The next day I woke up at 6:00 and got dressed in travel clothes and packed my bags. I walked to the Great Hall at about 6:30 and ate breakfast with a hungover Sam, he was wearing a sleeveless shirt that showed off his huge fucking biceps.
“Show off,” I muttered and looked down at my own arm. It was by no means small but when compared to his, it made me feel inadequate. He grinned at me and flexed, his biceps grew even larger.“Asshole.”
“What’s new,” he said, “you ready for initiations?”
“Those aren't until tomorrow you know that right?”
“What? I thought they were today.”
“Nope, initiations are tomorrow, today we get to spend seven hours on a ship,” I said and stood up. He groaned and cursed, “You good?”
“I still got a headache man, now I gotta deal with that too?” I laughed and we walked out into the courtyard. On the horizon, the sun was coming up and the second of the two moons was setting. I looked up at the beautiful green and blue orb that was Heaven, the land of Unity, better known to the common folk as God and his angels.
Cassie and the king were already there and we walked up to them, “Took you two long enough.” she said.
“Yeah well, Sam eats a lot.”
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot,” she said, her eyes burned a crimson not dissimilar in color to my own, “WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME WITH HIM?”
I whimpered, “please don’t hurt me.”
“I had to have the guards drag him back to his room! Do you know how embarrassing that was?”
“I’m sorry, but your father called me,” I said and turned to the king, “right Jack?”
He gave me a wide-eyed look, “Hey! Don’t bring me into this.” she pulled out her rapier and pointed it at me, “You are going to apologize to me.”
“I-I-I’m so sorry!” I squeaked, Sam groaned, “stop yelling it's making my head hurt.”
The king cuffed him over the head, “Then you shouldn’t have gotten drunk last night. Maybe then you would have been at the meeting.”
“Why do I have to go to those meetings,” he whined, “I’m your fourth child, I don’t even have a chance at the throne.”
“When John ascends to the throne, you will be the one to lead his armies into battle and as his general, it would be wise to have a basic understanding of how the empire is governed.”
After my apology, Cassie seemed a lot happier. Her eyes turned yellow and she hummed to herself. We walked to the docks where a ship was anchored to stop it from floating downriver. There around a hundred people sat, they were all about my age and seemed to be split evenly between the genders.
The king was bidding farewell to his children and I walked over to Alex. He was talking to some kid with black hair, brown eyes, wearing a dirty leather trench coat. On his back was a bow and he had a boomstick slung over his shoulder. He had a machete at his side as well.
“Yo Alex!” I shouted and walked over to him. He looked up at me and waved, “What’s up Ryze, how’d the meeting go?”
“Not too poorly, how was the rest of your night?”
“Wasn’t bad, I met Noah over here, he’s also going to battle school with us. Oh yeah, Noah, this is Ryze Varus, Ryze this is Noah Nixon.”
“Nice to meet you.” I said and offered a hand, he shook it, “Likewise.”
“So Noah, let’s ask the basics, where you from and what’s your trait?”
“I’m from a small farm outside of Forrest Deep, and I can manipulate air.” he said, I frowned at him, “Forrest Deep, like the capital of the Varus fief?”
“Yes,” he said and then it sunk in, he immediately fell onto his knees, “Oh, my God, my lord I didn’t know it was you.”
Alex gave me a surprised look and I rolled my eyes, “Get up man, there’s no need for that.”
“Of course My lord.”
“Quite with the My lord stuff, just call me Ryze, you said you were from a farm?”
“Yep, my dad was a legionary and was gifted thirty acres of land to farm after the war.”
“And you said that you can control the air, what do you mean?” he picked up a rock and lifted it up in the air.
“I can also float a few feet in the air,” he said and started floating, “can’t go very fast though.”
“That’s sick.”
“I know, that’s what I said.” Alex said excitedly, Sam walked over to us and gestured at Noah, “Who’s the new guy?”
Noah's eyes almost popped out of their sockets as he once again dropped to his knees, “It is an honor to meet you, My Lord.”
“What’s up with him?” I facepalmed and stood him back up, “Noah here is a commoner.” I said, “No offense.”
“Oh? A commoner with a Trait, those are rare.”
“Yep, only one in a hundred thousand.” Alex said, we all turned to him in surprise, “How do you know that?” I asked.
