Mikal

The Northern army approached the city walls. They could already see the western forces positioned outside the gates, crossbows and spears ready at the front, waiting to welcome them with their deadly pointed ends. Mikal signaled for his men to stop. Despite knowing that Grytia would not be taken without a good deal of bloodshed, the useless negotiations between both armies had to take place. Mikal, regally mounted on Alexandra and doing his best to display his calm and confident attitude, approached the enemy forces, accompanied by Vilfred.

In the distance he could see two Pegasi approaching them as well, mounted by two men, and he could clearly tell that both men were wingless. The bigger man, apparently of a higher position, was a fierce looking warrior with dark challenging eyes and a long mane of messy black hair. The other man however, despite appearing to be of a lower position, looked more presentable with his less fierce countenance, warm honey eyes and neat brown hair. Mikal and Vilfred had barely stopped their Pegasi, when the black haired human stepped in with hostile eyes.

"Take your people and go home," the man commanded, and Mikal could only stare coldly at the daring human who spoke with such an unusual air of authority.

"My home is right there behind you. I am afraid you are standing in the way, human slave," Mikal replied as coldly as he could, and the man's eyes only darkened further.

"Please watch your words, Sir?" the other gentler man said. "The man you just called a slave is Lord Tristan of Grytia, and King William's army commander!"

"Oh Tristan, the infamous human Lord?" Mikal smiled coldly as he turned to look at Tristan. "But what is wrong with what I said? Army commander or not, you are still King William's slave, am I not right?"

"Mikal!" Vilfred whispered behind him, apparently concerned about provoking those two humans.

"Sir Mikal!" Tristan said, this time smirking instead of scowling. "You are right indeed. I am still King William's slave. In fact it is an honor being King William's slave. And I will make sure you receive the same honor as well by the end of the day."

"Oh I don't think you will live long enough to see the end of the day and grant me such an honor, human Lord," Mikal said with a long expressionless stare.

"Mikal," Vilfred whispered gently behind him. "It's no use talking with them."

"Your friend is right," Tristan said. "It is no use talking with us, because my next answer will be a sword through your throat."

"Tristan!" The other man whispered in warning, while Mikal shot Tristan a long dark stare, doing all he could not to kill him right now.

"Mikal, let's go," Vilfred whispered, and Mikal still glaring at Tristan, pulled on Alexandra's reins to turn around, followed by Vilfred.

***

Mikal stood at the head of the Northern army, his heart hammering as he prepared himself to signal for attack. He knew that as soon as the Northmen approached William's army, the deadly bolts made of demon stone would shoot up from the enemy's crossbows, piercing them in midair. Mikal took a deep breath as he tried to quickly think of a way to attack without causing a lot of damage. But it was inevitable. They would have to pass over William's front lines of crossbows and risk getting shot anyway. Even casting an Angel Light shield would be useless, as it was known to be ineffective against demon stone. Not to mention the wasted energy it would cost them to conjure Angel Light and sustain a shield, when they should be rather focused on the fighting itself. Yet... 

Mikal smiled darkly before he turned back to his men.

"We are not going to fly," he declared to the shock of everyone. "We are going to attack on foot." Noise started to rise between the men. Mikal raised his hand up to silence them. "They expect us to fly. They will keep waiting for us to fly so they can shoot us down, but as we get closer they will finally realize that we are not flying anywhere, and they will have to shoot us on ground level anyway. We have to be sharply alert. The moment they release their bolts in our direction, we instantly change course and take up to the skies, and before they could manage to reload their crossbows we dive upon them and cut off their heads!"

Loud cheers broke at Mikal's never failing ideas. Seeing how confident and passionate the men looked, Mikal smiled and signaled for his army to attack. The earth vibrated as hundreds of Engelmen and Pegasi galloped towards the enemy, led by Mikal. As expected, the Western forces stood in anticipation with their crossbows still directed upwards, but as Mikal and his forces approached, he could see the troubled looks on the Vausterians' faces, and he could notice their crossbows tilting lower. Mikal smiled as his eyes met Tristan's, while the latter who stood at the head of his army scowled darkly.

Then it all happened in one moment. Tristan raised his arm signaling for his men to release their crossbows, while Mikal raised his arm signaling for his men to soar up to the skies. The Western bolts missed Mikal's men, going to waste into the horizon as the Northmen shot up to the skies, and the next moment the Western forces found the Northmen diving upon them with loud cheers and bellowing war cries.

The two armies clashed, with the Northmen having the upper hand as they battled from above while the Vausterians, most of which were wingless, got trapped beneath in confusion. A few of them managed to reload their crossbows and started shooting the flying Northmen, bringing down a few, yet the number of victims was nothing compared to the damage caused in the Western forces.

Taking the opportunity of their chaos, the Northmen shot Angel Light bolts down at the enemy. Bright flashes of blue rained down like hail and sparked like lightening, hindering the enemy and creating more chaos. One would think the Northmen would have an easy victory, and that hiring the Eastern mercenaries was not necessary after all, yet Mikal knew it would only be a matter of time before the Vausterians recovered their initial confusion and showed their true power. He knew better than to underestimate the power of humans.

Just as he reminded himself of this fact, the humans cried and raised their obsidian shields, diffusing the next wave of Angel Light attack, rendering it useless.

