Raining Bullets Chapter

"Does anyone have any extra ammo?" Viktorov asked hoping to resupply himself.

"You didn't stock up already?" Someone asked him as they checked their pockets to ensure they had enough ammunition.

"Nope didn't have any room in my pockets, I stuffed them full of grenades." He took one out shoving it under a corporal's nose.

Chiecra grabbed two magazines from separate pockets. He handed his two magazines to his distant relative. Viktorov took the clips with a bit of sarcastic gratitude. Chiecra advanced forward along with Aibeth and Viktorov leading ahead as before. The force of two dozen Vestrisian Vanguards advanced to the end of the tunnel. Ilkez took command of the group ordering them to stand against the walls. A cadet handed Chiecra his E-7 rifle back. The cadet retrieved it from the fellow cadet. He nodded indicating thanks, the other nodded in return. Chiecra leaned against the wall to the right of the tunnels end, between two other cadets. Viktorov leaned his head forward to see what lay ahead of them beyond the tunnel. He took awhile scanning the area with his eyes. Chiecra could tell from looking at him the Sergeant's eyes gazed upon the path ahead of them.

"What do you see?" a voice whispered.

"I see mushrooms? Giant ones!" replied the Sergeant. This surprised every Vanguard’s mind. They expected to see mushrooms down here, but not giant ones.

"Is it clear then?" Sergeant Mckaw asked.

"It looks clear but I don't believe it is." Viktorov replied still scanning around. He grabbed some grenades from his pockets handing one to two others. They were smoke grenades. He also had one for himself.

"Here's how we'll play it safe. Private Garel, Corporal Silver-Oak and I will throw these smoke grenades out there in separate directions. While the smoke from the grenades expands, you will go both directions out of the tunnel left and right. Am I clear on this or does anyone have any questions?"

"Umm...Yeah...which way do we go again left or right?" A private asked sounding confused.

"It's past the direction of which wall you're standing against, soldier." Sergeant Mckaw spat at the Private.

Chiecra looked over his shoulder up the tunnel to see more men coming down to reinforce them. It was a group of at least twenty men or so heavily armed with assault rifles and sub machine guns. Their pockets were full of ammo magazines and grenades. The group even brought crates of ammunition and supplies. All heads rolled facing their direction. The leader who was also a Sergeant spoke in an eager voice.

"You need an extra handful?" He asked one of them.

Ilkez looked at viktorov and nodded, he nodded back. "Your name and rank."

"Sergeant Othel, I am in command of these twenty men. I assume Captain Gwynor sent you down here?" The leader said to the squad.

"Actually we came down on our own, but you can say he ordered us to advance forward." The Zhenrai replied. Chiecra saw a paranoid expression on viktorov's face. The sergeant clearly wished to get on with their objective.

"Sergeant, can we please do this now before more Nazdar come this way?" The two Sergeants took Sergeant Gwynor's advice.

"Very well Sergeant smoke that area." The Captain ordered Viktorov.

Viktorov threw two grenades one direction the other two tossed theirs opposite direction of each other. Seconds later Ilkez gave them the signal to move. Ilkez led the force going right. Viktorov and Mckaw went left with twelve vanguards. Chiecra rushed along the wall following another cadet into the white smoke. As he ran out of the tunnel, he and two others turned right through the smoke. Running through the smoke Chiecra found him-self running up a hill or something. Leaving the smoke Chiecra saw Ilkez and the others on the ground taking cover. He dove for the ground half expecting machine guns to open fire. To their luck, none opened fire on their positions or movements. He looked up seeing everyone doing the same thing. Most of them sat up straight, ready to move again. Others laid there relaxing since there was no shooting. The group had run up a hill, which changed into a causeway leading up two more tunnels. The Vestrisians were somehow lucky from Viktorov’s discovery. Viktorov was not lying about the giant mushrooms. Enormous fungus covered the causeway from sight by a foot and a half. Chiecra sat next to a fellow cadet he just met.

"What do you see Chiecra?" Allen asked getting up to his knees to get a better view. The two cadets could barely see over the tall mushrooms even if they were on higher ground.

"I see a whole forest of mushrooms." Chiecra said gazing at a vast forest of mushrooms. The tops overlapped others forming an extended platform.

"By Zeuxis this forest stretches for miles!" cried an elf that stood behind them. The two Balkmel friends looked at each other then at the elf.

"Enjoying the view Vaed?" Allen asked. Eme just laughed, looking out at the vast forest of fungi.

Chiecra turned to his left wondering where the others were. His eyes followed down the long line of mushrooms aligning the causeway. On the opposite side of the tunnel was a wide pathway through the fungi forest. In between the large tunnel and pathway was a large clearing. On the other side he saw the others adjusting themselves around a hole in which they began shooting. Viktorov and the twenty troops he led were on level ground next to a hill against the corner. Behind the hole and between the clutter of mushrooms and the hill was an unseen passage. From there the enemy ran out only to be shot dead. Six Vestrisians ran into the passage just to clean up the area of hostiles. His eyes set down to where viktorov was who was facing them. His mouth was moving along with his arm. The Sergeant moved his arm up and down as if signaling something to them. It did not take but a second for Chiecra to realize what message he was trying to send them. He was trying to tell them "Get Down!"

