RD 5 Ch 10

Tarel confronted the oncoming demons in my stead like a valiant statue, one that refused to crumble.

As the powerful demons attempted to tear him down, I was preoccupied with my own problems, hacking and slashing at the demons before me. Too many were swarming me to die me down. I knew he was taking on too much.

“Tarel pull back, we're getting too far from the walls," I shouted over the demons howling with bloodlust. In the fighting our soldiers had followed us deeper to kill the more powerful demons. The longer we stayed this far out the harder it would be to pull back.

In the same breath, a second force spilled out from the hills further up field and raced to pinch off the side of our line.

Instead Tarel looked up, roared at the new forces and barreled forward through demons to block the newest wave of forces. It put him too far from the wall. The fortress was over my right shoulder perhaps a hundred yards. But he was at least twice that and the number of demons between him and the wall were only increasing with every second we wasted.

I wanted to curse and throw a fit because I knew he wasn't going to come back from the charge. Yet it did what he intended and stole much of the attention from the rest of us.

Kal knew it too, recognizing the danger at the same moment as me.

"Pull back!" I shouted and cursed at Tarel. "Don't be a goddamn hero!" I cursed Tarel. There was still a chance to drag him out of there, he just needed to pull back. We’d get some healers to put him back together.

Talos roared back, "I'm just a soldier with little to lose.”

We all knew that was a lie. He had just talked about his kid on the way. No, this was him protecting his soldiers from the second stream of demons. A sacrifice for his men, a rare thing to find in a leader and something precious no one wanted to lose.

Kal cursed and looked my way pleadingly, as if I'd have some miraculous way to solve the current predicament. But if I did, I would have used it.

"Don't get reckless now," I warned Kal. I could see the look in his eyes.

Some men, when what they were fighting for disappeared, would rather die fighting than go home with the empty feeling that now rested in the pit of their stomachs.

"You don't have to worry about me," Kal snapped quickly. "I'm not a damn idiot."

"I didn't say you were," I replied, "but I'd be lying if I said that look didn't make me at least a little nervous."

"Well, maybe you could stand to be a little more nervous," Kal snapped, and I didn't take it personally. Tension so tight more than a few of these men would snap was present all across our line.

Tarel was being overwhelmed, and not in a way that allowed me to rush in and perform a bout of heroics. 

Demons had him on all sides. Dozens of them. And they were all doing their best to cut him off from the rest of his men. It was brutal to watch as two juggernauts charged across making a clear line between Tarel and any support.

What came next happened with the same intensity as a pack of hyenas ripping apart the latest poor animal to catch their pack's attention. 

There was nothing surprising in their attack. Demons gave no quarter. No chance to surrender or even beg for mercy.

I saw Kal go through a struggle I had experienced time and time again. He looked about a half a breath from doing something profoundly stupid. Enough so that I had to grab him by the shoulder, half a second from hurling him back towards the wall.

"I'm not going to do anything," Kal was panting with frustration as he took a step back after killing another demon keeping the fighting retreat. The poor man looked like he was about to pull his hair out. But rather than charge into the fight to save Tarel, he doubled down on killing as many demons around him as possible.

He was desperate not to lose anybody else.

Kal became a whirlwind on the battlefield, jumping into any fight that looked like it might be on the edge of losing while our men disengaged and pulled away. When he reached a new set of targets, he blew any and every available ability. He wasn't holding anything back. He wasn't waiting to see what was coming next. He was simply leaving everything on the battlefield and trying to take as many of his people back with him as possible. 

I knew he would exhaust himself eventually, and I needed to intervene.

"Kal, get your people out of here, throw them if you have to. We need to get to the wall for their support," I shouted, already listening to my own commands and fighting a retreating battle, sweeping into any fights in my peripheral and freeing them up to retreat with me as well.

Doubling down, I snatched up an axe and swung with my full strength, severing a demon’s head and sending it toppling to the battlefield floor. The battlefield was quickly filling up, the system rapidly reclaiming bodies, yet somehow the bodies were still stacking up.

I plowed my way through a throng of demons and back into line with our retreating flank, my armor stained dark with demon blood.

Kal glared at me angrily. "If you had the time and energy to pull me out of the fight, you certainly could have gotten to Tarel," he accused. 

I only shook my head. "I didn't, and we both know it. He got himself isolated in a way where we couldn’t get him out. But his idea to slow down the second force likely helped more than you realized." I pointed out to where Tarel's group had been.

They had certainly lost their spirits and a few good men, but there was another section of the demonic army scattered even further over. Remenants of their cavalry having broken free of the hills and threatening to sweep in from what would have been our backsides.

Tarel's last stand had stopped them from collapsing on and crushing our forces outside the wall.

Kal took one look where I was pointing before scoffing and looking away. But no further complaints were raised. He wasn’t the kind of man to admit he was wrong.

We were close enough that the wall began to cover our retreat.

He and his men ran back and began scaling the walls to prepare for the demons that would soon be smashing at our gates.

I joined, jumping up to the top.

"Damn it," Kal swore as he joined me on the wall. Every one of our men stood tall, their brows brimming, bellies full, and eyes filled with anger. They had seen those who had died down below. Spells and abilities flew left and right, shattering upon the demonic army before us most did little but make the demons hesitate.

