Maerk grabbed two men and led them across to the bodies of their dead friends. He then moved across to the treeline and began dragging a branch from it. The other two men followed suit and very soon, the three of them had built a burial pyre. Maerk finished placing another thick branch onto the pile and then nodded to the other two men before saying, “Let’s give our friends a worthy send off.”
Once the dead were on the pyre and flames were sending them on their way, the survivors moved across to it and knelt down. In unison, they began singing a low melancholy tune, thick with all the emotion of losing so many friends. Ben finished his snack and moved across to join the men, as Tal hugged his knees and stared into the fire with tears of anguish, tinged with anger, sliding down his cheeks.
Tal’s troops sang for nearly an hour, before the sound of movement in the forest silenced them. Tal wiped his eyes furiously and leapt to his feet.
He slid his sword from his scabbard smoothly and peered into the shadows. At first, he could see nothing, then he spotted the tell-tale glint of armour deep in the bush. He glanced across at Ben, who was now watching him earnestly, and pointed frantically into the forest. The Sect Commander moved towards him and then stopped, as he spotted the foliage thrashing with the enemy’s movements. He rushed back to the troops and in hushed tones, told them to pack up.
Gwena groaned, as she woke up, so Tal raced across to her and held his finger across his lips. Immediately grasping the situation, she went silent and stared along Tal’s now outstretched arm. She spotted the armoured warriors crashing through the foliage and leapt to her feet.
Seeing that the enemy soldiers had still not seen them, Tal pointed across to a small goat track, which led into the forest, but away from the enemy soldiers. Ben led the troops across to it and waited for Tal to lead them away.
Nodding across to Gwena, making sure that she was alright, Tal moved to the front of his troops and broke into a run. He sped along the thin track with the remainder of his men following close behind. Gwena was still weak and she soon fell back. Maerk noticed this and after letting Ben know, he dropped back to run next to her.
Tal glanced back and noticed that although Gwena had fallen back, she was not dropping any further behind. Happy that she was coping, he continued racing along the track at break neck speed. Leaping over roots and twisting branches, the column forged deep into the woods.
They could hear the noise of the clumsy armoured warriors growing fainter the further they ran. After a while, Tal could no longer hear the enemy warriors, so he slowed his pace and began to walk.
Gwena took a deep breath and forced herself to close with the column. She soon caught up and sighed with relief, as she broke into a walk. Tal glanced at her and smiled, as she pulled a face to let him know that she was exhausted. He then peered around to plot his route.
He knew that they had been travelling southeast, but could not tell how far they had gone.
Seeing a clearing in front of him, Tal headed for it. He knew that he would be exposing the column, but he had to risk it, so that he could get a glimpse of the sun and plot his route. A few yards before the clearing, he turned to the column and held his index finger over his lips. He then indicated for the column to kneel down, as Ben moved towards him. Tal bobbed his head back towards the treeline and whispered, “When I crawl forward, bring the guys to the edge of the clearing and wait in the treeline for me.”
Ben nodded and asked, “Should we not set up a protective perimeter?”
Tal shook his head and replied, “I won’t be long enough.”
Ben did not look convinced, but, nevertheless, as Tal made his way into the clearing; he led the remainder of the column to a small dip in the treeline in front of them.
Tal reached the edge of the clearing and crept out. He peered around and then glanced up. He could see the sun was high in the sky, which made it easier for him to navigate. He made a series of simple calculations in his head and realised that he had been moving too far east.
He needed to head southwest to bring him to Antia. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He glanced around, but could not see anything wrong, but things did not feel right, so he moved quietly back to his troops.
Suddenly, a loud crashing from behind the column drew Ben’s attention. He looked back and for an instant gawped in fear, as a squadron of enemy Cavalry came charging towards them, their massive horses smashing through the thick foliage as if it were not there. Ben woke from his reverie, as Maerk hollered, “Run!”
Tal’s troops leapt to their feet and raced from the dip, heading towards Tal, who was making his way towards them. He stared in surprise at them and then saw the enemy troops. He immediately spun on his heels and sprinted back the way he had come.
