It was harvest season for the year. Fields and plantations were blooming with millions of crops. Mount Wardhana's ashes kept Mananggal’s soils fertile. Food shortages were virtually impossible for the Sultanate. If there were cases of food shortages, then someone was hoarding the crops. Or, something else was eating the crops.
Nadin Strip was the most fertile province out of the others. A Danker named Cak Wu owned thousands of square leagues of plantations there. He had all sorts of Mananggal production plants. His farmlands always produced crops every season over a year. His enterprise alone supplied three-quarters of Nadin Strip’s food. The majority of the harvest occurred during this season. However, the harvest failed to meet targets this month. The reason was commonly known yet still couldn't be taken lightly: Kun Skimmers.
The Eightieth Armored Legion, to which Wati belonged, was dispatched from Nurfadhil to neutralize a Kun Skimmer incursion. Mananggal guaranteed agricultural welfare. The barrier to that was the frequent Kun Skimmer raids. Six of them had landed at Cak Wu Fields and held all the harvest hostage. Workers and their families who settled there had been evacuated. The plantation owner himself had successfully fled. Reports said that there were unfortunate ones who had to lock themselves in because the Kun Skimmer landed not far from their homes.
Wati watched the mob of fowls from a distance. Their beaks were blunt. Their feathers had a dazzling orange hue. The feathery crown on their head was a mix of red and orange. Their eyes were brass-hued. Their necks and legs were long and their body resembled men's livers. Each was three to four times the size of an average house. Wati had read about them in books, manuals, and posters across the Legion’s institutions. They never beat seeing one in person. Wati flattened her lips, knowing that this was the final part of her training. Her Legion would be deemed eligible for frontline operations only after they repelled this Kun Skimmer incursion.
“Nervous?” Aryo asked. The Danker stood beside Wati with his Nyambek-skin drum strapped to him.
“Well, anything can happen right?” Wati said.
“And you're thinking about them all?” Aryo chuckled.
Wati twisted her lips. “I think…”
Wati and her squad were armed with only a shield and a longsword. Their shields were strapped to their backs and their swords were sheathed. Wati and Marno both had an ironwood flute in their hands. Hartono meanwhile was bearing the weight of a drum that hung vertically from his shoulder.
“We don't have to go down there do we?” Hartono asked.
The Sultanate had small observation towers all across Mananggal armed with the Sunduk torsion siege engine. Legions usually worked with them to dispatch Kun Skimmer threats. The birds would attack anything as long as their friends were around. Sunduk arrow-like projectiles were used to provoke them into attacking the Legions, who were expected to have an advantageous defensive position prepared beforehand. The towers set around Cak Wu Fields were somehow not armed with Sunduk. This discovery was made after the deployment of the Eightieth Legion. Wati suspected that Cak Wu had been evading taxes, which resulted in the lack of Sunduk coverage from the sultanate over his enterprise. The Eightieth Legion had its own Sunduk artillery. They could establish new positions up those towers but it would take time.
“That's stupid,” Wati said. “All these earthworks and for what?” She gestured at the fortifications that they had spent a whole day building.
“They would probably withdraw us to put the Sunduk on those towers,” Marno said.
“I hope they do,” Hartono responded. “I forgot how to deal with them.”
A Legion consisted of five Sub-Legion. Each Sub-Legion was composed of five Cohorts. They were ideally composed of a balanced mix between the Shield-Trooper frontline unit, Shield-Bolts crossbowmen, Shield-Riders cavalry, and the Sunduk artillery.
Wati recalled the general instructions from the handbook to handle a Kun Skimmer. Two Sunduk should be in a position to freely target the birds. These weapons had to be protected by at least a Cohort, or one thousand soldiers. The other four Cohorts in a corresponding Sub-Legion would advance. While the Shield-Trooper phalanx marched, Shield-Bolts would screen them and let loose arrow volleys toward the creature. This action would be supported by Field Sorcerer's smoke screens to conceal the line’s advance. With shots coming from the Sunduk and the Shield-Bolts, the Kun Skimmer should be agitated enough to attack. The first formation that the bird was after had to hold their position. Then, units to the flanks of the charged formation would advance and quickly envelop the Kun Skimmer. This maneuver served to isolate the Kun Skimmer and prevent them from fighting as a group. All units would then aim for its legs until the creature was felled. Once that happened, it would all be downhill from there. The Legions would wrap up the fight by first targeting the wings, then the neck, and finally the head.