“I’m not stupid you know,” he said with a hurt look, “I like to read, clears the mind, and gives me ideas.”
“Well then Noah, it’s good to meet you,” Sam said, “Also call me Sam, we’re all equals at battleschool.”
“Speaking of which,” I said, “Where is that? ‘Cause my uncle made it sound like battleschool was in the city and we are definitely not in the city.”
“The battle school was moved from the Capital to the nearby city of Leviathan,” Alex said, “Well, technically the school was moved first, then a city grew around the school.”
“Why would they move the school?” Noah asked.
“Have you ever heard about the Great Byrum Fire?” Sam replied, Noah and I shook our heads, “Well apparently it was started by some kid from the school, so they moved it.”
“Yep fun fact, that fire caused millions of marks in property damage and killed more than ten thousand, which was around five percent of the population at the time,” Alex said happily.
“Alex, in what way was that fact fun? It was just depressing.”
“Yeah, that’s kinda fucked up.”
Alex opened his mouth to respond but the ship's horn cut him off, the foghorn sounded twice. Everyone jumped and started to grab their gear. I helped Noah bring his stuff onto the ship, there we stood and waited as the captain walked onto the deck. He was short, balding, and fat with a mustache that covered most of his face.
“Good morning ladies and gentlemen,” he called in a voice not much quieter than the foghorn. “We will set off shortly, if any of you have motion sickness I suggest you stay by the railings. We will arrive at the city of Leviathan in,” he checked a watch, “five hours and eighteen minutes.” He walked back into his cabin.
“What, so we just sit here all day?” I asked, Alex sighed and sat down, “It appears so my friend, wake me up if anything interesting happens.”
Noah shrugged and sat down as well, Sam sniffed and walked to the edge of the ship. The families of students-to-be were waving goodbye to their kids as the ship left the dock and drifted through the city. I watched as we passed through each layer of walls and out the final gate and into the empty land surrounding the city. In a ten-mile radius, there was absolutely nothing. No trees, no farms, no buildings, nothing.
“So you put any thought into this team's thing?” I asked, he looked over at me and shrugged.
“Originally I was just going to go with the flow you know? Join whatever team I was put in and do as well as I can with what I got.”
“What about now?” I asked.
“I guess being on a team with you and Alex would be nice I guess, hell if we could get my sister that would be even better.” I couldn’t argue with that, I definitely wanted to see more of Cassie.
“Yeah I know what you mean, I didn’t even know about this whole team thing until yesterday.”
The boat began to pick up speed and Sam turned a bit green. I raised an eyebrow, “Seriously?”
“Shut your mouth Varus, I drank too much last night.”
“Whatever you say, man, just remember to puke outside the ship,” I said and patted him on the back. He gave no reply and just stood on the edge of the boat not moving a muscle. I walked back to Alex and Noah, Alex was sound asleep and Noah was messing around with something in his hands.
“What you got there?” I asked him, he looked up.
“Just an idea I’ve been working on for a while now,” he said and put down some brass cylinders.
“What are those for?”
“Just something for my rifle.”
“Rifle?” I asked, he pointed at his boomstick. “It’s what the dwarf told me it was called.”
“Dwarf, was he a really tall dwarf, with a huge beard and red hair?” I asked.
“Yep that’s the one, name was Lokar or something. I bought one of these off of him a few years back, he was selling them to your uncle.”
“Huh, I didn’t know that.”
“It’s been great. The big problem is how long it takes to reload everything.” I nodded, “almost thirty seconds per shot, which is fine for hunting. But for fighting demons, that’s way too slow.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” I said and pulled out the pistol, “Takes about fifteen seconds to load this thing.”
“So I thought, what if we could put all the parts into one package,” he said, I frowned.
“What, like a medicine cartridge,” I asked.
“Exactly, makes loading a one-step process,” he said, I nodded in appreciation.
“Sounds like a good idea.”
“Thank you.”
We made small talk for some time, I learned that he had been a bounty hunter/demon exterminator of sorts as a part-time job while he worked the fields. Then Sam returned looking much less green but also kind of empty.
“Ahh did you find Ralph?” I asked.
“Who's Ralph?”
“Wasn’t he the guy you were talking to while you leaned over the railings?” I grinned. Sam thought about it for a second and then gave me the finger, “Eat shit Varus.”
