As dawn approached, our battle lines marched towards the ruins of the Black Citadel, spearmen and shields in front defending archers, cavaliers behind us ready to charge. The Black Legion had gathered around the ruins, garrisoning the remnants of the walls with its crossbowmen, plugging the gaps between the ruined walls with swordsmen and pikemen, gathering a huge reserve force in the central courtyard around the central tower ready to plug any holes in its forces. The Citadel had not been rebuilt, but even its exploded remnants were a potent defensive structure.

We came within bowshot as the first sliver of the sun's bright orb peeked over the horizon. Throughout our lines, a halt and fire was called. I crouched behind my shield as the bowmen behind me drew, ready for the sky to darken with arrows. The crossbows of the Black Legion still did not fire--perhaps they waited for us to approach closer, before they wasted their shots. No matter. We would force the issue.

"Fire!" was called, and on cue every bowstring twanged. As the sky darkened, a mighty wind suddenly swept up, buffeting my shield and challenging my grip on it. I watched in horror as our arrows turned around.

I had only seconds to react before our arrows returned to us. Would I stand and block our own arrows with our shields, hoping to minimize casualties? No. I yelled a battle cry, and began to charge.

I led the charge at the tip of the spear, my shield before me, my men charging beside me, shields layered on front of us, in a wedge formation. The crossbowmen from the broken walls ahead of us began firing their crossbows, but not accounting for the wind, went high and missed us. Behind our spears and shields our archers ran, and the rain of arrows fell behind us onto the plain. All around me, other formations of spearmen followed suit and charged the gaps in the walls. A few held back, and some stood and took the brunt of the arrows on their shields, and lost some men.

We hit the men manning the gap at a full run, their eyes wide and shocked at the suddenness and ferocity of our charge. I deflected a pike with my shield, running at full clip as my spear smote home, skewering the man before me. All around me my men's spears struck home, and the first line of defenders at the gap fell.

I drew sword as my men drew up behind me. Holding my shield before me, I charged up the broken section of the citadel wall to my right. Crossbows twanged as the wall defenders sought to repel us, but the high winds threw the crossbow bolts wide. A crossbowman tried to line up a shot on my head at point blank range as I charged, only to be skewered by a thrown spear from the man behind me, who then drew his own sword.

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We hacked our way up the citadel wall. A swordsman rushed me from above, and I took his sword blow on my shield, then pushed him off the wall with a mighty shove of my shield. He fell onto the spears of my men below. My sword Swelfalster cleaved the next as his hack bounced uselessly off my shield, and the man beside me took out another.

Suddenly, the winds buffeting us stopped, and on cue, a hail of crossbow bolts rained on me from the wall top. One bounced off my helmet, more bounced off my shield, and the man beside me took a bolt to the throat and fell.

My archers below drew and sent their reply. Pierced by our arrows, crossbowmen fell off the wall and the last swordsman defending them did likewise. Another two of my men joined my side, swords drawn, and we cleared the wall of enemies with our slashes and thrusts. My archers followed behind me, took position on top of the wall behind shields held by my spearmen, and began raining down arrows on our enemies. I and my swordsmen protected the approaches to the wall from any enemies attempting to take back the high ground.

On the wall segments around us, the same story repeated, faster in some places, slower in others. The forces of Talore and Tarmel were taking the walls of the Citadel, and with them, the ability to rain arrows down on the central courtyard with impunity. The forces of the Black Legion milled around in confusion as their front line of pikes was taken out by our arrows from the side.

Now a horn sounded, and our spearmen and swordsmen cleared the gaps in the wall, climbing onto the wall segments, or melting to the side behind or in front of the walls. The ground thundered with galloping hooves as our cavaliers began their charge, lances lowered, tight formations aiming through the gaps in the wall between our infantry. With a shock like an earthquake they met the host of the Black Legion and skewered them, our archers having softened their pikemen too much for an organized stand against our mounted charge. Confusion reigned and our enemies began to flee as our cavaliers broke formation to concentrate on cutting down enemies from above, one by one.

Things changed as we continued to hold the walls. No longer did the central tower use its powerful windmakers to interfere with our archers. Now, flaming arrows shot out from the central tower, burning with magical fire. Every wooden structure still existing on the walls was being struck. They meant to smoke us down, and panic our horses with flames and smoke.

So far, we'd been winning the battle of the outer ruins. But who knew what magitech the central tower had yet to unleash on us?

I came to a decision. Pulling a spear from one of our dead enemies, I held it aloft and called the spearmen of my unit to me. Beneath the wall, we re-equipped and formed up. Overlapping our shields and holding our spears at ready, we faced the central tower, and once more, broke into a run.