That condition assumed that they had two Sunduk–the recommended amount–or more for every Kun Skimmer. The Eightieth Legion was only armed with four while facing six Kun Skimmers. And if it all couldn't get any worse, the Eightieth Legion were all fresh recruits who had never handled a Kun Skimmer raid before. Wati herself had never seen combat. Her two service years were spent serving as garrison and law enforcement. She knew that her first battle would be against the Kun Skimmers. But with things that felt wrong, she doubted the engagement.
They had been standing there for two hours now. Wati had no idea why no decision was made up to this point.
“I think we're kinda screwed up,” Hartono said. “Fort Ndelosor refused to sally out, nor spare any of their arms. Requesting additional Sunduk would take about more than a month, considering the time required to get them here. By the time they arrive, those Kun Skimmers would be long gone.”
Wati hushed Hartono. “Don't worry. The generals would figure it out.”
Horn instruments bellowed in unison. Their buzzing clamor shook the fields. Wati felt uneasy as the Kun Skimmers turned their attention to the lines of Legionaries waiting for them. The long and proud rhythm was succeeded by short stutters that Wati's squad was trained to decipher: a general advance.
The Centurions stomped the ground three times with their right foot.
“To your brothers!” They shouted.
“Shoulder!” Wati and the other Legionaries responded in unison.
“To your houses!”
“Prosper!”
“To your Gods!”
“Muster!”
Wati took a deep breath and steeled herself. Aryo produced a sustained sound with his drum for two seconds. Hartono slammed his drum four times. Its bellowing propagated across the whole plantation. The ground quaked. The banners fluttered. The Legion marched.
The Eightieth Legion deployed a little bit further than the standard deployment range against Kun Skimmers. The elevation of the hills around Cak Wu Fields was too tempting. They planned to advance and kite the giant fowls closer to their trenches, stakes, and palisades. Once the Kun Skimmers attacked, the Cohorts would take turns delaying the birds while they slowly withdrew uphill. Wati’s Cohort was at the rear. There were four Cohorts ahead that would perform first before the torch was passed to her.
Thousands of steel boots rocked Cak Wu Fields. Keeping her focus on the tune amidst the commotion turned out to be harder than she had anticipated. She persisted nevertheless. From the corner of Wati's eyes, Marno was playing the flute as if their unit depended on it. He had a faithful look on his face that kept his head held high. He seemed to be struggling too but he didn't let that break his spirit. The same could be said for Aryo and Hartono. Wati tended to forget that they were males who were physically and mentally superior to her.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
This section of Cak Wu Fields was oriented for Phencit trees. They were roughly two times Wati’s height on average. To the Kun Skimmers, those trees were mere bushes. The fowl grew more imposing as Wati got closer. The crossbowmen screening her unit were getting into range. The Field-Sorcerers were also active. Gray smoke with tints of purple bloomed from the ground. Their ghastly form drifted and devoured the Phencit trees. Wati then caught a dumbfounding tune from the command's horn. Their general ordered a full frontal charge. Aryo and Hartono raised the beat rate, anticipating action. Wati and Marno switched to a rapid tune to match the raised tempo. Without a single doubt, the Eightieth Legion immediately ran toward the Kun Skimmer.
The Legionaries’ steel boots rapidly slammed into the ground. Both the Legionaries and the Kun Skimmers were voiceless. The silent eerie, broken only by the clanking equipment, began to shiver Wati's spine. Wati calmed herself down. She channeled her anxiety into her flute play instead and hoped for the success of this pest-repelling task. Running while playing the flute was not an easy task. She had to circulate her breath from her nose as her mouth was dating the lip plate. Unfortunately for her, it was annoying to manage.
There were minutes left until the Shield-Troopers made contact with the Kun Skimmers. The Shield-Bolts had begun unleashing volleys at them. All of a sudden, Wati heard the command's horn telling her to turn around. She was perplexed at the change of command, but she still committed regardless. Wati and Marno blew their flute with all their might. The high-pitched noise signaled their Cohort to halt. The Centurion shouted an about-face order to his soldiers. Two Kun Skimmers were attacking the Sunduk nest at the hill’s summit. The general staff ordered a withdrawal to protect them. There was no time to wonder where those Kun Skimmers came from. Wati ordered her squad to play a ‘double-time’ tune. However, her Cohort did not need to run the distance they came from.
