Shades of Blue

Vahan could sense the sound of the horn before he could hear it. After voicing a warning to the general, he took off and found the rest of the Guardians.

"Prepare yourselves!" He yelled as the horn finally sounded.

Those whose hoods were down quickly lifted them. The men and women sworn to guard humanity faced off against some of their own. It was not the first time a tragedy like this had happened, and Vahan deep down knew that it would not be the last. However, that did not make this time any easier. His heart ached at the thought of doing this again, but it must be done. His eyes flashed silver.

To anyone who looked at this strange, ubiquitous mass, all they would see beneath each hood was a faceless black void. But those who wore the Guardian's cloak could see their comrades faces illuminated in a strange purplish light.

Vahan looked fondly at the red headed woman next to him. She was the Guardian he had known for the longest, and her playful wink gave him the encouragement he needed. "You ready?" he asked with one eyebrow raised.

"Always," she responded confidently.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Seeing the Dunesmen's brave advance, the Guardians surged forward ahead of them to take the brunt of the shield wall. Along with the horses of the cavalry, the cloaked figures punched at the cracks in the wall until they were gaping holes.

At first the New Emperor's army tried slipping their swords out between their tightly packed shields like serpents' tongues, for this was the most effective method for dealing with an onslaught. However, their success was short lived.

As one soldier pushed his sword out toward a Guardian, he felt something clamp onto it. Then with the strength of a bear, a force twisted the sword out of his hands and pulled it beyond the shield wall. Uncomprehending, the young soldier peeked to find his sword only to see two massive metal shuko tiger claws tied to the Guardian's hand. The projecting spikes were gripping the young soldier's sword before the cloaked figure broke the weapon in two and threw it aside to retrieve another flashing blade. Now all the dark blue soldier could to was hold onto his large shield and hope that the claws could not rip through it as well.

Nearby a grey-haired Guardian was wielding a long pole ending in a single-edged blade with a hook on the blunted side. He caught the bottom edge of a shield with the hook and yanked it towards him. The shield tilted to a slope, allowing Captain Caleb to ride over the barrier like it was a bridge. The Captain launched into the enemy with ease.

"Thanks for the assist!" Caleb called as he slashed at the closest dark blue spearman.

The archers of the New Emperor's Army tried to return the volleys of Aurora's Imperial troops. their shots were unfocused, even hitting some of their own men in the process. Watching this, a lithe young Guardian with her hair twisted up many small tight buns stood on the shoulders of one of her bulky friends as a leather thong hung loosely from her hand. She allowed a smooth stone to fall gently into the pouch in the middle of the slingshot before swinging it swiftly around in a circle and releasing the stone toward one of the offending archers. The enemy was hit in the forehead, unconscious before his body hit the ground. Seeing her deadly aim, some of the man's fellow archers turned on her, but all met the same fate as the first. The bulky man below her punched anyone who came near, even using shuriken or two to stop the soldiers who annoyed him the most. Finally, the lithe lady ran out of stones, or the entirety of the archers would have met her deadly aim.

Further down the line, the curvy red-headed Guardian, Maeghan, spotted a tall Guardian engaging four swordsmen who had lowered their shields. The tall Guardian held a magical unbreakable hanbo staff, and he was warding off the four opponents advances with great skill. The constant strikes, however, were making it difficult for him to make any offensive move. Before long, the enemy would have the upper hand.

"Time to even the odds," Maeghan muttered. From her grey cloak, she pulled a circular ring with a razor sharp edge around it except for a small handle just the size of her palm.

The redhead closed her eyes, and the chakram began to glow. Swinging her arm wide and snapping her eyes open, Maeghan released the weapon toward the four soldiers. The chakram sailed through the air with a gentle hum that belied its deadly ability.

Meeting with each of the four swords, the delicate ring sliced through the blades like a they were made of butter and not hardened steel. The forth soldier, seeing the outcome of the other three swords, tried to pull his weapon toward him and out of the chakram's path. He realized his mistake just before the razored ring changed course and ripped not only his sword, but also his body in two.

Then moving up above the battle in a wide arc, the chakram returned to Maeghan's waiting hand. She sliced through the downward stoke of another dark blue soldier's blade which threatened to end her before pausing to see the damage she had done. Making the Fate's symbol with her hand, Maeghan bid the fallen enemy soldier to his Maker.

Altogether, the Guardians were shredding the New Emperor's Army's defenses.

Chieftain Orhan was happy for the Guardians' assistance. With their help, the Dunesmen, clad in lightweight armor and special thick fabric that resisted being cut, were able to be the first to break through the enemy lines. The men of the sand waved their curved swords with vigor.

Metehan struck his first blow with such force that the soldier who received it on his shield felt his arm go numb. The clang of metal nearly deafened them both. The dark blue soldier shoved the shield at Metehan and shifted back to strike the Dunesman with his broadsword. However, Metahan was too quick and the sword barely glanced off his armor.

In the same motion, he angled his own curved blade to fit in the small imperfection between the upper and lower part of the other soldier's breastplate and rammed forward with all his might. The light left the dark blue soldier's eyes as he finished his swing by dropping to the ground.

"One down," he muttered and he removed his blade and looked for his next opponent, "Thousands to go."

"Take heart!" Orhan called out as he kicked a dark blue soldier with his heavy boot, "at least they are humans and not sand wolves!"

Metahan gave a lopsided smile as he blocked an overhand strike. "I would prefer the sand wolves, Cheiftain. At least they seem to know when they are not welcome!"

————

From the back of the battle, Mairwen continued her barrage of arrows as she helped with the melee. Finally when she was down to her final few, she stopped to save them in case there was an urgent need. Nurlan was next to her giving directions through the sound cone, but he took a moment to catch his breath and surveyed the progress.

The Imperial troops were successfully gaining ground in pushing back the New Emperor's army. More and more of the cloaked figures and royal blue soldiers were snaking into the field of darker blue.

"Are we winning?" Mairwen asked him as she watched the battle with hope. "It seems like we are making good progress."

"I would not be so quick to celebrate. We have pushed them back, but we are stretched very thin. They are still quite thick in their ranks so even though we are mowing them down, we will eventually be too tired to fight and they will still have men left," Nurlan's voice was calm despite his concern. "We are doing well now, but any little thing can turn the tide."

Mairwen nodded. The General was very knowledgeable in these matters and she trusted his judgement. Her brow furrowed as she narrowed her gaze. "And they still haven't taken down that commander. He is very crafty in avoiding getting hit."

"Kag is a very capable soldier. We fought together once. I have not met anyone quite so ruthless in his tactics, but he is effective," Nurlan responded.

"So if we can knock him out, they will crumble?" the Princess wondered.

"Possibly, but there is no guarantee."

Just then a new disturbance caught their attention. Little flashes of red and green appeared on the field and disappeared again. They came and left so quick, they were hard to spot. "What is that?" The princess squinted.

Nurlan removed his helmet to get a clearer view. He had seen the creatures in the palace before escaping, and his anger grew. He needed to warn his army.

"Little demons!" The general yelled through the cone. "Watch out for leprechauns!"

Just then, one appeared on his shoulder and bit him squarely on the ear.