Crimson Twilight: Dusk

Chapter 31: Red Brutality

"Lances, ready!" Eliarainne Sialsanderin called out as she rode at the head of her division. It was a scramble to get them ready before the orc forces could mass in front of the south gate once more but she managed to pull it off. She had done so, mainly, by making sure no one was straggling. The First Knight Division was growing increasingly worried, though. The Second Priest division had been severely reduced in number. Barely half of the priests who supported them yesterday stood behind them now. What was worse was that these priests and priestesses looked exhausted even before the battle had begun. Her partner stood beside her; watching the slowly gathering orcs, kobolds and goblins. Even he looked grimly at the situation. He didn't even have to say that the battle today would be much more difficult than the previous one.

The first rays of the rising sun were already shining on Prontera but all it shone on was the ashy remains of the once-great cathedral. Where beautiful, white, marble pillars stood; there only a few broken, blackened columns left. The smell of charred corpses was prevalent even a long way from the church. Bones, pieces of flesh, an occasional disembodied arm or leg and discarded weaponry were scattered among the ruins. Most of the priests who fell against the Dark Lord, those that could be found and indentified, were already buried in the new graveyard plot that was set aside for casualties of the siege. If Prontera won against the siege, they would be honored as heroes. Otherwise…no one wanted to think of that.

"Keep your men together, First Knight Commander." Makaelthos told her. "We'll have to concentrate on driving them back today. Our first priority will be to minimize the number of casualties in this battle."

Eliarainne nodded at her partner's advice. While she led her division as Knight Commander, it was Makaelthos who often formulated the tactics she used. She often mentioned this to him but he would merely smile and wave away the notion. He had a good head for tactics and that was all, he would say. He may know what to do but he could not a division of knights to do it. She led by example; her presence boosted her troop's morale and they would follow her anywhere and against anyone. That was more important for a leader. "What about the crusader divisons that the Church has?" She asked him.

Makaelthos shook his head. "The remaining leaders of the Pronteran Church are keeping a majority of the crusaders close to themselves." He answered. "The Dark Lord's attack has them fearing for their lives."

Eliarainne's grip on her lance tightened. "Those stubborn fools!" She groused. "If the orcs break through our defenses they won't need the Dark Lord to finish them!"

Makaelthos watched as the remaining priests in Silmeia's division struggled to remain standing. Their harrowing experience against the Dark Lord had sapped a lot from their energies. "I suppose, in a way, we can't really blame them, can we?" He said.

Eliarainne watched the Second Priest Division as well. It was obvious that the Dark Lord's immense power had them utterly frightened for their lives. But still...she let out a sigh of relief as Silmeia took her place at the head of her division. Sir Agranias rode behind her on his pecopeco; his gaze resting protectively over the priestess.

Even Makaelthos had to hide a smile as Silmeia's arrival had her priests and priestesses standing a little straighter. He could always count on Silmeia's presence to boost her division's morale but, in a way, it was probably that very same thing that put a lot of strain on her.

The orcish horns began to blow once again; causing him to return his focus on the orc tribes. His eyes narrowed as he watched the orc hordes slowly advance. 'What are those things forming at their center?' He thought.

At the center of the orcish formation was a large group of heavily-cloaked figures. Judging by their size, Makaelthos guessed that they were high orcs. Not only that, they were probably exceptionally strong high orcs. He recognized the axes that they carried in each hand; the buster axe, a weapon design favored by orcs. Except that they were made to be swung with both hands.

"I don't make those by commission or otherwise." Kreizen had once said. "It has power, people will say. Of course it has power! It's an enormous chunk of barely sharpened metal stuck to a tree trunk! Orcs don't care much for crafting as they do for turning their enemies to chunks of meat!"

The orcish horns blew for the third time. With it, the orc tribes began their assault with a mighty roar that seemed to shake the walls of Prontera itself. They dashed across the plains and straight into the waiting lances of Prontera's knight divisions.

The moment the first of the cloaked orcs reached her range, Seihanine Xalascent simultaneously loosed two arrows at one of them. The cloaked orc stumbled as both arrows plunged to its chest but, much to the huntress's surprise, it continued charging. The orcs let out another roar and tore their cloaks off, revealing bright red skin and powerfully built muscles. Seihanine grit her teeth in frustration and fired two more arrows at the red high orc she had shot earlier. It stopped briefly, staggered by the impact, but then tried to charge once more. Annoyed, she peppered the beast with more arrows until it finally crashed to the ground. She immediately aimed for the next red high orc. 'What the hell are these things?'She thought. 'They don't even look like high orcs!' Seihanine searched the battlefield for her companions. They were going to need all the cover they could get.

