Knight Witch -03

Knight Witch

Chapter 3

Comes the Dark Army

Terrified at the sight and sound of thousands of demented, monstrous creatures rushing towards them, the people left outside the fortified walls surrounding the castle scattered in haste to find refuge.

From atop the palace wall, the Sorceress Queen, Amadora, hands clasped below her waistline in front of her and brows joined at the center, stared down at the invading force.

Her thoughts lost within the complexity of the attack and the defense the castle; her face often shifted from outrage to concern over the unprovoked assault on her Kingdom.

This was not her first engagement; she had come up against many armies in her long life, but none ever matched the size and strength of this formidable army of horrific beasts. And the thought that the most potent of her magic may not bring about an end to the fearsome army of monsters, demons, and lost souls troubled her.

Even more troubling was the thought that her soldiers may not be able to defend the castle against the abhor army from the Netherworld.

Her men had proven themselves time and again in battle, but never had they come up against such a crushing and fear-provoking army as this. And outnumbered a hundred to one, her soldiers stood little or no chance of defeating the horrible creatures.

But it mattered not to them; they stood proud and ready to defend the castle until the last man falls.

Noble as these virtues might be, Queen Amadora preferred a plan that would guarantee the destruction of the enemy with the minimum loss of life or casualty on her side as possible, but she was uncertain how to carry out such a task.

After considerable thought, Amadora returned to her throne where her young Apprentice, Gwendolyn, pacing up and down the room and nervous on edge, waited for her return.

Once there, the Queen called out the names of three of the most formidable members of the Order of the Seven Sisters of Sorcery and commanded they appear before her.

Within seconds, three small radiant stars--the size of a butterfly, appeared at the center of the throne room, and with the quickest, grew and transformed into the three Sorceresses Amadora had called forth.

Arms stretched out like sheets to the wind, the three Sorceresses--lined up side by side, greeted Amadora with a bow, and with humbleness, asked in accord, "What does thy command of us, great Queen?"

A feeling of outrage in her voice, Queen Amadora ordered the three to combine their energies to form a shield around the castle strong enough to hold back the repulsive intruders.

The three Sisters of Sorcery stood up and replied in unity, "As you command, great Queen, so it shall it be done."

With a clap of Amadora hands, the Sorceresses vanished in a bright haze and reappeared outside, high atop the palace's watch tower.

Standing at the center of the tower with their back to each other, the Sorceresses stood shoulder to shoulder in a triangle formation and held out their hands before them.

Gwendolyn, looking out a window facing the tower where the Sorceresses stood, watched with stern eyes as the three moved their hands in and out and about in a circular motion.

She then listened with intense fascination as the Sorceresses, speaking in the ancient language of their mystic ancestors, spoke aloud the words that would bring forth a wall of mystic fire.

Six times, in unison, they recited the words to the spell, and each time with greater vocal intensity than the previous, the last being the most powerful invocation of all.

Gwendolyn throw herself closer to the window's edge as she saw striking, bright green lights wove itself around the Sorceresses with unbelievable speed.

The Sorceresses' hair seemed to come to life as they rose and fell back to take flight. Their dresses snap hard against a strong wind as the mysterious energies from within, ever increasing, covered their entire bodies. And when the surge of energy grew so intense they could no longer hold it back; the Sorcereses drew back their arms, and with great commanding force, thrust their hands forward.

Gwendolyn's eyes came near to exploding as with the force of a violent wind, a powerful and dramatic upsurge of green spectral light burst forth from the hands of the Sorceresses.

Within seconds, like a rolling cloud of fire rushing off the side of an erupting volcano, a dramatic, giant wave of emerald green fire traveled outward one mile and wrapped itself along the castle's perimeter in the form a huge dome, hundred feet thick.

Eyes and mouth wide open, Gwendolyn looked on with utter disbelief as thousands of demons and soulless creatures, trapped within the fiery wall, burst into flames in a flash of bright green light, and then vanish in a dark haze that fades as fast as the creature were destroyed.

