‘May the bards of time and lore,
Sing a song of my fate in this war,
A ballad that will not crumble with age,
Nor its ink fade from the page,
Its story will tell of soldiers’ blades that clash,
Fallen warriors taken by angels, wings like ash,
And among the chaos of this blood soaked field,
I will forever rest or a victory shall be sealed.’
-Song of the Soldier
A stillness hung in the air as each and every soldier clenched their teeth in fear and intimidation. The grass waved in the wind, carefree and unaware of the anarchy that would soon sweep over the field like a giant wave crashing through the forest.
The Div’Rah raised a single hand from the rear of his lines, prompting a standard bearer to wave a red flag. Immediately, hundreds of arrows were nocked and relased into the air, flying like a flock of sparrows careening down onto the Varisian forces below.
“Shields!” Dallin shouted as his men moved to raise wooden shields to deflect the shower of arrows. Thunks from the arrow heads piercing and splintering into the shields resounded through the ranks.
Another volley, then another, then another pounded down onto the now arrow covered shields. Suddenly, there was silence.
“Recover!” Dallin yelled.
The men lowered their shields, relieved to find that many of them had survived. One or two soldiers had been nicked in their armor. Their chainmail had saved their lives. Relieved laughter resounded throughout the ranks.
“Battle groups will prepare to defend!”
The laughter died. Men began to jump on their heels in anxiousness, while others began to whimper in fear as spears were lowered and swords were held at the ready.
Across the field, the men could hear a single Estinian officer shout, “Chaaarge!”
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
The ground shook as thousands of men and horses rushed towards them.
Koda leaped his wolf over the the protection of the ARO and Silent Ones and ran to the Vernal Mages, “Quickly, we must disrupt them!” in unison the six mages and Koda made an elegant but swift motion with their hands and channeled their energy into the grass, commanding it to grow wildly and capture the charging force in a jungle of choking grass blades. Cavalrymen were thrown from their own horses as infantrymen struggled to chop through the new forest of grass.
Koda smiled, pleased with his actions. He turned back to his fellow mages and said, “Lift us up!”
Once again, Koda and the mages made intricate casting motions with their arms and with a final upward thrust, pushed gigantic roots from under their own forces and led them high over the tall grass and over the trapped forces.
“Attack!” Dallin shouted to the men running from the large roots and jumping down onto the helpless enemy.
Furious, Aric called for his catapults to blow through the roots and choking grass, not worried about the lives of his own men.
Koda watched in horror as boulders slick with oil and fire sailed through the air, crashing in plumes of black smoke into the center of both forces. A command for the Varisian forces to fall back rung through the chaos. Fire roared as it spread through the roots and grass. More boulders were released into the skies, this time launching further into the Varisian main forces.
Koda channeled magic to spring up massive wooden hands to catch one of the boulders, but the rest fell into a destructive impact, sending bodies and limbs flying.
“Forward – march!” Aric ordered as his men finally overcame the magically grown obstacles. As soon as they were close enough for another head on charge.
“Prepare to defend!” Dallin called out as the Estinian and Long Whisper forces clashed into a full on battle with the Varisian forces.
Koda hurdled alongside Wildeye over bodies and fighting men, but a bolo tangled his familiar’s feet, sending her tumbling across the ground. Koda jumped off his saddle to come to his wolf’s aid. A vision of several soldiers charging behind alerted him to the oncoming dangers. He swung around and lifted his hands into the air. Emerging roots tangled the bodies of the enemy soldiers with stunning efficiency.
Koda quickly untied Wildeye’s legs. Once free, she instantly jumped up to snatch a swordsman’s arm within her jaws. The swordsman cried in anguish as she threw him to the ground. Quickly, Wildeye lunged for the throat of another enemy that came to flank Koda. Koda found himself overwhelmed as he earnestly tried to keep more and more men at bay with serrated leaves and whipping vines, but finally a pike plunged into his side. Wildeye yelped in pain as she collapsed to the ground. A magic empathic wound formed the familiar, seeping warm, red blood just as the pike wound did on her master.
Koda roared in agony as he sent the assailant flying with the crack of a vine whip. Marcus and several White Cloaks fought hard to reach Koda.
“You don’t look so well, Koda. We need to get you to a medic!” yelled Marcus, between heavy breaths.
Koda gripped Marcus’s cloak in pain, and hovered his hand over the gaping wound. His palm began to glow a faint cerulean as his wound slowly began to close. Koda grunted through the strain to use the Magi under such a great deal of pain and stress, finally giving up with a half-way closed wound, “Protect me, I need to rest a bit. Then I’ll be able to fight more.”
Marcus smirked, “You heard the elf, form a ring! Let’s get this mage back to tip-top shape!”