Only few people knew the worst was about to happen; if the infestation happens, a lot of crusader's lives will be lost .
Maximus' squadron stood their ground, the quake from the hole wasn't natural - they knew what was coming
"steady men!" He steeled the resolve of his men
Anastasia got to the tower, hoping to see the source of the trumpet sound
"Miss Anastasia !" Victoria called out, hugging her.
It was kinda of awkward But with everything going on, it was relieving that a strong crusader was with them.
"What was that, Zenemiah?" Anastasia was puzzled
Zenemiah held the trumpet up high to show Anastasia "This is the Sound of Angels, and it's going to call every demon from every part of England to Hailderguard, right now"
"And you think that's a good idea?" Anastasia was trying to fathom the reason for the trumpet
"It's crazy, but we have no time to waste, this is a chance to end this demon war once and for all" Zenemiah said confidently
"There's a thin line between being brave and stupid" Anastasia shouted
"The trumpet is from our bloodline; the Saint Claires, it holds holy powers that lure Demons" Victoria added
=====
The evacuation process was going smoothly, the people couldn't believe they would one day have to leave their home
At the church, the crusaders-in-training guarded the church priest and the bishops
"God be with us in our darkest hour" Sir Christopher, one of the high ranking bishops prayed.
From the depths of the hole, a black scaly claw reached out to the surface floor, followed by another claw - coming forth from the hole were demons of different sizes and forms all with blood lust in their eyes
"Hold !" Maximus ordered
"Let's fire Vice Captain, it's a demon!" Balor, questioning the Vice Captain.
"Wait for my signal!" Maximus called out.
One by one, the demons crawled out of the hole, making their way to the surface.
"Move back three paces!"
The crusaders were puzzled; why haven't Vice Captain Maximus ordered for an attack yet? Maximus was driving to draw the demons all out! If they were coming in hundreds - his attacks will come in thousands The trumpet worked!
"Guns, fire!" The order came in and a rain of gunpowder fired at the demons
"Shields, ready!" Maximus ordered the shield battalion to be moved to the front lines, The foul creatures didn't come in hundreds, they had come in thousands!
They flooded the land with their numbers letting out for errie and fierce roar
"Growl !!"
"Roar!!"
They ravaged through the borders gates, still to get into Hailderguard , the Demons had claimed and devoured many human from many cities of Endland. And Haidergaurd was their next target
"Archers, fire !" Barlor ordered on Maximus signal
"Swords, with me, today, we show these demons the power and might if Haidergaurd Crusaders!"
"Attack!"
It was a battle field at the night hour - the clashing was heard from the first gates that the war had begun but had not reached the streets of Hailderguard yet.
Old Kent prepared to leave the Crusader's army base when the first explosion came, the vibrational frequency traced to the border gates...
"Sir, where are we going?" the coachman of Old Kent's carriage asked.
This war has to be at the favor of the crusaders or else… Old Kent had the Armageddon's device with him, his entire mind was hazy - then the strangest thing; along the roadside where his carriage stopped, Old Kent looked through the window, only to see Zenemiah and Victoria, riding off to the border gates with Anastasia
"Those little…Follow them!" Old Kent redirected his carriage driver.
Captain Leo couldn't leave the first until every civilian had evacuated Hailderguard- from the Nobke to the commoners, everyone had a chance to leave before the demon war escalate.
"Captain!, They need you at the border gates" a crusader halted at Leo Peridot
"My place is here soldier!" The adamant captain Leo replied
"Sir, the rest of us can continue with the evacuation, please sir , they need you at the border gates" the red-haired crusader pleaded
"Very well, maintain the line, I want every civilian out of Hailderguard now!" Captain Leo was hesitant, he knew how the Nobkemen were but he had faith in his men to make sure everyone made it safely
He then climbed upon his horse, ordering his own squadron at both left and right hand sides, the order came...
"Onward for our people and fir the future of Haidergaurd!" The crusaders yelled out in one accord - riding towards the border gates.
Not too far from the bell tower, Shadrach and Nicholas were exhaling hard, sweating dripping from their faces after the fist fight which lasted for an hour.
"Hailderguard is at the brink of destruction, and you're here being stupid, I feel sorry for you, Nicholas" Shadrach said, finally catching his breath
"Doesn't….matter, the world…will end and nobody will remember…. We even existed" Nicholas finally calmed down, he fell onto the concrete floor, he stared at the night sky, just lost in his own mind
Shadrach wondered what the fat bully must have been through for him to make that kind of statement
"Not that I care though" Shadrach thought as he extended his hand to help the fat bully "get to safety and rethink your life, the demons have yet to enter the city" He advice the fat bully
"Pfft , you think I'll wait for them to come kill me?…please don't push your mentality onto me" Nicolas got up and left the scene with a smug look on his face
"…"
=====
"Fire !" the cannons fired at the army of demons - the defensive line was gradually getting getting weaker - the demons were ruthless, tearing up soldiers at the front line
"Vice Captain! the demons are getting through the defense, what do we do?!" Balor lamented cutting down the foes that came his way
"We'll hold them off… of course…Swords, with me, charge!" Maximus knew that the evacuation at the first gates wasn't over,and that he had to hold the line.
"Charge!"
The brave crusaders railed with the Vice Captain towards the demons' fronts
Getting towards the border gates, Old Kent stopped Anastasia with his carriage, asking her why would she bring Zenemiah and Victoria to the main battle - explosions everywhere, crusaders getting killed, demons being slayed as well as the smell of blood and yet the children came.
