Starting the Final Battle

“It’s incredible!” exclaimed one man atop a cliff. “What is so incredible Jiren?” asked his comrade only to watch him turn away and sweep his arms out wide. The man called Jiren stared out at the massive audience of onrushing creatures who at that very moment were undertaking a perilous journey up a narrow steep pathway that would lead them to their prey.  Turning to face two men with the same tall, slender build and blonde hair Jiren began “Brothers we are faced with the greatest of battles. We here on the left side of this great cliff…” “Right side.” Interjected one of his brothers. “If you face the way we’re facing than this is the right side you are looking the wrong way. You have to look away from the castle not towards it. See where the sun is? That way is west,” his brother said while pointing to the paths off to the side “…and this is east.” His arms still in the air Jiren stood staring for a moment as if deciding whether to respond or not but eventually settled on continuing as if nothing had been said  “…are charged with defending the castle behind us.” He explained while indicating the structure that stood tall behind them. Though he paused for dramatic effect and to allow his brothers time to look back at the castle both brothers continued to stare at Jiren and so, swallowing hard he continued “Sure these creatures are small and easily vanquished as individuals but look down the path and note the charge of hundreds! They foolishly think they can claim our lives, think that even one thousand of them could be a match for our fighting prowess and coordination.” The last brother let out quite the laugh at that statement before adding “You should not be talking about coordination brother seeing as how you are more likely to trip over your own shoe laces than trip up a combatant. Now shut the hell up and stop being a goof this is truly going to test us no matter what kind of bravado you falsely attempt to show.” Moving to clap his excitable youngest brother on the shoulder Enjir continued, “Please brother we all know the enormity of the task we are faced with. You must focus now like you’ve never focused before or we are sure to fall and quickly.” With a reassuring smile Enjir went back to his position seated on the ground. While none were looking Jiren nervously fingered a glowing green solution on his belt buckle and sighed. He hoped that it would not come to using this thing but if hard pressed than he gladly would, they all would he knew.
The first of the creatures had finally arrived at the top where it found the brothers ready with weapons in hand and grim, determined expressions stamped on their faces. Jiren took one last look around. To the immediate left in the middle path was a warrior couple, Selene and Runfer who Jiren knew to be sent from the western nations. They were similarly about to engage with their enemies. To the far left on the opposite side of the castle that pathway lie unguarded but for a reason. The land was impossibly hard to navigate in a large group and even if it was successfully navigated by an individual several traps had been laid by the smallest two warriors who went on ahead inside the castle where they hoped to find the ultimate prize, a weapon prophesized to end the war which had consumed all the land for generations. The three tall blonde haired warrior brothers leapt fearlessly towards a wave of impish Gnashers, so called because of their tendency to grate and snap their sharp teeth before attacking.  Each brother wore a smile and gave a hearty scream of defiance but Enjir’s calming words hung in the air reminding them that more likely than not it would all be for naught, for the numbers were just too lopsided and not in their favor. They showed not even the slightest lack of confidence for they knew that their job was not to win, but to stall for time. Theirs was a small role in a much larger picture and they willingly played their parts knowing this would likely be their curtain call. In the middle path the warrior couple sat and watched patiently for the arrival of the first wave of what promised to be hundreds of grey-skinned humanoid Brune soldiers. To the left stood no obvious resistance yet this was where the largest of combatants was approaching from. Standing well over 9 feet tall and seemingly just as wide was a Tonner bearing down on the castle where the smaller warrior Teil and his partner Crimley worked feverishly to open the chest that likely held their salvation. Teil looked out at the approaching Tonner and shivered with fear. Truly the Tonner’s sheer bulk was representative of its name. Muscles pulled and bulged almost as if begging to be released from the skin prison that contained them. The seeming frustration of the left leg muscles released in a mighty kick that tore the nearest tree from the ground and sent It crashing into the next.  Behind the great beast were imprinted footsteps and the crushed roots of the unfortunate plants that came before. Trees fell one by one to the onslaught of this beasts’ movement and so too would any warrior crazy enough to get in his way.