Only so many abilities could truly be effective at long-range. My Sanguine Slash rippled off the tip of my blade, waiting to be used. If I flicked it forward, it would travel more than ten meters, but its effect would be considerably reduced. Many abilities worked similarly.

Rarer were abilities that were designed for long range or even rarer yet those that truly worked as siege weapons. 

A few snipers amongst the fort were firing magical arrows that raced through the sky, chasing after the hearts of demons. The army emerging from the hills seemed endless and those few deaths felt like a drop in the ocean.

"Damn it, let me at them," Kal growled from atop the walls. The demon army kept pouring out of the hills in greater and greater numbers. The way the hills hid the bulk of the army from our vision made it almost seem like they were spawning from the hills themselves. 

"Patience, Kal," I said as the commanders of the fortress had our men firing abilities into the ever-surging horde as it grew larger with each second.

I watched as some mage fired a beam of light into the air before it broke apart into a dozen falling beams that crashed into the demon army with small explosions. I watched carefully, staring at the demons, watching for signs of what they would do next. 

"Frank," I turned to my man who had found me the second I returned to the wall, "have the commanders gather anything that will burn. If someone picked up a spatial ring from the fight on the battlefields. Let's check it and see if there’s anything useful." 

Frank frowned. "You don't want us to burn at the base of the fort, do you, my lord?" 

I shook my head. "Too much smoke will be bad for our vision, but," I pointed at the army, "somehow when they were going through the hills, they mixed their vanguard, the elites, and their main army." 

I pointed out at the serpentine winding army that was trying to push to the fort itself. It was such a thin stream compared to when they had come across the field that for the moment they weren't making much progress. However, I could see forces bloating behind the initial line. Soon they'd have enough to gain substantial ground if they marched together. 

"With their main army mixed in, I'm afraid once they're committed they'll commit to the whole thing," I explained. Whether purposeful or not, they didn’t have their usual disposable vanguard they could detach and harass us.

“Coming from the hills was not an ideal strategic decision.” Frank stated.

“They got themselves closer to the fort without being harassed or damaged than if they had gone through the field. But their ability to muster a force without being harried was impossible. They'd lose a chunk of their forces simply in assembling between the hills and the fortress. 

“Though, by the way of their current decisions, it seemed that they had already decided it was worth the damage.” I murmured to myself.

They were accepting of the damage now. No way they wouldn't follow through. What had been a siege appeared to be turning into a true battle for the fort. 

Frank frowned, but nodded and ran off.

Kal, on the other hand, looked hungry for blood. "You think they're coming all the way? Why waste these forces if they're going to give up in a minute?" Kal asked eager for the answer.

"If they're going to give up they will here soon," I said, "prepare yourself, Kal. When they reach the wall, you are to stay atop it and do your best to defend." 

Kal scowled at me. "No way. I'll clear the base of the wall," he replied.

I turned and glared at the wiry man. "Are you refusing my orders?" It was time to press my command.

He snorted. "I was never under your orders to begin with." 

Though we were having a private conversation, there were enough men mingling around that no conversation was truly private. More than a few eyes slid off of us as Kal made his feelings known. No one wanted to get between the two of us having a disagreement, in fact no one even wanted to risk acknowledging it.

"I ordered you to stay atop the wall. Going down below is not ideal for you. You're quick and deadly. Atop the wall, you can respond to demons that make it up and save more lives. People who go down and clear the base of the wall need to be tougher, rougher, and able to take a hammering before getting out." I told him.

"Like Tarel," Kal snarled. "You're comparing me to him even after he's dead."

"This is not a comparison between you two. It's a matter of what skills and who's the best skilled operative for the job. Stay atop the wall." I narrowed my eyes at him before he huffed and turned away.

I was under no illusion that he was still going to do as I asked. I had a strong feeling that he would follow orders until the battle inevitably descended into chaos and then do as he wished rather than as we needed. But knowing that now was worth something. 

I turned back to the fight at hand, seeing the men atop the wall shooting slowly and conserving arrows. But the demons had come close enough that I doubted they were turning back.

"Don't conserve," I shouted at the closest commander. "They're committing to this and so should we." 

That commander frowned and began barking orders. "Fire at will. Target the big ones, and if you miss, then hit the fodder. Put as many arrows as you can downrange." 

At his words, the men had stopped hesitating, loosing arrows as quickly as they could draw them. And in some cases, men waiting for the melee began to start picking the arrows for the archers to fire. There was a steely determination in everyone's eyes. My words that the demons were committing had spread. And I was thankful we had gotten resupplied in food, arrows, and determination. 

The mass of demons at the edge of the hills had doubled and then tripled. There was now a sizable swarm as it detached from the hills, coming in at the corner, and heading directly for the corner of the fortress. 

I moved swiftly across the wall, the ragged edges of my leather armor flapping with each step. The smell of blood began to taint the air, with the same bite that came from standing outside a forge.

AN - Sorry having a rough trip. We were going to a friends wedding and got stuck for 8 hours in an airport entertaining a 21 month old who refused to sleep while everything that could go wrong did. Now I get to figure out how to get my luggage or go to the wedding in sweatpants. Going to be honest, my brain is cooked I might struggle to get the editing done required for the next few chapters. But I'll be back home on Monday (hopefully) and can get everything back on track.