With all the nightmarish monsters caught inside the wall of fire destroyed, Gwendolyn turned her sight to the army on the other side of the wall.

Despite the distorted, rippling vision created by the wall of fire and distance, Gwendolyn could see the halted army standing on the other side of the shield. She also saw many faint flashes of light coming from different sections of the wall, which indicated to her the soulless soldiers were trying to break through at any cost.

Gwendolyn found a new respect for sorcery at that moment; it came close to bring her to tears as she stared at the wall of fire.

In all her years of studying the mystic arts, she had never once considered how destructive magic could be in the wrong hands, and it frightened her to think of the strong influence it would one day have on her life.

The Queen noticed the color had faded from Gwendolyn's face. "What is it, child? Are you ill?"

Looking numb and frail, arms crossed, Gwendolyn turned to Queen Amadora and answered back with a hint of a tremor in her voice.

"No. It is... I mean, I...."

"What, child?"

"I... I have never seen you or any of the Sisters of Sorcery unleashed the full strength of your powers before."

"That troubles you?"

Gwendolyn shifted her eyes back to what was going on outside the window.

"I never know or understood just how terrifying it truly can be," she said after a belief period of silence, her voice lacking the spirit of life she always liked to display.

"To shape and imitate the world," said Gwendolyn, as she held out her hands and looked down on them, as if she were holding something.

Gwendolyn hastened to the Queen side and held up her hands for Amadora to see, and with bitterness in her voice, continued to convey her feelings.

"I am awed by it temptation for greatness," she said, her eyes slumped and tearing. "To be able to create or destroy at a mere command. Such a power is to be desired. Yet, I fear for those who would stands in the path of our anger if we do not restrain ourselves. And I wonder, can I?"

Queen Amadora approached Gwendolyn, and placing her hands on the young Apprentice's shoulders, guided the girl to turn and look at her.

"You should not fear its power," said Amadora, shaking a clenched fist before the girl. "You should embrace it! As we all did, and you will, in time."

Gwendolyn dropped her arms to her sides to quick for the Queen's liking. "That is not as simple to do as to say, My Queen," the young Sorceresses' Apprentice snaps back. "At least, for me, it is not."

"And, why is that?"

Gwendolyn found it difficult to look up at the Queen. Her lips dry, she moistened them with the tip of her tongue and rubbed them together before speaking.

"Its power has darkened my view of the world and everything I believed in magic."

Queen Amadora walked toward the window, crossed her arms, and stared out at the trouble still to come for a moment before facing the young Sorceress' Apprentice.

"Is that all that troubles you?" she asked the disheartened girl.

"No," responded Gwendolyn with haste, in a high tone. "It has also raised questions and doubts within me as to whether I am capable of wielding such power without it destroying who I am."

"Good," said the Queen with a stern voice as she nodded her head in agreement. "Excellent!"

But her response left Gwendolyn bewildered and surprised, and her lowered brow and half-scrunched eyes, speaks much to the Queen of what she was thinking at that moment.

Queen Amadora moved away from the window and stood eye to eye with Gwendolyn, "What did you think magic was about, girl?"

Gwendolyn sensed Queen Amadora was angry, but could not understand why, and so she continued to hold to the baffled look on her face.

"Forgive, My Queen, but I see no reason for your anger."

Amadora paced about the room, she had something to say to Gwendolyn, but feared hurting the girl with the truth of her ignorant view of life. Yet, convinced the girl needed to come to terms with the truth, she turned to her.

"You had been living in a dream for years, Gwendolyn," Queen Amadora cried out, her arms and hands moving about in a nervous fashion as she spoke. "Despite all we have taught you, all we have shown you; you still think of magic as nothing more than something you use to amuse others."

Gwendolyn moved to the window and stared out with soft eyes as the Queen continued to speak out.

