Eden-South (34 page)

“It should have been mine,” he said,
bitterness blistering inside him.

“No, clearly it shouldn’t have,” Jameson
said. “If you can so easily turn on your own people, you do not
deserve to wear this crown.” They turned their horses around,
leaving Callum to sit there by himself for a moment. It was
time.

The armies watched as the party dispersed,
the four leaders returning to their troops. Aiden met the King’s
glance, and knew he was on. Kicking Ty forward, he sat in front of
the group he had been given to lead first.

“All right, men,” he yelled loudly. “This is
our time; this is our land. We’ve been chosen to go first, and we
will do so with courage and without fear. These beasts don’t belong
here—none of these men do—so let’s go remind them who exactly
they’re messing with. For Eden!” He raised his axe.

“For Eden!” they repeated in unison.

“And for the true High King!” They all
cheered in response, each man ready with his weapon in hand.
Turning Ty around, Aiden leant down and softly whispered some
encouraging words in his ear too. They all knew what they were
supposed to do; they had all been given their flasks of blood
beforehand. The High Priest had been kind enough to donate it to
them from the sanctuary in the Capital.

Aiden kicked Ty firmly, advancing toward the
other army. Just as they had expected, the other side sent the
beasts in first. Thankfully, they were the kind Aiden had fought
before. The larger creatures stood back with the rest of the army
as the smaller ones ran at them in attack. Aiden gave the cue, and
all of his men opened their flasks, emptying the blood around them.
It worked like a charm. The animals were confused; the men could
almost see their pupils dilate when they smelled the blood. Their
attack turned into a mass of confusion, their movements slow and
scattered all over the place. Aiden looked over at Felix as they
rode in, smiling at him when they saw how perfectly it seemed to be
working.

Crying out, Aiden brought his axe down hard,
slashing into one of the beast’s heads. It went down immediately.
He found them to be too low to get a handle on properly, so Aiden
jumped off Ty’s back, commanding him to go back to the others. Now
that he was on the same level, he raised his axe high and brought
it down hard over and over again. The beasts didn’t know what was
happening, as one by one they fell. He caught something out of the
corner of his eye, and saw an arrow fly into the heart of one as it
reared up beside him. He didn’t look over at the trees, but he knew
where it had come from.

He spun around, taking the head off another,
quickly regaining his balance to fight off another one as it
charged at him. Felix was on the ground now too, opting out of
riding his horse like Aiden had. He knew Wolf would never leave
Grumpy, feeling more comfortable on the back of a horse than he did
on his own two feet. Felix and Aiden stood back to back, fighting
off every beast that approached them. There had to be hundreds, but
it seemed like they were taking them down easily enough. There were
cries in the distance, so he knew some of his men were being
injured, but he focused on what was in front of him, too afraid to
break his concentration.

There were two now approaching him, and he
could see that they had regained some of their control, the blood
having less of an effect on them now. That would change, however,
the more men got injured. He fought off the one easily that came
from the left, but the other one on his right was too quick. He
felt the huge teeth sink deeply into his right leg. He cried out in
pain, bringing his axe down as the beast’s concentration was
focused on gnawing his leg.

“Are you okay?” Felix yelled.

“Yeah, don’t worry about me,” he hollered
back. The pain was intense, but he didn’t have time to focus on it.
The blood seemed to attract more his way, so he had to keep his
concentration. As he ran at another one, he realized that it didn’t
hurt as much when he ran. Taking a chance, he looked down quickly
and saw that the wound had already stopped bleeding. Aiden didn’t
understand how, but he seemed to be healing even faster than usual.
He wondered if it had to do with his adrenaline running so high.
Feeling a new burst of confidence, he ran full force into a group
of them, taking them down one by one. There were a couple that got
their teeth in him, but as soon as he turned and killed them, he’d
be healed again.

Wolf was beside him now, his eyes wide with
shock. “How?” he yelled out. The noise on the field was almost
deafening. Back where the other men stood, it was still quiet,
everyone watching in silence, but where they were was loud with men
and beasts alike screaming.

