by Brent Tyman
“Hold still,” Eliandra said, and Lunara held my other arm to steady me.
I saw Eliandra’s hands glow green as a soothing rush coursed through my hand and my legs. I vaguely wondered how she could preform healing magic without those prime balls in the air. Another mystery of prime.
The pain receded and my body no longer felt like it was bitter at me.
“Thank you Eli,” I said as another roar of shouts came from beyond the walls. I rolled my eyes at that.
“No thanks necessary we are… betrothed after all,” Eliandra said shyly, as she turned her head to look towards the ground. I could see that her cheeks had lit up with a tinge of pink.
Gods, I wanted her right now.
“That we are,” I said as I ignored Lunara’s amused grin directed at the two of us. I looked over to Raina, who watched the enemy army from her position.
“Raina report,” I said as I stepped over to her.
“Sir, the enemy army is prepping their siege engines, it seems they will attack us immediately. That carriage has retreated and they are out of bow range for the moment,” Raina said.
“Good, so my ploy worked. It's time to provoke them into pushing their troops to the walls,” I said as I looked over the army. As Raina said, I could see that they had brought a fair number of trebuchets with them. It wouldn’t be long before giant stones rained down from the sky.
“Yes Sir, I can only hope that the new commander is less able,” Raina said.
She had put her helmet on in the short time I was with the late Julian, so I couldn't see her pretty face any longer. A shame.
“What happens now?” Lunara asked from behind me. I turned to look at her with a smile.
“It's time for a show, we wait to see how the magic battle develops,” I said. Lunara eyes flashed with understanding. I had previously discussed with her what would happen during the siege, but she had yet to see this for herself.
I didn’t need to give any further orders, as the truth sayers knew what to do.
“Here they come,” Raina said, and we all watched as multiple trebuchets released their payloads towards us. There were giant stones as I predicted, but also large slabs of marble that seemed like they had taken it off the remains of a ruin.
I could hear the thunder of the trebuchets and stared at the rocks that arced along the sky. Just as I thought they would strike the walls, the rocks crumbled on impact in midair, as a barrier formed over us.
The barrier whirled, and there was a distinct buzz in my ear as every payload disintegrated. I could see a small tinge of blue in front of us, especially at the locations struck on the barrier, before they too dissipated as if they were never there to begin with.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to help?” Eliandra asked, and I nodded my head.
“Yes, I need a mage to react to any surprises and who better for the job than my own woman,” I said. I didn’t look at Eliandra, but I could see that her cheeks had grown scarlet again. It seemed she liked any measure of praise I gave her. I would keep that in mind.
All I could hear was the roars of the enemy army while the trebuchets fired at us again and again. After the third volley, I spotted another development amongst the Vulenchian soldiers.
An orange glow emanated from the middle of the army, well back from its front lines. I wasn’t able to see with any detail what exactly was happening, but my answer came soon after.
Cloud formed above us as fireballs rained down from the sky. It was akin to a harmless meteor shower I had seen once, on a distant world. This one was deadly as tiny fireballs scattered in every direction. I looked back to see that the entire barrier had lit up with its blue tinge at the attack.
They looked for any weakness in the barrier, or a place where the barrier didn’t extend. Luckily for us, truth sayers were powerful mages in their own right, even if most of the ones I had were apprentices.
The explosions made the hair on my skin stand on end, however, as it did for the others. It wasn’t ideal that I couldn’t personally do anything at this stage of the battle. I could only watch and hope that the enemy sends its troops at the walls soon, before the riders got here.
More clouds formed, this time above the enemy army. These were much darker, and far bigger. A bright flash of light hit my eyes as I spotted a solid black dot against the blue sky and gray clouds. The dot formed into a black fireball that barreled down towards a trebuchet.
A massive boom resounded as it crashed into its target, and I could feel the shift in the air for a moment before the wails of the enemy made me grin. The blast had killed everyone within a few meters of where it impacted, while a black fire seared troops in the surrounding area.
