chapter 13:crescendo of arrows

the eye of a hurricane is usually a calm spot within the storm a point where the winds spin around each other unable to collapse in on itself so it must expel its pressure outwards as the two winds fight against each other.

this though is not a hurricane and at the center of this storm of luutons is a compacted flock of ferocious warriors on top of large flying drakes. flying in a tight ring of circles. with each individual luuton firing a tenacious volley of arrows upon anything they see.

the stampeding giant carrying a nine foot tall and five feet wide shield with three wielders of geia firing upon them would be very visible. gora , cofus and rex shields start getting punctured as not only the numbers falling arrows upon them increases but the intensity of the arrows themselves.

their shields begin filling with holes causing the warriors to scramble back under utum's shield. gora frustratedly scowls and rummages through her bag pulling out a sling."in the name of my ancestors i will vanquish this horde"

rex's squad looks at gora a little worried as she grabs a little clay projectile from her bag and starts whirling it around in her sling. launching it from under utum's shield up in the air. it whistles through the air shattering against a luutons head it explodes with electrical energy sending the clay pieces out ward like shrapnel embedded with electricity.

rex looks at gora amazed as she pelts the luutons with nothing but a sling"how are you keeping geia in those projectiles? they're made of clay are they not?"

before gora loads her sling once more she holds out the little clay projectiles. there would be a small hole on the side of it"they're hallow and inside of them they're loaded with geia containing plants they dont have a charge on their own but you can put a little geia in them giving whoever they smash against a little jolt."

rex picks the projectile up curiously looking at it for a moment before giving it back"i see. though i was always under the understanding that geia will just leak through clay?"

while twirling her swing to her side she looks over to rex in confusion"huh? no clay blocks geia?"

still looking at rex she releases the sling as the projectile is let loose with the sling guiding it as the sling cracks the air like a whip as the projectile whistles through the air. rex turns away and shrugs figuring they do have different geia after all.

Utums charge starts slowing down as he struggles more and more to keep his shield above his head. coming to a complete stop he stands there struggling to keep the massive barrier up in the air. his knees start to buckle as if the item was pushing him into the earth through its own power."guys i need a break for a minute"gora slides her hands across her face in horror"utum you bastard! dont you dare none of us can lift that monolith but you!" cofus and secomi stand next to each other looking at it curiously together"idk with the six of us im sure we can lift it for a bit right?"

secomi say quite confidently while cofus nods reassuringly"i mean it weighs nine hundred pounds tops right? between me secomi gora and captian rex thats a little over 200 pounds each right?"

rex begins counting on his fingers as cofus and secomi nods reassuringly together"ya that sound about right"rex proclaims going to stand besides utum holding his hands up. Gora scowls but regardless goes to help." ugh fine but if it gets too heavy im dropping it in you utum!"

secomi getting on the other side of her as rex and cofus follow suit. utum looking abit worried as they all stand in a square between him"ok utum let it down slowly well hold it up while you catch a break ok?"

utum nods his entire body would be drenched in sweat hed slowly start squatting down lowering his shield into their hands. though once a bit of weight is taken off of him he collapses to ground leaving the shield into their hands rather suddenly. causing them all to flinch abit at the sudden burden thats been given to them."by astra utum when this is all over i am getting you a lighter shield!"rex screams as they all struggle to keep holding it above their heads. their feat indenting into the ground as they hold it up. all while the continuing storm of arrows comes down upon them. smashing against the stone shield only able to ever chip tiny pieces off.

gora secomi and cofus seethe as they hold this monster above them. gora frustratingly looks over to arvus and sicus"you two get utum out of the way and push the center up!"

they scramble to drag utum out of the way but sadly the 8 foot tall giant isnt easy to budge. arvus runs to the front of him and pats his cheeks furiously"utum you gotta get up i dont think they can hold up much longer so unless you wanna get back to running you need to move!"

utum crawls through his companions legs to roll over behind them still laying vertically as thats the only way his massive body can be contained under the shield. sicus and arvus quickly getting between the other four pushing their backs together as they take abit of the burden.

