It was late at night and Fetch though he should be thinking about the battle, but instead all he could think of was Tyris. . After the great meeting he had appointed General Olive as his adviser. There were obviously some grumblings to his choice. Even though some of the older knights knew and respected her, most thought she was some form of halfling military adviser. It didn't matter thought, it was the high priest of Rawk's desire, and Fetch had the backing , although tenuous, of the Champions.
It was past midnight. Fetch was tired after the dueling , the subsequent victory party later, and the logistic planning with Olive. Despite looking like a 10 year child, Olive and Fetch worked really well together. He admired her organization and her vast knowledge of the art of war. Also she wasn't preachy or pushy like some "command" types he worked with in the past. She just radiated confidence and leadership and others flocked to follow her orders. Occasionally though she would "act her age" , and take a nap...or a "candy" break. In the end, all the orders were drawn up, and Fetch's approval was stamped on them. (Fetch found his amulet worked well as a seal )
Fetch and Hildraxel tried to reach Bartog's camp, but somehow lost their way. The cleric thought it was by the rest of the Mammoth keep contingent , but a brief trip around the fringes revealed nothing. Finally a knight told them, that Bartog's camp was moved to the camp of the Silver Champion recently . It seemed it was getting too crowded, (mammoths need a lot of room), so they had to relocate from their fellows.
Fetch felt kind of silly walking, with a mounted knight following behind him, but Sir Hildraxel's horse didn't want the cleric riding him. The horse was definitely "unique", it was obvious of a special breed. Fetch recalled Amirah calling it a windsteed , but beyond that he had no idea of its origins. Besides its imposing physical attributes (incredibly large, capable of jumping tremendous distances, tireless, ext) it also seemed to be fairly intelligent. Fetch wasn't sure how much it understood him , but it seemed to be very aware of it surroundings.
As Fetch made his way to the Silver Champions Camp, he got a feeling for their morale. Some of the knights were anxious for the glorious battle ahead . Win or lose, it would be legendary. Others were more cautious. There were stories that a boy drew up their war plans, and they were going to be heavily outnumbered. The young cleric had no desire to enlighten them of how accurate the rumors were. Still, it was common belief that a knight was worth 2 gnolls in battle, so there was still some subdued confidence amongst the ranks. Despite this belief , some knights were still very vocal about the coming battle.
"4 to 1 I heard! We are numbered 4 to 1! My brother was on a scouting mission and he said there were over 400,000 gnolls and demons awaiting us tomorrow ! We can't fight that many. Its suicide!", shouted a large and hysterical knight.
"Sure If it was a fair fight , I would be the first on the front line, but our leaders are deceiving us. They want to send us out to die, why they wait in the rear. Notice they changed the battle plans. The cavalry are on the flanks now. Better for them to flee!" , another knight added , both dissenters had now attracted a fair bit of listeners.
Fetch was about to interrupt but a familiar voice beat him to do it," 4 to 1? 4 to 1? You're right ! This is NOT what I signed up for. I was hoping for 10 to 1 myself. Tell you what, you 2 wussies give me 3 of each of yours. So you 2 both are fighting 1 to 1. I'll take the slack and fight 10 to 1 myself. "
"Hold your tongue, cur. Its easy enough to boast when you are safe at camp away from the battlefield. But we are veterans of many battles. Retract your words or face our ire.", challenged the 2 knights .
"Look , if you want, how about I kill you 2 now. Save the gnolls some trouble tomorrow and I'll fight 12 to 1. If I hear you 2 walking vaginas bitch anymore , I'm gonna get really annoyed. Then I wont get any sleep. Then I'm gonna be really crabby tomorrow. Trust me you guys don't want to see me crabby.", The warrior challenging the knights was pushing through the crowd. He was a young warrior with short blond hair and a battle hardened look about him. He was wearing the tabard of the crab and was pointing to it to emphasis his "joke". His tabard designated him as a mere man at arms, to some nobleman of his order , but his armor, shield and scabbard appeared to be of the highest quality. He was followed closely behind by a man with much simpler gear that could have passed for his twin.
The first knight was about to draw his weapon, when one of his squires came up to him, and muttered "Demonbane". The 2 knights looked fearfully at each other and humbly dispersed with the crowd.
