Beginning of Trouble (75)

"SWING!" a thick earthy voice shouted out, energising the army that surrounded him.

The Fire King, King Grill, was a short and stout man. He was positioned at the centre of his forces, seemingly concealed by his soldiers who towered beside him but his thick and distinct voice broke out mightily among his troops. His body as small as it was, was covered in thick crystalline armour, being so dense and heavy that it extended a few centimetres from his body, his strong muscles lifting against it.

All the warriors on the front line of the right side on the battlefield stretched out the hands, long jagged blades creeping out of their red armour. In unison they all reeled back, pumping ki into the handle of their swords.

The first row of soldiers in Fire King's army were all elites, having either hundreds if not thousands of hours of training in the art of the flaming sword. The soldiers were organised in a compact square formation made of five rows, the second and third row all archers, loosing thin shards of red crystal into the air that one had to focus to see. The fourth and fifth line were all bombers, tasked with the simple job of charging the ki and releasing it at once.

WOOSH!

They swung simultaneously and a tsunami of fire rushed forth, the singles arcs drawn by the warriors merging together to produce a sharp wave of piercing heat.

"Front Line: DEFEND! Follow Up Line: EXTINGUISH!" an even louder voice bellowed.

Queen Drizzle was an average woman in build, seemingly indistinguishable from her male counterparts that surrounded her, the only clue that she was something special was the thin ice sword that never parted from her hands.

Queen Drizzle's shout pierced her soldiers, making them move with haste.

The soldiers on the front line of the left side on the battlefield all huddled together, their shoulders touching each other as they channelled their ki to their fingertips which were covered in sky-blue armour. In unison, they brought up their arms, thick white shields of ice growing like plants and intertwining together, forming a long connected shield wall.

The wave of fire wasn't very long but it was extremely wide and viciously slammed into the shields.

WSSHHHH!

Clouds of steam rushed out of the shields that were thoroughly evaporated, pieces of disconnected ice sticking to the arms of soldiers while the gas escaped upwards.

BINK!

BINK!

BINK!

Tiny shards of red crystal rained down of the soldiers of the Ice Tribe, their blue crystal armour cracking slightly under the assault.

Queen Drizzle gritted her teeth, it was already too late to try and minimise the damage so she could only watch as the volley of arrows descended on her soldiers.

"Wind Wave!" the same earthy voice bellowed, agitating the movement of the soldiers on the front line.

The second and third line didn't need to be told, they again released a rain of arrows on the Ice Army.

The soldiers on the front line gripped their swords again, the jagged crystals changing colour as they were willed.

WOOSH!

WOOSH!

WOOSH!

WOOSH!

Lines were visible in the air as sharp strikes were cut, waves of energised wind flying recklessly, the attacks were disconnected and viciously ran in every direction before all curving inward towards the Ice Tribe.

"ICEBERG!" Queen Drizzle yelled, her voice remaining solid as she cried out.

Every soldier of the Ice Tribe hurriedly brought their palms to the ground, channelling their ki quickly.

The volley of wind drawn by the soldiers of the Fire Tribe raced towards the Ice Tribe, seeking their destruction while the volley of arrows descended forming many chinks in their armour.

"RISE!"

PSHHHHHH!

A huge slanted column of Ice suddenly rose into the air, the impenetrable iceberg only shallowly cut by the waves of wind while the descent of arrows was abruptly cut short as they collided early, at the top of the iceberg.

"SIEGE!"

Tiny spikes emerged from the bottom of the boots of the Ice Tribe, helping them keep a grip on the slanted surface that was tilted backwards.

"AVALANCHE!" Queen Drizzle called out, throwing a rock-sized ki crystal into the air.

Long white beams of ki raced out from every soldier and their energy was soaked by the crystal, quickly becoming a huge ball of spiked ice that slowly flew over the edge of the iceberg, moments away from turning the Fire Tribe into a paste.

King Grill gritted his teeth watching the spiked death ball.

He didn't want to make this decision so early as it would put them at a disadvantage but he had no choice.

"BACKLINE FIRE!" he bellowed out.

While the front line of the Fire Tribe's army was distributing organised sword attacks on the Ice Tribe, their backline was charging their ki, waiting for the right opportunity to release their unstable fire.

A torrent of blisteringly hot blue fire emerged from the army, melting away the avalanche in seconds, rapidly approaching the Iceberg they were settled on. Slowly but surely the fireball ate into the surface of the iceberg, hoping to uproot the entire structure.

"SHIELD DIVE!"

PIT!

PAT!

PIT!

PAT!

The Fire Tribe could hear footsteps as the soldiers of the Ice Tribe manically ran to the edge of the Iceberg and jumped off it, escaping the melting column.

A huge shadow could be seen in the sky as falling white shields with the Ice Tribe's royal symbol engraved on them appeared above the Fire Tribe.

"EVADE!" King Grill called out, hastily running away from the attack but unfortunately not all of the soldiers could escape in time, many of the second, third and fourth line suddenly crushed under the falling weight of the ice shields.

The Ice Tribe quickly recovered their footing, standing on top of the dead Fire Tribe soldiers, many of those at the back posted up with ice bows in their hands while the front quickly formed ice swords.

Nobody wanted to die.

'FUCK!' Queen Drizzle thought in her head as she analysed the situation.

While the falling shield strategy always ensured casualties for the opposing side, it often led to them being quickly circled by the enemy.

Which is why she had prepared a special technique for this type of circumstance.

Queen Drizzle readied ki in her palms and charged her energy silently as the two armies stared down.

[Storyteller:........]