between the 6 of them the shield is still quite burdensome as they all strain to stand up with the shield. the sound of arrows are starting to get heavier as they crash against the top of the shield large chunks of rock start falling off the side. actually making it abit lighter. though it also means their protection from an arrowery death is starting to be chipped away"by astra! utum you better get your rest quickly or else you're not even gonna have a shield to carry!"

secomi shouts at utum who would slowly be starting to wake up"let the rock shatter im not sure how much longer i could of carryed it"

panting heavily utum slowly sits up looking toward the ceiling his shield provides as his friends struggle to keep it above his head"im sure now is as good as any times to show it off"

his friends look curiously as to what utum may be talking about. slowly standing up he walks back over to the center of his shield of course having to hunch over as his friends can only keep the shield little less than 6 feet up."sicus arvus move out of the way so i can take back over."

they nod slowling moving away as utum gradually starts lifting it once in the center he puts his arm through the arm holder and his open hand on the shield standing straight up he takes it off of his friends hands effortlessly." watch out for debree!"

utum shouts rather quickly before releasing all of his geia into his shield. the stone lining cracks and shatter revealing the core. his friends look on in unimaginable disbelief for as the stone cracks away a shining bleeding red is revealed onto them. secomi rubs his eyes as if to make sure hes not dreaming. even rex and gora look abit amazed as utum holds above his head the largest chunk of drakkite that they've ever seen.

Cofus scoffs abit as if offended seeing Utums true shield. it wouldn't be as large with the design fluctuating in length at points as it curves forming a more rounder shield.

Gora looks at it pretty impressed even though her family owned thousands of pieces of a equally valuable material none are of that magnitude. as most had been carved into pieces, tiles , or materials. never in her life has she seen such a solid chunk of geia-infused material"Utum have you been lugging that thing around in the center of your shield this entire time?"

he smiles holding the shield more easily than before with just one hand being sufficient to keep it up" i was told never to brake the stone unless i really needed to"

utum smiles brightly as he holds the much lighter shield it was still big enough for the 7 to hide under but it was a little more cramped. gora looks around the battle field spotting a small gathering of dead astran soldiers. patting utum on the back she demands they go over there so she may get a shield so that she may attack the luutons hoards.

utum sighs and once again turns so that gora may have a shield of her own. quickly jumping out from under her cover once in position gora rolls and quickly grabs one of the shields just in time for it to catch a volley of arrows. while one may be thankful that they just survived to breath another breath gora scoffs looking at her freshly dented and punctured shield."oh come on i just got the thing"

in bitterness she throws the shield at the luuton. though doing a good job taking some arrows the shield falls back to the ground before hitting any of the savage invaders.

gora grab another shield quickly moving to hold it under her head. as it prevents another fatal attack from coming down upon gora. she can only look at it agitated at it as one of the dozens of arrows that hit the bronze shield dented it. scoffing softly she starts grave robbing an entire astran battalion for their shields."i guess ill get a few of them for a back up"

running back under the shield she looks around and throws the collection of shields she has amassed to secomi."here carry these for me"

secomi scowls as the the bulky shields stacked on top of each other are thrown at him as he runs miraculously catching them together without toppling over "gora in the name of astra you can not just throw stuff at me!"

gora scoffs and rolls her eyes"well secomi you're the only one standing around! me, rex, Arvus and cofus are all firing at the luutons , sicus is playing for them and utum is holding the only thing stopping us from being filled with arrows!"

secomi grits his teeth but resides himself to just scoff and look away as the others look around awkwardly. the group continues to the center of this luuton horde. as the run across the battlefield they see massive collectives of astran solders bundling together holding their shields together to make a continuous barrier above their heads with balls of fire coming from within them once every few moments.

gora looks at the massive shield wall they managed to assemble impressed"seems you astrans adapt well its not the best technique but it seems you manege to get the base idea im guessing from the lisads?"

