The stone hammer fell down upon the ground, giving off a mighty cracking sound as the line-breaker gave out a bellow. Maro had dodged the attack, by rolling out of the way at the last minute, but in no way was he out of danger yet. The brute of a creature brought up his hammer again and swung down upon where he stood. Maro in turn jumped backwards, loosing his balance on a fresh corpse and fell down on his buttocks. The line-breaker, having lifted his hammer again, brought it down once more. This time the hit pulverized the fresh corpse, sending blood in every direction and subsequently splattering Maro in gore. It roared as it was brought up its hammer for the fourth time, Maro quickly got on his feet, and lunged at the thing. His first strike landed on the creatures waist, where there was no armor. Blood oozed from the wound, he had hit his mark. There was no time to celebrate as he was then slapped aside, its hand hitting him square in the chest. He tumbled back and eventually slid to a stop upon his hands, the wind knocked out of him. Maro breathed, and his chest jolted in pain. Everything seemed to slow as the line-breaker brought up his hammer for the final time. It was his doom, Maro thought as he exploded from where he was, this time evading the oncoming swing that cracked the ground beside him. He jumped, using the shock-wave as boost sent his blade straight into the creatures eye-hole. Black blood spurted out and it tumbled backwards with Maro on top. Not a day earlier Maro had found himself at Castle First Reach, the gateway to the last great bastion in the land, Castle Salvano. It was the only place left to go and he needed to know if anyone else from Feer la Den had made it besides the ones he was with. If his master was there then surely he would find him, after all the guardians were a stern bunch and if anyone could make it then it would have been them. Many refugees were still pouring in from their ransacked towns and villages. Those that had managed to make it, were beyond lucky, as many would never see the light of day again and it made him shudder. Looking upon the battlements, all manner of soldiers were preparing for the inevitable. Night would soon be upon them and with it, the darkness and its all consuming army. He had made a vow to stop the darkness, and now it was destroying everything that this world knew. He shook his head in disgust. These monsters would pay for what they have done. he would stand proud when they came knocking at those gates. Eventually he had found some food being distributed by some local guards. They were surrounded by every manner of hungry folk, most being civilians who had nothing except the clothes on their backs. He pitied them, but knew that they would not be the ones fighting, and after all he would need his strength for the upcoming battle. Maro began to push his way through the crowd, but shortly after some shouts were made and other non-desirable things were said, people began to make a path. After all, he was a Templar Knight, and needed to protect these people by staying strong. Upon reaching the top he stood on a box and began to shout, "Remember that the Goddess gives strength to all who ask for it! Upon walking through these fine streets I prayed to the goddess for such strength, and when I rounded the corner I saw which could keep me well for the fight ahead! You are all doing a service by letting those who choose to fight for you, a little extra in return. I thank you for your services, may the Goddess always watch over you." With his speech done and the crowd's threats dulled for now, he got his share of the food and went somewhere quite to eat. Night fell quickly, and the area became hushed. The might of the garrison posted here was being summoned to the gate in earnest. The defense of this area was key in allowing civilians to flee and time for Salvano to bolster its defenses. Maro held little hope that this castle would outlast the siege that was before them. Regardless of that fact, he would press on with the soldiers that were now surrounding him. Some gave him looks of appreciation, others of fear but it mattered not to him as he was a Templar and the Goddess had is back. His stern expression started to relax when the Lord, Bali was his name, started to give a moral boost in the way of a speech. His heart was even lifted more when Guardian Fenris Laski could be gazed upon. It also filled him with sadness, for something told him he was the last Guardian now. His thoughts turned to battle when the gate was finally breached and the sight of the line=breakers sent a shiver down his spine, but he was ready. He stood up from the corpse, covered in fresh blood. Looking around the destruction he saw corpses everywhere, and the last of the line-breakers falling down. A new horn was played, and gazing from where he stood, he could barely see, but he did manage to catch a glimpse of a shield wall and the raining of arrows down upon them. So this new enemy knew tactics then, something that could be even more costly to them. Maro took up his sword from the brute's eye and stepped off onto the blood soaked ground, as he rejoined the ranks. Quickly the front lines were besieged and many of the creatures broke through with quickness that seemed unnatural. This new test was on its way.

