Morning justified Avern. His risk had came off. As the sun rose so too did the army. Their sleep had not been an overly comfortable one but at least now when they attacked they did so with some rest after their intense march. And with a rising sun to inspire them.
Avern met the other Lords of the greatest Families in his own pavilion. He chose the finest warriors from their numbers. Whatever his feelings were towards him Farda was one of them, and his family had brought along with them four Chimeras to the Battle besides. He was gathered along with Lord Tregar, Lord Dren of House Danann and Lord Ressan of House Parandin. Andol and Savar were there too. Whilst the final preparations were being made outside they were busy making their own preparations inside.
Avern’s table had been entirely given over to a map of Chairn appropriately marked with the army of the Vampiri which surrounded it. Now so close they had a clear idea of the Vampiri and their positioning.
“The Pure-Bloods are in the siege camp’s center. I will lead the main of our Chimeras directly there. Andol and Savar will come with me. With surprise and our speed we will be able to engage them and tie them down long enough for the army to arrive. Lord Tregar, you will lead the left flank. If the defenders are watchful and wise they will react quickly to what is happening. Our last correspondence to them was met with silence but I trust that they will have the wits to recogise what is happening. Skirt as close to the wall as you can and seek to join up with whatever men they choose to send out to aid us.”
Tregar nodded to Avern before quickly directing his focus back to the table.
Avern traced his finger down onto the map.
“Lord Dren, I want you to lead our right. Head far wide before arrowing back in. Plunge into their center. If we take that then their thralls will falter at the edges.”
“An honor, my King.” Dren gave a short bow.
Avern raised his hand towards Ressan, oldest of the Lords he had seen more fighting in his own life than most of the other Chimeras put together.
“Lord Ressan, you will lead our center. I want you to hold back a little before you engage. Allow the left and right time to create their confines before you charge in. Take twenty chimeras with you to act as it’s head.”
“Ten will do.” Ressan didn’t look up from the map. “Keep the others for the Pure-Bloods.”
Avern smiled and finally turned to Farda. He stood stony faced and arms crossed.
“Lord Farda. You will lead the Household Guards. Take my own Guard with you. Follow me and the other Chimeras to the Camp’s center. You will have five of your own chimeras to use as you wish. What we start you will finish. ”
Lord Farda showed no emotion but Avern was pleased to see him bow low.
“It is a good plan, my King.”
Avern looked at each of them. He nodded his head satisfied and drew his sword from about his waist.
“Today we show the Vampiri that Gorias has not grown weak. We took what power they once had for our own. We rule this continent now. Us. We dominate. They survive. Today we remind them what happens to those who anger us. They may stand against us now but they will be made to kneel by day’s end. Ready your men. Today we hunt.”
Savar beat his chest at Avern’s words and one by one the others followed. Avern’s heart began to beat fast. He enjoyed it’s thumping on his chest as he led the way out of the Pavilion and into the growing sun.
There was little time to waste, every moment spent organising gave the opportunity for them to be revealed.
Avern took up his position at the head of the Chimerean cohort. All of them with the blood of the Chimeras in their veins. They would lead the attack, and consequently be the earliest indicator of which way the battle would fall. Avern was the first to change. Placing his fingers to his forehead he took a deep breath in and relinquished control.
The sun’s glare reflected differently in his Chimera’s eye. It felt good to be in his Beast form again. He could not help recalling the last time he had had to face off against Vampiri. Sangar seemed a distant memory to him now. He was bigger now, much bigger. Some of the oldest Chimeras might still have some size on him but not much. And Avern was still in his prime. While those older Chimeras had long since lost their some of their speed, if not their ferocity, he now had the perfect blend of speed and strength.
He stretched waiting for the others to transform. A lot of the Chimeras gathered were new to him, he had seen most in training but never enough to be able to recognise them all.