A shadow loomed. Another Kun Skimmer descended upon them faster than a Sunduk bolt. There was a split second where Wati realized that she was in the way of its opened digits. An impulse knocked her down, away from the grasp of the Kun Skimmer. She heard Hartono’s and Marno’s yelp in her concussion. The ground trembled in the wake of the Kun Skimmer’s landing. As her world swayed, she could hear Aryo shouting her name. Wati began picking herself up. Aryo was there when she recovered, gripping her shoulders. Wati’s attention was fixed on his face.
“Are you alright!?” He said.
“I…think.” Wati rubbed her helmet. She looked around and regulated her breath at the same time.
The Kun Skimmer had landed and was now engaging her Sub-Legion. Tens of Dankers, male and female, screamed as they were crushed by the Kun Skimmer’s feet, flung by its head, or snapped by its beak. They hadn’t braced for the contact. The Legionaries were unprepared to absorb the big bird’s charge. Not to mention that they were running in that Kun Skimmer’s direction, which increased the momentum that rammed them. The remaining soldiers resisted, poking at the bird’s leg. Their spears were puny in comparison to the Kun Skimmer but that didn’t stop them. It was like seeing a hundred people stabbing at a tree. Wati watched in horror as the Kun Skimmer dispatched two Cohorts with ease.
“Wati!” Aryo shook her.
Wati turned to Aryo with her mouth gaped. She didn’t reply. Her heart raced at a rate that it had never been in.
“Check on Marno,” Aryo said. “I’ll check Hartono.”
Wati nodded. She found Marno comatose not far from her. Wati hustled for the Danker but stopped after seeing the full picture of his condition. His head was gone. His armor drowned in the blood spurting from the base of his neck. Wati closed her mouth with both hands as she collapsed to her knees.
She heard another shriek, a Kun Skimmer’s shriek. One emerged from beyond the smoke deployed by Field-Sorcerers and engaged her formation. The remaining Cohorts panicked. With barely any experience, the Legionaries couldn’t hold themselves together. The Centurions were trying to organize them with little success. Few took the initiative to create a tentative envelopment of both Kun Skimmers. But the fowls tore through them quicker than the cooking time of Nyambek eggs on top of Mount Wardhana’s lava.
Wati flinched as Aryo gripped her shoulder.
“Hartono is no good either,” Aryo said.
“W-what should we do?”
On the other side of Cak Wu Fields, the other Sub-Legions were also dealing with the Kun Skimmers. They too had committed to the withdrawal order to assist the distressed Sunduk. The Kun Skimmers attacked from the smoke, straight at their backs. Arrow volleys rained on the Kun Skimmers. Field-Sorcerers hurled spells from the Mantra of Peril to soften the birds. Wati only saw one Sub-Legion faring well in the onslaught. The other four, including hers, were suffering heavy losses if not victimized in a slaughter.
Aryo looked at their unit. “Let's get back there.”
“They're getting slaughtered!”
“Yeah, but it could be worse if we're not around.” Aryo grabbed Wati's hand and pulled her up. “Come on!”
Wati obliged. She played her flute again, syncing it with Aryo's rhythm. The commotion of her dying kin was louder. Wati doubted whether anyone caught the tune. But she kept playing anyway. Some Legionaries looked in her direction in surprise. Perhaps they thought that their musicians were goner. Some were fleeing the field. Those who remained began to throw themselves into the Kun Skimmers. Wati dared herself to coalesce with her comrades. Aryo followed her closely.
However, bravery and renewed vigor meant nothing when numbers weren't in favor. The losses of her Sub-Legion were unsustainable. Thousands of Legionaries lay dead around the Kun Skimmers' feet. More fled the battlefield. Wati watched them run past her in panic. She wished for some of them to regain their morale and stand their ground. That wish was unanswered. The few brave ones who still resisted were easily neutralized by the Kun Skimmers.
Aryo released the straps that held his drum. He dropped the instrument and picked up a spear that one of the fleeing Legionaries had left. Wati caught him doing that.
“What are you doing?” Wati asked.
Aryo drew his shield and tightened his grip on the spear. “Get out of here.” He said.
“What?”
“Join them and run away,” Aryo said, his anxious face gripped Wati's stomach.