Looking behind at the standing elf, Chiecra hollered, "Get down Quick!" The cadet pulled the elf down off his feet down level with him.

"What's going on? Why?" The elf became confused but Chiecra shut him up.

"Just stay down!" He yelled to the elf.

A soldier yelled, "What for?", before another word came out of any mouth the wall behind them exploded. Chunks of dirt flew from the wall and covered them. Just as they were stirring back to life from this blast many more blasts and explosions followed. Tank shells from the enemy pounded the wall. These series of blasts created large holes in the wall above them. With his own eyes, Chiecra spotted a small hole in one of the larger ones. From this he could see there was another cavern on the other side. Chiecra searched for Ilkez with his eyes despite the gust of dirt splashing the Vestrisian vanguards repeatedly off the wall. He spotted the zenhrai knight's face just above where the causeway became flat. To get the Sergeant's attention the cadet chunked a clot that hits its intended target. The Zhenrai looked in his direction. He waved for him to come to him.

"Sir, Lieutenant Ilkez. Sir there's something you've got to see!" Ilkez crawled his way to the needy cadet. Once he got to Chiecra smashing against the others he hollered.

"What?" He asked Chiecra. Chiecra pointed at the hole just as is it was hit with another shell. Another clump of dirt covered Chiecra's eyes, he wiped it off to see the hole opened up to show another cavern. This tear through the wall revealed another cavern in which a group of Nazdar roamed. Both Nazdar and Vestrisians were stunned to see each other. Without warning, the Nazdar grabbed their weapons. Responding to this invitation to a shootout the Vestrisians raised their weapons in the enemy's direction. Seven Vestrisians including Chiecra and his comrades lit the Nazdar up with bullets.

"Don't let them get a single shot out keep shooting!" Someone yelled to keep the Vestrisian spirits up. Each one of them that shot into the cavern kept up to this word of advice. Chiecra fired whenever he saw a Nazdar appear. For each time one or so showed up the Vestrisians gunned them down. In just two minutes, not one Nazdar stood or showed up in the open cavern. Though their guns were silent, the tank shells never quieted down. The exploding shells relentlessly bombarded the wall.

"You think there are more of them sir, or did we get them all?" Chiecra hollered over the blasts from the tank rounds. He hoped there were no more to deal with other than the ones in the strange forest of fungi down in the underworld.

"Let's wait a few seconds and see if any more choose to show up." Ilkez suggested adjusting himself to a more comfortable position. One private objected to his idea.

"Sir, what about the bombardment, shooting on us?" A few tank rounds blasted the walls once more. Ilkez simply pointed to where viktorov and his group were. They all looked in the direction their commander pointed. Chiecra also turned his head the direction where they were looking. He saw three Vestrisians wielding what looked like rocket launchers or anti-tank guns. It looked much like a rifle only with a large tube where the projectile fired. Chiecra and his comrades watched the three comrades launch several volleys of rockets to where the tanks must be.

Allen was about to speak when two groups came out of separate locations. One group came through the main tunnel. A larger group of Vestrisian-Vanguards came through the one bellow. They charged in aimlessly armed with Assault rifles and sub machine guns. They were also carrying more crates of supplies. Unseen guns opened fire on them and several Vanguards were hit. The vanguards split up when they saw Chiecra and the others. This group found their way up the causeway to the level ground.

Behind the Zhenrai led group half a dozen Nazdar ran out the tunnel closest to them. The slavers ran out oblivious to their surroundings while passing a few vanguards. This took the Vestrisians by total surprise. The Nazdar came in quickly that the vanguard resorted to their knives, and bayonets due to the close quarters. Chiecra stabbed the first one in the stomach. The remaining Vestrisians tackled the rest of the Nazdar. They stabbed the clueless Nazdar with multiple savage blows before they fell dead. Ilkez ordered someone to go up there to check it out.

"I want three men to go up and clear that cavern of any more hostiles." Chiecra, Allen, the elf Keint plus another volunteered for the job. They crawled up to the level part of the causeway. More shells continued to bombard the walls above them and the opening. It was a slow process getting up to the first tunnel. Having to crawl over their comrades, the four stopped when a shell hit above them. As they crawled up to the tunnel a crate of weapons passed along side them.

"What's in there?" Allen asked confused, wondering why a large crate of weapons was passing along.

"Sub machine guns I think?" an elf replied as he passed it along holding it over his own body. Chiecra crawled past Allen only to meet Keint at the top. The crate came along beside them the same time Allen arrived. The trio picked themselves up to open the crate. What they thought was going to be sub machine guns was just more ammunition. They each took two clips from the crate and headed off to the first tunnel. As they entered the tunnel a thunderous noise of guns going off was heard outside the tunnel.

"Sounds like the war's continuing without us, eh Chiecra?" Chiecra laughed finding his friend's smartness a bit humorous. This tunnel was merely the same as the others only somewhat shorter. There were no turns to go around. On their right were two caverns just feet from the other. On the opposite side of the tunnel, the trio's eyes rested on another cavern. The elf turned his head to see if the fourth volunteer made it through the tunnel. Just as this fourth man reached the tunnel, bullets caught him. A machine gun hit him and his corpse fell like a sack of bricks.

