Dreu, taking a lesson from one of the knights he observed in the cave on the night he met Baldwin, bashed the demon before him with the shield. He brought down his ax on the demon’s head when it was still staggered. Lacking a helmet, the demon’s head fared poorly against the ax and the demon collapsed onto the ground. With the token resistance dealt with swiftly, the humans made their way out of the encirclement. Dreu took a quick glance behind him but he couldn’t see Zhao anymore. The new group of demons had surrounded the footman. He also discovered he and the footman couldn’t communicate anymore indicating there was a limited range.
Prioritizing his own safety first, Dreu studied the surroundings until he spotted a small plateau ahead of them. He moved towards it with all the knights in tow. They quickly scaled the plateau that provided them more information on their situation. The demon force responsible for encircling them remained in position with no signs of pursuing them to the puzzlement of Dreu. The demon soldiers seemed far more interested in what was happening around Zhao than them. Meanwhile, neither the other demon force nor the other two human forces could be seen anywhere. Only the corpses of humans and demons provided any clues of where the unknown parties might have gone.
Dreu tried his best to not vomit from seeing the carnage. The scene somehow made what happened at Berkton look tame. He felt that there was blood covering every inch of the ground and had given up on keeping tally of the losses on both sides. Based on his observation, he estimated the demon casualties to be about double the human casualties. If it weren’t for the fact they were so outnumbered, those odds might actually tip the balance in their favor. Knowing that staying still wouldn’t benefit them, Dreu turned to the knights.
“Let’s try to regroup with the others,” said the young man.
The knights had taken the opportunity to tend to the wounded. The short journey to the plateau was difficult enough for some of them. The wounded all offered to stay behind to hold off the demons for as long as they could. They urged Dreu and the able bodied knights to flee at once. Dreu watched as the knights said goodbye to their fellow comrades. Once the farewells were concluded, he and dozens of knights followed the path strewn with corpses. Along the way, the humans encountered either a few surviving knights or a few demon stragglers. Dreu learned that many skirmishes broke out during the human retreat and they were encountering the victors of those small skirmishes.
The knights were a welcome addition while the demons were cut down instantly. Dreu was focused on bolstering his group as much as possible, anticipating further combat moving forward. He wasn’t even certain if the other two human forces hadn’t been wiped out already. With no confirmation they had reinforcements, they were essentially on their own as they looked for a way out of the mess. The larger their numbers, the better their odds. After a few hours, the young man and the knights decided they needed a break. During the short break, Dreu summoned Bayard after he was notified Zhao was defeated through the prompt. Summoning Bayard left him slightly out of breath but he was more interested in what Zhao had to say.
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How were you defeated, Zhao?
I don’t remember the details but I know I was facing some powerful opponents. I vaguely recall being stabbed in the back.
It’s too bad you don’t remember the details.
What we remember depends on a number of factors. It’s best to assume we don’t remember anything important.
Knowing the demon force was no longer held back by Zhao, Dreu spoke with the knights who agreed to continue moving. Several minutes later, there was a commotion happening at the rear.
“The demons are here!” shouted one knight.
“What do we do?” screamed another knight.
Dreu noticed the knights were visibly shaken at the mention of the enemy. Morale was wavering for the knights due to how the day was going, though he did notice their morale stabilize briefly following the appearance of Bayard. The footman had a way of anchoring the men, much like what one expected of a general. He turned to Bayard seeking his advice as what he felt internally matched what the knights were expressing externally.
To stand and fight is one valiant way to go but you are too valuable to lose your life here. Xyheia won’t forgive us if anything happened to you here. I would advise you to continue fleeing. Even slaying these demons won’t halt the demon invasion. Why sacrifice your life for so few gains?
Dreu sensed an urgency in Bayard’s tone. He climbed a rock to get a good look at the incoming demons. The incoming demons were riding wolves which explained how they were able to catch up so quickly. The wolves looked very adept at moving through the terrain and each of them looked as dangerous as the demons sitting atop them. Dreu counted two dozen demons with their own dangerous looking mounts.
They hope to slow us down so the rest of the demons can catch up to us. I know I should flee but I doubt we can get very far with those demons pursuing us. Leaving our back open to them seems far more reckless.
A wolf pounced on a knight knocking the man down. Before the knight could recover, he was beheaded by the demon atop the wolf.
We will just have to end this battle swiftly so we can widen the gap with our pursuers. Ignoring them will result in our defeat faster.
“Knights,” shouted Dreu. “Shield wall!”
The panicking knights, upon hearing the order, got into formation that gradually formed a circle. Dreu and Bayard then joined the circle which ensured they had no blind spots. Everyone had their shields raised while they observed the demons. The demons, upon seeing the humans regaining their composure and in a defensive formation, merely circled the shield wall until one demon arrived.
“Your blood will dye this land red,” said a demon atop a wolf with dark gray pelt.