rex nods to goras smug remark."yes for the 3 months the high kings men have been learning from the lisads on how to fight back against the luutons"

gora nods herself now"yes though i guess you must of found some second rank tutors you astrans leave your sides wide open leaving the levies on the outside vulnerable to their ice"

rex looks over to cofus and sicus letting out a sigh he looks back to gora and nods once more"yes we witnessed that weakness first handily before we met up"

gora peaks out from under the shield once more looking above head for a moment. she sees the luutons are starting to break formation more and more. as many have started following them specifically.

pulling her head back under, she smiles with abit of wickedness to it"everyone put some geia into utums shield we have a pretty good sized flock following"

they look around each other unsure if they should as the consequence of such an attack could be costing, but before anyone can give a counter point rex nods raising his arm above his head"good idea gora every one when i give the command fire some of your geia into utums shield"

secomi looks around confused not sure what theyre doing but follows Rex's lead raising his hands above his head with the others astrans following his lead"alright utum are you ready!"

utum looking abit uncertain but nods regardless as they begin to release a wave of flames onto his shield. the fire geia infused material soaks up there flames like a sponge. Arvus is the first to stop pouring her geia into the shield soon followed by Sicus. their hair both back fully brown now without a spec of red. secomi, utum, cofus and rex continue with a colossal pillar of flames erupting from on top of the shield that rises into the sky scorching all the luutons unlucky enough to be directly above them.

unable to see their devastation from with under the shield only gora is able to witness the destruction they are bringing upon their enemy.

utums hair drains of any red no longer having to hold one arm up to release giea he grabs the shield with his newly free hand and starts rotating it on a tilting axis essentially now swinging the pillar of fire around. gora looks upon the hundreds of scorched luutons falling from the sky. utum would be devastating so many of them they had stopped firing entirely. for once since they have stepped onto this battlefield the crescendo of arrows stops replaced with the dammed screens of luutons and their beasts burning alive.

the entire flock disperses abit as they try to avoid the unrelenting tower of flames that now moves around in their sky. cofus and rex stop with most of the red from their hair drained. the pillar begins shrinking becoming only 1/4 of its original size but secomi keeps on pouring every last drop his geia into the shield until finally hes forced to fall to his knees completely drained of all his geia.

with all the astrans panting around heavily and with the sound of arrows hitting their shield coming to a stop. utum lowers his shield allowing him to gasp in astonishment of what they had just done.

the battlefield is now littered with corpses as far as the eye can see be it astran, luuton or their beat's. the grass is completely scorched as the falling aflame luutons had left the scenery ruined. the odd fire now lines the battlefield throughout., but most impressively the luutons horde had disputed into two largely uneven groups with the luutons they had been behind them are cut off from the main horde with the bulk of the horde pushed back giving the many of the astrans a break from the pelting arrows.

as they look around them they too behold the devastation caused by a weapon of old. utums shield shines like a beacon of hope for the astrans it had been hundreds of years since the last flame dragon died their bodies made for the finest weapons and armor in all the lands causing the lords of astra to hunt them to extinction and the constant state of warring between themselves made sure their supply would be constantly dwindling.

so for utum who is nothing more than a low noble within a low family to have one is unbelievable not even the high king of astra was equipped with that much of the material, the soldiers began into an uproar in the six minutes utum controlled the pillar of fire erupting from his shield he had killed well over two thousand luutons. their tight flying formation made them easy to hit in large numbers.

all while the soldiers are cheering his name utum looks onto the battlefield with a sense of horror. bending over the gentle giant turned destructive behemoth clears his stomach as the soldiers continue to cheer him on. gora looks towards her friend with disgusted confusion"utum you surely cant feel bad for them? their the enemy!"

