Raindrops fell onto the battlefield, breaking the stillness. Each gentle tap echoed soothingly in Davon’s weary mind as he strained to hold his bow in position.
“Healers, tend to the wounded!” Meyer ordered, sending the defenders into a scramble.
Davon took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He couldn’t relax. This was just a stalemate, and it wouldn’t last long.
Blinking rain out of his eyes, Davon stared at the ranks of Crimson Reavers, unsure what he was looking for. A few moments later, the sound of heavy stomping drew his attention towards the back of their formation. His thoughts raced as he remembered the massive creatures he and Lyla had spotted at the rear of the convoy.
Guttural shouts rang out from behind enemy lines, in a rhythm Davon thought to be a chant. The Crimson Reaver soldiers echoed a part of it, stomping their feet and slamming their weapons against their chests. Then they stepped around the barricades and began pushing forward.
As the enemy surged closer, Davon's eyes caught movement in the forest’s gloom. Accompanied by the groan of falling trees, a line of the massive, single-horned creatures emerged into the open. Each one had chains wrapped around its arms. As the creatures pulled themselves forward, Davon realized they were connected to siege engines.
A chill spread down Davon’s spine.
While the defenders were recovering from the initial assault, the enemy was taking the chance to move their forces into a more advantageous position.
Davon scanned the array of siege weaponry they were towing. The chill worked its way up to his brain as he counted a dozen catapults.
From his experience fighting alongside Kai, Davon knew that magical barriers could only take so much of a beating before being destroyed. He hoped, then, that the barrier surrounding the city could withstand a barrage of boulders.
“Ballistae! Take aim at their siege engines!” Meyer barked, prompting the defenders’ own siege engines to move.
Watching quietly as the Crimson Reavers loaded their catapults, Davon remembered the warning he and Lyla had tried to give Meyer. Would things have turned out any differently if the acting commander of the Stalwarts had listened? If the city had just those few minutes more to prepare?
Anger bubbled up within his heart, but he cast those thoughts aside. He couldn’t afford to be distracted.
“Brace!”
A shout rang out from the walls as the enemy catapults fired their projectiles. Reflexively, Davon ducked and covered his head. The sound of cracking glass set all of his nerves on edge.
The barrier was breaking. He grit his teeth in anticipation of the shattering that was sure to follow when the magical shield fell.
But that shattering never came. Instead, another sound caught his attention: the steady rumble of hooves against earth.
Curiosity won over fear. He raised his head, peeking over the battlements towards the main road leading into Walden’s Hold.
A surge of hope ran through Davon.
Revenants, more than he could count at a glance, were charging down the road on horses. Green capes fluttered behind them, the sign of the Green Trackers.
Walden’s Hold did not have to stand alone.
Turning his attention back to the Crimson Reavers, Davon watched their battle lines shrink as they repositioned half of their force to face the incoming reinforcements. They even abandoned their ladders, monstrous soldiers rushing to bolster the line of defense.
Davon felt a broad smile spread over his face.
Then he took aim, preparing himself for the moment the barrier went down. Reinvigorated, the archers around him followed suit.
“Infantry Revenants, to the gates!” Meyer shouted over the shrieks and roars of the Crimson Reavers. “Prepare to charge!”
The Crimson Reavers’ war beasts shrugged off their chains, turning towards the newly arrived Revenants. In response, the riders split off into many small groups, each headed for one of the massive beasts.
“Barrier down, now! Archers, fire at will!” Meyer commanded.
Not a second later, the golden barrier disintegrated, vanishing into thin air.
Davon’s ears were suddenly filled with the sound of whizzing arrows. He held his own bow steady. He was aiming for one of the war beasts, though he felt his frustration growing while the thing thrashed around.
As the riders drew closer, Davon’s nerves got the better of him. He invoked the Scattershot rune and let an arrow fly.