A movement to his left drew his eye and his heart began thumping with fear, as he saw a pack of heavy-jawed hounds crashing out of the trees, followed by another squadron of armoured cavalry. Speeding away, from this new threat he realised too late that the enemy were herding them towards the centre of the clearing.
As he neared the far edge of the clearing, Tal had to come to a skidding halt, as not one, but two enemy infantry companies marched from the forest in front of them. The thickset armoured soldiers halted and waited, cutting off the track to the front. The thirty-five terrified warriors under Tal’s command glanced around in panic. Tal peered across at the large mountain to the east and prepared to run towards it, but halted as a long line of enemy cavalry moved across to block his escape.
Tal stared grimly at Ben and then drew his sword. Maerk moved to stand by his father’s side, as the other soldiers brought their weapons to bare; an eerie calmness descending over them, as they accepted their fate.
Seeing two hooded priests move from the trees behind them, Gwena embraced her Mogya. Blue lightning danced along her skin and she grinned menacingly at the two enemy priests. She knew that she was not strong enough to take them both, but cold abandon swept over her, as she moved towards them. Maerk glowered angrily at Tal and growled, “Let’s go down fighting.” With this, he charged at the enemy, bringing the remainder of the column racing after him. As they ran, they howled with a mix of terror and aggression, which showed just how they felt.
Attack
Eran turned from the fire, as he heard somebody moving in the reeds to his left. He placed his hand gently on the hilt of sword and walked towards the sound. Before he had made it across to the reeds, one of his Elven scouts appeared from the soupy, black water behind them and made his way towards him. The Elf’s blonde hair was thick with mud and he was staggering with exhaustion. As he noticed Eran coming towards him, he called, “Everything is ready.”
Eran nodded in satisfaction and then replied, “Good lad, go and get yourself cleaned up and get some sleep. We attack in four hours.”
The scout immediately raced towards his tent, not needing a second invitation to go to bed. He entered the canvas shelter, just as Rahin strolled towards Eran, who was returning to the fire. The Elven war leader rubbed his shoulders against the cold and looked up into the ever-brightening sky. He stroked his jaw thoughtfully and then said, “Obviously everything is in place, or you would’ve come running to tell me.”
Eran grinned mischievously, as he replied, “Not necessarily, you’re getting a bit old. I would probably have gone to Raeywin, she can get things done.”
Eran ducked out of the way of Rahin’s playful punch, as Galivan joined them. The Elven Second in Command grinned at the two Elves’ boyish behaviour and then said, “You both need to get some sleep. I’ll wake you when we’re ready.”
Rahin nodded, seeing the sense in Galivan’s words. He had been up all night and Galivan had only just come on watch, so was much fresher than he was. Eran remained where he was, as Rahin walked away. He waited until Rahin was out of earshot and said, “Keep an eye on him Galivan, his reactions are getting slower. He nearly died in our last battle and I don’t think this is the time or place for him to l
eave us.”
Galivan’s face grew grim as he answered, “I know Eran, but you know what he is like. He is too stubborn to listen to anybody.”
Eran nodded slowly, but did not reply. He merely shrugged and then moved across to his tent.
Some hours later, the doors to Bray’s tent suddenly burst open - shedding bright light into the shadowed shelter – waking both him and Raeywin in an instant. Bray glanced groggily towards the doors and watched as Galivan poked his head inside. “It’s time,” said the Elven Second in Command.
Bray threw his blankets back and clambered to his feet, as Galivan raced off to wake the others. He reached across to his pack and grabbed his heavy, black, leather armour, which was sitting on top. It took a few minutes for him to dress, as it did Raeywin, but when they were finished, they charged outside to the command tent. As soon as they exited their tent, four Elves moved across to it to take it down.
Rushing into the command tent, Bray noticed that the others were already waiting for them. Rahin lifted his head from the large map he was looking at and said, “It is time to drive the enemy back to wherever they came from.” He glanced across at Raeywin and continued, “We are only waiting for your archers.”
