Dan'tol felt the heat of the hunt surge through his body as he ran toward his prey. The fools should have stopped and fought them back where they could form up and fight a proper pitched battle. Instead, their line was stretched out and vulnerable, open to being taken apart one piece at a time. Not that it would have mattered. With their numerical advantage, A'ngles' force would have overwhelmed them in short order, but at least they could have put up a proper fight first.
With only a third of their forces at the moment, they only slightly outnumbered the survivors of Dragon's Outpost, so this was probably for the best. After all, they were only meant to delay them long enough for the rest of their forces to wrap around and hit them from the vulnerable flank. These poor fools had no idea just how much trouble they were in, stretched out in a long line with one side trapped by the lake, they'd be taken apart with hardly any effort. With the kind of leadership that would place them in such a vulnerable situation, the four hundred argu'n they'd brought to deal with the caravan of nomads seemed like total overkill.
As the hunt drew closer, it became apparent they'd been spotted. Most of the guards must be further up the line because only a dozen seemed to form a line to face over a hundred argu'n charging their way. They'd be overwhelmed in no time!
Though admittedly, the large silver female was slightly intimidating. And even if it was a small one, the fact that the target male was riding on a wolgen at all was concerning. Even now, Dan'tol could hear the loud bang of the wizard's magic spells, and one of the warriors in front fell. Still, with the kind of numbers at Dan'tol's back, all those threats would be overwhelmed before long.
As he drew closer, Dan'tol also noticed there didn't seem to be anyone behind the thin line of guards. Did they hold back to slow A'ngles' army while the rest of the caravan continued to flee? If so, that was beyond foolish. Such a small force wouldn't be able to hold them more than a few seconds before being overwhelmed. It would have been better to fight as a single unified force!
He was close enough now that Dan'tol could smell his prey. Dek'thul had told them not to fully engage, but this hardly felt like an engagement and more like a mild inconvenience. They'd be able to capture the male and kill the rest with minimal casualties.
That was when Dan'tol noticed movement off to the left, specifically at the top of the nearby ridge. A line of argu'n now stood at the top of the hill, all of which were pointing something large and unwieldy in the direction of the force at his back stretched out along the lake, vulnerable in the way he'd not long ago been thinking the caravan was.
But Dan'tol remembered Lord B'arthon telling them that the caravan consisted of only about thirty guards and the rest were mere workers. The hill and the lake might put them on more even ground, but this fight was far from over. As more and more warriors noticed the trap they were now in, they readied their weapons and prepared to meet the inevitable charge. There was a shout from on top of the hill, then the odd devices they were holding started throwing small sticks in their direction.
Was this their idea of an assault? Those weren't even proper throwing spears! Dan'tol started to laugh when one of the sticks hit him on the arm. However, instead of bouncing off like he'd expected, the warrior felt like his arm was on fire. Looking over, he could see the stick had gone most of the way through his bone plate and flesh, and the tip was now sticking out the other side. As he reached up to rip the offending stick out, he noticed several others were similarly injured or even on the ground. This was not going as planned...
-
As S'haar crested the hill, she saw the literal army stretched out along the lakeside, heading for the pitifully small group led by Jack and Ger'ron. Jack's plan had called for bait, something to make the enemy charge forward, thinking to win themselves a grand prize and the key to ending this fight before it even began, rather than taking the time to scout out the hills beside them. Jack was the only thing both tempting enough and clearly identifiable from a distance to work. Beside him stood Angela, Ger'ron, and the best and most disciplined of the guards. They had to keep the enemy from escaping past them as well as to keep Jack safe. Still, it bothered her to see them standing with such a small line in the face of such a large force. Initially, S'haar had insisted she stand at Jack's side in the face of the charging army, but Ger'ron had pointed out that with his prosthetic leg, he was much better suited to standing his ground in the face of an assault than leading a counter-attack.
As the lead argu'n neared Jack, she could see him drop his rifle in favor of the more wieldy handgun she'd seen used to deadly effect on multiple occasions. Still, he'd be overwhelmed quickly, or at least he would have been if not for what was coming next.
Looking over, S'haar could see the workers with their belly bows loaded with Fea'en at the front, shouting orders. "TAKE AIM!" The bows were brought up and aimed at the line of warriors who'd finally slowed their advance at the sight of the workers. "FIRE!"
A torrent of bolts fell onto the army below. Many bolts stuck their marks successfully, but far too many hit the bone plates at angles and were deflected away with minimal damage. Still, at least a dozen warriors seemed to fall or be seriously injured, more than enough to put some fear into the army below. Finally, she heard whoever was in charge start shouting orders to retreat, which meant it was time for S'haar to commence her part of the plan.
S'haar gathered the rest of the guards and started their charge down the hill. With shouts and clashing steel, she and the small force of guards slammed into the enemy's flank, S'haar leading the assault as the spear's point. She hit the first warrior with a brutal kick to the chest. Backed by the momentum of her charge, he flew back, tangling up two more behind him. She then used her swords, alternating between attack and defense, swatting aside her would-be captors' half-hearted spears and blades. Beside and behind her, the rest of the guards slammed into the army's flanks, pushing them back into the lake itself.
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Of course, they'd seen her coming, but between the calls to retreat, the deadly bolt fire, and the sheer momentum the hill gave the guard's charge, those unfortunate enough to be at the receiving end of the guard's assault got the worse end of the battle.
In quick order, they'd reached the water's edge, but as the surprise at the ferocity of the assault abated, the warriors turned to use their more significant numbers to their advantage. But of course, S'haar and her guards didn't have to defeat them. Instead, their only objective was to stop them from retreating. Soon, another shout came from the hilltop. "Fire!" Another barrage of bolts rained down on the enemy. Trapped between the lake, S'haar's and Jack's forces, and the hillside, they were an easy target. Any warriors brave enough to try charging up the hill quickly found themselves the prime target of the better part of nearly a hundred bolts. Everything was going precisely as Jack had planned.
