"Tide..." Will muttered as he looked on at the dark monster tide slowly moving towards the walled town of Syben. He could barely see some monsters he had fought before, some four legged beasts similar to bears in the north, three meters tall with massive legs and sharp claws on each paw. Some monsters he didn't recognize but were similar to beasts of the north, such as wolves, large arachnids and other insects moved as one towards them. He hastily estimated that it took another hour before they arrived at the gates.
"Guards! These are the monsters that destroyed the north, ready your weapons and pray to whatever god for strength, for today will be a bloody day for all." Will unsheathed his longsword and thrusted it upwards. The twenty soldiers hesitated only for a moment before roaring in unison, clashing their swords on their shields and stomping their spears to the ground.
"Good, you!" Will pointed at one of the younger boys, "Run towards the mayor's home and inform them that Will shall lead them on the frontline, also call for Captain Redway to assist us." Relegating orders Will looked at the incoming tide and clenched his left hand wielding the longsword. Barely noticing the boy rushing towards the town Will was on a constant lookout for his companion.
Another ten minutes passed as he finally saw the familiar appearance of Elaine rushing towards the gate, signaling the guards to open the gate Elaine hoarsely coughed and grabbed a canteen from a nearby soldier as she took several gulps of water. Jumping down Will headed towards Elaine as he called out.
"Im glad you're back. How did your errand go? anything to report with the incoming tide?"
"Nothing seems out of the ordinary. They seem mindless and only following a few of the large monsters at the front."
"How many of the intelligent ones could you spot?
"at least four, maybe more. Is this what you have been fighting these last eight years?"
"Not on this side. Most of the time we only had between two and ten monsters at the same time, this seem to be either coordinated or bad luck. Any sightings of reinforcements?"
"Nothing, it seems we are alone in this."
"Take a rest and get some food, soon we will have no time to relax." Will rested his right hand on her shoulder as he headed back to the
~~~
Alicia poured her mana into one of the crystals embedded into her skin, activating all-seeing eyes a black and white spectrum appeared before her, letting her see contours and the shape of people rushing towards their home. Turning her head sideways she could see the tall man named Magnus a few steps beside her running towards their allies. five minutes quickly passed as she finally saw the fiery red mana of Chara, turning her spell of she could feel the mana returning into her core as she slowed down and hugged Chara.
"Alicia! Are you okay?" Chara was concerned by the sudden appearance of her companion.
"Will has called all knights towards the gate, he mentioned something about a tide." Alicia didn't see but the faces of Chara and Redway paled with the mention of a tide.
"Fuck!" Chara Exclaimed.
"Huh?"
"Nothing Alicia. A beast tide is when monsters in a certain area overpopulate and head towards newer areas in search of food and living space. However, if the report talked about the monsters that Will have been fighting these past eight years..." Chara explained as it dawned on Alicia their current situation. Redway listened to Chara's explanation and relayed orders to the dozen knights surrounding them. Seeing his allies heading towards the gate to assist Will the group stood before the mayor's home.
"So what do we do now?" Alicia asked, sensing the surrounding atmosphere she knew an incoming dread wash over the town.
"First we have to inform the mayor of the current situation, maybe we can send away the civilians and defend the town until reinforcements from neighboring cities arrive." Captain Redway informed. The group nodded in confirmation but before they could head towards the entrance of Mayor Harris home the figure of Elaine could be seen jogging towards them.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
"Elaine!"
"Hi everyone. I just returned and informed Will of the current situation. I assume you are heading towards the mayor and preparing for battle" Nodding in response Elaine forwarded Will's comments regarding the incoming battle and hearing this the group tensed up.
"Let's meet with the mayor before anything." Redway commented.
The five people walked up towards the entrance but something felt weird to Chara and Redway.
"Why are the two guards at the door so tense?" Chara whispered.
"Don't know, Lets ask." Redway walked up to the two guards and asked if they can meet up with the mayor, they have urgent news regarding the monster tide. However, the two guards explained that Mayor Harris was busy and couldn't meet with strangers.
"Strangers? we are knights sent from Ave Ludum, who are you to say we are strangers?" Redway threateningly questioned the man's words. The sudden threat caused the two guards to nervously explain that the mayor was busy and didn't have time to meet people. Sensing something amiss Redway suddenly shouted in the direction of the manor.