I laughed and Alex opened his eyes and glared at us. “Hey someone is trying to sleep here, and for the love of God, someone get that man some gum. I can smell vomit from here.”
I threw him a stick and felt my stomach grumble, I reached into my pack and pulled out a sandwich. I called it a sandwich but in reality, it was just two very thin slices of bread with a bunch of bacon in the middle. Alex stared at it intently, I brought it closer to my chest and glared at him.
“Please?”
“NO.”
“Aww.”
Now I felt bad. I sighed and gave him some of my bacon.
“YAY!”
“Yo guys,” Sam said, “Behind you, two cuties checking us out.”
We all turned around, indeed two girls were staring at us, one had white hair, lilac eyes and was super tall, the other was really short, with brown hair covered by a red floppy wizard’s hat. Both were sold tens and were also standing next to Cassie.
“Yo, guys that white-haired girl is a bombshell, you saw her…” Sam started and Alex cut him off, “Assets yeah.”
“Them tiggle bitties,” Noah added, I shook my head and facepalmed.
“Come on Ryze, you saw them too.” Sam said and Alex added, “Nah maybe not, he was too busy staring at your sister.”
“HEY!” we both said at the same time.
“Let’s go talk to them,” Sam said and started walking, Alex cursed and followed. Noah sighed and put away the brass shells and walked over too. I finished my sandwich and followed them.
“Hello there, beautiful,” Sam said, direct as always. He flashed a nuclear smile and somehow seemed to grow even taller and more muscular. Then I truly realized how tall the girl was. She was almost as tall as he was, which put her at around 6’4. Alex followed a few steps behind him, “Hi, my name’s Alexander Taylor. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” he said and bowed.
The girl seemed stunned for a moment then smiled and said in a sultry northern accent, “it’s good to meet you, Alexander, my name is Arya Arcturus.”
I blinked, really? Going for Alex over Sam, I mean Alex wasn’t a bad-looking dude but he was just so… Average. It also didn’t help that she was a full six or seven inches taller.
Sam was also surprised, well more like devastated but that wasn’t going to stop him. I shifted my attention over to Noah who was talking to the other girl.
“So, what’s your name?” he asked awkwardly. She looked at him and smiled, “I’m Vivian Valentine, but everyone just calls me Val.” she said shyly. Valentine, like Merlin Valentine? “What’s your name?”
I shifted my attention back to Alex and Sam, they were vying for Arya’s attention though it seemed that Sam had already lost. Cassie stood between all of this and looked very lost. She saw me brightening noticeably and walked over.
“I will have you know, I do not enjoy being sidelined and I do not approve of these hooligans hitting on my friends.”
“Don’t tell me, I wasn’t expecting this either.” I said, “So who’s your friends?”
“Arya is Maxwell Arcturus’ only daughter and one of my best friends,” she said.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“You have friends?”
She gave me a hurt look but her eyes remained yellow. “Yes I have many friends, the same cannot be said for you, Mr. Lonely,” she said and poked me in the chest.
“I have friends!” I responded a little bit too quickly. She gave me a perplexed look and patted me on the arm. “Sure you do.”
I sniffed, “it’s not my fault my parents didn’t want me cause I couldn’t heal.”
“Oh my God, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to-” she said, apologizing hastily.
“Days, weeks, years spent alone, unwanted.” I started, “the other lords were terrified of me as well, they knew my uncle's reputation and told their kids to stay away from me.”
Her eyes turned blue and she put a hand over her mouth, noticing this. I burst out laughing, “Haha!”
“You dolt!” she said and slapped me.
“Oh man, I got you good.” I wheezed, “your eyes changed color and everything!”
She kicked me in the shin and I winced, “That’s the last time I feel bad for you.”
“Ok, I’m sorry. But you’re not wrong, I didn’t have many friends as a child, my parents only had me as an experiment and when it became apparent I didn’t have a drop healing in me. Well, let’s just say that the fact that their reputations revolved around keeping people alive kept me alive.”
She gave me a pitiful look and hugged me, “Oh you poor child.” Sam saw this and his mouth dropped.
“Ah it’s not a big deal, I got over it a long time ago,” I said.
“But still your childhood must have been miserable,” she said and let go.
“I spent most of it with my godfather or uncle so it really wasn’t that bad. I mean sure some of the priests were kind of strange and training with the rangers was terrifying but there were upsides.”
