When I was in grade school I remember sitting in history class listening to stories of ancient battles fought long ago. Of brave men who fought against insurmountable odds for the sake of king, country, and familial ties. History had been my favorite subject and the tales of those battles had captivated me from a young age.
Now, that reality is a bit more grim than I could have imagined.
“We’re almost there,” I call to my men at just above a whisper. “Keep moving.”
In the light of the moon I hope I’m right, but I’m far from sure. We race through the tall grass in formation, trying to keep low and out of sight. Behind us the war horns of the enemy blare into the night, followed by the whoops and grunts of the Orks that would gladly eviscerate us if they had a chance.
Kato’s trick with the Sand Drakes had bought us precious time as the Orks fought to subdue their wild beasts. I doubt I’ll forget the sounds of crunching iron in teeth, nor the screams of an Ork who had ventured too close to the compromised cages. The front lines were a wild place, and though monsters could be tamed within reason, wild beasts were still wild.
It was an important lesson, if not a nauseating one. A rustle in the grass to my right made the men beside me jump. I spun towards the disturbance, heart in my throat. But no shadow Magus tore from the darkness. Instead, I recognized Jorgen’s wide-eyed stare. The tip of my blade wavered.
“Throne, I almost took your head off,” muttered Kato, sliding his own blade home in his sheath. I put a hand on his shoulder and steered him forward after the backs of the men running bent double in the grasses before us. Jorgen fell into step. He was breathing hard, the sound a metallic rasp in his helmet.
“No sign of them,” he said, shaking his head. “I got as far as the edge of the ridgeline,” he jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “But from what I could see the unit has all but cleared out. My guess? They circled North East.”
“Shit.” The curse slid through my teeth before I could stop it. It seemed we were on our own for now. Even if the others had managed to circle back for the crossroads, it would take precious time. Time I knew we didn’t have.
“Hedging our bets on the competence of the Army? My my, how far we’ve fallen.”
Another horn blast made us all grimace. Behind us a flare went into the air, illuminating everything in an orange glow. I glanced around to see a giant fire arrow cutting through the sky. It seemed to hang there for a moment, the light enough to illuminate our surroundings for dozens of feet.
“Oh hell,” I growled. “Move!”
The shouted command cut the air like a knife. I saw the men in front of me react. Some turned their heads to follow the arc of that arow. Others responded by ducking behind shields or throwing themselves to the side. It made little difference. In the light above, what little cover the grass provided was all but a moot point. And that wasn’t the half of it. Where there was light, there was also…
A scream to my right split the air, cut off moments later with a wet squelch. A dark spike of shadow protruded from the throat of a soldier not ten paces away. It seemed like a solid thing, and even as I watched, the spike slid from his throat and snaked towards another. My pulse slammed in my veins.
This was a bad situation. Caught out in the open with reinforcements miles away and a Magus that could attack from a distance? If I didn’t act, we were going to find ourselves picked off by the dozens. Another soldier was gutted by a shadow spike, and another.
Finally, the fire arrow sank back towards the ground, falling end over end and going out. The darkness was only a temporary reprieve. My eyes fought to adjust as I scanned the line of the lands around us. Grass, nothing but rolling plains… until…
I gestured to with my sword towards a copse of trees about a fourth of a mile to the North East. It was small, an oasis among a sea of waving grain. But it provided us with two advantages we didn’t yet have – height, and cover.
Draxus followed the thrust of my blade and I saw him reach the same conclusion I did.
“We need to spread out,” he said. “Into columns. It’s our best bet to avoid getting picked off.”
I pressed my tongue against my teeth, hating the idea but knowing he was right. Damn it all, why is there never any time.
“Draxus, take your collum to the right. Kato scatter left.”
Jorgen raised a brow. In the flare of the next fire arrow I could see the whites of his eyes.
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“And you sir William?”
I set my jaw. “I take the middle.”
As the light of the second fire arrow flared, my men split into columns. We ran, scattered like insects in the grass as the magus hunted us. Only once in my life in this new world, I’d come face to face with a Magus. And that had been terrifying enough. This… this was something different entirely. 𝙍𝒶₦ọβÊȘ
Darkness bloomed in the sky behind us. I could see the silhouettes of the men ahead of and beside me as we moved, feel the weight of desperation. We had to get to higher ground before the Orks caught up with us. We may have had the advantage within the walls of Ceris, but on open ground, they would run us down like dogs.
I felt the weight of the power in the air moments before the Magus struck. Shadows lanced through the grass straight for the soldier two paces ahead of me.
With a roar I tore forward, shoving the man forward and out of the way. The spear of darkness passed through the empty air between us, and as it did I felt the cold sting of something unnatural brush against my arm. Pain bloomed and when I looked down I saw blood flowing freely from a deep gash along my arm.