"It's just the three of us lads." Keint replied. Keint was the rank of corporal, certainly a higher rank than Chiecra and Allen.

"What are your names cadets?" He asked both of them.

"Cadet Chiecra Gwynor!" Chiecra answered.

"Cadet Allen Firulk!" Allen replied.

"Excellent, well my name is not Keint it is Sergeant Eme Vaed. I assume the three of us are cleaning up here." Eme said revealing his true name.

"Let's hurry it up then! Stop wasting time standing here!" Chiecra did not have the patience to stand around chatting while his comrades were pinned down and the enemy still lurked about.

"Alright, alright cadet don't get wound up, those who usually do lose control of themselves." The elf calmed the young cadet down. Chiecra took this as an order from a superior.

"Firulk cover us and shoot anything that is a slaver or Nazdar. Gwynor come with me. You and I will clean this first cavern." Sergeant Vaed commanded the cadet.

Chiecra followed corporal Vaed into the first cavern to their right. This cavern was littered with bodies. To the right was the gaping hole from the previous bombardments. They dropped down to avoid any snipers scanning the area. Chiecra could hear his fellow Vestrisian soldiers shouting orders and shooting back when they could. Shells still hit the wall along with machine gun fire. Some even went through the hole splashing debris of stone everywhere. In the center of this cavern lay a table surrounded by Nazdar corpses. It was tipped over its legs facing the hole. Chiecra crouched next to Eme when something moved in the back of the cavern. They made out movement behind a tapestry that covered the wall. The two Vestrisians pointed their rifles on the movement's direction.

"Come out and surrender!" Eme ordered in the Nazdar language. The movement stopped, something turned behind the tapestry. It looked like a head was pressing against it. Eme looked at Chiecra with a confused expression.

"You suppose they can't hear you?" Chiecra suggested.

"Either that or they're not a Nazdar." Eme replied in a whisper. He tried again louder this time.

"Come out and surrender!" There was still no answer.

"Come out and surrender!" he yelled a third time.

"What? I don't understand you?" A voice finally answered, it was a female voice.

Chiecra sighed in relief. He thanked Zeuxis for the person not being a hostile. The room got quiet for a while. This female sounded eager know who was there.

"Hello, is anyone there? I know you're not Nazdar otherwise I'd be dead by now wouldn't I?" The female asked them.

The two Vestrisians kept quiet as though they ignored the female. Their attention was drawn from the mysterious female to something else moving on the ceiling. There was a large hole on the ceiling, one large enough for Arachnids. From what Chiecra experienced this was certainly made by arachnids. For most of the tunnels were naturally formed or hand designed by some other race. A large eight-legged shadow scurried all around the ceiling in aimless circles. 'That is most definitely an Arachnid.' Chiecra thought. Still kneeling, the two could feel their legs growing numb from their position. Chiecra turned his head setting his eyes on the large opening in the wall. Eme continued to keep his eyes on the Arachnid.

"I have an idea." whispered Chiecra more to himself than to Eme. Eme focused on the arachnid lurking above them. The cadet crawled low to the ground not wanting the enemy to spot him. Luckily, the opening did not expose the whole cavern. A two and half feet high wall stood in the hole. It mostly covered the lower part of the exposed cavern. It mainly covered the floor from view. Leaning against this wall Chiecra kept to the right not daring to expose himself. He took off his helmet and placed it on the butt of his rifle. Raising it up he had to check for snipers. Chiecra waved it around several times before getting up. Chiecra appeared before his fellow Vestrisians at the right time. The bombardment had stopped for who knew how long. He caught them brushing the dirt off their uniforms and gear. One soldier noticed he was there.

"Hey cadet you and Keint kill anymore?" He asked the cadet.

"No." replied Chiecra as he put his helmet back on his head. "But we did find something."

"What did you find?" The soldier asked him.

"Some female we can't get out from behind a tapestry. Also an Arachnid, which will require a shotgun though it's unnecessary." The soldier bent down to retrieve something and conjured up a shotgun.

"There all loaded up and ready for killing. I'd keep it just for those tunnels." The soldier advised handing the weapon over to Chiecra. Reluctant to have the shotgun Chiecra set his E-7 down. He returned to Eme, who did not move a muscle. The elf's eyes were still following the circling creature.

"Ready?" asked the elf as if he knew Chiecra had gone to get the weapon.

"Yes!" Chiecra pointed the shotgun in the arachnid's direction. He placed his sights on the creature following its every move looking down the barrel. Wasting time Chiecra fired one shell bringing the annoying creature down. It fell on it s back from the ceiling, but its legs didn't curl up. Instead the creature was still alive its legs thrashing in the air. The cadet fired another shell, this one burst the Arachnid to shreds. The female's voice piped up again.

"What's going on?" She asked them expecting to hear from them.

“You are ...You are going to kill me? Please don't kill me!" She began to panic. Chiecra and Eme had no idea what was going on behind that tapestry. Chiecra grew worried for her. The two Vestrisians rushed to the other side of the cavern. They ripped it down to reveal a wood elf caught in a spider web. She was clearly in need of help. Both her arms and legs entangled in the webs. Her torso seemed to be free to move around except the back. She was relieved to see two soldiers had come to rescue her.

