The whole city was thrown into chaos. She could hear the sound of yells and strange shrieks echoing through the streets. She could see people running wild-eyed in every direction, too terrified to stand still. She could make out soldiers roughly shoving them away from the outer parts of the city towards the inner districts and shouting at them to get to safety.

'It isn't full moon tonight,' Ines stated.

'That bastard. He wants to test us,' Matthew snickered.

'I won't let him win this time.' She pulled him by the sleeve and together they bolted towards the city walls.

The streets were so crowded they had to fight their way through, dodging most of the panicking people and pushing others in the process.

'Get inside!' Matthew shouted at a group of children who seemed to be at a loss.

They ran as fast as their feet carried them. They ran whilst their breaths came out ragged and heavy. They ran despite the havoc around them. They wouldn't stop until they reached the wall. They hoped they had time to rally and reorganise the city's defenses, but their hopes were immediately crushed once they faced reality.

Ines had difficulty in understanding what was really going on. The soldiers were rushing back and forth in disarray, whether from just surprise or horror she didn't know. They hadn't even taken positions or weapons to carry out the defense of the city. Whoever was in command wasn't doing a great job in keeping them under control.

Matthew let out an exasperated sigh and ran towards the stairs by the wall. Ines quickly followed after him, taking the steps two at a time. Matthew didn't waste any second. He started barking orders to the fighters and sent them stumbling to their positions, bouncing off each other.

Slowly but surely, instructions were given out and the soldiers knew what they had to do. They had been trained for dire situations exactly like this one. They wouldn't leave their people unprotected, to fall as prey to one man's lunacy.

Ines approached the edge of the wall and looked down at the snow-covered valleys that stretched beyond. She squinted hard and sure enough she could make out a bloody smudge in the far horizon that was getting bigger by the second. The red sun glinted on metal, on the blades of spears and deadly swords. The attack of those creatures was cold and frenzied, every beast for itself.

They were ever moving, their troops breaking apart and coming back together, flowing across the the plains like a thundering storm, always working their way closer. She caught glimpses of beast faces and heard them howling diabolically.

The closer they got, though, the more certain she was that their numbers were not so great as she had feared. What if this is only a trial test for the final and true battle?, she pondered. She didn't want to know the answer to that question.

'How many are there?' Matthew's panting voice interrupted her dark thoughts.

'More than two hundred,' she answered without taking her eyes off them. As Ines studied their forces, trying to discover any pattern behind their movements, she suddenly noticed from the corner of her eye black splinters sailing high, drifting in the wind to meet them.

'Arrows!' Matthew screamed with all his might.

The soldiers reacted instantly. They snatched their shields from the back and positioned them to the front, creating an impenetrable wall of shields. Matthew grabbed her by the neck and pulled her down with him. He lifted his own shield over them, just in time to protect them from the falling arrows.

'Peter! If we go down there, there is no going back,' he said, his voice laced with anguish.

'We know what we're up against. We can do this.'

'There are too many! I won't let you get hurt. I won't have it!'

If it was them or her kind, she would choose her people; there was no contest, no guilt. She wouldn't hesitate to defend those she loved most.

'They are depending on us,' she reminded him. 'We can't let them down.'

If she had said anything like that a few weeks ago, he would have argued with her, tried to dissuade her, but after all that time together he had learned to listen and respect her. 'We stay close,' he said instead and nodded.

They quickly grabbed some ropes from the closest storeroom and threw themselves off the wall, down to the battlefield where the most vicious fighting was about to erupt, and they weren't alone. The defenders of the city were with them.

The men stood upon the hallowed ground, ready to fight for survival, each in their own way. Ines' heart was beating erratically in her chest with the need to stand with her brothers, her family. She saw their determined expressions and their watchful eyes and immediately knew they would die in order to save their homeland.

A bolt of lightning flared in the distance, a flush of white that signified the wrath they felt for their enemies. Its deep and low sound came afterwards like a drum-roll made to incite bravery.

'Light the catapults!' echoed the order from up the wall.

