Gerald surveyed the mountain pass from the back of his horse, his eyes taking in the sheer drop on the left side and the rapid treacherous cliffs on his right. The men moved three abreast, which stretched their military convoy dangerously through the winding mountain trail. Earlier that day Gerald had dispatched Daniel at the van of a hundred knights to the opposite side of the pass with a similar number of outriders to scout. Days previously Murdek had dispatched about a thousand men, a mix of knights and levies, to cross the Green Wet and position themselves advantageously. Gerald's headquarters mage had just reported that the men were in position and waiting patiently for the column to finish moving across.
"Get me a messenger," Gerald told the squire attending him today as his personal assistant. The boy shot off and soon returned with a mounted sergeant.
"Sire," the Sergeant said by way of greeting.
"Sergeant, get across the pass and tell Lord Murdek to establish picket lines. He is to feed the marchers into the lines as they come across until we are safely through," Gerald dismissed the man, who galloped off, with a casual wave and turned to study the pass again. He really expected at least some kind of raid or attack as they moved through what was nominally tribal territory, but so far they had been disappointed. "They'll come... probably in the next hour or so..." Gerald whispered to himself as he watched the men march. Roughly 10% had crossed and Gerald figured they would launch the attack when it was closer to 25%.
Several Hours Later
"Sire! Reports of green skins spotted on the upper dale!" came a cry, and Daniel spun around. His eyes couldn't pick anything out, but he watched and watched, scanning the cliff-side that smoothly dropped off and turned into a gentle roll of hills and valleys. Just as Daniel was about to dismiss the cry he saw it - a flash of green - and suddenly war cries echoed through out the pass, rolling eerily across the land. Green flesh seemed to boil out of the defilade just within bowshot of his lines. "ARCHERS!" Daniel cried, and the company that had been sitting there most of the day - but who had stood up at the alert with the first reports - nocked arrows. "AIM!" came the expected cry and the well-practiced men raised their bows, drawing the string back to their cheeks. "FIRE!" there would be no waiting for the perfect moment here. Killing large amounts of enemies with arrows was a numbers game and the more volley's they got off, the less organized initial contact would be.
"Sergeant, keep the volley's going!" Daniel shouted before wheeling his mount around and galloping forward to the furthest pickets where pike-men had been organized by an enterprising young mercenary captain.
"It's going to get rough in here sire," the captain commented idly to Daniel, who couldn't help but to agree. Already what seemed like a sea of green skin was falling towards them. "I'm going to let the front ranks absorb the shock with their pikes and then order them to draw short swords," explained the captain who had already drawn his own long sword. Daniel couldn't fault the plan since the sheer numbers of the green skins would make an offensive withdrawal impossible - especially with that damn pass at their back.
"Not enough fucking space to maneuver properly" Daniel spat bitterly. The captain just chuckled grimly.
Mere minutes had passed but the field was already littered with the bodies of those unlucky enough to catch the rain of deadly steel arrowheads with their bodies. Three foot laminated arrowheads stuck up like a fresh sprout of weeds, and with how closely the green skins pressed together it was damn near impossible for even a single arrow to miss it's mark. The green skins launched their own deadly missiles when they got close enough with their short bows but the range and aim was terrible - they weren't volleying, either - and so only a few screams from those unlucky enough to get hit rang out.
Daniel turned to look at the mountain pass and was relieved to see Gerald's personal herald at the van of a group of knights charging across the field. He watched as the mounted men plowed seven ranks deep into the goblin flank, furious destriers bucking and stomping bodies to paste while the large men atop their backs plyed their deadly trade with spears, lances, long-axes and other deadly implements designed to cut, tear, and destroy. Daniel turned to face the foes to his front and was about to order a short infantry charg-
The goblins smashed into the bristling wall of spears and pikes with wild abandon! Though small, the sheer number of them managed to push the front ranks off balance. "STEADY!" the mercenary captain screamed as the second and third ranks braced themselves against the first. The entire line seemed to buckle, tottering as more and more green bodies stacked themselves atop their dead and dying kin, frothing at the mouth and struggling to climb over to get at the men.
"DROP PIKE, STEP BACK!" Daniel cried and heard his command echoed up and down the line by sergeants. The front rank's dropped their embedded weapons and quickly shuffled backwards, drawing short swords as the weight of goblin bodies pushed the pike and spear wall out of place, especially without the strength of the soldiers there to support them. The wall of goblins which had grown to head-height at this point collapsed over the weapons and the green skins struggled to extract themselves from the mound of bodies while their fresher kin behind them trampled them in a frenzy.
"GIVE THEM THE STEEL BOYS!" cried the captain who leapt to the fray, leading the way into the disorganized mess of goblins and killing one with every stroke of his blade. With a roar the rest of the men charged in after their captain, quickly killing the goblins who had climbed over their kin or gone around. "PUSH IT OVER!" the captain cried and proceeded to ram the wall of bodies with his shoulder, quickly followed by the men behind him. The wall of flesh absorbed the impact well, but with enough added weight it began to topple backwards and onto the enemy lines, reducing it to a rough pile of green bodies that the men of Hexenguard nimbly climbed atop. Daniel spurred his horse forward and snatched his standard from the hands of his herald, riding up and onto the body pile with his horse. There he planted his flag for men to rally around as they pushed deep into the goblin horde.