Looking out at the approaching juggernaut Teil did feel a good deal of fear pull at his heart but so too did he feel confident that his trap would take care of this threat. Would that Teil could see what followed closely behind the Tonner tucked away in the shadows his confidence would be sure to fail for there was creature who's very presence forced even the most suicidal Brune warrior to his knees in fear. What Teil could see was not the most encouraging of sights and so he turned to his ally to report, “There is a Tonner closing in with many more off in the distance but if you work as quickly as I know you can than we should have the weapon well before they can arrive.” Crimley’s body visibly slumped and Teil nodded while adding, “The weapon IS here don’t you doubt, friend. We’ve come to far and found this area too guarded for it to be otherwise.” Despite his confident words Teil could still only watch helplessly and hope that Crimley complete his task in a timely fashion for if he could not then they would be at the mercy of the oncoming horde.
Teil hoped that the natural dangers of that pathway would swallow the Tonner but recognized that such a thing was highly unlikely. The Brune’s knew to send only a few warriors to navigate the path to the left instead of a large horde of soldiers precisely because the ground on that side was so heavy with quicksand. They had likely already identified all of the areas to avoid as evidenced by the Tonner’s slow purposeful movement and its insistence on kicking trees forward to test the ground. Teil was no stranger to combat, indeed he was the champion of the east much like the brothers were champions of the south and Selene and Runfer were champions of the west. Still his speed would be hard pressed to avoid a Tonner in such close quarters should one manage to climb up the cliff. Would that he could blow them all away but he only had one charge of dynamite left having used the rest of it to cover his allies desperate escape from the Brune encampment prior to arriving at the castle. Should he have to fight a Tonner he had to admit that he hated his chances and should Crimley not get to the weapon in time he knew he had no chance against the score of Tonners following not too far behind the first. Not thrilled with the idea of leaving his fate in the hands of others Teil could only sit quietly and pray for his allies safety.
With that Teil looked out from the balcony which afforded him a view of all three pathways. Surveying the land Teil recognized that Selene and her husband Runfus could not possibly hold for long in the middle path against hundreds of soldiers, while to the right the Gnashers were falling by the handful but would likely overwhelm the brothers in minutes. Minutes, Teil thought to himself, were all that they needed.  Even as far as the Tonners were concerned though they could navigate the quicksand Teil believed he could slow them down even further. Set at the base of the castle were several strategically placed sticks of dynamite. No Tonner would reach the castle easily because Teil would provide them with no pathway to walk across. If given enough time then a Tonner could haul it’s massive bulk up the side of the cliff but the name of the game was simply to stall the enemy long enough to open the chest, retrieve the weapon and win the war. His finger nervously played with the switch of the remote in his hand as he watched the approach of the nearest Tonner. “C’mon Crimley” he muttered and though he knew that he was talking too low to be heard he added, “Open the safe. Save us all.”

***
“How are we doing, boys!?” Selene screamed sarcastically at her enemies though to Teil and Crimley who heard her, albeit faintly, it seemed just as likely that the question was aimed inquisitively at them.  A downward slash of her broadsword burst right past the upraised arm of the nearest Brune soldier and split him from head to groin. With a flick of the wrist she caught a chunk of exposed entrails and flung it into the faces of the nearest trio of enemies. While they were distracted by the sudden burst of gore being unceremoniously shoved into their face Runfer’s deep, booming voice filled the air with taunts for his gore drenched foes. “Do not despair Brune wretches for you shall not live long enough to again be covered in the gore of your friend!” With that Runfer’s great hammer, Boomsickle crashed sidelong into them. With an extra heave Runfer launched two of the pitiful grunts several feet sideways through the air and well off the side of the cliff. The airborne soldiers flailed helplessly for a brief time only to crash and bounce hundreds of feet until their broken bodies disappeared into a copse of trees. “Instead you will be busy picking wood out of each others asses! Hahaha!” he finished with a salute. The two Brune soldiers further down the middle pathway close enough to witness this display of power started to momentarily slow at this and watched with trepidation to see what the unreasonably powerful couple would do next to the remaining Brune soldier standing before them. Within seconds the slowing two soldiers were knocked over and trampled by the ignorant score of bloodthirsty Brune’s that were following close behind. The breathe knocked from their lungs the soldiers failed to even manage a scream before the continuous assault of dozens of spiked footfalls ripped them to shreds and silenced them forever.
