Kyle and Twilight weren’t the only ones who had stopped to stare at the pillar of smoke rising over the rooftops. It seemed that every Pony in the streets had dropped what they were doing and turned to the west, watching as the pitch-black plume rose higher and higher into the sky. There was scattered murmuring here and there, growing more and more concerned by the second. A few Ponies even took a step or two backwards.
Kyle was the first to break out of his stupor. He shook his head to clear it. The smoke had to be coming from Ironwall. If it had been in Ponyville, there would already be mass chaos. Not to say that there wouldn’t be soon. A couple of Ponies had already turned tail and begun trotting away with fearful glances over their shoulders, and the muttering had become more widespread as the townsponies tried to figure out what was going on.
“Twilight.” He nudged his friend to draw her attention. “I’m going to see what’s going on at Ironwall. You need to stay here and try to keep everyone calm. I don’t know what’s happening at Ironwall, but the last thing we need is a panic here. Alright?”
Twilight nodded. “Got it. And… good luck,” she added as Kyle turned away.
As Kyle took off down the street towards Ironwall, the signs of distress were becoming more and more evident. Concern was fading into full-blown fear, and a few individuals were galloping at full speed away from the towering pillar of smoke. It didn’t help that the few Azerothians in town bearing the emblem of Ironwall, though trying to maintain a calm visage, were standing with weapons openly drawn. Unable to stop himself, Kyle took off at a full sprint towards the edge of town, ducking and weaving through the crowd.
Finally, the crowds thinned out, and he made his way out of town. From here, he could see the towers of Ironwall off in the distance. More importantly, he could see what was happening within. The tower of smoke was coming from within the garrison, there was no doubt about it. But that wasn’t the only thing rising from within the walls. The dense, black smoke was flashing with multiple hues near its base, reflecting the light of spells cast by those at its base. And judging by the faint roar of yelling and explosions that even from this distance could be heard, not all of those spells were aimed at quenching the fire.
It wasn’t long before the signs of the carnage came fully into view. Outside the garrison gates, bodies were strewn here and there, some burnt beyond recognition, others still smoldering. And still the roar of battle echoed through the air. The yelling and screaming, the clang of steel on steel, the surge of spells lashing out at their targets, the whistle of bolts and arrows flashing through the air. Stepping over the corpses lying at his gate, Kyle rushed through the entrance and into the battle.
Almost instantly, a Felguard was towering over him. He hopped lightly to the side as its mighty axe came crashing down into the ground where he had just stood. The second swing sailed over his head as he ducked low and rolled underneath the demon. The Felguard spun to meet him, but Kyle was already on the move. He leaped into the air and planted one foot on the Felguard’s hip, using that as additional leverage to get even higher. He flipped over his opponent and wrapped his arms around the Felguard’s neck, using the momentum from his fall back to the ground to drag the Felguard down as well.The demon’s head slammed into the earth with a resounding thud, and it snarled in fury as Kyle Kicked the back of its armored head. An instant later, Kyle had pried its massive axe from its hands, and the sharp blade came whistling down, ending the life of its former wielder.
With his first opponent out of the way, Kyle took a second to glance around the garrison. Demons. Demons everywhere, of every shape and size. Felguards and Wrathguards, Imps and Voidwalkers, Succubi and Felhunter, clashing against the defenders of Ironwall. The barracks were nothing more than a pile of ash, and the two research stations were now towering infernos, spewing the column of black smoke high into the air.
A Felhunter was the next to catch Kyle’s eye, pinning an exhausted mage to the ground.Kyle took a deep breath and summoned Chi into his feet, rocketing forward in a Flying Serpent Kick. His boot connected squarely with the Felhunter, sending it soaring backwards into a Wrathguard. The two demons collapsed in a heap, allowing the warrior who had been fighting the Wrathguard to finish them both off with two quick strokes of his blade.
And so the battle raged on. Kyle was here, then there, at first supporting the beleaguered defenders against their opponents. A punch here, a kick there, all that was needed to draw the demons’ attention away from the sword aimed at their neck, the fireball approaching their chest. Eventually, he was forced to deal with his own opponents as they began to target him. But that meant that some of his allies were able to catch their breath for a moment and recover. Soon, a couple of the mages had gathered the strength to summon a mana table, and rushed the energizing liquid to the combatants.
The demons had been advancing steadily further into the garrison, but as Kyle’s presence began relieving some of the defenders for a short time, their advance slowed. Then it stopped entirely, with a battle line being drawn just outside the central plaza. And then, the demons found that they could not hold the line as the effects of the mana water rejuvenated the defenders. Soon, they were being forced steadily back, past the research stations, past the barracks, past the gates, out into the open fields.