“I’ll have to explain it at a better time,”
he yelled back. Each of them turned to face another beast, their
weapons taking them down.

Soon Aiden had six circling around him.
Their yellow eyes glared at him; they foamed at the mouth with
anticipation. He could almost picture them licking their lips when
they looked at him.

“Bring it on,” he challenged them. They all
attacked at the same time, overpowering him with their strength and
crushing him to the ground. He could hear someone yell out, but
everyone was busy with his own fight. No one could get to him in
time. It was up to him. He lay under a heap of matted fur and large
teeth. It smelled horrible, like rotting fish. The smell alone
almost made him want to vomit. Trying his best to breathe through
his mouth, he reached to find his axe, which had fallen somewhere
beside him. He could feel their teeth ripping at his skin, their
frenzy at its highest. The pain was intense, but his adrenaline was
so high that he found himself able to ignore it enough that he
could focus on what he was doing. The more they bit him, the more
they didn’t pay attention to what his hands were doing, assuming he
was completely incapacitated.

Finally, he found his axe, getting a firm
hold on the handle and lifting it up. He felt it bite underneath
one of the animals. It screamed in pain, rolling over. It was his
first breath of fresh air. He sucked in a good deal, and then
brought the axe up again to slice right through the neck of another
one. His hand was free to move now, as he brought it down once more
on one that was at his legs. They didn’t even seem fazed by the
death of the others, too involved in attacking him. In less than a
minute all six were dead, and he stood up. Some of the bites still
bled, but as he screamed for more to come, he could feel the blood
stop and knew he was healed. The looks around him were ones of
complete shock and disbelief. He could only imagine what the men on
the sides were thinking.

There were many around him who had arrows in
them. Fighting three more beasts that came charging at him, he sent
two of their heads flying, and embedded his axe so deeply into one
of their skulls, that he had to brace his foot on its body just to
pull it out. When he retrieved it, he looked around and saw that
all of the animals lay dead. Some of his men lay with them, but for
the most part they were all fine. He smiled, looking around to see
Wolf and Logan nearby, both of them wearing smiles of their own.
They had done it.

Looking the other way, he was searching for
Felix when he noticed his friend lying on the ground. He screamed
out in terror, running over dead furry bodies, and falling to his
knees beside him.

“Felix!” he gasped, reaching out to grab his
hand. There was a large wound in his neck—it had already soaked the
ground around him, covering the front of his shirt. Surprisingly,
his eyes still moved, and found Aiden’s as he neared.

“Is it over?” he asked, his voice extremely
weak.

“Yes, yes, it’s over,” he said, tears
filling his eyes. The wound was so large, Aiden couldn’t imagine
someone surviving it. His eyes were already glazed, slightly
unfocused.

“I’m … I’m sorry …” he whispered.

“Don’t say that. You did awesome,” he
soothed him. “You had my back the whole time. What more could a
friend ask for?”

“I’m glad I met you,” he said, trying to
smile. “All of you.” Aiden’s whole frame crumpled, as the strength
in the hand he held loosened. Suddenly, Wolf and Logan were beside
him, each wearing a horrified look.

“Me too, Felix. Me too.” He kept his hand in
his, watching as Felix’s eyes slowly closed. Then there was
nothing. He was gone, to his family, wherever that might be.

“I’m going to kill them all,” Wolf said
through clenched teeth. The three of them sat around their fallen
friend, oblivious to any events happening around them.

“For Felix,” Logan said quietly.

“For Felix,” they repeated together. The
three of them got up. Everything seemed to stand still. No one was
moving—all eyes had focused on the three of them.

“What are you waiting for?” Aiden yelled,
his voice filled with rage. The line of larger creatures came
forward, charging at them and crying out a loud war cry. Aiden
could hear more horses behind them. More men were coming to their
aid, the King riding in front of them.