The Kun Skimmer closest to them rammed its head through what looked like the last of her Cohort. The bird shrieked its victory. Nothing stood between it and Wati and Aryo, save for the Legionaries who were fleeing. It swiveled its head, casting its brass-colored eyes on the pair. Wati withdrew her flute and pulled her sword. She gripped Aryo's left shoulder like there was no tomorrow.
“Wati…”
“I'm not leaving you!”
The Kun Skimmer took two house-wide strides that brought itself into striking distance to Wati and Aryo. Aryo raised his spear as the Kun Skimmer lowered its head. The giant bird who had decimated their comrades was now onto them. Wati felt her hands shaking. It was even more intimidating seeing the bird wasn't harmed one bit by the onslaught. Nevertheless, she readied her sword to anticipate its attacks on Aryo's left. The thought of running away kept crossing her mind. But her tight grip on Aryo's shoulder assured her that she had to stand her ground. Whatever happened, she wouldn't leave Aryo behind.
The Kun Skimmer raised its head and shrieked.
“Wati!”
“Never!”
The bird twisted its head. Wati only saw a motion blur before she felt a hard pound on her chest. Her body soared through the air before she realized it. She watched the ashen cloud above drift steadily, shedding ashes that drizzled on her cheeks. It felt like forever. To those who fell to a Kun Skimmer, perhaps it was the last thing they saw as their life flashed before their eyes. Wati thought of the injuries that she would suffer when she fell. Several bone fractures maybe.
Her vision blackened as her head crashed into the ground. Her body rolled, ending with her chest against the ground. Wati felt pain in her right shoulder which had absorbed the impact. Her head and her back hit the ground too but the soft inner padding of her armor mitigated the damage. Wati clenched her teeth and shriveled as her chest flared in pain. That was where the Kun Skimmer rammed its head into her. Her chest plate couldn't mitigate the shock of that scale. Despite all her pain, she still pushed herself up albeit slowly. She looked in the direction where Aryo was. Though he didn't suffer a direct hit, the blow on Wati had thrown him down. He was dangerously close to the Kun Skimmer and was kicking himself away from it. Wati thought of relieving her pain with the Mantra of Wellspring so that she might rise and get Aryo out of there.
That didn't happen. The ground shook. Wati's jaw dropped. The Kun Skimmer's foot sank to the ground, exactly where Aryo was.
Wati lost the feel of her arms and collapsed. Hundreds of denials propagated in her mind, preventing it from working properly. Wati froze in place as the Kun Skimmer loomed over her. It was over. The bird's beak opened. Wati waited for the killing blow. She prayed for it to be quick and painless.
A glowing pale blue light streaked through the Kun Skimmer's head. The battlefield was suddenly silent. Both the Legionaries and the Kun Skimmers stopped fighting and turned their attention to the spectacle. The light turned the Kun Skimmer's head into a crumbling mound of dust. A thundering noise was heard from the distance. The Kun Skimmer's body staggered for seconds before collapsing. The light came again and struck another Kun Skimmer. The Legionaries around there flinched and withdrew as the Kun Skimmer fell. Then came another. And another, shortly after. The Kun Skimmer mobs shrieked and took to the air. The light struck another. It fell and unceremoniously crashed into the Phencit plantation.
The Legionaries looked at each other in perplexity. Despite the otherworldly occurrence, the command's horn called for a reorganization. The Legionaries did it regardless of their losses. There was a distant flash every time that light struck the Kun Skimmers. What remained of the Eightieth Legion lined up and marched toward that flash. They didn't hide the fact that they were terrified of whatever cast those lights. The Kun Skimmers could be terrifying. But if there was something or someone who could silence them with ease, they had to be many times more horrible. Still, the Legionaries marched on.
Wati ignored the order. She brought herself up and limped her way toward the fallen Kun Skimmer. Aryo was sprawled before its cadaver. His body was still whole but his eyes were shut. His armor crumpled around his body like Nyambek-skin papers. Wati kneeled before him and shook his chest.
“Aryo…”
Silence.
“Aryo.” Wati shook him harder. She felt her heart withered and began to sniff.
Wati stacked her hands and shut her eyes. She concentrated on her prayers to Visha. There was no response. She was too exhausted to cast a Mantra of Wellspring. She burned through her Tjakra without any noticeable result.
“Aryo!” Wati shook Aryo again, this time slapping his face. “Aryo!”
Her bright-amber eyes welled up. Wati collapsed to Aryo's shoulder and wrapped her arms around his head.
“Aryo…” Wati cried.