Kyle was drenched in sweat. His shirt was torn here and there, and his sleeves were singed and burned from the proximity to all of the fel fire. His suit’s jacket was completely gone, lost in the battle somewhere - he couldn’t remember where or when he had discarded it. His breathing was heavy, and he instinctively reached for his belt. But he found that his brews were not there. All that there was was the belt that he had worn to the gala the night before.
“Hold the gate!” he managed to shout between breaths. “We have the chokepoint and the high ground! Recover what strength you can!” He stepped to the side as another mage rushed past towards the front line with his arms full of flasks. With another glance back at the battle that still raged just outside the gates, he turned and rushed back into the garrison, past the spellcasters and archers that rained magic and arrows down upon the demons, and up towards the down hall.
He threw the door open and sprinted into his room. His shirt, belt, pants, and shoes were off almost immediately, and he sighed as the cool air rushed over his overheated body. There was no time to enjoy it, though. Just as quickly, he had pulled on a new set of clothes, more free and relaxing than his other ones, allowing him a wider range of movement. His armor soon followed, including his belt. He reached down and found the pouch he was looking for tied around his belt. He opened it and drank deeply of the liquid inside. His energizing brew’s effect was almost instantaneous, and he sighed in relief again as the burning in his arms and legs faded away.
The last item to grab was his weapon. For a split second, Kyle considered grabbing the staff that his master had given him during his last visit. He shook his head, however, and instead picked up the twin hammers that had been presented to him just before the Battle of the Crystal Empire. Gifts from Chief Longhorn of the Redtail Minotaur Tribe, the weapons were reinforced with the princess’s own spells, allowing him to grip them better, swing them faster, and strike harder. He felt a grim smile cross his lips as he felt the weight of the hammers in his hands. Yes. These would do nicely. With that, he turned and retraced his steps back out towards the battle.
Already, the situation in the garrison seemed far more controlled. A team of engineers had already brought the infernos rising from the research stations under control, and the smoke column was now greatly reduced. An armored Pony near the back was pointing this way and that, shouting orders into the fray and trying to keep some sense of order. Kyle ran up and stopped next to him. “Status report?”
“We’re holding the gates, commander,” The Pony replied, his eyes never leaving the battle. “I think we have the advantage now. We’ve got our most exhausted fighters back here being restored to full strength, and we’ve pushed them outside the walls.”
“Excellent,” Kyle nodded in approval. “Now, fill me in. What happened?”
“I don’t know sir. I was asleep,” The Pony admitted. “But those who were awake say that the demons started pouring out of the forest just as the sun was rising. We tried to stop them outside the gates, but they caught us off-guard. They were inside before we could muster our full forces. It was chaos… though I think you saw that. Nopony knew what to do. We couldn’t get a foothold until you showed up”
“What about Filwin?” Kyle demanded. “I left her in charge? What was she doing?”
“I don’t think anyone expected anything like this. Least of all her. She’s a great organizer sir, but she’s no military commander. I ended up taking over for her after it became clear she didn’t know what she was doing.”
“In over her head,” Kyle sighed. “Damn. We’ll talk again about you usurping her command after we’re done pushing them back. But it’s not over yet. We push out in fifteen minutes. Make sure everyone knows. We’re sending these monsters screaming back into the Twisting Nether.”
“Aye, sir.”
The Pony trotted away towards a pack of soldiers drinking deeply from flasks and began to talk to them. Kyle scanned the crowd, but saw no trace of his Gnomish assistant. Not that he was surprised. Such a short figure would easily be lost among the crowd. Even the Ponies stood taller than her. Kyle moved towards the largest pack and began to examine more closely, looking for his assistant.
For several minutes, the process repeated. He’d walk up to a group, look through them to see if Filwin was among them, and move on to the next pack when his search came up empty. And come up empty he did, time and time again. Not even a trace of pink pigtails could be found. Surely it had to be approaching the fifteen minute mark. He wanted to find Filwin before they pushed out of Ironwall again, but at the same time he was not planning on delaying his push. He was about to give up his search when a familiar tuft of hair finally caught his eyes.
But this wasn’t Filwin’s bubble-gum pink hair that he had spotted. No, instead it was a dual-shade white-and-pale-green tail, connected to a mint-green mare. A very familiar mint-green mare, currently sitting with her back to Kyle amongst a group of recovering soldiers. Though the soldiers were conversing in hushed, tense tones, Lyra did not appear to be participating. Kyle pushed his way through the crowds and made his way over to her.
