56

                                    

                                          
Mia's POV
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Everyone is here. Thousands of troops lined up on our side, thousands on theirs, all waiting as the sun dips lower and lower into the sky.
The silence that surrounds us doesn't help the nausea currently dancing in my stomach. It's as if even the birds know something is going on, and every other critter went to hide, because the only noise is the swish of the wind caressing the dunes of snow, sending sparkling white mist blowing around on the stinging air. It's a cold evening, just our luck. 
I'm currently standing next to Knox and Rose at the front of the troops. Half of us are on horseback, half on foot. Knox, Rose and I are all on horseback, staring down Elmer and his massive army. The only reason I'm able to keep my face calm is because of the simmering rage right underneath as I stare at Elmer. The memories are still fresh in my mind, the horror he put me through. Put my friends through. My mom. Everyone.
In this moment, before the battle starts, I realize that I want to kill him. I've never felt that way towards anyone. 
Suddenly, as if my thoughts drew him to me, Elmer's eyes snap to mine. A dark, terrifying smile spreads slowly on his face. I simply stare back, eyes hard, unfazed. 
I am going to kill you. The words run in my head over and over like a mantra. 
"Any minute now," Knox says as the army starts to shift around us. thousands of bodies moving like the ocean around me.
I go to tell Knox that I love him, but before I can the sun finally disappears and a loud horn blows, echoing in the valley between us. 
Just like that, it has started.
Just as my elf eyes adjust to the darkening landscape everyone surges forward, a stampede so great I feel the ground shaking even up on a horse. I keep my eyes on the Cin's black armor as my horse rides closer. My heart is beating faster than I think it ever has, but at the same time I finally feel ready. Especially when I know I have thousands of elves by my side. Plus, I have a pretty cool advantage.
Using memorized tricks from the previous day I feel the warmth of the Heartstone, using it to send the Cin racing towards me flying backwards, far enough that they disappear from my view into the darkness.
I don't even think I'm truly processing what's happening as the two lines of our forces meet- light and dark armor meeting each other in a clash of blades and a deafening battle cry from both sides.
I immediately lose Elmer in the chaos as two Cin on horseback barrel towards me, spears poised. One throws, and I sweep my blade up, knocking the spear to the side. Before the fallen spear can hit the ground I use the Heartstone to lift it up in midair and send it flying back to my opponent. I send the second elf down with the same technique before I even see the first one hit the ground. 
I thought, before today, that it would be hard for me to kill anyone like this. It does make me feel a little nauseous if I think about it for too long, but I can't think now, not with everything going on around me. It's either kill or be killed, and I know these elves plan on taking over both worlds, destroying both of my homes. I can't be afraid of fighting now.
The arrows sent down from our archers are silent, barely a whisper of air as they hit their targets. Shouts and cries echo throughout the field as Cin fall. It's getting darker, dark enough that even my vision is limited. I barely see the arrows hitting people all around me. Our white armor blends in the snow, but their dark armor blends into the shadows as night descends.
A movement in my peripheral vision catches my attention, and a gasp of surprised escapes me as I catch an arrow in my left hand, the tip an inch from my face. Before I can react, an arrow hits my horse.