971: Battle of Vraks
Synovial leads a relentless siege of Vraks and its defenders, who have fought fang-and-hoof to defend their hive against the overwhelming forces pitted against them.
Making good use of his numerical advantage, Synovial rotates out weary troops for the rested and eager, offering the Vrakkians no moment of respite.
After a long and gruelling battle, cracks begin to appear within the ranks of the Vrakkian forces.
One such crack allows Synovial’s forces to breach into Vraks itself, sending its civil drones into a panic.
Screams; the tell-tale sound of fear that echoed through the tunnels tormented Farris as he watched his mother rush around their home. To his understanding, she shouldn’t even be moving because of the egg she carried, yet here she was, gathering whatever she could carry: food, valuables, memento's and even a sword.
He didn’t understand: Everybody always reassured him that Vraks was the safest hive to live in. Had the battle on the surface gone so badly that they had to flee?
His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of shouting; he couldn’t make out what they were saying, since they were muffled by the walls separating them from the cavern outside, but he knew they were close.
Farris stretched his wings and slowly flew up to a small hole near their ceiling that over looked the cavern. By the time he reached it the shouting had suddenly stopped, and the sounds of halberds clashing replaced it. He couldn’t see what was happening for himself, though a few changelings briefly paused to see the commotion before quickly carrying on their way.
Curiosity got the better of him, and he quickly flew towards the entrance to their home to look outside. The moment he was about to leave, he heard the distinct sound of metal locking together, then a sharp cry of pain; the silence that followed sent a shiver through his spine.
His mother also took notice, rushing over and ushering him away from the entrance and safely behind her, quickly dimming every source of light she could and levitating the sword out of its scabbard, ready to guard against any threat that dared step into their home.
Farris peered past his mother as the sounds of hoof-steps and clattering armour got closer and closer to them, the tension rising with every step until the moment finally came.
As soon as the armoured silhouette crossed the threshold, Farris’ mother lunged forward to strike, but the intruder was quick to react; catching her sword between their halberds blade and haft, twisting the weapon to lock it in place and move it aside.
Disarmed in an instant, his mother followed through with her attack: ramming into them with all the momentum she had left from her initial lunge, hoping it would knock them down. The intruder braced and held his ground, using this as his chance to embrace her in a hug.
“Cerci! Cerci, it’s me!” he called out, attempting to calm her down: the tension and fear that permeated the air quickly evaporated as recognition set in.
“Athis!” Cerci beamed, returning his hug.
Farris galloped over to greet his father, the light from the tunnels outside revealing the day he has had thus far: his armour was scratched and dented in a couple of places, his horn and face glistened green in the light from the blood that covered them and his halberd was stained with streaks of dried blood to match.
He was uncertain at first, as he had never seen that much blood; he wasn’t old enough to be taught how to fight, but he had heard the stories about the greatness of Vrakkian warriors. If his father looked like this that must mean he was as good as the warriors in the stories, he thought to himself.
“Athis, what’s happening out there?” Cerci asked, releasing the hug and giving Athis a second to breathe.
“Captain Oryctes is dead, and everything has fallen apart in the neighbouring tunnels. The Vesalipians are slaughtering anyone they come across,” Athis replied.
“They aren’t even sparing the drones?” Cerci gasped, bringing her sword away from Athis’ weapon and back into its scabbard.
“Apparently not.” He turned to look at Farris, his son, and then placed a hoof on Cerci’s enlarged belly. “But that isn’t important right now. I need to keep you all safe.”
Cerci nodded to him in response, quickly turning to continue packing her bags. “Okay, I only need to find a few more—”
“No, time is a luxury right now. Take what you have already, but we have to leave,” Athis pleaded.
Cerci looked back to Athis, crestfallen at the thought of leaving things behind, but turned to close the bags she had filled; levitating a paired set of bags over her back before levitating another in mid-ar.
Athis looked concerned at the weight of them, but said nothing in protest; he instead turned to Farris once again, pulling him into a momentary hug. “No matter what happens to me, stay close to your mother. Okay?”
“But… what if you get hurt?” Farris replied, reciprocating the hug.
“I’m not the important one here,” Athis replied, releasing the hug as Cerci walked up to them. “I need to know you’ll both be okay, that’s all that matters now.”
Cerci gave Athis a nod, and Farris watched as his father turned to the entrance with his halberd levitating close by, his stance lowering somewhat as he stuck his head out and scanned the tunnels outside.
Doing as his father instructed, Farris moved to Cerci’s side and waited. He could faintly hear the echoes of shouting coming from the tunnels outside, along with the occasional command from his neighbours preparing to flee their own homes like they were.
It was a lot to take in, and he was scared of what might happen outside given his father’s tone; he leaned against his mothers front-left leg, wrapping one of his own around it for comfort as he waited for Athis to command them to follow.
When his father did give them the motion to follow, Farris quickly turned to the right as he left. As he followed, he took his first look around his home cavern since the attack began— most had quickly abandoned the place once news reached that the tunnels were breached, with the few who remained being like him and his mother, trying to gather up as many useful or personal items as they could.
He froze completely when he spotted a dead changeling corpse just a few paces outside their home to the left and towards the noisier tunnels. He felt like he recognised him from somewhere, and as he looked over the corpse from where he was, he saw it was bleeding from a small wound to the neck; the blood forming a small pool beneath the body.
Both Cerci and Athis noticed their son stopped following, with the former quickly trotting back to get him moving again. In doing so, she also took notice of the corpse, seeing the familiar face she quickly called to her partner. “Athis! Isn’t that… Korex?”
“It is; we were ambushed by one of the enemy vanguard,” Athis replied, staring through the corpse, his face portraying inner sadness and regret. “They’re taking simple forms, trying to blend in with our own. I wounded him, but not before… that,” he lamented.
