Chapter 5: 1.25
It was during the very early hours of dawn that a message came through to Fenrir. It was from Illidan.
In a tired voice, he revealed the frightening news about his father's demise and possession, and what was to befall on the kingdom. Illidan had sounded exhausted and lacking any life.
Fenrir's mind was in disarray as he grasped at memories of the chase that could have lead to Duke Aldamiel's guilt. He was led by the nose and it stung him. All of this could have been prevented if only he had been astute enough. As he grappled with thoughts of what loomed ahead, another unexpected message was on the way.
It was two hours later that he received a message from Taemor.
Illidan Aldamiel had breathed his last. He was found chest impaled through with his own sword. His friend's death had come as a horrible shock to Taemor. Illidan had drawn a purification circle on the ground and had killed himself within it. After hearing from Fenrir what had transpired with Fornseor, they could only come to the chilling conclusion that Illidan had been taken ahold of by the vile creature. He did not want to be used by it to hurt others in the manner that his father had done. Left with little time and no path for escape, Illidan had done the only thing he could have to prevent an even greater tragedy.
Fenrir closed his eyes and fought the rising grief that pushed like an unrelenting tide against the firm wall he had built up. Illidan like the other warriors had hoped for a death of honor in battle and not this despondent way that death took him. His death was the result of Fenrir's own failure. Exhaustion set in on his weary soul. How was he supposed to tell Lanaya that the brother she loved so much was gone?
She arrived as soon as he sent a summons to her. Fenrir would have been less worried if Lanaya had cried, broken down or even yelled at him. When he broke the news to her, she thanked him for letting her know and walked out without so much as a shift of her expression. He wished he could have said something to console her but he was a blind man trying to lead another blind person.
Fenrir stepped closer to the glass and watched as a giant army gradually approached. Surrounded by night elves on all sides, a colossal onyx statue of a woman with her palms facing the heavens was being pushed along. He recognised it from the detailed descriptions he had seen in a book of antiquity. This was a weapon of destruction used during the Calamity of Ishlaroth. It was said to have stood at the highest point of the long-forgotten city of Ahema. The city and statue were both supposed to have been destroyed and buried in war. So where had the night elves found it? When the night elves would mount their second assault, Moonfell would fall if something wasn't done quickly. Fenrir immediately turned on his heels and began preparations for defence.
Huifang wouldn't cry anymore, it was no use. Her eyes were like shards of flint as she marched out with Aini on her shoulder. The night elf army was cheering loudly as they began putting their weapon into place. It was fashioned as a woman upto her chest and standing at a height of at least 40 feet. She wore a crown on which 3 very distinct spheres were embedded.
"Is Huifang okay?" Her Raven asked.
"Aini, I was so blind. If only I had tried harder then maybe I would have realised something about the Duke. And Illidan wouldn't have had to die." Resentment grew in her heart against the world that had placed such a fate on the shoulders of Illidan. He was so young too. She had been wary of an enemy killing her brother but he had died under his own hands. No armour would have saved him.
"Huifang want to save brother?"
Aini was a creature of unknown origins and powers. His words sent a jolt through her but hope was a double-edged weapon. "How can I save a dead man?"
"Huifang must tell Pann that Huifang is willing go to hell." Aini fluttered to the rampart and resolutely faced her.
Aini was not making sense to her. "Are you telling me Illidan is in hell?"
Aini looked down guiltily and replied, "Hell is lie. Pann lie to Huifang."
So he lied to her.
What the hell was she doing this for then?
"Ai, how can Pann save Illidan?" Her mind clutched at this point like a drowning person being tossed about on waves.
"Aini cannot speak more. Pann angry. Huifang must ask Pann after mission." The poor bird looked very guilty about participating in the deception.
If there was no hell and Pann wasn't a reaper, he had a hell lot of explaining to do. But thanks to what Aini had told her, she felt rejuvenated. Huifang would do everything in her power to undo this tragedy. She owed Illidan that much. After the betrayal at the hands of scarecrow, Huifang had lost all hope of ever trusting another person. Illidan had been a balm to her.
There wasn't much time to devise a stratagem against an ancient weapon of destruction. Fenrir understood that the safety of his soldiers was his first priority. If they all went out together, the sizeable night elf army would prey upon them while letting lose their weapon on the fortress. He could not ask his soldiers to make a suicide attack that had very little chance of success. They would have to hold their ground and defend against the Calamity of Ishlaroth first.
