After a trying day . . . Enjoy!

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37: The Havenshire Assault

At the Havenshire base.

Danthor, Jonas, and Lethella were the first to make it back, with Captain Romvoy slumped over the command table, looking up at them as they entered. A lit cigarette was parked in the side of his mouth and a smile was evident. "Well, back in one piece, I see. How'd it go?"

"Send at least twenty guards over to the mine," Lethella said. "The Scourge got in there and killed most of the miners. We need to amp up its protection."

Romvoy took this news calmly. "Alright, it'll be done. What else?"

"Some death knights went to steal horses from the stable," Danthor said. "We killed all of them, save for one, who got away with a horse."

"Horses?" Romvoy's eyebrow cocked upwards. "That doesn't seem like a resource the Scourge are in short supply of. Wonder what they need it for."

Jonas shrugged. "Who knows. I chased down the one who stole the horse with Kitrik. They were way ahead of me when Kitrik was ambushed by someone who materialized out of nowhere, saying he was a part of the Dark Riders of Acherus."

"They're not from this dimension," Romvoy said. "Led by Salanar the Horseman, they seem to belong to another plan of existence."

"The Realm of Shadows."

Romvoy nodded.

That's when Balean the Huntsman entered the base, his nine remaining archers quickly dispersing when they entered the safety of the guarded command center. He walked by the four captains. Three of them noticed Kojak wasn't at his side.

"How'd it go?" Romvoy asked.

"Taken care of."

He didn't even stop, walking past them and going into one of the houses surrounding the area. He slammed the door, and from the inside they could all hear the sounds of breaking and smashing. Balean was going wild inside the house.

"Hey, what is he—" Romvoy said, beginning to move towards the house.

He was stopped when Jonas put a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head. The three of them could put two-and-two together. "You don't wanna go in there right now. He'll kill you."

Romvoy turned around as he saw a chair getting thrown through a window, followed by an animal-like cry of anger and sorrow. "Must be bad," he commented.

The three nodded.

Finishing his cigarette, Romvoy turned around and smiled lightly. "Well, I'm glad you've returned with good news. It looks like things will be going along smoothly now, and we can begin our planning for the counterassault on Death's Breach."

He snapped his fingers, and a guard came forth holding a horse by its reins.

"I'm going to go down to Light's Point to oversee its progress. The mines should be pretty much stripped by now, even with a loss of miners. And with the archers gone—at least for now—we can move more freely. It shouldn't take more than a few hours for the ships to be ready. It's better they leave under the cover of night, anyways. You four stay here and wait for me. I'll be back in the morning."

He got onto the horse and looked at the three captains—his equals. He nodded.

"It's because of your actions that we're moving this fast," he said. "When we finally make it back to New Avalon, I'll be sure to put a good word in to the high general for you."

"Thanks you," Lethella said. "We'll see you in the morning."

"Don't fuck things up until then."

He kicked at his horse's side, sending it galloping off to the shores to the east of them. Within thirty seconds, he disappeared into the darkness.

— — —

The stars shined brightly in the night sky. Most of the crusaders, save for ones on guard duty, were in their tents sleeping. Danthor, Lethella, and Jonas were not. They stayed up, sitting around the command table, the candle as their only firelight. They hoped to get some preliminary planning for the assault done.

The abandoned house Balean stayed in had been silent for some time. He most likely broke everything he could, and settled for staying alone. "I wish we could help him," Jonas commented when he noticed the house was still.

"It's something he has to sort out for himself," Lethella said, looking at the map on the table. "When he wants to talk about losing Kojak, he can come out and talk to us. For now, it's best to leave him alone."

Danthor said nothing.

They tried to apply the same bottlenecking strategy that worked when they took the Agamand Mills and what they were planning for their attack on Corin's Crossing. (An attack that never came to fruition—and likely never will thanks to the plague back at Tyr's Hand.) "Death's Breach has two main entranceways," Danthor said, pointing to the paths that led up to the plateau on opposite ends. "One by the mines and one by the lumber mill."

