Commander Nenghao bowed to Tarriel. "You are very honorable, Tarriel of Culdora. Whatever way you and your people choose to fight, I am honored to have you on our side this day."
Tarriel returned the bow to Nenghao then turned and trotted off toward her warriors.
Solomon placed a hand on Nenghao's shoulder as the two men watched Tarriel run off. "She is a mighty warrior, the greatest among her people. She has fought in many battles. You would do well to watch and learn from her."
Nenghao nodded. "I had only just made Captain two years ago, and now I am a Commander. The last war that came to Vorea was long ago and I was very young. I have never even killed a man and now I am to lead my people, my tribe, to victory." He started shaking his head. "I must not fail in this, but I can’t help to think that there can be no victory for Vorea in this war. The enemy is vast."
Solomon looked Nenghao in the eyes and clutched his shoulders. Nenghao flinched at the power of his grip. "You can’t allow yourself to be down trodden. The only hope of Vorea is that you step forward and lead her people to victory, if you fail to see this, than you have already doomed them."
Nenghao looked to the ground. He was struggling to recover from the feeling of hopelessness that was trying to overwhelm him.
"And remember, we are here to help you in this time of need. Have faith in the side of right. No matter the odds, good will overcome," said Solomon.
Nenghao studied his piercing azure eyes. He had only just met this man and yet he felt as though he was taking advice from an old friend. "The man called Lucian that you say is coming, the one that you speak of as if he were a King. Do you really think he will return? Will one man be able to make such a difference in this war?"
Solomon grinned widely at the Commander. "Not only will he come, he will bring an army with him, and the armies of the southern tribes will fight for him as well. He will come, and you will marvel at what this one man can do."
Nenghao couldn't help but be infected by Solomon's optimism. He locked wrists with the Priest and shook it excitedly. "Very well, then. It is time that I gave my men something to fight for."
Solomon gave him a short bow and let go his wrist so that he could be off.
Commander Nenghao rode to the front lines of the Vorean army. He knew that they would not all hear him, as spread out as they were along the city walls, but the message would quickly spread. He stood up atop the saddle of his steed and yelled out as loud as he could. "Warriors of Vorea, this day we shall all prove ourselves in battle. Look to the man to your right and to the man to your left. These are your brothers, the ones who will see you through this. Protect your brothers and fight for your home!"
The following cheer was so loud that it drowned out the many drums that beat from the enemy lines.
"And know that you are not alone in this. Friends from the south come to share in our struggle. We must hold the defenses until they arrive. We will overcome this enemy as we have time and time again. We will not let this evil into our city. We will fight with all that we have, all that we are. Let our enemy never forget the day that they decided to wage war on Vorea!"
The roar that ascended and rippled out among the rest of the army was beyond deafening, echoing off the high walls of the city. Nenghao thrust his weapon into the air over and over, screaming out the name of their people, their tribe. The rest of the army joined in on the chant. Nenghao looked up to the parapet where Kyrianna was standing and proudly saluted her, punching his right fist into his left hand out in front of him and bowing his head. Kyrianna returned the salute, equally proud of her Commander and of her people.
Suddenly the volume of the chant was dwarfed by the pounding of the drums and the battle cries that came from the northern horde. Thaluzont rode out to the front of his lines and raised his mighty labrys up high for all his men to see. The drums beat faster and faster and the men chanted Thaluzont's name. He dropped his axe to point it at Vorea and his army rumbled forward with an ear crackling roar. They did not run but stayed in close ranks as they marched on toward Vorea. The sound of thousands of iron clad boots pounding their way toward the city was thundering. Kyrianna felt the walls shake under her feet and feared that they may crumble under the quake of the approaching horde.
Commander Nenghao saw that the chants of his men were dying out and many mouths were gaping at the sight and sound of the massive approaching enemy. He thrust his sword high into the air again and screamed at the top of his lungs. "Now is the time! Fight for Vorea! Hold the lines!"
Every man and women answered back as loud as they could, and although they did not drown their enemy out. Their hearts soared high and they were ready for battle.
Kyrianna waited for the horde to get within range of the Batoshi, a large war machine that flung giant boulders and large flaming clay pots thousands of yards into the enemy. The Batoshi would fire first, aiming for the enemy’s battering rams and their own ranged siege weapons. Next would be the Nebura, large instruments looking like giant crossbows that would launch a half dozen, ten foot bolts into the enemy’s front ranks. This was the first line of defense. The rest of the army would stay back, waiting for the adversary to come in close, beneath the range of their massive war machines.
Kyrianna held up her hand, signaling to ready the first launch. When her hand dropped, every Sergeant, manning all fifty of the Batoshi, screamed out the call to fire. All at once, the machines let fly their boulders, meant to crush and scatter the front lines of the horde. The giant rocks flipped through the air and a cheer rang out from the army below as they watched the projectiles soar overhead and land into the enemy ranks. The horde accepted the blow and continued to march forward, maintaining their ranks without flinch.