At that moment to the right all three brothers met up with the nearest group of leaping Gnashers. As if capable of reading each others minds the brothers in unison used their spinning nunchaku to bash and batter anything within arms reach all while avoiding each other. One unfortunate Gnasher thinking to leap over his fallen companions was folded like an accordion by the simultaneous crashing blow of one nunchacku to the head while another spun into its groin. Launched into the air the third brother ensured that the poor beasts part in the battle was truly over by roundhouse kicking it right over the edge. Using the momentum of his spin Jiren, the lankiest brother, used a powerful back kick to reverse the momentum of the next gnasher and send him flying away to land painfully against several of its charging bretheren. Enraged at having their momentum halted the Gnashers began tearing apart their former companion in frustration all while completely ignoring the approaching brothers.Incapbale of passing up this golden opportunity Jiren, Jeirn and Enjir launched into a series of strikes and kicks that bashed in brains and sent bodies flying into the next group of Gnashers so that the same scene could play out all over again.
Teil pulled at his hair in frustration knowing that time was short, possibly too short for them to complete this critical task. Teil looked away from the unfolding battle to regard his companion who was frantically searching for a way to unlock the chest and unveil what was hopefully their salvation. Teil shook the doubt from his mind and reminded himself that lying in this chest had to be the ancient weapon prophesized to change the course of history. Despite his attempts to convince himself otherwise he found his mind wondering what if this chest was not the right one and all of their work had been for naught? All of their research had pointed to this being the treasure that they had sought and though there was certainly a distinct possibility that they were wrong there was no time left to try again. Many miles away fires licked the skies, evidence of the climactic final confrontation between human and Brune that would decide the fate of the war. The humans were badly outnumbered and overpowered Teil knew and he also knew, they all knew that their homes and families were left behind without any sort of protection or fighting ability. Should the mission fail they would all be slaughtered mercilessley at the hands of the Brune scourge.
At that moment, thinking about the fact that hundreds of thousands of soldiers were fighting and dying, Teil felt small and insignificant indeed. What a horribly anti-climactic way for this all to end if they were to open the chest to reveal nothing but gold and trinkets. The clang of metal emanating from the middle of the battlefield told them that Selene’s group had engaged with more Brune foot soldiers. Sweat dangled precariously off of Crimley’s chin. The sound of another tree being felled by a Tonner to the left echoed through the air as the bead of sweat released it’s hold on his stubble and fell to the floor.  “That Tonner sounds awfully close.” Remarked Crimley. “Teil? Teil!? The Tonner!” Startled by the yell Teil shook away his thoughts and cursed at himself for he could see that the Tonner had reached the base of the castle. “Shit! I waited too long! NOW!” Teil yelled in warning while simultaneously flicking the switch. An enormous explosion rocked the area and as the ground erupted from underneath the Tonner the combination of exploding dynamite and shrapnel ripped apart the Tonner’s legs. Without a foothold and in too much pain to find a handhold the Tonner found himself plummeting over a mile to the trench below.
The diminutive Crimley looked down at the pool of sweat forming and noticed in the reflection that the wooden door was bursting at the seams. Teil, caught in his revelry failed to notice that a small group of enemies ran ahead of the Tonner and had entered the castle. Aware now of his mistake and eager to rectify it Teil readied his swords and waited for the enemies to bust through and pour into the room. “Worry not Crimley," he began while clanging his swords together, "your work will go undisturbed. Should these simple fools manage to break through the door they will fall quickly to my spinning blades.” The boast sent a wave of confidence through both men for they knew that Teil could more than back up his boasts though the sudden loud bang on the door did steal a bit of Teil’s thunder and cause Crimley to jump slightly. Another drop of sweat fell from Crimley’s chin followed closely by tears and the pool of water at his feet grew larger. “Curse you all for dragging me here! Curse this damned chest for not opening already!” he spat while hitting the top of the chest repeatedly with his tool. He imagined he was back home, feet up, laying comfortably in the sun being served grapes by beautiful buxom blondes grateful that their hero had come through and saved the day by unearthing the world’s most powerful weapon. The serenity of this pleasant memory momentarily deafened him to all of the carnage around him and he managed to finally get through the lock. The chest opened immediately and Teil gave a great shout of triumph just as another blow threatened to cave in the door. A look of horror spread across Teil’s face as he saw what lie inside the chest “It cannot be!” he yelled.