Korex. Farris recognised the dead changeling’s name, he often appeared alongside his father whenever they passed by on patrol or simply stopped to visit. Though he was too young to remember most changelings’ names, he always remembered Korex's.
He remembered his smile most of all— that was why he felt so unnerved at the sight of him now. He had fond memories of their interactions; how he always told him jokes and joined in with his make-believe scenarios about being a great knight slaying a giant or being commander of the guard.
Seeing Korex like this, expressionless and still, brought him to tears.
He suddenly felt his mother wrap around him, bringing him into another gentle hug to comfort him. He leaned in to her, failing to hold back the tears and sounds of sadness that were gathering within him.
As the sounds of shuffling armour approached, he felt his father gently place a hoof on his shoulder as well. They both accepted how he felt, but he shouldn’t be like this.
In the stories he was told the knight’s were always brave in times like these, persevering through any hardship for the good of the hive. Even his father was controlling himself better than this, and Korex was a closer friend to him than anyone else; it made him feel so weak in comparison.
His quiet moment of sorrow wouldn’t last, as a magical explosion in one of the tunnels drew their attention back to the present.
A squad of Vrakkians poured out of the tunnel and instantly turned back around to face it, some hovering above their comrades in formation. All had their halberds at the ready, appearing exhausted, beaten and bruised, but still ready to fight for every inch of ground. Barely a few seconds passed before the first of the invaders charged out of the tunnel after them, instantly locking with the weathered Vrakkians in combat.
Farris looked to his father, whose faced held a grim expression, wondering if he would rush in and join the fight, but instead found him observing his comrades for only a moment before standing and giving both Farris and Cerci a guiding nudge away from the fighting.
“Things are far worse than I thought they’d be...” Athis commented, before all three of them broke into a gallop, fleeing deeper into the tunnels of Vraks to gain as much distance from the fighting as they could.
It only took minutes of weaving through the tunnels before reaching a new problem: the panicking drones. Fleeing to the inner areas of Vraks, they proved to be a significant security hazard now that the enemy had also made it into the tunnels, and the defending Vrakkian warriors were desperately taking measures to counter it.
Farris continued following his parents as they passed by tunnel after tunnel, each one either intentionally demolished in hasty defence, or were clogged with countless drones trying to break past the guards. Were his family to join with the drone's attempt they’d be stuck waiting for far too long.
He could see that his father was getting more agitated with every tunnel they passed; every moment wasted searching for a clear tunnel brought the enemy closer to them.
After roughly twenty minutes of searching, they found a tunnel that had enough space for them to move through despite numerous drones trying to pass the checkpoint. Athis had hoped for better, but time was short, and his concern for his family drove him to act.
Athis, using his position as a soldier, barked orders at the drones to make way for them so that they could reach the hastily deployed checkpoint mid-way into the tunnel. To no one's surprise, one of the guards manning the position held a hoof up to block them.
“You know the rules, nobody gets past without being checked. You’ll have to wait until an expert arrives to do so,” the guard asserted. There were four of them: the first two stood before them, while another two appeared to be at ease a few paces behind the first pair. They looked far younger than his father and their armour appeared shiny and new. These changelings probably hadn’t seen combat in their lives, and were likely rushed into duty to control the worsening situation.
“The Vesalipians were right on our tails! If you keep us here any longer we’ll all be torn to shreds!” Athis shouted, causing the crowd to whisper and stir with fear.
The guard paused for a moment, contemplating Athis’ words as his comrades looked to him and waited for his response, clearly marking him as the leader.
After a moment, he shook his head. “No, we can’t risk letting any infiltrator’s past.”
“Fool of the brood! Those aren’t drones with sticks—they’re veteran warriors and mages! You hatchlings won’t last a minute!” Athis seethed as he marched up to the lead guards face, prompting the guard to the left of Athis to level his halberd towards him.
“These are the Queen’s orders, and if she wills us to defend this tunnel then nothing will get past us,” the lead guard replied.
Farris watched as Athis’ expression of anger dropped to one of sadness once again, never breaking eye contact with the guard before him. “You're a good warrior, I just hope your skills are enough to handle what's about to happen.”
The lead guard looked at Athis with confusion, receiving a weak smile in return.
Athis turned away as if to leave, only to rear up and deliver a solid kick to the guard's chin, sending the unfortunate youth careening to the ground.
He then spun around quickly, bringing his own halberd to bear, narrowly avoiding a strike from the guard to his left by parrying it aside; locking his opponents weapon in a bind and preventing the guard from attacking any further.
With his weapon all but disabled and his back to the wall, the guard froze with hesitation. Athis capitalised on this by rushing forward, grabbing him by the head with both hooves, and knocking the guard out completely with a powerful headbutt.
Athis didn’t have a moment to breathe, as the two guards that were in the back had already drawn their swords and rushed at him.
He once again levitated his halberd, swinging it in sweeping motions to ward off the duo and take in the situation. The pair looked shaken and unsteady: after witnessing two of their number fall in an instant and failing to land a blow while Athis’ back was turned, they were unsure how to approach the situation.
Quickly levitating a fallen guard’s halberd to his side, he began slowly approaching the duo while his weapons danced around in front of him, creating a ward that prevented their approach.
The duo slowly backed away, training in full swing as they looked for a moment to extend their swords and lock the halberds in place. Athis’ eyes darted between their faces, one fearful and the other determined, watching their eyes for the moment one of them decided to act.
The determined guard saw his moment, sending his weapon forward and successfully catching one of the halberds; the fearful guard also attempted the same motion, but failed to achieve a similar result as Athis nimbly avoided his attempt to lock the second halberd.
Farris watched in awe as his father swung the second halberd over the fearful guard, towards the determined guard who was preoccupied with controlling his other weapon. He used the flat side of the halberd to hit the guard instead of the edge: knocking him out as well.