"Oh, please get me down noble warriors. So I can get my hands on those slavers!" She pleaded as though the arachnid was coming after her again.

She smiled a cute smile, blinking several times. Eme and Chiecra dropped their rifles and drew out a knife and a short sword. Their blades cut through the webs freeing this warrior damsel. The elf showed much gratitude to both. She first embraced Eme giving him a quick hug and kiss. Turning to Chiecra, she pressed herself against him squeezing the young cadet. He received a long kiss to the head. She nearly spoke when a burst of bullets rushed by them. Startled all three dropped to their hands and knees on the floor. Chiecra heard the other Vestrisians return fire.

"Miss we have to get you out of here, so you'll need to follow my instructions carefully!" The female elf nodded her head, scared out her mind to say anything. Slowly Eme urged the female on.

"Okay start crawling at your own pace. C'mon, it's okay...that's it, keep moving you're doing good.." Chiecra crawled past the two elves in an attempt to aid his comrades and Allen who seemed to be forgotten. With bullets flying overhead Chiecra found it slightly difficult to crawl to his E-7. As he grabbed his rifle, he heard more shots outside the cavern.

"Oh hithna!" Chiecra muttered thinking a fellow cadet was down. Eme had slowly urged the female safely away to a corner next to the entrance.

"Cadet, don't just sit there help cadet Firulk!" The corporal commanded.

"Yes sir!" Chiecra obeyed this command charging through with an E-7 rifle in one hand and a shotgun in the other. He arrived at the scene to find Allen shooting wildly at a group of hostiles. He fired three rounds before backing off into a crevice opposite the cavern. Chiecra joined the shootout ducking back into the first cavern. Shooting back was a squad of Nazdar troops stationed in the third cavern. There had already been casualties inflicted on the enemy, two bodies lay in the hall, and three more inside the cavern. Chiecra laid his E-7 against the wall. Using the shotgun Chiecra jumped from his cover and fired a volley of shells at the Nazdar slavers. The shells overwhelmed them with shrapnel and metal beads. Three Nazdar fell dead as the beads and shrapnel hit everything in their path. There was still a handful left, Allen shot all around the cavern's edges hoping to nick one of them. Chiecra waited for one to peek his head out to shoot, one foolishly stuck his out receiving a face full of lead.

"I see you have everything under control?" Chiecra commented as Allen shot another slaver in the throat. The slaver fell down slowly dying as his body squirmed with blood spewing from his neck.

"I did, but there were too many of them. Since you are here I have everything under control." Two Nazdar tried to switch off leaping to where they could get a clear shot without being seen. Chiecra's swift eyes caught them and fired his last two shells at them, filling their bodies with lead. The two cadets readied their rifles, Chiecra grabbed his fully loaded E-7 and Allen reloaded his. It was time to end this gunfight so they could finish their job here and help their fellow soldiers.

Jumping from their cover the cadets rushed to the cavern facing them, shooting away when a Nazdar peeked through the doorway. As the two charged in Allen and Chiecra shot every Nazdar and slaver in sight. The Nazdar lined up against the walls at the cavern entrance, which was narrow and long enough to be a tunnel. Not giving the enemy a chance to shoot back the young cadets came in fast shooting the cavern up. Chiecra shot several against the walls leaving blood steins where the bodies once stood. The cavern ended up the same as the first one. Once the shooting stopped Allen and Chiecra looked around to see a room full of dead Nazdar troops. There was nothing more to the room except for sleeping bags and banners all around. In one corner behind them, a figure tried to escape but tripped over a body. Whirling around, they found a short skinny man carrying keys. He leaned forward as though he had back problems like an old man. His face was not at all pleasant it was ugly, and gross with bumps on one side his face. Only the eyes appeared to be normal along with his mouth. He wore a slaver's uniform..

"Hold it!" ordered Chiecra pointing his rifle at the skinny figure. It looked at him with an incest look in his batty eyes.

"Don't move or do anything!" the cadet commanded stepping closer to him. The figure grinned an evil smile.

"Why?" He asked the cadet. His voice matched the ugliness of his appearance. He ran out of the cavern and into the middle cavern. Chiecra fired two shots at the skinny thing, but missed. The two cadets went after the skinny man with keys. As they exited the cavern cries of a woman squealing came from the second cavern on their left. They heard rattling of chains and desperate cries for help. Entering this cavern Chiecra and Allen came across a cavern full of prisoners, many of whom were female captives. Most of the prisoners appeared to be in their teens, the rest fully grown women. The men were all Vestrisian soldiers taken prisoner during the assault. A few looked like they were taken during the first attack of the invasion. All the prisoners were chained to the walls, shackled together by gender and race. The majority of the male prisoners were elves each well fit for combat just like their fellow human soldiers. Three of them had bullet holes to the head, dried blood covered their heads and splattered the wall. Two of them women were elves, and a handful of teens were Lenai girls, several of the women were also Lenai. The rest of them had civilian backgrounds as a native tribe member from the north. When they saw the two cadets hope entered their eyes.

From behind the Cadet two more Vestrisians came in. Chiecra paid no attention to them he was searching for that skinny man. The rattling of chains continued along with whimpering sounds. One Lenai woman who watched some event begged whatever occurred to stop. Next to her were empty chains and shackles.

