Rise

23

*Farrah's POV*

All five of us were seated at the table I dragged down to the training room to discuss our strategy, all tense and shell-shocked about just what we were planning to do. I had taken on the role as the leader of our gang of misfits, as I was the only one who could stop everyone from breaking out into chaos every five minutes. "First things first do we know where Amara is." I said, laying out a map of our kingdom.

"What do you mean?" Eli asked.

"What she means is, where is her army." Rosie clarified. I look over towards Vivian and Caden, my eyebrow raised in a silent question.

"The plains of Arkala." Vivian said, nonchalantly pointing to a spot near the southern tip of our kingdom.

"Where the final battle of the Great War took place..." Eli said under her breath. "Exactly." Caden said, "She wants this to be round two, and what better place to do it is where she was first defeated?" His voice was unreadable.

"Alright, now we know where this is going down. Now we need to know what is going down. Caden please tell me you managed to nick a copy of her battle plans." I say, cracking my knuckles.

"Come on, Fay, have some faith in me!" He produced several sheets of parchment and lays them over the map.

"Well, I'm glad to see you're not a complete fool, also, don't ever call me Fay. Ever." My insults had lost their original steel over the past days, and now were not unlike the jests between Eli and I.

"Fine. But Amara has an army how are we supposed to plan around that?" Vivian snaped. I smiled, "I've been waiting for someone to ask that. Now for a little demonstration. Rosie, if you would." I motioned to the panel on the wall behind her. She nodded and reached behind her and activates the charm.

Several of the animated dummies came from the hidden compartment, "This is our army." I said proudly. "Try your best to defeat them, but they will continue to attack, they react to no wound and be reanimated indefinitely."

Vivian didn't believe me, or she was just restless, which could've been just as viable as a reason. Because, she unsheathed her daggers and stalked towards the dummies.

With a flash, she gutted two of the dummies simultaneously and swiftly decapitated the other. Rosie clapped politely, and Vivian gave a playful bow. I snickered as the dummies put themselves back together and teamed up to tackle Vivian. It wasn't until she was fully down that Elora and I burst out into full-on fits of laughter.

"Shut up and get these sandbags off of me!" She pouted, struggling against the weight of the dummies. Caden and I pulled them off of her and I sent them back to whatever place they were stored.

"The only problem with that, is someone has to be actively casting to keep a large amount of these bad boys up and running."

"That's where I come in." Rosie continued, winking at me. "I can't fight, but I can hold large-scale spells like the one needed for quite a while from a distance."

I smiled at her before looking back at the map, "Is there anywhere in range but protected?" I asked Caden and Vivian, since they knew that territory better than Eli, Rosie and I.

Vivian nodded, "There's some ruins near the edge of the plains that should work." She pointed to a small cluster of dots on the map.

Rosie nodded, and I placed a small figure that represented her across from the ones representing the four of us and Amara and on top of the ruins.

"Well, that's great and all, but we still need armor. And the dummies need weapons. Unless you were planning on just having them sit on the demons." Caden laughed, but before I could answer, Eli cut in.

"We're way ahead of you." She threw open the hidden door leading to the armory with a flourish. Vivian ran in first and was fawning over a scythe that hung on one of the armory's walls, Caden walked in next and I nearly doubled over in laughter when I noticed his gaze was roaming lustfully over a pair of scimitars. "Take them, they're no use just sitting here." I said, motioning to the multitude of sharp objects and armor in the room.

We spent about another hour or so selecting armor and sharpening our weapons, before Rosie and I went upstairs to prepare some healing salves and other useful remedies. Honestly, that entire week before we set off to Arkala was boring, mostly just preparations and strategizing and training. The ride there was uneventful, though we all could feel the weight of what was about to happen on our minds.

We rode in a carriage pulled by our horses, and I sat near the front, with Rosie curled up against my chest and our hands intertwined. All of us were deathly silent until our carriage stopped at the ruins on the edges of the plains. Caden was tasked with unloading the horde of stuffed effigies from the second carriage for Rosie to animate, which he did with only a moderate amount of complaining. I stepped out of our carriage after him, and extended a hand to help Rosie down. She held fast to me as I escorted her to the most stable and intact piece of the abandoned stone manor.

I had brought two saddle bags full of magic replenishing potions and food, but also bedding and clean clothes so she would be as comfortable as one could be during a war.

"Everything is in here, and use the amulet Vivian gave all of us if you run into any trouble. Caden and Vivian are currently setting up a protective barrier around you so-"

"Farrah, shut up."

"Bu-" She grabbed me by the straps of my chest plate and silenced my gasp with her lips. I froze, wide-eyed before melting into the kiss. Our lips fit perfectly together, like the gods had sculpted us together so that she would fit me and I her. We could have kissed for a minute, or an hour or a millennia, time stood still with her in my arms. Though, it was too soon that she pulled away from me.

"Promise me you'll come back to me in one piece." She said, tears in her eyes.

"I will. And when we get back, you and I are going to get married."

"Are you proposing to me, Farrah?" She laughed.

"Yes." I said brushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Well then, I accept. But you have to be alive for that to happen alright?"

"Yes'm" I said smiling.

"Sorry to interrupt this beautiful moment, but we need to go. It's almost dawn." Vivian said. With one last look I followed Vivian outside.

As we boarded the carriage, the horde of dummies follow us in neat orderly lines was the only sign that Rosie was alright.

"We're really doing this." Eli said, fidgeting with her gauntlets as we continued in the carriage.

She grabbed my hand, "Yes, yes we are."