"That's right you bitches...Demonbane is in town. Whose house? This is my house! ", the man said obviously proud of himself.
"FRANK!.", cried Fetch as the crowd broke up and he got a good look at his former comrade in arms.
"eh?...FETCH! ... CRAZY OLD GUY! ...Err I mean Sir Hilderaxel...I thought you were dead , I lost track of you after that big party. You were moping around pretty good. Yelled at a lot of people , even made that bard Tyris cry and leave. I thought you might have wandered off into the tundra and grieved yourself to death or something.", he chuckled.," Oh you've met my brother Tank right?"
The man that looked like Frank bowed respectfully to the cleric.
"Demonbane ? Really? ", intoned an indignant Galatea.
"Hey, that's not my first choice.. I wanted to be called FRANK THE DEATH KNIGHT .", he said while giving jazz hands in the air. " But apparently that name was already taken! By a paladin coward of all people...what a waste of a perfectly good nick name. Besides I deserve the nickname Demonbane more then you. "
"Oh Missy high and Mighty I'm too good to be wielded by anyone sword. I've killed ...", he looked at Tank.
"37 " , his brother replied to his unasked question.
"37 demons since last we met...how many have you killed?", boasted Frank.
Galatea fell silent.
Fetch interrupted before feelings were hurt and heads decapitated. "Have you seen old Bartog's camp? We heard it was around here... Tyris is there.", he asked.
Frank raised an eyebrow, "Tyris ? ", he looked surprised ," You...her... unh unh unh?" , he said while lewdly thrusting his hips.
Fetch responded with an embarrassed nod.
"You old dog! , and yeah I've seen his banners its over there, I'll take you to it.", said Frank with a smile while pointing wildly in a broad direction.
Fetch, Frank, and Sir Hildraxel meandered through the various minor camps , till they spotted the banner of Bartog. Most of the area was asleep. Fetch could see a light in Bartog's obviously marked tent, and he thought the old warrior was most likely studying his orders he himself wrote recently.
Fetch looked for Tyris's tent, but instead spied her chatting with a hulking half orc warrior. She seemed quite engaged with her conversation with this warrior. The half orc was a brute by all measure of the word. By his greying hair and war scars the cleric could tell he was a veteran of many battles. His armor was both ornate and practical, and he carried a similar hammer to the one Fetch claimed earlier from Konrad. Except his was much bigger and impressive.
"Fetch !", exclaimed Tyris. She did not seem angry at him for being so late ,"Good news! My master Roland ...he's here! Apparently he was lost in the snow, and spent the last 2 months..or 2 years our time, looking for me...and here he is..!", she said giddily.
Roland stood up... and look even bigger then Fetch thought.
"I bet he wears platform shoes,", Frank whispered unimpressed .
Roland looked at Fetch and smiled with a grin," Thank you for taking care of Tyris , It must not have been easy...wait where did you get that amulet.", the cleric said as his gaze turned to a stern icy stare.
Fetch felt the man's inquisitive look and replied" My teacher, Cook, she gave this to me. From the plateau where I came from.".
Roland considered his words, "A dark skinned half elf?", he asked.
Fetch nodded. Roland's gaze relaxed. "Ahh I see it was your seal on the recent orders then . The plan is good, not perfect...but infinitely better then the last one. You have my respect as a priest of Rawk. It saved me the trouble of hunting down that Konrad fellow and doing the silly challenge ritual. I'm horrible at those board games.", admitted the half orc.
"The hour is late. I hope to see you all safe after the battle. I should see if Lord Oswald needs any last minute prayers prepared. ", Roland said as he left the camp with a respectful salute.
"He's so great.", cooed Tyris as the half orc left.
Fetch was speechless.
Frank looked at Fetch ," Ruh Oh... old boy friend troubles..."
As the high priest of Rawk, Fetch had some privileges. First off, he was able to choose his honor guard. He naturally picked Tyris, Hildraxel, Bartog and Frank. He picked Bartog for his ability to ride a mammoth. He planned to use it to get a good view of the battle. Th cleric kept his group small as he didn't particularly want to draw troops away from their duties. Secondly he got to choose his location in battle. Other then that, his role was purely symbolic. Grand champion Erland was the true leader of the battle. The orders and tribes of the north operated independently but they all answered to him. From his own Squirrel knights, to the the chaotic and wild Ice Griffons warriors.
