511 Dawn

Rosemi de Lumix, dressed in studded black, high quality leather, produced from Trichia's best craftsman, nervously gazed beyond the multi-layered defensive walls of Thrud castle. Beyond the land of life, of green fields and humans, a sea of blue humanoid warriors wielding exotic dual-sided polearms and spears were beating their war-drums, which echoed and flooded the long mountain-pass, crashing in and through the thousands of defenders that were either shaking within their boots, or praying to their individual goddesses.

Further far back of the dekan army that stood around 40,000 strong, were the evolved who sported dragon like bodies that stood upon their two rear-legs, instead of weapons they wielded their sharp-claws and dastardly-maws. Accompanying them as auxiliaries, thousands of hob-goblins, lycans and ogres who were given a mixture of human and elven weapons and armours to battle with, gears the dekans had plundered from the templars, as they obeyed their draconic overlords in becoming the initial force that would absorb the first-blood of battle.

Patiently beating their war-drums as the morning-light was slowly encroaching upon the lands, they waited for day-break to being their assault. Something Rosemi could only assume to be either ritualistic in nature or religious, similar to how the humans detested night-assaults as tricks for the cowardly and dishonourable.

Under her command, she had gathered 15,000 human knights, whilst the rest of humanity were still mustering up their forces as every capable man was conscripted and forced to march north to fuel the war machine. Spread across the walls even, with reinforcements from Via Marea, another 10,000 strong elven swordsman force replaced the old and beaten forces led by Jin, who had been crippled and thus forced into early retirement.

As for Aevraury's volunteers, who were adamant on obtaining some sort of semblance of revenge upon the mastermind of the attacks dealt to their people, they were treated as either archers, javelin-throwers, or the soldiers who were expected to work the catapults, trebuchets and ballistae that were installed upon every stone tower and wall possible.

Catapults to launch pots filled with flammable liquids, ballista to launch large arrows that would carry flames, and the mighty trebuchets to launch large masses of stone, rock and wood. Anything the humans found themselves in having a large and ample supply of.

Lastly, the wizards and necromancers from Ignis stood at 5,000 strong. Supplementing the overall defence by also being able to summon forth an extra 5,000 undead warriors, 2 from every necromancer there. Perhaps even more, if they weren't expecting the defensive-siege to be a prolonged attrition of resources.

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As such, the sea of black and blue totalled around 45,000. Whilst the alliance of southern kingdoms totalled around 35,000.

The northern-army, versus the southern-armies. Thus were all funnelled into the border-pass that was once sealed off by a sleeping-red dragon. Through such a tight-pass that was hardly enough space for such large volumes of people, Rosemi could only gulp down her saliva along with her nerves, as she realized just how bad of a cesspool the vicinity was about to become.

If the numbers she saw before here currently were all that they had, perhaps they could simply brace and survive the war of attrition, as the humans clearly had the advantage of the defensive structures and siege-machines. And yet, she knew deep down that such wishes were entirely unlikely.

Just as the southern kingdom had spent months and years training and building their armies, so too, did the dekans. Perhaps even more so.

Glancing behind the stonewalls she stood upon, within the grounds below were gathered a few thousand knights that had marched from both Duchy Trichia and Duchy Lumix. Two forces entirely loyal to safeguarding her position, led by Oliver and Gary, who were considered to be Trichia's elites. She could only solemnly gaze into the insignia they proudly wore upon their chests, wishing that instead of them it were her dearest instead, who was standing besides her in such dark times.

As her hands desperately sought for the warmth of his. Alas, they found only the coldness of steel, as they tightly gripped around the handle of her sword.

"May Goddess Loha watch over us, guide us, and deliver us to a brighter-future."

Daybreak arrived, as the golden rays of sunlight filled the entire vicinity. The banners of Thrud's stonewalls brightly glistened, as well as the iron and steel plated armour that protected the vessels above and below.

The Dekans roared and screeched as the 5,000 strong mixture of beasts and monsters ran forth upon receiving their orders. Like soulless and fearless machines, they ignored all projectile-fire and spells, jumping and running atop the corpses of their own as they crashed their skulls and bodies into the stonewalls below.

Whilst the hob-goblins and lycans weren't able to make much of an impact rather than absorbing the initial attacks, the ogres that covered themselves in templar-shields that were merely glued to their muscles, like battering-rams crashed into the wooden-gates, as boiling-oil, stones and rocks were pelted and poured upon them.

Beating their own war drums, in addition to their trumpets, that echoed songs that depicted valour, honour and courage. The southern-alliance flooded out the worries and thoughts of escaping with music that filled their hearts with fervour and adrenaline.

As make-shift ladders propped themselves upon the walls, the elven-knights began their defensive as they fought sword to axe as hob-goblins and lycans made their swift and agile climb up. Some, even managed to launch themselves over the knights entirely, as their bodies crash landed down below within the stone-grounds as mayhem broke out between human and beast.

Without a single care or thought towards their own survival, the lycans and ogres relentless slaughtered as many as they could whilst sacrificing limb, nose, eyes and life.

Rosemi watched on, as chaos threatened to throw the defence into disharmony and mayhem. She watched and waited, as she followed the orders and sincere-advice from her father, to fight only the strongest, the elite-dekans who prowled the fields in their evolved forms.

"Waste not, your stamina upon the weak. Save it, utilize your best and sharpest blade for their commanders and generals."

Although the battle had only just started, and the first wall had yet to be breached. Already, hundreds upon hundreds were being carried to the back-line for priests and doctors to tend to.

Watching the never-ending line of bodies be carried out, Gary gulped down the saliva that had been stuck within his mouth, as he started to pray that he wouldn't be required to join in on the battle.

As a man who had been to one war-front, he honestly didn't desire to be within another. Believing Clam to having it easier, as he was summoned to a kingdom that was at peace, he felt jealousy and envy peak towards levels he hadn't felt before.

A sudden miniature earthquake broke the man out of his prayers, as the dekans had began to cast their own spells, that were battering the stonewalls in repeated blasts. All the while, volleys of pots, stones and arrows flew overhead, exchanging munition for lives as the battle raged on with no end in sight.

kophzi

The game called them Zhen, but they're just dual-sided spears/pole-arms.

They can be split apart from the middle and used as swords. iirc