“Yeah well the other girl is Vivian Valentine, you know the child of the archmage Merlin.”
“Why is she here, shouldn’t she be at his school?”
“She already finished Rarokan’s Academy.”
“No way, I thought that was like a ten-year thing.”
“Well she is eighteen and her father might just be the greatest human magician in history.”
“Doesn’t talk much though does she?”
“Nope, in fact, it looks like Noah’s got more words out of her in the last five minutes than I have in the past five weeks.”
“I ship it.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Sam noticed that he was being ignored and slunk away. Cassie giggled and said, “Never thought I’d see the day that my brother would get rejected.”
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sam stomped away from Alex, he didn't understand. How-no, why didn’t she like him? All girls liked him, right? He grumbled to himself as he walked to the back of the ship. He felt Ryze’s gaze on his back, “Bah, he’s probably laughing at me. He’s basically got my sister already.”
He sat down heavily on a bench and it creaked and groaned in protest. Then he noticed someone staring at him, he snapped at them, “What?”
“Just observing humans,” they said in a high-pitched voice. He stared at the person. Barely over four feet tall, lean, long-haired, huge fucking eyes and pointed ears. He blinked, “You’re an elf!”
“That is what the humans call us,” it said in a sing-song voice.
Sam put his hand to his side and a longsword appeared in it. He gripped it with both hands, “What are you doing here? Are you here to destroy the boat?” he asked with a quivering voice. He had heard of elves single-handedly slaying thousands of men.
“Nothing like that I’m afraid.” it said with a sigh, “Though if that fool of a king repeats his ancestor's mistake,” it shook its head, “I miss old Caesar and his games.”
“Caesar?”
“I believe that humans call him the Sun King in this era,” it said.
“In this era?” he asked with incredulity, “you look like you can’t be older than eighteen!”
The elf laughed, “Young one, I am closer to a thousand than I am to eighteen.”
“Then why are you here trickster.”
“Well, I am here to observe of course,” it said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Observe what?”
“You my boy.” the elf said happily.
“ME?!” Sam asked with surprise.
“Mhm.”
“What’s so special about me?”
“Tell me, child, do you know what the Sun King’s trait was?”
He looked at the elf-like it had said something stupid, “What kind of question is that? The Sun King didn’t have a trait, he was a common man chosen by God himself to unite the human kingdoms.”
“Oh, how forgetful the human mind is,” the elf shook its head, “the Sun King was a man of unmatched power that is true. But that power came from his trait, first he could burn with his eyes, sound familiar?” the elf asked and waggled its ears.
“Then he learned to lift incredible weights and move at awesome speeds, finally Caesar learned to fly.”
“You lie, that can’t be true!” he said.
“It is true, I was there with him.” The elf said, “Well I was there while he was still sain that is.”
“So what, you’re here to spy on me?” he asked, “if that’s the case at least tell me your name.”
“Of course, I am Illia,” it said.
“Is there anymore to that name?” Sam asked dryly.
“No.”
“Well, then Illia….” he said, “Wait, that's a girl's name!”
“That is correct, very astute of you Lord Bright.”
He narrowed his eyes at her, “I still don’t trust you.”
“Trust is something that is earned and we have just met.” she said, “Now go run along with your friends. This might be the last time for you to rest in the near future.”
The prince glared at her and dismissed his sword. He turned around and walked off. Illia sighed, “Caesar, he truly is the spitting image of you my love.”
I was in the middle of a story when Sam returned and he looked shaken.
“Ahh, the good prince has decided to grace us with his presence,” Alex said with a smirk. Sam ignored him and sat down by his stuff.
“Hey man, you good?” I asked, he looked over and nodded.
“So what happened next?” Cassie asked.
“Well, Hood and I tracked those bandits all the way to the outskirts of the badlands. Where there was a massive camp, hundreds of them man.” they leaned closer to me as I whispered the next part.
“For two days we crawled through the frozen mud, it was awful I tell you. I couldn’t get the smell out for a week.” I shuddered, “Anyways, we infiltrated the camp and learned everything. How the bandits were being supplied by my uncle’s enemies, who the ringleaders of the camp were and how they were going to blow up the ruby mines.”