Fetch chose to be situated between the Silver Champion's and the Grommish forces. The very center of the battle . The cleric figured this is where he will be most needed and the most casualties were going to be. He trusted Olive would handle the signals and orders better then he could. Before the battle he went to each unit and gave them a symbolic blessing of victory. It would be impossible for him to impart magic to all the troops, but his action boosted the morale of the soldiers he visited.
"If you're gonna act like a General, you should at least look like one. ", chuckled Bartog.
The old Mammoth Knight loaned Fetch his cloak. With Bartog's nobleman's cloak, the gleaming sword Galatea at his side, and astride a war mammoth , Fetch looked the part of the high cleric of Rawk. His noble mammoth driver, his infamous body guard Frank Demonbane, and even a bard at his side to sing his deeds. Fetch's image was complete. Hildraxel rode behind Fetch. Pixietrampler at first jumped up and balanced himself impossibly on the back of the mammoth , but Fetch shooed him off , since it was too distracting.
The mighty host finally appeared ready . The Western Flank was guarded by the Brave Order of the Snow lion. With their massive war lions the grim warriors were at the ready. When he made his inspections Fetch saw Brita in their front ranks. She saluted him and Sir Hildraxel almost wandered off to her side. Luckily Frank brought him back with a link of sausage. Next to the lion was the Mighty Mammoth. Fetch though his mammoth was big , but there were some twice, triple and even 10x the size of the one he was riding. Bartog told him they were the mighty siege mammoth. The specially bred living war engines were so big they were capable of carrying or dragging small castles or keeps . Only a few exist , since it took a small army of farmers just to feed them.
In the center of the Great Host were the Grommers. They looked quite unusual compared to the knights. Their outfits were more uniform without the myriad of heraldic symbols and banners that the knights had. Fetch was fascinated by their vast array of war machines. Their vast army of stone , iron and dragon golems seemed like giants at attention. Over head of them were 5 of their famous flying ships. One looked like a galleon, the other looked like various fish or animals. Fetch wanted to see more, but his tour continued. Also in the middle was the infantry commanded by Lord Oswald. He was the steward of the Minor orders and clans in place of the missing silver champion. Although they weren't as famous as the larger orders, they still seemed like competent and dangerous warriors. Most of them were dismounted according to the plans Fetch and Olive had devised. As he surveyed them, Fetch thought it was odd to see half naked tribesman of the Caribou stand alongside the heavily armored knights of the Turtle. The mailed warriors of the wolf at the ready with the mystical mage knights of the Bats. The last group of infantry at the center were the famous Dwarven Hearth Guard of Nazag Narg. Fetch thought how different yet somehow similar these dwarves were compared to Lord, King and Bard. Supporting the dwarves , the normally naval Narwhal were ready. Fetch expected lightly armored marines, but the soldiers he encountered wore heavy armor and shields. They came well prepared thought Fetch. In their lead, he could see Champion Fleur, flanked by what appeared to be 2 celestial looking giants with feathery wings. Next to her was her beautiful bodyguard that the cleric had spotted the previous night. Fetch tried not to stare but she was wearing incredibly form fitting and revealing armor. Her armor made no sense from a protection point of view, but Fetch figured she must have some form of magical protection from Fleur.
"Hey , how about introducing me to her after the battle good buddy?", asked Frank but Fetch ignored him.
On the Eastern flank was the vast horde of the barbaric Boar. The warriors were the most savage and "tribal" of the great orders. Fetch was told that they slid into barbarity when their old Champion,Zalthar the Slayer, died and wasn't replaced. Champion Hero stepped in, and had since led the horde back to their former savage greatness. Their "army" consisted of boars, men, giant boars, boar men,and giant boar men. In their lead was Hero, and when she saw Fetch, the champion smiled and gave him a heroic pose on her boar mount . The Savage Squirrel Knights anchored the eastern flank. Fetch expected them to ride giant squirrels, but they rode simple horses. They were known to be the fastest most skilled horsemen in the north. Grand Champion Erland was in the front of the column, and Fetch wondered why he wasn't in a rear command group. He guessed that his skills were more suited in the thick of combat then giving orders from the rear.