The second barrage of projectiles was the large clay pots, filled with sticky oil. The pots ignited as they ran through a flame on their way off the Batoshi. This volley flew out toward the enemy siege machines as they came within range. The men in charge of aiming the devices were well trained and each mortar struck dead on or very close to their mark, smashing against the targets and sending clinging, liquid fire that would spread over whatever it touched. The flames were very difficult to put out and this time, some of the enemy did scatter. Men that were engulfed in flames would run blindly through the ranks, igniting everyone they touched until they were put down by a spear from one of their fellow soldiers. Kyrianna gave the signal for the Batoshi to fire at will and volley after volley of boulders and flaming pots were hurled into the oncoming enemy mass.
The next to fire were the Nebura. Kyrianna gave the signal and nearly fifty of them launched their long deadly bolts into the enemy. Some of them skewered two or three men at once. But their main targets were the mounted units within the army. Thaluzont had made the mistake of placing his large cavalry in close with his infantry and a heavy price was paid. Also among the targets were the Hurandi, of Oharna. Many of them were hit by the Nebura as they came on with the infantry. The Nebura fired over and over again, along with the Batoshi, raining death down on the enemy. But it was like dropping pebbles into an army of ants, and on they came as if undaunted by their losses.
Thaluzont rode out in front and had been unscathed by the unforgiving barrage. He saw that many of his men were falling from the endless volley but he did not care of their deaths. However, he had given the Voreans enough false hope. The time for games was at an end. He reached up with his battle axe and screamed out in a booming voice, spurring his Boroon into a full charge. The front lines followed suit, roaring as they charged after their leader and then the entire main force was at a full sprint toward Vorea. It wasn't long before they were beneath the line of sight for the Batoshi and the Nebura. Thaluzont circled his mount, swinging his great weapon over his head. As his army swept past him in a blood rage, he looked up at the city walls to the archers that stood waiting. He was not fool enough to let himself be riddled with arrows in front of all his men. That is what infantry are for.
Kyrianna brought up her h
and to hold the archers. She had watched Thaluzont come closer and closer and signaled for all the archers to train their sights on him, but at the last moment, just before he was within accurate range, he turned his mount around, but his army came on. Kyrianna gave the signal to fire and the call rang out down the ranks of archers all along the wall. Thousands of arrows were released to sail into the charging horde. Every arrow found a mark. With so many men racing toward the city it would be impossible to miss.
Volley after volley were sent into the enemy and yet still they came. Within the first few moments of the battle, not a single Vorean had died and hundreds, if not thousands of Thaluzont's men had fallen. But still they came, like ants to a fallen insect, they swept toward the city. The call came from Nenghao and all along the front lines rose up tall shields with long spikes jutting out from the center. The shields were held by two men whose sole task was to try and stand their ground and slow the attackers charge so that they could not cut deep into the lines. Behind the shield bearers the men waited, some with a small shield and sword, some with a single long sword and no shield and some with two swords. The Vorean fighting style favored speed and agility and so they carried light weapons. They stayed in tight ranks along the wall to give the archers more time to lay down their volleys, but once the enemy reached a certain point, the shield men and the front lines raced out to meet them head on and spread out the ranks to give room to fight.
When the two armies met, it sounded as if Deru itself was splitting in half. The ground shook from the force of thousands of men colliding. Some were impaled on the shield spike and others were trampled underfoot. The shields slowed the charge at some points but in other areas where the enemy had formed a wedge, they had broken through and chaos erupted. The sound of weapons clashing rang out around the country side. Kyrianna kept her archers laying down a barrage of arrows behind the front ranks of the northern horde to try and help slow their charge but nothing seemed to be accomplishing that task. As the enemy cut in past the shield men, they were quickly cut down by the expert Vorean swordsman. But Vorea and her allies were heavily outnumbered and for every one of the enemy that was cut down, three more appeared to take his place. The defenders were being overwhelmed by sheer numbers, but they fought on regardless.
Thaluzont waited for the first wave to take the brunt of damage from the archers and then charged in behind them. Kyrianna saw him coming and yelled for whatever archers could hear her to target him and fire. A dozen arrows shot out toward Thaluzont, but none found their mark. The armor atop the Boroon was far too thick, as was Thaluzont’s. He veered his beast toward a strong point in the Vorean defenses and crashed through it, sending shield men soaring through the air or leaving them crushed under massive hoof. The large beast swung its head wildly as it had been taught and gored several men on its long horns. The line buckled under the attack and more of Thaluzont’s men flowed past him to fill the gap and tear away at the Vorean defenses.
Tarriel watched as the lines along the middle gave way to the wedge formations from Thaluzont’s army. Most of the fighting had been concentrated along the center point of the defenses and east. One such wedge was forming and heading toward a weak point close to her western flank. She called for her warriors to form up their own wedge and she rushed out, leading them in a charge, heading for the side of the enemy wedge. Just as the enemy was about to slam into the Vorean ranks, Tarriel and her warriors cut into their flank, slicing right through the wedge and separating the front from the back. She quickly formed half of her force into a circle and pushed towards the back portion of the enemy wedge while the other half engaged the enemy from behind while they were concentrating on the Voreans at their front.
