by Brent Tyman
I wondered how much longer it would take for the riders to get here. The enemy now moved towards our side walls, so this would be the perfect time to force them to defend their backs while we pincered them from behind.
Eliandra’s immediately turned towards the enemy army outside and so did I. I felt it too, a buzz in the air.
“Wha..” Eliandra said but her words died in her throat as a massive beam of light struck down from the sky. It was so fast that I did not have a moment to blink before an explosion knocked me off my feet. I felt the wall under me shake from the massive force and groaned as the world spun in my vision.
“Uh,” Lunara said as we all got up, as well did the rest of my men. I helped Eliandra as she seemed more out of it than the rest of us.
“Ordan, it's horrible. It's foul,” she muttered as she came back to her senses. I could barely hear her over the shrieks of our own men.
The entire wall section that housed the gate was destroyed. There wasn’t even any rubble, the entire area had burned to dust in mere moments. Both the enemy soldiers and my own laid scattered all around it, with many that screamed as they tried to put out the fires on their armor.
“What the…” I said, speechless. Whatever had happened, it had blasted through the barrier as if it were nothing.
“Ordan,” Eliandra said, and I gripped her arm to hold her steady.
“That is old prime magic,” Eliandra said as tears rolled down her cheeks. “It should not be possible to perform. It should not exist. We have to kill the mages responsible. We have to.”
I quirked my eyebrow as I watched Eliandra take deep and fast breaths, as if she couldn’t get enough air.
What was wrong with her?
I looked over at Lunara and she shrugged at me as she stared at her friend in worry. Even when we had summoned the chaos orb, Eliandra had never reacted this adversely to prime magic. The chaos orb literally warped reality, and this magic took out a wall. To me, there was no real comparison.
Sometime was strange though, that I just couldn’t put my finger on as I watched my men recover from that blast. No doubt the enemy would rush in through the opening. For some strange reason, they backed away from the gap in the wall instead.
Golden steam billowed from the impact site. I was about to order the infantry on the ground to form up along the gap when it happened.
The steam formed into a humanlike shape before it solidified into five beings that were twice the size of me. They had golden plate armor that shined under the sun and golden swords gripped in their gauntleted hands. I had never seen this armor design before. The armor was perfectly smooth as it wrapped around their wearers with not a single gap in sight.
The helmets had no openings at all. No slits for the eyes or mouth. It was one solid piece that extended neatly into the neck of the beings. It was so strange that I was almost mesmerized at the display.
“Gods,” I said.
These weren’t humans, nor any race I had encountered. Their legs were slender while the rest of their bodies was proportionally bigger. They stood frozen in place as the golden steam spread around them. Once the steam dissipated, one being turned its head ever so slightly.
Then all the beings moved at once, suddenly. Three of them headed outside towards the enemy army, while two others headed deeper into our fort.
An enemy soldier approached a being and was immediately struck down where he stood, his body sliced in half in moments. I did not know what to think. Why would the enemy cast magic that killed their own soldiers?
I paid no mind to the three beings that engaged the enemy army outside, but the two inside attacked my men. Their golden swords glowed as they made short work of our armor.
“What are those things?” Lunara asked as she stared at the carnage that unfolded.
“Goldera knights, the soldiers of heaven,” Eliandra murmured before she went limp and fell to the ground. I grabbed her before her head struck the floor and set her down gently. Her eyes were closed, but she was still breathing.
“What’s wrong with her?” I asked, but Lunara touched Eliandra’s face and sighed.
“She has been knocked unconscious, I don’t know why. This is bad Ordan,” Lunara said, and I gritted my teeth at these developments.
“You lot,” I shouted to the surrounding soldiers. “Take Eliandra to the back of the fort and keep her safe. If anything happens to her…”
The soldiers saluted and rushed to obey as they gently took Eliandra down the walls, away from danger.
“What do we do? Those… golden knights are butchering the men,” Lunara said.
The golden or Goldera knights were a force to be reckoned with. My men’s attacks on the two inside the fort were fruitless as all their weapons bounced off their shining armor. The fighting had resumed on the walls and I could see that the enemy troops that weren’t engaged with the three golden knights outside were on their way to the gap in the wall.
I had to think fast. I looked around for any nearby truth sayers and spotted the one called Jaseeva being carried away by some of my troops on the ground. She looked just like the way Eliandra was.
Now that I thought about it, despite the barrier being down, there were no fireballs in the sky. Had the enemy mages used all their prime for that spell, or were they knocked out like Eliandra?
Now was not the time to dwell on this. I had to save my men before these golden knights killed them all.
“Lunara, I need you to relay my orders to the men,” I said, and she nodded her head in determination.
“Tell the infantry on the walls to form up on the gap, with the archers focusing everything they have there. No one is to engage these golden knights but me, I’ll take care of them.”
I could see that Lunara was about to protest, but I waved my hand to stop her.
“That’s an order,” I said.
“Yes Sir,” she said with a mock salute and I rolled my eyes as she dashed off. She would likely go find Raina or order the troops herself. Either worked.
