Rinsan Forest

The day was getting as bad as it came for the corporal Ostribide, after the botched attack in the late afternoon some enemy units started hunting the routing militias, in the mad scramble she and her troop found themselves cut off from the main force, then nearly half of their men have lost themselves somewhere it this blasted forest and to top it all after heavens know how many turns and twists she still has a the enemy hot in their heels, one of her men have fallen just in front of her, the long and ivory like spear that the Blighted used as projectiles pinned him to an ashen tree just like some critter in an apothecary shop, the city was near, all too near, but with the enemy so close she cannot risk pushing any further, it was time to face the music and hope that their pursuers turn back instead of running to the city, she shudders, tired and scared, she knows all too well that her next order will doom them but there is no option left…

-...! You men, take positions! Here that creek, take shelter!- a depression in the ground offered some cover from the incoming fire, straining her voice to sound more confident that she actually was she arranged the men under her command all the while trying to spot their enemies, the night was young and cold, above them the canopy of the forest hide the dim stars casting deep shadows, too late to have any sun, too early for the moon to really shine, pressed as hard as she can against some ancient tree, the corporal hold her breath and checked her pouch for spare shoots, the heft off her light-spear the only reassuring thing in her world, somewhere to her right the muffled sounds off the rest of the troop, some in the ground, some in the woods, making a thin arc, all of them going through similar motions some silent, some praying and one of them scribbling something in a mad haste… without light all that remains to find their enemy was the tell tale rustling as they large bodies make way in the undershrub and the smaller trees, closing the distance.

Within the minute her troops were arranged in a crescent, with a good spacing between them so as to avoid a good target to incoming magical attacks, a pang of yearning washed Ostribide, as she recalled the words of her drill instructor years ago, doing this same manoeuvres leading the fresh recruits during the first year of the war when the world still made any sense, that same drill Sergeant who has fallen to the Lusolite spears, along so many other companions, their ghosts still haunting the spare times when they can sit down an mull over the war… with a snap she yanked herself out off the memories, focusing all on this moment, dreading the moment in which the forces will clash her fingers running lightly over the engravings in her weapon, the sleek shaft crafted from a Durian tree was more sturdy than it let in show, reinforced with the magic radiating from the solid core of alchemical metal, form the studs at the bottom were the etheric crystal laid to the double edged blade firmly attached to the point, their meder and sixty cilchs length encompassed the very best of their military tech, the tingling sensation of the ether running under those fingers was but a figment of her mind, but she always find it reassuring, with a practised ease, she level the point of the light-spear, taking aim between the crescent gavials, and hold her breath; to her sides, some of her soldiers were already in similar stances, some others were readying their swords, a faint aura of magic in their armours, ready to broke into the melee, their faces grim, all of them knowing deep down that this was their last hour, their last stand…

-Enemy!- the shout was brief, to her right, a brief glance let her see the dreaded monsters walking on the trail that they have been using, to crooked to be a proper road, the monsters treading with some unease, but unerringly and inexorably they made their way, two of what the military intelligence has pegged as cavalry faced the soldiers, tall as two grown men, broad like a wagon, six stumpy legs supported an almost round and elongated body, the front of the critter arching up to form what looked as a crude imitation of a torso, two big appendages jutted at the sides, bristling with wicked claws in one side, while the odd contraption that fired spears and sometimes fire run the length of the other, with the odd gait that so many legs provided, the enemies approached, their shovel sized hooves pounding, their odd shaped and armoured bodies betraying no emotion at all, no fear, no fury, no mercy.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