"Even with the reinforcements from Light's Point, they still outnumber us," Jonas said. "We'd have to use everything we can to our advantage."

Lethella nodded. "We'd post archers to send volleys up the plateau. Eventually, they'd have to send some soldiers down to deal with the problem. That's when we'd strike, flanking on both sides up the narrow path in tight formation."

"Not a bad plan," Danthor said. "Tried and true. Still, we'd have to see what Captain Romvoy thinks about it."

"I'm sure he'll be fine with it," Jonas said. "He seemed pretty adamant about getting revenge on the Scourge."

Acherus still loomed over Death's Breach as the last of the carts full of resources were hastily being carried by the remaining miners down to the ships . . .

Content with their plan, the three captains slumped into their chairs and looked up at the night sky. "Hard to believe this place was never targeted until now," said Danthor.

Lethella shrugged at the thought. "The Scourge probably saw no need for it. Why they're attacking so fiercely now is anyone's guess."

"The Lich King's making his move," Jonas said. "Scourge attacks, which have been unusually dormant for the last few years, have been getting more frequent and ambitious. Just look at how quickly they emptied Tyr's Hand."

The thought of the plague gave all of them the chills. A few more minutes pass.

Danthor glanced at the house Balean's in. He stood up and said, "Someone needs to go check on him. It's been too long. Kojak was his best friend, and it's stupid to think that he can get over—"

A brilliant burst of light lit up the night sky, followed by a loud explosion. The three of them looked to the east where the light came from and saw smoke coming from the coast—from Light's Point.

"What in the—" started Lethella.

Another explosion punctured the darkness. This was rapidly followed by a large amount of screaming emanating from the coast. Two more explosions quickly followed. Crusaders began coming out of their tents, gathering together and watching the horrible spectacle.

Balean emerged from the house and moved towards the three captains, all now standing. His face was solemn, his fists red. "What the hell was that?" he asked them.

"Something went horribly wrong with the ships," Jonas said. "An accidental cannon explosion, maybe."

Several more explosions would occur within the span of the next minute. All the crusaders at the base were chattering wildly now, most of them grabbing their weapons, expecting the worst. "I hope Romvoy's okay," Danthor said as the explosions finally settled down for good—the only sounds remaining were that of agonized screams.

If Kojak had been there, he no doubt would have barked at the sight of a death knight flying on a Scourge gryphon through the sky from Light's Point, heading back to Acherus. But no one saw it.

Lethella stepped forward, saying to some of the crusaders who gathered around them, "We're getting a group together to see what happened. We'll need about ten of you who can leave—"

"DEATH TO THE LIVING!"

They didn't need Kojak around to hear that. Feeling a sudden weight upon their shoulders, the four captains turned around towards Death's Point. There, charging from the Scourge base, was an innumerable number of undead—all kinds: ghouls, geists, abominations, death knights—charging directly at Havenshire. They were led by several commanders on horseback.

"By the Light . . ." Jonas said softly.

Balean was the first to react. "Archers, to me! Form a line behind the barricade and prepare to give them hell! Everyone else, draw your weapons and defend the town!"

The crusaders in Havenshire, numbering at about fifty, did as they were told, but it was clear they were scared out of their minds. "What are you doing?" Danthor asked, pulling the huntsman aside. "They outnumber us at least five to one, and without any reinforcements coming from the Point, we have no chance of keeping the town!"

"I'm doing my job!" Balean spat back, drawing his crossbow. "We may not be able to keep the town, but I'll be damned if we're just gonna leave it! Now draw your weapon and fight for your life!"

Danthor drew his weapon and turned around towards the charging undead, standing by Jonas and Lethella's side.

As Balean passed by the three of them to lead the archers, he said, "And be prepared to retreat at any moment."