All the men from both sides now filled the
field. Elisa watched as they charged at each other, cries of war
emanating out of the crowd. Four men from the northern army went
down before they even reached the battle. She quickly strung four
more arrows, letting them fly into the neck of one of the larger
beasts. Her chest was tight, filled with anger and grief. When she
had first seen Aiden disappear under the group of beasts, she
wanted to cry out, but remained quiet, too afraid to give away her
location. He was under there awhile, and she watched in horror as
they tore at his flesh. That was when Felix ran to his aid, crying
his name out. There was another one nearby that intercepted Felix’s
approach. She didn’t see it happen—all she saw was him fall
backward and not get up. The animals were thinning out; barely any
were left. She could see Wolf and Logan taking them out one by one,
but Aiden still lay hidden under their dark black bodies.

Suddenly, she saw a glint of his axe and
realized he was actually killing them off. Soon he was up again,
and the wounds that covered his body seemed to be gone. He
continued to fight, showing no sign of being hurt. She breathed a
sigh of relief until she watched him run to Felix, kneeling beside
him. It was clear what had happened, and tears immediately filled
her eyes. Wolf and Logan joined him soon after, and the three of
them gathered around their fallen friend. Elisa wanted to be there,
wished she could have said goodbye. It was impossible. She sat
alone, crying openly for her friend.

Now they were attacking the men and the
larger beasts from the opposing army. Aiden sat on Ty again, and he
manoeuvred through the crowd expertly. Trying her best to ignore
them, she focused on picking the other side off as quickly as she
could. The other archers were letting their arrows fly as well,
from both sides. Many of their own men fell with arrows sticking
out of their chests or necks.

The King and her father were wreaking havoc
among the ranks of the northern army. Both were expert fighters,
and not even the large beasts were a match for them. Brutus the
Red, and the surprisingly athletic-looking Callum, former prince of
Eden, were also causing an immense amount of damage where they
went. The battle was close, both sides taking major losses. They
seemed to have an advantage now that the smaller beasts were gone.
They had more men still standing, and with all the other beasts
killed, it left the other army with little else to leverage with.
Elisa actually started to feel hopeful as she viewed the scene
below. That was, until she saw the arrow hit him.

Rose had been riding hard for the better
part of the morning. She cried for a long time, but had finally
stopped, feeling exhausted both mentally and physically. The horse
didn’t seem to be getting tired, but she was, so she finally pulled
it to a halt beside a small pool of water, letting it drink quickly
before they continued. She needed a rest, at least for a short
period of time. She wasn’t a bad rider, but she also wasn’t used to
riding for such long periods of time, and at such a rigorous
pace.

Sitting on the grass, she realized that the
battle must have already started. People would be dying now, and
the fate of Eden would be hanging in the balance. She wondered if
the God and Goddess were watching, and what they’d be thinking
right now. Did they dare to intervene, or did they let humans
create their own fate? Rose had never been exceptionally religious,
but today was different.

Lying back, she looked up at the sky,
wondering then if her parents were looking down. Would they be
watching her brother, keeping him safe from harm? She could only
hope, awaiting the day when she would see him again. She could
remember his smile, the way he’d make her laugh after their father
would whip her with his stick when she misbehaved. There had been
some hard times for their family, but she always had Felix. He was
always there for her when she needed him. Soon they would be
reunited, and everything would be better.

Then she thought again of Callum, and
wondered what would be happening with him. She hadn’t said anything
to him to the effect of good luck, or be safe, but would that have
been proper? Did she want him to have good luck?
Not really,
she thought honestly. At the same time, she had grown somewhat fond
of him, or at least respected him, and she didn’t want to see him
hurt. Life could throw you so many curve balls all at once. In one
moment you lost everything, while at the same time you gained
something new and unexpected. It was infuriating and yet it made
life more interesting.

Getting up, she stretched out her legs,
giving them a good shake before climbing back on the horse. They
rode for a bit longer when suddenly she pulled it to a halt.
Something had happened—she could feel it. Looking back, she
searched the horizon where the battle would be happening. Something
gnawed at the back of her mind. It could just be her imagination,
she realized. Rose knew she was just worried, letting her mind
wander and get the best of her. Shaking the feeling off, she kicked
forward again, forcing herself to keep going, just like she had
promised him she would.