The Chains that Bind
With a force from above

Siegfried lashed out with his sword, leading a group of knights towards Mael and her guardsmen. Elves fell before him and their blood coated his blade. Dark elves, wood elves, and high elves fought and died against his forces.

The sounds of the battle echoed across the island. The clash of steel on steel, the boom of the cannons, the creak of the ships and the battle cries and roars of rage.

All Siegfried could hear however was Mael's scream of rage as she killed more and more human forces, and it made him even more determined to end the threat that the elves posed to his world.

He sliced at another elf and killed him with a quick stab. Oh, you are mine now!

He saw an opening, which would allow him to attack Mael directly. He began to run through the battlefield towards her, with his sword arm up. He wove past duels, charges, counter charges, and ranged fighters taking shots at the enemy.

He could see Mael's back as she stabbed another human knight, before she whirled and spotted her husband slicing through her elves, charging directly at her.

Mael smiled; Siegfried, I didn't get to fight you 5 years ago, but you are mine now!

Both royals charged forward towards one another not seeing the battlefield anymore, only seeing each other.

Zzzzzz…thunk!

Just as they met in battle an arrow zipped down from the sky at their feet embedding itself between them.

The human and elven armies paused their battles as the hills around the battlefield suddenly came alive with:

"Orcs!"

"Thieves!"

"Pirates!" Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ (F)indNƟvᴇl.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Elan stood on the highest hill "And the Resistance!"

The werewolf and Zebel stood by the orcs and monsters, and their snarls and roars echoed through the hills.

The mage and the dwarf stood with the thieves, with both of the crazed warriors chuckling like children.

Screech, Diva, the ogre, the Captain, Kol, and Caewen stood behind Elan with weapons out.

Caewen shouted down to the masses, hoping that she could avert the bloodshed "You need to stop this before you destroy the only world we've got!"

Mael froze at the sound of that voice "Caewen….." She hadn't heard that voice for over 5 years. Before she could say or do anything Siegfried cut her off:

"It won't be yours for much longer!"

A cannon fired directly at Elan's party, and they scattered away from the blast.

Mael rushed forward slicing her dagger down Siegfried's armor "You fool! That's our daughter…"

Fifteen years ago.

The human ships continued their bombardment of the island, and more ships began to sail forward with humans ready to leave the ships and embark on land.

The cannons slowly ceased firing as the humans began to disembark, with Siegfried leading them. They charged up the beach and rushed towards the elven cities, still ready for arrow fire and ambushes.

"NOW!"

The elven army charged forward with weapons out and blood in their eyes. Arrows zipped down from the sky and perfect headshots killed several humans, with the remaining arrows wounding the crowd of knights.

Siegfried lashed out and parried a sword swing; he cut down the elves in front of him getting further affirmation as he looked down at the corpses. One was a dark elf, one was a wood elf, and the other was a high elf. "It seems all races of elf want to oppose my power. How long have they been conspiring against me?"

The human forces rushed forward and began to duel the elves, letting sword swings clang against the spears of the elves. Arrows hissed like stinging snakes sinking their points into the knights' armor.

The knights formed large squares and shield walls, long spears poked out of the spaces between the shields sticking them through the elves at every opportunity. Sword swings sliced limbs, heads, and torsos as the human legions marched forward, gaining ground on the beach.

The elves darted away from the knight's attacks, using their lighter armor to their advantage. They shot arrows through the gaps in the shields, and hurled spears over the heads of the knights. They slashed their swords at armored legs, tripping the knights and exposing gaps in their armor.

The battle raged on the beach with sand quickly turning red, and corpses impeding the movement of the battle. Siegfried lashed out with his sword, leading his knights through the elven forces. "Where is Mael!"

His voice carried over the sounds of the battle, and his eyes looked deep into every single elf's eyes before he killed them, hoping that they would betray some hint to where his ex-queen was, and make sure that fear was the last emotion that the elves felt before they died.

However his eyes only gazed deep into green and blue pools of hope and willpower, and he saw no fear at all.

The screams of the wounded and dying, the clash of weapons, the boom of the cannons, and the hiss of the arrows bombarded the combatants with sound, but if you listened closely you could hear one other sound. It was a high pitched female scream.

Behind the door to Mael's bedroom, loud screams emanated through the door, further unnerving the two posted guards and a frantic pacing steward.

The guards stood as still as if they were carved from rock, letting the volume and intensity of the screams roll off of them like water. The Steward visibly jumped with each scream, letting them crash on him.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, the screaming stopped and the door opened with the midwives exiting. The steward mopped his sweaty forehead and entered the room seeing his queen propped up in the bed, holding a beautiful baby girl in her arms.

The steward walked forward as the baby girl cooed in his direction. Mael brushed the baby's forehead "This is Caewen" she smiled, but it was a smile of sadness as the noticed the slightly rounded ears, wide eyes, and other features of a human baby. "She's a half-elf" Mael sighed.

She looked out the window to the battle below, and then turned back to the steward "They'll never accept her…"

"My queen, every elf on this island is fighting not only to defend you, but the baby girl that you are holding in your arms." The steward smiled "If that isn't love, then what is?"

"You can hear the battle in here, but if we move quickly we can end this conflict, and possibly salvage a fragile peace. If my daughter stays then the humans will notice that her father isn't elven, and then more problems will arise. We can end this war before it even officially begins, and we can keep my daughter safe."

The steward shook his head sadly "I don't think that this is the thing to do, but I will follow your orders."

Mael smiled and hugged her baby to her. "Then this is what you need to do….."

Present:

The old man slowly regained consciousness and saw that his captor was bent over a glass globe, which showcased the battle. The figure turned and smiled "Awake, just in time to watch the end."

Humans and elves were falling in droves and each death hammered a blow into the old man's heart. He wished he could be there, because he wanted to warn them all of the true threat.

The figure pointed to two figures, charging towards one another, and smirked "Look at that your king and queen are deadlocked, and as long as they fight; the warriors under their command will."

The old man frowned "That's true….." He began to frantically think about another way that the battle could end, but his mind came up with only one solution…..total annihilation.

With the Queen and King locked in combat the only prayer of a chance…The old man suddenly saw something near the corner of the battlefield, and smiled as he finished his thought with new hope.

With a force from above.

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