Thalius looked around him. Standing atop the battlements of Castle First Reach, he was with what remained of Veradan's military strength. It was nothing to boast about: men and women who were displaced from their units and hastily merged together with what was left. He could see members of the 33rd Siege Dogs (the only unit who made it out with only half of them dead after a failed attempt to attack an undead garrison), The 21st Highlanders (An archery unit lucky enough to mostly survive Veradan's fall), and even the 29th Frontiersmen (The recruits who had been tasked with refugee evacuation). The rest of the men gathered there were of other units, too many to identify. Thalius felt a short pang of sadness when he again remembered that none of the 12th Valkyries would be standing alongside him this time, but he shook it off and steeled himself for the upcoming battle. The strange skull that broke the gate took them all by surprise. Thalius had not seen such a monstrosity when Veradan's gates were breached. Though he had recovered himself from the momentary shock, something told him that this battle might be worse and more brutal than any fight he had seen with these creatures yet. The first things to attack them however, were something he was more familiar with. "Line Breakers first... Typical strategy. Soften us up and divide our ranks to make us easy targets for the rest of their force" Thalius thought as he studied their enemy. Their massive size and weaponry were meant to intimidate and destroy. If it was the first time he had seen them, Thalius might have been scared. However, he had seen these brutes twice before, and he knew what they were capable of. He also knew they were very slow and dim-witted; anyone fast enough could bring one down so long as they had support distracting the Line Breaker. He and the other Rangers had prepared their longbows and were waiting for the order to fire. Eventually, the Guardian from Feer la Den, Fenris Laski had given the order and they prepared to launch their arrows. "Notch!” With discipline honed from years of training, the Veradan Rangers all pulled back their bows in complete sync with one another, ready to fire on demand. “Loose!” And with that, the arrows from their section all shot off at the same time, covering the enemy with projectiles, and bringing down a few of them. But it did not stop their advance. "All we can do is weaken them and hope that the men on the ground can do the rest" Thalius thought as he remembered their role for this battle. The Line Breakers continued closing the distance to their footmen. “Free fire!” Laski ordered. With that, the Rangers started aiming their shots at the weak points instead of just creating a large volley of arrows. Thalius pulled back on the string of his bow and chose a target among all the Line Breakers. He decided to go for one that was approaching Fenris. "Corporal Garret, assist me with this target!" Thalius commanded the Ranger to his left, gesturing at the Line Breaker heading towards The Guardian. "I'll stun him. And you put one straight through his head." He said, as he quickly launched a shot at the Line Breaker's neck, causing the foe to stagger, and Garret immediately launched his arrow straight through the eye, causing the creature to roar its signature scream. "Bullseye!" Garret shouted. "No time to celebrate, they're beginning their charge!" Another Ranger said. The Line Breakers had already closed the distance between their lines, and fights were erupting everywhere. "They're too close to our men! Shots at them are too risky. Prioritize the ones behind their front lines, reduce their numbers and weaken them for the defenders." Thalius commanded. The other Rangers acknowledged it and focused their efforts on the Line Breakers just behind the front to give the troops on the ground an easier time. Their arrows kept flying from their battlements as the brawl on the ground continued. However, there were just so many of them, and they could not launch arrows fast enough to reduce them by any significant number, leaving a majority of them to be taken care of by the rest of the army. By the end of it, their forces had taken heavy casualties despite the momentary victory. The cheers began erupting from the crowd. "That's the first wave done..." A Ranger squad leader by the name of Brachen said. "If we keep up at this kill-casualty ratio, then it wont take long for this garrison to fall. This assault is far from over." Thalius remarked. The cheering was cut short when the horn began blowing and a new enemy began marching upon them. They were different, and Thalius didn't think he had seen these kind of undead spearmen before. "Thalius... Did I ever tell you I hate it when you're right?" Brachen said as he prepared his bow once more. Thalius did not respond, but began readying another arrow. These enemies were different, they were unarmored unlike the Line Breakers, they carried shields and spears, and they marched in a neatly organized formation. "I've never seen them display this kind of coordination before... This could be troublesome..." Thalius thought as he began considering how to deal with them. Fenris Laski raised his sword into the air from below them and gave them the command. “Archers, fire at will!” The Rangers did as they were told and launched their projectiles at the new enemy, trying to aim for the neck, legs, arms, and lower jaw, as they were the unarmored areas that weren't immediately covered by the shields. Upon launching however, they saw that their enemy began bunching up together and created an impenetrable wall of shields that caught their arrows. Only very few of them managed to sneak through the tiny gaps in the shield wall, and they did not even do anything visibly significant to the enemy advance. "What the blazes is this?!" Brachen exclaimed a he loaded another arrow and fired at them, trying to go for a gap, but it was quickly covered up, causing the shot to deflect off harmlessly. Thalius fired his own shot, trying to hit one of the spearmen in the middle, but again, the arrow was caught. "They react smartly and swiftly. This is behavior unlike any I've seen before..." Thalius remarked while the other archers kept trying to hit them. He was starting to think this was a waste of arrows when Laski told them to stop. “Cease fire, cease fire!” They stopped their volley and began considering their options. "What are we supposed to do against that? None of our arrows get through!" Garret exclaimed. Suddenly however, the shield wall fell down and the spearmen held their weapons ready as they began pacing quickly to their lines. "These bastards are using actual tactics... And with reflexes faster than any normal army." Brachen observed. Don't take their bait, wait for your chance to strike! Archers, mages, pick your shots!” Fenris ordered before charging into the fray. "What do we do?" Asked Wellington, an archer from the 29th Frontiersmen. "We do what we were told, pick our shots!" Brachen replied as he aimed for one of the creatures, and launched an arrow at them, which the target deflected. Thalius had thought about them for a while, and decided to treat the enemy as like living soldiers. "They'll react if they see our shots coming, but not if they're distracted. They can only react to so much at the same time. Wait until they engage our men, and take them out one by one. Don't fire as volleys, but choose individual targets to avoid any friendly-fire. Prioritize enemies that are closest to our soldiers and commanding officers, and communicate your targets with each other." He told them. The Rangers nodded and began firing at individual enemies. Thalius himself chose targets and attempted picking them off. Their reactions were fast, but not fast enough it seemed. Because while they could block them if they saw the arrow, they could be too preoccupied with a footsoldier to notice one being lodged into their body. With that said, they still had reflexes that were inhuman, as a simple glance around or a twist of their head seemed to be enough to tell them all they needed to know about their environment and what dangers were heading their way. Thalius and the other Rangers needed precise timing to fire their shots without it being spotted by the spearmen, and waiting for that opportunity made it so that they weren't as fast as firing as before, and the casualty count was starting to rise. "We're not killing them fast enough!" Leonhard, another squad leader, said in anger. "We do what we can. If this is all we're capable of accomplishing then it's still better than nothing." Thalius responded. "Hey uhh... Does anyone else feel like the weather's acting strange?" A Ranger from the 29th asked, looking up to the unnatural swirling clouds in the sky. "Stop staring at clouds and shoot at the enemy!" Brachen shouted angrily at the recruit. Meanwhile, a pale and oddly pretty woman suddenly arrived at their battlements. Someone would have asked what she was doing there, but they were all too busy trying to land their shots. Suddenly the woman threw her knife down the wall, stabbing one of the spearmen who had trapped one of their soldiers. A few Rangers looked down to see what happened and saw the spearman suddenly begin clawing itself until it had died by its own hands. "By the Gods.... I'm glad you're on our side." Leonhard said to the woman, who seemed to be some kind of Mage. "Leonhard, focus! You're missing opportunities to shoot" Thalius reminded him. "Right! Apologies." He said as he took aim once more. Thalius could see how this fight was going, and it was not good. These Spearmen had tactics that reduced the effectiveness of archers, and also had a significant advantage in close combat from their heightened reflexes. Added to the fact that they were outnumbered by a large degree, and Thalius knew that they needed a more organized plan for their entire defense force to tackle them. He wasn't sure exactly what they could do to counter this new enemy, but they needed to do it fast.