Due to time constraints Fetch didn't get a chance to inspect the rear echelon. The Ice griffon , Leeha halflings and Ethengar steppe warriors were held in reserve. Fetch knew that despite their position, it was most likely that the battle would be won or lost by these elite warriors . Olive place them there due to their high mobility. Fetch wondered about the halflings, but Bartog told him that they rode giant dogs. The dreaded hot dogoon, was the pinnacle of the halfling warrior caste. A deadly raider, infantryman, and skirmisher all in one. Fetch almost laughed out loud , but held his tongue when he saw the old Mammoth Knight held them in the highest respect.
The rest of the mercenary, bandits and assorted soldiers were positioned behind the main infantry ranks. Besides Kalidor's unit, both Fetch and Olive didn't trust their battle effectiveness so had them cover the rear ranks.
The terrain was mostly flat, with a set of low hills anchoring their Eastern flank. The ancient city of Almarth was behind them . Various heroes and knights were stationed there, to keep the demon lord Yeenoghu prisoner. Its anti magic qualities were not prevalent on the battlefield but it did prevent some travel magic, which posed an interesting tactical situation. They could not be outflanked by magic, but they couldn't use magic to retreat as well.
After his inspection, Fetch noticed the enemy was already on the march . The cleric finally took his position in the middle of the army, and gave the signal to advance. Bartog nodded and blew a large war horn. The sound was deep and rumbling , the entire Great Host paused before a mighty shout pierced the air . The battle was on.
The initial engagements were fierce. The Lion and Squirrel were the first to fight in skirmishes with the gnoll's hyena mounted and faster demonic troops. Meanwhile the main gnoll army marched steadily towards the knight host. The Grommers and dwarves used their exotic dragon golems to rain relentless fire and metal down on their foes as they advanced . The gnolls ignored the mounting casualties and pressed onwards . Archers fired from both sides when the distances closed a bit more. The famous gnoll composite bow was individually more powerful then the longbow used by the knights, but the knights fired in volleys and their front line troops used shields and heavy armor, compared to the lightly armored 2 handed troops of the gnolls. When the horde got with in 100 feet. The Grommish Dragoneers fired their hand held dragon golems in a devastating volley, but it wasn't enough to stop the gnoll charge. A thousand gnolls fell to the Grommish attack but a half million more roared and charged the host. Fetch watched their primitive strategy, the cleric surmised that they wanted to break their ranks with a sheer mass of gnoll warriors.
Fetch's mammoth was centered between the Grommers and the Silver champion's forces . On his left he saw golems and demons wrestle and pound away at each other. Reinhardt of the Royal adventurers was raining ice and sleet onto the rushing horde, but it didn't seem to stop the furred marauders. On his right, the battle was even more chaotic. Several monstrous turtles appeared from nowhere , breathing scalding steam onto the surprised gnolls. Fetch found it curious he didn't notice them before. The cleric was sure he would have noticed a dozen giant turtles on the battlefield.
Demons of various types were the first line of enemies to attack. Their magic and savagery could easily overwhelmed even the strongest of warriors if they weren't supported. A particularly fierce vulture demons attempted to leap at Fetch, but Bartog's mammoth instinctively grabbed its bird like feet with its trunk and slammed it to the ground. Before the creature could recover. It calmly took several stomps into the creature. Literally flattening it into the tundra.
Another horn blew from behind Fetch. He knew that was the order for the mammoth . The Boar and Mammoth were considered the 2 strongest orders and both anchored their respective flanks . They were to engage after the enemy had committed. Fetch wondered why the signal for the boar to engage wasn't sounded. He surmised that Erland must have saw a weakness in the western flank or the enemy fully engaged. He suspected the hills in the east probably slowed the enemies advance so the boar were still held in check.
Fetch and his companions used bow and crossbow from atop Bartog's mammoth. Hunter taught Fetch well, but it took him too long to aim from this unusual platform. Bartog and Tyris seemed to use their bows effortlessly however. Frank used a slow firing heavy crossbow but even he was firing at a faster rate then Fetch. Something else he had to work on, sighed Fetch.