In the same motion he rushed towards the fearful guard, who swung his sword at Athis as he stumbled back at the sight of his reckless charge.
The panicked strike impacted upon armour, sending sparks flying, but this did not slow Athis down. Riding the momentum, he swung an armoured hoof directly into the side of the guard's head. This didn’t knock him out, but sent the poor changeling recoiling to the floor in a daze, meekly holding out hoof towards Athis in surrender.
Athis let out a frustrated, exhausted sigh and retrieved his weapon from the floor.
Farris was ready to pounce on Athis and sing his praises, but his excited expression melted into concern as he looked to the crowd for their reaction. Though he was young, his instincts knew the body language of other Changelings better than he did; the fluttering of wings, eager tapping of hooves and baring of fangs.
If they weren’t riled up before, they certainly were now.
“Thank you, sir! We might just make it to safety after all,” one feminine voice called out from the crowd.
“The guards aren’t that tough, and who knows how many drones are stuck like we were, we can help them!” Another feminine voice yelled.
“If they won’t help us, we’ll help ourselves!” A masculine voice cheered.
The crowd, already wound up from everything prior, quickly jumped on the idea of spreading to the other tunnels and releasing the other drones.
Athis, realising what this would lead to, quickly tried to quell the unrest. “Wait, stop—!”
But it was already too late, the horde of drones had already begun flying past Athis toward the exit into the adjoining cavern, spurred on by how easily Athis succeeded; leaving only the few families that had no interest in putting themselves at risk any more than they already were.
There were so many passing by that the dust being swept up forced Athis to cover his eyes, while Cerci protected Farris’ under her wing.
When the dust settled, the tunnel was practically silent. Athis turned to look in the direction the crowd had gone, and stomped on the ground in frustration, “Damn!”
Cerci and Farris quickly run to his side. “Why did you do that!?” Cerci questioned.
“Not my first choice, but I couldn’t just stand here with the enemy breathing down our necks,” Athis sighed, placing a hoof on Cerci and doing his best to hide his weariness.
“And the crowd reacted so quickly… I’m worried about what we’ll be running into.” Cerci added, holding Athis’ hoof against her with one of her own.
“Whatever comes next, I’ll protect you both. I have to,” Athis said, leaning in to give Cerci a quick kiss and kneeling down to pat Farris on the head. “Remember what I said, don’t leave your mother’s side.”
The moment of reassurance was short, but they knew they couldn’t linger and quickly collected themselves before breaking into another gallop towards their next destination. They were followed by the families that had decided against rushing forward to riot against the guards.
As they ran, Farris took a quick look back at the guards; as the last to fall moved over to one of his unconscious friends, and another sullenly watched drones rush by, he wondered if what his father did was the right thing to do. They weren’t to blame for keeping them there, he figured that any noble warrior would have done what they did—follow the Queen’s command—but did that make his father wrong?
He didn’t think so. After all, he gave so many drones a chance to escape, one that even the Queen wasn’t willing to give them, and he was proud of him for that.
As the exit to the next cavern quickly approached, Farris shook the thoughts from his mind, he needed focus on what his parents wanted him to do: Stay close to his mother, no matter what.
The sounds of chaos had echoed into the tunnel even before that reached it’s end, but finally seeing the result of the crowd’s brash action was disheartening for the trio. Some of the nearby tunnels had already fallen to the crowd’s surprise attack, with other tunnels soon to follow as drones dispersed into them, the drones that tried to flee deeper into the tunnel system found themselves face-to-face with the garrison that was attempting to fortify the area.
It looked like a civil war, with warriors trying to quell the riot that had broken out and restore the peace against desperate drones trying to flee from the Vesalipian forces.
Athis turned to look at them, guiding their attention to the walls riddled with the vacant homes of other changelings. “We’ll dive in and out of those as we move, with any luck, we’ll avoid any unwanted attention.” he sighed, with both Farris and Cerci nodding in agreement.
As the drones and warriors quarrelled with one another, Farris and his parent’s moved quietly from hole to hole; though each time they did it became harder to ignore Athis’ growing fatigue, his breathing growing heavier and heavier as they went.
Farris followed his mother closely as they moved, taking quick looks at the riots as they went. The rioting drones had dispersed across much of the cavern behind them, with small groups of two to three warriors trying to prevent groups of drones numbering in the sevens and eights from passing by.
It was a disorganised mess to say the least, and it was at least relieving to be past the worst of it; he was also relieved to see nobody was hurt, the drones were panicking but the warriors trying to control the situation hadn’t yet to turned to violence.
Despite some of the weight being lifted from his mind, one dark thought remained: The Vesalipians are getting closer by the moment, delayed only by the brave few making a fighting retreat.
As they ducked into another hole, narrowly avoiding a squad of warriors flying by to reinforce their comrades, Athis suggested they all take a moment to rest; Farris felt a little out of breath from the running, but he was otherwise fine, instead turning his attention to his parents.
Cerci appeared to be winded from the heavy load she was carrying, but his father looked almost completely spent; he had forgotten that Athis had been a part of the battle on the surface thanks to everything going on, and now he’d ran through miles worth of tunnels alongside them and fought off four of his own hive members.
He always held his father on a high pedestal in his mind, always imagining him as an unfaltering soldier of Vraks, but as he watched his father slump against the wall and slowly slide down it’s curve that image was shattered for the reality before him: This rest wasn’t for them, it was for himself.
Athis was panting; it was perhaps the first moment since the battle began that he had taken a moment to properly relax and catch his breath. Farris knew that this was only a brief respite, but it pained his little heart so much to see his father like this. He quietly approached Athis, falling against to him and hugging one of his front legs; his father hadn’t noticed his approach, not daring to take his eyes away from the events unfolding outside, but when he felt Farris lay next to him he finally relented.
