The warrior slashed through the demon's ranks, cutting them down left and right before they could react. A group of them surrounded her, but she faked to the left, and managed to take one down and wounded another. They scrambled to close in, but she had already moved on to another group of the foul creatures.
The warrior's commander was mad. She had disobeyed him again. Instead of sticking with the ranks and keeping the formation, Dranya had run off again, alone, through the demons. He spurred his horse forward and trampled one underneath. He slid off of his mount to spear a demon with his sword, but as soon as he hit the ground, he was knocked sideways onto the ground. Another demon appeared above him, raising its sword for the final blow.
But then he heard a crash, and the demon disintegrated. Dranya stood next to him, grinning and covered in demon dust.
"You okay, Chief?" she extended her hand to him.
He grunted and shook his head. "I can get up on my own," he insisted.
"Okay." She said happily and ran away to the next group of demons.
He rolled his eyes and stood uneasily. The part of the battlefield he was on was almost completely empty. Most of the demons were following Dranya, who was skipping through their ranks easily, cutting down the demons left and right. The rest of the King's Imperial army was scattered throughout the demons, trying their best to force them into retreating.
"Captain Derek!" he heard someone calling. He turned to see his fourth-in-command, General Marlon, hurrying towards him with a letter in hand.
"Here you go, Captain." He handed Derek the letter.
Captain Derek tore open the envelope and unfolded the letter. It was written in flowing, smooth lettering. It read:
"Captain Derek Grimm, as you know, we have been leading small battles in hopes to capture some of the Darkling's Empire's land, but we realize this now that it will not be enough to keep the rebellion alive. We need to strike at the Empire's heart. You must lead your forces to Deimopolis and attack the Darkling there directly. It is our only hope of defeating him.
Best of regards,
King Duncan and
Queen Wren."
Derek grimaced. The army was in no shape to attack Deimopolis. They were barely able to keep up their defense.
If only we had the help of the Elves…or the Dragon Riders. He shook his head. That will never happen.
He grabbed his sword and strode across the battlefield towards Dranya. She seemed fine on her own, whirling through the ranks of the demons, her face covered in demon dust like war paint. He slashed the back of a demon about to hit her from behind, and it disintegrated.
Dranya suddenly turned to him and yelled, "Duck!" He crouched as she jumped over him, and he heard a demon's death cry. He turned, still crouched, to see Dranya wiping demon dust off of her sword.
She grinned. "Watch out, captain," she said with a note of humor.
"Ah, Dranya, you've saved me twice too many times today. We need more people like you," He said as he stood up.
"I've offered to train the new troops that have come in from the north, but General Kinsley won't let me. He's a strange man," she said, pulling a throwing knife from her belt and sent it spiraling away at a demon that had attempted to sneak up behind them. The demon broke into a million pieces, scattering away and leaving the knife lying in the dust. She grabbed it and turned to Derek.
"Shall we?" she said, gesturing towards the mass of demons that were gathering around them.
"Don't get too excited." He said grimly.
"Never," she said fiercely, and charged into the ranks of demons, letting loose a war cry.
King Duncan sat on his throne next to Queen Wren, and raised his hand for silence. The court quieted, but a few nobles still murmured among themselves.
"As you all know, our Imperial Army is in the middle of marching to Deimopolis in an attempt to overthrow our neighboring country, Olgarnet. They have stolen from us, killed our people, but now they have crossed the line. Recently, they rushed our southern border and burned several villages nearby. They took all the land that they covered and claimed it for their own. We must not allow this to happen. We must unite our Imperial and Summoning armies to fight back against these raids. Our entire kingdom is at risk if we let this continue." Duncan
"We must also not forget how they treated our people during the Sorcery Ages. They kept us as slaves to farm their fields and cook their meals. We had to clean their houses and look after their children. We must ensure that this will never happen again." Wren added.
Duncan nodded. A few nobles in the crowd called out, agreeing with the queen's words.
They were cut short as the doors of the throne room flew open, and a steward rushed in, weaving his way through nobles hurriedly. When he finally made it to the dais, he knelt quickly and handed King Duncan a scroll of paper. Duncan unrolled the paper and read the short, choppy handwriting:
"King Duncan and Queen Wren, I find it of dire circumstances to write you this letter, for our supplies are running low and we have not the proficient number of men to attack Deimopolis. I worry that the demons, whom have camped across the moor, will soon find that we are weaker than we appear, for lately in battle they have become bolder, and they have begun to raid our camps at night. Of course, Dranya Sharpspeak, my second-in-command, has been the only one that can fend off more then five at a time. Though I am grateful for your placement of her in the Imperial Army, I still wonder why you did not assign her to the Summoning Army, for her divination and necromancy skills are stronger than ever. Anyhow, to get to the matter of this problem, I must first explain that once we do reach Deimopolis, we will have run out of our rationed supplies, and we have already lost too many good men to this monstrosity of a kingdom to which we neighbor. I ask you to send more men and materials. The pressing matter of the demons invading us is getting worse every day.
Signed,
General Derek Grimm."
King Duncan furrowed his brow. They couldn't afford to send more men to Derek's aid. They would send whatever supplies they could, however, and Duncan could make an appearance at the campsite to boost moral. He folded the letter and stood.
"My court, I must make preparations to leave for the next few days; I am going to the campsite our Imperial Army has set up to boost the moral of our brave men." He said, and waved his hand for them to leave. They all bowed simultaneously, and began to file out of the room. Wren stood and placed his arm on her shoulder. "You're sure about this?" she asked in her soft voice. Duncan nodded. "Derek says it's not doing so well out there. They've already lost over half of their men, I reckon by now." He frowned and sighed. "I should have known the demons were going to overpower them eventually. Why didn't I realize that sooner?" Wren shook her head. "It's not your fault, Duncan," She told him.
He turned to her. "I hope so."