They didn't have a chance to respond as he made it to the front of the line. He drew a saronite arrow into his crossbow and held it steady behind the makeshift barrier of crates. The undead were almost in range.

"Keep it steady," Balean said to the archers. "Fire only on my mark!"

There were four commanders leading the Scourge. The first was Prince Keleseth, brother of Valanar who looks like him in every way, save for his slightly-darker skin, purple hair, and wearing red robes instead of Valanar's blue.

The second was Baron Rivendare, a powerful undead human death knight who used to rule Stratholme. His skin was near china-white in color, with his long hair—parted down the middle, held up by a purple plate headband, and tied into a ponytail—almost the same color. He wore light purple saronite armor adorned with skulls at his shoulderpads. A light-purple piece of cloth covering his neck and mouth, while he carried a fearsome two-handed runeblade. He rode in on his famed deathcharger.

The third commander was Noth the Plaguebringer, while the fourth was Salanar the Horseman. They were close now.

"Ready . . ." Balean started. "Aim . . . FIRE!"

The archers all loosed their shafts at once, and they flew towards the four commanders in the front. Keleseth held out his hand as the arrows flew towards him and yelled, "Futile!"

Using his magic, he was able to slow the arrows down to a near halt. Then he teleported the three other commanders away from the frontline in a brilliant flash of light. They reappeared in the back. As soon as they were gone, the magic on the arrows disappeared, and they flew at full speed towards the death knights who were behind them. The arrows struck and kill a good number of them.

"Ready, aim, fire!" Balean yelled again, encouraged by the fact that saronite arrows could go through the death knight's armor rather easily.

The second wave killed even more, but it hardly dented their numbers as the Scourge kept charging on. Jonas drew his mace and said to the crusaders, "Remember, the Light is on your side! Fight with faith and purity, and we can overcome our foes!"

The crusaders charged as the archers fired off a third volley before falling back and retreating, leaving the four captains up in front, weapons drawn. "Slaughter them all!" Rivendare cried from the back.

The death knights plowed through the pathetic barrier, meeting Danthor, Lethella, Jonas, and Balean head on. The knight and paladin met them with a battle cry before cutting them down with their melee weapons, while the huntsman and warmage stayed behind to fire a quick arrow and fireball respectively. The crusaders followed suit, rushing forth, and the assault had begun.

Danthor quickly found himself surrounded on all sides by death knights. They wore the same kind of armor—initiate's armor, Danthor had grown accustomed to calling it—that the others wore who tried to steal horses from the stable, but they were nowhere near as skilled as them. He cut the first three down easily, blocking a runeblade strike with his shield before ramming into him and dropping him to the ground. He suffered sword wounds on his right leg, left shoulder, and a few magic curses burning the inside of his chest.

Jonas plowed through the first few death knights with his mace, brutally bashing their heads in. When they fell, a few ghouls and geists rushed towards him. He consecrated the ground beneath them and used the Light to judge and kill them instantly. Those that stepped onto the holy ground beneath him immediately dropped to the ground in pain, where Jonas finished them off. Still, he got wounded when an unsuspecting ghoul snuck up on him and mauled him.

Lethella used a few more spells before drawing her enchanted sword and joining the fray. She quickly cut down a few ghouls (fodder undead, as she called them), but then ran into a few death knights, who were tougher to kill. They still needed training, but they were able to parry and block some of her blows, even scoring a few hits on her torso, albeit nothing too serious. She summoned a fireball in her free hand and threw it directly at a death knight's face before cutting his unprotected chest. She then summoned a blast wave and arcane blast to dispel all the undead around her, but still they kept coming.

Balean kept his distance, making use out of his saronite arrows. When an undead or death knight got too close, he ended up mauling them with his crossbow. Once the abominations showed up on the front lines and began pushing them further and further back into Havenshire, the huntsman found himself relying more and more on his two, one-handed axes, cutting his enemies down with their sharpened edges. He wished he had Kojak at his side. Still, he eventually dropped his crossbow and let out a massive war cry, charging headfirst with his two axes into the front lines, trying to force his enemies back.