Sir Hildraxel seemed in his element , he kept his horse close to Fetch, and relentlessly struck down any gnoll or demon that tried to get through. Sword and lance made quick work of his foes. Not many made it to their mammoth.
Galatea was excited! "Quick ! find a noble knight in this melee. Surely you can see someone worthy enough to wield me!"
"How about that guy? ooops never mind..his arm just got ripped off...how about that one...",Fetch humored the sword, but knew it was futile . The sword was just too picky. For the last year he earnestly tried to find her a wielder, but they were either not experienced enough, not of a high moral character, or not heroic enough.
Fetch watched the battle and knew they could really use the swords help. , "Hey do you want to fight or what? Cuz if I know you, this battle will be over before we find you an acceptable wielder."
"Nonsense! I know I shall find someone in this battle. ... I have used my magic and divined that I a great hero during this battle shall wield me. His deeds while wielding me will be legendary , going down into history! You just have to make sure you find this person . ", proclaimed the sword.
"Divination? like fortune telling? you believe that?", asked Fetch. The cleric was skeptical in anything that meant their future was preordained.
"Oh...Oh...can you tell me if I'm gonna get lucky with that narwhal bodyguard? Im gonna try my luck after this battle. Turn on that "famous "Crab warrior charm...", oozed Frank.
Before Galatea could answer, several horns were blown. One meant that the boar was to engage. The other was more ominous , it meant the center was to fall back.
Fetch looked around...were they losing? He couldn't tell, the battle at the center was chaotic. The Grommers and minor orders were suffering heavy casualties, but so were there foes. A small hill of gnoll and demon bodies were forming around their feet. Bartog tried to wheel his mammoth to fall back, but the bodies hampered their path. A huge boar demon, as big as their mammoth, charged on all 4s at them. Before, Hildraxel could intercept it, it used its tiny wings and leaped into the air, evading the knight and crashing mightily into the mammoth. A sickening snapping noise told Fetch that the mammoth was done for. The war mounts legs buckled and like a tree, slowly fell on its side. Frank dropped his crossbow ,jumped off and rolled to his feet, unslinging his weapon. Tyris calmly put away her bow and in the last second did a flip and landed like a cat with her blades now drawn. Fetch try to scramble out but landed heavily , part of the Howdah platform pinning his leg painfully to the ground.
In his youth , Bartog was a great warrior. Compared to most other knights he was stronger , faster , and smarter then the rest. He won much honor and many battles with his strength speed and skill. However, the many years had caught up to him. He was unable to climb off his mammoth in time, and the great warrior Bartog laid crushed by his slain mount.
Pixietrampler jumped into the air to avoid the intervening bodies. Fetch could see Hildraxel with an incredibly long and dark metal (most likely adamant or cold iron) tipped lance slam it into the boar demon's spine. Pixietrampler landed on the skewered creatures back, snapping more ribs and vertebrae in the process. Hildraxel, withdrew the lance with a sucking sound from the dead beast. A rubbery demon jumped at him while his weapon was still trapped, but he calmly backhanded it with his shield. The rubbery creature stood momentarily stunned from the unexpected blow. Pixietrampler spun around and calmly mule kicked the creature back into his fellows. Hildraxel once again held his lance and calmly aimed it at the boar demons head. When the huge creature finally recovered and attempted to rise, Hildraxel ,with his ready strike, thrust the weapon through the creatures eye . It died with a surprised and shocked look on its face.
Frank after taking the effort of unslinging his weapons, dropped them and ran to aid his friend. Frank was strong, but Fetch thought he wasn't strong enough to move a mammoth's howdah. The cleric prepared a spell to augment his friend, but surprisingly the mammoths body inched slowly upwards. The cleric took the opportunity to scramble out of the debris.
"The only thing I bought with my share of the loot that I didn't drink away ", Frank said pointing to his belt. "ANDDDDD it keeps my pants up.", he added.