Meanwhile on the middle path Selene followed her husband’s hammer  launch with a seemingly suicidal sprint toward a second wave consisting of 5 Brune grunts. Just a foot away the from the five Selene elected to attempt something a little more flashy than normal. Having planted the blade of her sword in the ground Selene used her momentum to push herself into the air. Pulling the sword back out of the ground while in mid-air she continued with the momentum of her acrobatic flip to swing and viciously bisect the body of an enemy combatant. The spray of blood and body halves stunned the others just long enough for a hammer swing to launch another two off the side of a cliff. Having landed perfectly on the balls of her feet Selene swung her sword out with her left hand to parry an oncoming strike. Having his arms thrown out wide the helpless soldier could do nothing but watch as the blood drenched demon in front of him launched a throwing dagger into his exposed throat. Knowing its life would surely end the grunt thought to swing again and kill this woman but just then Selence reversed the momentum of her parry and sent a Brune arm flying through the air, sword and all. The last Brune looked upon his foes with terror.  Covered head to toe in Brune blood and surrounded already by a dozen split open corpses the Brune soldier helplessely threw down his sword and instead elected to jump off the side of the cliff and take his chances with the hundred foot drop rather than subject himself to the mercy of this insane couple. With a firm clap to his wife's shoulder Runfer let out another triumphant boast “Less than a minute into the battle and the great Selene wears a crimson mask!”.  However just as soon as the last of the five Brune grunts committed suicide another 5 stepped in to take their place. Beyond them hundreds more were pushing forward eager to get in on the action. Cramped on a small pathway several Brune's helplessely fell over the edge of the path but there seemed no end to the line and just as quickly as one Brune was killed another appearred to take its place. Selene’s dripping sword and Runfer’s swinging hammer seemed more than up to the task but how long would it be before their muscles tired? Of course the hardened warriors were more than a match for any 20 Brune’s at any single moment but to battle wave after wave of enemies seemed a daunting task that even these mighty companions would be unable to complete even with the high ground.
The muffled shouts of the Brune soldiers were followed closely by the sound of splintering wood as Teil and Crimley stared incredulously at the contents of the chest. The latest knock on the door sent a rivet flying to the floor by Crimley’s feet. Without hesitation his fingers tried to perform the delicate work of unlocking the next locked safe that was inside of the chest but his trembling made it a near impossibility."Is this some kind of cruel joke? Am I to open a chest, to find a safe, to find a ball of steel wrapped around a ball of venomous snakes before finally reaching the prize inside?" Crimley looked up to the heavens and spat in frustration. “Curse the ancestors merciless enough to design such a cruel thing!” Suddenly the roars of the grunts turned to terrible screams and the sound of something much larger and much more powerful replaced them. Surely no Tonner could squeeze into the tight corridor and Teil would have noticed another ones arrival so what could it be? Then a terrible roar split the air accompanied by the smell of sulfur, its familiarity stealing the color from both mens faces. Teil thought back to the previous night when he and Crimley snuck into the Brune base to steal the key that would allow them entry into the castle. All too well did both Crimley and Teil remember the beast who reeked of sulfur. The beast who, aided by some kind of magic, perhaps even aided directly by some kind of a God, managed to kill a Tonner with his bare hands. Teil swallowed hard as a spiked gauntlet tore through the doorway, the same spiked gauntlet that tore through the skull of a 9 foot tall beast the previous night. Breathlessly Crimley started to ask in a whisper “Is it…” but was quickly interrupted by the horrified scream of Teil. "For your life! For all our lives ignore all that surrounds us and open that safe!"

The warrior couple had built themselves a barricade consisting of the bodies of their fallen enemies. Any Brune who climbed the disgusting wall of gore would find themselves slipping on a mixture of blood, entrails and devilishly placed oil designed to trip them up and make them easy prey. One Brune hopped over the wall only to immediately be blasted in the face with a swinging hammer that shattered bone and crushed tissue. "Twenty...one!" called out Runfer while swinging away at yet another climbing soldier. Looking over to Selene he could see that she was poking her sword repeatedly through a series of natural cracks in the barrier. With a thrust forward Selene triumphantly called out "Thirty-five!" Being so obviously outstripped by his significant other drew a grunt of disapproval from Runfer who set himself and readied his hammer for another swing "Damn impatient woman can't wait for them to climb first! RAAARGH!" Not to be outdone Runfer launched into a series of assaults on the ground itself the repeated strikes sending forth multiple shockwaves which sent half of the barricade and over a dozen Brunes flying either backwards or sideways off the cliff. Several unfortunate Brune were impaled and tossed aside by their onrushing companions while others crashed painfully against the seemingly endless expanse of rock that had already claimed so many others. With a disapproving glare of her own Selene reprimanded her husband and reminded him "We are not here for competition you can't go destroying what few advantages we have you bluster-filled fool!" The surprisingly candid admission that they were so badly outnumbered served as a sobering reminder to Runfer of how desperate their situation was. Embarassed by his rashness he stumbled over an awkward apology and set to about atoning the only way he knew how which was bashing in more brains so that he may build the barrier anew.