That's when the Scourge commanders appeared.

Baron Rivendare and Salanar were the first to appear, plowing down the crusaders in their way with their horses and weapons, charging through and slaying left and right. Rivendare laughed as he did this, yelling, "All will be consumed by the Scourge!"

Keleseth and Noth stayed back, killing the humans from a distance with their magic. The prince threw shadowbolts at his enemies, while Noth simply cursed them, killing them from the inside. After a few minutes, the two looked around at the dead Scourge lying around them and then looked back at each other, nodding. They used their magic to bring them back to life.

"Aranal, ledel!" Keleseth yelled to his enemies as undead rose before him. "Their fate shall be yours!"

"Rise, my soldiers!" Noth cried, following suit. "Rise and fight once more!"

About half of the Havenshire forces had been lost at this point, and although they all killed a fair number of undead, seeing them rise once again disheartened Danthor, who had decided enough was enough. Slaying a ghoul, he yelled, "RETREAT! RETREAT BACK TO NEW AVALON!"

The crusaders in the back immediately followed that order, turning their backs and running straight towards the more well-defended base, just like the villagers of Havenshire had done several hours before. Those on the frontlines found it harder to disengage, but most of them eventually broke away and began their retreat. It certainly wasn't easy, though, as the undead seemed hell-bent on killing all the living in the town.

Danthor saw Jonas pull away, with Lethella reluctantly following him. The knight was about to turn around and retreat when an abomination appeared in front of him and knocked him back with his massive arm. Danthor hit the floor hard as the abomination lumbered towards him. Balean then appeared with his bloodied axes in hand, quickly cutting down and killing the abomination.

"Balean . . ." Danthor said as the huntsman helped him up.

"Get out while you still can," he said. "I'll hold them off."

"What about you?" Danthor immediately asked.

"Havenshire is lost," Balean said, "but we still have New Avalon. My job is to make sure that at least some crusaders make it back to deliver the news and fortify our position. After that, well, I'll try and catch up to you."

"What are you waiting for?" Rivendare asked the undead, riding through the frontlines as the Scourge seemed to have just stopped, staring at the fleeing crusaders. "Don't stand around like idiots! Crush them all!"

"Their orders from the Lich King were to take the town," Keleseth said, riding next to Rivendare. "Just give it a second to register, and they'll be on the move again."

Danthor wouldn't move, though. He looked at Balean incredulously, yelling, "Don't be an idiot! We can all leave together!"

Balean shook his head, looking around and seeing crusaders still fleeing from the battle. "All it takes is a few seconds of distraction to get to New Avalon. I'll give that to you, but you have to go now."

"I'm not going without you!"

Balean booted him directly in the chest, sending him onto the ground a few feet away. "Don't backtalk me! Get the fuck outta here!" he yelled.

By the time Danthor got to his feet, Balean had his back turned on him, facing the horde of undead with his weapons at the ready. He didn't look around as he gave his last words to the knight with a powerful voice.

"Tell the others I'll be alright. My fate ends here . . . with Kojak."

Seeing no other option, Danthor left.

Keleseth had sent a telepathic message to the Lich King, requesting permission to continue pursuing the crusaders. After a few seconds, the message finally

(kill every living being in Havenshire)

registered in the minds of the undead, and they let out a bellowing cry, charging straight towards their fleeing opponents. "Kill them all!" Rivendare cried, pointing his runeblade forward.

So this is what it's like to make a final stand, eh Kojak old buddy? Balean thought with a bloodthirsty grin. I wonder if things would've been different if it'd been me who fought off the ogres to let you live. Oh well, such is life . . .

Without any fear, he rushed towards the Scourge, cutting everyone down in his path. He was the last living human in Havenshire when he did that, but he didn't hold that title for long.

The death of a warrior.

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