“Then Hood and I decided we had to act immediately. If those mines were destroyed a fifth of the Empire's gemstones would dry up, it would be an economic nightmare! We devised a plan, I set fire to the tents and in the chaos, my uncle killed two of the leaders. When they were discovered, the bandits turned on each other, assuming that it was a betrayal. We slipped out of there just as the fighting began and two weeks later, my Uncle came down with a single legion and wiped out the entire camp.” I said and sat back down to applause.
“That’s quite some story Ryze.” Arya said, “is there any proof that is true?”
I gave her a hurt look, “Of course there is! Just ask a ranger and they’ll confirm it.”
“Where are we going to find a ranger?” Noah asked with incredulity, “my father told me that they were sorcerers that could hide in their own shadows and so skilled with a bow, they could hit a gnats nuts from a mile away.”
Vivian laughed, “do not believe everything your father tells you, they are not sorcerers.”
“Do gnats even have nuts?” Alex asked. Arya gave him a disappointed look, “really?”
“What, can’t I be curious?”
Sam spoke up, “Guys, what do you think about elves?” we all turned and stared at him, “Whoa that came out of left field, what do you mean?” Alex asked.
“Like, what do you think about their resurgence into the world?”
“Well, they are the single greatest danger to humanity. They only leave their forest to wreak havoc across the lands.” Alex said confidently.
“Now now Alex, you need to be more open-minded. The last time they attacked humans was in self-defense and that was half a millennia ago.” Arya chided.
“Wait you know history as well?” Alex asked.
“Of course, history is my favorite subject. As my father would put it, those who do not know their history-”
“Are doomed to repeat it.” Alex finished, they looked into each other’s eyes with happy smiles and Noah faked a gag.
“I think that they could be great allies of humanity if treated with caution,” Cassie said.
“All I heard was that they live incredibly long lives,” Noah added.
“Yeah and are very gifted with magic.” Vivian put in, they all stared at me waiting for me to say something. I racked my brain for any information I had.
“Umm, I heard that they’re all really hot.” I stammered and died a little on the inside. Sam nodded in agreement, “yeah she was pretty cute.”
“WHAT!” we all yelled at the same time.
“Huh, wait no I didn’t say anything.”
“Nuh-uh, you said something.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Bro, we all heard it,” Alex added.
“Sam look at me.” I said slowly and he turned to me, “are you hiding a God. Damn. Elf from us?”
“What, no, that would be crazy,” he said nervously scratching the back of his head, then out of nowhere, an elf pops into existence. Everyone screamed and started raising weapons.
“Good evening humans!” Illia said happily. We looked at her stunned, “Look I hate to ask this, but who the ever-loving fuck are you?” Alex demanded
“Why I am Illia of course, here to learn at Leviathan Academy,” she said in a sing-song voice.
“Wait I tho-” Sam started then stopped once Illia glanced at him.
“Well then Illia, it is good to meet you, I am -” Cassie started, then Illia cut her off, “You are Cassandra Bright, princess of the Terran Empire, smartest of the four Bright children and potential mate to Ryze Varus.”
“Wait what!?” I yelled, she ignored me.
“Ryze Varus, heir to the Varus fief, known throughout the south for his dueling prowess, cooking, and mental deficiency.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked.
“Noah Nix-”
“Ok, we get it, you already know who we are.” Alex cut in, “That doesn’t tell us anything about yourself, other than the fact you seem to know Sam very well.”
She tilted her head, “Why would you say that Alex?”
“He radiates with your magic” Vivian answered, “that means you two have made contact in the past.”
“I think you have made a mistaken assumption,” Illia said with a blush, “I walked into him, that was all.”
I raised my eyebrows and looked at Alex, he didn’t buy it. Sam looked equally surprised, “wait magic?.”
“Mhm,” Vivian said sarcastically
“Anyways, Illia tell us about yourself.” Noah continued before the conversation became any more awkward.
“I was born in the northern city of Lou Istla twenty-three years ago. My mother is the great warrior-poet Milisandra. I decided to travel out of the Forest when I was twenty and I have decided to learn more about humans.”
“So why’d you decide to go to Leviathan?” Arya asked.
“I don’t know,” she said happily. This girl was strange and we decided not to press her any further. A few moments later she popped out of existence again. Like she just vanished without a trace.
“Well, that was interesting,” I said, they nodded. “Anyways, I’m going to take a nap for a bit, wake me up if that elf lady comes back.”
Noah gave me a thumbs up and I laid down on my gear and within a few moments, I fell asleep.
