Chapter Four: Guardian Angel

The swaying of the trees synced with Xen's breathing as he laid in wait. He clutched his swords tightly, barely moving them as his eyes darted over the clearing back and forth. A few other men were with him, scanning the tree line on the other side of the field, each of them also lying in wait with their weapons drawn.

It was quiet, there wasn't a single noise beyond the occasional brushing of leaves against each other. Not even any animals dared to get close, they could sense the wave of death that was approaching that whole area.

All of a sudden, distant cannon-fire echoed, catching a few of the men off guard but Xen remained focused, for he had picked up a different sound in the air. The snapping of twigs.

Xen rolled back from the bushes and ducked behind a tree as knives shot across the clearing from the tree line. Nearly all of the men were hit and most of them had been killed. Xen covered his mouth as he could hear men screaming in fear and anger. The clashing of swords seemed to beckon him out from his hiding place but he was far too smart for that. Xen listened closely for when the screaming and fighting had reached its loudest, quickly making his way up the tree in cover.

He watched from the branches as a great number of men crept by, making sure to slaughter anyone still left alive in their path. They had darker skin, something Xen was still not entirely used to as it made them easy to blend in. Their clothes were even more despicable however, it seemed they used tree bark and leaves to cover themselves in order to deceive any threats.

Xen tried to count their numbers but each time he would have to restart as he found more of them camouflaging with the dense forest. He was overwhelmed but even more so concerned as they seemed to be heading around the front lines in order to flank the Black Horn encampment.

Santiago's eyes scowled as he watched the dust kicking up from the last charge of men he sent out. The Westriders seemed to have the upper hand on horseback, meaning no wave from any angle could get close to the stronghold itself. He clenched his fist in anger as his mind worked, running through patterns in his head, trying to find any edge they might be able to have, but the Westriders were prepared for their arrival, almost as if someone had tipped them off.

His eyes widened as he thought back to his conversation with Bella.

"That traitorous bitch.." He looked over at the next wave of men.

"Move in a pattern, like this!" He grabbed a stick and began to draw on the sandy ground beneath them.

His artwork, though crude, showed the next two waves going out instead of one, while one was busy dealing with the defense the others would slip by and rush the stronghold in different directions.

Some of the men who were supposed to be in the next wave had a look of fear planted on their faces as it was clear they were the sacrifices but most of them were oblivious to this fact.

Santiago held his sword high as the men mounted their horses and prepared for his command.

"CHARGE!" He shouted as the stampede was let loose.

The men's horses darted across the sandy field right at the onslaught of Westriders. The Westrider armor was the same color as the dust clouds that had been kicked up and their horses were fitted with it as well as what appeared to be eye guards. As the Black Horn's first wave approached them, cannons from the stronghold fired near them kicking up huge clouds of sand that completely coated the battlefield in a dull hue.

The second wave quickly maneuvered around the obvious cloud, trying their best to rush the horses in a diagonal direction to throw off cannon-fire but several of them were picked off anyway. The few who did make it rushed the stronghold's gate in the wake of raining knives. The gate itself however was completely shut, leaving the men defenseless at their arrival. They were quickly backstabbed by Westrider warriors and their horses were incapacitated at the neck.

Xen eyed the stronghold from the trees. His young eyes scanning its exterior for any weaknesses. He was able to make out a strange pattern of rocks sticking out of one of it's walls that led to a watchtower. He could scale it, but he'd have to wait till the watchmen were distracted. His mind raced just as the watchmen spotted the second wave of Black Horn men had broken through the defensive line. This was his chance.

He kept low and darted across the sandy clearing towards the shaded area of the stronghold's northern side. As soon as he made it he kept his entire body against the wall, minimizing the chance of anyone spotting him. He steadied his breathing and went over the pattern of the rock wall in his head again and again. He would need to be quick in order to avoid detection.

One hand on his right sword, the other out in front of him for scaling he rushed the side of the wall. He hopped from rock to rock in a few seconds, climbing like an animal. After the third second he pushed himself up to the open window in the stronghold and thrust himself inside.