"Well, welcome to the real world, young Apprentice. I am so glad you have finally decided to join the rest of us. It is unfortunate that it took a war for you to catch up with the rest of us."

Gwendolyn whipped about, and with intolerance toward the Amadora's cutting remark, laid her heart out to the Queen.

"You say that if I were not mindful of the cares and misery that surround me every day. I do not walk with blinders on my head, nor do I turn my eyes in its crossings."

Gwendolyn placed her hand over her mouth as she fought back the tears of her despair. "I simply choose not to believe that there is nothing but darkness in the world, and lived my life as such, stopping to do what I can, when I can, to help those in need."

She points out the window towards the demonic army waiting to reach the castle gates. "But this! This is the darkest point I have reached in my young life, and it brings the sight of what lies ahead of me. What it is I am to become, or what I must become, to surpass its challenges; a destroyer of armies and Kingdoms."

"Now you see what true magic is all about. It is, and always has been about power," commented Amadora, in an extreme, sobering tone. "Power to shape the world into a better place than it is, or to destroy it to create one that bows to your every whim. And the power to hold on to what is yours!"

Appearing as if she is about to pass out, Queen Amadora, realizing she is frightening the girl, pulls back and speaks softer to Gwendolyn.

"This," she said, arm stretching out toward the window, "is what real magic is all about; life and death. This--is why we have spent night and day training you girls for, and you; you worry it will destroy who you are. No, it will not. It is how you use that power that will either save or destroy who you are."

A far off thumping sound coming from the other side of the barrier caused Queen Amadora and Gwendolyn to gaze out the window.

A large number of small sparks of light along the wall drew Gwendolyn to ask the Queen what was taking place.

"Nothing to be alarmed about," said Amadora, although the look on her face spoke different of her concern. "Stopped by the barrier of emerald fire, the creatures of the Netherworld are battered away at the wall with all their brute strength and available armaments. The brainless fools are sacrificing themselves in a desperate attempt at bringing down the shield."

"Look," Gwendolyn called out as she pointed toward the shield. "They are setting fire to the village on the other side of the shield."

"What they cannot have, they will destroy. That is their way."

That news did not sit well with Gwendolyn. She could not stop thinking of what would happen if the invaders broke through the shield. It was bad enough to get her to bite her nail.

"Stop that," Amadora hollered, pushing Gwendolyn's finger away from her lips. "The shield will hold. At least, long enough for us to come up with a way to destroy them all."

"I do hope so," Gwendolyn whispers to herself.

All was going well, for the most part, that night. The shield was holding, the Queen was in her mystic tower calling up all her power to find the cause behind the siege, and the Sisters continued their search for any means they could to put an end to the invaders.

Amadora was also reaching out, at the same time, to any allied she could find to aid her, but had no success. The shield created to protect the castle had a drawback; it held back the Sorceresses' magic from reaching out beyond its walls.

And then, Gwendolyn's worst fear came true. With no understanding as to why, the wall of fire began to settle back along itself, losing ground by inches every second, and the invading army moving inward with it. Within a few minutes, the wall would collapse and the murdering creatures would come charging toward the castle.

The Queen, using her magic, transported herself to the height of the watchtower across the rampart where the Sisters holding the shield up stood.

"It is not possible," Amadora cried out with dismay as she looked to see the emerald wall retreating.

Uncertain what brought about the sudden disturbance in their magic, the Queen called for a fourth Sorceress to aid in securing the shield.

Together, the four Sorceresses struggled to maintain the fiery shield around the castle, and as the shield came near to losing a third of its footing, they increased their efforts and regained its stability.

The demonic army retreat in haste, falling all over themselves trying to outrun the emerald wall of fire as it moved quick to reestablish its place along the enemy's lines. Many of the uncanny creatures made it out in time, the others, caught in the fiery tidal wave, burst into flame with their remains scattered in a cloud of black dust.