History had in detail described the manner of destruction that Ishlaroth was capable of. She rained down lightning, flame and disease from her spheres and it destroyed mountains, ships, towns, and burnt living things to a crisp. Her range was at least a kilometre long and that was the worst part about it. If you sent an army against her, she would would spit lightning and fire in their path long before they reached her. The only way then for those armies to destroy her was to get close. Or tunnel through the ground and attack unexpectedly. This was how she was taken down. It was thought that Ishlaroth could not be replicated. The civilisation that had built her was dead. Nothing had so far existed that could threaten Eternal Heart's strategic architecture, until now.
"Prepare to activate the ley lines. Get the 2nd and 7th mage squads on standby to power the altar." Fenrir began calling out orders to his Commanders.
"Have the archers ready to shoot at command. Station them defensively on every single battlement."
Fenrir quickly gave his remaining orders and sprinted to the roof where the main mechanism for their defence lay. It would be upto him to sustain the shield. Lucky for them, the geography was such that the night elf army had to come close in order to attack the fortress. Which meant that Fenrir's army could use trebuchets. Fenrir had tasked a group of his most mobile soldiers with getting to the hidden camps in the mountain and assembling the trebuchet packs that were stowed away. The operation would take an hour at the least. Fenrir had to hold on till then. And if the night elves decided to take the risk of hitting the mountains with Ishlaroth, they would all be doomed together. He hoped they weren't that reckless.
He put his palm down on a black circle on the floor of the rooftop. As soon as he injected mana into it, a stone cylinder rose up from where his palm had been. Golden veins began to glow on the cylinder and spread out through the ground of the roof in a concentric pattern. One after another, elven runes began to glow against the surface of the fortress. With a dull buzz, a spherical shield immediately enveloped the fortress like a bubble. And in good time too because the night elves were ready.
The legion of night elves stood in ranks and raised their heads towards the fortress as one. Aunwinde himself was seated upon his wyvern with a smugness that Fenrir could see all the way from his spot. He turned his gaze to Fenrir and flashed his teeth in a victorious smile. He raised his hand to the air and his army began pounding the ground with their feet attuned to the beats of a drum that loudly made their arrogance known. The night elves were ready to strike.
Huifang had joined Fenrir on the roof. His hands hovered over an altar and discharged mana.
"Last battle. Huifang can leave world after taking down weapon." The raven on her shoulder had gravely informed her.
And how was she to do that? Aini wasn't giving her a clue. She hoped Fenrir would have an answer.
"Destroy the Ishlaroth?" A wind had whipped itself up on the roof and Fenrir's black hair was taken aloft in it's power. Dark shadows under his eyes spoke of sleepless nights and misery. Fenrir's head was held high and his arrogance could not be erased. But the he did not disguise the lingering worry in his eyes.
"Throw big rocks at it, or destabilise the power crystal lodged in it's throat." As soon as he spoke, the first sphere on Ishlaroth's crown floated to the sky and hovered above the lady. A seam appeared on it's circumference and parted to reveal an eye ball that moved in it's socket and looked around.
"Impossible to destabilise it from such a distance unless I can get closer to it. But if I leave, the fortress will fall." Fenrir wasn't bragging. That was the exact simple truth about their shield. He was needed to power it. The leylines were setup by Orin and only responded to him. Until Fenrir's birth, the light elves had never succeeded in using the shield to it's full capabilities. The mages though had devised a way to aid Fenrir with their own powers. The cost of such an arrangement was borne by Fenrir's core which had to adjust to filtered but still foreign mana.
"I've sent people to take care of it. We can only wait and hope." He continued. There was only a 50/50 chance of it working. The light elves used an impact explosion bomb as ammo for the trebuchet. Highly explosive and heavy enough to fly through a storm, the material used to craft the ammo was hard to come by. They were saved for exigent circumstances, and this was an emergency. If the trebuchets weren't assembled in time or if the enemy was prepared for such an attack, which they probably were, Fenrir would find himself hard pressed to protect his people. There was nothing comparable to Ishlaroth in terms of fire power. It was fragile and easily taken down. But the night elves had made a protective band around the lady. It was too far from the fortress to hit. Tunneling was not an option. She was the perfect solution to the high ground and defense that the light elves had maintained. If Fenrir failed, their fortress would fall and the night elves would march into Eternal Heart burning everything down. The mountain overlooked the forest and so it was a good high point from which Ishlaroth could be stationed at for attack. They would just have to start burning the outer edges of the forest and the rest would fall in time. The weapon they had brought was perfect for tearing down the mountains if nothing else.
Huifang put some distance between them and spoke to her raven.
"Ai, if I get killed trying to take on that thing, what is the consequence?"