Even though the soldiers killed ten goblins for every one of their own the swarm seemed endless. "Where the fuck are they all coming from?" Daniel wondered aloud.
"Warrens sire," replied a sergeant, pointing at a hole in the ground that veritably boiled with goblin flesh.
"Fuck. Get me the mage messenger." Daniel said.
A skinny man in a leather jerkin rode up on a mare.
"Connect to Banneret Gerald," Daniel said without fanfare and the mage's eyes unfocused immediately... after a second Geralds voice sounded through the mage's mouth.
"Gerald," came the gruff voice.
"Gerald, we're on top of a warren," Daniel was quick to say
"Fuck! Fuck..." Gerald's voice came through harshly with distortion as the spell wavered. "Let me think for a moment," he said
"Yeah... no problem here," Daniel said quietly to himself as he watched his men beginning to grow tired as wave after wave of goblins boiled out of the warrens, loosely formed up into war bands, and then charged to their deaths in a frenzy.
"Daniel, you there?" Gerald's voice jerked Daniel out of his musing.
"Listening."
"I need you to hold your position until I can get there with reinforcements. We need to gain control over the warren holes closest to you."
"Understood... How long?" Daniel asked.
"... An hour."
"Fuck."
"Good luck." Gerald said and then the mage's eyes snapped back into focus, immediately worried as he closed his mouth - an hour holding off an endless horde?
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"Sergeant," Daniel called out, catching the attention of the nearby officer, "Commit the reserves and get the archers outfitted for melee." The sergeant sprinted off as Daniel and his officer corps began to skillfully pull their flanks in, bringing the men in closer together and shunting the goblins around their formation. They would end up surrounded but with the numbers facing them that was an inevitability. Daniel pulled his mage circle into the middle of his formation and told them to get to work.
---Elsewhere---
Gerald slammed his fist against his thigh repeatedly as the observed the field around him. His company had smashed into the goblins like the fist of an angry god, killing hundreds before withdrawing, but like pissing into the sea it did not change the situation. They withdrew in good order and no casualties, wheeled back around and Gerald took command of the pass once more, hurrying men through and into the fray. They had formed a strong bulwark but Daniel and roughly two thousand of his men were out there cut off from the rest of them. Gerald had already ordered the charge of the second group of 1000 men who had gone through the wet green, but even though the damage they caused was catastrophic in terms of death it did nothing to dent the numbers.
The issue was not goblins themselves. The issue was the fucking warren. Goblins were born stupid and gained intelligence as they devoured others, like a plague of locusts. If unchecked, the goblins would begin to create warrens where the more intelligent members of their race would direct them and from there the danger increased exponentially. The presence of such a large warren also explained the lack of tribal's in the area - they were either dead or they had fled to their mountain strongholds.
From the sheer size of this warren alone these goblins presented a major threat to the duchy. At a specific point a goblin warren would overflow and unleash a green tide of death. There were special wardens appointed in every territory - mage's who specialized in locating and eradicating such pests - but it was clear that the tribal presence in the area prevented the wardens from doing their jobs. It was a good thing they had seven mage circles to call upon, because to try and enter the warrens was impossible. The sheer numbers would keep them outside and eventually the men would grow exhausted and be overwhelmed.
"Captain, pass the word back. Drop the wagons and sprint men through now, we need to increase our numbers as rapidly as possible. And someone signal the outriders to charge towards us," the captain galloped off as Gerald reformed his cavalry force to face towards the outriders and waited. It was not long before their flag signals were received and their outriders wheeled around, riding towards Gerald's position in a steady gait. As they came within eight hundred feet or so of the rear of the goblin swarm they broke into a trot. At around four hundred meters someone ordered the charge and the entire line of horses surged forward.
"Charge," came the placid call from Gerald, and he kicked his horse forward followed quickly by his own men. The thunder of hoof beats and the shaking of the ground alerted the men holding the line who began to open a corridor, managing to scramble out of the way just in time for Gerald to plow into the horde as the outriders hit them from the opposite direction. A corridor was opened as Gerald wheeled his mount around and led the charge back to their lines, crushing anything that got in his way. As the last of the now massive cavalry force moved through the lines back to safety the infantry streamed in to plug the gap left in their wake - and it was an easy task thanks to the massive field of death goblins they left behind them.
"Rest your mounts and prepare for action," Gerald called out over the din of battle, watching as a wagon was tilted roughly out of the way so that more soldiers could stream into the fight. Lord Murdek had ridden ahead as well and quickly found Gerald due to his battle standard flying high overhead. In the distance Gerald could still see that Daniel's standard flew and was relieved, it had been twenty minutes since they had spoken and already Geralds numbers had swelled from two thousand to five thousand with the addition of both the outriders and the constant stream of reinforcements.
"Is Dani-" Murdek began only to be interrupted by Gerald.