"We have a plan to call the demon into the hole… there we can safely activate the Armageddon" Anastasia said to Old Kent
"How do you know about the..?"
"Sir!, I know a lot, a lot I'm not suppose to know but I do, I will blow the trumpet, you'll give me the device, I detonate it " Zenemiah aforesaid.
"This is not a game child, and you Anastasia, you believe in all this?" Old Kent was in a hazy position at that moment
"At this point, I believe in everything the Demon knowledge foretold,as well as this unit… it sounds risky but .... there's not else to do " Anastasia couldn't do much, fighting demons was her job but stopping the plaque of demons at once was different, a very frightening postion to be in.
"Kyaaa !" Victoria yelled out when a demon jumped at them
"Roaarrrrrrr!"
The foul creature looked them face to face and prepared to strike
"Zenemiah with me!" Anastasia dodged the claws to fire arrows at its heart, then in a swift move, Zenemiah leaped high to cut off the demon's head
"Impressive" Anastasia acknowledged Zenemiah's skills
"Thank you"
But that was just one demon, Maximus' shield defense broke, making way for the demons to get into the cityBut hope wasn't lost, behind them was Captain Leo and his squadron
"Onward!" The galloping horses, the armed crusaders, and the fierce captain - the comeback was certain to be victorious
Zenemiah had to even the odds, he snatched the Armageddon's remote , he jumped onto Anastasia's horse, riding towards the direction hole.
"Brother!" Victoria cried out
"Don't be stupid boy" Anastasia yelled Old Kent could only stand, looking at his surroundings, unknown to him, a demon stood him back and struck a heavy rip across his back
"Ahh" Old Kent fell to the ground
"Victoria get behind me !" Anastasia reached into her quiver to launch arrows at the demon, simultaneously The demon went down died, but Old Kent was badly injured
"We need to get you a healer" Luckily for them, Captain Leo's squadron had healers with first aid equipment.
"Get him to the infirmary!" Captain Leo ordered a crusader Anastasia and Victoria stood as they heard the trumpet sound again at the hole
"Zenemiah.....?"
It was as if the demons stood still, the crusaders were puzzled, Maximus discovered it was Zenemiah, with the trumpet
"What is he doing?" Captain Leo asked Anastasia
"We are Winning the war" Old kent spoke faintly before he lost his consciousness
at the hole, a tsunami of demon stormed towards Zenemiah, who raised the Armageddon's remote - ready for detonation
"ZENEMAIH!!! Victoria had attempted to chase after her brother but fell to the ground, no way she could catch up to a horse.
"Saint Claire!" Maximus started towards Zenemiah
"Father, help me" With those words, Zenemaih activated the Armageddon's device and blew the trumpet one more time as he headed towards the center of the catacombs
"Zenemiah!" Maximus immediately got stopped by Balor
"The boy ran in there with the remote in hand, we have to fall back or we'll all die!"
"Fall back!" Captain Leocrusaders on the battlefield
Captain Leo was conflicted, although he didn't know the boy well he was good friends with his father, he'd hate to aurhness to death if two generations at once crusaders on the battlefield….but the lives of many came before one
"Wait, I can't leave my brother!" Victoria cried out, but that didn't help,
Anastasia grabbed her tight Lo and behold, the Light of the heavens shined upon the land,
The Amageddon blew up like the eruption of a volcano, what he took wasn't a remote but the Amageddon itself. Noine would expect something small to create that large explosion
It's view was seen from the first, where other civilians evacuating could see, Eve saw this horrifying sight and began to cry
"Ohh Zenemiah, Victoria, please be safe"
It was calm, the debris created a fog of dust and smoke - the crusaders hurried to help the injured, the dead, well , were carried in horse-driven wagon carriages; Captain Leo, Anastasia, Balor, Maximus and Victoria ran to the hole to recover
To see what was left of it A deep space on the earth surface, nothing left but the ashes of the demons - it worked, the plan to gather all the demons in one place worked, a big heap of burned demons and a piece of the golden trumpet was all remaining
"This boy"... Captain Leo faced the crusaders - "he did something we couldn't do, he is a true crusader, just like his father"
Anastasia stood still in silence "Ana, it's over" Maximus came to her side
"It is " she replied
The news got to the Capital and to other cites that Zenemiah Saint Claire did the unthinkable - Old Kent was still in the infirmary when he heard the newsIt was this kind of news that laughs and cries about later.
Eve was heartbroken and cried herself a river, not only did she lose her husband but also her son.
Victoria and Shadrach cited at the scene, this was never part of the plan
"He would blow the trumpet and we would flee after setting off the Armageddon, you fool…" Shadrach thought "you made me break my promise.." he said trying to hold back the tears that were already falling
He tried to be brave in front of Victoria, she had witness her brother run to his death just like her father she wasn't able to stop them… The Saint Claire household was witnessing bad times
The civilians of Hailderguard returned to their homes, after hearing news that the Demons have been stopped preparing to celebrate the new era of peace
In the following weeks a special memorial burial ceremony and for Zenemiah Saint Claire was held
While not many knew his name they all recognized the Saint Claires ,and now Zenemaih's name was set into history books
Unfortunately his body wasn't found as it was said to have been burnt into ashes along the demons… everyone would do better to rennet the name of thier young savior, who made a noble sacrifice….
[Peace doesn't come without a cost].
====
Splash
Whoosh…whoosh
In an unknown area underground a blurry figure is cleaning a pile of clothes and suddenly looked in our direction
"Oh you're finally awake…"