More fireballs formed and then streaked down towards the trebuchets that remained. We destroyed a few more before a barrier formed over the rest. I saw a fireball explode above the army and part of the fire sank down to burn a few troops caught in the blast. It seemed they couldn't form a barrier over the whole twenty thousand strong army. Interesting.
“How long will our own barrier hold Eliandra?” I asked curiously as I turned my head to her. She closed her eyes in response, and a barely noticeable blue glow appeared over her whole body. It winked out moments later as she opened her eyes.
“The enemy fireballs are diminishing our prime the most, the trebuchet payloads aren’t that much of a threat unless this drags on far longer than we would like,” she said and I nodded as I turned back to the enemy army.
“Why don’t we target the mages then?” Lunara asked, and I pointed to the center of the army.
“I think they have clustered themselves there, but I can't be sure. The truth sayers would have attacked them first if they could. No doubt they have their own sustained barrier protecting them for the moment, so it is best to work on the siege engines,” I said.
Our attack on the trebuchets gradually lessened as each one failed to hit its mark. Every time the truth sayers launched a fireball at either the army or a siege engine, a barrier stopped it. They were smart enough to reform their barriers all across the army, which was almost impressive. I wished we could do that, but we couldn't afford any hits to the tents or walls, else it may cause a major fire.
Finally, I let out a sigh of relief as I spotted soldiers that carried siege ladders and ropes. It was time.
“Get ready, they are coming,” I bellowed out and heard Raina yell out orders to the rest of the men.
The front lines of the enemy army formed into perfect squares of around one hundred troops each. Each one had all its men cloistered together, with their shields organized around the square. I saw that they had their ladders in the center of each unit.
“Archers,” I said and Raina ordered for the archers to nock their arrows and aim at the closest enemy they could see. The enemy line ambled into bow range.
“Loose,” I said. The sound of arrows scraping along bow shafts resounded into my ears as I spotted hundreds of small glints in the sky above me. The arrows sliced through the air before I heard a burst of thuds as they struck the enemy line.
I click my tongue to myself as I saw the damage. The enemy had shields everywhere, and there were only small gaps where the arrows would strike home. I saw a few men had died to arrows in their neck or head, but not enough.
Another volley and the same story. One unit had enough men die that made it easier to kill the rest, but we weren't making a large enough dent. I could still hear the whirls of the fireballs that the enemy showered onto the barrier. They likely wouldn’t let up on that for a while.
“Have the crossbows aim at their fronts, we need to punch a hole in their defense before they get to the walls,” I ordered. As Raina relayed my commands to the others, my mind churned as I tried to come up with new ideas to increase our odds of victory.
Those mages were a problem. But I had a hunch that the Vulenchians didn’t have enough of them to make too much of an impact in this battle, not with this many truth sayers on our side. Pri
me magic would need to take a back seat.
The riders would be here soon, but that would still be a few hours away at the least. They were critical to our victory, yet we needed to act on an already weakened army first to maximize the damage they could cause.
Whatever way I looked at it, the odds would turn based on the outcome of the melee battle on the walls. We were fucked if they took the walls, so we needed to keep the battle up here.
I watched as the crossbowmen that were spread along the walls fired off their bolts towards the enemy. The bolts crashed into the front of the enemy line and I smiled as I saw some progress.
Their shields were nowhere near as good as ours, as practically every bolt sliced through their wooden shields with ease. Men clutched their chests in horror and dismay as they fell to the ground like dropped stones. As if on cue, another volley of arrows followed, and I almost laughed at the results in glee.
With no protection in front, the men that held their shields up to protect the top of their units struggled to figure out where they should focus. This confusion cost them dearly, as enough of them failed to support their comrades against the arrows. I heard their screams and cries as many died on the spot, with arrows that punctured right through their simple chain mail.
