Chapter 297

297 Battle For The Highlands

***CONTENT WARNING: VIOLENCE AND GORE***

Murdoc rode his horse in the direction of the Alconian Prince, then dismounted mid-stride. He hollered Tidas’ name as he barreled towards him, seething with murderous intent as his magic surged. Tidas gripped his weapons as his eyes zeroed in on his target..

The two sides parted as their Commanders raced head-first at each other. An eerie silence fell over the battlefield as the warriors watched with baited breath..

When the two swords collided, the clash echoed across the battlefield. Both men gritted their teeth as eerie smiles stretched across their faces. They parried each other’s attacks, then struck at each other again.

Tidas wasn’t as big as Murdoc, but his agility more than made up for it. The Highlander fought with all the power of a torrent river, but the Alconian Prince simply shifted his flow.

Their fights always started the same way: with brute force. Almost like he was mindlessly taking his frustrations out. Only when Murdoc’s rage would start to leave gaps in his defense, would he finally turn into his usual, tactical-self again.

A sudden, swallow cut to his side brought the King of the Highland’s senses back..

Murdoc reveled in his battles with Tidas. He was the only man that could withstand his fury, and would even get the better of him on occasion. The new swords he wielded cut through his Wyvern leather with ease, making him extremely curious as to what they were made of.

Murdoc smirked as he swiped sideways with one sword, and down with the other; “Those be some fancy new cutters! Canna wait to take ’em from yer corpse!”

.....

As Tidas dodged and reflected his strikes, he yelled back; “If you can make it another fifty years! Old man!”

“Ima Barely older than you!” Murdoc bellowed as he braced to parry.

Murdoc huffed as he deflected a swing from him, but got nicked in his arm by Tidas’ other blade. He wasn’t used to dealing with a long and short blade at once. Plus he kept switching hands with them. As they fought, the Highlander King realized that the prince was still just messing around..

‘How much stronger did the bastard get?!’

Right as the thought occurred, Tidas disappeared from sight. Murdoc sensed him seconds before he’d landed a blow to the back of his neck. As he turned to meet the Alconian Prince head on, the Highlander was surprised to see that it would’ve been the hilt of Tidas’ sword striking him instead of his blade.

As they struggled against each other for a few seconds, Tidas screamed with conviction; “It was Drexel! Not Us! This is pointless!”

“LIAR! Then where’s he at?! Where’s Petrie?!”

As rage rose up within Murdoc, he tapped into the rest of his power, sending Tidas crashing to the ground. As soon as he was on his feet, Murdoc was in his face...

As their battle intensified, the surrounding soldiers snapped from their trances; causing all-out war to erupt across the battlefield. Blood spilled as bones broke. Melees were everywhere, and some lost the ability to differentiate between friend and foe..

The majority of the RMC members used Skye’s wall as a defensive position, then let their more bloodthirsty comrades lose on the crowds of charging Highlanders. As they cut through the front lines, the rest of the mages used their powers to crumble the collapsing ranks.

************

Drexel and about two dozen Highlanders stayed back and out of the fray while atop their horses. They could see and hear the fight between the two warriors as they fought..

The moment that he’d heard his name mentioned, Drexel gave the order to his men to start surrounding the two. Once they were in place, he would kill Murdoc himself. When one of his men asked about Tidas’ fate, he grinned devilishly..

“Have fun with ’em, Laddies! Just save the King for me!”

After Drexel’s words, the majority of his men made their way to Murdoc and Tidas..

************

The smell of iron and dust filled Skye’s nostrils as she watched swords clash, and blood spray. She stayed just beyond the main battle, watching the chaos unfold before her. The soldiers under her command created a mostly-secure area.

Highlanders occasionally rushed her, but soon found a rock jutting out from the ground, and knocking the wind out of them for their troubles. After dealing with another fool, Skye scanned the gory field for her husband.

Her heart pounded in her chest as Tidas came into focus. Sparks flew into the air as they clashed like storm waves on a cliffside. The man Tidas was fighting had a good half a foot on him, and at least a hundred-fifty pounds.

A group of about twenty men surrounded the two; all Highlanders. She knew that they were planning something, but did not expect to see one of them stab Murdoc in the back so blatantly on the battlefield. That was when Skye realized that only her vantage point allowed them to see what was happening..

The men who surrounded Murdoc and Tidas laughed as they blocked everyone else’s view, and took turns stabbing at them. Their duel of honor had turned into them trying to survive a traitor’s plot. Tidas blocked Murdoc’s back from a strike, while Murdoc covered Tidas’ weak side.