Tyris flicked a dagger at a charging demon catching it in the throat, all the while singing a war dirge. Her singing had improved considerably ever since being tutored by Galatea. It was an elven warsong of some sort, Fetch could only make out a few words , but it filled his spirit with the will to fight . The creature tried to remove the dagger lodged in its wind pipe and screamed in pain from its efforts. Hildraxel finished the screaming creature with a lazy swing, as Pixietrampler wheeled back and came trotting back to the companions . Several more gnolls and demons tried to intercept them from rejoining the line, but Frank and Tyris dispatched them quickly. Frank's sword flashed brightly as it dropped a charging centaur demon , while Tyris's rapier struck various eyes, throats, and ears.
"39...40...41..." , chuckled Frank as he tallied his kills,
"Hey Galatea..how about Frank? Hes experienced, hes noble..sort of..., and he already has a heroic reputation.", Fetch asked the sword .
"Oh surely you jest..", laughed Galatea , "I have standards you know! "
"Your loss Gally...Women have lined up to be wielded by the Frankster...", he said while flexing his battle bloodied frame.
The line held, after they fell back. Fetch noticed there were less demons and more gnolls now. Their shock troops were probably used up, and it will be a war of attrition now , thought the cleric. Fetch noticed an overturned dragon golem and a smashed stone golem on his left , surrounded by dead Grommers and gnolls. To the right, there was 2 dead dragon turtles with cracked shells and bleeding bodies. A lone spear woman was atop a dead turtle, surrounded by gnolls and demons. She seemed an extremely powerful warrior , felling demons and gnolls with mighty swings and thrusts with her spear, but the cleric thought she would soon be overwhelmed.
Fetch was moved by her bravery and did not want her to die in vain with a gnoll axe buried in her back. He intoned the prayer of the barrier of blades , blocking her rear flank from further attacks. The barrier caught both the gnolls and her by surprise. She looked around on the battlefield for her benefactor and gave Fetch a salute. Then she bounded back behind the front lines to once again do battle.
As predicted, the battle at the center became a war of attrition. The gnolls unfortunately had the advantage in such a fight . Fetch was glad he took Hildraxel under his wing. The cleric thought he was a god of war. The creatures hardly touched him or his mount. He was a methodical killing machine. The old knight was single handedly blunting the enemy advance. Frank didn't want to be out shined by an old man, and shield rushed a seductive half naked bat winged female demon. Fetch could tell it tried to lock her gaze into Franks, but he averted his eyes, and did a simple leg sweep, sending her falling on her back with a girlish yelp . A simple sword to its gut dispatched the surprised erotic appearing demon.
"What...no breasts jokes, no on your back comments, no demon pick up lines?", joked Fetch.
"Its cool , I got her digits, that was 55 by the way Galatea . Whats your count?," laughed Frank as he picked up the demon's mutilated hand. Galatea of course continued to ignored him. Sir Hildraxel pointed to a twitching woman's hand he had on his belt and gave Frank a thumbs up for seemingly emulating him.
Frank was this then dropped the hand ,"On second thought ...I think picking up dead woman demon parts is the first step of going Hildrcrazy."
The battle continued to rage around them. The center was holding , but Fetch knew it was on the verge of breaking. They killed many gnolls and demons, but their ranks seemed limitless. Fetch hated the gnolls, but they had his respect. Their fearlessness made them worthy opponents.
Three more horns blew. Fetch knew that each horn meant each one of the reserve companies were to engage. Fetch couldn't see the accompanying signal flags and he wondered if it was to cover their retreat or if one of the enemy flanks had broken. He wished he was still on Bartog's mammoth so he could have an idea what was going on. An idea struck him and he signaled for Tyris to get on his shoulder. She nodded and nimbly vaulted up and landed almost weightlessly on his shoulders.
" The eastern flanked is obscured by the hills. I can't see a thing. ", she paused her report to deflect an arrow streaking at her with her rapier, "The center is holding but barely. The dwarves , husky, walrus, and caribou, are either shattered or wiped out. I can't spot their banners. We should tighten up the center. The battle seems to go well on the west. I can see the siege mammoths making headway against the gnolls . The sky is a stalemate, their flying hyenas and demons are locked in combat with griffons ,dragons, and airships." , she reported. With her scouting completed she did a quick flip and landed back on the ground next to Fetch.