-
Ger'ron found the assault on his end more ferocious and determined than they'd planned. Of course, to be fair, if he'd had to choose between fighting S'haar, charging uphill into a hail of bolts raining down on him, or fighting a wolgen, metallic goddess, and a handful of guards, he's have probably chosen the same.
The old warrior had been worried about Grim charging into the fray and getting himself and Jack into trouble, but of course, the thing that made a pair of wolgen so dangerous was their instinctive ability to fight as a pack, and Grim was surrounded by his pack. With only minimal prompting from Jack, he'd charge in, shoving the warriors back by sheer force of mass, rake with his claws, bite with his teeth, then back out while slashing with his tail to let Angela or the guards take advantage of the openings he created.
Over the last few days, Jack had had Angela help him design a series of straps and ties to hold him in place with minimal effort. Of course, if Grim ever fell over, the human would be in serious trouble since there was no quick way to get free, but the risk was more than worth the benefit since it left one of Jack's hands free to wield his magic gun to deadly effect, picking off any warriors who got too close to Grim's more vulnerable flanks.
Once again, Grim lurched forward, forcing Jack to hold on with one hand while raising the gun to avoid pointing toward any friendlies in the event of an accidental discharge. The unfortunate warrior Grim landed on was made short work of by tooth and claw, but another opportunistic warrior with a bolt through one arm started to thrust forward with a spear. The human took quick aim and ended that particular threat before Grim could come to harm.
After slashing another warrior and forcing the rest to fall back from his charge, Grim whipped around, catching a third warrior across the midsection with a slash from his spear-like tail before falling back behind the guards who formed ranks around him so the wolgen could catch his breath.
Jack looked down at Ger'ron and spoke as the guard stopped a moment in a lul between assaults to catch his own breath. "How much longer do you think we can hold out?"
The old guard shook his head. "If it were my guess, I'd say we were already past our limit, but between that pup of yours and Lady Angela, we seem to be holding our own."
As if to prove his point, Angela dove forward, kicking another warrior in the chest and sending him flailing back into his cohorts. He'd been about to stab at Jar'maal. The younger guard was showing clear signs of exhaustion, and his form was starting to get sloppy.
Jack shook his head. "Well, they've got to be about to break and surrender. This isn't a fight. It's a slaughter. How much longer can they hold out?"
Some of the warriors had organized a charge up the hill toward the workers on the crest. But Fea'en had taken some of the more able workers and countercharged down the slope, using spear and momentum to drive them back.
The AI was now grabbing at an opportunistic warrior who'd leaped onto her back in the confusion. Angela threw him forward into another handful of warriors as another two broke their spearpoints on her metallic body. She spun around, slashing the spears with her hand hard enough to snap them in half. Alone among the fighters, she was doing her best not to kill any of her opponents, but as durable as she was, her frame now showed all sorts of wear and tear. It was entirely possible that, eventually, an attack would pierce her case, exposing the vulnerable electronics within.
However, the AI wasn't alone. Lack'nul and Orth'kun came in on both her flanks, stabbing and slashing to drive back their opponents as much as finish them off. Not long after, renewed Jar'maal charged back into the fight, headbutting a warrior who's tied up their swords before driving his elbow spike into the exposed throat of another, his apparent shame at letting his guard down moments before pushing him to new levels of rage.
Picking up his own spear, Ger'ron grinned back at the human. "Well, the lads seem to keep finding the will to fight. So we'll keep it up as long as we must. But you should be aware that a cornered argu'n will often fight to the death. So you might have to give them a way out before they consider surrendering!"
With that, Ger'ron charged in as well. One of the warriors facing him grinned, evidently thinking that such an old guard well past his prime would be easy pickings. For a moment, it appeared he was correct when Ger'ron fumbled his attack, losing grip of his spear with one hand. But when the warrior moved in to take advantage of the opening the mistake had left, he halted with a surprised expression before looking down and seeing one of the guard's knives impaling his stomach.
The old guard spared his opponent a moment of pity. "Sorry lad, it's a bit late to tell you this, but never underestimate your prey. Even an old hornless kovaack will trample you if you give him a chance."
As the warrior fell, Ger'ron turned to address his charges. "Oi, you gonna let an old geezer like me show you up! I thought you were guards, not some spoiled pups! We've lived off the food and labor of the workers long enough; it's time we earn our keep!"
Turning back to another charging warrior, the old guard used his spear to tangle up the warrior's own before pushing them both to the side and drawing his sword for a quick slash to drive his opponent back and make him lose his grip on his weapon. Ger'ron followed that up by moving forward and stabbing another warrior who hadn't been expecting his flank to open up so suddenly. Unfortunately, this warrior grabbed the blade as he died, dragging it down with him, leaving the old guard without either his spear or sword. Then, drawing two knives, he prepared to meet another attacker charging forward, this time at a significant disadvantage in reach.
Suddenly a bolt hit the warrior in the side, sending him crashing to the ground as the life faded from his eyes. Ger'ron turned to see his rescuer, only to see Fea'en's countercharge had brought her and a handful of workers up to the front lines of the battle. The craft master grinned at her mate, still feeling the rush from her charge. "You look good on the battlefield, you old curr! I can see why your guards follow you!"
But Ger'ron didn't smile back. Instead, what he saw made him go cold with fear. Perhaps it was the adrenaline, or maybe it was just her lack of battlefield awareness, but the craft master didn't seem to realize her exposed position was about to be flanked.