Rise of the Horde

The Ereians defending the fort finally recovered their morale. It was all attributed to the four thousand strong reinforcement that was sent by Ishaq to aid them in holding the fort. The much needed support bolstered the number of the defenders to nine thousand including much needed supplies that they were lacking at the moment.

“Chief, enemy reinforcements have arrived,” a scout quickly reported to Khao’khen about the situation.

Khao’khen nodded his head in acknowledgement, “How many?”

“Around three to six thousand.” The scout answered swiftly.

“Tell the Drakhars to be prepared and also inform the Rakshas that there might be an upcoming fight for them. Have the ogres protect the siege engines and inform the Warghen and Rhakaddon Cavalries to be able to ride out any time.” Khao’khen directed his gaze to Sakh’arran who was with him.

The three quarters of the horde that left the camp was under the leadership of Gur’kan and Trot’thar.

After receiving the chieftain’s orders. There was a hustle and bustle in the entire camp. Excitement could be easily spotted on the faces of the Rakshas who were eager to fight.

“Are we going to attack now?” Adhalia accompanied by Faynah came to Khao’khen and asked. The two were covered in light robes that hid their bodies’ figure and a head cloth was covering most of their head.

The chieftain nodded his head as he figured out that it was the right time. He was just waiting for the enemy to make a move.

Near noon, the entire force of the camp was arranged in their battle formation. The Drakhars take up the vanguard position. At the rear was the Rakshas who had sunken expressions because of the arrangement of their battle line.

With them being positioned at the rear would only mean that the Drakhars would be fighting first and if their allies could hold their foes then there wouldn’t be any fighting for them to do.

The Warghen Cavalry was positioned to the right flank of their formation and the Rhakaddon Cavalry was sagging just right behind the left flank of the vanguard.

*****

Barika was called to the walls by the leader of the sentries with his report. From his vantage point, he could spot their enemies in their battle formation.

“Sound the alarm and get everyone to prepare for battle!” Barika roared and the call for battle sounded inside the fort. Soldiers clad in their armor came running about as they take up their positions along the walls.

For the upcoming battle, Khao’khen himself took command. He, Adhalia, Faynah and the personal guards of the new head of the Darkhariss family took up position just behind the dejected Rakshas.

The battle began with the siege engines raining down rocks and bolts of iron towards the walls of the fort. The ballistae weren’t used much in the previous attacks because of the amount of ammunition that they have. Unlike the onagers that could have their ammunition replenished by the river not far away with rocks scattered around on the opposite bank.

Force to take cover, the Ereians were sitting ducks and can’t do anything to retaliate. The mages who were supposed to aid them in the defense were too scared to come out from their hiding spot after two of their fellow mages got unlucky and were pinned down by bolts of iron.

No matter how many times Barika roared for them to retaliate, not a single one of them made a move. He even resorted to threats but this didn’t even scare the mages who just gave him a deathly glare. The mages were basically telling him that if he made a move, they would not hesitate to duke it out with him.

Barika might be stronger than any of them but if he were to fight them all at once, the only possible outcome would be his death.

The mages who were boastful that they would utterly destroy the enemy army in a jiffy was now cowering in fear behind the walls of the fort. There magic might be stronger but the dense storm of iron can make a quick work of their magic barriers. They have learned a hard lesson in exchange for the two live of their fellow mages.

No magic barrier would hold on forever just like what happened to the magic barriers of the unlucky two who had theirs shattered by the dense rain of iron.

Hours into the bombardment, a section of the fort’s walls finally gave way and crumbled. The soldiers who were unlucky enough to be positioned at that portion of the walls suffered varying degrees of injuries and the unluckiest ones got buried by the rubble.

Although a section of the fort’s walls was destroyed, it wasn’t utterly destroyed as the rubble from its collapse piled up to form a messy wall. A few moments later, another part of the bombarded walls gave way. The bombardment lasted for hours which resulted in an entire section of the fort’s walls to crumble.

The fort’s gate also wasn’t spared as it was forcefully blasted open and its gateway wrecked.

Khao’khen gave the order to advance. The storm of rocks and iron finally halted which allowed the defenders to finally be able to take a peek at what was going on.

Upon seeing the enemy army advancing towards them, Barika roared at the mages with worry as he ordered them to throw their magic spells at the incoming enemy army. The absence of the fearsome storm of from the enemy siege engines gave the mages the courage to finally come out from where they were hiding.

Mana began gathering at the call of the mages. A ball of fire and a sharp chunk of rock headed for the Drakhars. A dark cloud gathered above the battlefield and with a thundering boom, a bolt of electricity struck down. The Drakhars who were the target of the spells faltered in their steps. A portion of the vanguard’s right flank was struck by a bolt of lightning.

The unlucky fellow who was directly struck exploded into a shower of blood, flesh and viscera. Those near him suffered varying degrees of injuries.

Luckily the other two spells from the mages fell short and landed a few meters away from the advancing Drakhars. Although they missed their mark, the two spells caused sand to fly everywhere which obscured the vision of the advancing army. Robbed of their vision, some halted in their tracks while the others continued on which threw their formation into disarray.

Khao’khen rode towards the Kani’karrs and gave them instructions to strike at where the spells were coming from. Adjusting their aim, the trolls loaded up their weapons and unleashed a new barrage of iron bolts.

“Sh*t,” the mages can’t help but curse under their breath as they conjure up their magic barriers while making their way back towards cover. Their magic barriers deflected most of the attack launched at them but their barriers were beginning to show signs of shattering.

At most their magic barriers could repel two or four of those bolts before shattering and the strongest on of them could hold off six of such attacks.

Although somewhat powerful in their attacks, the mages were still as feeble as ever. They were just low level mages who are almost at the very bottom of the hierarchy.

With the mages being pinned down by the Kani’karr Corps, the Drakhars continued on in their advance after being briefly shaken by the assault of the mages. Khao’khen instructed the trolls to strike at wherever spells would come from; they were going to trade attacks with the mages of the enemy.

“Damn fools, move away from your previous position and attack!” Barika snarled at the mages who were just hiding.

The mages nodded their head in agreement after realizing that as long as they would keep on moving around, the enemy would not be able to lock on in their position. They got out from their hiding spots and began chanting their spells again but as soon as they released their attacks, the storm of iron came which forced them to conjure up their barriers hastily.

One of them got his shield quickly shattered by just one bolt of iron after not being able to create it properly due to haste. The sharp iron rod destroyed his left arm, exposing the bones. The force of the attack also threw him off the walls and without the aid of his fellows; he would have surely fallen to his death.

Two dead, two gripped by fear and one unconscious. The mages weren’t able to cause much noise in the battle because of their low level.

The attacks of the mages were very effective against the clustered formation of the Drakhars but thankfully they were quickly shut down by the Kani’karrs who were still waiting for them to show themselves up.

Barika no longer have anything in his disposal to slow down the advance of their foes, the heavy weapons that were on the walls was in ruins because of the previous bombardment and even if there was one still functional, no one was brave enough to man it because of what happened to the mages.

Unlike the mages who can move about and have the ability to create shields made of magic, the Ereians who would man the heavy weapon would be fixed in place and would be vulnerable to a counter-attack.

Anger, annoyance, helplessness, Barika’s emotions was thrown into cause because of the current situation that they were in. “Damn it…,” he cursed under his breath and made his way towards the most intact part of the walls.