“Lyra!” he called out as he reached her.
No response.
He placed one hand on her shoulder. Instantly, she tensed up, and her head whipped towards him. Her eyes narrowed, and it was all Kyle could do to stop from flinching backwards from her glare.
“We need to talk.”
There was a brief pause. “Uh oh…”
“Uh… now’s not exactly the best time,” Kyle replied quietly, acutely aware that the conversation nearby had softened considerably. “Though I’m sure you can see that… What are you doing here?”
“Looking for you. We need to talk.”
“Alright, alright. We’ll talk after we’re done fighting for our lives.” Kyle could feel Lyra’s glare boring into him. “Have you seen Filwin?”
“Town Hall.”
The entire time, Lyra’s eyes had never left Kyle’s. The tension was tangible in the air between them. Kyle felt lost as to how to end the conversation, and found himself slowly backing away. Once he had placed a considerable distance between them, he turned and ran towards the Town Hall, still feeling Lyra’s gaze upon him until the moment he slammed the door behind himself.
Kyle could hear the faint murmur of voices coming from his office. He turned and ran down the hallway towards the door, which was slightly ajar. He threw it open and made his way inside. Sure enough, seated there in front of his desk, was the familiar goggle-covered face of his assistant. But she wasn’t alone. A small, orange Pegasus was sitting next to her. They had clearly been conversing a moment before, but Kyle’s sudden entrance had drawn their attention.
Kyle grinned as he caught sight of the room’s other occupants. “Filwin! Scootaloo!” he exclaimed as the Pegasus darted forward, stopping right in front of him. “Now, what are you doing here?”
“I saw the smoke,” Scootaloo explained. “And I knew you were out of town. So I came to see what was going on. When I saw Ironwall was under attack, I tried to help fight them back, but there were too many -”
“We’ve got it under control,” Kyle cut her off. “For now. We’re making a push out of Ironwall here in just a moment.” He turned his attention away from his apprentice and over towards Filwin. “Where have you been?” he asked. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”
“Um… I’ve been… in here…” Filwin replied. Her eyes darted this way and that, refusing to meet his. “I’m so sorry! I tried to hold things together, but then they got through the gates and they’re burning down Ironwall and -”
“And we’re fine for now,” Kyle cut her off. “As I said, we’re about to push out, and we need all the support we can get. Can you fight?”
“... No, not really. I mean… I hit a Goblin with a wrench once, but -”
“Then stay in here,” Kyle interrupted once more. “Squirt, you’re with me. Time for a pop quiz on how well you’ve really been learning.” With that, Kyle stepped out of the room again and ran back down the hallway. Just behind him, the flap of wings told him that Scootaloo had left as well.
As the pair approached the front of the garrison again, Kyle glanced through the crowds to take stock of the situation. Most of the soldiers were on their feet again and moving towards the gate. A solid sheet of ice had been raised up in front of the gates, sealing them shut and keeping the Demons on the other side at bay. Swords were drawn, bows were notched, and spells were already ready to be unleashed.
All heads turned as Kyle and Scootaloo made their way to the front of the garrison. Near the gates, a single mage was stood next to the ice wall. Every couple of seconds, her hands would pulse with blue light, and the air would chill ever so slightly. Her head snapped up as Kyle stopped in front of her. “Commander,” she replied calmly.
“We’re ready to push out,” Kyle announced. “On my command, lower the barrier.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Alright soldiers, listen up!” Kyle spun around to address the crowd gathering around him. “You’ve fought hard to keep the Legion at bay. You’ve had a brief moment to rest. But now, we push out. Now, we reclaim our land. Now, we send these monsters kicking and screaming back to the Twisting Nether! Leave not one standing!”
There was silence as he turned back to the mage. “Lower the barrier,” he ordered calmly. “And prepare to fight for your life.”
The mage’s hands flashed blue one last time. Seconds passed. And then, a great cracking sound echoed throughout the garrison. A pale-blue fracture raced down the face of the ice barrier, cleaving it from top to bottom. It reached the ground, and the noise ceased.
And then, the wall exploded outwards.
On the other side, the Demons of the Burning Legion had gathered around the ice wall, waiting for the moment it would drop. The force of the wall exploding knocked those closest to the gates backwards, lifting them from their feet and hurling them away. The shattered fragments of the wall became deadly shrapnel, and many of those demons close to the wall who avoided being blown backwards fell to the ground, covered from head to foot in thousands of holes.