Since she had a large number of warriors they formed two circles, one smaller on the inside of the larger. The outer circle spun as they fought, keeping the enemy off balance and setting them up for a distracting death blow. The inner circle rotated in the opposite direction. Some of the enemies were purposefully let through the first line and they were quickly cut down by the inner circle. Solomon worked his spiked gauntlets with amazing speed and deadly effect next to Tarriel. The front of the enemy wedge, which was divided from the rest of their force, now found themselves surrounded.
On one side were the Culdorans, hacking away at them with their large powerful weapons and on the other, the Voreans slicing and thrusting with quick precise strokes. The tip of the enemy wedge was obliterated within minutes. Tarriel could see that her war circle would not hold, already she had lost many woman and the enemy was pressing in around them. She signaled for the circle to start moving back as they fought. The enemy paid dearly for every inch that Tarriel and the Culdorans gave up, but it was not enough. The wake of enemy soldiers seemed to keep pouring in at them and the circle was breaking all over, the enemy cutting in so deeply that it was starting to become confusing. In the darkness of night, it was hard to tell if you were fighting friend or foe.
Tarriel signaled for the captain to pull back his men toward the gates. She could see other regiments doing the same thing. She called out the command and the second half of her warriors that had engaged the cut off portion of the enemy, now formed their own inner and outer rings. Both double rings worked around each other as if they were connected. From above it would have been an amazing sight to see. The enemy did not know how to combat this tactic and just kept trying to charge in and break the circles but that was the worst thing to do. As they charged in they found themselves trying to advance on the retreating ring while the other was suddenly at their backs. The two rings flowed perfectly around each other, fighting off the massive northern army while slowly moving back toward the city gate.
The Voreans at the back of the lines stared in awe at the fighting prowess of the Culdorans. Not only were they killing large numbers of Thaluzont's army, they were sacrificing themselves so that Voreans could retreat.
Tarriel was growing tired of swinging her longsword and slammed it into the chest of a wounded enemy then pulled out a short sword and a long curved dagger. She knew that her warriors must also be getting tired and when she looked back toward the city, she realized that they were being cut off from the main force. The enemy was swarming in around them in an attempt to finally stop the deadly rings, realizing the great threat.
Solomon broke away from the line and moved to the center of the rings. He began calling on the gift of the Father that flowed so strongly through him and started chanting, sending wave after wave of healing energy into the Culdorans.
Tarriel felt a surge of adrenaline at the thought of being overrun and quickly turned it into a fierce longing for an honorable death. When she felt the wave of warm energy flow through her, stemming the flow of blood from her many cuts, she looked back over her shoulder at the chanting Priest and smiled fiercely. She lashed out with renewed vigor, cutting down enemy after enemy, screaming out Culdoran war songs. Some of the warriors nearby noticed her burst of energy and raised a battle cry. Soon the two death rings were no longer retreating but moving side to side, throwing the enemy even further off balance. They were like a steaming hot potato bouncing back and forth between the grasp of the horde, unable to be clutched and held. But now that they were no longer retreating, the adversary was quickly closing in around them. Tarriel knew it was only a matter of time before they would be overwhelmed. She screamed out another battle cry and rallied her warriors. If they were to die this day, they would die atop a mountain of enemy corpses. Each Culdoran wore a fierce smile and sang their battle chants with wild eyes and pounding hearts. They sang the chant of death.
Retribution Comes
The guards at the southern gate of Vorea listened to the sounds of battle raging at their northern walls. They had mixed emotions about wanting to be in the fight, knowing that they may very well die, but also knowing that every man could help and if their walls were breached, then their deaths would soon come anyway, for they would never flee. But there was no choice for them, they must perfor
m their duty and that was to watch for the enemy in case they tried to circle a small group around to the southern gate, for even a small force could wreak havoc if inside the city. What they also were looking for, was the arrival of their allies and more specifically, the one called Lucian. There were only six men posted at the gate, two atop the wall and the other four manned the cranks that would raise the massive portcullis.
As the sounds of battle continued to fill their ears one of the guards atop the wall yelled out in alarm, and pointed down the southeastern road. The others looked out through the gate to see a lone rider approaching very fast. Even in the darkness of night, his armor seemed to absorb the minimal light from the moons, and stars, and pull it in, setting the suit aglow. There was no one else with him and the guards decided that it must be the one called Lucian. The four men started spinning the large cranks and the iron bars began to rise slowly.
Lucian was relieved to see the gate opening for him as he got close to the city. He knew that there was no time to waste on trying to explain who he was. The heavy portcullis was only just high enough for him to pass under at a full gallop while ducking his head. He raced on toward the northern part of the city, grateful that a main road seemed to head in that direction. He didn't have time to admire the amazing beauty of Vorean, its high, thick walls and impressive structures. The palace itself was a spectacle to see.
He could hear the sounds of battle when he was still approaching the city. Now that he was inside, those sounds were amplified and he couldn't believe how loud it was. He could hear men and women screaming in pain over top of the clashing of steel. When he reached the northern wall he was greeted by a soldier who introduced himself as Captain Laifang.
Revelations of Doom Page 44