The tip of a Dark Creature's spear found it's way into the chest of a soldier nearby, quickly sprouting an torrent of red blood. The soldier screamed out in pain as blood began to trickle out of his mouth. The creature attempted to pull the spear back through, yet the hands of the dying man found itself wrapped around the shaft of the spear. With a look of pure spite on his face, he pulled backwards using his weight to rip the spear away from the dark creature. Another soldier grabbed the shield and pulled the creature back into his ranks. Other soldiers were quick to put their spears and swords into the dark creatures body. The creature roared a terrible scream, the soldiers kept stabbing their weapons into the creatures torso. It tried to lash out at the soldiers for a split second, but his voice went silent and his body fell limp. Across the lines of combat, the soldiers faced a similar situation. Often times needing to sacrifice five to ten soldiers for even one of the dark creatures killed. The Dark creatures never stopped in their advance, constantly pushing further and further down the road. The soldiers on the walls were quick to position troops on the stairs, preventing their positions from being overwhelmed. Ladders began to be put up on the walls from the outside, and a combination of Line-breaker's and the small creatures that make up the bulk of their armies began to climb .up the ladders. The small creatures would normally stand near five foot ten, but their backs were bent sideways halfway down. While it made climbing the ladders difficult, it made them awkward to fight. A simple swordsman however, could dispose of one with ease and with patience. One of the dark creatures thrust his spear at the head of Fenris. Fenris blocked it with a swing of his sword, cracking the spear down it's shaft. The broken spear fell to the ground and in a quick motion the creature drew it's sword. Raising it's shield up, it thrust it's body forward shield first into the shielded form of Fenris. As the shields connected the sword of the Dark Creature slashed out above the shields. Fenris took the blow, slowly being pushed back as he cowered behind the shield to avoide the strikes. He lowered his body down and slashed his sword at the legs of the creatures, cutting through the rotting flesh with ease forcing the creature to his knee's. Fenris raised his body while lowering his shield, and raised his sword up high and was ready to strike the killing blow down on the creature. The sight of another spear flying in from the left side quickly forced his head down to the right. The razor sharp edge of the spear cut through a few strands of hair before the shaft rested on his shoulder for a split second before the creature began to pull it back. Fenris raised his shield and pushed the spear upwards, before thrusting his sword quickly through the neck of the creature causing it's dark blood to erupt outwards. Fenris quickly pulled the sword out of the second creatures neck and thrust it into the chest of the first one who was trying to ready his sword for another strike. Quickly causing the rotten flesh to give way to a torrent of dark black blood. Another spear was thrust, this time cutting a small gash across his forearm. He pulled his sword from the creature, allowing it to fall down, before he raised his shield up to cover his body from a second strike from the creature. His eyes fixated on the creature yet his eyes were mindful for any sign of attack from the other directions. A strong hand gripped his shoulder, alerting him that Lord Bali had some news from him. Fenris quickly stepped back from the front-line's, his spot was quickly filled by another soldier. Fenris quickly made his way back from the frontlines and he side stepped a rushing soldier, before looking at Lord Bali. He grabbed a cloth from his waist, eyes locked on the lord with a look of 'why did you drag me away' on his face, and began to tie the makeshift bandage on the wound. A few soldiers ran between the men, rushing towards the front-line with an ill advised look of confidence on their face. Lord Bali's hand remained rested on the hilt of his sword, his face like he had seen a ghost, and a somewhat exhausted look that had befallen his body. “Well speak Lord Bali!” Fenris demanded “Our situation here is bleak, we lose many men agianst this enemy. We can not sit idly by!” “There's a pair of Dôr Thuran.” He paused, and took a deep breath. “They just appeared out of the shadows.” Lord Bali said as he motioned for Fenris to follow. Fenris had adopted a similarly perplexed look, finishing up tying the cloth around the wound before he followed. "Our soldiers have them encircled but they ask for you to judge our old enemy's intentions," “A Dôr Thuran?” Fenris shot back “I thought none have been seen since the end of the Great Reckoning?” Fenris said as he quickened his pace. “What made them leave the bloody blocked pass?” He paused his tone as his head twisted quickly to battle behind "What brings them to us?" Lord Bali matched his pace and continued “Yeah, thats what's so fucked up about their appearance here!” Lord Bali paused as he pointed towards where the towering creature's stood. "We don't know, but we best find out quickly." Fenris had heard the stories of these massive beasts, yet he never believed them to be true. yet his eye's did not lie about what stood in-front of him. His eyes strained to grasp the enormous height of the two beasts, he could only guess that the two creatures stood well over several feet tall. His pace slowed as his eyes darted to the frame of the one that drew his attention the most. From his distance he could only make out the basic details of it, but he saw the creature's armor borrowed heavily from the forest, In lieu of steel plates on his chest and shoulder, the creature had what appeared to be thick yet well shaped plates of wood. As he looked even closer it seemed every last piece of his armor bore some heritage to the forest. A thick layer of a moss like substance blanketed his chest and arms, while a helmet made from the same wood as the chest armor covered his face; crowned with a couple circles of thorns. His eyes flowed down to his left arm, sharp wooden spikes erupted out from the back of his arm. His spear was mostly normal, save for the inscribed runes and an area just beneath the spear tip. Surrounding an emerald green colored gem were more wooden spikes erupting in an even circle around the gem. The spear tip was a solid, and appeared to be a very sharp to the Guardian's eyes. He began to move again as Lord Bali called him back to attention, his head darted back to the battle behind him noticing the front-line was being pushed back even more. His eyes darted back to the Dôr Thuran's and his eyes quickly fell upon the other one, and his eyes were greeted by the familiar site of steel plate's covering the body of the creature. Overlapping up and over the chest were solid plates of steel, surrounding a teal coloured gem. His eyes moved up and looked at the shoulder plates of the creature and marvelled at the design. His right shoulder had two additional overlapping plates of steel, with tassels coming down off the edge. His eyes darted to the right shoulder and noticed that only one plate covering it but three spikes of solid steel rose out of the armor. Up his neck rose two more plates of steel that curved outwards provided protection from any errant strikes. Beneath the spike covered helmet no eyes could be