It was only then he realized he had no real plan.

He collapsed onto the wooden floor of the base and glanced up at the room he was in.

It was full of Westriders.

Santiago's ears perked up as he heard the crunch of a leaf behind him. His men had been stepping all over them but this one was different. It was too quiet, too careful. He could smell in the air that something wasn't right.

"Dange!" He shouted at the unfocused man next to him.

"Ah-! Yes Santi-?!" The man replied with a twinge of fear in his throat.

"Prepare the next few waves, send Correy out there too."

"Yes Sir! You heard 'em, Core!" Dange replied as he called out to a heavier set man with a long black beard and a deep scar over his left eye.

Correy just nodded and crossed his massive arms.

Santiago crept his way to the back of the line. Men all over the place straightened themselves out with fear at the sight of him. Finally he made it to the back of the line, but he kept creeping along, making sure to not make a single sound. He heard it again, the tiny crunch. He darted his eyes behind him without moving his body, scanning his surroundings as he did, counting how many of them he was surrounded by.

"You sneaky bastards.." He whispered with excitement in his voice.

He flipped around and sliced the young westrider boy behind him in two as he jumped over his corpse, avoiding two thrown knives in the process.

He counted seven of them in total but he knew there were more lurking. Santiago ducked, dodging four knives thrown from three different directions. He jumped and propelled himself from a tree like an arrow straight at one of the Westriders.

Both men fell to the ground into a pile of leaves. Santiago quickly took one of the knives at the man's waist and cut out a chunk of his throat to stop him from making another sound.

He held his breath as the other Westriders inched closer to the point of impact. Their long curved blades, drawn and ready to kill.

Knives flew from the pile of leaves right into the face of three men standing nearby. Santiago leapt from the ground and clashed swords with a fourth man while three more rushed his back.

He threw the man in front of him over a bush and down a hidden ravine as he dodged a few slashes from the men behind him. He then spun, clashing his blade against all three of them as they slowly pushed him back through the forest.

He had a problem now, since he couldn't see where he was going he might end up stumbling like the man from before. He watched his opponents closely and countered each move while his mind raced to find an opening.

One of the three Westriders fell behind the other two as Santiago saw him reach for his throwing knife. He reacted by rushing one of the two men completely, avoiding the thrown knife and stabbing his longsword right through him. This came at a cost however, the second Westrider slashed deeply into his right shoulder.

He grabbed the smaller curved blade from the dead man in his arms and quickly blocked two more overhead attacks from the second man. His world went dark for a moment as a knife flew right over his nose, leaving another scar.

He rolled backwards, his shoulder searing with pain, he hadn't realized how deep he was cut but he could feel his warm blood dripping down the freezing log that was his right arm.

Santiago quickly ducked behind a bush and rolled out of the way again when an overhead slash barely missed him. Taking his chance he slammed the blade into the man's shins as hard as his left arm would allow.

The man collapsed, screaming out in pain before Santiago made quick work of him. His animalistic eyes now scanning his surroundings for anything that moved.

Everything froze in that room as Xen tried to count just how many Westriders there were.

He couldn't.

He quickly lunged for the largest man there, sinking his swords deeply into the man's neck as he hopped off of him. His swift lunging movements like that of a praying mantis as he punched from man to man, creating as much chaos as he could.

He heard many shouts in the small room but then heard the wind quickly break around his right ear as a knife barely grazed it. Xen clutched his wound and fell to the ground. He then darted out of the room, his small body too tiny a target for the Westrider's to hit in that enclosed space.

His mind couldn't make sense of what was around him but he knew he was going too quickly down those stairs. He stumbled, knocking his head and armor against the edges of it as his speed propelled him toward the bottom. At the bottom, his tiny body flew right into a stone wall.

Xen could feel his head booming, like a shockwave pulsing through him at a rhythmic beat, like a warning signal. He fluttered his big eyes trying to get them to work properly again, but when they did he wasn't certain they were relaying the correct information.

In front of him stood the oldest woman he had ever seen. Her face sagged and her struggling body lumped over a cane. Her white hair and skin contrasted with the environment around her to such a degree it made it seem as if she was glowing. Her wrinkled eyelids opened to reveal completely black irises.

