For the Ikona, the trumpets were a dual signal - the start of the battle, and the signals for the rock chargers to advance. The Ighora watched with expectation as the elephants began to barrel towards the enemy line - he couldn’t help but pity the white cloaks that had been sent out early, they would be the first to be pushed into the ground. As the enemy drew closer, Michail was taken aback. They were 3 rows of women who wore no armour, only a white cloth hood and an unfamiliar insignia. It was clear these women were not warriors, there would be no meaning in their sacrifice.
The women were now seconds away from the chargers, Michail watched as they raised their hands in unison. What followed was a blinding flash, the likes of which no Ighora had ever seen before. A burst of light pierced his eyes, he stumbled but managed to stay on his feet, was this some new kind of magic?
Michail raised his head and rubbed his eyes to see the result of this action, the first 2 lines of white cloaks being trampled in the confusion, as expected. The last row, however, had their hands on the ground, they moved the earth with their magic and were shifting the direction of the blinded rock chargers.
Before the son of the Ighora had time to think, the chargers fell upon his part of the line. Amidst the screams of terror, Michail had stopped thinking, only instincts could keep him alive now. He turned and ran towards the rapid mages, getting as far away from the chargers as possible. Unfortunately, the rock chargers were headed the same way, Michail looked back to see a charger with closed eyes, carrying a huge boulder only seconds away from him. He shut his eyes in fear and never opened them again.
---
The Umpetha were a simple people, farmers based out of Thalassanqaba for as long as their history could remember. But, even the son of hardened warriors, would not have been prepared for the chaos unfolding in front of Krymenos. He remembered seeing a heavenly light, and the next thing he knew, the line of warriors in front of him had been decimated by their own rock chargers. He was lucky to still be alive, just 20 meters from him a charger had punched a hole in his line as well. The Imperium was not sitting still either, their rapid mages had taken advantage of the confusion and were now finishing off the rapid mages of the left flank. “Advance.” came an order from behind, “leave the left to the Hatha and advance”. Krymenos was still in a daze, but his body responded automatically, if he was to die anyway, he might as well do so while moving forward. He rallied all of his strength and charged forward.
He could see the chargers who had kept their path true charging in front of him, they had reached the first Diaf line and were about to avenge the left flank. Suddenly, there was a rapid change in the Empire's formation. Sections of soldiers across the first line shuffled back, and in a swift movement slotted into a gap to their right. The Empire had never been arranged in lines like the Ikona were, there were large gaps between each column of the lines[1].
Rock chargers are not trained to be suicidal, when faced with a row of spears the well-trained ones will move into free space if possible. This sealed their fate, Krymenos watched as the climbers shaved off parts of the Imperium lines while escaping into the gaps, but the majority of the Empire's troops were unharmed. They now had the chargers surrounded on all sides, and a sea of javelins and arrows rained down on the mighty magicians. By the time Krymenos’s line had reached the first Diaf line, the chargers had fallen with little achievements to speak of. He had no time to curse them for their failures, it was his turn now. He raised his shield and packed in tight with the surrounding soldiers. The Umpetha was not in the front line, but he needed to provide relief to the fighters up ahead if they started to give any ground. Krymenos screamed out loud to give himself the bravery for what was needed next, and pushed forward.
----
Hagnon Mukuru watched in horror as the battlefield laughed at him. That the light bringers appeared right before the most inexperienced rock chargers was surely a cruel stroke of fate. He ordered the left flank of his Hatha warriors to encircle the Diaf rapid mages, who had seized the initiative and were decimating his own rapid mages on the left. They had overreached, and were now stuck in combat without being able to utilise their mobility, the Hatha would make quick work of them. This gave Hagnon no consolation, Sciprio would be more than happy to sacrifice half of his rapids to achieve what they just did, and this was before mentioning the disastrous performance of the Ikona chargers. The Empire was innovating at a terrifying pace, the strategy that had routed them multiple times was not just nullified but turned against the Ikona.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Fix your face Mukuru” advised Shuuja from his right, “we still have the advantage in terms of numbers, and besides you help no one by worrying your troops.”
