CHAPTER 39: Twilight Wars

"What are your orders sir? A chubby dwarf asked while he hurled a little hatchet right into the skull of an approaching hooded elf. "Protect the twilight grove at all cost" was Redneck's reply.

A few hours ago (about the same time when the Night were battling in Elyria), the dwarves and fairies of Elsltia (a small valley located in the border between Klaustia and Florisia) had noticed large shadows that moved swiftly across the night sky.

Immediately the alarm was set off but it was far too late for them to stop the hordes of dark hood elves riding the large dracolizards in the sky; large aerial reptilian beasts sometimes called lesser dragons that inhabited the far reaches of the northern mountains.

The riders and mounts quickly dived, jaws snapping and arrows raining down in a vain effort to drown the rising projectiles from below. Many of the brotherhood shattered on the rocks below; their mounts quickly butchered up by waiting dwarves.

But despite the enchanted fairy arrows and ingenious flaming dwarven catapults, a fraction of the attackers had managed to land and had immediately engaged the twilight forces in a brutal battle.

Redneck the second in command to Klaus lead forger of the Twilight, knew almost immediately what the rebels were after and had immediately ordered Mulberry; leader of the Twilight fairies to take the rest of his folk and protect the demon slayer sword in the twilight grove.

Another dwarf by the name of Goldbeard, left the battlefield and headed towards the dwarven border to summon soldiers and access the Rune communication needed to alert the Order of the Phoenix. .

Redneck and the batch of dwarves at his side smiled gruffly as they put on their head lamps not letting the darkness to be an excuse as they bought time for the dwarven army that would be there in nothing less than thirty minutes; something that was possible due to the barracks situated along the length of the dwarven border.

To the Twilight's eternal gratitude, the Sun didn't disappoint and had sent two Supremes and a whole lot of mages to their aid.

There was no time to ask how they had had gotten here so fast or why the Night had not come to assist them.

All that mattered was that they were there and judging by the looks of their enemy, it seemed like the sudden appearance of powerful mages dressed in gold had already dealt a huge number on their psyches.

"Sorry we took so long" Alicia said out loud as she and the rest of the mages stood at the dwarf's side, right at the entrance of the lush valley that led to the Twilight grove.

"Apology accepted" Redneck smiled. "Show them what dwarves are made of! He added with a shout; gingering the army of dwarves that surged from the dwarven border and with a loud yell the dwarves clashed with the soldiers, leaving the mages to deal with the brotherhood mages; traitors of the sun that showed no fear as they battled former friends and brother in arms.

"Something seems wrong" Redneck frowned, right after his hatchet had ripped open an enemy's chest. "Despite our overwhelming numbers and strength, they still fight as though their very lives depended on it. Sure, it could be that they really want to die for this absurd cause, or maybe all of this could just be another diversion.

After all their cult seems pretty skilled in wasting lives just to get towards their goal".

And so with beady eyes the forger's eyes scanned the battlefield, searching for any signs of another secret force trying to sneak past them but to his relief the coast seemed very clear with even the night sky empty of silhouettes.

The noises of blades and elements clashing had died down a little; a sure sign that they were on the verge of winning but still Klaus couldn't shake off this feeling that something was up.

Though deep down he knew that any attempts to sneak into the grove would be almost possible due to the narrow valley that served as a natural shield from any threats. The only sensible option would be to launch an aerial assault; which the brotherhood did and ultimately failed for it was quite obvious that they knew nothing about the flaming catapults that lined the mountains above the valley; a precaution that Klaus had personally instilled in case of any aerial assault.

The battle still raged on and so did the mini one in Redneck's mind until a very bad premonition hit him.

"The MINES! Slapping his forehead for not considering that possibility, Redneck ran forward to where Alicia and Clyde stood; blasting waves upon waves of elements at the rogue mages that had foolishly believed their numbers could overpower strength.

The dwarf's chubby legs ran fast, jumping over dead bodies moving out of the skirmishes happening here and there until finally he arrived at the two's location.

He first dusted his kilt; a strange habit he had formed when under immense pressure, before relaying the news he had.

"The mines, we have to head for the mines" the dwarf panted; mostly from the run than the battle.

Clyde the bronze skinned Supreme who was considered the master strategist at the Sun, gave a quick nod confirming that he had the same suspicions.

"Don't worry they didn't send an army there"

"They didn't? Alicia and Redneck asked in unison

"Yes, apparently the last thing my scouts saw before they met their demise was a large elf armed with two silver longswords".

"Why didn't you inform us on time of your suspicion? Redneck fumed; angry that what he had spent time racking on had already been predicted by a human who hadn't knew about the conflict until now. "Or had he?

"Because I had assumed the dwarves in the mines would have notified us if any suspicious movements had been noticed" Clyde replied; silver eyes shining in thought before he continued "And I had also expected them to sneak in an army, not a one man killing machine so skilled that he managed to kill scouts who are meant to be invisible to most people and mages"

"But what is actually scary is that this elf had managed to sneak past the dwarves and kill your scouts" Alicia pointed out.

"No what is scary is that he had managed to 'kill' not get past those miners" Clyde corrected with a sigh

"Then what are we waiting for? Redneck asked. "Let's head down there and get rid of this threat"

"No need" Clyde replied "The mines and tunnels from beneath the mountains up to this valley are nothing less than 40 kilometers, meaning unless he can travel at supersonic speed the bastard will still take quite some time.

"Time" Clyde smiled "That we will have to prepare a special 'welcome'.

Redneck was about to say something but paused when he noticed a glowing rune on Alicia's forearm.

"I'm being summoned by the Night; it seems like they need a Supremes' help"

"Then you must go and use this as an opportunity to find out why we can't connect to Wulfe and Patricia" said Clyde.

Alicia simply nodded and with a blinding flash of light she disappeared.

"Let's go forger" Clyde tapped the shocked dwarf "And use this time well for if my calculations are correct the enemy below will still think that his 'friends' should be keeping you guys busy throughout the night".

"Meaning he has no idea that the Sun had come" Clyde added with a smirk.

"But shouldn't they have considered that? Redneck asked

"The Brotherhood had staged similar conflicts in the other kingdoms probably in an attempt to get us and the Night away from here. But I had considered all of this from the very moment they launched their attacks and though many lives were lost because of my choice, I and Alicia in the last minute still prevented the Sun from aiding the Night and other kingdoms for we knew that if the 'Demon slayer' sword ends up in the hands of Draghyr, that will mean doom for all of us and so we teleported to Florisia before coming here when your distress call reached us.

Redneck didn't ask any other question and simply followed Clyde to address the Sun and dwarves on their next course of action.

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I apologize for the slow update rate. I have been going through some personal problems this week that really needed my undivided attention.

Not to worry, from Sunday get ready for more chapters.

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