Xen froze when he saw this, his mind so warped by the moment that he wasn't even sure what he was seeing was what he was seeing.

"Who.. are you?" He asked the lady, his young voice trembling with fear.

The lady's sagging face contorted, forming a dirty toothed smile that he recognized all too well. It broke him with fear but at the same time, made him feel warm inside. It horrifyingly made him feel.. Safe.

"I'm your Guardian Angel." The old woman spoke in an angelic voice, not matching her body at all.

Then she exploded.

Xen was completely covered with the blood and guts of this old woman. It painted the floor, the stairs, his armor, his hair and his entire body. It was as if he was submerged in the fluid for a short time.

Xen froze in absolute horror. His mind was broken. He couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't blink. He was stuck. It was as if he just experienced an error with the world, something no one was ever meant to see. He was scared that if he moved, if he acknowledged what had just happened he would be surely killed.

The endless silence of standing in shock was finally broken by another vibration, followed by a man shouting.. Something. Xen couldn't hear him. Or maybe he just didn't listen, his mind so fixated on his current moment that nothing else mattered.

A large shadow loomed over him, its sword cocked back behind its head, ready to split him in two. Xen didn't move, it was impossible.

"XEN!" a voice screamed out, its faint echoes still barely reaching him.

"XEN!!" it called again.

Fitz darted up and ran his sword through the man standing over Xen. He then turned to face the three other Westriders who had followed. Blood splattering underneath the clanking of their boots. He bit his lip, realizing the futility of his situation.

He held his sword as steady as his trembling hands could muster before taking a deep breath. His hands stopped moving and he opened his eyes. He quickly blocked the onslaught of attacks the three large men had for him, making sure to put himself in between the scared little boy behind him and the man looking to take their lives.

With each block he focused more and more on their attack patterns. It became less like life or death combat to him, it was now more like the games he would play when he was a child. Pretend fighting with sticks.. He realized these three men in front of him were also those children, they too played those same games.

But the child behind him..

He took a hit to the left arm, his thoughts making him sloppy. Then another on his other arm. He could still defend himself, he was truly a skilled warrior, but he could only last so long being outnumbered.

Xen still wasn't there, the blood now drying on his face. He watched Fitz struggle in front of him, unable to move. He didn't know why but he was sad. He'd seen many people die before, and even taken many lives himself but Fitz wasn't the same and Xen couldn't understand that.

He couldn't breathe but he could move. Just as one of the three men was about to split Fitz in half, Xen rushed forward, his swords swinging wildly with purpose, taking the man's arms.

Fitz saw the opening, he quickly dispatched the man on the left, even with his wounded arms as Xen sunk his swords deep into the neck of the man on the right. Fitz could hear soldiers, however they were too quiet to be Black Horn.

"We need to get out of here-" Fitz warned, he knew the west entrance that he had entered through had been too guarded at this point. His whole squad must have been wiped out.

"How did you get in here?!" Fitz shouted at the boy, his voice was panicked but Xen understood.

Xen rushed up the stairs just as the other Westrider soldiers rounded a corner. Fitz threw him into the room on the left and followed quickly as they both hopped out the window.

They landed hard in the sand but Fitz shielded the boy as knives rained down from the window. One of them went straight through his shoulder. Xen leapt up and darted towards the wooded area he was originally stationed at when they both heard a terrifying sound.

The sound of a horn echoed across the battlefield, The Black Horn had been blown. That meant they had lost this battle, that they would have to retreat, and anyone left behind was surely to die.

Xen looked back at Fitz, he was limping across the sand, trying his hardest to dodge the knives. His dark armor tanked most of the damage but he looked awful. Xen didn't understand why but his legs moved on their own. He ran back to Fitz and helped bear the weight so he could get into the woods quicker. He looked over his shoulder, wondering why they didn't send any men after the two of them.

"We already lost.." Fitz mumbled as if he could read Xen's mind.

