The Recording Studio
Keywords: Studio, Recording, The,
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The sword flashed, sliced through the demon's flesh and bones, decapitating the creature squarely in half. The two halves of the dying Devil fell and disappeared beneath the flames below.
"How many more can you fight, foolish knight?" Agamesh's voice rang in his head. "How many thousands more can you kill?" With that, four more Devils appeared around him.
Atrus knew he would be overwhelmed soon. He knew he couldn't fight forever. Moreover, he knew that his friends somewhere in Elom couldn't fight forever.
Then an idea struck his mind. "My friends! Of course!"
"Anna," Atrus whispered silently. "Aurelia, Calem, Holgreb, Lynn. Everyone, please come. I need your help."
The Sword of Faith flared madly again, blinding everyone in the vicinity. When the flash disappeared, to the Devils' surprise, five more warriors stood behind Atrus. Holgreb and Aurelia flanked Atrus, the Dwarf ready with his battleaxe, and the Elf with her warbow and dagger. Lynn stood behind them, her wings flapping serenely in the air. Calem, stoic as usual, eyed his enemies with perfect caution, a flaming fireball hovering on his palm. Finally, Anna stood by Atrus' side, ready with her Sun Mace.
"'Bout time ye call upon us!" Holgreb complained.
"I thought Adriana had said enough," Aurelia put in.
"Show off," Anna teased. "But good timing nonetheless."
Atrus was even more surprised when another figure, one of Falstoff, materialized before him. "Lynn sort of dragged me here, so I figure I should join the fray... brother..."
Atrus smiled warmly. "The more the merrier. Warriors of the Guardian, charge!!"
And all hell broke loose, literally. The Devils currently floating around were quickly outnumbered and cut down to bits. A dozen more Devils showed up and charged at the same time, and soon an endless wave of monsters came. The Warriors, plus Falstoff, formed a ring around Atrus and hacked any Devils foolish enough to approach. The sight lifted Atrus' heart. He had longed to see his comrades in battle again, especially Falstoff, his long lost half-brother. It felt good to be fighting in the same side again.
"Atrus, we don't have much time!" Anna broke his chains of thought. "We will be quickly outnumbered! And remember, Hawk, Roberto, and Maya were fighting for their lives in Elom! We must end this soon!"
"What must I do?" Atrus asked.
"Use the sword, Atrus!" Calem replied as he incinerated another Devil with his fireballs.
"And be quick!" Lynn cried. "We can't hold on much longer!"
Atrus lifted his sword up high and spoke a word of prayer. But then suddenly he stopped his chant and looked around. He grinned.
"I have a better idea..."
Roberto swung his Kaiser Sword to his right side, claiming three Goblin lives in one stroke. He hated these creatures, not only because they were so disgusting, but also because the demons used them as fodders, to distract his soldiers, letting the dark wizards pick their targets in peace. Not too far away, Hawk was hacking and slashing the same creatures with his spear, and Commander White Lion was engaged with a half dozen creatures himself. The three heroes kept the front line intact and the soldiers' morale high with their skills and ferocity.
Three Elven snipers, under Maya's command, released their ordinances in short intervals, killing the three remaining dark wizards among the demon ranks. With their wizards slain, the magic barrier over the demon hordes collapsed immediately. The wizards saw the opening and conjured together the worst blizzard and meteor shower ever known in the history of the land, especially when both were happening at the same time. The deadly projectiles fell over the demon ranks, decimating the foul creatures and burning them to ashes.
When the spell subsided, there was a gaping hole in the demon ranks, which the rest of the Alliance Army made use of. The infantry marched in and crushed the weakened enemy front line, while the elite Dragonriders attack their rear group.
Roberto sighed. That was another assault attempt thwarted. How many more would come, he asked silently.
Hawk located him quickly and approached slowly. The good man was still as vigorous as ever, although with dozens of welts and wounds around many openings in his chain mail armor. His spear was decorated with many notches along the sharp side, yet his fighting skill hadn't even dulled a bit.
"How's my good man?" Roberto greeted.
"Alive and well," Hawk replied. "What are you doing here in the frontline, my king?"
Roberto grinned at the formal reply. He knew Hawk was teasing him. "I can get your head cut off for that, you know?"
"At least let me keep it until the battle is over," Hawk replied. "How is White Lion?"