With this Raeywin nodded and sped from the tent, with Bray close behind. As they emerged from the large canopy, they marvelled at the speed with which the Elves could act. Every other tent was down and the Panther Riders were already in formation, waiting for the order to attack. Bray followed Raeywin until she reached the Elven archers and then hugged her before planting a kiss on her lips and saying, “Be careful.”
Raeywin laughed and replied, “Forget me, you’re the one who always tries to take on more than he should.”
Bray merely shrugged in reply, his face taking on a boyish grin, as he rushed across to the Panther Riders. As he joined them, Gwion rode forward, leading Bray’s horse behind him. Bray thanked his son and then climbed into the saddle. He nodded to Rahin and Galivan as they rode across, then he looked towards the enemy troops, who were forming up just behind the gorse bushes ready to meet their attack.
Once the Command Cell was ready, Raeywin’s archers released volley upon volley into the enemy, killing dozens in the first wave. The enemy infantry raised their shields above their heads and knelt down, trying to become smaller targets, but the arrows still swarmed around them like a plague of angry bees.
Their action was exactly what the archers were waiting for. As soon as the enemy were kneeling by the gorse bushes, the Elves released a salvo of burning arrows. These flew through the air and thudded into the bushes in front of the enemy. The dry bushes burst into flames immediately, but this was not enough to panic the enemy. However, the explosions that erupted from the fire powder, which Eran’s scouts had poured onto the bushes, not only killed large numbers of enemy soldiers, but it caused chaos in the camp, as the remainder tried to run from the flames.
As soon as Rahin saw that the enemy were on the run, he screamed, “Charge!”
At this, the Panther Riders sprung forward, quickly outstripping Gwion and Bray on their Elven horses.
Galivan urged his panther forward, leaping over the bushes and through the flames a split second before the other Panther Riders. He closed on an enemy infantry soldier and sliced his throat, before the man could defend himself. A blur of movement to his right caught his eye. He spun towards it and lifted his sword just in time to block a savage blow from a silver-armoured Cavalryman. Pushing back on the blade, Galivan nearly toppled the massive warrior, but he managed to keep his balance, so the Elf leapt into a standing position and thrust his blade towards the enemy soldier’s head. The action in itself would have been easy enough to block, but the fact that Galivan’s Panther had slashed the enemy horse across the legs, sent the man toppling forward, making it easier for the Elf’s aggressive blow to slice through the soldier’s helmet.
As his opponent died, Galivan glanced across at Rahin, who, true to form, had attacked three enemy cavalrymen. He was holding his own, pushing the three enemy warriors back with the ferocity of his blows, but the thing that panicked Galivan was the enemy priest, who was casually strolling towards his friend.
Galivan urged his Panther towards Rahin, but he was too far away, as the priest began to conjure blue lightning from his hands. The black robed figure lazily flicked back his hand and then threw a ball of blue fire at Rahin. Galivan watched in despair, unable to do anything, as the fire flew closer to his friend. Suddenly, the air around Rahin glimmered.
The fireball struck this shimmering area and immediately died. The enemy priest recoiled in pain and then burst into flames as an orange bolt of lightning struck him.
Galivan stared in amazement and then shook his head in disbelief, as Gwion and Bray charged past Rahin, their eyes radiating the power flowing through them. Galivan was about to chuckle, but nearly fell from his Panther, pain erupting along his left side, as something smashed into him. He managed to keep his balance and turned quickly with his sword held defensively, to repel this new attack.
As he turned, Galivan saw Eran pull his blade from the breastplate of an enemy Cavalry soldier. Eran glanced across at him and growled, “Stop concentrating so hard on Rahin or you will end up getting yourself killed.”
Galivan nodded, as Eran charged forward with Raeywin next to him and the remainder of the Elven archers trailing behind. Raeywin pulled an arrow from her quiver, then in one fluid motion notched it and fired. The arrow flashed towards the enemy and lifted a soldier from his saddle. She then drew her thin bladed sword and ran it through an infantryman trying to impale her on his spear.