Kreizen Xalascent ducked the swing of the first red high orc that attacked him. He drove his two-handed axe into the creature's chest and stepped back as blood spurted from its wound. The red high orc snarled furiously and tried to decapitate him with its other axe. He stared at the orc incredulously and attacked once again. The buster axe swung dangerously close to his arm as he lunged at the creature. His own weapon struck the orc on the neck; causing more of the creature's blood to spray about. The red high orc continued snarling and flailed its axes about. Kreizen grunted as one axe managed to graze his left shoulder. He struck again. This time, he completely decapitated the orc. "You damned, red-skinned freaks!" He taunted. "Who wants to die next?"

He grinned fiercely as three more red-skinned creatures lunged at him. These new high orcs were incredibly tough and unnaturally strong. They stood about a foot taller than an average high orc and they were about twice as bulky as the blue-skinned monsters. Blue veins bulged from their muscles; contrasting with the red skin and adding to the garish, blue tattoos that marked their bodies. They were constantly snarling and roaring showing they possessed an animalistic fury that exceeded that of their other orcish comrades. 'Bigger, stronger and meaner, eh?' He thought. 'Fine! I'll handle whatever beast the orc hero throws at me!'

Kreizen brought out a bag of zenny and concentrated.

Silmeia Cafilence concentrated all her energy on healing the knights who were having a hard time against the red high orcs. In addition to the new threat, high orcs, orc archers, warriors and ladies clashed against them. The goblins and kobolds attacked as well. The smaller goblins swarmed about their legs, stabbing at knees and feet with vicious knives. They aimed for the gap behind the knees, hamstringing careless knights who failed to notice them. The kobolds were fiercer enemies; fighting with all sorts of weapons, from maces, to axes and hammers. The sky was filled with arrows, either from the archers and hunters from the walls or from the enemy archers. One red high orc sprinted towards Silmeia, only to be stabbed from behind by Agranias.

"Spread out!" Silmeia ordered her division. "Avoid bunching together and force their archers to have a difficult target!"

The Second Priest Division obeyed their Head's orders. Spreading out was their only available tactic against the arrows of their enemies. Most of their energies went to the knights who fought against the red high orcs. They couldn't spare even a tiny bit of energy for blessing the knights or raising the clouds of energy that deflected the bolts and arrows of the enemy. Silmeia watched as more enemies charged at her division only to be engaged by Agranias. 'Don't fall here, Agranias.' She silently pleaded with him. 'I can't bear the thought of losing you now.' She whispered a prayer asking for protection not for her but for the dark-armored knight.

Agranias met the attack of one red high orc head on. The red-skinned creature dove at him and attempted to drag him off his mount. He responded by impaling the orc through the chest and tossing him at his comrades. Other orcs swarmed about him, each of them trying to get to the Second Priest Division behind. He waved his sword about, all the while wishing that he could fight at his full strength. The size of his weapon and his mount were preventing him from fighting at his best.

Domnadriel shook his head and whinnied. The enchantment he was in translated the whinny into a squawk. The horse longed to trample these foes; foes he should be dwarfing.

"We have to keep fighting, Domnadriel." Agranias told his mount. The horse was getting impatient in his weakened form. "We're part of this now!"

Agranias watched as one red high orc suddenly flew from his right. Its body was smoking as it fell to the ground near him. He followed the spell's source. Sure enough, it was the green-haired wizard; his hand was still sizzling with electrical energy.

Trenzein grinned as the dark-armored knight nodded at him. He had a hard time getting ready; mainly because he had to heal the wounds he received from Maiha without telling anybody about the incident. This was doubly important when it came to Kreizen and Seihanine as they would have immediately hunted for the assassin as soon as they realized that she was still alive.

The presence of the red high orcs intrigued him but what really bothered him was that the orcish immortals were not attacking along with their minions. He could see the orc hero standing behind the lines of his troops. He waved his standard about to encourage his warriors but he kept his sword sheathed. The orc lord was shouting orders from behind as well. 'They're probably making sure that Osiris and the doppelganger don't interfere.' He thought.