Pain flared in my hand again, perhaps reminding me not to use too much prime, but it seemed today was a day I just wouldn’t listen.
I charged prime into my legs, enough to make them shake involuntarily.
“My king, let us fight those things,” one of my men said. Many had gathered around me during my order to Lunara. I shook my head.
“No, this is my fight. Keep to the walls. Do your part, and I’ll do mine,” I said.
I gripped my battleaxe with two hands as I gauged the distance needed to get to one of the golden knights. One of them was near a cluster of tents and was busy fighting against a few spearmen near it.
I pushed off the wall and practically sailed through the air as I shot towards my enemy. I tried to raise my feet forward as I swung the battleaxe down in a downward sweep. My boots crushed through the back of the golden knight's armor as my axe struck the top of its head with as much prime as I could handle in them. The golden knight's helmet collapsed in on itself as if it were hollow.
I barely had time to think as I struck the ground hard and roared as my body punished me with pure agony.
I slid along the ground for a few moments before I crashed into a nearby tent, which slowed my momentum. My legs didn’t feel so bad since I took time to charge them, but they still spasmed for a few moments. My right arm reward me with misery as it shook of its own accord.
I really hoped that the other golden knight would leave me be for a moment, as I was in no shape to do anything for now. If the Gods had given me this power just to see me suffer from its aftermath, then they would be pleased indeed.
A shadow loomed over me and I felt a cold hand grip my armored chest as it raised me up from the ground. My right hand wouldn’t obey me, so I used my left instead to smack whatever clutched me.
The other golden knight’s helm came into my vision and its featureless helm stared back at me. My legs dangled in the air, which made this being incredibly strong. I was still d
izzy and in pain, but one thing I noticed was that I could hear no breathing coming from it. It was like a statue as it stared at me before it lobbed me at another tent. My back smacked into the ground and I yelled in agony as some of my armor dug into my skin.
I could hear sounds of battle and looked up to see that some of my men engaged the golden knight, even though I had ordered against it. I could see in the background that most of my men were at the gap in the wall, holding off the Vulenchian army.
Over the years, I had gotten accustomed to using my power in short bursts at a time. I rarely abused it like I did with Andra, but this land seemed to be full of powerful beings that wanted nothing more than to destroy us. Even if the odds weren't in my favor, even if the world itself wanted to crush me, the only thing I would not do is give up.
My body wanted more time to recover, so instead I fed it more prime. I let it course through my muscles and while the pain flared everywhere, I could move. I got up and put one foot in front of the other, slowly but surely.
Daggers streaked across my vision and I saw Lunara also in the fray. She dodged a swipe from the golden knight's sword and threw dagger after dagger at it. She had also disobeyed my orders, yet I couldn’t help but be proud of her.
The golden knight's back was right in front of me, and I rushed all the prime I could muster into my left hand. My legs wouldn’t move any longer and they would no doubt give out from under me soon.
The golden knight turned as it sensed me, but it was already too late. I curled my hand into a fist and struck out with a burning vengeance. The golden armor gave way to my fist, and it surprised me to see that there was no blood, no gore. Nothing at all. These things were hollow, like walking suits of armor.
The force of my blow blasted the golden knight away from me, and I fell to my back from the power. I gritted my teeth as pure misery swallowed me whole. Blood gushed out of my left hand and all I could hear was a strange ringing in my ears as the world darkened.
Chapter 8
“Ordan, get up! I need you to get up!” a voice said. I couldn’t quite make out who it was, but I knew it was someone close to me. I heard a hiss before a crash of sound slammed against my ears.
“Wha…” I mumbled as light filled my eyes. A purple faced dark elf appeared in my vision and all I wanted to do was ravish her.
There were others. My men. They all loomed over me, their faces concealed by their helmets.
“Thank the Gods, here get up,” Lunara said as she gripped me under the arm. My men helped me up too, and soon after I stood on my own two feet.
“What happened?” I asked as I got my bearings. The pain in both my hands reminded me of what had transpired, but the details were fuzzy.
“You used your power to destroy those golden knights and knocked yourself out. Please stop being so reckless. That power seems more like a curse than a blessing,” Lunara said as she looked me over with concern etched along that beautiful face.
She wasn’t wrong. I hated the pain that came after, but there was little choice in using my power. I needed it or else our enemies would win.
“Right, right,” I said as I gripped my temple, careful not to move my hands too much. “Report, how goes the battle?”
“My king,” one of my men said. “The walls are holding, the gap in the former gates are secure for now. The enemy is still dealing with one of those things. The other two ran off to the north.”
The north? Why would they go north? There were only mountains there, and then you reached the Korodo empire.
I didn’t have time to deal with that now. The battle still raged on.
“Take me to the walls, I need to see what's happening before I jump back into battle,” I said.
Lunara gave me a weird look, but it was another one of my men that spoke.
“My king,” he said. “With all due respect, you are in no shape for battle. You need healing from a truth sayer, but all of them are down. Allow us to take you to the back of the fort to rest.”