“Hey, little warrior,” Athis whispered, looking down to him with a soft smile and using his other hoof to gently stroke his head.
Farris was silent, content with simply showing his father that he was worried about him. Athis soon lifted his head to check on Cerci, who smiled at him as she quietly scooted over to rest with her family.
“I know it’s messy out there, but our little guy is right. You need a rest,” Cerci said softly.
“Maybe… but the exit is only a short sprint away now, I just need a momen—” Athis began, being interrupted by a gentle knock to the head from Cerci.
“Athis, love of my life and pain in my flank, you won’t be leading us anywhere if you collapse,” Cerci explained, at the same time her horn began to glow and a pair of clicks denoted she was searching through the bags she had been carrying.
A small flask soon floated out, and after a quick spin of the cap, found it’s way to Athis. “Take a proper break while you have the chance.”
Athis took another glance outside, examining the state of the riot. The situation outside seemed to care little for them ever since the garrison received some extra hooves to calm everything down; deeming this acceptable he gently placed his halberd on the floor and accepted Cerci’s offer, taking in several several swigs from the flask.
Looking up at him once more, Farris saw Athis close his eyes and simply breath. He didn’t understand exactly what his father was doing, surely keeping his eyes open in case of danger was better?
He rested his head on Athis’ side once again, hearing every breath he took. At first they were somewhat erratic and frequent, a pace which didn’t bring Farris any comfort, but after a few moments of listening he noticed each breath begin to slow down; each one becoming more controlled than the last as Athis commanded himself to relax. Even though his breaths were still long, Farris was amazed at how quickly his father went from the point of alertness to a place of rest.
“You can let go now, Farris,” Athis asked, slowly opening his eyes and shaking the leg Farris was holding in an attempt to encourage him to let go, but Farris only started holding tighter. “Now it’s just you who needs to relax, little warrior.”
“I’m not letting go…” Farris mumbled.
“Why not?” Athis asked.
“Because…” Farris said, feeling his mother gently place a hoof on his shoulder.
Not accepting that as an answer, Cerci’s horn began to glow once more. Gently tugging at Farris’ legs to unwrap them from Athis’ leg; Farris resisted at first, believing his father would get up and start running around again, but eventually relented and reluctantly released his hold on his father.
Much to his surprise however, Athis used his new-found freedom to wrap his leg around Farris and bring him in closer than before. “I’m not going anywhere just yet, so relax.” Athis whispered.
The warmth and safety he felt in that moment washed away his fears; confidant his father was taking the rest he desperately needed, Farris closed his eyes and began to let himself relax. Despite the stress he had felt throughout the day, the commotion outside and his parent’s sharing a few words with one another, Farris slowly found himself drifting to sleep under the protection of Athis.
A pair of explosions startled Farris awake, the shock wave travelling throughout the cavern half deafened them for a moment and covered them with dust.
He was suddenly overwhelmed with the sounds of screaming once again, with the din of battle adding to the symphony coming from the cavern outside.
Athis let Farris rush to his hooves before hopping up onto his own, halberd already floating by his side as he examined the situation. “They’re here! Quickly, both of you, we have to leave!” Athis urged.
Cerci was doing her best to calm him as they scrambled behind Athis, who was diligently looking for the ideal moment to rush for one of the tunnels exiting the cavern.
After a few moments his expression turned to one of dread and his jaw hung open, whatever he saw was of serious concern, and Farris was curious enough to look for himself; it was the stuff of nightmares.
Vesalipian warriors had broken through the tunnels and engaged the Vrakkian defenders in messy close-quarters fighting, but what horrified Farris more was the drones that had been caught in the middle of it all.
Some of the Vesalipians took it upon themselves to chase or attack the fleeing drones, and while some of the defender’s let the drones pass, others were unwilling to disobey their orders and attempted to block their escape.
It was the picture of disorder, and many of the drones were paying the price for it. Farris eventually pulled his attention away from the chaos and noticed that his father was looking past all of that, his attention fixed on something more important than everything else.
Wanting to know what he was looking at, Farris looked out once more, this time scanning the tunnels near the ceiling that the Vesalipians had come from. It was a difficult task with the numerous drones racing by and blocking his view, but he soon saw the robed changelings peering out from the tunnels, protected by well-armour Vesalipian warriors.
Mages, the most destructive force on the battlefield.
“What are they waiting for…?” Athis asked as his gaze darted around, trying to determine what they were staying hidden for.
His answer came with the sudden appearance of Vrakkian warriors appearing from the tunnels they wanted to leave through, practically spilling out of them and spreading their wings, flying towards the battle. Athis had ducked back behind the wall at their appearance, waiting until they had passed before looking outside again.
Farris mimicked his father, though he wasn’t sure what threat their own hive posed, and returned his gaze back to the tunnels the mages were hiding in. At first he didn’t see much, but eventually a faint green glow began to grow brighter for a few moments before his father dragged him backwards; using his body to protect him from a danger he had yet to comprehend. “Down!” Athis yelled.
Cerci had barely a moment to duck before a green explosion rocked the cavern around them, their hole was immediately filled with dust, and the sounds of rubble and debris crashing to the ground echoed through the cavern.
When the dust settled Athis rushed to see the damage, and relief fell across his face. “We still have a way out, let’s leave before that changes!” He yelled, turning back to lift Farris up and make sure Cerci was okay to make the run.
Desperate to escape, they all rushed out of their hole and made a break for the only tunnel that was not blocked by rubble; by some miracle it avoided the same fate as every tunnel around it, only being partially covered instead of becoming inaccessible.
The run to the tunnel was pleasantly uneventful, with Athis using his own magic to lighten the bags Cerci was carrying so she could climb over the rubble blocking the tunnel.