Yet the Sorceresses' success was limited, some outside influence continued to weaken the shield, and they did not understand who or what could be behind the mysterious force.

Then, all at once, a small gap in the heart of the shield in front of the castle appeared, and in that split second, each of the Sorceresses felt the menacing presence of a malevolent force working to take down the shield.

A look of shocking revelation on their faces, the four Sorceresses turned and stared at one another with the realized that they stood against a foe capable of extraordinary feats of black magic. Far worse, they sense who was behind that powerful evil, and they could believe it to be so.

Determine ever more to hold the shield, the Sorceresses, using all the depth and strength of their combined powers, worked hard to overcome the dark force working against them. But the strength of willpower and massive mystic energy needed to keep the shield up placed considerable stress on them all.

The power behind the dark force was far greater than the magic of all four combine, and the Sorceresses found themselves asking, "How is this possible?"

Using all their willpower the Sorceresses struggle hard to hold on to the shield, but the breach in the center continued to widen, and with every passing second, they could feel themselves growing weaker. Sweat the sizes of raindrops pour from their brows, and their hands shook hard enough to churn butter.

On seeing the heavy stress placed on the Sisters supporting the shield, Queen Amadora--choosing not to throw away valuable energy on a fruitless endeavor, commanded the four Sorceresses to surrender the shield.

The bloodthirsty army of the Netherworld wasted no time in seizing the opportunity to continue their attack. No soon had the wall of mystic fire come down, the hideous creatures charged towards the castle in a most awe-inducing state of rage and sadistic madness anyone had ever laid eyes on.

In defense of the castle, Amadora ordered the four Sorceress to side with the other members of their Order and launch a crushing assault on the ranks of the dark army.

The Sisters started their destructive attack against the invading force with a massive barrage of blazing bolts of mystical energy, accompanied by several deadly spells.

From wind and dust, one Sorceress created giant hands that snatched up the demonic soldiers and tossed them aside as if they were splinters of wood.

Another Sorceress released onto the battlefield various small animals she had stored in her mystic tower and changed them into huge, brutish monsters that wreaked havoc on the abhor army.

Rats, turned into giant armored creatures, smashed their way through the invading army's lines with all the strength of a large boulder.

Rabbits, transformed into vicious creatures as big as a plow horse, burrowed below the enemy position, and rushing upwards, took hold of demonic creatures and dragged them under in droves, or rip them apart with their large chattering teeth.

From the sky, birds that once graced the trees with their beauty and songs, turned into enormous, fearful looking creatures with large beaks, swooped down and plucked the soldiers of Netherworld off the ground, as if they were worms in an open field, and swallowed them hold.

Yet, despite the Sorceresses' best efforts, they could not stop the infamous army.

With their great numbers and deadly weapons, the fierce warriors of the Netherworld took down the Sorceresses' brutes and overcame every spell the Sisters threw at them. Even the blow from the thunderous rush of mystic energy they showered down on the army of creatures did little to stem their charge toward the castle.

Failing to halt the invaders with their magic, Queen Amadora instructed Gwendolyn's father to have his men ready to release their arsenals of fiery arrows and spears on the army of venomous creatures.

On his command, archers fired hundreds of flaming arrows into the night sky, each striking their targets as they came down to meet the ground. But for every one of these unnatural creatures they destroyed, ten more rose from the dark pit to take its place, which led many to the disparaging belief that this daunting army of undead soldiers and demonic creatures could never be stopped.

Queen Amadora's men, led by Gwendolyn's father, did all they could to defeat the sinister army of creatures, but the invaders continued to surge forth and soon stood before the castle walls.

Aided by ladders made from the bones of the dead, fastened together with ropes made of human flesh, the wretched children of putrid evil ascended to the top of the castle's defensive walls.

Swords and shields clashed with great fury, and the bodies of dead soldiers--stacked at the base of the walls--grew larger by the second, as mortal men fought hard to remove the foul-smelling, soulless creatures, off the castle walls.