Sam was incredibly confused, he couldn’t tell if Illia had been lying to him or to the rest of the group. He stood up and walked back to where he had first met Illia. She was floating in a meditating position, with her legs crossed and back straight. As he walked up to her, one of her massive eyes opened and she lowered herself to the ground.
“Wow, how do you do that?” he asked, she laughed.
“That is the first question you ask me?”
“What’s the truth, who are you, and why are you here,” he asked sternly.
“I have told you the truth young one, the others need not know why I am here, and I would advise you not to tell them the true meaning behind my visit.”
“What did Vivian mean when she said she smelled me on you?’”
“I am not sure. That Valentine girl sure is a strange one. I could feel the magic radiating off of her.”
“Whatever,” he said and walked back.
“This is problematic,” she thought, “I believe that the Valentine girl can sense the bond between me and Caesar.”
Vivian walked over to where Arya and Alex were fooling around. She was interested in how Alex could sense it seeing as he did not seem to have a drop of magic in him.
“Excuse me, Arya, may I talk to Alex in private for a moment?” she asked, Arya gave her a hostile look and Alex put a hand on her shoulder and whispered something into her ear. Her expression softened and she stood up, “Of course.”
She walked out of earshot and Vivian asked, “how could you tell?”
He looked at her confused, “How could I tell what?”
“Don’t play dumb with me Alexander, how could you tell the bond between them?”
“Who? Sam and that elf?” she nodded, “Bro, to be honest. I just wanted to make Sam uncomfortable, I had a hunch and that was it.”
“Oh,” she said disappointedly and walked off.
Four hundred miles away Lord Kaedin Varus was marching at the front of ten thousand heavy infantry. Each man wore full plate armor, carried a huge oak and steel tower shield, a short stabbing sword, a bastard sword, and two javelins. The sound of one man marching was loud enough to be heard from several paces away. The sound of ten thousand men marching in step was close to deafening.
“My Lord, I must ask you to stay behind and let someone else lead the column, there is simply no need for you to risk yourself here,” begged General Cahl, he was a greying man in his early fifties with a clean face and an eyepatch over his right eye.
“Cahl, remember twenty-something years ago,” Kaedin asked, the general nodded, “How I always led from the front?”
“Kaedin, that was two decades ago. As much as I hate to admit it, we have gotten old. We are no longer the young men who could march twenty miles in a night and fight all day the next.”
“The men need confidence in me, as their lord and commander,” he said, Cahl rolled his eyes.
“Kaedin, the Steel Legion has not lost a battle in the last twenty years. They have plenty of confidence.”
“I can, and I will do this!” he said stubbornly, “Maybe I can’t go all the way,” he gestured at the hundred and fifty pounds of gear he was carrying. “But I will make that decision, not you.”
Cahl sighed, “Fine, but when you give up in three days' time. Don’t come complaining to me.”
“Hah, is that a challe-” he started, but was cut off when a spear struck him in the chest. He was launched into the air and flew several feet before landing on his back.
“Son of a bitch!” he groaned and looked down. The chest piece of his suit had a large concave in it.
“AMBUSH!” someone yelled, instantly the front hundred men ran up and formed a shield wall around their Lord. The rest of the column readied shields and closed ranks.
“My Lord are you injured?” asked a panicked sergeant. Kaedin put a hand to the bulge and felt for a hole. He lifted his hand and found no blood, he shook his head, “No soldier, a little arrow like that won’t keep the Red Dragon down.”
The soldiers around him relaxed noticeably, “that is good news, my lord.”
“Now where is the fucker who threw that?” Kaedin asked angrily, he pulled out a large red sword similar to the one his nephew used. The men parted around him until he was standing at the front of the wall. To either side of the road were several hundred orcs, they were hurling spears at incredible speeds at the legion.
General Cahl grabbed him by the shoulder, “Get back behind the shields you fool!”
Someone cursed as a spear pierced straight through his shield and hit him. The soldier behind him braced the first man against his own shield as more spears sunk into their formation. Kaedin had to give the orcs some credit, they had serious strength.
While the spears were being thrown several thousand goblins had made their way to the bottom of the hill that led up to the road. With wild screams of terror, they charged the line.
“Short swords out!” Sergeants along the column called, the shield wall bristled with silver as men pulled out short arm length blades. The goblins got closer and closer until in a final surge they lunged up and started to climb onto the road.