An order must have passed through the army after, as the enemy no longer lumbered towards us with caution. They practically sprinted, their shields placed in our general direction.
This left their sides exposed.
“Raina,” I said as our arrows and bolts pierced through more and more men. “Once the enemy reach the walls, have the infantry come up and the ranged troops retreat to the ground. The crossbowmen will fire at anyone that tries to get into the fort floor, and the bowmen will focus on loosing their arrows blindly over the walls. They won’t be able to breach our gates at this point but monitor our flanks.”
“I understand my king,” Raina said. As she relayed my orders, I readied my battleaxe in anticipation of the fight.
There was a worry that the enemy would surround us and attack on all sides. This played into our favor to an extent, as it would thin out the enemy for the riders once they got here. It also meant that the walls would have fewer enemies in any one area. The downside was that it would spell disaster if the enemy broke through any of our sides. It seemed the current commander was more than happy to just focus on the front of our fort for now, which was fine by me.
My archers now leaned over the edge of the wall to loose arrows at the enemy troops right below us. Thanks to the barrier, they didn’t have to worry about the enemy archers' arrows.
I could no longer distinguish the sounds between the enemy troops and my own as they both roared against each other.
As the first ladders appeared, I gave my final order.
“For the black God men! For our home! Don’t let these humans take away everything we are!” I bellowed out. I heard a massive cheer resound from the men near me and more along the walls as others heard our war cries.
“Stay together for me,” I said to my women. I turned away when they had both nodded their confirmation. It was time to kill.
My men kicked away ladders as they appeared. I saw hooks latch onto the top of the walls, where no doubt they would also try to ascend with rope.
Eventually some enemy troops climbed up onto the walls, and the battle was on.
The sheer amount of ladders surprised even me and swung my battleaxe in a downward swing as a man came off the ladder onto our wall. He didn’t react fast enough as my axe split his head in two. His blood splattered onto the tip of a ladder as his corpse rolled away from me, disappearing over the wall.
More and more men appeared, and they pushed enough of us away where we couldn’t reach the ladders any longer. I kicked another soldier in the knee, which caused him to crouch in pain. A swing from my battleaxe ended him as it sliced through part of his shoulder.
My archers cycled out of the walls with the infantry as they slowly retreated down to the ground. I would have preferred to do it sooner than this, but it was a gamble on whether to keep the archers here till the ladders appeared or lose out on some ranged fire by swapping them out earlier. The ranged troops were great at melee combat too, but I wanted them on the ground to make use of the arrows we had.
I crushed another soldier's skull with my battleaxe. As I pulled away from his head; I looked around to spot any problems.
It didn’t take long to do so.
The wall next to mine had three stacks of ladders close to me that allowed the enemy to get more troops into that section.
“To me,” I said to my two women. Eliandra used a heavy burst of wind to knock a soldier off the wall to his death. Lunara threw a dagger right between a soldier’s eyes where that huge slit was. It pleased me to see them kill these humans so effectively.
Both women maneuvered around our friendly troops to reach me.
“Let’s focus on those ladders there!” I said as I rushed past my men. I heard the pair follow close behind me.
I charged my arm with a little prime and swung horizontally at a trio of men that were too busy fighting my own. With the added strength, my battleaxe sliced through the air and didn’t stop. It chopped through one man and took the leg off another. The second one screamed as he fell to the floor in a heap, his leg a few inches away from him.
I was careful not to strike any of my own men, as it was too easy to do this on the narrow wall. The third man roared as he pulled out his sword from one of my men's sides and raised it high for a swing against me.
I raised my battleaxe to defend. As I did so, a dagger streaked through the air and struck the man right in the neck. He gurgled out blood as he dropped the sword and clutched at his neck. He pulled out the knife before he dropped dead a moment later.
Lunara raced ahead of me and pulled out more daggers. She threw them with such precision and speed that it was hard for my eyes to keep up with her. A gust of wind rolled along my cheeks before I saw four enemy troops get knocked off the wall. All of them screamed as they rushed to the ground. I imagined that they also fall on top of other soldiers.