Utum stands back up wiping the spit from his mouth looking abit shakey"no sorry i know this is war but i never thought i was capable of such destruction"

gora sighs at Utums weary proclamation. the warrior then look towards their foes still surrounded with both sides taking have taken heavy casualties at this point its hard to tell who is truly winning, but regardless our gora and her comrades stand tall as the hordes arrows are heading back for them. the entire horde now had their focus set on one thing. destroying Utum's shield!

quickly utum raises his marvelous relic above his head once again. the arrows fall ontop of them like never before as every remaining luuton has fired upon them the constant sound of the arrows crashing against the shield and cracking proliferates the air as the arrows start pouring off the sides of his shield. Sicus quickly grabs his instrument and begins playing only for his strings to snap after a few seconds"captain we have a problem my strings are out of geia in need to restring!"

rex looks at the arrows beginning to pile up to their side abit nervously but still keeping a cool head he replies calmly"well Sicus you better change them quickly because i think we may have just made ourselves the targets of the entire luuton horde."

quickly taking off his bag the young musician begins pilfering around for his strings pulling four strings through his bag he crys out in anguish seeing two of them being the same size. not able to put anything down as to not dirty his strings and not wanting to put them in his bag he awkwardly throws the string over his shoulder. as he begins his search for one last string for his set

pulling copy after copy of what he already has sicus begins searching around frantically with around 12 diffrent strings hanging off him all while they are slowly being buried in arrows"sicus hurry it up we cant stay here too much longer man!"

secomi shouts agrivatedly as the wall of arrows surrounding the edge of the shield is now up to 5 feet high. finally finding the last gauge of string he needs he quickly throws all the copies back into the bag. holding the last string he needed he looks around for the other two only to realize he put them back in the bag as well" crap!"

"for the love of my ancestors hurry it up Sicus!"

gora groans as the Sicus quickly pulls the needed 2 strings out of his bag as he had luckily been sorting them as he went. quickly loosening the pegs and pulling the strings out he begins turning the pegs back again like his life counted on it getting them tight before trying to tune them all humming to himself as he tunes them. all while to the gaze of his comrades looking at him in a rainbow of different levels of annoyance and disappointment.

finally getting the strings tuned Sicus once again aids his comrades with a imbolding melody as gora watches with content as the red in their hair begins to very slowly return. though its a moment too late as the last bit of light is blocked out by the luutons growing pile of arrows.

rex and cofus though seem unbothered with both of them summoning a flame from their palm casting light. rex then picks up one of the shields gora had made secomi carry which he had dropped on the ground when he giving his geia to utum shield.moving closer to the arrow wall he stands there holding his shield in front of him facing the wall gora grins seeing where hes going with this and quickly goes to get one of her shields as well, before rex can give his order"cofus, secomi; grab a shield and when i give the command well charge right through this. utum get ready to get moving i have a feeling our smooth ride has just come to an end"with all the confidence and experience in the world rex calmy prepares his young soldiers for battle. with the four all stretched out abit across one half of the shield wall holding their own shields in front of them. all while sicus plays his tune. rex closes his eyes and exhales slowly before"Alright smash it!"

the four warriors bust through their stacked wall of arrows with ease. though that was expected as the true challenge lies above them. the entire luuton horde is now encircling them the waves of arrows smashing against their shields like a monsoon.

while Sicus can only whimper seeing as they are now the center focus of the invaders attack. though gora looks at her foe like a predator may look at its prey. garbing her spear she steps out from under Utum's spear and begins spinning it around her more violently than before as bolts of lighting spark from the outer edges scorching the earth around her. As her geia is sent riding through the arrows setting them a blaze as they near her"stupid luutons! DIE! In the name of my ancestors disappear from all of iskra!"

suddenly halting her spin the energy ascends in a massive ball of electricity. any arrows nearing burst into flames as the rain of arrows turns into a rain of molten metal above goras head as even the metal tips of the arrows dont stand a chance against goras attack. upon hitting its first luuton the ball burst into a violent shockwave of energy that runs through the luutons horde setting them ablaze as the lighting rips through them. all while gora watches amusedly with one attack over 500 luutons begin plumiting from the sky. once again holding the shield above her head as more arrows now come at her, her hair looses a good deal of its blonde as half way through her bright blond hair it turns brown. huffing heavily she runs back under utums shield."wow that took alot more out of me than i though it would"

arvus looks at gora amazed and angered"gora why didnt you do that last time we fought the luutons?!?"

gora lifts her head up high in bold confidence"because that was the first time ive tried it. i just though of it yesterday"

