Chapter 481: Into battle!  

Before the Redwing army set off for the day, all the soldiers were told to gather together, each in their formation. The Redwing's so called Dragon knights and leaders stood in front of the army. All of them standing tall and bold, not showing any fear on their faces. Facing opposite them with Katy at the front was the whole of the Redwing forces.

Everyone knew that today was the day. They had endured a harsh trip but after a good night's rest today was the day that they would reach the fortress. The day that many lives would be lost and blood will be shed in the hopes of a better future for those ahead of them. They were doing this to protect their families that lived back home.

Van stood in the centre of the Redwing leaders and Sir K was by his side as he was to give an inspiring speech to them all. Van's fingers nervously twitched by his side as he looked at them all. He was doing his best to remember each of their faces, he wanted to. He didn't want a single one of their lives to be lost and forgotten. Some of them didn't have any family and was the reason they chose to fight.

Maybe after today they would be forgotten forever. Not wanting this to happen to them, Van tried to remember all of their names and faces but this was quite the impossible task.

"I will not lie to you all!" Sir K shouted in a booming voice, utilising his Ki to reach the vast crowd of soldiers. "The shadow is strong and this will not be an easy fight, but we will also not make it easy for them. In the past attacks against the shadow have never worked before.

"Not once has an army been able to take back land from the shadow but at Avrion, the Redwings had achieved a first in human history. We had successfully defended an attack from the shadow. On that day we made history and today we will make history again. We will be the first kingdom to also take back land from the shadow!"

The army cheered in response to this, and Sir K's speech seemed to inspire them. He then looked over to Van the prince and gave him a nod. At that moment Van lifted up the crystal.

"We have powers the shadow is afraid of. You all witnessed the power of the white stone when they tried to ambush us. Their beasts were burnt to ashes and we shall do the same to their fortress."

Lifting up his fist, the army all gave one large cheer again and the march through the snow soon started after. With their spirits uplifted the snow felt lighter than it ever did before.

The leaders walked up front taking the charge, but just like before Van and Bliss were heavily protected by the strongest members of the Redwings and the beast force was also there including the two students.

"Please remember prince, that the white stone will only work on beasts. There are enemies that it will not work on and it will be our job to deal with them." Bliss reminded him.

Hearing this, Kyle gripped his Chain weapon even tighter. So far everyone who had gone to try and convince Gary to come back hadn't returned or ended up going over to his side. Maybe they were all being foolish thinking they could get Gary to come back. If this was the case then there was something else that needed to be done.

Gary would need to die, and if that really was the case then someone had to be up for the task. This whole time, instead of trying to save Gary like Harry and Ray would have done, Kyle was picturing himself killing Gary.

He tried to build up the image in his head of hurting one of those he felt close with.

'Gary is no longer alive, you are just killing another monster of the shadow.' Kyle said to himself.

"This is actually not the first time Avrion and the Alure kingdom have fought at the Lion's mouth." Sir K said. "When the shadow first came to attack, we knew that this would be a critical point for them. We wished to stop their advance, so at the time the Alure kingdom and the Avrion knights teamed up with the old kingdom that used to be.

"We tried our best to fight them off but they were stronger than we had expected and action had only sent little support. Returning back with the kingdom we had no choice but to retreat. After regathering a stronger force was sent to deal with them. However, this ended in a complete defeat for the kingdom. The castle had already been turned into a solid fortress." Sir K explained.

"Yes,'' Roy replied, "In fact I used to be from said kingdom. The kingdom excelled in the use of fire mages and they hoped they could rely on this power but when they returned, the castle and the gates had been cloaked in some strange substance making it impossible to light up in flames. Our main weapon was useless."

It wasn't Sir K's aim to dwindle the groups mood, but for them to know what to expect.

Soon that wouldn't be a problem for them anyway. The army was finally ascending up the slope, and after passing a little hump everyone could see what stood before them. A large fortress that had been carved into a mountain scene. The large black gates with arches stood there and the two mountains by either side only allowing for one direction for entry.

Seeing this, many of the soldiers instantly thought this was a mistake. They had fought other guilds, helped settle disputes in towns and such and some had even fought in wars before.

But here at the Lion's mouth, the terrain was very unfavourable for any attackers. Walking up this slope was a certain death trap for them. Many would imagine a rain of arrows and boulders being rolled their way, while magic fired down upon them. They certainly had the positioning.

"This is perfect." Lenny said out loud. "With that large mountain blocking their way, it means they have nowhere to run. We defeat them here and we get rid of them."

It certainly was an optimistic way of looking at things but it was the only hope they had. When the two armies were only a stone's throw away from each other they stopped progressing.

It was common before the war that each side sent out a messenger stating their terms, in the end both sides would want to avoid bloodshed if possible, and maybe just seeing the forces would cause one side to surrender peacefully. For the Redwings, Jack had volunteered himself.

He was confident that even if they chose to attack him, he could get out of there alive whereas he couldn't say the same for anyone else. He was given one of their few horses to ride.

He had now entered the archers range and at any point in time they could have attacked him, but had not thus far. The other side had come out sending their own messenger on horseback. Then the two of them finally met in the middle.

Both men looked impressive, the opponent had sent out a large man that was even taller than Jack, wearing thick heavy armour and a helmet with horns. On his back, he carried an axe as large as his own body.

But Jack didn't lack in the impressive department himself. He had muscles carved like a greek statue, something even with dedication and hard work one couldn't achieve. It was simply in his genes. He was a born fighter, the world had gifted him with talent to be used in fighting.

The two of them seemed to talk for a while and the Redwing members were getting fidgety. Van was looking up at the gates and could see the beast staring down at him. Any second now he was ready to get out the crystal and burn them all, it was important to get the first strike.

They waited and waited as seconds turned into minutes. It felt like torture for them as it felt like it had been hours. Eventually Jack started to return. Carefully, Sir K was watching the archers to see if they would strike him while his back was turned. He would do anything to protect his students.

However, there seemed to be no foul play and they had allowed Jack to return to safety.

'You're not going to believe this." Jack said. "But, they have said that they wish to surrender."

This was really something they couldn't believe, and it was an unexpected move on their part.

"Surrender?" Bliss said. "It has to be a trap." Was her first thought.

******

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