"Stop it! Get off her! I'll kill you, you sick bastard!" The woman started to cry, tears of anger emerged from eyes.

"STOP!" She screamed as loud as she could.

Rushing to rescue the victim Chiecra readied his E-7. Turning to his right he found the ugly mongrel on top of a Lenai girl. Without thinking, the cadet fired one shot. The skinny man collapsed off a table, which a young Lenai girl was chained to. More Vestrisians came in to find the prisoners and released them. They broke their shackles and unchained them from the walls.

Cadet Chiecra Gwynor stepped over to the victim who was crying. She was about his own age. Tears streamed down her face from the traumatizing experience. He quickly unchained her and lifted her from the table. Chiecra set her up right on the ground. He brushed her back with his hand.

"It's okay, you're okay. Nothing's going to harm you anymore!" He said as she sniffed, calming down and looked up at him. She wrapped her arms around him, frightened by the captivity. Again he reassured her by rubbing her back. The woman who yelled approached them. She took the girl from Chiecra's care and into her own. She looked pitiful, her long dark hair was a mess. Her clothes were torn. The Lenai woman turned to Chiecra with tears in her eyes.

"Thank you." she said in a quiet voice and held the young girl tightly in her arms. The other Lenai joined in to comfort the girl.

"Cadet Gwynor, Cadet Firulk!" commanded a loud voice. It was Lieutenant Ilkez Brutius coming to retrieve the two cadets like runaway strays.

"Sir Yes sir!" they both responded simultaneously. Ilkez looked around seeing elves, Lenai, civilians, adventurers and soldiers all standing in a room at the same time. Major Hawke accompanied him who found the room full of these people quite odd. Ilkez looked at Chiecra raising his eyebrows.

"Where's cadet Firulk?" He demanded.

"Here sir!" replied Allen from behind one of the superior officers. The zhenrai nodded to the cadet acknowledging that he was present.

"What happened? What took you so long? We have numerous hostiles coming in and we need all the hands to hold our position!" Ilkez yelled at them.

"Lieutenant!" hollered the Major. "Don't bother with them, their job here is done and ah, these seven fine soldiers standing among these lovely ladies..." the women forced themselves to giggle, "... could be useful. Give them some weapons and ammo. They look ready to fight!" The seven Vestrisian soldiers stood at attention as one spoke for them all.

"Sir we'd be honored to fight side by side with these two cadets." He said to the Major. The major nodded and sent them on their way to the battlefield. A Captain next to the Major muttered to him.

"Sir what about these women?" the Captain asked the Major.

"Escort the fine ladies up the way we came! The same one we sent the wood elf safe and sound!" The Vestrisians escorted the women out of the cavern and up the tunnel. As the two cadets turned to watch them leave the girls blew them kisses before heading up the tunnel. A few glanced back making sure the two cadets were still standing on the cause unscathed. One waved bye, Chiecra waved back in return watching the dresses and legs vanish into the tunnel.

"To your positions! Here they come!" Ilkez yelled.

Chiecra and Allen dropped down flat on the causeway. Restocking on ammo Chiecra prepared for another fight. This one could take a long time. Behind them ten Vestrisians stationed themselves in the opening, mounting machine guns. One soldier hollered to the ones bellow.

"Hey! Who’s shotgun is this?" Chiecra raised a hand claiming the weapon. He knew he had left it there in that cavern.

Armed with E-7s, Assault rifles and sub machine guns thirty-three Vestrisians laid low on the cause way letting the enemy come to them. The cadet busied himself with loading the shotgun shells and restocking his pockets with ammo magazines. It was quiet, the same quiet these battle hardened veterans experienced numerous times. Chiecra assumed the Nazdar tanks were taken care of. Watching the clearing all ears listened to the sounds of engines heading this way. A group of ten half-tracks each loaded with Nazdars zoomed into the clearing. The vehicles circled around in the huge clearing. Following these vehicles was a company of Nazdar rushing in from behind them.

Before the Nazdar finished circling their vehicles, the Vestrisians opened fire from both sides of the clearing. They shot the scum while they were still in their transports. This ambush almost turned into a massacre. Not one Nazdar shot back as they were gunned down without warning. Chiecra chose his targets carefully as there were a lot of them. Rushing all over the clearing, they dove behind their vehicles to avoid oncoming bullets. He shot the driver of one transport who jumped out of the driver's seat. His other targets were infantrymen scrambling from vehicle to vehicle. Chiecra spied an officer rallying his men to bring back order among the chaos stricken troops. The cadet nailed him in the chest sporting a perfect kill. While his comrades shot happily all over the enemy Chiecra and a few others picked out valued targets such as commanders, drivers, and engineers decreasing their moral. Slowly cadet Chiecra shot each of his targets in the head and heart. He caught one Nazdar running out in the open. He hit him twice in the stomach slaying the fool. Cartridges littered the causeway just as the Nazdar bodies piled up in the clearing. A tremendous body count emerged before the Vestrisians as they shot rounds of ammunition at the Nazdar counter forces.