The gauntlet covered hand grabbed hold of the door and pulled. A large chunk of wood ripped away revealing the naked abdomen of the Brune who was called Ta’Rule. Before he could think better of his course of action Teil bravely ran forward hoping to stab through the hole in the door and do some damage to Ta’Rule before he could properly see the incoming blow and defend itself. Had he bothered to look backwards he would have seen the puddle of sweat below Crimley’s feet turned yellow. It was curious to Teil that Ta’Rule appeared to be unarmored through the small hole in the door. Though they had trouble seeing exactly what Ta’Rule looked like in the dark the previous night they had clearly seen several spikes protruding from it’s knees and elbows and assumed that it normally wore some kind of spiked armor yet here Ta’Rule had come to a battle seemingly unarmed and unarmored except for the gauntlets on the ends of his hands. Ignoring the thoughts that were pulling at him Teil continued to force his legs forward toward Ta’Rule, toward death itself.
Holding back his yell for fear of alerting his enemy Teil stabbed forward with all of his power. The magically enhanced sword, as would be expected easily tore through the flesh well on its way to what would be a fatal blow to the great monster. With a shout of triumph Teil pushed forward with all of his momentum hoping to tear out Ta’Rules stomach. The fight was over without even starting Teil thought to himself when without warning the progress of Teil’s blade was halted altogether causing the blade to snap off of the hilt completely. Teil looked incredulously at his broken sword and then back to the exposed ribs of Ta’Rule and realized that he was truly doomed. Both Teil and Crimley had assumed that the beast was wearing spiked armor last night. What other explanation could there be for the sharp protrusions that stuck out from its hands, elbow and knee joints? Little did they know that this creature, leader of all Brune’s had used the power of the gods to fuse the most powerful metal in the world to every inch of bone that he possessed and that the spikes were natural extensions of this body armor. The Brune leader did not wear armor, he was armor, he did not need the power of a weapon, he was power. Blood that poured from the open wound dripped onto the floor causing the stone to sizzle and dissolve. “Bones of metal and Acidic blood!?” Teil gasped in horror while running backwards in shock. In response Crimley cried out despairingly and dropped the tool in his hand. Voice filled with a conviction that he did not feel Teil forcefully pushed the tool back into Crimley’s hand and growled into his face “Lift your tool goddamn you Crimley! I will hold this monster back as long as I can. I will die if need be but you cannot let my sacrifice be in vain. You cannot let humanity fall here! For that is the price of your failure do you not understand this? We are not dead yet! Do not let your fear and inaction doom us! Open the safe and save our world!”
At that moment the door exploded forward as two fists hammered through it. Teil bravely stood in front of Crimley and took a few shards of wood in the back as a result but nothing managed to stab through his armor. Teil turned to regard the roaring Ta’Rule and was quite surprised by the sight of his enemy. In contrast to the rest of his gray body Ta’Rules face was bleached completely white, his eyes were a piercing blue color and his head was completely bald.  The air around his body seemed to tremble as lines of stink emanated off of his body. Were it not for the obvious power and aura of hate that surrounded him most would note that Ta’Rules facial features would be considered surprisingly handsome. A chiseled jaw, slightly jutting cheekbones and full lips seemed to be a stark contrast to the bloodied spikes, massive rough hewn hands and scars that covered lined his body.
Barely processing this information Teil leaped forward, sword in one hand and smoke pellets in the other ready to buy time for Crimley at all costs. Raising his hand as if to throw Teil stopped suddenly. The two warriors looked upon one another and recognized that in this moment the future of the entire world would be written, that this battle would result in the elimination of one race and the dominance of another. Showing a measure of honor that Teil would have never expected Ta”Rule bowed slightly to his opponent and eloquently issued an ultimatum “Stand aside and let me open the chest and I will allow you to die painlessly.” Teil spat at his feet in defiance which elicited a wide smile. “I will enjoy ripping you limb from limb and drinking the blood that pours from your limb holes human.”