A loud cry bellowed behind him. Mikal turned at once, and he stood still for a moment, his eyes wide as he saw Tristan atop a ferocious black Pegasus, storming through the Northern lines with massive force, holding high a large double hooked sword. Black demon stone coated his armor, and he looked like a wild beast with his horned helmet and his long black hair that flew in a chaotic mess behind him. Tristan charged at Mikal's men, leading an army of winged and wingless alike, flying atop their Pegasi. Mikal finally regaining his composure, signaled his men to reform their lines and meet the oncoming force. The two armies clashed again, this time in midair, and soon the skies were filled with clanking of steel, tearing of flesh, and the cries of falling men.

Mikal flew straight forward, swinging his sword and slashing up both winged ones and humans as they came to attack him. He felt a slight shiver as he approached Tristan who swiftly and consecutively continued to cut off countless heads and wings with his dreadful hooked sword. No one could get near him without receiving a deadly cut, as his sword repeatedly swung in all directions. Even those who came flying and charging from above were not spared his vicious blade. Tristan must have noticed Mikal trying to reach to him through the battling men, and he charged forward, shortening the distance between them, his hooked blade continuing to cut off heads that came his way. He raised his sword, and without the slightest intention of slowing down, he swung the blade with full force at Mikal.

In a blink, Mikal had disappeared from Tristan's sight as he pulled Alexandra's reins and flew upwards, just in time to avoid the falling blade. And the next moment, Mikal reappeared behind him. But Tristan had turned with matching speed, and their blades locked. They both looked at each other for the briefest moment of shock.

"Not bad for a human," Mikal provoked, while his heart hammered nervously at the unusual speed and intelligence of his powerful opponent. 

With a dark scowl, Tristan silently raised his sword and struck once more. Mikal swiftly turned and barely missed another fatal blow, while Tristan maintaining the same speed and stamina, struck again and again. Mikal miraculously dodged each deadly blow while he swung his sword at Tristan, but Tristan also turned swiftly again and again, escaping Mikal's falling blade. Failing to lay a single scratch on Tristan, Mikal scowled and kept swinging his sword at a higher speed, and just as he thought he had hit his target, his scowl deepened in frustration as he realized that his sword had only locked against Tristan's blade again.

Mikal realized that killing Tristan was not going to be easy. Surrounded by dying cries and splattering blood, he continued to fight him off fervently, and at the same time he had to avoid the bolts that shot up from the Western crossbows below. It was a lot of work, and Mikal was getting tired. But apparently, so was Tristan. At some point they both paused in midair in exhaustion, looking warily into each other's eyes as they caught their breaths. 

Mikal took the opportunity to throw a quick glance towards the spot where Bernard was supposed to be, and his heart thumped as he found that he was not there. Could Brad have already killed him while Mikal was busy fighting Tristan? But that was not what they had agreed on. Mikal nudged Alexandra and turned to go and find where Bernard had gone.

"Running away that easily?" Tristan said and Mikal quickly turned as he sensed Tristan's sword falling behind him, barely escaping as the blade brushed against his left arm. 

Mikal gasped as he felt the sharp sting in his forearm, and his eyes widened as he saw the blood that started to seep through his armor. Scowling darkly, he turned and fiercely swung his sword against Tristan, only to miss his target again. Churning with exasperation, he soon started fighting Tristan again, ignoring the bleeding wound in his left forearm.

But at this point Mikal noticed that behind him, his men had already drawn the Vausterians towards the North as agreed. He tried to look around for Vilfred, but even Vilfred had disappeared. He knew he must call for retreat at that moment, as William's forces were already far enough North for the mercenaries to attack. However, Mikal only continued to fight Tristan who would not stop attacking him. But still, no one could manage to kill the other.

As they were still busy fighting each other, a masked winged one all dressed in black came charging at them both. For a moment, both Mikal and Tristan hung still in confusion, not knowing which one of them he came for, until the man raised his massive blade and charged face front at Mikal. 

Mikal instantly raised his sword to stop the fatal blow, and he was knocked off Alexandra by the enormous force. Hanging in midair and sword still in hand, Mikal quickly dodged another blow before he turned and aimed his sword at the huge mysterious warrior. Yet he kept tumbling beneath the man's relentless blows, being pushed backwards until Tristan was lost from his sight.

Suddenly, Mikal's sword was knocked away, and he was shoved to the ground while the man's sword was raised high above his head. The attacker charged towards Mikal. His heart hammering fast, Mikal rolled away just in time before the attacker's sword could touch him. Mikal hurried to retrieve his sword and took off to the air, but soon, his attacker too had followed him up and charged at him again in midair. He continued to attack Mikal mercilessly, and Mikal, failing to cope with such enormous strength, only managed to turn and dodge, in hopes that would tire the man off.

Mikal turned again to avoid a fatal strike and he dived below the attacker and reappeared behind him. The attacker turned and swung his sword. Mikal managed to escape the falling blade by an inch as he flew upwards and swung his own sword above his attacker's head. But the man was as quick and alert as Mikal, and he too managed to avoid Mikal's blow, diving beneath him before turning back up behind him. Mikal knew he would make such a move, and with a faint smile Mikal quickly turned to attack the man first, but as he did, he barely caught a glimpse of the man's white wings as he had unexpectedly changed his course and flew around him from the other side.

Mikal had only turned, when he was suddenly blinded by the flash of a falling blade that shot right into his face. The thud of metal cutting through flesh and bone rang within his ears, followed by the terrible stinging of widely open flesh. His breath suddenly stopped. His mind slipped. And everything went black...

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