seen. Fenris slowly moved away from the rear ranks and his expression of suprise did nothing but grow with the unobstructed view of the creatures. His head quickly looked over to Lord Bali, before returning to the creatures in front of him. He slowly moved into the circle of soldiers, placing his hand on the shoulder of the first he came in contact with. "Easy soldier" He spoke in a hushed tone. "They're monsters sir!" The soldier spoke in an even more hushed tone, fear could be read off his young face. "They almost wiped mankind off the map two-" "I know" Fenris interrupted "keep your sword at the ready." Fenris commanded as he moved closer into the circle. Fenris moved halfway between his soldiers and the creatures, his sword raised up high and pointing towards the chest of the wood covered creature. "What are you doing here, Dôr Thuran?" "Dar lun tovash dorlun." Spoke the wood covered creature to Fenris in a very deep, yet ghostly tone. The soldiers and Fenris each braced themselves as the creature spoke. Each soldier looked between themselves with a nervous look, and strengthened their grips on their swords. "Tovas don tuli?" Fenris sword lowered as his free hand flew to his face, shaking it from side to side. His hand released his head and he stared into his open palm as he spoke "By the Goddess, they can't speak the common tongue!" He said as his sword pointed back and forth between the two. The steel clad creature moved his head towards the face of Fenris, the soldiers each moved backwards and raised their swords up in response. "I can speak for us, if you'd like human." His tone was not quite as deep, yet just as eerily ghostly as the first. Fenris's head quickly jolted to the form of the creature before speaking "If you could speak, why not answer my question?" He said as frustration bellowed from his face. The creature took a quick couple steps closer to Fenris, causing many of the soldiers behind Fenris to rush forward and thrust their swords at the creature, Fenris placed the tip of his sword on the teal jewel on the creatures chest. The creature slowly lowered his head down and looked straight down into the face of Fenris. "You did not ask me a question." His free hand slowly raised up before placing it's massive fingers on the edge of the blade. "We are your enemy no longer." He paused as his hand pushed the blade away from his chest. "Your enemy is out there." Raising his free hand and pointing out towards the battle with his index finger. Fenris looked around at the other soldiers, nodding at them each in turn before they backed away from the creatures. "How do we know we can trust you?" Fenris said as he pulled his sword back to his side, letting the tip sag to the ground. "How do we know your end game is the same as ours?" The creature lent out a soft laugh "You can't and it's not." He spoke with a matter of fact tone "But we will assist you none the less in this fools errand." His head darted over to his comrades, who was stuck staring at the walls. "Valen, Dorith?" A serious tone filled the air. "Galuin de na ni veylo fan!" He spoke as he pointed his spear towards a section on the wall, to the left of the gate. The second creature looked towards the section and nodded his head. "What is it, creature?" Questioned Fenris as he looked back, seeing nothing but the large battle behind him. "What does it see?" Fenris asked. "His name, commander, is Dorith." Came an aggressive tone from the creature. "What he sees is not good." Pausing as he pointed his finger towards the walls "The enemy is pushing up the stairs, trying to rid your walls of your archers." "Lord Bali, we must send some soldiers to reinforce that-" Fenris began to order. "Dorith will go." The creature spoke in a commanding tone. "He will need five soldiers with him." Fenris adopted an angry look as his head tilted "And who are you to order us? In our castle?" "You know my name very well commander." Spoke the creature in a near silent voice. "Thedas." Fenris adopted a look of shock, as did the Lord Bali. "You were responsible for starting the Great Reckoning!" Fenris spoke in a hushed voice. Thedas tilted his head up as he spoke in a quiet tone "History is written by the victors, commander." Thedas placed his hand on Dorith's shoulder and continued "Doh, Durith." Thedas turned his head back to Fenris as Dorith began to run out, ignoring the soldiers who stood in his way and began to make his way towards one of the stairways that led to the wall. Thedas looked back to Fenris and spoke again in a confident, commanding tone "You don't need to trust us, just help us help you." Fenris looked over towards Lord Bali then towards the soldiers who were nearby. "You soldiers." Pointing out several of them in the process "Go with the one called Dorith, assist them in my place." Lord Bali quickly moved over to Fenris and was about to speak but Fenris spoke first "Indeed I do not trust you, Thedas, but I welcome your help. The enemy of my enemy, correct?" Fenris said as he lent out his hand as a gesture of good will. "We are not your friend, commander." He spoke in a quick voice "But we shall be brothers in this war." Thedas spoke in a confident tone, and he extended his hand as out and grasped the hand of Fenris and shook. His head quickly darted up and his hand fell from Fenris's. "Speak of what you see." Spoke Fenris "They have created a breach in your lines on the wall, I fear that your flank is in danger." He replied. "I will go and get some soldiers." Fenris shouted as he turned some body to run back to the lines behind him but a firm hand on his shoulder stopped him. "I need a word with you yet, commander." Spoke Thedas "Alone." Removing his hand from the commanders shoulder as he montioned over to a side street that would lead to one of the stairs, before walking away. Lord Bali let a second pass, waiting until Thedas was out of earshot before speaking "I don't trust it." He said as his eyes followed Thedas moved. "I don't trust it around you while you just have a few soldiers." Fenris looked back towards the Lord Bali and spoke in an excited tone. "By the Goddess you are right my friend. That's why i ask you to return to the fight, and find me some true soldiers." He paused as he turned his body towards the Lord and continued "Templars, the Hillklag swordsmen, and any who have proven themselves in battle offer them the choice to fight by my side." He paused. "Send twenty of our swordsmen as well. Make no mention of Thedas or Dorith, let me do that for them but mention the dire state of the flanks." "All right." Sighed Lord Bali "All right, be careful in the meantime." He said as he shook his head and turned around and ran back towards the battle. Fenris approached Thedas in a careful manner from behind. "What is so important that you must speak to me alone from my men?" "This battle is hopeless commander." He spoke "Even you must notice this." His voice was quick and blunt. "No battle is hopeless when the Goddess fights with us" Fenris preeched "Even so, what power is a Goddess against a god in flesh?" He countered "Your men can fight, but they will die." Thedas turned his body to face Fenris "The forces at play here are complicated, even I don't fully understand it." He paused as he pointed down the road towards the Sky Bridge and continued "Unless you and your soldiers make it across then I fear all might be lost." Fenris shook his head at the thought of a retreat. "We shall do no such thing. The general has ordered us to hold, even