1st Day of Spring, 509 AV
They did not have to march far. The Yukmen were coming to them.
"I’ve heard they're always moving," Liara had told him when the scouts came scampering back from the trees, shouting of their approach. With one raised hand, Corinth had halted the column. "Never stay in one place. Once they've killed or eaten or smashed everything they can, they move on." The other apprentice continued, eyes fixated on her leader even as she spoke with a giddiness that belied her shaking hands. "Monsters. The kind out of story books our parents used to read to scare us into shape."
"Form up!”
Corinth's words had the whole war party moving as one, fifty or so Ravokian warriors spreading out across the uneven and foliage-choked forest floor. She barked orders from in front of them, gesticulating with the blades in her hands. Elias soon found himself in roughly the middle of a line maybe thirty yards long and two rank deep.
"When they come," Corinth shouted, making sure everyone could hear, "It will be one ragged horde! They will rage and they will roar and they will break upon our formation like the tide upon the rocks! Hold your ground, and make sure they bleed for every inch."
She spread her arms as a ragged cheer rose from war party, pointing to either end of the line.
"Those in the second rank, on the flanks! Once battle is joined, wait for my command to move. Once given you will press the horde from the sides, squashing them into the middle! None will escape today.”
There were no questions or contestations, just grunts and nodding heads. Everyone was eager for it, and Elias could feel the sensation crackle through the air. Younger warriors like him, eyes shining with anticipation. Older veterans, eyes hardened with grim purpose. Not a tendril of fear was to be found anywhere amidst the line... except within him.
Liara seemed to sense it. She turned to him, laying a calloused yet gentle hand upon his shoulder, and Elias looked at her, and he saw that confident, cocksure, beautiful face looking back at him. She squeezed his shoulder.
"I’m with you, alright? And look at it this way, at least now you’ll get a chance to see me in action! I can finally show you how to throw that dagger properly, eh?” But before his trembling lips could work themselves out of a knot, they heard it, and Liara turned away.
“Prepare yourself..."
It started as an echo of an echo. Shrill. Distant. Unusual even for the massive myriad of sound that filled the wilds, it seemed... alien. Unnatural. Wrong. Elias strained to hear it at first, but soon he wished he could plug his ears and make it stop. A hooting, almost like an owl but deeper, fiercer... answered by high-pitched shrieks and howls. And then as it got closer, he heard a new sound.
Yuk…
Yuk…
Yuk.
"Noise!" Corinth shouted. "Attract the beasts and draw them close!"
Dozens of stryfers howled and screamed and swore and slammed steel into shield and soon Elias was nearly deafened by the sheer cacophony around him, but beat his own instruments of war together none the less.
Then the sounds of their enemy grew louder, and the wilds seemed to come alive. He gazed in growing unease as the lower plants and trees shook and trembled, some even knocked down in the distance. It started in spurts, sections, and then it seemed an entire line of vegetation was coming alive, moving by itself.
The line was getting closer.
Liara raised her sword in the air.
Elias tore his gaze from the approaching unknown, shaking trees, from the faintly trembling ground, and saw his strength in her figure. She showed no fear, just disgust and anger writ large upon her noble face. The wind blew hard, as if spurring their enemy onto their blades, and her long raven hair flew around her face, framing it majestically.
Figures burst from the undergrowth. Shorter than them by almost a foot, hunched over as if new to the idea of upright movement. For a brief second Elias thought it was survivors from the advanced scouting parties, seeing a familiarity with their skin tone and...
"God above..."
Utterly black orbs that served as eyes glared at them from beyond the canopy. Stones and rocks glittered in the weak sun, embedded in dirty, cracked flesh that looked more like mud than skin. One of the creatures had a rusted sword in its hand, and when it opened its mouth, a shriek the likes no human could ever create washed over their line like a tide.
More came. Dozens more. Loping and running and jumping towards them. Elias felt his hands shake and saw a shadow to his left as Taliya now raised her blade as well, an unwavering roar bellowed back in response to the creatures.
“For Ravok!"
Corinth's arm chopped the air and leveled at the approaching filthy mass of Yukmen.
"Charge!”
Their roar drowned out the endless "yuk-yuk-yuk" chant from the abominations, and Elias squashed his fear as he pelted along with them. They covered fifty yards between them, the shambling monsters and the sprinting Ravokians, then their lines hammered into one another like two surging waves.