The soldiers of Ironwall wasted no time in pushing the advantage. With Kyle at the head of the army, they charged through the gate, taking advantage of the chaos caused the shattering ice wall to slaughter the remaining demons near the gates. With the area just outsie the gates captured, the defenders of Ironwall charged forward, colliding with the waiting mob of Demons once again.
Kyle was one of the first ones into the fray, snatching an Imp from the front lines and hurling it at an Observer hovering a ways away. H didn’t bother to watch the aftermath - even a small distraction would likely be enough for his men to cut the Observer down. Instead, he rolled underneath a blow from one of the Wrathguards. He landed on his feet behind the large demon and swung around, lashing out at the back of its leg with one of his hammers. The blow fell hard, and the Wrathguard fell to one knee. Kyle hopped back over the demon and slammed both hammers into its head as he fell back down to earth, smashing it to the ground.
The next one to catch his eye was a Voidlord, already towering over a Human. Tendrils of blue energy raced from its shackles into the Human, drawing cries of agony from the fallen warrior. Kyle was on top of the Voidlord in an instant, his mace carving right through the center of the large Demon. Though the blow was mostly ineffectual against its gaseous body, it was enough to draw the Voidlord’s attention away from the warrior. Kyle’s hammer parried a magic-infused swing, and his second hammer came up at the Voidlord’s extended arm. he mace slammed into the wrist bindings that bound the Voidlord’s shape, shattering it. A second swing shattered the binding on its other wrist. With nothing keeping it bound, the Voidlord’s body faded away into the Twisting Nether. Kyle made sure to shatter the bindings into multiple pieces before leaping back into the fray.
It was clear that the advantage had turned against the Legion. Already, a wall of soldiers from Ironwall had extended outwards and partially encircled the Demons, keeping them from fleeing towards Ponyville. The Demonic horde was being slowly driven backwards towards the forest. Scores of smoldering Demon corpses littered the ground, trampled into the earth by the clashing forces.
As Kyle extracted his hammer from the skull of a recently-slain Shivara, a flash of brilliant green light flashed in the corner of his eye. His head whipped to the side just in time to see a massive, dragon-headed bolt slam into one of the warriors that had drawn closest to the forest. The warrior gave no sound of pain. No indication that he had felt anything. Instead, his body simply crumpled to the ground, dead before he landed.
Kyle’s eyes flashed over towards the forest, where the bolt had originated. Sure enough, he caught a flicker of movement. A flicker that became more prominent as a shadowy cloaked figure emerged. The hood was lowered, allowing his facial features to be freely seen. Bright green, braided hair. Large tusks, one of which was pierced with a golden ring. Glowing, Blood-red eyes.
Kyle hissed. “Zinju.”
The Warlock had finally made his appearance on the battlefield. But it seemed that he did not intend to involve himself in the main fray. Instead, he was skulking around the shadows, hiding amongst the trees. He clearly was not looking to draw any unwanted attention.
Kyle began to move towards the Warlock, intend on engaging his foe and ending this attack. But he found his path blocked as a Felguard struggling against a warrior stumbled in front of him. A strike from Kyle’s mace quickly ended its life, but he mass of struggling combatants continued to impede his progress. meanwhile, Zinju was not attacking. Not even seemingly looking at the battle. Instead, he was looking beyond the battlefield, though at what Kyle could not tell.
Suddenly, Zinju’s posture straightened, and even from this distance Kyle could see his face contorted in a wicked grin. He stretched out one arm across the battlefield and drew it backwards. Almost instantly, the fighting ceased as the few surviving Demons pulled away from their opponents and began retreating back into the forests. Zinju himself drew his cloak over his head and turned to follow.
Around Kyle, many of the soldiers began to cheer at their victory. Kyle was tempted to join in their celebration. After all, they had just pushed the Burning Legion back, beaten them even when the Demons had has an advantage at the start. But he found himself frowning rather than smiling. Zinju’s expression… That hadn’t been a look of defeat. Something was wrong here...
“KYLE! HELP!”
A shrill voice cut through the cheering, silencing it almost instantly. The Demons were still retreating back into the forests, with a group of Felguards bringing up the rear. But the Felguards were not alone. Multiple humanoids bearing the armor of Ironwall were slung over their shoulders. Many were struggling against their captors, though some hung limply. All were bound by fel-green chains of energy. And one figure in particular stood out. Small though she was, Kyle would recognize her bubble-gum pink hair from any distance.
“FILWIN!”