by Peter Last
The ogres finished their charge and fell in with the rest of the defenders, dispersing among them so that they covered the entire line. As they did this, they removed massive crossbows from their backs and loaded them. As soon as they were set in the line, they fired a deadly volley of darts at the enemy ranks. The darts smashed into the enemy soldiers, many of them dropping more than one man. The ogres reloaded and fired two more times before the enemy soldiers retreated out of their range.
The commander of Molkekk’s army sat atop his black horse, watching his soldiers flee back towards him. In the darkness he was unable to see what had frightened them, and he was furious with them. Nothing that the humans could throw against them should have incited such a retreat. A chorus of triumphant roars came from the army of Magessa, and the commander finally understood. Somehow the humans had convinced the ogres to fight for them, and these brutes had put fear into the hearts of his men.
Well, he could deal with ogres just as efficiently as he could deal with humans.
******
Josiah’s legs were tired, but he was holding up much better than he had expected. He had been relieved of his armor and weapons, which had been given to elves to carry for him. Despite this fact, he was still considerably slower than the elves. He looked to his left and spotted Cirro who had also relinquished his weapons. Cirro was walking beside Brandon who had elected to keep his armor and weapons and yet was still able to easily maintain the pace. Josiah was unable to locate the rest of his men in the crowd of elves, and he suddenly wished that Josii had accompanied them on this march. The elf could have served as a useful liaison between the humans and elves, making the allies feel more connected; however, he was a dragon rider and had stayed in Lêf. He would arrive at the battle among the ranks of his platoon.
The elves indicated they would run again and Josiah broke into a jog as the soldiers in front of him did. The army would run for an hour or so before stopping, and Josiah was thankful for the physical conditioning he had received at the academy. Even without his equipment, he was hard pressed to keep up.
The plain rolled by as the army followed the Vänern River toward the Accri Forest. There was not much to see, making the run very boring. Josiah had found that the only way to drive away the boredom was to think about something else, so he turned to sword-fighting maneuvers. Mentally he reviewed every cut, parry, and thrust that he knew multiple times. Then he turned his thoughts toward strategy. He invented an army and set it up in a specific formation. Next, he created another army and arranged it in a formation that was able to counteract the formation of the first army. Finally, he rearranged the first army to counteract the other, and continued to do this until he tired of it.
The army slowed to a walk, and Josiah slowed with it. His thoughts about strategy having been disturbed, he started to recite the names and uses of every medicinal plant that he knew of. Following this, he recited geography and did his best to envision where each physical feature was.
The ground beneath Josiah’s feet grew rockier, so he returned his attention to his surroundings. The army had left the river, though it could still be seen off to the left, as they continued due west. They were now approaching the hills on the southern end of the Orc Range, and boulders spotted the ground ahead of them. Soon they would be traveling uphill. Josiah dreaded this, but he knew this also signified that they were nearing the end of their journey. The sun was beginning to set and a crowd of lights to the left indicated that there was an army gathered there. Slowly the army of the elves came to a halt, and scouts were sent out to reconnoiter the discovered army. They returned, and the army moved again, though this time they headed south. No torches were used to light the way of the soldiers when the sun had fallen completely behind the horizon. Instead, they used the light of moon to navigate the rough terrain.
It took them half an hour to leave the mountains at which point the army stopped again. The elves who had been carrying the humans’ armor returned it, and Josiah finally understood what was happening. The battle had already started, and they were going to enter by attacking the rear of Molkekk’s army. When the humans were armed, the army set off again.
******
The General pulled his men into a tighter line, and though this strengthened the formation, it also shortened the line. Still, there was nothing else to do if the army was to have any chance of survival. The enemy army had retaliated with fury once they recovered from the ogre attack, and now they stood on the brink of destroying the army of Magessa. Many of Magessa’s soldiers had already fallen as had a good number of the ogres. There seemed to be no way to stop the frenzied attack of Molkekk’s army. The shriek of metal on metal screamed across the battlefield, drowning out the screams of the wounded and dying. The ogres were currently holding the line together, but that could only last for so long.
The General spurred his horse forward and began shouting orders to rally his men. If they were to die here, they would go down fighting, and he would lead that final charge. He reined his horse to a halt and slid from it. As he strode toward the fighting, he drew his sword and held it in front of him. As he continued, his pace quickened to a run and he gave a battle cry. The soldiers who had fallen back to rest saw him and gathered to him, running behind him and screaming. By the time they hit the enemy, their numbers had swelled to a score.
They hit like an anvil, showing the fury and bravery of men who know that they are about to die, and slammed through the enemy’s front line. They quickly penetrated deep into the enemy line, killing as many as came within the range of their weapons which flashed like lightning through the darkness. One of the soldiers dropped, then another. Still the others pressed on, dying one by one as they continued. Eventually the momentum from their charge faltered and disappeared entirely, and they found themselves trapped deep behind the enemy lines. They quickly formed a tight circle and fought with everything they had, but they could not prevail.
