and masked in the mana-made armor of his ve'blad, Jushiro looked to the battle occurring outside. He took a deep breath before exhaling in clarity.

"This ends now," Jushiro said as he descended toward the bloodshed.

All worries and hopes he once held faded away from the flames of his resolve. Unburdened by the weakness of what he perceived as unnecessary desires, Jushiro embraced the identity and role of his newly found destiny. Jushiro chose to forsake his human side and wishes in place of being a vandar guardian to protect both Areth and his family.