to the last man." Fenris spoke. "A bad order." He bluntly spoke. "And what grants you this foresight, Thedas?" Questioned Fenris. "As real as your Goddess is to you my god is to me." He said "Only my god doesn’t remain silent like yours." He paused as his head looked back to the rear of the army and continued "Your soldiers are coming, in good time even, we'll continue this conversation when we are across the bridge." Lord Bali ran through the lines as chaos began to fall over the lines. The enemy was pushing hard, and the soldiers began to feel a cold chill fall over the air. Some murmured the change in temperature was a sign the dead god was near, but Lord Bali was not phased by this talk. He ran to each soldiers in turn; Roger Maltuits, Maro Heman, Malcer Greystorm, and others like them. Each was told the situation but the decision was up to them. They could pull back from the fight now and assist Fenris with their flanks, but leave the situation in the middle uncertain or they could stay on the lines, keeping the enemy at bay but leave a hole in their flank that could prove bad. As the flanks become more muddled with both the new dark creatures below, and the others coming over the walls, each find themselves in a different and dangerous situation. Thalius and Celine find their positions becoming ever more surrounded. With the Dark Creatures coming from below and Line-Breakers and the bulk of the dead god's army coming up from the walls. They can expect reinforcements soon, as Dorith and a small band of soldiers will attempt and break through to assist them but they are on their own for now. They can either find a more defensible position elsewhere, taking away support from their own soldiers below or they can hold their ground and tempt fate that Dorith arrives in time to help. Other archers and mages on the wall would not be so likely to receive this support at first, but many will find escape routes from the horde across the rooftops. Illian's massive spell had caught the attention of the enemy and friends alike. His race meant that the human mages around him did not trust his intentions. While the Dark Creatures seemingly knew the extent of what the spell's power will cause to their forces. A couple spears flew through the air targeting the mage Illian, finding home in a couple other mages as well. He could continue to cast and release this spell while risking death or injury, or he could release it early and protect the other's mages. Either kill the enemy and be the target of his friends, or wound the enemy and have the trust of the other mages.

The battle witch found herself on the ground kneeling beside another one of the creatures which had fallen by her hand. They were being overwhelmed and slowly but surely the creature began to spill through the gates, flooding the walls from which she'd made her escape. Yet not even the grounds were safe from their assault. She took out her knives from the four corpses in front of her. The shimmering silver had been dulled, stained black by the dark blood of the creatures. They hadn’t seen her coming and it was the element of surprise that allowed her to strike down four of them single handedly. She could not do it again. They were extremely fast and she could keep up with one of them but no more than that. When it came down to single combat she would stand a chance but there were countless of these monsters, she'd seen them beyond the gates through the eyes of her enchanted crow. They covered the fields and the hills beyond. The battlements were a mere pebble on their road, nothing more. There was a moment of silence, like the calm before the storm before the first creature charged at her. Instinctively she evaded his spear strike but it flipped its weapon around so the wooden end of the spear planted itself in her stomach. It disorientated her momentarily and the creature immediately launched its next attack. She barely got out of its way the iron tip of the spear scraped against her shoulder which was covered by armor. She put some distance between them by jumping back, staying low to the ground. Celine realized she would need to keep an eye on her surroundings but she couldn't afford to lose sight of her attacker. He was too fast for that. She waited for him to launch another attack. She always kept distance between her and her opponent, mainly so she had time to ready her knives and invoke her curses. Close quarter combat forced her to use her knives as weapons which was harder to do. It took longer to take them out. It came straight at her aimed for her chest and she sidestepped his charge and grabbed onto his spear with both hands. They staggered backwards and with its weapon held in the place the creature had no other means of attacking her. She did not hesitate and quickly plunged her knife into the side of its head, with the same uncanny speed she'd thrown it earlier. The creature fell to the ground its spear laying uselessly at its side, dark blood began to seep out of the wound at the side of its head. Celine wasted no time admiring her handiwork and returned the knife to its sheath wrapped around her thigh. As she retreated back into the town she soon realized she was getting outnumbered. The soldiers were no match for the speed of the invading forces. They fell to their feet left and right, the only allies she had left. She managed to save a few of them by launching her cursed knives at the wave of enemies. The curses she'd charged created an excruciating pain in the body by liquefying the bones that made up the skeleton frame. It quickly spread across the group of five which charged at the remaining three soldiers at her side. They dropped their spears and shields mid charge as their bodies became unable to carry the weight collapsing like sacks of flour in front of their feet. The men looked at her with wide fearful eyes blessing themselves in the name of their Goddess. "It is not me you should be afraid of" She said with an unreadable expression in her pale eyes. Her lips formed into the slightest of smiles. If they were afraid of her how were they going to stand against these creatures? The three soldiers were little more than boys trying to be men. Yet all men had already fallen and boys were all she had left. “We have to retreat” “Unless you’d rather stay here” Celine stated, gesturing to what remained of their comrades. The young soldiers didn’t protest and followed her as they went further into the town. While they were running Celine glanced to the walls at their side. There were ladders leading up to them. She might have used them as an escape plan but up there it was no better. They kept running until they were forced to stop by a battle taking place in the middle of the town. There were even less allied soldiers here than there had been at the gates and Celine wondered how the creatures had managed to infiltrate the town’s square. Maybe more of them had slipped past her than she’d realized, especially without the cover of the archers and mages. It was by the Dark Sisters watchful eye that she made it out alive back at the gates. They were coming from both sides now and without help they weren’t going to hold out for long. There were no quick escapes so she was going to fight to the death to survive this. She took out one of her knives and began to whisper the incantation that belonged to it. “Ready your weapons” She called out to the young soldiers at her side. Her voice was clear and did not betray any fear she might have felt.