For a time, it seemed Amadora's men were on the brink of winning the war. They wiped out all the demons and living dead atop the walls and destroyed their only means of scaling it. But to their unending horror, the soldiers of the undead performed a feat that mere mortals would perceive as, "the impossible!"

Bending and folding their arms and legs in such fashion as to give them the bizarre appearance of strange-looking insects, the revolting creatures climbed along the sides of the castle walls.

No one could believe their eyes; they stood there glaring down in horror with their mouths open and their eyes all but hanging out from their heads as hundreds of these bizarre creatures lay coverage to every wall of the castle.

Realizing the danger of it all, Gwendolyn's father ordered his men to stop the army of the dead from reaching the top by any and every means obtainable.

The men tossed large stones and poured hot, boiling oil over the side, spears, and arrows--flung with great precision, rained down on the creatures, even bales of burning hay, all in an effort to prevent the soldiers of the dark army from reaching the top of the walls.

But there were too many; Amadora's men could not stop the inhuman creatures from reaching the top of the castle walls.

Once more Queen Amadora's men fought hard to remove the abhor creatures from the castle's defensive walls, but this time the battle had escalated to a brutality the men had never witnessed.

Supported by the monstrous wing-demons, who slashed and ripped into the helpless men as the fearsome creatures swoop down on them, the intense skirmish to defend the castle turned into an uncontrollable frenzy. And with countless more of deadly creatures still making their way up the castle walls, the fight soon shifted from a battle of survival to a bloody and savage massacre.

As the furious fight atop the wall raged on, below the wall, ever resolved to bring down the mighty doors of the castle, several of the giant red demons pounded away at the castle's gates with their massive ram-like horns.

In the midst of defending the outer walls with her magic, one of the Sorceress responded to the red demons' attack by casting a spell that allowed the gates to withstand the heavy blows.

But no sooner had she finished casting the incantation; her eyes burst open, and her face turned pale, as she felt the sharp pain of a demon's sword thrust into her back and exit out her chest.

The distress Sorceress gazed down at the sword jutting from her chest with disbelief. She wished so much to pull it out, but even the slightest movement caused the sword to cut deeper into her chest.

The pain was unbearable, and she could do nothing but stand there and stare down at the blood-covered blade.

The world fell into utter silence as the Sorceress, blood rushing out of her chest and down her once lovely green dress, drafted into a reality that refused to accept she was dying. The sounds of war and men dying in battle had vanished. All there was for her was the soft, steady sound of her heart beating slower and slower as the sword, whose presence was less of important as she faced death, drains her of life.

And as she slipped into a world of darkness, the odious creature, placing its three-toe foot on her back, pulls the sword out of her body, and she fell listlessly to the floor, dead.

Several yards out, across the castle wall, one of her sisters, having caught sight of the brutal murdered, cried out in torturous pain.

Waves of mystical green energy bursting from her hand like rays of sunlight, the Sorceress fought her way across the wall to reach her fallen sister. But before she could, a torrent of yellow mystical energy, hurl from somewhere far off, came crashing down around her.

Shrouded in a thick cloud of dust and bright light, the massive blast killed the Sorceress, and her body, thrown from the wall by the violent explosion, fell toward a crowd of enemy soldiers trying to get pass the castle gates.

Gwendolyn can recall the anguish and grief that all but sucked the life from her that night, as she watched the Sorceress' body fall to the ground. The Sorceress' arms out wide, her green dress flapping wild and loose, she plunged downward with a look on her face that will haunt Gwendolyn's dreams for nights to come. It was pale, lack color, and any true expression of life ever existed within the falling body.

Gwendolyn then recalls the horror that followed the Sorceress' death.

As the Sorceress' lifeless body struck the ground with a loud thump that threw up an enormous cloud of dust, countless of undead soldiers surrounded her body and began hacking it to pieces. It was as if the creatures were afraid the Sorceress would come back to life.