I needed to move, and quickly. I fed my arm with constant prime as I waded through the enemy soldiers. My battleaxe felt like an extension of my arm as it ripped through soldier after soldier with barely a pause. My arm tingled with a hint of pain, as it always did when I used enough prime. As always, I ignored it.
A massive brute of a soldier appeared on top of a ladder. His head was shaped as if he had a snout and the clawed feet confirmed to me he was a lizardman. He wore full plate armor and carried a wide sword that looked huge, even amongst his already bulky frame. He snarled in an animal like voice as he rushed straight towards me. I raised my battleaxe and heard a clank as sparks flew in my vision. Before I could react, he struck again and again. His speed surprised me, and the strength of his blows was almost on par with my own.
Almost. It seemed his scaled feet didn’t have any protection, and I used a short opportunity to push prime into my legs. With a grunt, I jolted my foot forward and smashed it right onto his left foot. The lizardman screamed as it backed away, but I wouldn’t allow it the chance to recover. I raised my battleaxe and aimed for the lizardman’s neck. The battleaxe was already red with blood and as it sailed through the air, droplets of blood dripped off the blade. I cursed as the lizardman ducked from my strike with incredible speed. My battleaxe hit another enemy soldier instead on the side.
“Fuck,” I yelled as the soldier screamed, but I didn’t have time to pull my axe out. The lizardman’s eyes gleamed with the opportunity. He pulled his sword back, and I dropped the hold on my weapon to dodge. I could hear his blade ring in my ears as it struck the wall at our feet. I knew I only had moments before he would strike again.
I sighed as I had no choice. I curled my hand into a fist and overloaded it with a surge of prime. Steam billowed from my gauntlet as I pushed forward and struck the lizardmen right on his helmet. I felt its snout b
uckle and crack under my blow as his helmet dug into skin before the lizardman’s body blasted away from me. It crashed into a cluster of enemy soldiers and kept going, which opened up a wide clear space in its wake. The enemy soldiers screamed as the force of my blow knocked them off their feet and my men rushed in to finish them.
The backlash was immediate as I gripped my right hand, where parts of my gauntlet was crushed from the overuse of my power. I had a moment to question why I kept doing this to myself as the pain lanced through my arm. I dropped to my knees involuntarily as my body shook.
Thanks to my efforts, Lunara had closed the gap to the ladders and pushed one off while Eliandra used her magic on the other two. I heard the distinct screams of the troops on the ladders before a massive thud as they all tumbled to the ground. My men cleared out the enemy troops that remained near me while Eliandra dashed to my side.
“Ordan, can you hear me?” Eliandra asked as she took hold of my ruined hand. Her face twisted into a frown as she examined the damage.
“Fuck lizardmen,” I forced out of my mouth. This pain was horrible.
“Can you heal him?” Lunara said, and I saw Eliandra nod her head. A green glow emanated from her hand and I sighed as the pain lessened. It didn’t completely disappear, however.
“There, I can’t do anymore until some time has passed. The body needs time to cope, and this injury is like the ones you sustained while fighting Andra. Please be careful,” Eliandra said as she helped me get back on my feet.
“Thanks,” I said as rubbed along my gauntlet. I winced as some pain lingered, but it was manageable for now. I frowned as some of my gauntlet had dug into my flesh, but there was no time to deal with that now.
No further ladders appeared where we stood, and there were only friendly troops around us as I went to grab my fallen battleaxe. It was still embedded into some soldiers side as I wiggled it free.
I looked over my surroundings at this moment of respite. The archers had made it to the ground and peppered the enemy with arrows that sailed over us to the other side of the wall. The crossbowmen focused on clusters of enemies they could see on the walls, which supported the infantry. There were still many troops on the ground, who waited for an opportunity to fight.