TW// Blood, violence
It was different than fighting on sea. On one hand it was more brutal, yet on the other it wasn't as brutal. There was a difference Elias couldn't pinpoint. He lost count of how many people he already wounded or how many people he had killed.
He guessed that this was the difference. At sea you knew the exact number of people on your ship, you knew how many of them you lost and how many of the enemies you've killed. You knew who you lost. Here, there were too many soldiers. Too many bodies falling that may not ever be found or may not ever be identified. They will just know the winner at the end.
And right now, things weren't looking great. With every minute Elias saw less blue banners and outfits and with every minute more, there were more of the green colour flags. He felt the shift of the battle when Luana's personal guards appeared on the battlefield. They were faster, quick, and precise to kill. Elias knew that the royal army had no chance against them, let alone the common people who were fighting for the first time. Well, all of them were probably already gone, scattered across the battlefield of death.
The enemy was already pushing through them, back up the hill. Elias clenched his left fist. He didn't know when he had lost his sword or in which body it was stuck in. His chest plate was gone too. He didn't know who sliced his arm, he only knew that it was bleeding so much, it was numb to the pain. Elias was fighting now out of pure muscle memory because after all, that was all he was – a killer.
Every time, he had the littlest of second to breath, he looked around to Tivon. He kept close to him always making sure he didn't disappear away from him. Tivon was bleeding from his right leg, and the side of his body – his chest plate also lost in the field. There was blood dripping down his forehead, blinding his vision. His face was twisted in pain and Elias knew that it wasn't just from the wounds. He couldn't come to him and help him, because every time, he wanted to, five more people attacked him.
Explosions echoed through the valley and when Elias looked at the sea, he saw Luana's ships burning. He could almost smile with relief. They've come. When he first told Rea that she shouldn't have to worry about the sea, he wasn't sure if the ships would come. He didn't know how many of them had trusted him or stayed loyal to him. They've come.
He turned to find Tivon. When he noticed him further away from him, he smiled, knowing that it was almost over. That smile was so precious to him, Elias wanted it engraved in his memory. But it didn't last long. Something cut Tivon on the side, where he already had a deep wound. He fell down on his knees screaming.
"Tivon!"
Elias started running towards him, however the same invincible thing struck his wound on his left hand.
"Oh, not so fast Elias." Both Tivon and Elias looked up at Cornelis, limping towards them. The wound on her shoulder looked like it was rotting away, and her eyes were bloodshot, dark circles gathering under her eyes. Her head was a constant twitch. "I'm not done with you two yet." Black blood spilled out of her mouth as she talked.
"Cornelis don't-"
"Shut up!" She hissed and sent another invincible force towards Tivon, slicing him across the mouth. Tivon fell down.
Elias launched at her with all the force he could muster and stroked Cornelis in the side. She didn't even flinch as blood dripped down. Bewildered, Elias looked up at her. Cornelis grabbed his chin and pulled him closer.
"I can always make his heart rot again."
She didn't bother to hear Elias respond. She showed him down onto the ground. Cornelis started approaching Tivon, who tried to support himself on his elbows.
"N-no." Stuttered Elias, as he tried crawling towards Tivon.
Cornelis reached her hand up, placing her over Tivon. "I should've left you under the sea."
"No!" Screamed Elias, still too far away from him to strike.
Tivon shut his eyes, ready for Cornelis' blow when suddenly she stopped. No, not stopped froze.
"Stop hurting them!"
Elias looked down at the woman who fell out of the melting stone back at The Awiergan Mountain, the same black snake at her feet. Cornelis' sister.
"Release me." Cornelis hissed through the teeth.
"No." Her hands were shaking. "I won't, not until you promise to stop this nonsense."
"Nonsense?!" She moved towards her sister and by the shocked look in her eyes, Elias guessed, she wasn't supposed to move. "Evelin, these people killed our mother! They killed witches and woman who were innocent."
Evelin reached up both of her hands, yet again stopping Cornelis. "They didn't kill anyone!" Her worried eyes quickly turned to Elias, and he immediately knew what she wanted him to do.
Elias pushed himself to his feet, ran to Tivon and pulled him on his feet.
Then they ran into the forest, leaving the echoing sounds of Cornelis' angry screams.