Farris flew over the blockage and was ready to pass into the tunnel when a pair of desperate voices called out to them, causing both him and Athis to turn and look for where they came from.
“Wait! We’re stuck!” A masculine voice called out, though they could make out the words it was difficult to pinpoint their location with the chaos in the background.
“Here! Look here!” A feminine voice called out next, followed by a green luminous glow coming from behind a pile of rubble.
They were likely among those who had chosen to hide in their home rather than flee, and the damage had blocked the entrance, trapping them inside.
Farris saw Athis look towards them, contemplating his next action before looking up at him.
“Stay in the tunnel and watch over your mother, I can’t leave them like that.” Athis said.
“But…! What if they cast more magic!?” Farris cried.
Athis paused for a moment, looking back at the battle behind them. The mages had began casting smaller spells to assist their comrades, the battle wouldn’t last long with them here, but Athis deemed it long enough. “As long as you are safe, I have to try.” he replied, motioning Farris into the tunnel.
Farris didn’t go all the way inside, but hid behind the top of the debris to keep an eye on his father.
He watched as Athis galloped over to the debris, shouting a few words to the changelings behind the rubble before using both magic and hoof to try and clear as much of it as he could.
Farris felt conflicted; saving fellow lings was a good thing, but it comes at the cost of his father using whatever energy he just recovered.
His attention was drawn to the battle, from where he was he could see everything; warriors fighting to the death, mages firing off spell after spell and drones scrambling for places to hide.
With the tunnels all but sealed, nobody in the cavern could escape. It was a slaughter, one that was coming to a rapid end.
Farris’ blood went cold at the sight, his mind struggling to process everything at once, and now he was watching as his father put himself in danger for the few he could still save.
Athis worked with those trapped inside to move as much of the rubble as possible, but it was taking a lot of time.
Time he did not have, with no sensible battle line established in the cavern the Vesalipians had free reign to outmanoeuvre any of the defenders, and soon a pair of them set their sights on him; one with a halberd and one with a sword, taking flight in his direction.
Farris could only hear his father yell in frustration as he hopped away from the rubble and readied himself for battle.
Farris was beyond worried, these were no mere guards.
They were warriors.
Backed into a corner, Athis moved slowly as the pair of enemies looked for opportunities to flank him. The swordsling made the first move, attempting to fly over Athis and surround him, but his father sent his halberd into the air to swipe at him.
While successful in warding the swordsling back, the halberdier immediately capitalised on the motion of his ally and lunged at Athis with a thrust; with no weapon on hand to defend himself, he only narrowly dodge the tip of the halberd, quickly knocking the halberd aside with an armoured hoof and backing away from his foes.
Having lost ground, Athis brought his weapon to a defensive position and continued backing away slowly.
Farris was frantic, and Cerci picked up on it; dropping the bags she was carrying in order to fly up and see what was going on.
Seeing her partner in danger, Cerci moved to leave the tunnel and rush to his side, stopped only by Farris. Had he been even a second slower a latching on to her leg, Cerci would have turned a desperate situation into a dire one.
His efforts were successful, stopping Cerci long enough for her to realise what she was doing. She hesitantly lowered herself next to her son, deciding their safety was more important; a choice that weighed heavily on her, especially as she watched Athis fight for his life.
Athis gave the enemy few chances to get at him. Each time the halberdier tried to lock their halberds, Athis deftly moved his aside and threatened the swordsling in turn.
The swordsling, growling with impatience, attempted to fly over Athis once more; The halberdier, seeing this, also made a move to attack Athis by swinging his halberd from above rather than thrusting it.
Athis chose to respond to the repeated manoeuvrer by rushing towards the halberdier, intentionally locking their halberds together in the air; with his foe focussed on trying to control the bind Athis followed up his charge by lowering his body to the ground and then pushing himself upward, sending his horn piercing through the halberdiers neck and into his head; splattering another layer of green blood over his head.
The swordsling had not sat idle, quickly recovering from his surprise to take a swing at Athis, who struggled to quickly free his horn from the enemy in his weakened state.
He was not able to wrench himself free fast enough to avoid the attack, and the swordsling landed a thrust through a gap in his hind-leg’s armour, causing him to yelp in pain and stumble away from his opponent.
The swordsling quickly grabbed his comrades weapon and aggressively tried to smack Athis’ halberd aside or lock it in place, but Athis’ defence held, expertly levitating his weapon to avoid getting caught in a bind.
Soon realizing his strategy wasn’t going to cut it, the swordsling pulled both of his weapons into a position to strike at the same time.
Unsure of how his opponent planned to attack, Athis brought his halberd in close and readied himself.
The sword moved first, levitating towards him from the right and aiming a thrust for his neck, whilst the halberd followed up with a wide sweep to his left; his opponent was forcing him to block one way and leave himself open to the other, giving him no choice but to get out of the way.
Athis parried the sword and attempted to jump to the right, only to emit a pained yelp and stumble as he put pressure on his wounded leg, resulting in a direct hit from the halberd to his side; Although his armour took the worst of it, the attack had broken his wing, and the force of the impact made Athis lose his balance and slam against the rubble he had tried to clear.
Not a moment had past before Athis looked to his foe, barely managing to throw himself to the side as the halberd came flying towards him; impaling itself in the rubble next to him.
The swordsling was eager to land the final blow, throwing himself on top of Athis to pin him down and line up the final strike with his weapon.
They were so caught up in the moment that neither of them noticed the sound of hoof steps until they were right next to them, the swordsling only having a moment to glance in their direction before a sword found it’s way into his neck.
Cerci extracted her sword and pushed the swordsling off of Athis, trembling with shock as he choked and writhed on the ground before her: She was not a warrior, desperation alone had driven her to act, and the stress of the situation was slow to dissipate.
The worst of Farris’ fears had passed for the moment, his father had taken a beating but he was thankfully still alive.