The raven shook it's tail against the wind that was trying to topple it.
"Aini knows Huifang can destroy weapon. Fenrir will be saved. Huifang leave world." He replied with iron conviction.
"Did you see the future Ai?" Huifang asked. The Raven had sounded so sure of what would happen.
"No. Aini believes." He cawed loudly.
"Aini is there also. Will help Huifang. So Huifang don't worry!" He stretched his wings out and declared boldly. Like a spell, it lifted the rock in Huifang's heart. She was going to give it her best and go out like a firework!
The revealed eyeball soon locked onto it's target and released a powerful pillar of lightning that crackled and thundered in the air. It lit up the evening with a neon blue aura of destruction. Ishlaroth was an angel of punishment whose lightning came at the fortress just like a strike of divine retribution. It smashed into the shield and ravaged it with a terrifying force that sent a tremor through the sphere.
Every elf on the fortress watched the blinding sight with a mix of awe and fear. Grim expressions hung on every face and they wondered if this was the end of Moonfell pass. If the night elves accidentally aimed wrong, the mountains would begin crumbling.
The electricity continuously devastated the shield with a barrage of lightning that was relentless in it's fury. Fenrir accurately realised that night elves could not adjust the direction of Ishlaroth while it was active. This was never an issue from what he had read about. It meant that their Ishlaroth was far from the original. To conserve his power, he reduced the sphere into an arc where the attack came. He would need to save every drop of mana to contend against this and when the next eye opened.
Huifang did not want to disturb his focus as he fed power into the altar but she needed him for the first leg of her flight. Snagging Aria's longsword out of her hands, Huifang sprinted to Fenrir. Aria had been too surprised to react to what had happened but she let it go.
"Fenrir can you shield me for a while?" Huifang shouted from next to him.
Gold eyes that dazzled her sight turned to her. She had seen them glow before but the current Fenrir was maxing out his power and it showed in the yellow lava-like eyes.
"Why?" His response was cold.
"I can end this war Fenrir. Just protect me as far across as you can." Huifang had theorised with Aini. If she went close to the power crystal and discharged every drop of mana in herself within the span of a second, she could destabilise the crystal and cause an explosion of epic proportions. Aini gave credence to her theory with an affirmative cock of his head that she had come to recognise. It was basically suicide and quite ironic considering what had befallen Illidan. But this was the only plan she knew would work.
"I refuse. It is suicidal." His voice sounded mechanical and distant, lacking emotion.
"I've made up my mind Fenrir." Huifang stalked off. She would have to do this without his help.
A firm hand captured her wrist with the strength that made her feel like she was shackled in an iron hold. Huifang turned to glare at the man that held her back.
"Lanaya, don't. My men are on it." Fenrir strained to keep the shield going with the mana from one hand but he couldn't let Lanaya go to her death. It scared him. If even she left, Fenrir did not want to explore that line of though.
"FENRIR!" Huifang shouted to get her voice heard above the booming attack.
"It hasn't even been 10 minutes. You cant sustain this. When the other two eyes open, what will you do? Think of your people! Look at all the soldiers Fenrir! You can save their lives. And Eternal Heart!" Adrenaline pumped through Huifang and her voice was high and sharp. Fenrir would lose his life if he kept it up for the 1 hour mark that the army had put their hopes on.
The grip on her arm clenched tighter but he wavered. The night elf army beat their drums louder and the second sphere began to hover into the air.
Fenrir's eyes turned to the shield and then the second eye that was joining the first.
"Lanaya." Grief bled through the control he was trying to maintain.
Huifang felt her wrist burning hot like a manacle of burning metal had touched her. Fenrir seemed to have felt it too because he dropped her hand in shock. She looked at her wrist and saw a mark on it appear. A beautiful pattern. But she had no time to wonder about it.
Huifang wanted to encourage this man who she was leaving behind with a mountain full of problems and months of grief ahead after the war. "You'll make a good King." Not knowing what else to say, Huifang decided to let it be. "Goodbye Fenrir." Huifang was terrible at encouraging anyone. She ran to Raka while the man behind her watched in torment. He could not chase her, he could not call her back. Fenrir allowed the frustration to simmer in his heart and he cast a shield on Lanaya who was now seated on Raka.
Huifang turned and flashed him a smile of thanks. It was the first time she had smiled at him like that. He watched her take to the sky on Raka.