"He was alive and well 20 minutes ago," Gerald quickly cut Murdek off, "I need you to take command of the cavalry and prepare to sweep all that green skin on our left flank out of the way, then cut across and hit the rear of the goblins molesting Daniels formation. Then withdraw and harry the outlying goblins so that I can contain that fucking warren hole" Gerald dismounted as he spoke and without another word charged across the field to their center where his captains had gathered.
"Gentlemen, in about ten minutes we are going to concentrate our reserves and our reinforcements into the center of that horde. The goal is to meet those men out there and gain control of the warren hole. The mage circle is the most important part, they will take up position in the middle of our charge and we will deliver them to the warren hole and then expand our line outward to give them room to work," the officers all nodded and then sprinted off in different directions to begin marshaling the forces required.
Now all Gerald could do was wait for the line to be ready... He hoped Daniel could hold that long.
The Warren Hole
Daniel's arm felt like lead as he ripped his sword out of the guts of a goblin and replaced it in the neck of another, mechanically stabbing and vertically chopping everything that passed into his line of sight. The press of goblins had pushed their circle of men tighter and tighter until they were fighting in such close quarters that the only economy of movement afforded them was to thrust and hack at things directly in front of them. The warren hole was under control, as the Mage circle had rapidly sealed it with an invisible force. Other warren holes still belched goblins forth like a green geyser of fury and so their situation was looking grim. Daniel didn't know how much time had passed - to him it felt as if all he had ever done was slay goblin after goblin - but he knew that they would not be able to hold out for much longer. Already his men had taken about 30% casualties - roughly six hundred dead or too wounded to contribute - and those that they could save lay groaning or screaming in a messy circle surrounding the mages.
Daniel watched helplessly as the mercenary captain he had been fighting next to all day got grabbed by seven pairs of greedy goblin hands and yanked into the frothing tide of death - he was dismembered by their crude iron knifes and swords in seconds and they greedily stuffed his flesh into their mouths before charging forth once gain. His spot was immediately taken by the man behind him. No consideration or grief could be given for those who lost their lives, and Daniel's formation was hemorrhaging men by the minute as more and more of the green bastards came. It was like a meat grinder as limbs and body parts of goblins fell, green blood covered everything until you could only recognize tell a man apart from the goblins was by his size.
"SIRE, SIRE!" Came a cry from the opposite end of the formation, "THEY'RE COMING! GERALD IS ON HIS WA-" the rest of the general cry was lost as the din was temporarily overrun by the cataclysmic sound of a cavalry charge shaking the earth. Daniel could feel it in his very bones as thousands of warriors mounted on horseback executed a short but deadly charge into the rear of the goblin hordes before withdrawing and executing another short charge, and then suddenly horses were passing in front of Daniels face and he had to check his blade before stabbing out. Several hundred riders were circling Daniels formation, trampling the goblins as they came on and lashing out with weapons to keep them back.
It was a brief reprieve as Murdek's cavalry could not stay long without endangering themselves and the horsemen rode back out of the gap they had created, but the men facing the hole could see a veritable tide of infantry rushing across the scattered field of bodies. Cheers broke out as fresh men began to feed themselves into and around Daniels men and pushed outward. Daniel was yanked back by his hauberk as the goblins began to fill the void left by the cavalry and he briefly saw Gerald flash by him, a short sword in both hands, only to become a whirring twister of death as each blade leapt out like lightning, stabbing an eye, thrusting into a throat, slicing an arm clean off. It was an economy of deadly motion that was the hallmark of the deadliest Hexenguard had to offer from their elite fighting forces.
Every motion from Gerald was perfect, just enough force to separate a limb or puncture an organ, just enough to disable or kill immediately. Daniel watched as knights bearing the crest of the Hart - Gerald's personal guard - streamed behind him and took an entire section of the line to themselves. Each knight seemed to be a veritable squad by themselves as they took up space and created space in perfect sync. They had trained together every day for years as boys and each of these men fit perfectly into a machine that turned everything in front of them into dead meat with precision. They did not stand shoulder to shoulder as they had no need to, the goblins could not seem to rush in fast enough to utilize their numbers against them. They did not seem to slow, or tire at all as they fought harder and harder trying to match their lord. Daniel felt a deep thrumming that trembled the earth more than the cavalry who were riding around in groups of ten or twenty and slaughtering goblins as they did so. Daniel turned listlessly as light began to leach out of the world, even with the sun high over head, funneling towards the focal point of a group of mages who surrounded the warren hole in concentric circles.
Standing on the invisible barrier keeping the goblins sealed stood an arch mage who wielded a blazing fist of power over her head, and even those without mage sight could see streamers of colors-that-were-not feeding into the fist of the prime mage - Daniel belatedly recalled that this was Master Scholar Theresa. The woman suddenly brought her fist down as if in slow motion and the world seemed to hold it's collective breath as his fist brushed against the barrier under his feet. A light so bright that Daniel could see the bones through the metal and leather armor of the soldiers blazed, whiting the world out and drowning it out in a cacophony of sound...