"Keep it up! Don't let down, or your sweetheart or family will be made into slaves!" commanders hollered, encouraging their soldiers to keep the heat going. Chiecra was sure the others knew the Nazdar hid behind their vehicles for protection. Some began shooting back spraying bullets in their direction. Nicks and scratches was all they sustained, one soldier was hit in the shoulder and was pulled out of action. The cadet focused on shooting any Nazdar he caught through his sights. On the other side of the Nazdar's flanks Viktorov's group lobbed grenades into the middle of the clearing causing carnage and more damage to the enemy. After reloading his E-7 Chiecra thought he saw something coming towards them out of the corner of his eye. Looking right he spotted a horde of figures climbing on top of the mushroom forest. Pausing to see what they were, Chiecra had no doubt it was the enemy attempting to flank them.

"Incoming hostiles on our flank!" the cadet warned.

Just as the raining bullets on the first wave died down the Vestrisians had time to react to this other threat to their right. The machine gunners opened fire on the oncoming group. Chiecra watched the figures go down. A corporal patted him on the head.

"Good eyes Cadet! Shoot them all gunner boys!" he laughed watching the machine gunners do their job. Turning his attention back to the clearing he saw the Nazdar be overrun by Vestrisians. They swarmed them from both sides, and took the clearing. In his mind, Chiecra thought long about the women he and Allen saved from the slavers.

His mind raced to the young Lenai girl he saved from the skinny slaver's grasp. Her features burned in his head, her long dark hair, gorgeous face, and beautiful body. The notion of him rescuing her made him feel empowered. He had been marked somehow. He was destined to become a Zhenrai Knight. Something about her appearance seemed odd to him. She did not seem full-blooded Lenai. She appeared in his mind to be more of a mix of something else. She seemed half Lenai and half Uxane. These thoughts continued to occupy him while the shooting went on around him. 'She's half Lenai and half-Uxane? But of which Uxane tribes?' he asked himself. 'Chiecra concentrate on the enemy not some pretty damsel you just rescued!' Ilkez's voice boomed in his mind. A bullet hit him on the helmet bouncing off the hard metal. The cadet fell from the impact.

"Watch yourself cadet or you'll get killed for sure!" Corporal Vaed said as he picked him back up from behind.

"Don't stop shooting!" a Lieutenant yelled shoving the cadet's E-7 back in his arms.

"Yes sir!" he responded lifting up his weapon and shooting one Nazdar he saw coming out of the clearing.

"Oops! I think that man was unarmed cadet. Guns are pointing that direction!" the Lieutenant said pointing a finger at the tall mushroom forest. He looked at the one he just shot. Apparently, the man was unarmed and several other Nazdar were taken prisoner. An officer escorting the prisoners demanded for the one responsible.

"Who fired that shot?" It was a Captain with a bad temperature from the looks of him. The cadet slowly raised his hand claiming the shot.

"It was me sir! I was not paying attention to the battle and lost track of the battle. Sorry sir!" he apologized saluting.

"A smart one eh?" replied the Captain, storming his way to Chiecra. His nostrils flared as his head grew red as the Nazdar flag. He glared into the cadet's eyes for a moment then laughed.

"Don't worries about it kid we all make mistakes." The Captain patted Chiecra on the cheek.

"Carry, on." Chiecra could not help but smile relieved that he did not receive a court marshal.

"That's Captain Ezner; he can be a bit of a jack ass at times, but still a great guy to be around." Eme reassured the Cadet. Turning to the battle, Chiecra leaned his front body against a mushroom cap overlapping the causeway. He could see more figures climbing on top of the massive caps.

"What happened to our machine gunners?" asked Chiecra.

"No idea, just decided to take a break for some reason." Allen replied glancing up at the opening where the machine guns were mounted with no gunners.

"Looks like we'll have to hold them off without their support for now!" a soldier said receiving agreements from the ones around him.

Chiecra focused on the figures on top of the mushrooms shooting as many as he could before reloading. There appeared to be hundreds of them headed their way. The Vestrisians held off the group as best they could without the machine gun support. While shooting at the hostiles Chiecra could see various different figures advancing on their position. He easily made out the Nazdar troops, and the Troglodytes but had trouble identifying the third type. He had never seen wolf like creatures such as this. They had snouts like a dog only wider, their hind legs were much like a large dogs. Their upright bodies, muscular, beefy arms, and thick necks were strange to Chiecra. Curiously, he asked a soldier next to him.

"What the hell are those furry things coming at us?" he pointed at one.

"Those are gnolls, nasty warlike buggers; best kill those quick before they can get over here, they're ferocious bastards!"The soldier said to him. Heeding the soldier cadet Chiecra shot the ones he could. The other Vanguards were picking them off along with the other hostiles. Shooting his weapon Chiecra saw these creatures, gnolls and Troglodytes were wielding what looked like Nazdar weapons.

"Watch it they're armed with Nazdar weaponry!" Chiecra yelled shooting several down that wielded Nazdar weapons. Some fired back, forcing them to let down a bit.

"What are they doing?" Ilkez yelled looking straight at the unmanned machine guns.