“Ser William!” Jorgen’s voice rang out in the darkness. He and several other soldiers had slowed in the half light. I could see their figures, lit against the burning orange glow. The glint of their armor was clearly visible.. and If I could see it, so could he.
“Don’t stop,” I shouted, waving my free hand at them. “Keep moving damn it.”
The soldiers standing beside him lurched into action, galvanized by my orders. Perhaps it was something in my tone, but for whatever reason Jorgen hesitated. His eyes dropped to my arm and the blood now pouring freely from the wound. He opened his mouth as if to say something. That’s when it happened.
There was the weight of power again, the smell of an electric charge in the air. Then before me as if in a scene from a dream the Magus appeared. He rose from the shadow, half man, half darkness.
I was still moving towards them but It felt as if I were running through resistance. Too damn slow.
No I thought even as I stumbled towards the scene. The Magus raised his hands, a dark nimbus of power pulsing outwards. Jorgen had the presence of mind to jerk away, but it did little to protect him. A spike of shadow pierced him through the chest and he crumpled to the ground like a puppet with his strings cut.
My ears were ringing. All I could do was stare at the body of my friend as horror raced through me. What followed next wasn’t grief. It wasn’t pain. It was something else entirely – something dark.
I barely felt the increase of speed as the mark on my skin burned. Barely felt it was the Magus turned, lashing out with shadows that grazed my cheek as I ducked aside. No, I was focused on one thing and one thing only.
Kill said the voice in my head that wasn’t entirely mine. Kill him. Break him.
The Magus backpedaled, white teeth bared in a snarl as he flinched away. I lifted my blade, thrusting forward for his face. I wanted his blood – wanted to make him pay for every death my company suffered. But my blade met empty air as shadows swirled. With a roar I reached out with my gloved hand, snagging my fingers through shadow as if I might grab hold of him.
The darkness slid through my hands like sand and dissipated.
For a moment I stood there, chest heaving as I vibrated with anger. With the need for carnage. For.. blood? I blinked and the sound returned to the world with a pop. Someone was shaking my shoulder. I turned to look. Draxus?
“C’mon Will,” growled the warrior. The light of the next fire arrow shone in the darkness of his eyes. His brow was creased, not in anger but concern. “Will, you have to snap out of it.”
I blinked again and shook my head like a dog ridding itself of a troubling flea.
“Sorry,” I grunted. “I saw… I saw Jorgen go down and I-“
Draxus jerked his head towards the clump of trees and brush on the rise ahead.
“We need you,” he said. “Stand with us again, brother.”
I nodded, and clapped his shoulder, joining him and the remaining men as we scrambled up the bank. It was steeper than I had gussed at a distance. In armor we were weighed down, and the soft sand of the plains crumbled beneath out feet. Twice I slipped, boots digging deep in the dirt. But each time Draxus or another soldier caught me.
That was how we’d make it out, I thought as Kato’s face loomed above me. He stuck out his hand and I took it. We would survive together because we were brothers. Kato heaved and I pressed with my legs, muscles screaming as I scrabbled up the last of the bluff. As soon as I crested the small hill I turned to help the others carry Jorgen’s body. The weight was heavy, and the men beneath me struggled to hold him up.
“C’mon,” I roared as I heaved upwards. His body was still warm. “C’mon.”
At last every soldier had made it to the top of the blight and I gave orders for those with shields to take from and center. It was then and only then that I turned to the body of my friend.
“I should have never agreed to this,” I told him. His eyes were closed and a trickle of blood ran from the mess of his breast plate, and down the channels of his armor to the ground.
“The fault is mine. It’s always mine.”
“Always so dramatic,” Kato’s voice pulled me out of my reverie. I turned toward him, my temper flaring anew but he took a step back and raised his hands.
“Easy killer, he’s still very much alive. The would is deep but it struck his shoulder, not anything vital. If we can get the men to stop the bleeding we might just-“
I turned back to my friend’s body and stared. Sure enough his chest rose and fell. It was minute but it could only mean he was alive.
“Do it.” I ordered even as a horn sounded again. It was close, and this time it was accompanied by the telltale snarl of waring orks. They had come, at last. And they were angry. I killed their chief, I stole their dignity. And that damned Magus was with them.
I tore my sword sheath from my belt, and tossed it aside.
“Give me a fucking shield,” I snarled as I turned to face the oncoming horde. Draxus grimaced.
“I said, give me a fucking shield.”
In the years after, I would struggle to remember the events of that night.
But the story would be known throughout Kadia. Sung in songs around fireplaces, whispered in taverns far and wide. The carnage that followed would be known as the Battle of Barren Hill. And though casualties on both sides were high, we stood our bloody ground. Inch by inch, mankind repelled the enemy. Until the ground was soaked with blood. Until my men were covered with it and I could see them only by the whites of their eyes.
Until the horn that sounded from the East brought a manic grin to the faces of my friends. And at the crack of dawn in the middle of the burning planes, Kadian reinforcements arrived.