The further into the enemy ranks the Elves pushed, the fiercer the resistance they met. Rahin pushed to the front of the Elven charge, but had to slow down, as a large body of javelin troops raced across to meet him. He looked around in panic, thinking that he was on his own, but sighed in relief as Bray and Gwion smashed through the flimsy line that the javelin troops had formed.
As the Elves smashed through the enemy, a loud horn sounded from within Antia and the northern gate opened. As it crashed to the floor, Tom and Sam charged from within the walls with the Sentinels strung out behind them. As the Sentinels’ massive chargers smashed into the first few enemy camps, a long line of Chintwene warriors rushed from the city, hacking and slicing at those who had survived the initial charge.
The enemy Commanders saw that strength of numbers were no longer on their side and gave the order to retreat. Seeing the Great Forest to the north east, the silver-armoured warriors headed for it, hoping to use it to slow the attack. Unfortunately, for them, they had not seen the combined force, led by Peg, charging at them from the north, which would intercept them before they reached the trees.
Peg roared in anger, as he drove his horse into a gallop with Avrit and Rumar charging behind him. Partic brought the Centaurs into attack formation behind them and nodded to Dineerim, who grinned, before calling, “Charge!”
The Centaurs soon caught the human warriors on horseback, adding to the venom of their attack, as they hit the eastern most flank of the enemy. Peg slashed his blade across the throat of an enemy warrior and without pausing, stabbed another.
As he did this, Avrit blocked a wild strike from an enemy Cavalryman and then sent a complicated riposte back at him, which tore through his defence and killed him. To his right, Rumar drove his horse into a squadron of infantry, as Hilum led the Dwarves into a blood-thirsty charge a few yards from him. The aggressive Dwarf’s axe was rising and falling so quickly that all before him died before getting the chance to defend themselves.
Chaos ensued, for an hour; the silver-armoured warriors were becoming fewer in numbers, but they were still fighting savagely for their survival.
Suddenly, a huge glowing circle began to form to the south of Antia. Enemy warriors all over the battlefield suddenly dropped their weapons, as it appeared, and charged headlong towards the light.
Peg, Avery and Rumar sped after them, tryin
g to stop them before they reached their goal. Hilum and his Dwarves kept cutting a deadly swathe through the enemy force, as Partic shouted, “Peg leave them. You don’t know what’s on the other side of that light. Hold here and we can regroup if they counter.”
Peg sped on for a further few yards, but reined in his horse, as the sense in Partic’s words struck home. Following his lead, Avrit and Rumar slowed their charge and then relayed the order for their troops to hold fast. Glancing to his left Peg could see that the Dwarves were still going, so he roared, “Hilum hold fast.”
Hilum did not want to stop, he had his heart set on killing every, last silver-armoured warrior on the field, but his keen sense of military discipline kicked in and he halted, bringing his Dwarven Legion under control as he did so.
Blood-spattered and with pure disappointment on his face, Hilum marched his troops back up to where Peg had stopped. He grimaced as he joined them and growled, “We could’ve had them.”
Peg shook his head in amusement and then asked, “And what would have happened if we had met an even larger army on the other side of the light?”
Hilum glowered fiercely at Peg and replied, “We would have died gloriously.”
A short laugh behind them drew Hilum’s angry gaze. Under the savage Dwarf’s gaze, Rumar stopped laughing and said, “Dwarves, you’re all the same.” He then held up his hands defensively and continued, “Which is not a bad thing.”
With this, Hilum snorted his derision and marched a little distance away. As the Dwarves moved away to calm down, Peg clambered from his horse and gazed across the battlefield. He smiled, as he watched the Elves hold their position, just south of the city.
As the enemy disappeared through the light, Peg heard the thundering of hooves. Glancing towards Antia, he saw Tom riding at the head of a long Sentinel column. The huge Sentinel halted his horse, just short of the Nunnupi King and slid from his saddle. He laughed deeply and said, “Well Peg, you have definitely grown in strength.” He glanced at the army that was now surrounding them and continued, “Judging by these.”
Destruction of a God Page 6