He looked back into the cavern itself to check on the battle, and his blood froze. The dead littered the cavern, warrior and drone alike; the few that had surrendered where being corralled into the centre of the cavern as the Vesalipian’s dragged anyone hiding in their homes out to join them.
The fight here was finished, with only a few small groups of warriors stubbornly refusing to surrender.
Thankfully Athis had managed to get up on to his hooves, and was hobbling to the exit tunnel with Cerci in tow.
“Wait! Don’t leave us!” A distressed voice called out to them.
Athis turned to face the rubbled, he no longer had the strength to dig them out even if he wanted to, nor did they have any more time to delay. He failed to help them and could only muster a sorrowful, “I’m sorry.” in response to their cries.
Even with the state he was in Athis refused to risk any harm to Cerci and their egg, helping her climb over the rubble just as he had done before, and took the lead as they marched ever deeper into the hive.
With no way to fly, Athis was forced to hobble slowly through the tunnels for an agonizing length of time. Cerci had scrounged some rags to at least cover his wound and slow the bleeding, but nothing could be done to ease the pain or speed up their progress.
Eventually they happened upon a section of the tunnel they were not familiar with; the tunnel was already fairly wide, but it had been hastily dug out, with additional holes scattered neatly along the tunnel at ground-level.
It was actively in use, with guards watching both ends of the tunnel and dozens of robed drones flying from hole to hole; the distinct sounds of groaning and yelps of pain bleeding out into the tunnel itself.
At their approach, the guards looked over Athis and quickly moved aside to let them pass. The last checkpoint they had to deal with refused to budge at all, so what made this place different?
They didn’t get much farther in before a female drone, wearing the same plain robes as the others, flew over to them. “Greetings, do you want me to help you find a space?” she asked politely.
“What is this place?” Cerci asked.
The drone gave a modest bow. “A space for the wounded. It looks rough, I know, but we can help you-”
“I’m fine, thanks for the offer.” Athis interrupted, immediately hobbling past the healer.
Everybody, even the guards a few paces behind them, had looks of confusion on their faces at his response. Athis was far from fine; he was exhausted, his wing was broken, he had a laceration in his leg and he was covered in blood that may or may not be his.
The healer tried to trot in front of him, but he continued to march forwards, so she kept herself somewhat in front of him as she followed.
“Pardon me, but… you are definitely not okay. I implore you let us tend to your wounds.” The healer pleaded.
“I don’t need a healer, I need to keep moving.” Athis growled.
Cerci and Farris shared a look of concern before trotting after them, “Why are you refusing? You need rest!” Cerci chimed in.
“We can’t sit around with the enemy biting at our tails.” Athis replied.
“At least let them close that wound!” Cerci pleaded.
“Their efforts are wasted on me.” Athis replied, determinedly marching forward and actively ignoring some of the faces poking their heads out to see what the commotion was about.
Farris didn’t understand what was going through Athis’ mind, he knew that he wanted to see him and his mother safe, but why doesn’t he want to save himself? Surely they could sacrifice a few minutes to rest and heal?
He might not understand what’s going on, but he wanted to help Athis more than anything. He galloped in front of him as he marched, almost side-by-side with the healer, ready to join the chorus of voices asking Athis to stop. As soon as he opened his mouth, however, a different voice spoke for him.
“What’s gotten into you!? Do I have to order you to sit your flank down?” A voice boomed from back down the hall.
While everyone else turned to look at who had commanded him to stop, Athis kept his gaze fixed forward. It didn’t seem like anyone would be able to stop him from leaving, but this voice did it in a heartbeat.
Farris examined the large figure; he was a high-ranking warrior, that much was clear from the well-embellished armour he was wearing. He wasn’t wearing his helmet, instead half of his head was wrapped in bandages to cover his left eye, which he had clearly lost if the green stains were of any indication.
Athis didn’t move a muscle, causing the warrior to tilt his head and squint his good eye in suspicion.
He then examined Cerci and himself, trying to figure out what was going on, his eye opening wider and wider as he connected the dots in his mind, “Cerci? Farris? Then that can only be…”
The warrior’s confusion quickly transformed in to fury, “Athis Varyk.”
“Captain Oryctes.” Athis said coldly.
“Block the exits!” Oryctes barked, with the guards on both ends of the tunnel complying. Athis slowly closed his eyes and looked down, a solitary moment of defeat being displayed on his face, before turning to face the Captain.
“You… you have a lot of nerve being alive, traitor!” Oryctes yelled, beginning to pace back and forth, but not coming any closer to them. “Why’d you do it? Were you bribed by that Vesalipian filth? Or are you just a spineless coward!?”
“Would you be happier if I said neither?” Athis replied.
“You took my eye!” Oryctes screamed erratically in response, his voice reverberating through the tunnels as he gestured to his face. “You betrayed us! You sacrificed your own hive! And for what!?”
Farris was stunned; his father betrayed the hive…?
“Forgive me for not seeing the value in throwing lives away for a lost cause.” Athis replied, his expression stiffening as he barely held back his anger.
“Lost…? We only lost because of you! When you struck me down, nobody was left to keep control, and our lines collapsed!” Oryctes yelled.
“You forced my hoof, Oryctes! Ask anyone here and they’ll tell you this battle was decided before it began!” Athis snapped, his calm demeanour breaking under Oryctes accusations. “A fighting retreat would have doomed us, I simply gave our brothers a chance to survive!”
“Yes… I’m sure the dead that litter our tunnels are grateful for it.” Oryctes snarled, his pacing coming to a slow stop. “Speaking of our brothers, tell me what happened to Korex. I was told after you struck me down and fled he went after you.”
Athis didn’t respond, his face only holding a look of sadness and shame.
Oryctes huffed in response, satisfied that Korex’s fate was made clear.
