Conscript Hijras marched out in a row of men, a column of shields, swords, and spears. This was one of the many formations of the Imperial army, something that made them more powerful than any of their neighbors, or the now vassal states. He was a shieldman, armed with a large, six-foot tall shield. On my left and right was about 6 others. It would have been longer, but the entry way they were going to was far too thin for any large formation. Behind him was a line of spears, raised right now, but should combat begin, they would be layered to ward off cavalry and infantry. Each shieldman was armed with a short sword to engage in combat when the enemy gets close.

The entry in front of us was... odd to say the least. It was a very tall door, maybe even 35 feet tall. It was like the door to a palace, but the odd thing was, it was in the middle of a field. There was absolutely nothing on the other side, just the other side of the door. When the Imperial soldiers tried to open it, the door refused to budge, not that it mattered. Philosopher's had prophesized, based on ancient texts, the arrival of the Gate. It would not open until it wanted to, and they did not know how long it would take.

Then, it happened, the Gate opened. Hijras had been eating with a few other conscripts, then, a loud, eerie sound came from the Gate. It slowly opened, ominous and giving off a powerful wind. Several men standing near the Gate were blown off their feet, falling on their backs. Everyone watched, utterly shocked, the dual Gates finally becoming fully opened. Inside, it was pitch black, a gray smoke rolling out like the mist from ice. A chill came over the men closest, causing them to shudder, both out of fear and out of the cold.
"FORM UP!" An officer barked, his voice laced with fear. Quickly, the shields formed up, Hijras among those in the front. Behind, spearmen took position, and the back of our formations was made up of conscripted demi-humans.
"FORWARD... MARCH!" The force went onwards, watched by the other men. The moment they stepped in, the slight chill became an almost unbearable frost. The armor the troops wore was not designed for the cold, with open arms and legs, so it was VERY cold for the men. the force went forwards for several meters, the hall completely empty, and pitch black. Loud clangs filled the hall as the shields collided with a wall, something they could not see part in thanks to the lack of light. The spears were able to stop early, their spears also colliding with the wall as well. However, everyone behind them crashed into the spearmen, knocking them forwards into the shields.
"STOP, STOP! THERE'S A WALL, MORONS!" The commander of the shield line yelled, trying to push back. Slowly, the forces behind them lessened their idiotic push, and they could go back. Just that moment, a faint light appeared, a long crack from the top to the bottom. To the group's great surprise, this was another door, opening out into a new area.

Moonlight filtered in through the other side, casting an ominous hue over the line of shields and their fellow soldiers. Everyone was shocked to find that the door had, indeed, opened on its own, but even more odd than that was this new area. It was open, the floor made of concrete, with several roads leading off in every direction. A heavy fog had rolled in, making seeing anything for further than 15 feet close to impossible. Shadows were still cutting through the fog, massive buildings, broken apart and visibly damaged, being the casters. Flames licked the walls and other things, giving little light through the haze. Massive, metal objects loomed, rammed through buildings and blocking off streets. Rubble at each building looked as if they had just fallen from them and sat, uncleaned.

The group fanned out, beginning to drop their guard. The fog was close to the ground, making it hard to see anything. A large, metal carriage was in flames, all of its wheels missing. Without a word, the Captain indicated to each street, an order to make shields walls at each of them. There were four, one was blocked by the massive iron beast, fire coming from the top, the other three were open, but it was impossible to see anything. It was as if the fog thickened there, like a massive wall expanding up as high as the ruined buildings.

Amongst the shieldmen on the path just left of the burning beast was Hijras. He strained his eyes to see just a little further, but to no avail. The fog was just far too thick to see through. Behind him, one of the swordsmen walked around the clearing, looking up and not noticing what was at his feet. His foot hit something... soft... meaty. Like he had walked into an animal. He stepped back, shocked, and looked down. He looked into the one remaining eye of the face poking through the dense fog. The entire left side of his face had no skin, no eye in the socket. His jaw was ripped sideways, hanging on only by the right hinge, which was in no better condition. Flesh hung off in clumps as if something had been devouring it, but grew bored or was forced away. The soldier screamed, jumping back. At that moment, the fog cleared on the ground, showing that this place was not just an empty clearing, it was a fucking graveyard.