Both men looked at the older commander observing the battle on his powerful steed. They were indeed grateful that Atrus' father was here. The old warrior wielded respect as deadly as his own sword and bow, and his loyal Rangers were one of the most skilled warriors in their army.
But suddenly the old warrior stiffened on his horse. He looked wildly around the horizon, and then turned to Roberto with a disheartened look. He flung his finger to the west, right at the great ruins of Mount Karigor.
Then it dawned to him what was going on. "Oh dear gods..."
"What?" Hawk didn't understand. "What was he saying?"
"The old Ranger could hear them," Roberto explained. "More is coming, from the west, from beyond the mountain."
"Dear gods," Hawk echoed. "We hardly have any..."
"Shh, listen," Roberto said. "Listen carefully."
As they quieted down, they could hear the soft thumping coming from beyond the mountain. The thumping grew, though, and soon they could feel the ground shaking softly. Commander White Lion had ordered his detachment to get ready, and Hawk followed suit shortly, but Roberto couldn't take his eyes off the mountain before him. Many years ago, the very sight of the mountain struck fear into his guts. Now, that memory came back again, as reality.
From beyond the mountain the hordes came, this time in thousands. The horde came in one long line stretching from one foot of the mountain to the other one, filling the entire outline with the sight of foul critters climbing down the mountain and heading right toward the fort. Soon the entire mountainside was all covered with demonic critters, coming toward them like a flash flood, threatening to run them over.
Roberto knew the answer now. There was only one more assault. And it might be the last.
Before he could react, Commander White Lion lifted his long sword and cried out loud, "To the death!!"
And a chorus of the soldiers around him screamed their acknowledgement. The chorus traveled like a wave, trailing from the frontline all the way to the fort. All soldiers from all races, mortally wounded or not, marched to the frontline, ready for their final defense. Roberto was overwhelmed by their willingness to fight to the end, to die in their ally's land rather than forfeit it to the demons. He knew he was going to die. And he vowed he would make this most memorable.
"All right, lads!" Roberto cried. "Form a defensive line! Protect our archers and wizards and give them a fighting chance! We'll make sure this is the fight no one will ever forget!"
The soldiers cried in unison and obeyed the order. A long line of defense stood between the almost empty fort and the monstrous hordes, and each soul was determined to keep this line strong. Nobody moved as the demonic creatures approached closer and closer.
At the right time, Roberto raised his Kaiser Sword and cried, "For the Alliance!"
Again, the chorus of the excited soldiers around him echoed in the air. This time, however, the chorus was joined by another set of voices...
Maya blinked.
She heard the voice, too, and so did her squires around the chariot. At one point she was planning to abandon her chariot and march right into the fray with her dagger and knives, fighting together with Roberto and the rest of the Alliance troops. When the soldiers responded to Roberto's rally, she, too, heard the strange voices joining the chorus. She knew that the voices came from the sky.
The sky was then split by unseen force, and a small streak of light brighter than any sunlight she ever saw, beamed from above toward the middle of the battlefield. Then horde after horde of winged creatures swept down hovered over the battlefield between the Alliance Army and the Army of Darkness. Maya couldn't get a good view of the creatures, but the wings looked familiar. The creatures bore wings of eagles, powerful, yet graceful. She remembered the description during one of her many stays in Heaven, the Fairies' homeland, when Lynn once talked about the long relative of the Fairy folks.
"Dear Gods..." Maya mouthed, just loud enough to be heard by her squires. "Those... those are the Angels...! Lord Guardian's army! The gods have come and helped us!"
Hope blossomed from the squires' heart and they began telling their subordinates to relay Maya's observation. Fortunately, it wasn't necessary.
One by one, the Angels soared through the air, all with their spears and swords ready, toward the Army of Darkness. The view mystified the Alliance Army that such magnificent creatures engaged the demonic creatures and hack each of them down to pieces. Slowly the Alliance Army began cheering for their new allies as the multitude of Angels defeated the demonic hordes. The foul creatures were either cut down to pieces, or got trampled by their fleeing friends. A large Gate was suddenly opened in the middle of the battlefield, although no new monsters came out of it. The Angelic hosts gathered around and charged right through the Gate, disappearing into the utter blackness in the middle of the portal.
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Keywords: Studio, Recording, The,