Farris slowly walked towards Athis and tugged on his leg, tears beginning to form in his eyes once again as the sight of Korex’s lifeless body formed in his mind. “It… it was you? W-why? He was my friend…” he sobbed.
An apologetic look from Athis was all he received before Cerci pulled him away, her own expression wracked with emotion and uncertainty.
“To make matters worse, a group of warriors passed by and told me a Vrakkian with a bloody horn attack them; starting a riot in the process!” Oryctes added.
“That was never my intention! Are you really surprised that they turned against the hive when its leaders had condemned them and their families to death? Simply because there was a few infiltrators running around!?” Athis retorted.
Oryctes scoffed, “Enough of your prattling, scum.” he then gestured to the guards behind Athis. “Arrest him!”
The guards didn’t move, they simply gave each other an uncertain look and held their position. Perhaps they agreed with what Athis had argued to some degree, seeing Oryctes and their leaders willingness to sacrifice even their families as wrong, but they didn’t step aside either.
Their expressions spoke for them; they weren’t sure how to proceed.
“Fine.” Oryctes huffed, horn alight as his halberd levitated from the hole he was resting in, it’s engraving’s shimmering in the low light of the tunnel. “I’ll do it myself.”
Athis brought his own weapon to bare once more, and as their weapons clashed, Farris found himself trapped in his own mind.
All of the death and chaos that he’s witnessed is because of his father? Were they not all taught that the hive was the most important thing of all? How could he betray it?
Why…?
Then there was his poor friend Korex, he couldn’t get the image of him out of his mind; how cold and lifeless he looked, how all the fun things they did would never happen again, because his father killed him.
Korex was Athis’ best friend as well, almost like brothers, why would he do it? Why would he kill Korex and lie about it? Why would his father take one of his friends away?
Why!?
His tears made it hard to even see the fight in front of him, he felt so hurt.
He felt so betrayed.
He felt so angry.
The familiar sound of weapons locking snapped him back in to the moment, Athis had locked Oryctes’ weapon up high just like he had before. He knew what this meant, he knew exactly what his father was about to do.
He.. he couldn’t just let him…?
No. He wouldn’t let him.
Farris grabbed the nearest rock he saw with his magic and, though tears had blurred his vision, flung it at Athis as he began lifting himself upwards.
The rock connected with Athis’ head, dazing him and throwing off his aim, leading to Oryctes only receiving a deep cut across the side of his neck.
Realising his mistake and capitalising in the situation, Oryctes brought a hoof down against the side of Athis’ head and followed up with a downward slash from his weapon. Athis did his best to dodge, but he wasn’t fast enough, and the halberd’s blade connected directly with his horn; causing an audible snap and cry of pain as his horn was broken off.
Athis’ halberd clattered to the floor alongside him, his broken body struggling to even lay upright. Both combatants turned to see where the rock had come from, only to see Farris’ teary eyes looking back at them; while Oryctes’ face displayed shock, Athis’ was overcome with sadness and defeat; Only managing to look at his son for a moment before lowering his head, unable to bare the sight.
Oryctes angrily motioned to the guards to do their jobs, and they hesitantly did so. A pair of guards lifted Athis to his hooves, who’s gaze remained fixed to the floor.
Farris looked to his father, completely in shock, and barely reacted when a third guard lifted him off the floor.
“Leave them!” Oryctes barked to the guard, causing him to freeze in place. “Farris Varyk saved my life. I won’t allow him to be treated like a criminal.”
The guard gently sat him down, and he watched as Athis was shoved deeper in to the tunnels without them. Farris desperately wanted his father to look back at him, to see the regret that was written across his face, but he never did.
As Athis vanished into the darkness, only one question dominated his mind:
What have I done?
How long had it been? Athis pondered to himself. Days? Weeks? He had been in this dim, dank hole for so long that the passage of time had become nothing more than a haze.
For better or worse it gave him plenty of time to think, with almost every waking moment spent asking himself one question: Was it worth it?
He loves his family and he loves his hive, he would lay down his life without question to protect both. But as he sat there, watching the inevitable fall of Vraks and the slaughter of it’s people, he was given a choice: Die in Vraks’ defence or ensure his family would survive.
The choice was obvious, but Oryctes threatened to kill him and anyone else who tried to flee; the anger he felt in that moment lingers within him still.
He gave the hive everything he had, and in return they told him to die for a Queen that had chosen the cowards way out once she realised the battle was lost? The very idea angered him so much he cast off his allegiance to the dying hive and struck down anybody that tried to stop him.
The anger and fear he felt in those moments drove him to kill his beloved battle brother, Korex, because he refused to believe he had fallen so far; Korex never gave up on him, and he killed him for it, that realisation brought him back to his senses at the time.
But brought him nothing but pain and self-hatred now.
He kept telling himself it was all for his family, but every time he did he remembered Farris’ teary eyes, filled with anger and resentment; the memory never failing to bring tears to his own eyes.
Perhaps with time Farris would forgive him, but then he would grow up believing his father resented him for his betrayal. A reality that frightened him more than one where he was reviled, at least there he knew his son would have no regrets, but to forgive and be unforgiven in return? He dared not imagine what that would do to him.
And then there was Cerci, he knew she would forgive him; she had a kind heart, and she was always good at seeing things from the perspective of others.
But even that was soured with the knowledge he would never be there to see their second hatchling break free from their egg, nor be there to see them grow.
There is so much he would have loved to teach them, to show them, to experience with them.
To know he never will is a special kind of Tartarus.
He had gone over these questions for so long that the moment his ears twitched in response to new sounds he snapped back to reality. He quickly examined his cell, finding his gaze drawn to the source of the noise, pebbles and dust were falling from the ceiling. Was someone… digging?
Not a moment after he asked himself that question the ceiling of his prison gave way, creating a small hole and causing the intruder to land in somewhat of a heap, obscured by the dust that followed them.