Dozens of bodies lay strewn about, but the worst of it all was a pile of what everyone had first thought was rubble but was instead body parts and full bodies. They were mutilated and looked half devoured. It was a bloody mess, blood still oozing from the pile and across the floor, into gaping holes in the side of the roads. A fist slammed through the pile, pushing body parts away. Another pushed out, both hands grabbing either side of the pile, dragging something out, a man.

He was no regular man, though, he was in VERY bad condition. His face had three wicked slashes across his face, tearing the flesh away in sickening clumps, hanging from his face. His eyes glowed a deep, orange color, illuminating his damaged face even further. He wore the torn remains of a cloth uniform, his ribcage showing clearly in the middle. Held tightly in his yellow teeth was the arm of a human, blood oozing from where it had been ripped off. It dropped the arm, letting out a guttural, low roar. The sound was far louder than that a man should have been able to make at that octave. One of the archers, a conscripted elf, drew back his bowstring and fired an arrow dead center into the middle of its forehead. It's roar turned into a high pitched whine as its body lurched backward, falling back into the hole it made. The moment of silence only lasted that, a moment. Hundreds of roars rose into the sky, shaking the men to the core.
"We shouldn't have come here..." The elf murmured, looking around, fear on his face. Hijras looked forwards, beginning to shudder, not just because it was unbelievably cold because those cries were close...
VERY close...

Then, another unbelievable thing happened, the deep fog fell back, the wall going back several dozens of meters back. It was still almost pitch black, but he could tell that they were there, the bright, glowing eyes looking in their direction. Dozens upon dozens...
No, hundreds of eyes were looking at them.

"THEIR ALLA ROUND US!" One of the men yelled, drawing his blade, looking down one of the roads, where a horde was coming from. The sound of hundreds of footsteps were all around the group, shambling towards the group. Their roars were deafening as if they were excited by the prospect of seeing the team of Imperials. The elvish archer dropped over, its glowing eyes going out.
"ARCHERS, KILL THEM, HURRY!" The Captain yelled, fear edging into his loud voice. These... monsters grew quicker and quicker as arrows flew into their ranks. Nothing put them down, though. The Imperial archers fired arrow after arrow into the horde, but they would just get back up and keep running. Only the Elvish archer killed them, with shots directly into the center of their foreheads. This and this alone killed them. Finally, they met the first line of shields, and they were dead instantly. The horde of the dead easily tore the shields away, snapping and clawing into the flesh of the poor soldiers. They were unable to break away from their shields, now being held by the undead hostiles. Hijras, realizing the futility of the shields versus these undead monsters, he unclipped it, running away like a mad man. The other man, distracted by Hijras running, was toppled over easily and devoured by the dead. Swordsmen and Spearmen rushed forwards to fight, only to be feasted upon by the wave of rotting, gray skin. Hijras, the archers, and the Captain, realizing that they had lost, tried to run back to the Gate. Sadly, the rest of the army were pushing through, thinking they were walking into a fight, not a slaughter.

The only thing they were good for was distracting the undead horde long enough to allow the initial group to run like hell. Everyone in the Gate, finally realizing what was going on, ran back as well, pushing through each other as the horde quickly caught up, hungrily roaring. The men in the back were caught and devoured, unable to put up any resistance against the superior strength of the dead numbers. Hijras, the Captain, and the archers made it on the other side but did not stop running. Even at the order of the officers and general, they kept running. They could not stop, not after the horrors they had seen. Hijras looked back, seeing Wyverns being torn from the sky, figures jumping up, and bringing them back down before they could even lift off fully. The group made it to the forest and stopped to catch their breath, saying to words. Then, a roar came over the silent night, which had come rather quickly. They all shared looks, fear, panic, and questions on their faces.

What in the name of the gods did they just unleash on the world?

Hey, people!

Short chapter, I know, but I just wanted to get something out and see what everyone thinks about it.

If all goes well, I'll see you sexy bastards int he next chapter.