The rank-and-file were no doubt a motley bunch. With the recent abrupt shortage of war materials, new conscripts carried their own weapons. Examples were butcher knives, worn daggers tied to staves, barrel shields, pitchforks, sickles and pretty much anything that posed the remotest danger to anybody. There were woodsmen, hunters, farmhands, woodcarvers, scribes, and pretty much anybody else that was forcefully ripped out of a comfortable place in society, thrown a spear and shield, and told to kill the enemy - whatever they were. The expressions differed in ways from soldier to soldier. Some of the new scrubs who had barely seem any action stood straight, attempting to look like the heroes that they were told they would be. Some of the country boys who were perfectly comfortable with their past lives gripped their sodden pikes and staves so hard that their knuckles turned the same color as their faces. The older ones, the ones who had been in the army for nearly and even as long as Malcer, shared a solemn, sorrowful, melancholic state, looking at the jumpy younguns with a nostalgic air. Their were backs straight, their swords were shining, but they all had that same lethargic look in their eyes - they had one too many battles to fight. The 116th's captain was Randolf Horelphus - a rather young man in his early 30s, probably another lieutenant replacing his captain. He looked rather nervous, but he looked like he was eager to get the spot and carried a tone of authority among his men. After Bali spoke to them, the two conversed. Randolph spoke first. "With all due respect, mister Greystorm, I think we should fight on the front lines. Some of my men think it would be a nice way to go. Also, rumor's out that some creatures, tree-men - some kind of devilish troll or another - is assisting our commander. My boys would preferably like to fight with their own species." "No, Randolph. Even if the middle is left unguarded, we need to assist the commander whatever happens. If he falls, our men will be even more demoralized. And as for the tree-men: I have a faint hint of what kind of creature they are. If they were not to be trusted, we'd all be dead by now. Now, I don't want to address our boys like this, but let's get to the point. We need warm bodies holding pointy sticks charging at the enemy. Tree-men would probably fit the criteria, don't they?" Randolph opened his mouth to speak, then shut it just as quickly. He had heard of Malcer's stubbornness and it probably wasn't a good time to deal with it. He issued an order to his lieutenant. The lieutenant got a mixed reply. Some of the conscripts clicked their feet and stood to attention like the good boys they were, some began trembling violently and puking, and some lifted a forlorn glove and mumbled halfhearted pledges of allegiance. Neither captain liked the mix of expressions. They would need at least some brotherhood among them. Malcer saw a conscript comforting his brother who was leaning against a wall retching. Not exactly a warm and fuzzy moment, but it would have to do. "Ten hut! Mooove out!" The about forty-strong company jogged off towards Fenris' assumed location. Either way, the company had done a pretty good job dispatching of the Dark Creatures, so there was a lull in combat in their district. The company saw the weeping of soldiers over dead men, the furious decapacitation of dead Creatures, and the looting of corpses, friend or foe. Looting technically asked for a smart beating in the Firenian army, but nobody ever followed it and it ran rampant and unchecked among the conscripts. Malcer glared at a soldier who had his hands in the pockets of a dead Iavan crossbowman. The pitiful man looked up with frightened eyes at Malcer, and dragged his prize behind an alley. "Reporting for duty, sir!" Randolph hollered. It was a smart move. It got all of the disheartened in check and brought them to their senses. "We will defend the flanks, sir! It would be an honor to die alongside you, s..." Randolph trailed off.

Darius was among the other mages, ignored by all but a handful who stood at his side. He was a blur of words as one hand held his Lore-Tome and the other held held his staff. To an onlooker it would look like he was casting curses and powerful spells to wreak havoc among the enemy lines, if he could do that then you would be right. But as a Lore Maker he is bound by Vow to refrain from attacking another living being with magic. Now Darius did his best to bend his vow and is standing, overlooking the battle, doing all he can. The handful around him are loyal to him only by the bloodshed he had saved them from in battles past. The truth was he was attempting to harry and slow the enemy attack, confusing them and leading them back on themselves. Currently he was forming a false wall of fire on one of the stairways up the walls forcing the enemy to hesitate and look about in unease, no doubt one would soon realize that there was no heat there and brave the flames only to be followed by the rest of his force. Since Darius dared not waste his time by speaking rather then incanting spells he released his staff, which floated where it was left, and words began to form beyond his outstretched hand as he tried to find more ways of halting the enemy onslaught. The words read 'Tell me, what can you see beyond the wall? Is there a greater threat I need be aware of?' displayed in whatever language the reader spoke. Suddenly Darius felt a great pain in his right arm, his casting arm. The pain soon spread. The mages around him were quick to turn their attention to the pain and force it out. It had happened before, last time it was harder to remove but they learned since that defeat, some great power could sense Darius and he best theory was that it was trying to stop the flow of his power.. or take it for themselves. While they defeated this attack Darius still dropped his Tome from the book and so he began barking out orders "Protect the men on the battlements, if we lose the archers or our fellow mages then the real men, the ones bathing in our foes blood, stand no chance. If that happens the world will look to this battle and blame us for our inaction!" He screamed to his men, scrolling through pages of his tome and pulling out the odd scrap of paper... simple desperate to find anything that could aid him in the defense of this castle. If it came to it he would break his vow, but breaking his vow would lead to the Red One, the 'god' of the Lore-Makers Stripping him of his power, he could still teach and train but he would no longer be free to cast spells at their mightiest of foes.