Trenzein immediately focused his magic on one of the red high orcs. His fingers flexed and traced symbols in the air as he pointed at the creature. Not all spells involved flashy bursts of elemental energy. Some were purely mental efforts. The spell he used now affected only his mind; it forced his mental faculties into a short-lived, extremely heightened state that allowed him to make accurate assumptions from the smallest clues. With a look, he could gather information on the new breed of orc before him; the elements they were most vulnerable to, as well as their natural resistances. 'So that's what they're capable of.' He thought. 'Very well…' Magical energy surged through the his arms. All he needed to cast now was the necessary spells and…

Eliarainne waved her lance about; striking several high orcs on the chest and knocking them all back. Bristle squawked and kicked, his claws gouging wounds on the much smaller goblins while she skewered a kobold that came at her. Her shield already bristled with arrows and bolts while her weapon and armor were already soaked in blood. One red high orc suddenly stared at her and roared to his companions in his language. Eliarainne knew a smattering of orcish, enough to get a gist of what he had just cried out.

"Human armored maiden! Honor and treasure to her killer!"

The orcs around Eliarainne howled and jumped at her. She avoided the myriad of axes that came her way and punched her lance into the throat of one red high orc. The others continued attacking her, paying no attention to the ones she killed. "So the orc hero has put a price on my head!" She taunted them. "Let's see who among you can claim it then!" She urged Bristle forward; trampling anyone who failed to get out of her way. Her lance struck another red high orc in the face before she wheeled about in order to face her opponents.

An arrow suddenly struck her from behind.

The sudden pain was so surprising that Eliarainne nearly fell off her mount. She grit her teeth against it continued fighting. From afar, she could hear someone shouting her name but she paid it no attention. 'One problem at a time.' She thought.

Eliarainne blocked the swing of one red high orc and kicked him aside while she plunged her lance into an over-eager high orc. The red-skinned beast snarled and jumped at her. She whipped her lance about, catching the orc in the eye. She continued to wave her lance about, forcing the orcs to step back while she recovered.

An axe suddenly bit into her back.

Eliarainne cried out in fury the moment she felt the sharpened, orcish steel slice through her armor and into the flesh beneath. She whirled about to discover a red high orc holding the bloody buster axe in triumph. The orc's moment of victory was short, though, as she ran it through with her lance. Her arms began to sag; the pain was starting to get to her.

Another axe bit into her side.

Eliarainne gasped in pain. It was getting harder to breathe inside her helm. She sliced a high orc's throat out with the sharpened tip of her lance. More orcs continued to attack her despite the rapidly increasing pile of dead bodies around her. She managed to remove her helm. At once she took in a lungful of air even as she disarmed yet another red high orc.

"Armor maiden is faltering! Keep attacking!" A red high orc roared.

The orcs around her roared in anticipation; one of them managed to drag her from her mount, causing her to crash to the ground. Bristle squawked in panic and drove the horn on his forehead into the chest of another orc. The warriors paid him no heed, though. They howled triumphantly and jumped at his fallen rider.

'You fools think you're so strong.'

The orcs suddenly stopped and stared at Eliarainne in surprise. Something was wrong about this enemy.

Eliarainne stood up. The pain of her wounds seemed so less now. At least they wouldn't compare to the pain she was going to cause. She opened her eyes and strode forward. Before one high orc could react; she had grabbed one of its arms and gave it an expert twist. The high orc howled in pain as its arm snapped, its axe dropped from its numb fingers. Eliarainne grabbed the axe and hurled it at another high orc. The weapon buried itself into the blue-skinned creature's face even as she grabbed her lance. The red high orcs were about to attack when they caught a glimpse of her eyes.

The high orcs fled almost at once while the red high orcs hesitated to even approach. The "armor maiden's" appearance had changed. Her eyes had become bright red orbs in pools of darkness. She grinned; her grit teeth revealed incredibly sharp fangs. One red high orc roared and charged at her. She responded by lunging at the orc at the middle of its roar, grabbing its lower jaw and tearing it completely off. The red high orc crashed to the ground while the other red high orcs first continued to stare at her before staring at each other. Another red high orc dropped to the ground. Its arms had been torn from its sockets. She approached them, grinning with utter bloodlust.

"Claim your prize, orcs" She sneered. "I'm right here…"

The orcs stepped away from Eliatainne. They had seen such eyes from somewhere before.

"Eliarainne!"

Makaelthos dragged his saber from the neck of one red high orc. His partner was wounded and surrounded and he had to waste precious time on this red-skinned bastards. He smashed his shield against another red-skinned orc; sending it tumbling to the ground. He plunged his saber into its heart before it could even stand up.

"Eliarainne!"

Makaelthos shouted his partner's name like a war cry. He had to get closer to the knight. He had to help her before-

"Baphomet!"

Makaelthos whirled about to see if the goat-demon was around. To his surprise the red high orcs were running away from his partner, who was walking slowly towards the orcs' side. What further unnerved him was that Baphomet wasn't around.

"Baphomet fights with the humans!"

The red high orcs continued running. Utter fear reflected in their eyes.