"It's useless to capture a couple of fleeing soldiers.." Fitz said that last bit with a bit of uncertainty, as if he was hoping for that to be the case instead of actually knowing it to be.

Fitz was carried back to camp in the back of a wagon. Santiago hadn't said a word to anyone the whole ride home, in fact no one spoke. The caravan of soldiers was silent the entire way, This loss was felt monumentally. They had no funding, were running low on food, and just lost the biggest battle Black Horn had seen in a long while.

Even though each of the men were mercenaries and criminals, not one of them dared to leave or desert the group. Santiago had made it clear to each of them that once you're a part of Black Horn, the only way out is to die in battle. The men all sat in fear and hunger, worried about the wrath that might befall them if they did make a run for it.

Xen stared at the man lying in the back of the wagon, the man's long and distinct silver hair covering his entire face. He looked dead, the thought of him being dead made Xen deeply upset, even angry. He was so confused as to why this was but all he could do was stare.

The sunset turned to moonlight as wolves howled in the distance. Xen could barely see in front of him, trusting his horse to remain on path as his eyes slowly shut. It had been a long day and his tiny body could go no longer.

He awoke to a scream.

Xen quickly shot up on his horse, realizing he was the last one to get off. He could see no lights all throughout the camp except for one. A large crowd surrounded it, as if everyone in camp was there.

"FITZ! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!" a lady shouted, catching Xen entirely off guard, he'd heard women scream many times before but the only women in camp were…

His eyes widened as he raced over, pushing himself through the crowd of men to see one of the women collapsed over a limp body. It was Izzy and Fitz. Xen's eyes slowly moved over to the light source. Santiago was holding a single torch. His eyes were blank and desensitized with anger as Izzy screamed and cried even louder.

"I-Izzy-?" Fitz mumbled, slowly leaning up and out of the pool of blood he had been lying in.

"Fitz!" She cried out, her eyes full of tears as she kissed him over and over again.

"I was so scared.. I thought I lost you…"

"What's going on.." Fitz's voice trailed off as he realized where he was.

"Santi-"

"Save it, traitor." Santiago shouted back at him, his dark eyes scowling even more. His animosity penetrated through the night and shone almost as brightly as the torch he was holding.

His stare was only broken as his gaze flickered over to Xen, the little boy had finally woken up.

"C'mere kiddo." Santiago called out to the boy with a fake wide smile.

Xen walked slowly across the circle, unsure of what was going on.

"Santiago, please.. I can explain!" Fitz stated

"Take this," Santiago handed Xen the torch, ignoring the pleas of Fitz.

"Dange!" Santiago clapped his hands.

Dange took a bucket and dumped its contents all over the poor girl as Xen watched with horror.

"NO!" Fitz shouted, trying to get to his feet despite his injuries. He finally stood but Correy pinned the injured man to the ground, forcing him to watch.

Izzy began to sob as she finally realized..

"Throw the torch at her, kiddo." Santiago said coldly, his stare inches from the boy's face.

Izzy looked down at Fitz, uncontrollably sobbing.

"I love you.. I'll see you in the next life I promise."

Fitz's eyes widened at her words.

"Do it!" Santiago shouted right at the boy as Xen tossed the torch.

The girl's screams seared with the flames that engulfed her. She collapsed to the ground, slowly becoming charred and nothing but a husk. The flames did not stop. Fitz didn't say a word, his eyes turned soulless and his body went limp. He looked at Xen for a moment, and in that moment Xen could see a reflection.

Dange dumped a bucket onto Fitz, he gave no reaction.

"You were my best man, Fitz. My right hand. The only one who understood the suffering of this world." Santiago started.

"But then you had to go behind my back and be a part of it.."

Santiago used the burning corpse to start another torch before setting the white haired man ablaze.

Xen's eyes turned blank and as soulless as Fitz's were in that moment. He watched the two corpses burn long after the other man had gone to sleep. His eyes didn't move from the last stare Fitz had left him with.

He had seen hundreds if not thousands of people die. He had taken more lives than he could even count, but only now did he see the lack of life in all its glory. The dark charred stain of death stared back into him.