There was an insistent pulling feeling in the trance, trying to drag him back to his body, he sent it to the back of his mind, concentrating on his casting, it was almost ready, a dull throbbing permeated the trance, surrounding him, leaving nowhere to push it. High above in the whirling clouds his influence spread, soon he would reach his limit, the throbbing sound intensified accompanied now by short spikes of pain. On his forehead a bead of sweat formed, it grew until with a lurch of motion it overcame the friction holding it in place and began it's snaking journey down. It sped down his forehead, smooth with calm until it reached his brow, its path bent around the hollows of his eyes, dark with lack of sleep and fell on-wards down his cheek until it met another obstruction, it's journey slowed there for but a moment until it found a larger stream to join, a red stream. A ragged gash reached across his cheek bleeding freely, falling from his face and into the muddy street below. ... He....almost.....he had it! His eyes opened and he grimaced as his senses returned. He stood, ignoring his discomfort for now and looked about, the other mages had not fared well, dozens lay in the dirt, taken by arrow and thrown spear, the dead seemed to be clustered mostly around him, he was lucky to have survived. The line had been pushed back but thankfully his position had not yet been overrun, now came the hard part. The air seemed to chill and grow still as he gathered his power, his eyes glowing a pure blue stared out at the abominations that had destroyed everything he held dear and a wicked grin began to spread across his face as in the air above his influence, finely spread across the clouds, finally acted. The clouds vanished as ice particles grouped up and joined together, the battlefield lightened as the moon and stars were revealed above. In place of the clouds huge boulders of ice formed and began falling. With gentle nudges and pulls Illian guided the boulders courses, most he sent out over the walls to where the endless horde would be waiting but for perhaps a dozen of them he kept careful control, these he would bring down into the streets before him. An arrow clattered off the street infront of him and he backed away warily, trying to find some cover in the clear street, it would be a few minutes before the boulders reached the ground even with him pulling on them with all his magic and for those few minutes he would be vulnerable, though the boulders could not be stopped now.

His sword bounced off the creatures shield with a dull clang, sweat came off his brow. It had grown colder then usual, as if something worse was yet to come and that thought stuck in the back of his head like a thistle to wool. Frustration was setting in, as no matter how hard he tried he couldn't manage to get the better of this new foe. Maro was locked in a deadly battle between this unholy creature. Its swiftness was unnatural and each time he thought an opening appeared a shield or spear blocked it off instantly. Think! He would have to do better then this, he was a Templar after all! He began to notice that the spear men followed his movement, honed in like a dog to a fresh cut of meat, and a plan was set in motion. Maro quickly side stepped, then began to walk forward to a pile of corpses, the spear men in front. As focused as it was, it soon tripped backwards, allowing a precious gap for Maro to fill with his sword. He plunged it down into the creatures chest, and ripped outwards, black blood spurting out. It brought up its spear, hitting him in the chest, nicked his armor and bruised the flesh. To that, Maro cut the creatures arm off, cursing it before quickly dispatching its head. He fell to his knees, gasping for air while his gaze looked at the battlefield. Soldiers were dying left and right, these things were their bane and hew knew it, but this did not destroy his resolve. If anything he felt empowered by the challenge. Maro stood up then, for the Goddess was smiling upon him, and grabbed the creatures spear. He quickly found a target, in a creature assaulting a soldier who looked worse then him. His aim was true and the spear planted itself within the creatures neck. From his view, the spear men toppled over and he smiled. He ran off into the fray, quickly stumbling into Lord Bali, who told him of the dire need of the flank. Maro agreed to join the Lord and Fenris, for it felt right to do so, when asked by those above him. He quickly followed Bali to this new fate.

Roger snarled as he side-stepped the monster's attack, launching an attack of his own. His sword met with the beast's shield, clanging against it before being forced off with a strong push. The creature again tried to run him through with it's spear. Roger deflected the quick attack with a successful parry, he then landed another strike on the creature's shield; putting him face to face with the beast. Roger again snarled, and the creature responded with a more inhuman noise, which was abruptly became a gurgling sound. Roger's dagger had found it's mark and was jabbed into the creature's neck. Roger smiled from under his helmet as he drew the blade from out of the creature, black ichor covering the blade. The creature, with what little strength it had left, used all it's weight to push him over before attempting to bash in his skull with the edge of it's shield. Roger managed to block the first and second strikes with his arms, protecting his head. He felt the creature's body jerk before falling limp on top of him. As he looked around, expecting another one to be ready to strike him, Roger noticed lord Bali standing above him. After helping Roger up, Bali spoke, "Fenris requires aid in controlling our flanks and has requested the support of the Hillklag mercenaries. Where is the rest of your troop?" Roger, who's chest was covered in black ichor, held his hand in a fist and, with the use of his thumb, slid his hand from one side of his neck to the other, to indicate that his comrades were all dead. Bali cursed before continuing, "Very well, your support would still be appreciated if you still wish." Roger picked up his dagger, flipping it around in a cocky fashion before sheathing it and giving a mock salute. Bali shook his head, "A simple 'yes' would suffice." The mercenary made an odd sound, much like a chuckle, before picking up his sword and jogging his way in the direction lord Bali indicated for him to go.

