The beginning of the battle

When they came closer, Lica was very surprised to see a large number of soldiers. There were people and goblins all together... The vampires were a little further. Lica had never attended a military exercise, the more she had never taken part in a large scale battle. She knew about war from movies. Therefore, everything that was happening now seemed unreal to the girl. She looked at the warriors' weapons with interest. All of them, without exception, had swords; some of them also had bows and arrows, the goblins had something looked like a stick or a club, studded with spikes. The vampires had long pikes and spears tied to their horses' saddles.

Shortly ahead they saw the familiar spreading tree, under which Angelica immediately recognized the silhouettes of the Goblins' King, the Prince of Vampires and the Prince Night. They were standing there, holding the reins of their horses and talking about something.

"We're almost there!" she said to the witch. "But I can't see your brother."

At this point, a man on a horseback went out from the mountains side.

"Look," Margo pointed at him. "Here is Huron!"

It so happened that our heroes and the sorcerer came to the arranged place at the same time from different sides.

Prince Night and Vampires' Prince helped the girl and the witch to get down. They kissed their hands in turn. The Goblins' King also came up and kissed only Margo's hand. He just slightly bowed to Angelica. The girl pretended not to notice this and all the others were so busy that did not pay any attention to it. Huron dismounted and immediately got down to the plan:

"The situation in the mountains is much worse than I thought. Some unknown bastards are everywhere in the valley and for the ritual I have to get inside the cave. Margo, I need your help, otherwise I will not be able to keep everything under control."

"No problem, Huron!" said Edward. "We'll get your back. What will we do next?"

"The ceremony of sealing the evil forces back into the abyss consists of three stages," said the sorcerer. "On the first step we'll unlock the barrier; Margo has put to withhold the evil in one place and so it cannot to spread throughout the Kingdom of Night. After the barrier unlocks all creatures and reptiles begin to overreach and the task of the army is not to give them to do that. On the second stage, I will open the gates into the abyss. I do not know what might happen after this, but it is likely that forces that are even more powerful may try to sneak into this world. At this stage, the troops of the Prince and the Goblins' King had better step back, giving the opportunity to vampires give the battle, because it will be not only the physical, but also the energy confrontation. I do not think people or goblins will be able to stop them... On the third stage, I will call the elements - water, fire and air to help me. With their help, I will try to get the evil back into the deep, and sealed its gates with my soul. It is if things shape up in our favor."

"What if not?" asked Lica.

"If not the advantage will be on the side of the evil. Then you will play it off the cuff! Is everybody agree with this strategy?"

Swein, Edward and Arthur nodded.

"Now, I ask you to give my sister and me a small group of soldiers, so that we can get to the caves and the soldiers will get our backs."

Prince Night jumped into the saddle and immediately went to his army. Huron, the Prince of Vampires and the Goblins' King also got in the saddles and were ready for further actions.

Angelica was expecting a sight or breath from Swein, but he was cold and indifferent to her. However, Arthur came closer to the girl and said:

"Angelica, I beg you, no matter what happens, stay away from the mountains! You'd better go back to the Sleepy Lake and wait for us there."

Lica nodded. She couldn't believe that it was a reality. It seemed to her that it was just a long dream.

Half an hour later Edward returned with a small group of warriors on the horses.

"These people will accompany and cover you if you need help!" he turned to Huron and Margo. "Our armies will appear immediately after you, be ready to fight. Therefore, I ask you, Prince, and you, Swein, go back to your troops and take command."

Then the Goblins' King got into conversation:

"I suggest the army of vampires to refrain from taking action. People and goblins can prevent all attacks of living monsters, while vampires should join the battle when ordinary creatures will be replaced by energy beings."

"I agree with Swein," Edward nodded.

"I don't mind, gentlemen!" Arthur said.

He jerked the reins and went to his army. The Goblins' King and the Prince Night also went back to their troops. The small cavalry group, led by Huron and Margo, galloped towards the mountains. The united army moved immediately behind them. The horde of people, goblins and vampires were walking and riding past Angelica. At last, she did realize that everything happening here was the reality. She panicked.

"What if they all die?!" she thought with horror. "Then I'll never see Swein or Arthur or Edward or Margo or Huron!?"

Lica did not know what to do. She remembered the words of the Vampire to stay away from the mountains and go to the Sleepy Lake but the girl was just not able to do that.

"I cannot leave my friends!" she decided.

So, when the last troops passed, Angelica went after the army. She was riding in a distance, so as not to attract anybody's attention. It seems that everyone was so busy thinking about the battle that no one noticed her.

When the first rock appeared ahead, she tied her horse to a bush growing nearby and climbed to the top. The moon was shining brightly and everything was as plain as the nose on your face. What she saw plunged her into shock. Where before there was a flat place, now everywhere were only ravines. On the right, she saw a deep abyss, which she had never seen before. A wide valley at the entrance to the cave was cluttered with huge boulders among which horrible creatures were crawling. Some of them were like huge dinosaurs, which the girl saw in the books on zoology. Others were very different from all the beasts on the earth. The whole space was teeming with rotting bodies of these horrible creatures. Apparently, the severe fights were the usual thing there. The entrance in to the valley was closed by two rocks, and our heroine was now on one of them.

When she saw all this horror and smelled this entire stench, she felt bad. She felt dizzy and a lump in the throat. At this point, at the bottom of the mountain, at the mouth of the valley, she heard clatter and a small cavalry group began to break through to the cave entrance.

The riders went among the rocks by the shortest route. All the creatures crawling among the rocks heard the sound of hooves and began to surround the warriors. The soldiers drew their swords and began to repel the attacks of the hideous monsters. Huron and Margo shot a way out and sent their horses on. Apparently, that it was very angered the creeping reptiles. They became more aggressive. The warriors were fighting bravely, but the advantage wasn't on their side.

At this point, Prince Night and the Goblins' King gave a sign to the armies - to go into the valley! People and Goblins came simultaneously from two flanks and immediately began to fight with the monsters. The monsters didn't expect such a dirty trick and confused retreated to the mountains, while the sorcerer and his sister could get to the cave save and sound. Angelica saw that they dismounted, untied the bag with magic things from the saddle and disappeared in the dark cave.

"The huge spiders are also there!" she whispered, biting her lips.