The explosions caused by those huge beasts seared the earth and air around them. As the ground shook from the impact, Ines and Matthew covered their heads and charged at the creatures beyond the fire. She raised her sword in the air and let out a warrior scream that seemed to encourage the others. With weapons in hand, they ran forward.

Ines sent her blade into the nearest opponent. She dug it in its ribs and left it wailing and screeching, and then she charged on past. She grounded her teeth as she made her assault on the next helpless creature. Her sword clashed against another, and she gasped from the impact, staggered back a step, but she found her footing and pushed ahead.

Metal clanged on metal in a formidable contest of strength. She repelled the strikes and dodged arrows and shafts, she moved like the wind, too quick to grasp. She ducked away and sensed a sword swooshing just an inch above her head and she instinctively rolled in the ground, swinging her sword in the air.

Metal clanged on metal while she pushed forward. She saw Matthew stabbing a creature in the neck, she saw a man fall yelling as a spear ripped into his leg, but she pushed forward. She heard a pleading voice on the other side, so close and clear, but she pushed forward.

A sword jabbed her shoulder and almost pierced her skin, but she ignored the pain and chopped the hand that carried the weapon with her own. She heard a grunt and a gurgle, and the creature was down.

She ran towards her next victims. She dropped and slid on her side, slashing their feet in the process. Her sword never missed its mark. She sprang up again and struck whoever stood in her way. She disarmed one of the creatures and it moved to attack her with its hands only. Before it could make it far, she butted it, her nose colliding with its forehead.

There were a better and worse version of the battle's outcome, and although it was hard to distinguish them, they were aiming for the better version. It would be a painful and awful form of success. However much they won, it would be measured in how much more they could have lost.

Even so, they fought. The men around her groaned and shouted, all tangled with one another. They were fighting with confidence. While she surveyed her comrades, she suddenly felt an elbow knocking her jaw which made her taste blood in her mouth. She shoved her opponent away, snarling menacingly, and retaliated.

Little by little, they began driving their enemies back, forcing them down the way they had come from. The creatures didn't understand their way of fighting, had no idea of strategy and mutual support. They swarmed at them in a mess and that was their undoing.

'Die, you bastard, die!' one of their own yelled as he banged his shield on a creature's skull.

Ines pulled him away and roughly pushed him back. His victim had already been dead for a while now. A few metres away a man fell down, a knife in his side. Ines caught him under his arms and hauled him to safety. She tripped on snow and almost lost her balance, but she struggled up and dragged him on.

She heard arrows fly over them and she feared they wouldn't make it, but the others were there to help them and together they pulled him back. They edged back, shuffled close and connected their shields, forming a wall.

Ines stood there numb. She looked at the battlefield and wasn't sure how many of their soldiers were dead. Everyone had scratches and some were badly wounded, but she couldn't tell who was and who wasn't. While she was trying to make some sense out of their situation, Matthew glanced at her over his shoulder, worry etched on his face. His hair was swarmed with dirt and his arms were covered in hopefully another man's blood.

'Are you alright?' he asked her once he drew closer.

'I'm fine.'

Things would have been easier for them if she had used her powers. She could have taken advantage of the power of her necklace and killed a dozen of them with little effort, but she couldn't compromise her position. She needed to be there when that damned elf would make his appearance. It didn't look like that day they would be lucky enough to meet him again, though.

The soldiers' cries for aid brought her back to reality. She winced at the painful sound and turned to Matthew. He immediately understood. They had to defeat them before more of their people lost their lives. Matthew nodded in confirmation and with burning eyes they plunged once more through the fighters, attacking the few creatures that remained on the battlefield.

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

A/N: As always, it was a delight to be reading with you. I hope I'll see you again in the next chaper. Oh, and btw I put the lights on my christmas tree but it seems I don't know what to put on the top. Hmmmm maybe a star? Yes, that would be perfect. If only I had a star...

Phrase of chapter: fortuna cum blanditur, captatum venit / when fortune flatters, she does it to betray - Publilius