They held their own together; acknowledging each other’s skills with nods and grins in between attacks. But when Murdoc took a slice to the back of his leg, it’d left Tidas’ backside wide open.

A shallow strike to his exposed upper-leg caused Tidas to lurch forward. Sending him stumbling right into the hilt of a sword, into his face. He jerked to his right from the force of it; giving an opening to another Highlander to punch his stomach.

Skye boiled over with fear-fueled fury rage as she watched her husband being pummeled. Her power had been all but gone, but now she felt it swell as her emotions intensified.. Reaching out in every direction as her fury stoked into an inferno..

As Skye focused on her surroundings to find a path to Tidas; a large shadow passed by overhead. Skye smirked as she saw the path before her, then kicked Thoth into a full run...

As she galloped out, several Highlanders rushed her. Skye place one hand on the side of Thoth, then funneled her Tank magic into him as she yelled; “Break Through to Tidas, and I’ll give ye a full crate of apples!”

Thoth nickered almost maniacally, for a horse, then broke through the hulking humans in front of him. He plowed through them like a boulder rolling down a hillside; careening towards his goal.

As Thoth bolted, Skye built her magic as she watched the Highlanders attacking Tidas and Murdoc. She thought that she’d faintly heard Petrie calling out to her when she’d first ridden away, but it was most likely him just chiding her for dumping him like she had.

If Drexel’s men saw him, they would immediately target him. Since they had Murdoc and Tidas surrounded; the chances of him making it through were slim..

Right as she was about half-way to them, she heard Tidas bellow out in pain as three Highlanders jumped him as once. Murdoc was pinned down, and a large, familiar-looking stone cuff was placed around his neck..

‘That’s the Sealing Stone shit from the Summer Games! Murdoc can’t get free without his magic!’

Right as the thought occurred to her, Skye watched Tidas get his arm sliced. It was deep enough to make him drop his sword, which meant that it had sliced his tendons. Otherwise he never would’ve dropped his sword. Seeing the love of her life cry out in pain; Skye’s vision turned red..

Earth, Water, Tank, Shaman; she called upon everything within her. Her breath burned in her lungs as Tidas went to his knees, shouting out in pain due to a sword going into his shoulder..

The ground shook as Skye’s anger and fear peaked, causing the surrounding soldiers to freeze. A large bump lifted up in the ground; like something was pushing on it from just below the surface..

As the several men grabbed hold of Tidas, the man twisted his sword before pulling it out. Skye screamed for him to stop, but the chaos of the battlefield made it impossible for them to hear her. He was on his knees, about to be run through when an earth-shattering scream broke the Highlander’s focus.

Before anyone could question what was happening, a massive geyser erupted near where Tidas was. The moment that the Highlander turned his head, it was taken off by a large amount of steaming-hot water. The body twitched for a few seconds before falling over with a loud thud; dying the ground around it crimson.

Tidas looked over to see Skye careening through the battlefield towards him. Thoth ran down any in his way as Skye urged him on..

“What are ye doin’?! Kill the Bitch! Kill the prince! And bring me Murdoc!” Drexel screamed, but his orders fell on Deaf ears.

A loud rushing noise built up, then an explosion could be seen behind Skye. As the dust cleared, a cyclone of water and rock stretched up, into the sky. It picked up, beat, and battered all in its path before flinging them out; most likely dead.

The majority of the RMC members were clear of her destructive path, and the few that were close had immediately backed off upon seeing her. With peace of mind that her other comrades were safe, Skye let her fury go unfettered..

Skye jumped from Thoth’s back onto the ground, landing between the two men and the group. The cyclone behind her sounded like a hurricane. She’d had her left hand in the air when she’d dismounted.

She placed her palm on Tidas, healing him while maintaining the cyclone. Her eyes shined brighter than normal, and Tidas knew that she was using an enormous amount of power, very quickly.

After Skye’d finished healing her husband, she turned her attention to Murdoc. He had saved Tidas before, and he had saved him. Now, she had saved him, too. Thanks to Petrie, she had a good concept of their rules of honor. Knowing her back was covered, Skye focused on the bastards in front of her.

They stared at the torrent tower of water and rock with unabashed terror. None of them had ever seen such magic before. A few ran away, but the remaining dozen or so foolishly stayed.

Skye raised her hand as high up as it would go before saying: “Bend the knee to Murdoc now, or die by bein’ crushed to death while ye drown!”