------------------------------------------- "Thalius... I REALLY hate it when you're right!" Brachen said once again as he notched another arrow and let it loose. The soldiers of First Reach were losing ground, and the army of dark creatures were constantly advancing. They had already breached the streets and their allies were being slaughtered. The lady who had appeared before them moments ago, had abruptly leapt off the walls and began taking the fight to the ground. Thalius was trying to focus on taking shots, but at the same time gauging whether or not they should retreat to a fallback position. Then what he was fearing had begun happening... Their enemy had started placing down ladders in the further sections of the walls, and the stairs to the ramparts were being assaulted. The Mages and Archers were now under direct attack. "Our position has been compromised! Regroup and defend yourselves!" Thalius commanded as he put away his longbow and drew the smaller crossbow. He took aim at one of the stairs the Dark Creatures were advancing from and saw one of them climbing the stone wall next to the stairs. It seemed like it was trying to sneak up on the defenders desperately holding the top of the stairs. "Trying to flank them... Better take him out" He pulled the trigger and put the bolt into the target's cranium. The corpse fell to the ground as Thalius loaded another bolt. The rest of the rangers had stopped using their longbows and were now trying to defend the ramparts with their crossbows. "Thalius, Brachen, should we head to our fallback position?" Leonhard asked as he watched the Dark Creatures push forward on another distant set of stairs. Suddenly however, a swordsman in plate armor came up to the position, limping wearily up the stairs. He was cut badly, and his armor was dented. "Ryndall?!" Brachen exclaimed. "Help him up!" He ordered his men as a couple of them took the wounded warriors by the arms and held him up. "Sirs, I'm sorry... My squad is dead. We... couldn't stop them. More of the creatures are on the way here..." Ryndall said through pained breaths. Brachen's eyes widened under his helmet before he shook his head in disbelief. "Damn... DAMN!" He exclaimed. He then turned to Thalius and the others. "Ryndall and his squad were guarding our exit path to the fallback positions. This means the enemy has overrun that route and we're trapped here..." Brachen announced. "Trapped?! By the Gods... That's it then. We're dead... We're all going to die just like everyone else!" One of the younger rangers said as he put his hands on his head. A female ranger grabbed the man and shook him. "Pull yourself together! You are a Soldier of Veradan and you will not falter no matter what happens!" She shouted at the panicked man, who simply put his hands down and held his crossbow tightly with a hesitant nod. Meanwhile, Thalius assessed their situation. The other sections of the wall were stating to be overrun as enemies climbed up both stairs and ladders to assault them. The Mages and Archers were not really meant for close-combat, so the enemy already had an advantage there. Not to mention that they were severely outnumbered. The defenders were trying to push the ladders off the wall, but it was only doing so much against the never-ending horde. He looked over to one of the wall sections to their left. It led to the gatehouse of the wall. As far as he could see, it was the only neaby structure they could reach. And if they could regroup with the other defenders, it would be more defensible than the ramparts. "Stick close to each other. We're going to fight our way to the gatehouse. If we can fortify that position, we have a better chance of holding them off than standing out here. We also need to regroup with the other squads and Mages." Thalius ordered. As if on cue, a few ladders slammed onto the wall section that they were one and planted themselves firmly on the ramparts. The growls of unholy creatures could be heard right below them, as well as the shaking of the ladders as the enemy scrambled up to them. Wasting no time, Brachen ran to one of them and knocked it to the ground below with his hands. Thalius ran for one of the ladders as some monster with a bent back started creeping over the rampart. Thinking quickly, he pulled out his sword and drove it through the creature's head from above before it had the chance to defend itself. Sending blood spurting out of the wound as Thalius kicked the ladder down as the falling monsters screamed. "Move... MOVE OUT NOW!" Thalius shouted at the soldiers as he put away his stained blade and prepared his crossbow. Acknowledging the order with a nod, they all started running for the gatehouse. They were dashing across the wall at full speed as battles below them were erupting and ladders were being planted across the area. Thalius was keeping his eyes ahead of them. Up ahead a small fight was taking place between a small group of Rangers trying to stop the ladders from staying planted within their vicinity. However, some creatures managed to get on top and began engaging them, stopping them from keeping the ladders down. "Targets up ahead. Garret, Glynas, Larcon, prepare to fire. We have 4 enemies, pick your targets and wait for my signal. I have the one with the scimitar in its hand." Thalius ordered and announced to his squad. "I got the hammer wielder!" Garret replied. "Leave the one with the two daggers to me!" Glynas said. "The one with the golden helmet is mine then." Larcon. "Keep going and wait for my orders. Brachen, Leonhard, I'm counting on you two to have your men take out any more that come up and knock the ladders down as soon as they area's clear." Thalius continued. The group kept heading forward until they were around 10 meters away from the combat. At this point, one of the rangers engaging them with his short sword was wounded and struck down as he shouted in agony. More of the creatures were climbing up and Thalius could hear Leo and Brachen shouting orders at their men. "Halt and aim!" Thalius ordered as they stopped and his squad prepared their crossbows. "Fire!" With that, they let loose their shots and each one nailed their target. A couple shots even hit those that were just peering over the ramparts. And if a shot was not enough to kill them, the nearby Rangers quickly finished them off as they staggered. The Veradan soldiers then started knocking over the ladders as Thalius spoke to the other Rangers. "We're retreating to the gatehouse up ahead. The walls are being overrun and we need a better position to defend from. Come with us and give us a few extra shots to work with. Unless you'd rather take your chances out here." He quickly explained. The leader of the Rangers there, wearing some kind of hard leather armor, along with a green bandana on his head (just like the rest of the rangers). "Strength in numbers as I always say... Lead the way then!" He said. "Good. Stay close, and dont fall behind." Thalius said. "Boys we got trouble!" They all turned around as one of the Veradan Rangers pointed behind them. One of the stairs in the distance had been overrun and undead warriors along with the spear men were climbing up. Plus a majority of the wall now had ladders placed on it as the weaker but numerous creatures started flinging themselves onto the ramparts. "If those spear-wielders reach us we stand no chance of surviving... Keep going! Move move!" Thalius commanded as he ran while loading another shot into his crossbow, and the group started their sprint once again.