Avern had to fight down the animalistic urge to roar out, it would not do for him to be the one to ruin their plans. Instead he watched closely as the men began to move to their positions. The Chimeras would be on the Vampiri in minutes once they got running. It was important to give the men enough time to be ready to strike once the Chimeras had made their own move. He waited until the rear of the men on both flanks had almost disappeared before he finally turned back to those gathered behind him. No words were needed. They were ready. Avern turned back and began bounding off towards the city. He led and the others followed close behind. The sound of close to a hundred Chimeras charging was surprisingly quiet. Low growls and snarls reached him but little else. Despite their size none of them had lost the feline sense of subtlety. Were it not for the mountain of dust they sent up behind them there would have been no sign of their approach. Even as it was the precautions and careful elimination of Vampir scouts had proved it’s worth. As they came over the ridge to peer down at the Vampir camp far below them Avern saw with some pleasure that there was no wall of pale faced soldiers to meet them. The camp was well organised it was true, but they had not expected an attack from behind their lines. As Avern picked up his speed and pushed faster his keen eyes made out the scramble as the Vampir rushed to try and meet them.
He was the first through, a brave group of thralls had sought to block his path. Avern waited until he was 12 meters away before he leapt high over the pikes lined up against him. His tail lashed down on the front line of them even as he landed in amongst the middle. He fell horns first, goring several as he landed. He didn’t stop to finish off the rest of them, they could be dealt with later. He used his claws to tear out a path and continued on his way through the camp, he headed straight for the center ignoring all except those few Vampiri soldiers which were foolish enough to get in his way.
Over the din of the camp and it’s desperate attempts to form up he heard the sound of battle coming away to the left near Chairn’s walls. Lord Tregar moves fast.
Avern slowed slightly as the Vampiri’s center came up before him, he waited as one by one the Chimera’s fell into lines of four. Pure Bloods were never ones to be complacent. The home to their kind for the siege was encircled by a high wooden palisade.
Avern charged, subtlety was good, but sometimes brute force was the answer. The gate to the palisade was closed. But when Avern brought his considerable weight to smash against it the gate instantly collapsed in. Three Chimeras barged in immediately after him, Avern saw Savar amongst them.
Inside they were met by a row of Pure Bloods. They stood passive, gleaming in their ebony Tralorian armor, so dark the sun seemed to drown in their surface. Avern held back a moment, it was never wise to rush when it came to their kind, even a Chimera needed to be wary facing them. As more of his Chimerean kin were streaming in now, Avern began to slowly move forward, it was key that the Pure Bloods were not able to get to the rest of the Battle. They had to tie them down for no man could hope to stand against them, they’d rip through the army if given free rein.
Avern picked one target from the numbers of the Pure Bloods, a figure of authority in the middle. Their leader perhaps. The Vampiri had formed up in a loose line, leaving plenty of space between them. They did not enjoy fighting in groups, they preferred to fight alone where they could freely move and use their unnatural speed to destroy whatever stood before them. This one seemed content with Avern’s challenge. He drew two swords and began whirling them, the spins so fast Avern saw only the blur of steel.
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Avern disregarded the others around him busy engaging the rest of the Pure Bloods. He increased his speed slightly and whipped his tail around to thrust it at the Vampir’s face but was snapped back by the force of the spinning swords. However, he didn’t hesitate, instead lunging forward and using his horns to shatter the blades as they spun. At the same time he skipped to the side and jabbed a claw towards the Vampir. He quickly pulled back as his paw felt the sting of steel slicing across it. Avern cursed and the beast in him roared out. He turned using his tail as a feint before swinging his clenched paw down like a hammer. The Vampir was too fast to be caught like that. Avern only barely managed to get his horns in the way of a vicious strike of a sword aimed at his neck. He leapt again missing the Vampir but his tail followed him and he smiled as he felt it cut down on flesh. A shallow wound but a wound nonetheless. The Vampir, eager no doubt to show how little it affected him now went on the attack. He stepped to the right before switching suddenly to the left and then back again, Avern’s head flicked both sides struggling to maintain the Vampir in his vision. A sword came flying towards him and Avern desperately flung his head to block again with his horns.