The arrow glowed with an intense blue light that illuminated the ground beneath it as it flew. Davon watched it clear the lines of soldiers, smiling as it became apparent his attack would strike true. The arrow splintered a few feet before reaching its target, each projectile sinking into the giant war beast’s hide.
The creature roared in pain. Its thrashing redoubled as it blundered around, looking for the source of the missiles. Davon’s heart swelled with delight at every moment of the monster’s agony.
“Charge! Drive them back!” Meyer’s order was followed closely by the war cries of fellow Revenants. Davon turned to watch as the warriors sallied out. He spotted Grant leading the charge, sword held high.
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Raising his bow in anticipation of the clash, Davon noticed Crimson Reaver archers stepping out from behind the barricades. Adjusting his aim, he invoked the Scattershot rune again, loosing a shot towards the now exposed archers. His shot caught the attention of his enemies. A few of them reacted quickly enough to duck back under cover, but several were pierced by the fragmented missiles.
Before Davon could savor this shot, a movement in his periphery made him turn. The archers had retaliated. A barrage of arrows was coming his way.
A flash of his first death echoed through his mind as he ducked behind the battlement, a split second too slow. One of the arrows landed squarely in his shoulder. He cried out reflexively, but when he focused, he realized the pain wasn’t nearly as bad as he’d expected.
The sound of horses whinnying in terror drew his attention. Davon poked his head above the battlements just in time to see the Green Trackers dismount their horses. The panicked beasts immediately turned and ran into the woods. For a moment, Davon was afraid this would cripple the reinforcements, but what followed was a spectacle.
Davon stared, mouth agape, as each of the Green Trackers melted into shadow the instant their feet hit the ground. His eyes couldn’t track the Revenants as they flashed between their targets. He would catch the gleam of a blade, the glow of a rune, or the brief image of a green cloak before dozens of Crimson Reavers fell dead.
The display of prowess was almost overwhelming. Davon felt something deep within him start to shudder. Still, he couldn’t look away.
In seconds, the Green Trackers cut a swathe through the center of the Crimson Reaver battle lines, thinning them out. Roars of pain and fear echoed through the air, intensifying when Grant’s force crashed into their enemies.
As Grant and his warriors created a wedge in the battle lines, the Crimson Reavers moved to surround the Revenants. But then, as the mass of enemy soldiers swarmed, Green Trackers appeared to extend the Revenants’ reach and outflank the monsters. Whenever an enemy slipped through the ranks, Davon and his fellow archers would remove the threat.
As the tides of combat continued to shift, Davon gave up on trying to follow every detail of what was happening in the mass of bodies. Instead, he focused on his bow, settling into the archer’s tempo.
Inhale. Draw. Exhale. Loose.
Monstrous shouting echoed over the mayhem. In response, the Crimson Reaver battle line moved backwards, reforming a shield wall beyond the ongoing clash.
“Engines, destroy their war machines!” Meyer commanded, throwing the defenders on the wall back into the action.
In the confusion, the enemy had abandoned their siege equipment. While agreeing with Meyer left a sour taste in his mouth, Davon knew this was the perfect opportunity to destroy the Crimson Reavers’ catapults and trebuchets.
Steady bombardment from the ramparts only added to the ongoing chaos, and Davon found it hard to stay focused on the combat. He sank further into the archer’s rhythm, releasing an arrow with each breath. Between shots, he watched boulder and after boulder smash into Crimson Reaver siege engines. With each shattered contraption, he allowed himself a moment of relief.
Then Meyer’s voice rose above the noise: “Infantry, fall back and regroup! Archers, cover the retreat!”
Davon barely registered the order, entirely committed to the tempo. As the Crimson Reaver battle line reformed, most of Davon’s shots landed in shields or barricades, yet he didn’t stop. When he spotted a break in the shield wall, he drew on his Reliquary again, attempting to invoke the Scattershot rune one more time. But instead of imbuing his next strike, he doubled over as his left arm lit up with pain.