Arvus sighs and shakes her head not wanting to continue to the conversation she holsters an arrow in her bow pulling the string back before peaking out from under Utum's shield to fire at the luutons"well isnt that convenient "

gora not picking up on her sarcasm nods proudly.holding her spear tightly to her chest pridefully she makes her proclamation"the luutons brought this destruction upon themselves for too long they have felt comfortable raiding these lands of astra and Sokara as they extort the pacifistic lisads now they reap what they have sown"Arvus sighs at gora long speech losing focus halfway through to refocus on the battlefield"gora i don't think now is the time for grand speeches"

gora still standing boldly lowers her head saying nothing for a few seconds before heavily exhaling. sliding her spear back onto her back she once agian equips her sling"your right sorry Arvus i should save it for once we've actually won"

Arvus nods giving gora only half her attention as she tries to focus on filling the luutons with arrows. utum standing between the two silently just standing there awkwardly as Sicus continues to play not focusing on anything else besides his playing. the falling arrows hit the shield like heavy rain creating its own rhythm that Sicus finds himself naturally playing to.

gora picks up the last bronze shield left throwing her arrow ridden one aside. before running back out"good talk arvus see you later"

arvus stares in disbelief at yhe boldness as she runs straight into the downpour of arrows."Sicus i dont know how i feel about gora"Sicus though unable to respond as he sweats profusely as he simply radiates heat his hair shining brightly moves like an open flame. the color of his eye burning like a ring of fire as he plays a melody that feels destructive and angry but at same time alluring drawing you in closer as it pushes you away. His strings begin to glow like molten metal. though as while utum stares at sicus fully captivated Arvus squints her eyes agitated at the spectacle she is beholding"and what the fuck is this Sicus?"

suddenly Sicus breaks focus and falls over exhausted his string snap the second he stopped playing as a large burst of hot air pushes travels through the air. now laying on his back and panting heavily as the air around them begins to cool abit arvus looks down at her brother once again disappointed"well that was cool for like 30 seconds"

sicus groans at his sisters bitter remarks as he struggles to catch his breath. utum moves to stand right under him, looking down at his collapsed comrade with a big warm smile"well if its any consolation it was pretty spectacular"

else where gora and secomi stand back to back taking barrage after barrage of arrows. finding gaps so that they can fire back as secomi has finally started to get into his groove. slashing through the air sending small waves of fire towards the luutons. as gora stabs into the air sending chains of lighting into the sky that more often than not finds itself striking either a luuton or his drake.

secomi glances to his left between strikes as rex and cofus would be within his field of view some 20 feet away. once again throwing balls of fire into the sky. every 2 minutes they have to grab a new shield from one of the many dead levies that lie across the battlefield with more being struck down all around them by the minute.

though as they continue to play this game of attacking while they can blocking while they cant and then having to find something to block the arrows once its worn out, the downpour starts to simmer down turning into more of a light rain. similar now to what they faced in the small village that they first fought their hordes.

confusedly the combating warriors peak out their shields as simply parrying the arrows with their shields is proficient. as they gave to the sky they see that the hordes are now simply flying through the sky with out attacking. rex and cofus get closer to gora and secomi still watching the sky but their attitude now much less intense"have they run out of arrows?"

gora looks at secomi and shrugs seemingly not sure herself. as our heros look to the sky watching the luutons curiously as most of them have stopped firing all together. Suddenly the flying warriors begin descending weapons drawn. Gora and secomi grin ear to ear sinisterly clutching their weapons tightly as their enemies begin heading straight for them throwing his shield away secomi clutches his swords with both hands a look of uncontrollable blood lust upon his face as he waits impatiently for the luutons to get within cutting range"finally its about time i get to water my blade!"

though even secomis blood lust is no match for the wave of bewilderment that now falls upon the battlefield. for as the luutons descends and dispurse they give view to a new layer of luutons who had simply been flying over them, but to even more to the awe of all those there to send these invaders back across their mountains. for as the luutons begin to plumit towards them they give view to something thought impossible even gora is left in awe as above her head what has to be one of if not the last dragon in all of iskra.

