-Callen-
Both forces faced each other from each side of the river. There was a tense stillness as the Baron and his escorts moved forward. Internally I couldn’t help but feel uneasy. Our actions could be considered rebellion, and if a deal was offered, it may very well collapse our unity and divide us. Most of the people fighting on our side were guards or draftees who didn’t properly understand why we were fighting, only that the town's leadership felt it was necessary.
“Wastrels!” His declaration immediately made me feel much less anxious.
“I am the baron of these lands! I hereby declare you worthless traitors and shall mount all of your heads on my walls.” His announcement leaves me a bit puzzled. Wasn’t this a prime opportunity to rally his men or shake ours? If anything, it seemed to press us against a wall from which fighting was the only recourse.
“I shall offer mercy only to whoever gives me the wife of that dead shit. Marok, Morok? Shit, what was it. . . The knight with the spear who died! I want his wife and kids. Whoever gives them to me gets to live; everyone else dies, and all their stuff will belong to me!” The fat lard of a man then drinks from his flask, and I realize he’s drunk. Regardless, I looked around me to see if anyone took interest in his offer. Nope, just a bunch of pissed-off villagers. The Woodside people don’t seem as pissed except for the knights, who I had heard had been former drinking friends of Dad.
I look back to the baron and almost miss an arrow from upriver flashing across the field. The baron doesn’t react, but one of his escorts does. The knight urgently swings up his shield, interposing it between the arrow and the baron. The block is successful, but I feel the runes on the arrow trigger pulling on my void space. The arrows' impact bursts into a swirling sphere, sundering the man's arm along with a perfectly spherical portion of the shield.
The baron is dragged away by his companions screaming, but over his voice we all hear Callia screaming from the distance.
“Stupid pig! I won’t let your fat ass mock Dad or threaten Mom! Just come and see what happens, you worthless shit!” If I wasn’t as pissed as I am, I would probably think about how Callia’s ambush could cause all sorts of trouble, but everyone was riled up now. Countless slurs and insults were on everyone's lips as the stress of the past days of preparation flipped into anger.
It seems we wouldn’t need to restrain ourselves long, as the Pig’s men began advancing towards the bridge. I almost regret not investing more time in large-scale war machines, but the catapults of explosive logs and heavy ballista showed their worth pelting the waiting ranks and the forward troops, respectively. They had three logs that had been adjusted into battering rams and several rickety ladders that had been hastily cobbled together by the traumatized camp followers.
The ballistae blasted two of the rams before they got too close to properly target, and our archers let hell loose on the ladder men. It was clear they didn’t have nearly enough siege equipment, and the last battering ram shattered into pieces after hitting the gate's runic shielding. The runes wouldn’t last more than a day, but it was worthwhile to put another obstacle in their way.
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Seeing the inability to breach our defenses, a massive tank-like man took point, charging like a rhino towards the base of one of the towers. The charge didn’t look particularly fast, but everything we sent at him bounced off harmlessly, and the man crashed straight through the solid stone wall like it was paper. The enemies rallied behind him, rushing into the breach he made. Sir Walder jumped down from the wall towards the man wielding a pair of long curved knives.
The soldiers on standby behind our walls also rushed forward, eager to confront the invaders rushing in. The other knights waited on the side, keeping ready to respond as more enemy knights moved into action. I watch Wrecking Ball Man take a swing at Sir Walder only to get a chunk of his gut ripped out as Sir Walder sways from the attack and moves close. The punch doesn’t hit Sir Walder, but he does push forward, catching a hapless soldier who is promptly embedded into the wall. Which broke the defending formation, helping more attackers pour in.
Sir, Ella rushed into the fray, but instead of fighting Wreckingball Man, she eviscerated everyone between her and the breach. I take this chance to move over the breach, dumping rocks and fusing them haphazardly while Ella covers me. The wall’s integrity is restored briefly, but both of my gates are incinerated as a mage moves forward, shrouding himself with fire that protects him from arrows. I see him condensing another ball of fire in hand only to be interrupted by Sir Gunther, whose hand spouts flames that quickly threaten to overpower the shroud protecting them. The man shifts his focus and locks in on the contest of wills as both summoned gouts of flame and try to overpower the other.
I move back to the relative safety of the undamaged tower and watch as the battle continues escalating. The previously sturdy wall is ripped open again as another berserker breaks through the wall. However, he doesn’t get clear of the breach before he’s locked in combat with Sir Ella. With such a chaotic melee, I was thankful to Sis and Grandpa for all the pain I suffered as a child. While I wasn’t explicitly targeted by any knights, the soldiers trying to kill me were much more skilled with their weapons than I was with the hammer I had taken to using to conserve mana. It was the countless hours of dodging practice that kept me alive.
Soon Sir Torulf and Sir Fullart were also drawn into the chaotic melee. Torulf was trying to pin down an agile man using a rapier, and Sir Fullart was gradually overpowering a man with a massive maul who seemed determined to buy time for his companions. The shield bearer who had lost his arm saving the Pig had also joined, but Reesia and a team of soldiers were able to keep him busy. If any more knights joined, I was the last one present to confront them since Eira had disappeared at some point. I noticed the cloaked man who had been near the baron wherever he was in camp begin to step forward.
The blaring sound of an Earthkin warhorn sounded right before the earth trembled and fissured right through the enemy encampment, swallowing countless soldiers and leaving the rest prone. From the woods behind the enemy, Portten guards and Earthkin warriors rushed into the unsuspected soldiers. The enemy had already dispersed to avoid being targeted by the explosive catapults and, without being able to form a proper front, were overrun. The baron was forced into a duel with Sir Portten, and the earth mage Rorin squared off against the hooded man, both watching and waiting for the other to act first.
Nobody else in the enemy camp showed a significant threat, which meant it was time to tip the scales in favor of our knights. I forced myself across the field, desperately avoiding conflict with the regular soldiers, before I saw my opportunity. A clear line of sight towards the flank of the mage who Gunther was dueling. I use the same trick I did with the bear, but instead of lightning, I release a concentrated beam of water, hosing the man down and knocking him to his side while ruining his defensive flames. Gunther doesn’t even need to go for the kill, as one of our archers took the shot, silencing the man.
Gunther wheels about, letting his wrath loose on all the enemy soldiers, incinerating them by the dozen. The tipping point had been reached; with the enemies flanked and the power balance of the knights broken, the soldiers broke ranks, abandoning the fight and fleeing towards the road. The rhino man and the man with a maul fighting Sir Ella and Sir Torulf also take this chance to run. The one-armed guardian, the agile rapier man, and the rhino man miss their chance to escape. Eventually they are overwhelmed. With the fight here over, I break for the woods to support Callia.
