Dance of Magic - The Books of Beginning [1]

39. Side By Side

"Where do we go to help?" Wilamena asked, her voice becoming high with fear as she took in the destruction all around.

Emma wasn't exactly sure. And she didn't want to lead her brother and the princess wrong. While Emma may have been immature and teasing in times of peace, when she took something seriously, she would take the time to think it through and do it right. Plus, she was supposed to be the warrior of the group. This was her call.

Her sharp dark eyes scanned the city in chaos. Among the gardens that surrounded the citadel she saw Haarald struggling to defeat five or so imps with his ax.

"There. Haarald needs our help," Emma said decisively.

Fortunately, her companions did not question her judgment, only broke into a run, leaping over rubble from a city that had only just finished rebuilding and yet was thrown into another war. Emma raised her sword over her head, forgetting half the moves Gabriel taught her and going off of instinct. 

She brought it down, cleaving the head of an imp in two, it's blood gushing into her jacket and hands. She did not care, though it was disgusting and gruesome. She would have time to worry about the things she had done in self defense later. Right now she was a fighter, and she would do anything she could to stay alive.

As Emma was shattering the head of an imp, Wilamena sliced the leg of another one with one of her thin knives, bringing it to its knees and allowing her to skewer it through a lung. Her hand trembled as she did so, but protecting these dear friends of hers was more important than anything at the moment, even her distaste for violence. 

Haarald whipped his axe around, beheading two imps with one swing. The heads fell to the ground, staining the dirt and cobblestones with blood. Michael, who stood behind the dwarf, winced, thinking about the mess that the city would become thanks to this war.

Haarald lowered the axe, panting heavily, "thanks. The King dashed off to go help those two old idiots with a sorcerer and I was stuck fighting these bastards on my own."

"No problem," Michael said firmly, his voice confident in a way that masked the fear inside. It was what happened in true times of crisis, Michael may  have been panicking, but he would help calm others, "we're all sticking together. That's how we'll get through this."

"Aye lad, you're right about that," Haarald said, "if there's anything the last war taught us - well, most of us, I don't think Miss Von Klappen or Dr. Algernon got the memo - it's that we have to put our differences behind us in times of crisis."

"Here here," Emma said, wiping her blade on her pants, pushing down her distaste and leaning into the adrenaline rush that took her over. This was just like fighting an orphanage bully, as in she had to fight tooth and nail and never back down. Only while incorporating magic and weapons this time.

"Where should we go next?" Wilamena wondered.

Haarald didn't have time to answer, because at that moment, Captain Anton fires one last arrow into a screecher, then dashed over to them, calling out, "Princess!"

"What is it Captain?" Wilamena asked after he came to a halt in front of her.

"Some of the magical congregation - that is to say, Master Chu and Pym's ghost, want you to return to the citadel. They need to speak with you," Captain Anton answered.

Wilamena frowned, "why? My father is head of the elven forces and if they need to speak with someone it should be him."

"That's what I said," the Captain replied, "but they insisted on speaking to you. They say it's urgent."

Wilamena shot a glance at the Wibberly siblings, "oh, I want to help, but... I can't just leave my darling rabbit and his sister. What if something happens to them?"