Pulled out of his battle focus, Davon looked down to see a web of blue light covering his arm. Seconds later, the pain faded as quickly as it had appeared, taking the strange light with it. Lyla’s warning echoed through his head:
All magic needs energy, and pulling too much can have disastrous consequences.
Refocusing, Davon realized the battlefield was all but silent. The catapult bombardment from both sides had come to a close. He heard only the sound of boots against the ground, and the occasional crash of a siege boulder in the distance.
Peeking out, Davon saw both sides of the conflict slowly backing off. The Crimson Reavers were hiding behind their shield wall, and the Revenants’ retreat was covered by a golden barrier, projected by a Revenant Davon didn’t recognize.
With eyes peeled for enemy archers, Davon held his breath. He kept his bow high as both sides continued their retreat. Adrenaline coursed through his nerves, eased only slightly by the gentle tapping of raindrops against the rampart.
When the gates slammed shut, Davon didn’t drop his guard, expecting the enemy to have some trick planned. Yet the Crimson Reavers retreated behind their barricades, drawing all the way back to the tree line. Total silence claimed the battlefield.
Still, Davon kept watching, for what felt like an eternity.
It wasn’t until he heard the war horn sound off a singular, steady blow that Davon allowed himself to relax. He slumped against the battlement, exhaustion sinking in after the extended combat. His body ached. He became painfully aware of the arrow stuck in his shoulder.
Annoyed, he ripped the weapon out, wincing in pain. Blood mingled with rain as it trickled down his arm. He stared at the wound, wondering numbly what he should be doing with it.
Suddenly, a figure in the same garb as Doctor Yurren knelt down beside Davon. Relief washed over him as the healer began tending to his wound.
Struggling against the dull weariness seeping into his muscles, Davon looked around. He watched silently as a few other doctors helped the other soldiers on the ramparts. He saw other robed figures carrying away the bodies of fallen soldiers.
A deep sadness overtook Davon, like a cold undercurrent pulling his heart deeper into the ocean. He watched the dead soldiers, regular soldiers, being carried away, and vowed to himself that he would claim revenge. No matter what it took, he would end this invasion, for the fallen who wouldn’t get a second chance.
For his fellow soldiers. For his fallen crew.
For Rand.
"All Revenants, to the barracks!” Meyer commanded, just as the doctor finished wrapping Davon’s wound in runed bandages.
With a heavy sigh, Davon pushed himself to his feet. Exhaustion dragged at his limbs as he stumbled down the ramparts and into the city streets.
As soon as he made it to the bottom of the stairs, he spotted Kai, apparently waiting. The young Revenant was covered in red smears. Rivulets of blood and rain ran down his armor.
“I do hope that isn’t your blood,” Davon called out.
Kai shrugged, a half-smile stretching across his face. “Most of it isn’t. Glad to see you got through the fight.”
The pair shared a nod before Davon asked, “Have you seen Lyla anywhere?”
“Not yet.” Kai’s brow furrowed. “I’m not even sure where she was posted for the fight.”
"I hope she wasn’t caught by the archers,” Davon said, unable to keep anxiety from creeping into his voice.
Almost immediately, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He whirled around, raising his bow, only to see Lyla looking up at him.
“Was that genuine concern I just heard?” Lyla asked playfully.
Davon took a moment to let his heartbeat calm down. Then he looked her directly in the eye.
“Yes, it was. I’d rather not have either of you dying. Again.”
Lyla’s playful grin vanished. She dropped her gaze. “Oh, well… that’s fair.”
“I am also glad the two of you survived,” Kai announced, a little too loudly. “Now, there’s a siege going on. Shall we see what Meyer wants?”
He looked more flustered than Davon had ever seen him. Kai had no trouble leaping into battle, but apparently, the slightest display of actual friendship made the young warrior nervous.
Trying to hide a smile, Davon nodded.
“Yeah, that would be for the best. Let’s go.”