its scales were pure white making its body blend in with the clouds above it. its wings alone were bigger than utum as the beast itself was larger than any creature they have ever seen bigger than elephants bigger than whales this is one of the creatures that ruled before man keeping them in the dark through shear power and none the less on its back a man stands on top of it holding the reigns of this behemoth with one hand as he holds a large white spear that is without question made from the remains of a beast similar to the one he rides now.

his hair flows through the wind seeping out of the geia infused helmet he wears both white like snow. as he wears marvelous fabrics layers with pieces of dragon scales. the further he descended the more in awe gora is of his aura of power as the heated battlefield chills under his arrival.

gora for a moment lets doubt into her mind as a sudden chill runs down her spine as she had so boldly claimed that she will take his head and to only further Gora's fears. as if challenged his gaze falls upon gora. though suddenly his descent is halted as he begins to speak" children of astra i have come put you in your proper place among along with the rest of the lands under the mountain!i am Aklha FON and your riches will soon be mine!"

his words are chilling as his voice roars through the air gora looks once again at the behemoth in front of her and the monster that rides on top of it. clutching her spear tightly in her hand shaking abit slowly raising her spear towards the grand leader of the army she had been fighting for the last few hours.

she breathes in deeply getting ready to scream at the top of her lungs but the moment she does shes cut out by the sound of almost a hundred brass horns. gora now furious that her bold challenge was over shadowed she quickly turns around to see who dares upstage her.

though even in her rage she is quite impressed with the site she sees. on top of the hill the high king himself sits on top of a monster of his own a gigantic lizard plated with bronze and geia infused scales. to both of his sides an army of Calvary ready to charge. at his command though he stands for now simply at the top of the hill. he wears armor of bronze and dragon scales and in his hands he holds a sword with a blade that is made entirely from the bones of a dragon to which he points at Aklha Fon"and i am Onei Astra Lacerana i united the lands of astra under my banner! i am the high king of these lands and you will soon be sent back over your mountains!"

the high kings voice tears through the battle field. gora looks between the two rulers she stands between. their gaze focused on each other but nothing is said. for a moment the battle field has came to a halt, but only for a moment as the high king begins his charge and the choas is resumed. gora watchs as the luutons simply fly over her head with the Aklha Fon flying past her as he makes his way to the high king. gora feeling ignored clutches her spear"hey get back here im supposed to be the one to take you down not the high king!"

though gora's ranting is cut short as secomi has to push her aside as his blade parrys the tips of a luuton spear sliding the edge of his bronze sword through the spears wooden staff before bringing it swinging it back down through the mounted luutons beast sending him tumbling forward into the ground."GORA NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO BE MAKING CHALLENGES!"

Gora gets up looking baffled at secomis rage as he stares blankly into the battlefield. his eyes not focusing on anything as he observes everything from which a blood boiling fury takes hold of him. standing in the middle of the now charging luuton horde luuton after luuton passes above secomis head. a shrieking sound emits from him as he grits his teeth"where the hell do they think theyre going?"

he begins running straight to utum leaving gora behind"UTUM! MAKE A RAMP FOR ME BUDDY!"utum looks towards Secomi abit nervous but not willing to let his friends downs he tilts his shield letting one part touch the ground . secomi charges on top of his allies shield and jumps right of the edge of it. drop kicking a luuton off his mount and grabbing the reins as he nearly flies past the beast sending them both into a violent Ariel spiral that secomi is luckily able to pull up at least to avoid crashing.

utum and the Messor sibling watch amazed as secomi is barely able to avoid death as he poorly maneuvers the beast just enough to stay air borne as he slices through any luuton unlucky enough to almost crash into him."you know i don't think secomi is all there"utum says with a bit of sorrow in his voice as the sibling silently nod as they continue to watch their comrade is flying through the sky on a stolen beast. gora watches from afar jealously only focusing on the havoc that he is bringing to the luutons be it the few he manages to cut or from the chaos from his poor flying."Dam you secomi now you dare to upstage me too!"