"Somebody get them off their lazy asses; this battle is not over!" A few soldiers threw grenades at the advancing horde. A Vestrisian soldier climbed through the opening but was shot by a single bullet. His corpse fell on top of a couple of men whom were reloading their weapons and hauling more crates to them. They shoved the body aside taking magazines from the body. It did not take long for the gunners to return to their posts only to submerge in a hail of bullets. They fired back when they could. Chiecra kept his eyes on the mushroom caps shooting any hostiles he could see.

"I think we need another machine gun over here to wear down their numbers." the cadet suggested.

"Good idea, Chiecra." Lieutenant Ilkez said and called for a machine-gun through the ear comm-link. A team of machine gunners arrived through the second tunnel of the causeway.

"Over here, set it over here!" Ilkez waved for them to bring the machine gun next to the flat spot of the causeway. They set it up mounting it on a crate. This took away much of the odds that stood against the Vesrtisian Vanguards. Chiecra could tell the pressure was off. Two more teams of machine gunners raced through the second tunnel, one man carrying a machine gun was shot in the head, and no sound came from that shot.

"SNIPER!" someone yelled.

"Get down!" their commanders ordered. The Vestrisians ducked down avoiding the sniper. A few unlucky ones were hit soon after the first one.

"Any good snipers with us?" an officer asked laying low to the ground.

"Here's one!" said a voice behind Chiecra. Turning his body to see the speaker he sees Aibeth pointing at him.

"Cadet Gwynor's a hell of a shot!" Aibeth added securing the sharpshooter position for the cadet. He winked placing a sniper rifle in his arms.

Taking the sniper rifle, Cadet Gwynor crawled up to the flat spot reporting for this duty. With his E-7 set beside him, Chiecra positioned himself and went down on one knee. Arm on the cap of a mushroom the cadet searched through his scope. He received plenty of ammo for the job. Scanning the tops of the caps, he hunted down the enemy snipers. Closing in with the scope, he spotted one Nazdar sniper hiding between two rocks high on a ledge of a cliff to the side of the massive cavern. His hiding place was almost perfect. The two rocks he settled between were close enough to conceal him. However Chiecra could still make out his head. Firing a single shot, he ended the Nazdar's killing spree. Searching for more along the wall and closing in on some ledges that stuck out Chiecra bagged multiple kills. One laid out with no cover, relying on the distance of the cavern to hide him. He found some more climbing up ropes to join their dead comrades. Chiecra relentlessly gunned down three more climbing up wire ropes that held them up from the top ledges. Lower down the cliff Chiecra's scope found more hostiles. Some targets were not even sharpshooters. To him it would not hurt to get rid of them sooner. He heard the machine guns blasting away again to pin down the advancing horde. A spotter joined him to aid his eye.

"There's one to your left by south west, lower ledge third one right of the wall." Chiecra pointed his sniper at this direction finding this one to be aiming at him! He stopped hesitating just as the other one did. They had a staring competition, which involved life or death. One of them had to die. No distractions otherwise it would be the end to either of them.

"Shoot already, you’ve got him in your sights don't you?" this spotter encouraged Chiecra to take the shot.

"Yes." Chiecra answered.

"Then take him out!" One of the soldiers yelled as another shot went over their heads.

"He's...He's also ...aiming..." Chiecra could not speak. The tension from the spotter and the sniper grew too much. Then the sniper turned away, taking the shot Chiecra hit him just as he got up to move on.

"Nice shot!" the spotter cried nudging him in the gut hard. Chiecra turned to see his little overjoyed fan. To his surprise, it was none other than Azdar Shiern.

"Azdar?" he said softly. Azdar looked at him now realizing who he was.

"Holy hithna it’s Chiecra?" Chiecra smiled happy to see an old friend from the Balkmel Mountains.

"How have you been?" Azdar asked nearly mortified to see him again.

"I've been better. This war is a bit of a mess, isn't it?"

"No kidding! Nearly every guy I know and seen in the Balkmel Mountains are in this blasted thing! Since you're here stuck in this snitch I guess that makes all of them!" Azdar said.

"What do you mean? Was every person forced out of the Balkmel areas?" Chiecra asked concerned for the protection of the Balkmels' people.

“No, they stopped coming after me and a bunch of others left." replied Azdar.

"Is there anything about my family?" Chiecra asked almost in a whisper.

"They're alright, just stricken with grief after losing you. They...we...the whole neighborhood even the entire region mourned your loss. We thought you were dead this whole time. Your mother became morbid after that. Your brothers and sisters hardly said anything not even smiled or laughed for a week! Esryl poor Esryl was heartbroken when she heard the news. She's...well...she's..." Azdar had trouble-telling Chiecra about Esryl.

"Dead, I know she's dead. Gampo told me himself." Chiecra said to Azdar’s face.

Aghast to learn he had a run in with Gampo, Azdar was shocked. "You ran into him? Where?"

"Here!" Chiecra growled "Right here. Somewhere back in those tunnels. I killed him myself Azdar I shot the bastard in every inch of his slug body. You want to know why?" He asked his friend and Azdar nodded wanting to know the reason why.

"He told me he killed her. He killed Esryl Kyshar, my girl!" Chiecra screamed in his friends face. Azdar looked at Chiecra's heated angry face with a calm look.

"Actually she's still alive. Alive and breathing well the last time I saw her." Azdar told him. He became calm from hearing this news from a friend.

"What is she doing these days?" he asked hoping she was still doing okay.