"Mayor Harris, Knight Captain Reginald Redway appointed to Ave Ludum seeks a meeting to discuss the tide at your towns door." Not hearing any response the gears clicked together as he called out to Elaine. "Restrain them." He asked coldly, nodding in response Elaine twirled her staff in a circle as the gem glowed an emerald light as roots spurted from the ground and held the two guards in place, unmoving.
"What are you guys doing, are you attacking the town of Syben?!" One of the guards lost his temper and lashed out but quickly quivered in fear noticing Elaine's deathly glare, her voice cold, "Shut up."
Moving between the two guards Chara and Redway headed inside the manor but after entering the main lobby they noticed the eerie atmosphere surrounding the hall.
"Where is everyone?" Chara asked.
"It can't be..." Redway muttered as he hastily moved towards the meeting room they had met in before, Chara quickly followed and only after a moment they had arrived before the slightly ajar door. Redway drew his sword and walked up to the door, grabbing the handle he entered the empty room, papers and books scattered on the ground, looking around he concluded it was not a scuffle between people, but a hastily arranged packing of stuff.
"He left." Redway commented.
"WHAT?! Did the mayor actually leave the people to themselves." Chara exclaimed in shock and anger at the mayor.
"Chara, lead the others to the inn we stayed inn, we have four squads with a dozen knights and a squad leader each, as well as the squad staying with Will. We have a battle ahead." Redway ordered Chara and as she rushed to inform their allies Redway looked around to find clues surrounding the mayor's disappearance. After a few minutes he could conclude that the mayor had escaped at the sound of the bell, taking anything of value.
"Damn bastard" Redway muttered and walked towards the exit, meeting up with his knights.
Meanwhile Will stood on top of the gate, looking at the approaching tide.
"Hmm, at least twenty minutes until they arrive at our gate, hopefully the others find the mayor and rally the guards." Looking around he could see around forty guards in armor wielding swords, spears, bows and other weapons. He himself unsheathed his sword halfway and inspected the new blade.
"I must say, Magnus really learnt his craft after all these years." Will thought to himself as he began thinking about Artír and his allies they separated with in the forest. "Hopefully they have safely moved towards our destination."
Another few minutes passed whilst Will looked over the tide as he could see the other knights belonging to Captain Redway returning with Chara, Alicia, Elaine and Magnus.
"Hello Will, how are things looking?" Redway asked as he and the other people behind him arrived beside him, clutching the prince's hand he looked up and saw the tide at their doors.
"As you can see, it's not looking good. Elaine have seen at least four of the intelligent type, in the north we called them high-grade monsters. They are however surrounded by at least two hundred spawn." Will explained as he pointed out the four high-grade monsters in question. Redway and the other people looked over and saw four larger monsters leading the tide.
"A bear, a wolf, a spider and a blob?" Chara was confused by the last one, not fully understanding what she was looking at. Will explained that the last one was called an abomination, an amalgamation of several creatures. He explained however that he have never battled against one of this size.
"How did the talk with the mayor go?" Will asked curiously, causing a sneer from Chara and a sigh from Redway.
"He escaped at the singing of bells, Taking most of the valuables with him."
"Bastard." Will simply responded.
"So. How many on our side?" Will asked. Redway looked over the guards standing ground and counted heads. "We have five squads of twelve knights lead by a squad leader, and it seems another forty towns guard here. All in all, a little over a hundred." Redway explained.
"Not good, but not bad either." Will commented. "This is the plan, the five squads will be led by their squad leaders, your goal is to hold the gate and take out the spawn.Number is key, aim for the head of the core in the chest. Me, Elaine and Magnus will head towards the western side and take out the bear monster before regrouping with the nearby knight squad. Redway, Alicia and Chara will head towards the east and take out the spider. Escape if necessary and regroup with a knight squad. Guards of Syben, half of you stand guard on the wall, throw stones, fire arrows, do anything you can to slow them down. The rest of you will give support in the center with the three knight squads in the middle." Will relayed orders as he looked over at the tide, just a few hundred meters from the wall. Grabbing the two hilts Will unsheathed them and readied himself as he spoke his final words before battle.
"On this day, the war against the spawn has begun."