Mukuru took the advice immediately, he was always grateful to have a second-in-command who wasn’t afraid to speak his mind, unfiltered. There was reason in Shuuja’s words as well, the Hatha had not been diminished in any way, and even the forces that he had sent to take care of the Empire's rapids could achieve this without major losses. There were only two annoying pieces left on the board.
Hagnon raised his hand and signalled to the rapids on his right flank. The mission was clear, nullify their opposite number, whatever the cost. They began their stride, some used either wind or flames to propel themselves forward, others made the earth itself slide and pull them forward, but all moved quickly in refined formation as they took the battle to the Empire's remaining rapids.
Hagnon watched the collision closely, the Ikona cavalry was performing excellently. Despite being half the number of their rivals, they held the line firm and made the Empire pay in blood for every inch of advance. But there were limits to bravery, the line crept back ever so steadily. Eventually, the Ikona turned away from the battle and sped away, with the Empire's rapids hot on their heels.
A smile crept across the Mukuru’s face, they had achieved their objective. No plan survives first contact with the enemy, but they had somehow managed to isolate infantry against infantry, as was originally planned.
“General Mukuru, the first line has been exhausted, they will start to give ground unless we push up further” came a report from the front lines, “Very well, order the second line forward.” came an immediate response.
---
The rhythm of battle had set in, and Krymenos could feel that he was doing well. He had been ordered forward nearly an hour ago, and after joining, they had pushed the Empire back a considerable amount. The fighting was in no way less severe than the moment he joined, but his senses felt numb to everything but the man in front of him. He could see the whites of his enemy's eyes, he was as afraid as Krymenos was. He thrust a spear forward into his enemy's leg before retreating into the safety of the shield wall. The whole line moved as one, pushing forward with as few gaps as possible. Krymenos pushed forward too, as the enemy before him stumbled onto the ground. He was now flailing his sword around, screaming in pain, while his leg bled profusely. Krymenos would have been disgusted by the sight just a few hours ago, but the scent of blood was all he knew now. He stepped forward out of line, rapidly jutted his spear into his enemy's neck, and retreated back into his formation. The Umpetha family had made their first kill in combat. Krymenos felt no remorse, but no joy either. He had no time for any of those thoughts, the enemy who had fallen was quickly replaced by another, and the dance of death continued.
Sir Michail was right, mages in the chaotic huddle of the infantry lines were no scarier than regular soldiers. The fire and wind mages could not carelessly use their powers lest they strike their own fighters, the water mages had no source of water to draw from, and as a budding earth mage Krymenos could sense and predict any spells the opposing earth mages deployed.
Soon enough, however, Krymenos could feel his strength leaving him. His muscles screamed for him to just lie down and accept his fate, but he knew what would happen to Paligxulu if he did. The rotations and relief from the soldiers behind him had become less frequent, the Ikonan line would not hold for long. He turned around to judge the situation, the rest of his line was in no better shape, the Empire had lost more men but had taken the initiative. Suddenly the trumpets blew, and orders came from behind “Pull back, hold the line, and pull back.” Music to his ears, Krymenos turned his back to confirm the source of the order, and before he knew it, felt a sharp pain in his left arm.
He staggered back to see a gaping wound, a piece of earth had reached out from the ground to stab him. Krymenos screamed in pain, as his comrades swallowed him into the line to give him some relief. “What would sir Michail say” he muttered to himself in disappointment, he had only one usable arm now.
He raised his head when a trumpet sounded from the Diaf side of the line “Fall back, return to the main unit” was the command. Krymenos was confused, the Ikona line was faltering, the Empire line was tired, but they were still better off than his own side, why give up the initiative now?
He glanced behind and understood immediately. The Hatha had finally started to move.