"Let's just say she is on the stage performing in plays, musicals, and solo concerts. She's got a voice too and." He leans forward "a nice bust as well." he said with a wink. Chiecra smirked pushing Azdar to the ground. He relaxed a little, almost oblivious to the war around them

"Tell me Azdar how do you know all this? Or did she start performing right before you left?" He said thinking about her and the other Lenai girl barely visible in his mind.

"My mother smuggles letters to me. Chiecra she's with some other bloke!" Azdar said.

"When did this happen? How did he seduce her?" He asked Azdar finding this news bitter to his ears. Azdar fell silent not wishing to say anymore-hurtful news to his best friend. Cooling off Chiecra did not bother him about that anymore. Now they had a war to fight.

"They're falling back!" he heard someone holler. Cheers and praises rose up as the Vestrisians rejoiced in their triumph. Every soldier was weary from the battle. They relaxed, slouching down and rested from the tense fight. Chiecra looked out at the massive cavern, which made up a large portion of the underworld. He could see corpses all over the caps of the mushroom forest. His eyes watched the enemy running away or so many thought. The cadet knew the enemy would come back shortly, in greater numbers too.

"That was one hell of a battle. Wasn't it Azdar?" He asked Azdar forgetting about Esryl. Azdar nodded his head smiling. Ilkez came to sit with them. The zhenrai watched Azdar with a sincere interest. Looking up Azdar jumped up and stood at attention before the Lieutenant not knowing it was Ilkez.

"Sir, ready for duty sir!" Azdar yelled and saluted the officer. Ilkez laughed at Azdar.

"Relax Azdar it's me Ilkez from the temple." Azdar's memory jogged his brain.

"Hey! It's been a long time. You are a Lieutenant now. Killed lots of those Nazdar didn’t you?" The three Balkmel friends reacquainted themselves. Chiecra paid no heed to them. He was more worried about the current battle, which retained an uncalled ceasefire for the moment.

Two minutes passed there was not a single sound or movement from the enemy. Chiecra looked over the caps and the ramp at the underworld. He got a better view compared to the times he was fighting. From there Chiecra could see the mushroom forest expanding all across the massive cavern. The wide path through the forest wound its way through with curves and other paths trailing off what seemed like the main road. On the other side of the massive cavern was the enemy dug in with minor defenses. Their red banners hung from high rocks marking their territory. His gaze went away from the enemy territory to the ceiling of the underworld. His eyes sparkled at a marvelous sight upon the ceiling. Covering the ceiling and spread over the walls were diamonds. These white clear stones appeared like the endless skies above the surface before the cadet. Light shined or reflected off these diamonds illuminating the underworld like the sun’s rays. It appeared as though a ceiling light had been switched on and kept on forever, showing no signs of any black outs. Oblivious to the others around him Chiecra stared up at the diamonds above them. Ilkez came up beside him also watching the ceiling engulfed with diamonds. The zhenrai knight stood next to him yet Chiecra was unaware of his presence.

"It's a better view than what we have seen." he commented. Hearing him the cadet nodded silently. Acting like he finally realized him standing there Chiecra spoke to the zhenrai. "This battle seemed like raining bullets."

"How?" asked Allen joining the two soldiers.

"You know. How rain can be, it goes on forever like it will never stop then it stops for a while then picks back up again. That's how the bullets came in, they never stop, and then they cease, and come back again." He explained to the confused Allen. Allen said nothing more, he looked up at the ceiling noticing the diamond ceiling.

"What lights up this darkening place up so brightly?" Sergeant Vaed snuck up behind them. The elf joined them and stood. He turned his head finding the elf out of the corner of his eye. The elf stood mute as a statue. Chiecra remembered something about the underworld his old friend, Arctice once told him that the underworld was lit up just like the daytime on the surface.

"There are holes in the surface leading deep into the underworld. During the day, light from the sun will find its way through these thin deep holes to diamonds on the ceiling. The light is reflected off these diamonds which lights the underworld." He answered Allen quoting his friend's words. As he says this, a group of soldiers carrying packs and sleeping bags comes through the second hole. One of them breaks off from the group and drops five sleeping bags next to them.

"You'll be sleeping here tonight gentlemen," he said then trudged off.

The five of them watched the man walk to the clearing where the Nazdar vehicles remained unmanned. Chiecra browsed through the five packs seeing their names on them. The brown packs contained not only his last name but the essentials he would need on the battlefield. In the pack he found a pocket knife, can opener, another pair night vision goggles, a metal container shaped like a bowl with a lid, shaking it he could hear eating utensils inside. Rummaging through it even more he found a flashlight, two snack bars, three meat bars, and a small flask for water. Attached to this pack was a trench shovel, and a drinking canteen. Also browsing through his pack Allen found letters in his. He quickly shoved them back in there before anyone noticed, but Chiecra had a slight glance of them. Looking at the letters Gwynor, Chiecra knew this had to be his pack since his brother Captain Gwynor was in the other caverns. His comrades gathered around him forming a circle. A small generator was placed in the center of their circle. Azdar turned it on to get some heat going. Heat came out of the generator warming up the area slowly. Chiecra watched his colleague turn a switch like a lock to keep it from getting too hot.