Meanwhile, to stop this new menace from raining further terror on them, the Queen and what remains of the Sisterhood, hurled large bolts of mystical energy at the area of the attack.

The results, however, proved more detrimental than helpful, as their mystic spells were thrown back at them with greater force than delivered.

The Sorceresses struck back by launching mystic bolts of far greater power than the previous attack, but each time they did, the enemy counters their blows with an even more devastating attack of their own.

As each side continued to unleash a deadly hail of mystic energy at one another, the sky over Mada blazed with streams of multicolor lights streaking across it in all directions. But as the numbers of mystic bolts hurled from each side increase, so did the death and destruction they caused.

Even the castle showed signs of crumbling under the intense salvos of mystical energy raining down on it.

Various parts of the outer walls collapsed or developed openings large enough for the enemy to enter.

Fires--ignited by the massive barrage of thunderous bolts of energy, ran rampant throughout much of the castle and the village surrounding it.

Far worse, were the hundreds of people caught in the deadly barrage killed, wounded, or dying.

The damage to the castle ever increasing, Queen Amadora and the Sisterhood drew their attention from the battle to focus their magic on putting out fires and repairing the harm done to the outer defensive walls.

But with the fight in the castle grounds growing ever fierce and intense, it was not long before the Sorceresses diverted their attention back to the fighting at hand; a decision that proved disastrous.

Without the aid of Queen Amadora and the Sisters of Sorcery's magic to repair the damages done to the castle, the situation grew far out of control.

Left unhampered, the fire Left unhampered, the fire devastated vast sections of the castle, and with the outer walls in desperate need of repair gave way to hundreds of ghoulish soldiers who stormed the castle grounds. vast sections of the castle, and with the outer walls in desperate need of repair gave way to hundreds of ghoulish soldiers who stormed the castle grounds.

Once inside, the macabre army of demons and undead soldiers fought their way without mercy across the courtyard and took control of the gates. And as the foul creatures swung the castle doors wide open, the full strength of the army of depraved creatures rushed into the castle grounds.

The sounds of the night were maddening. Swords clashing hard against one another, the screams of frighten people running about in confusion, and the loud cries of soldiers hacked and murdered by an army of soulless creatures had no end.

The Queen, and what remains of the Sisterhood, used what little magic they have left to fight off the attackers, but it was of little use. With an endless number of wretched creatures pouring in from all sides, it became impossible for them to protect the castle.

Overcome by the savage army of demons and the power of the dark force leading them, one by one the Sisters fell, until at last, there was no one left powerful enough to stop the conquering army from taking hold of the castle, not even the Queen.

Having nothing in their path to stop them, the ghoulish soldiers ran wild throughout the castle killing everyone they came on, with mercy given to no one.

Meanwhile, outside the steps of the castle, an ominous dark figure standing in the flickering shadows cast by all the fires burning throughout the castle grounds, watched with sadistic amusement as the last of the Queen's soldiers were slashed to death by a surge of blood soak swords coming down on them from all sides.

The dimly lit figure, satisfied with the results of the war's outcome, gave a slight nod to the commander of the dark force.

The Commander, standing ten feet high, and dress in a macabre looking red armor that shielded his face, nodded back.

He then turned about, and in a loud, odious voice, cried out to the invading army, "Search the area for survivors, and make certain, if any are found, that they do not live to speak of this night!"

The mysterious figure bowed its head once more to the Commander of the invading force, and followed close by several giant demonic creatures dressed in gruesome looking black armor, the figure entered the castle.

Some time later, after making certain they had eradicated every living thing in the Kingdom, the infamous army retreated into the pit from whence they came.

And when the last of the vile creatures vanished into the darkness of the pit, the fire in the sky was no more; the moon returned, and the great hole that brought them forth closed, leaving behind no trace of its existence.

But the foul, twisted creatures of the Netherworld were wrong, dead wrong! They had eradicated every living thing in Mada; someone--survived!

12