Chapter 68: Raiding party 11
Chapter 68
Blinking Reskeme frantically covered his eyes from the bright light, the blinding blue light formed over a large section of human soldiers. Squinting his eyes Reskeme braced himself preparing for an attack, In the dome of mana swirled 3 runes rotating left to his right while inside the mana hovered 2 runes facing each other shaking wildly. The large control rune hovered above the dome of mana the first and most important of all the runes in the attack.
Reskeme wanted to run as far away from that thing as possible, He yelled," get down!" laying flat on his stomach he covered his ears and braced himself. He felt the 6 layered runes activate, the ground shook and a harsh wind buffeted his cloak pushing him trying to tear him from the ground. Glancing up from the grass he glanced down the line of crouching soldiers.
A large hole on the edge of the river misted as the water rushed foaming over the edge of the crater. He gripped his trembling naginata next to him, swallowing and heart racing as he realized that all of the soldiers had disappeared as though they were never there. Reskeme froze in place until a longhorn blast blared, The soldiers around him began marching towards the grouped Darva.
Reskeme snapped his eyes forward, Carley yelled "From up! form an attack line!" Dusty followed on his right and Carley on his left. Reskemes leather armour brushed against his skin, the well-fitted leather armour feeling inadequate after watching the power of the Darvan mages. Reskeme jogged forward catching up to the backline standing between Dusty and Carley feeling slightly more secure. His palms were sweaty and he could smell the sour stench of sweat as he braced his naginata over the shoulder of a woman holding a shield in front of her.
Reskeme said," why aren't we moving forwards?" Carley said," just wait for the order." after all the soldiers formed a line A horn blared 2 times. A soldier Down the line yelled," Foreward, Keep in line, Steady march!" The voice carried across the battlefield travelling the distance as though the man was standing right next to him.
Reskeme recognized the voice, The man giving the orders was the commander. The line of soldiers walked in step an organized march that reskeme completely failed to match. He trudged after The soldiers as they crossed the 50 paces between the two armies in what felt like an hour. The two groups of Darva weren't going to wait for the humans to approach. Reskeme kept his head down crouching behind The woman in front of him, the group of Darva in front of him threw javelins the deadly projectiles causing sharp screams to erupt along the human line.
Reskeme Drew a javelin, he channelled mana and waited for the human mages to attack. The shimmering red runes formed around the grouped Darva, Reskeme reacted hurling his javelin from behind the woman shielding him. He felt a burst of mana building ahead of him, grey runes formed in the air and exploded upwards slamming the Darva on the front line shattering the packed line just as they reached 20 steps away.
He put one foot in front of the other two concerned to lift his head and check how close they were to the enemy. The soldier Ahead of him grunting in the effort, the soldiers stopped moving running into something hard and crashing to a halt. He Glanced toward Carley, she held a spear in her hands, reskeme wondered where she had gotten the long weapon.
Carley yelled, Keep the Front line together don't let them through! backline stab at the Darvan scum" Reskeme was caught up in the sounds of battle. The Darva ahead of him kept Darting in trying to hit the shields of the front line soldiers, On his left, he caught sight of a Darva as it slashed glowing claws at a soldier's shield, the man took the blow and screamed as their shield tore.
His naginata held over the shoulder of the shieldbearer in front of him as His hands shook with excitement and anger, gagging he wished he couldn't smell his nose smelled the acrid smell of burning flesh and hair. Reskeme thrust his spear, a Darvan warrior dodged to the side and ran right into Crleys spear. The Warrior couldn't dodge as the packed Darvan warriors removed the Darvas speed advantage.
Carley said," keep an eye on who you stab with that naginata, if you kill one off our soldiers you will replace them on the front line." Reskeme watched the Darvan warriors stagger back, the humans' long spears took a bloody toll as Darvan yipped and snarled.
Reskeme stabbed again his arms growing tired from the motion, unlike single combat he simply stood right behind the woman with a shield, he didn't move other than to shakily stab once more forcing the Darva back. His focus was solely on the Darvan line ahead of them, he took another step forward, the tree line was gradually drawing near it looked like a dark outline in the moonlight.
After the first attacks, the mages seemed content to let the warriors fight, He lost track of time as he continually stabbed over and over. Reskemes armour drenched in sweat, every move he made chafed uncomfortable but he didn't dare stop. He was so focused he didn't realize he was in the trees until he found himself leaning on the thin trunk of a tree.
Reskeme could see the exhaustion in the soldiers around him, they slumped trudging forwards. Reskeme felt like they were winning the fight, glancing over his shoulder he could see the 100steps they had gained. This victory made his heart swell with pride, Reskeme wondered why the Darva kept falling back, the retreating warriors would dart in attack and back away allowing the human line to push forward
Reskeme wondered at this, the fabled Darvan warriors seemed at a huge disadvantage in the field, The long reach of the human spears and the defence of the shields made the Darva continually getting pushed back. A long howl drifted through the night, the mostly intact army of Darvan warriors retreating falling back into the dark thick forest. Reskeme took in a ragged breath, the Darvan warriors disappeared from sight running into the dark forest.
A horn blared, Carley cursed, She said, "that's the signal to form up, is the commander mad? the enemy mages have been waiting for us to group up." A deep voice reached him travelling along the human line, The commander said," Form up, and prepare for the attack." Carley shouted," Move it, get off your asses, you can rest when you are dead." Reskeme wondered at her, Carley could take control rather well, he shakily pushed back to his feet forcing his shaking muscles to move him back towards the clearing.
Reskeme held the shaft of his naginata his arms feeling like he held large stones as he leaned on the spear for support. His exhaustion was reflected in the expressions of the rest of the army and many held their weapons at their sides not bothering to even hold them at their sides. Reskeme felt his heart skip a beat, he felt a burning rage as he steps over a Darvan warrior, he followed his Sergent letting her lead the way.
He shuffled past a human woman her left arm torn off as the shield she had held was torn like paper by the claws of the Darva. Reskeme tasted bile as it rose in his throat, the foul stench of coppery blood and excrement filled his nose, he walked past a small Darva, the case on its sides denoted it as a scout, the young Darvas side was drenched in blood its dark fur matted around the hole in its leather armour.
Reskeme decided he hated war, the anger and rage he felt when he saw the Darva made him ashamed. He couldn't believe it was Darvas fault, it was the commanders that the grass was littered with soldiers. Pushing aside his unhelpful thoughts he stopped next to Carley the spear he held putting him at the second row of soldiers. A soldier frantically pushed the exhausted soldiers to different rows lining them seemingly at random.
Reskeme found himself standing in the second row, glancing to either side he noticed every soldier in the second line held a spear or in his case naginata. The front row held shields and swords and the back rows all held swords and bows. he felt jostled around, Glancing over the army one final time he caught sight of the commander standing in the center talking to a group of soldiers.
He found the concerned face of Kellar standing two rows behind him and 30steps to his left, the man looked much better than the other soldiers his clothes still somehow straight even after the battle. Reskeme decided to ask him later why he bothered, he figured if he survived this next fight he would risk Kellar's ire. The master mage's cocky attitude was gone, the man's serious face made Reskemes heart race.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone