Finn moved her children, who were all capable of walking now, at a brisk pace, but carefully, through the battlefield. Victoria walked alongside them, helping her niece and nephews.
The sound of the rallying horns had sent both hope and fear through her in equal measure. Many were still alive! Was the horn out of dire need or encouragement to rally?
She begged for the latter, mentally crying out for Gwen to come and help her, help the children.
Her mother, Gabriel, and Victoria's parents led the charge through the dim, fractured streets. Finn ducked every time the light changed, afraid that some gargoyle was swooping down or a swarm of bats was inbound.
"We have to get to them," She whispered to Ivan, who she supported with one arm. He seemed in worse shape than the others, clearly affected by the strange patterns of light and the absence of the sun.
The epicenter of the conflict came into sight, and it was glorious and terrifying to behold.
Their mother had not been the only one to come back from the world of the dead.
Thousands of white-clad warriors had joined the fray, and in the distance she recognized Riley at the forefront alongside his father. Tears pricked at her eyes as she remembered her neighbor's death. This day was terrible and wonderful all at once.
Victoria's armor-clad mount charged ahead, throwing its mighty head from side to side as it cleared a path towards the main forces of Klain and humanity.
Of course, not all of humanity.
Finn did not have enough hands to cover her children's eyes as they passed the mutilated corpses of people and creatures that were once too beautiful for words. A multicolored bird the size of a wagon lay with its wings shattered and gnawed on, and Finn swallowed a wave of nausea as she saw that a goblin had collected human limbs in a macabre pile of death.
Finn's mother and Gabriel dispatched the evil creature before it could feast on the spoils.
"This way, hurry." Serafina told her children. Much evil had been accomplished today, but good would triumph. It had to.
The images she saw burned into her brain, staining it forever with the depravity of evil's hideous deeds. She hoped her children were not absorbing the sights with any permanency.
Ivan seemed focused on each step, while Lily and Roen seemed intent on helping defend the group, looking up and outward for signs of unspotted danger. Perhaps they would be spared the worst memories.
As they drew closer to the main conflict, the situation became more intense. Enemies battered them from all sides. Though Finn's mother was a valuable and talented warrior now that she was, well, dead, and in the Sorcerer's service, and Gabriel was a passable soldier with adequate training, Finn and Victoria were not equipped to deal with a situation such as this.
"Please Gwen, if you can hear me, send help," Finn whispered to the wind as it whipped around her face.
Roen ducked to the ground, and a pillar of rock surged upward, striking a strange greenish ogre upon the chin, knocking him unconscious.
"Good job, Ro!" Gabriel cheered. "But you have to leave some for the rest of us, don't take all the glory."
The boy's face dripped sweat despite the winds blowing hot and cold around them. He offered his uncle a weary smile.
"You'll exhaust yourself," Finn warned her son.
"If I'm exhausted, but we're all alive, that counts for something," He replied, wiping away the sweat and standing again. "We have to keep moving, right Mama?"
"Of course," Finn agreed, pulling Ivan with her. Lily was focused behind them, trying to keep a steady stream of water on their trail so that she would have her most versatile weapon handy if needed, and a moat to keep away goblins when they drew near.
"Ahead," Victoria pointed at a small group around a pile of rubble. One man on the ground, and several others fighting to defend him. Finn gasped, and passed Ivan over into Victoria's care.
"Keep the triplets safe," She said, drawing her sword from its sheath and running past Gabriel and the other warriors.
Her brother almost managed to catch her hand and hold her back, but she evaded him and sprinted forward. Finn's mother dashed forward to keep pace, the shining white blade in her hand cutting down enemies in their path before Finn could even raise her weapon.
Leaping over a narrow crack in the earth, she landed amidst the group of strangers, friends, and her unconscious husband.
"Roland!" She cried in despair, falling to her knees and looking over his battered body. He was bruised and bloodied so severely that it took her a moment to locate the most dire injury.
"I set the leg with his instructions, and then he passed out," Duncan pursed his lips. "I hope I did it correctly."
Finn grimaced at the ugly wound, peeling back some fabric to check on it.
"PAPA!" Lily screamed as she saw her mother on the ground.
"He's alive, Sweetheart," Finn assured her, though her voice wavered. There was no guarantee he hadn't lost too much blood already, or that the wound wouldn't become infected.
Lily frantically took a waterskin from her side. "He needs to drink."
"That's a good idea, Lily, if we can get him to," Finn encouraged, "but we shouldn't force it while he's unconscious. We don't want him to inhale it by mistake. Let me."
Her daughter's hands were shaking with emotion, which forced Serafina to breathe deeply and exude calm for the sake of her children. She couldn't afford to fall apart when they needed her to be strong.
She took the water skin and put one hand behind Roland's head, tilting it up to a proper position.
"Please, my Love," She coaxed, "take a little sip of water."
"I made it special, Papa," Tears streaked down Lily's face, and Victoria took the girl's shoulders. Duncan had turned to fight off a yellow, sickly looking spider the size of a cow, and Caspian was flanking the creature, striking at its nimble legs.
Finn's father in law was weak from injuries incurred in the last war, and Roland's cousin wasn't the best warrior, but several white-clad figures helped finish off the monster. She was grateful there were more here; the resurrected dead all seemed to be unaccountably talented at warfare.
The skirmish intensified, but Serafina blocked out the rest of the world to concentrate on dribbling a little of the water between her husband's lips. He groaned slightly and her heart lurched.
"I'm here," She told him, "Please, wake up and take this."
She wished she knew where Agatha was, or any of the halflings for that matter. The herbs they'd grown were small in quantity against such a vast battlefield, but Finn would use every bit of them right now if it meant saving her husband's life.
He looked deathly pale, even in the dim light.
"Please, Papa," Lily whimpered beside him.
Finn smiled at her daughter in comfort, though she herself was a wreck inside. She'd lost Roland once, and she couldn't go through it again. She refused to acknowledge the possibility until all hope was gone.
And as long as the Sorcerer lived, there was hope. Roland had come back once before; the Sorcerer could do it again, couldn't he?
Wouldn't he?
She glanced at the sky, where the epic battle raged on. Shining white dust trailed from the figure of light. Was that blood? Could the Sorcerer bleed??
Fear entered her heart, but she focused on what she could do, what she could control. A few sips later, Roland seemed to be coming around.
Caspian screamed, and fell. Finn looked over in shock as he hit the ground with a goblin's spear through his chest.
"Gabriel–" Finn barely had the word out before the army doctor was on his way to the man, who was now being defended by three warriors in white on all sides. It left Finn and the children more vulnerable, until Roen raised a wall of earth around them to close them in.
"Mama, hurry," He urged with tears in his eyes.
Finn steeled herself and tried to revive her husband.
The triplets knelt around their father's legs, watching earnestly as their mother worked. She was no nurse, but she concentrated on remembering any of the medical things she'd picked up over the years. Her work with herbs was far behind her, and she didn't have any with her that would be of any use.
She held back her emotion as Roland hesitantly opened his eyes the barest amount.
"Mother," He said, swallowing.
"Mama's right here," Lily assured him, but his eyes seemed to search around him. A sudden realization hit Finn, but she didn't have time to absorb it as the intensity of the battle overhead reached a fever pitch.
The Dragon was falling to the earth.