Swords flashed like the tongue of a snake and within a minute the road was covered in the blood of greenskins. The bodies of goblins piled so high that the men could not see over the top of them.
“Push the bodies off with your shields damn you!” the sergeants roared and the men heaved the bodies down onto the ground below. That built a gruesome ramp of bodies up to the road and the goblins that came in the second wave had a much easier time getting up.
The second wave fared just as poorly and where routed within a few minutes.
“Rotate!”
The first rank of men took a step to their left and the second rank to a step forward, the first rank shuffled to the back of the formation and were given water and a chance to rest. Their once red and black shields had turned brown and green.
Kaedin helped one man take off his helmet and handed him a water skin. He nodded in thanks and sat down, there was not a single scratch on his armor but there were several spears sticking out from his shield.
“What the hell was the point of that.” the soldier groaned.
“That was to build a ramp up to the road.” the sergeant told him grimly, “You got off lucky, these guys are going to have a much harder time,” he said and gestured at the men at the front.
“General, have you sent word back to the other legions?” Kaedin asked and turned to his second in command.
“Yes, these new radio devices make communications far easier,” he said and motioned to the device a man was carrying, it was a massive box with a crank that was spun to generate power. Three men were hard at work spinning the crank as one was listening into the banana-shaped cup.
“I just wished there was a way to store power beforehand.” grunted one of the spinners. “This thing is a real bitch to operate.”
“Sir, General Iroh’s Legion is a quarter-mile away, they are clearing the forest and will surround the enemy shortly.”
“Tell Iroh to take his time and to not fall into another ambush.”
“Aye, sir.”
The ground started shaking and orcs roared in their language, a final volley of spears rained down before they crashed into the shield wall. One particularly large orc blasted through the wall to everyone's surprise, including its own. It looked around for a few moments then gave another roar and charged the High Lord.
Kaedin dropped his sword as it was too long to be used in such narrow spaces and pulled out a large knife. He dived down and slashed the orcs Achilles tendon. It shrieked and collapsed on top of him, Kaedin let out an “oof” and reached up and kept stabbing trying to find its throat or head.
After several stabs that failed to do any meaningful damage, the orc fell silent and someone pushed it off of him and offered him a hand. Kaedin groaned and took it and heaved himself off the ground. The orc’s head had been chopped cleanly from its body and Cahl was cleaning his blade.
“It has been awfully long since I used this,” he said, raising the sword to his face.
Similar situations played out along the entire line as three or four hundred pound orcs ran at full speed and dove at the shield wall. And each time an orc made it into the wall they were quickly and easily dispatched before they could do any damage. For the most part orcs ran at the wall and tried to swing down at the legionnaires. But as they left themselves unprotected for a few heartbeats, a soldier’s sword would dart out and stab the orc in the stomach or chest. Some fell to these attacks but most of the orcs ignored them and kept up their attacks. Kaedin watched as a legionnaire failed to pull his sword out in time and was promptly grabbed and yanked out of the shield wall. The man screamed in terror as orcs laid into him before his head was caved in by a war hammer.
The orcs never retreated and never faltered, they just kept coming until there was a pile of bodies so high that orcs were jumping from on top of them and onto the raised shields of the men below. Slowly the legion was taking casualties as battle fatigue wore in. Then with a sound like thunder, a hundred orcs went limp, then another and another. The orcs fell in waves and soon enough there weren't any standing.
“What the fuck just happened?” demanded Cahl, the radio operator smiled and said, “General Iroh outflanked the enemy and his riflemen have routed the enemy.”
Kaedin laughed and thumped Cahl on the chest. “General Marius Cahl, do you remember what you said to me two years ago?”
Cahl groaned and shook his head, “don’t remind me.”
“Haha!” Kaedin laughed and slapped his knee, “You said, ‘that has got to be the stupidest invention I have ever seen! What is the point of that?’” he mimicked the gruff older man.
“It’s a metal tube with highly explosive dust in it!” he exclaimed, “Well I guess you're right for once. Now we gotta get back to business. You need to get that armor fixed and I need to take casualty reports and figure out why our scouts didn’t warn us about this FUCKING ATTACK!”
“Someone is going to lose their head for this.” Kaedin agreed grimly. That was the punishment for getting a fellow legionnaire killed.