บท 30: Taken In

"Bring him in." The old warrior began walking down the stairs. The knight looked confused at the order, lowering his sword while still looking back.

"General Harthorne, this man is a magic user. By order and law of the king himself, we must kill all mages that walk the lands we hold." The knight retorted.

The soldiers parted as he walked closer to Venator, stopping after being a few steps away.

"What is your name?" The man asked, his voice was calm and slow. Venator was confused on how to respond, whether to lie or to say the truth to a soldier that's meant to be his ally.

"Venator." He managed to speak, finally deciding.

"Follow me." The man began moving back up the stairs, the soldiers from behind followed with Venator at the very rear.

The wall behind them stood strong despite heavy attacks, bits and pieces of it broke off with each strike but still held on.

Approaching the wall of shields, a few more shield carriers moved through, quickly encircling Venator while he moved up.

At the very top, it was packed. Civilians, soldiers, all people from different walks of life sought refuge near the cathedral and walled castle.

"Tell me, Venator." The man spoke, "Why do you help us? Especially since you're a mage. The kingdom against us does not persecute mages like we do. Ever since the first sighting of a mage and the destruction witnessed from his power, we begun killing anyone found to be a mage. You're quite lucky to have survived instead of getting killed." He explained. The man stopped, the shield circle followed. He stepped through the shield circle, standing in front of Venator.

"Why do you help us?" Venator began thinking as the question finished unsure on how to answer.

"I doubt they'd believe i was sent here to fight because of their god." Venator though.

"I fought for your army, because I have seen the brutality of the enemy kingdom and what they have done in pillaging and wiping out entire towns. I witnessed them taking anyone alive as slaves under them to fuel their war machine, to create armor and weapons for their soldiers. The further it grew and the larger the army became, the more I witnessed. Thus, despite the hatred of my kind, I joined with your kingdom, albeit not officially, to fight the enemy and beat them back with what I have." Venator responded. The man looked shocked at the response he gave.

"Very well. You've fought the enemy on many occasions, witnessing first hand in one battle. You used flame and ice for combat, killing mages like you along with the soldiers that fought alongside them. Although your intentions have been partly proven by what has been seen, i still have doubts. Thus, we may spare you and let you fight with us, although not an official soldier of the army. Although, we still need to keep caution of you. Thus, in combat you will be sent to the front, when the enemy approaches you must fight on or move nearer to the formation for a shield wall to form in front of you." The man explained. Venator felt relieved, his lie worked. But at the cost of this, he was now known and bound by the general of the army.

"SIR!" A soldier yelled from outside the circle, the man hastily stepped outside to meet who yelled.

He returned shortly to Venator, holding his shield, helmet, and sword.

"Your first battle under us starts now, they're attempting to come up here from the side with ropes and ladders, need you to try and take out the soldiers that are infesting the square down below."

"Soldiers, battle formations!" He yelled out, the circle of shields quickly fell as they ran towards the edges or back to the shield wall protecting the stairs.

Venator ran with the man, donning helmet. The two oversaw the horde down below upon arriving, massive groups of soldiers packed against each other filled the square below, ladders and ropes with anchors latched onto the railings, soldiers began trying to push and kick them off as they began climbing upwards. With a few other soldiers they began trying to repel the attack.

Archers stood in front, releasing arrows into the crowd with pikemen waiting behind.

Venator joined in kicking off the ladders ,hearing the screams of soldiers fall back down into the area down below.

Arrows struck the wall as they tried to hit the soldiers, Venator continued removing ladders and ropes while they whistled by, flying above or just next to him.

Volley after volley, more were hit by the barrage, injured or killed, seeking refuge behind shields.

Arrows struck Venator, further wounding him in the battle. Despite the wounds, he continued trying to push them off, sending streaks of fire towards anyone that managed to reach the top.

A wall of shields stood behind him as he continued, leaving him to deal with the threat alone.

The ladders continued being pushed back up after being thrown back down, Venator felt the annoyance hit him again as they never ceased.

"This isn't working, need to use some fire again."

After seeing more ladders spout back up, Venator began setting them alight, quickly the fire spread onto the rest of the ladders, soldiers climbing fell down as the heat drove downwards.

The ladders burned like tall towers of light above the soldiers, kicked off to meet them on the ground.

Venator grabbed the ropes, the orbs in his hands enveloped it, severing the anchor from it and sending any climbing fighter back down.

The attack was thwarted, arrows flew around as the shields moved past Venator, forming a wall in front of the railing as arrowtips crashed into them.

Venator stood behind with the old man and a few soldiers.

The man took off his helmet, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"Perhaps you are to be trusted, though a single defense like that isn't enough to fully trust you. Nevertheless, I do see the desire in you to fight, even after being threatened by my subordinates."