Slowly they were killed one at a time, and the General knew that it would only be a matter of time before he passed from this life as well. He tucked himself behind his shield to better protect himself, but as he did so, an enemy soldier hacked at him and slashed his right calf. He recovered in time to use his shield to protect himself and then to dispatch the enemy. Another soldier pressed him and then another, but they were both killed by crushing blows from his sword. He dispatched a third enemy but not before receiving a wound to his right hand. He glanced down at the scratch and as he did, he caught sight of a dead soldier. Quickly his eyes moved from soldier to soldier, all of them lying dead on the ground, and for the first time he wondered what the purpose of resisting Molkekk was.
A sharp pain stabbed him between the shoulder blades and shot down his spine. He looked down and saw a sword blade sprouting from his chest. He felt the vibrations on his broken ribs as the weapon was withdrawn, and he crumpled to the ground in a heap. In that moment of pain, he knew that resisting Molkekk by following Elohim was worth all that it cost. He knew that Elohim would not let his men die on this battlefield. And then his sight went black.
******
“No!” Josiah screamed as he cut his way through the enemy army.
He and a group of elves had been making their way toward a dozen men who had somehow become trapped deep behind the lines of Molkekk’s army. As they approached, the defenders had been killed one by one until only one man was left standing. The figure looked familiar, but in the chaos of battle Josiah couldn’t ascertain who it was. He realized it was the General only seconds before an orc stepped up behind him and stabbed a sword through his back. Josiah’s arms swung even more powerfully as he fought to reach his fallen commander. He broke through several enemies and fell to his knees beside the General.
He was aware that the elves he was with were now around him, but the General’s broken body filled his vision. Dropping his sword and shield, he sank to his knees beside the fallen man. He knew the General was dead even before he felt for a pulse. Tears ran
down his face and mingled with his sweat, but he didn’t even notice. Instead he lifted the General’s body and embraced it for a long time.
His tears slowed and stopped, and he gently laid the body on the ground. Reaching for his sword and shield, he lifted them again and rose to his feet. His face was hard as he turned to face the army that had killed his respected commander. In that moment, he felt nothing but an incredible anger. It bubbled up within him until it reached his mouth and burst out in the form of a roar. He lifted his head to the sky and let out another roar of pain and anger so savage that the enemies within earshot stepped backward slightly. Lowering his head and raising his sword, Josiah advanced slowly on the nearest enemy. The soldier moved to defend himself but could not stop the blinding stroke from Josiah’s sword.
The elves with Josiah moved in around him, and together they pushed toward the line of defenders still desperately holding their ground. The elves’ blows were strong, but not even they could compare with Josiah’s strokes. They slashed their way through the enemy lines until they forced a path to the army of Magessa. There was a brief scuffle there before the soldiers realized the elves were their reinforcements and accepted them into their lines.
The elves strung their bows and unleashed a deadly rain of arrows on the enemy army, driving them back temporarily. The Megaeras were particularly deadly in this capacity. They fired their weapons just as quickly as the other archers and could shoot farther and with more force. Everywhere enemies fell as the stringless bows penetrated their armor. Even so, the massive numbers of the enemy could not be compensated for, and after a slight retreat they were again pressing the defenders. Slowly, the line was pushed backward toward the river, and eventually the Magessans would be forced into it. There was nothing, it seemed, that could stand up to the massive numbers of Molkekk.
Josiah looked up and down the line and saw his comrades falling like leaves in autumn. The only hope of survival would be to escape across the river, but there was not a ford for miles and the river had too swift a current to swim. Nevertheless, several of the soldiers had come to the same conclusion as Josiah and were throwing aside their armor. They dove into the river and were quickly swept downstream.
Josiah’s thoughts turned to Elohim. Surely He could rescue them from their plight, but would He? Josiah let his sword and shield drop to his sides and bowed his head, knowing that he was making himself extremely vulnerable, but not caring. Fervently he petitioned Elohim for His help, begging for deliverance from the enemy.
As he prayed, he became aware that the sounds of battle were growing dimmer and eventually came to a complete stop. They had been replaced with the sound of hundreds of stones hitting the ground. Puzzled, Josiah raised his head and stared at what had only moments before been a raging battlefield. Hail stones the size of boulders rained down on the enemy army which was now in full retreat as they tried to escape. The hail stopped, however, before it reached the army of Magessa, leaving the elves, ogres, and humans there unharmed. The soldiers of Magessa stood with their weapons hanging limply at their sides as they stared at the phenomena. Not only was the hail massive, but it was also only falling in a very narrow strip, effectively creating a wall between the two armies as it piled up.
Josiah watched the miracle for a while but eventually forced himself to move. Regardless of how long it took, the army of Molkekk would find a way through or around the wall, and the army of Magessa needed to be gone by that time. As Josiah ran up and down the lines, gathering as many of the soldiers as would come with him, a plan was forming in his mind. A forest stood nearby, and the trees from it could be lashed together to form a sort of floating bridge. He was certain that with the ogres’ strength and the elves’ intelligence, they could get it to work. He put the men he had gathered to work cutting down trees before leaving to find the commanders of the assembled armies. No matter which way he looked at it, the project was going to be a big one, and he would need the cooperation of all of the soldiers to complete it in time.
Four
The death of the General left the human army without a commander, and though it was not a problem so far, the lesser officers knew they would have to choose someone to command them before long. They immediately began to look for someone suited to the task, and several men stepped forward. They each coveted the high position of authority, but wisdom prevailed over the plans of man. The army’s officers determined that none of these men would make a good General, and so they turned their attention to another man.
They decided that Josiah was the best choice for the position they needed to fill. Not only had he been able to mobilize the army extremely quickly and direct them in building a bridge across the river, he also had no current responsibilities since he had relinquished command of his men when he had left for Lêf. Naturally there was dissent from the people who wished the position for themselves, but eventually they acquiesced and decided to appoint Josiah as their General.
Josiah was hard at work chopping down a tree when the news arrived. He had already met with several elves and decided how many trees would be necessary to span the river and was working with the other soldiers in an attempt to reach that number. Already, massive stacks of logs lay near the bank, and more logs were added to their number regularly. A group of elves and ogres worked at the river bank, lashing logs together and pushing them out into the current. A long rope had been attached to the front log so that the front of the line of logs would not drift downstream. The logs currently reached to the center of the river, and in another half an hour they would span its entire width.
Josiah wiped the sweat off of his forehead with the back of his hand and the messenger told him the news. He leaned on his axe as the words were spoken, then turned back to his work when the man had finished.
“Do you not have any commands for your army, General?” the man asked. Josiah stopped swinging his axe and turned back to the messenger.
“Tell them to rest and be ready to move out this afternoon,” he said and turned back to the tree.
The ogres and elves worked quickly, and by noon a floating bridge spanned the length of the river. Though it was wide enough for four men to walk shoulder to shoulder, the men went across in a single file line. Even so, the bridge rocked on the water and more than one soldier fell off of it and had to be helped back on. Despite several delays, the soldiers moved quickly, and all the humans had crossed the river well before sunset. The elves crossed next, as night began to fall, and the ogres followed them. At last, just as the sun was beginning to rise, the final soldiers crossed and the bridge was cut loose to be swept downstream.
Josiah watched the logs as they were swept out of sight before turning back to his army. They stood in orderly rank and file, but it was obvious that they wanted to move. Josiah sighed, and with one last look at the river, ordered his army to march. The ogres followed him, and the elves took the rear. They moved quickly into the distance as, behind them, the army of Molkekk awoke and charged in to finish them off, only to find themselves blocked by the river that had prevented their quarry from escaping on the previous day. The cries of rage coming from the enemy soldiers faded into the distance as the newly combined forces of Magessa and her allies put more distance between themselves and their enemy.
As the army moved away from the river, Josiah sent one of his officers to find all of the soldiers in the army who still had horses. Within fifteen minutes seven soldiers stood before him, holding the bridles of their mounts.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to take your horses away,” Josiah said with a grin. The soldiers stared at him, not sure what to say, and Josiah rolled his eyes. “I need you to ride through Belvárd and tell them about the invasion. Each of you must go in different directions and cover as much territory as possible. Go to all of the major cities and tell them that there is simply no way that we can hold them off; they will have to flee to Rampӧn.”
“Yes sir,” the riders answered and saluted before hoisting themselves into the
ir saddles. They turned their horses to the north and dug their heels in, sending their mounts into a trot.
“May Elohim go with you,” Josiah called after them. He watched for a few seconds before turning back to his army. On his orders, his trusty Captains had already started the soldiers marching, putting them well ahead of him by now. He started after them and, since their pace was relatively slow, was able to catch them in less than thirty minutes. He was met by Cirro, who was chagrined at having been separated from his friend.
“Cirro, you are officially my second-in-command,” Josiah said before Cirro could say anything. “If you want a title, I can think up one for you.”
“I don’t really care about a title,” Cirro said. “What I do care about is keeping you safe, which I can’t do if you keep disappearing like that.”
“Here we go again,” Josiah muttered under his breath and began to mouth the words that Cirro was already speaking.
“You’re an important asset to the army now, and you are jeopardizing a lot when I don’t know where you are.”
“Come off it, Cirro,” Josiah said, rather irritably. “Nothing’s going to happen to me just because I’m not in your sight every second of the day. I’m just as safe at the back of the army giving orders to my soldiers as I am at the front leading them on this frightfully interesting march. Besides, this army just lost one General, and it seems to be getting along fine, so why should my death affect it all that much?”
“There are precious few people in this world that make good Generals, and we were lucky to have two in this one army. If something happens to you, it’s unlikely we could find someone who could effectively replace you.”