That my own soldiers wanted to tuck me safely away from all the danger made me feel like a newborn babe. They had taken off my helmet, so I frowned at them all.
Unfortunately, Lunara glared back at me and crossed her arms.
“Ordan, listen to them. You can’t fight, I doubt you could even hold a weapon with the state of your hands,” Lunara said.
That wasn’t true, I could fight if need be. Maybe. I just needed a few minutes or more.
“Fine,” I said begrudgingly. “I won’t fight but take me to the walls so I can observe and direct the troops.”
Lunara still didn’t happy with this, but the determination of my face dissuaded her from any further protests. Two of my men hooked my arms over their shoulders and led me to the front wall.
Arrows still sailed passed above us, but it seemed the enemy hadn’t used their trebuchets yet. Perhaps they feared it would hit their own men at this point.
There seemed to be less resistance on the front walls, with more of the enemy concentrated at our sides. They likely wanted to focused on piercing through our front hole.
Once I reached the top of the walls, we found a gap surrounded with friendly troops and I took some time to review the battlefield.
The enemy army seemed to have doubled down on its efforts to destroy us. They had spread out to the sides of our fort in massive droves. Other than the fighting that happened in the fort gap, there was also the golden knight.
It crushed every Vulenchian soldier in its way. There was a massive trail of blood that lead north towards the mountains and I presumed that was where the other two had escaped. The one that remained seemed perfectly content to kill anything in its path instead. Its golden sword sliced down through the enemy's armor with ease.
If the golden knight stuck around, no doubt that it would wipe out the Vulenchians. There were no fireballs above us or any prime activity. Perhaps what knocked out Eliandra and the truth sayers also affected the enemy mages. My hand twitched, which reminded me I was in no shape to fight a third golden knight.
“It's focused on the enemy for now, which is good,” I said.
“Hopefully it goes north soon instead of back to the fort. I don’t like this,” Lunara said as her head rested on my shoulder for a moment.
“I don’t either, but we have to keep fighting. The enemy numbers have thinned out enough that the riders will do some serious damage to them,” I said.
Now that I thought about it, where were they? They should have arrived already, if not sooner. I watched the battle unfold in front of my eyes for some time. My men give it their all to protect our home. I hated the fact that I couldn’t do anything further to help.
A horn blasted in the distance, and from its tone it sounded like a warning. The riders wouldn’t have used a horn before charging into the back of the enemy. Perhaps it was the Vulenchians instead, signaling a problem.
I could see some commotion happening in their back line, but it was too far away for me to make out.
“Could that be them? Have the riders come?” Lunara asked.
“It… has to be, who else would attack them here,” I said as relief rocked through my body.
If the riders were here, the enemy now had two flanks to worry about. We could push them off us and turn this battle around.
Strangely, after that horn sounded, the sheer mass of green moving away from us startled me.
That horn must have meant a retreat as the entire Vulenchian army disengaged from us. The enemy soldiers on the wall still fought on, but the rest turned tail and ran. I could hear shouts coming from a great distance away from us, but did not understand what they said.
The back line of the sea of green turned into a mass of black, and my mouth literally dropped when I saw what was happening.
It was the Zegari’s spawn.
The creatures ripped apart every Vulenchian they saw. I saw those infernal green acid balls melt away flesh as they rained down from the sky. The battlefield was c
haos as the Vulenchians were not prepared to face these creatures. We were taller, faster and stronger than these humans, yet we had a hard time against them. Their odds of victory were much lower.
“Ordan, what should we do?” Lunara asked from beside me.
That was a good question. We had our archers ready for battle this time, but the gap in the wall worried me. My men had grown tired from their fight with the Vulenchians.
We needed a barrier, but all the truth sayers were down.
Fuck.
“Hold the line, we need the men in the gap equipped with shields as a priority. The ranged troops will return to the walls,” I said, and Lunara nodded as she headed off to relay my orders.
The dark shadow of the creatures swept over the battlefield, leaving no Vulenchian safe. I saw a man die instantly as a creature jumped in one smooth motion to his neck and crushed it within its maw. It was carnage.
We cleared the last of the enemy soldiers off the wall and regained complete control of the fort. The only thing we could do now was defend this position to the last.
The rate of death that occurred in the enemy army surprised me, as it seemed they had lost all semblance of structure. Some parts of the army seemed to desert as many ran back east. Others fled past the fort towards Fulgrem. The creatures cut a path straight down the middle of the army, splitting it in two.
Even the golden knight was no match for the creatures. It held its own for a few moments, its sword sliced through several creatures at once. But a lob of acid spelled its end. It fell to the ground as its golden armor melted and crumpled.
It didn’t take long for the Vulenchian army to retreat in mass, as the whole army routed to the south towards the mountains. They no doubt wanted to bypass the creatures to return home, but the creatures followed them. Most of the Zegari’s spawn ran after the Vulenchians over the nearby hill. Their green and black masses disappeared over the horizon.