“Who goes there?” Athis asked, sitting up and waving in front of his face to clear the air and hopefully see who it was.
Aided by the dim lighting, the dusty air that slowly spread across the floor almost completely concealed the intruders small form as they lifted themselves up, but his heart knew exactly who it was the moment their eyes locked with each other; they were his eyes, no doubt about it.
A tiny gasp was the only warning he received before the figure charged at him, their wings splitting the cloud surrounding them in two, and wrapped their legs around one of his in the tightest hug he’d ever received.
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” Farris cried into his leg.
The mental whiplash of Farris’ sudden arrival wasn’t enough to stop him from immediately leaning down and wrapping his other hoof around him, wanting nothing more than to protect him; even from his sadness.
“Shh, its okay.” he said softly as he looked down at his son, tears forming in his eyes as the dark weight that tormented his mind become lighter by the second; some benevolent force in the universe had granted him the opportunity he so desperately wanted.
“No…! No it’s not… I did this to you!” Farris replied.
“And I forgive you.” Athis said as he brought Farris in as close as he could, tears rolling down his face as he took in the moment. “You don’t know how much I’ve wanted to tell you that…”
“Huh…?” Farris sniffled.
“I was so afraid that my choices pushed you and your mother away, that you might grow up believing I hated you when really…” Athis lifted Farris’ head up, wishing to look him in the eyes as he spoke. “I will always love you, no matter what you do.”
Farris’ jaw trembled as he tried to respond, but no words came. He simply rested his head on Athis’ leg and began to cry, his sadness finally spilling over it’s peak.
Time became a blur once more as Athis held his son close, gently stroking his head to comfort him. He knew this would be the last time he’d ever see him, so he savoured every moment, his mind drifting to his happiest moments of his life; the day of Farris’ hatching and the happiness he felt seeing him for the first time, how Farris greeted him with a hug every time he returned home, all of the times they would play together and simply enjoy life.
No longer.
So much time had passed as he reminisced that Farris had calmed down, and only the odd sniffle could be heard.
“I don’t understand…” Farris mumbled, not moving a muscle as he spoke.
“Hm?”
“You hurt your captain, you hurt those guards and you…” he paused to sniffle and collect his thoughts for a moment. “You hurt Korex. But… you didn’t want to do that, did you?”
“I never wanted any of it, I… I’m sorry for what I did to Korex.”
“I know… I’ll miss him…” Farris replied, with a moment of silence lingering between them as they both took the time to remember their lost friend. “If you didn’t want to do it, why did you?”
Athis took a moment to process the question. Farris was still young, how do you explain something so complex to one who has never experienced even a single part of it? He had to try, for his sake.
“I had to choose what was important to me. One day you will have to do the same, and when you do you’ll learn that friends can become enemies just as easily as the wind changes.”
“Even family?”
“Even family. Long ago I visited the lands to the east, and heard a tale of the two sisters that ruled them. One sister ruled the night, but became sad and resentful that none celebrated her like they did her sister.”
“What did she do?” Farris asked, looking up at him with curious eyes.
“She chose to fight her sister. The once inseparable pair had become enemies, torn apart by something as simple as the time of day, and when she was defeated she was forever banished to the moon.” Athis continued, happy that Farris was distracted from his sadness, even if it was only for short time.
“Kind of like you and Korex…”
“In a way, yes. Like her, I chose to abandon things that were dear to my heart for selfish reasons, and soon I’ll be joining her on that moon as a result.” Athis lamented. He did not want to say outright that he was going to die, not wishing to make the situation any harder on Farris.
“I don’t want you to go… I want to save you like you tried to save others…” Farris grieved, looking up at him with newly shed tears streaking down his face.
“You already have. Being here with you was the greatest gift I could’ve hoped for.” Athis replied, comforting his son in another silent embrace. After some time passed, however, it became clear their time together was over. He heard the distinct echoes of orders being barked, and the clattering armour as they marched through the tunnels: This was it, he thought, the day the traitors of Vraks are sent to die.
It felt right, a final wish for a final day.
“Farris…” Athis closed his eyes trying to suppress his tears, but the time had come. He had said everything that needed to be said, and he couldn’t risk his son getting caught after all of this. He felt his heart shatter as he gently pushed Farris away, and it took all of his strength to force the rest of his words out. “It’s time to go.”
Farris looked up at him as he was pushed away, his little heart unable to bare the weight of leaving him; in one last act of defiance he ran back to him, hugging him so tightly he felt Farris tremble with sadness. “You can’t go… Please…!” he pleaded.
“You have to let go, Farris…” He said softly, but he couldn’t bring himself to push Farris away again. He knew he had to, that their time was short, but these were his final moments. If this was the last time he would ever feel the warmth of one of the most important things in his life, then he wanted every second he could get away with.
“I… I…” Farris sobbed into his leg, struggling to find his words. “I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you too, little warrior, now go on...”
Athis allowed Farris to let go at his own pace. He didn’t truly want him to go at all, quietly cursing his broken form for preventing him from leaving with his son, the pain from each wound taunting him in return.
As Farris flew up to the hole and climbed back in, he turned and poked his head out to see him one last time; not wanting his last view of him to be one of misery, he gave Farris a soft smile, his vision beginning to blur as tears welled up in his eyes once more.
Every tear he had resisted up until now had began rolling down his face as he watched Farris turn and leave, the finality of the moment causing him to break down. But not all of his tears were born of sadness, for he finally had his answer:
It was worth it.
Author's Note
This story was conceptually larger than the 10K Word Limit.
I did my best to make it work, and may one day write it outside the contest limits, but I hope you enjoyed my efforts regardless!
Proof Reading done by: Light Shine (https://www.fimfiction.net/user/70254/Light+Shine)