Fetch was always in awe at how she moved so impossibly gracefully on the battlefield. While Hildraxel was the master of straight brutal tactics, she was the mistress of finesse and skill.
With the information presented to him, Fetch yelled for the remaining infantry in the center to tighten the ranks. The remaining forces rallied under his command and shortened their lines in response. They would make an easier target for the enemy but it would give the shattered battalions a chance to reform .
A particularly large gnoll, the size of a giant crashed through the ranks. Its axe was dripping in blood and covered with carved metal skulls. Its armor was adorned with spikes, many had a victim or sacrifice impaled on it. It wore what appeared to be a dragon skull for a helmet. It saw Fetch giving orders, and bellowed a gnollish challenge and stomped towards the high cleric of Rawk.
A brave knight stood in front of the beast. The warrior was covered in blood and the nature of his order was obscured. The warrior readied his shield and blade for the monsters charge, but his actions didn't even slow the champion down. The creature simply used the point at the tip of the axe to impale the over matched knight. Then with its free hand it picked the dieing warrior from the tip and transferred it to a spike on his armor.
Frank didn't want to repeat the knights error, so waited obtusely at the creatures side. When it passed, he rushed towards it and struck from its flank. The creature tried a similar lazy swat at Frank, but was deflected and awarded with another slash to his side. The wound was deep, but the creature ignored it. He lashed his mighty clawed foot at Frank. The crab warrior managed to block with his shield, but the sheer mass of the appendage drove him to his back on the ground. The creature picked Frank up by the head, and was about to impale him on his armor like he did his previous victim.
Fortunately for the young knight, Hildraxel's lance suddenly pierced the creatures hand and in reaction it dropped Frank. It shook his fist, wrenching the lance from the older knight's hand. It looked annoyed and roared a challenge at his new attacker . Tyris bounded behind the distracted creature and gave 2 slashes at its armored leg. Both blows avoided armor, and drew blood, but the creature seem to have a habit of ignoring lethal blows. It took a wide swing with his axe at the bard . Tyris tumbled out of the weapon's arc , but was set upon by several gnoll berzerkers in the process. One landed a mace hit to her back, knocking her down on her face with a grunt. Hildraxel attempted to block the gnoll champion's axe but the weapon struck mightily on his shield knocking both the rider and the mount to the ground. Fetch took this opportunity to run to Franks side and intone a prayer of healing to his fallen friend. In the melee he lost sight of Tyris to the gnolls. He saw her overwhelmed but could not find her exact location. He knew all he could do was to continue to fight and readied one of his most powerful spells. He sent a prayer of smiting at the large gnoll, and it bellowed in frustration as waves of holy power struck him down and blinded him. Fetch knew it wouldn't last long, and bounded towards the creature striking it with a 2 handed hammer blow. To his surprise the creature didn't ignore it like all the other previous attacks. Fetch was rewarded with a roar of pain from the seemingly unstoppable monster.
Fetch's head seemed to explode. He was knocked down and had trouble seeing as blood and stars danced in his eyes. It must have lashed at him with a wild swing thought Fetch. From the ground, through his blurred and spinning vision , he saw Hildraxel. The old knight's shield arm appeared to be broken, hanging uselessly at his side. He was crouched ready for the creatures final blow, trying to limp slowly backwards to safety. The creature grinned and lashed out at him. The old warrior suddenly sprung into action, his wounded arm miraculously healed . Hildraxel dodged the axe with ease and then drove his shield into the creatures closest elbow. The blow did not throw the creature off balance, but it did jerk the creature forward a bit exposing its head to a quick stab to the face from Hildraxel's ironblade. The creature gave a curious grunt, then Hildraxel rattled the blade inside the creatures brain. An unnecessary move, but the old man seem to enjoy the sadistic pain he inflicted. The gnoll lord collapsed with a thunderous thud on the ground. The old knight surveyed the carnage and then calmly flicked the blood off his sword and retrieved his lance.
"I call that move...Hildraxel's gambit, good for giant demons, angry shopkeepers, and penguins." , chirped Hildraxel.