This time he was a moment too slow, the horns succeeded in deflecting the sword but not completely. The steel grazed all along Avern’s right flank. He didn’t have time to curse as the vampir pressed again, striking and moving so fast Avern could only focus on defending himself rather then pushing back. He felt the sting of steel piercing through what defence he could offer, too fast and too frequently. Each cut a glance of the blade, but for each one added Avern felt the pain more intensely. He was being slowly drained, death by a thousand strikes. Avern needed to change the dynamics of their duel, he need to gain control. When yet another strike got through Avern roared out loudly, a cry of anguish and reatreated back, he heard rather than saw the short laughter of the Vampir. Avern braced himself again, another litany of strikes rang out against him, but this time he caved a little easier, he controlled the strike which got through. Right between his horns. The Vampir hissed in triumph at the strike and made to pull it back out. He couldn’t. Avern twisted his head violently and the blade trapped between the two snapped. Tralorian steel was renowned, and rightly so. But against the horns of a Chimera steel held little effect. The Vampir was shocked by the loss of his blade and for the first time his step was hesitant, only a brief almost indistinguishable hesitancy. But Avern saw it.
He launched himself at the Vampir. The pale face looked up in horror as Avern slammed down into him. They rolled and the Vampir was now trapped underneath Avern’s claws. Avern didn’t pause and instantly bit down hard. The Vampir’s entire left shoulder was ripped from the body still screaming. Avern lifted his head and roared out in triumph.
He embraced the victory only a moment before he turned to aid his kin busy in their own duels.
A quick glance around told him that the rest of the Chimeras were finding the Pure Bloods no easier a task than he had. He passed a Chimera lying lifeless on the ground, another Chimera and a Vampir were lying in a pool of blood side by side closeby. Avern put them out of his mind and focused on a Chimera desperately fighting off a pair of Vampiri.
Avern didn’t think but picked up the body of the dead Vampir beside him and swinging his own body around launched the dead Pure Blood into one of his brothers attacking. It landed clean, smashing into the Vampiri just turning to Avern and sending him flying backwards. If the pain of being struck by a dead body wasn’t enough then the surprise of seeing one of his own being used as a missile was enough to give the Vampiri pause.
Avern leapt forward towards the other stunned figure, his injured kin saw him and with some effort replicated his leap. The Vampir, now the one outnumbered managed to easily swat aside the wounded Chimera’s tail and more impressively, with his free hand he expertly wielded a dagger to also deflect Avern’s tail. But he didn’t block the claw which followed through. Avern caught the Vampir by the stomach and ripped hard, pulling out the Pure Bloods entrails with him.
A scream from behind him told him this Vampir had been dear to the one he’d he’d left in a heap by the rampart. Avern turned to face him but there was no threat. The Vampir lay trapped underneath the dead body Avern had catapualted at him. Avern was pleased with his own strength. Even for a Chimera it was no easy thing to have crushed legs with a dead lump of meat.
Avern finished him quickly, a sharp thrust of his tail and the Vampir’s screams ended in an instant.
He turned back ready to help up the wounded Chimera but he was too late. He saw a Vampir already on top of him ramming his blade down into the lion head.
Avern retreated a step as the victorious Vampir stepped down and was joined by two more of his kind. Avern stretched out his claws and roared in defiance. Against three pure bloods he would be sorely tried, he would do well to survive the first attack.
Fortunately it never came.
A horn blasted out over the noise and the chaos, loud and clear. Inside the palisade enclosure it was hard to see what the battlefield now looked like and Avern had almost forgotten it in the intensity of the fighting. He looked on with relief as from over the Palisade a Chimera leapt, an impressive feat even for one of them. Two more came after him and to the right Avern saw a troop of men, household guards, piling inside the stockades.
The three Pure Bloods paused in their step. Avern saw a look pass between them. They could choose to fight against increasingly overwhelming odds or they could choose to flee. They chose to flee.