With a steady gaze Ostribide eyeballed the distance, two hundred meders, given or taken, too far for solid hits, - hold!- the deceivingly slow gait of the lumbering giants will close that breach in no time, and… something moved in the shadows between the blighted “knights”, the knot in her stomach turned yet again, when the gauntly shape of the enemy infantry make itself clear, a dozen or so of the lithe monsters taking cover behind the foremost monster, their long blade shaped appendages skittering fast, their walk eerie and bug like -steady- a rustle while their men took aim was the response to her commands, nothing else moved while the seconds crawl, no words nor questions, she feel proud and sad, for their men were facing doom to her side without flinching, and soon it will be upon all of them… with a roughly hundred and half meders between them a muffled sound came then the knights loose their opening salvo, the spear came flying fast, the first one embedded itself in a tree nearby, almost skewering the soldier behind it, a short yell out of her vision told her that one of her soldiers was hit, probably killing him in the spot, a plume of vapour rose from the enemies, and another volley came, then another, all the while the monsters keep pace, with nary a sound besides the stomp of heavy feet, and the rustle of their odd armours among the leaves.

- Fire!- she yelled, a hundred and twenty meders, the perfect range for their weapons, all as one the remaining spears of the troop loose a volley, ether flow within their weapons, shaping itself like the blades then flew like comets in the night, a strike of light in pure white, to crash firmly unto the monsters with an almost musical ring, this kind of barrage was what have broken their enemies so many times in the past, tearing through flesh and metal, flying death with a side dish of terror when the ether managed to burst an enchantment engulfing the poor sod in flames or lightning, the spears sing their deadly song, pounding and skewering… and all the while, the enemies keep going, ringing like bells, taking hits that will kill horses with nary a flinch, answering some of them with dead of their own all the while closing the gap, after roughly a minute the reservoir of the spears was depleting, some soldiers already changing the dull crystals in their weapons with fresh ones from their pouches or swapping weapons with a partner, Ostribide herself was burning through her second crystal when a change in the battlefield came, without warning, all at once the enemy infantry jumped and run to them, shrugging the odd shot that managed to land on them, their limbs a blur they close the gap in mere moments, her own troops were no slackers and jumped to their feet and ran head on to the fray, swords and maces at the ready, even some of the spears joined the fight, either for lack of ether or a lapse in judgement, the remaining spears retreated a little, aiming the best that they could at the incoming enemies, but in was as vain as any other attempt to hurt the awful things, shouts and curses filled the air when the melee fighters clashed, in a mere moment all kind of order was lost, as the soldiers broke on small groups and tried to surround their opponents, in a motion akin to hunters fighting a beast, dodging and attacking in a mad and deadly dance, for a single blow of their enemy has proven time and time again enough to rend a horse and rider in the same motion, fuelled by sheer desperation a soldier jumped in the back of a critter, hammering at what for want of a better guess was the head, but his bravery costed him dearly, for a stray blow of the monster tore his leg, another pair were struggling with some rope tangled in the wake of another monster to no avail, here and there shots and blows glanced and crashed in the hideous monsters, and here and there another soldier fall to a blow quicker than expected, or a shot from the knights, yet their enemies keep going strong, the stomp of the heavier ones closer every heartbeat, Ostribide keep firing and yelling numb to the fear, her heart heavy for she knows that this was their end, an instant latter her world turned and tumbled has she landed face first in the woodland soil, the taste of blood filled her mouth, a sharp pain told her that her arm was broken or worse, and a odd pressure robbed her of air, shaken and hurt she rolled, or tried to, something was tangled on her back; with a cry of pain and rage she pushes back, hard, enough to get on her knees, the weight falls with a metallic sound, Ostribide turns around to see one of her soldiers, a glance is enough to see that this poor man will not march again, his chest open, a gruesome rictus in his face… a sound, something not quite metallic and not really alive and waft of stinking air came from her left… with a rising dread Ostribide turn again, one of the monstrosities strides with ease the last meders between them readying his strike, all her senses yelling to run Ostribide find herself rooted, the pain numbing her limbs, a body weary for the chase and the fight, her only option to stand, to stand and die standing like a soldier of Diaz.

Saca Ostribide rose to her feet, and yelled fury and defiance to her monstrous killer.

And the monster staggered and keeled over.

Along the rest of its unit.