"I’ve heard they're always moving," Liara had told him when the scouts came scampering back from the trees, shouting of their approach. With one raised hand, Corinth had halted the column. "Never stay in one place. Once they've killed or eaten or smashed everything they can, they move on." The other apprentice continued, eyes fixated on her leader even as she spoke with a giddiness that belied her shaking hands. "Monsters. The kind out of story books our parents used to read to scare us into shape."
"Form up!”
Corinth's words had the whole war party moving as one, fifty or so Ravokian warriors spreading out across the uneven and foliage-choked forest floor. She barked orders from in front of them, gesticulating with the blades in her hands. Elias soon found himself in roughly the middle of a line maybe thirty yards long and two rank deep.
"When they come," Corinth shouted, making sure everyone could hear, "It will be one ragged horde! They will rage and they will roar and they will break upon our formation like the tide upon the rocks! Hold your ground, and make sure they bleed for every inch."
She spread her arms as a ragged cheer rose from war party, pointing to either end of the line.
"Those in the second rank, on the flanks! Once battle is joined, wait for my command to move. Once given you will press the horde from the sides, squashing them into the middle! None will escape today.”
There were no questions or contestations, just grunts and nodding heads. Everyone was eager for it, and Elias could feel the sensation crackle through the air. Younger warriors like him, eyes shining with anticipation. Older veterans, eyes hardened with grim purpose. Not a tendril of fear was to be found anywhere amidst the line... except within him.
Liara seemed to sense it. She turned to him, laying a calloused yet gentle hand upon his shoulder, and Elias looked at her, and he saw that confident, cocksure, beautiful face looking back at him. She squeezed his shoulder.
"I’m with you, alright? And look at it this way, at least now you’ll get a chance to see me in action! I can finally show you how to throw that dagger properly, eh?” But before his trembling lips could work themselves out of a knot, they heard it, and Liara turned away.
“Prepare yourself..."
It started as an echo of an echo. Shrill. Distant. Unusual even for the massive myriad of sound that filled the wilds, it seemed... alien. Unnatural. Wrong. Elias strained to hear it at first, but soon he wished he could plug his ears and make it stop. A hooting, almost like an owl but deeper, fiercer... answered by high-pitched shrieks and howls. And then as it got closer, he heard a new sound.
Yuk…
Yuk…
Yuk.
"Noise!" Corinth shouted. "Attract the beasts and draw them close!"
Dozens of stryfers howled and screamed and swore and slammed steel into shield and soon Elias was nearly deafened by the sheer cacophony around him, but beat his own instruments of war together none the less.
Then the sounds of their enemy grew louder, and the wilds seemed to come alive. He gazed in growing unease as the lower plants and trees shook and trembled, some even knocked down in the distance. It started in spurts, sections, and then it seemed an entire line of vegetation was coming alive, moving by itself.
The line was getting closer.
Liara raised her sword in the air.
Elias tore his gaze from the approaching unknown, shaking trees, from the faintly trembling ground, and saw his strength in her figure. She showed no fear, just disgust and anger writ large upon her noble face. The wind blew hard, as if spurring their enemy onto their blades, and her long raven hair flew around her face, framing it majestically.
Figures burst from the undergrowth. Shorter than them by almost a foot, hunched over as if new to the idea of upright movement. For a brief second Elias thought it was survivors from the advanced scouting parties, seeing a familiarity with their skin tone and...
"God above..."
Utterly black orbs that served as eyes glared at them from beyond the canopy. Stones and rocks glittered in the weak sun, embedded in dirty, cracked flesh that looked more like mud than skin. One of the creatures had a rusted sword in its hand, and when it opened its mouth, a shriek the likes no human could ever create washed over their line like a tide.
More came. Dozens more. Loping and running and jumping towards them. Elias felt his hands shake and saw a shadow to his left as Taliya now raised her blade as well, an unwavering roar bellowed back in response to the creatures.
“For Ravok!"
Corinth's arm chopped the air and leveled at the approaching filthy mass of Yukmen.
"Charge!”
Their roar drowned out the endless "yuk-yuk-yuk" chant from the abominations, and Elias squashed his fear as he pelted along with them. They covered fifty yards between them, the shambling monsters and the sprinting Ravokians, then their lines hammered into one another like two surging waves.
Word Count: 882