Avern didn’t bother calling for a chase, they’d never catch a Pure Blood in full flight. And besides defeating their army was the goal, not hunting down those already in retreat. He rejoined with the other bloodied Chimeras who’d been first to reach the Vampiri’s center. Even at first glance there numbers had suffered. Avern let the reinforcements hunt out the Pure Bloods while he leapt up onto a battlement aside the gate. From here he could survey the entire battlefield.
He saw the open gates of Chairn. He’d hoped they would have the sense to and his faith had been well placed. Even now men were streaming out of its gates, high on the thrill of a retreating enemy and arrival of an allied army filled with Chimeras.
The Vampiri were enveloped in a storm, the right flank under Lord Dren had made their move cutting back in and were now almost joined to the others. The Vampiri had been left one avenue to escape at their rear. Convenience is a fine thing. With the option of retreat clearly laid out before them the Vampiri’s soldiers had eagerly taken up the offer. Avern was pleased to see them being forced ever further away from what remained of their camp, broken and their numbers divided and shattered.
He felt blood spilling onto the ground, he looked down and was surprised to realise it was his own. He’d sustained more cuts and wounds than he’d thought. None of them were overly deep, but they were many. Still the chimerean blood would heal them within hours and with everything going to plan he could afford a moment’s rest. Inside the palisade it was now almost cleared out. Groups of Household guards led by Chimeras raced past him in search of any surviving Pure Bloods. But they would be mostly well gone by now he knew. Avern waved them on, his wounds could wait until after. He just needed to sit a moment. He climbed down and made his way towards the open pavilion. He stumbled inside and was glad to see the space empty apart from five house guards busy searching it.
Avern lifted his head but saw and smelt nothing of the enemy. Satisfied he pressed a paw to his forehead and took in a deep breath. Whereas before he had towered over the guards now he was eye to eye with them. Immediately he felt his mind ease, released from the tension of the Beast in it’s entirety.
“It’s clear. Go, see what is needed outside. The Vampiri need to hav retreated out of sight of Chairn’s walls before we can rest.”
Avern pulled up a stool and urged the men out. He sat down deeply and examined himself. His wounds were not as prominent on his much smaller human body, and he could feel them healing as he rested. It wouldn’t take long. The pavilion’s flaps rustled open, Avern raised his head wearily, “What is-?”
There was no one there. Avern could see or smell nothing. Even in his human form he should have been able to smell out a Vampiri. He got to his feet and drew his sword. He saw a shrouded shape rush at him, he didn’t have time to wonder how it was here. Nor did he have time to change back. He clashed with the hooded figure and flung himself backwards out of range. He was about to cry out for aid when he felt a blade plunge into the back of him.
His breath was driven out of him and he exclaimed as if exhaling deeply. The sword went right through him. He looked down to see it erupting out of his stomach. He tried again to call out but the blood was alreay bubbling in his mouth, preventing words.
He looked up as the figure in front approached him slowly, all Avern could see were the eyes. Blood red. Pure-Blood eyes.
How?
Avern desperately lunged at him but his blow was easily parried aside. Avern fell to his knees.
“Quick, we’ve already delayed enough. Be done with it.”
The Vampir behind him hissed, his sword was still embedded in Avern but now he drew it out, slowly, painstakingly. The one in front complied without a word. He pulled out a dagger and jammed it into Avern’s neck.
Avern fell and landed on his side, the dagger stood upright and he could make out the hilt from the corner of his eye. His eyes glazed but he saw the Vampiri too. They threw off their cloaks and now two Household guards stood before him.
They didn’t spare another minute on him and brushed themselves down before strolling back outside the pavilion.
Avern’s life flowed out of him, almost as fast as the blood flowing out of his neck and stomach. He could feel himself slipping. He gurgled, blood gathering in his mouth.
Help. They had help. The Vampiri could not have acted alone. His real killers had been the ones who’d allowed the Assassins reach him.
His vision faded, the room began to grow dark. Avern heard footsteps charging into the pavilion, even as they came they grew fainter. The began to shout and crowd around him, he heard the panic in their voices. But he could only make out one word, one word again and again.
“KING. KING. King.”