Huifang held on tight as her Thunderbird glided above the terrifying surge of electricity. Aini was latched onto Huifang's shoulder. As they got closer, they were attacked but Fenrir's shield kept them safe. When Raka flew above the lines of night elves, an arrow hit the shield and pierced his abdomen. His shrill cry of pain gave Huifang a heartache. She was sorry for his pain, sorry it was him that had to come with her.
With determination, the Thunderbird continued onward. He was a bird of war and would fly till he could no longer lift his wings. They were getting closer and closer to Ishlaroth. Huifang kissed Raka on the back of his head, thanked him, and leapt off with Aini on her shoulder.
The army on the fortress watched in fear as the valiant Lanaya fell towards the platform that Ishlaroth stood on. Black wings seemed to appear and disappear like an apparition on her back.
The mage cast a powerful wind spell as she fell towards the enemy. Strong currents sliced through the night elves like thousands of sharp blades.
Landing amidst the confused and disorderly elves, Huifang began to see things moving slower and with relentless clarity. She cut a path through the elves with her wind and her sword.
The night elves could not track her movement. Huifang moved like a shadow that appeared and disappeared in their midst. She slaughtered her way towards the front unimpeded. But a feeling of danger made her spring away into the air where she floated on her wind for seconds. The place she had been standing at had spikes jutting out from the ground. She would have been impaled by them.
It was the work of Aunwinde. With an affinity for Earth, he could target anything from the ground and proved a headache for infantry. But if Huifang didn't touch the ground, he wouldn't be able to attack her. Unless he was ruthless enough to kill his own men while at it. She was so close to the platform too.
Aunwinde was flying towards her so Huifang had to hurry. She summoned her wind and it began to whip up a snowstorm that rose to the air and buffeted the wyvern. It concealed her behind a haze and protected her from the eyes of those that wanted to stop her. Huifang took the opportunity to sneak up on the mages who surrounded the Islharoth. They hadn't anticipated a suicidal charge from the enemy. They had no answer for her attack. Any violence unleashed on her by the mages would hit themselves or even collapse the platform. And she was just too fast for their physical attacks.
Huifang blasted 2 mages out of her way and headed straight towards the power crystal that was spinning in the throat of Ishlaroth.
It was funny how fate worked. Fenrir had always known about his fiance since the day he found out about his engagement. He did not hate her for being average. He just had zero feelings or thoughts about the woman he was engaged to. She was just like a picture hanging in the wall of his room. It took some space and came to his attention every now and then, but that was it. One day, he would have to acknowledge it's existence but he was quite sure that he would never miss it. In the grand scheme of things, he had come to know Lanaya for only a speck in time. But everything she had done had led to a result he had never anticipated. Fenrir had begun to care about her. He did not know what love was. But he knew heartache as he watched her sacrifice herself.
His gaze followed her nimble body as she moved like a reaper harvesting a life every second. She was beauty, grace and a terror to the night elves. For the first time in his life, Fenrir felt utterly helpless. Pinned in place defending a fortress he wanted to abandon, he witnessed the death of the woman he had come to hold a soft spot for. His parents were dead, his friend dead, and now Lanaya. He savoured every moment that he could while keeping his eyes on her and wishing he could turn back time. In a moment that felt like time had slowed, he watched Lanaya jump, and then brightness like the sun had descended down to the Earth. Ishlaroth exploded violently in an enormous hot ball of flames that turned the sky white. The shock of the blast ripped through the air even as Fenrir enveloped the fortress in his shield and closed his eyes against the brightness of the explosion. The night elves stood no chance against the explosion. The very land they stood upon collapsed and it all went down hundreds of feet into a waiting abyss.
The scene before them was of the mountain ravaged and torn. They had won, but at what price? Eternal Heart had lost a precious daughter, their future queen and a warrior unparalleled in skill, who's courage was second to none. To the other's, Lanaya's sacrifice had saved their fortress, kingdom and thousands of lives. It was an equivalent exchange. They would honour her memory and talk about her bravery while they celebrated. He could see the relief on their faces, the tears of joy that their fears of dying had been avoided so easily. He could see Aria on the battlement frozen in her thoughts. None of it meant anything to Fenrir. He was all alone now. He bowed his head and mourned for everything he had lost.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
winterblossom
winterblossom Know why I got late? I decided to try a Chinese MMORPG. The characters were so good looking I got suckered in and boom, I was late. Anyway, this is the last chapter of Huifang's first arc. Can't believe I actually wrote 25 chapters. I am so excited and nervous about the next arc because the world building is going to be a nightmare to write about. Illidan will be saved. Huifang can do it!! And once more, thanks for sticking with this procrastinating author. Guilt me into releasing chaps please.
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