Fetch turned and saw Tyris standing over the body of 2 gnolls. Frank limped over and dispatched the third. The crab warrior supported her as they both limped towards Fetch. The young cleric channeled some of his divine power into a healing aura around him and his friends. He felt some of his pain , wounds and fatigue vanished, but didn't show to his companions that he was still hurting. He wanted to conserve his energy so resisted the urge to heal himself to full . Tyris and Frank smiled weakly at him, and Fetch knew they were doing the same. The cleric sighed and channeled the last of his energy , filling his companions with renewed health and vigor despite all 3's deception.
Hildraxel climbed on top of the slain giant gnoll, and looked around . He then started waving towards the west. A few seconds later a huge lion bounded across the battlefield to join them. It was the old knightl's daughter, Brita of the Snow Lion. Fetch recognized the celestial lion immediately as a magically summoned beast , similar to the creatures summoned by Konrad. The lightly armored tattooed woman was riding the lion without a saddle but it did not seem to hinder her. She held a two handed sword easily at her side , floating next to her were 2 long swords dancing around her in an almost musical pattern. Above her was an 8 foot long glowing blade . Murmurs from the knights and men at arms around them were audible " The mistress of the lion blade ! The maiden of swords!" they said with hushed reverent tones.
"Now, that's a nick name!", said Frank in awe.
The large sword above her suddenly streaked towards Frank. Before the crab knight could react it flew past his shoulder , impaling a gnoll warrior behind him. It twirled in midair, slicing the gnoll in half and returned back to its former position. The two swords at her side also streaked out to slash 2 retreating gnolls. One stumbled and fell, and both blades took turns hacking into the screaming creature. Brita saw the horde was still advancing and calmly invoked a spell, the weapon at her side turned ethereal, glowing a dark wraith like glow. She casually threw the blade into the main horde. It spun like a deadly windmill, slicing a dozen gnolls in its path before returning to her hand.
"" AWWWw...that takes all the fun out of it., ", pouted Frank.
"Im here to report that the battle progresses well on the Western flanks. The Lion and Mammoth have broken the enemy flanks, even now the halflings and Ethengar mounted troops are exploiting their shattered ranks. Barring a disaster the day is ours! Fight with pride, fight with honor! ", She roared to the surrounding troops. Her voice loud and clear, clearly enchanted by magic.
Fetch marveled at her, off the battle field she seemed timid and unsure of herself. On the battlefield she was "the maiden of blades!". As fearsome an opponent as her father in the slaying arts . Which was no small feat considering the carnage the young cleric had witnessed.
Hildraxel stared at her,..."Do I know you? you looked familiar...wait wait ...your the lady that does my laundry right!", he said it with no hint of humor or recognition in his voice.
"Father, you're the one that waved me over a few moments ago!", his lack of recognition hurt her like no blade wielded by the enemy could. She assumed a joking tone, "Father is always joking around ..." Brita said...her voice losing its strength and trailing.
Fetch, saw that the host's infantry in the center had rallied from there near collapse. With the news of their victory on the west flank, and the reformed companies of the dwarves , caribou and walrus, they surged ahead once again. Punishing the suddenly demoralized gnolls.
Fetch stood proudly and kissed a surprised Tyris. He was so proud at this moment. The north was finally going to be free and he played an important role in the events. Frank , gave him a thumbs up. Even Hildraxel saluted the kissing pair. Brita smiled but looked away. Fetch regretfully knew he was distracting her.
As the companions savored their eminent victory a rush of air blew past them. The wind swirled along the blood soaked tundra and formed into an elf adorned in mail and silks. Amirah spoke in haste. "Yeenoghu is breaking out from Almarth, we need those that can make it , to go there right away." , after her message was delivered she discorporated to wind again and blew past them most likely to continue to relay her message.
Fetch though about it for a second. and it made sense. This entire battle was a diversion. The demon lord Yeenoghu would throw a half million gnolls away to provide a distraction for him to escape.
Brita finished his thoughts out loud, "If the demon lord escapes, this will all be for nothing. We must stop him! ", she shouted. The Lion maiden aved Fetch and Tyris onto the back of her lion. As they climbed on she intoned a simple spell and wings sprouted from its back. Hildraxel grabbed Frank one handed and threw him onto the back of Pixietrampler..and with a flash they were gone. To the fabled and ruined city of Almarth to confront certain doom.
