The march began and as the formed lines of Sarafan infantry moved forward the ground seemed to shake underfoot. Cavalry followed either side escort with archers bringing up the rear. The siege weaponry were being pulled by massive oxen far behind, protected by the glyph knights.
Leading the army were the dreaded Sunlight Knights themselves.
The clan archers were already in position along the narrow canyon walls and as soon as they the Sarafan were within firing range, a volley of arrows flew forward into their lines. Several soldiers were riddled with steal barbs and collapsed, only to be stepped over by those behind them.
"Mages, up front!" One of the knights ordered and dozens of men wrapped in white robes advanced to the front marching line. The army was approaching the canyon entrance by now and despite the rain of arrows they were not slowing down. "Fire at will!" A thin row of fire ball spells screamed through the air, incinerating several vampire archers even in their hiding places on the walls.
"Infantry, forward!" Another declared, leading the heavily armoured men onwards towards the gaping entrance. The cavalry road on ahead, meeting in skirmishes with the vampires as the Dumahim advanced to be the first defensive barrier.
The Zephonim along the walls had to pull back as they could not keep up their barrage while being constantly blasted by fire balls. This left the Dumahim without support. The leading Sunlight knight arching before the infantry clenched a chain-mail fist and his armour glowed with light. The vampires screamed in its presence and burst into flames. Then they collapsed into dust on the ground.
With the first vampire defensive line down, the Sarafan moved in. The remaining Dumahim were forced to retreat and their relief, the Turelim took their place. Leading their forces was their clan general, Turel himself. His fists were closed around a large battle axe.
The mages cast their fire ball spells at them in a flurry of hand movements but Turel held out a single hand and a mirror force echoed out around his troops like a shimmer of heat. Any spells intended to strike them rebounded and shot right back towards the Sarafan themselves. Two dozen infantry and a Sunlight knight combusted before they could do anything about it.
"Form ranks!" Turel barked and his large vampire children did as they were ordered, forming themselves into rows of ten; their shields held out forward almost like a wall. The Sarafan cavalry broke through the momentarily confused infantry lines to take the offensive. They clashed into the wall of shields, trying to jab through it with their lances but the line held up under the assault and quickly riders and their mounts were being chopped down by swings of long-blades. The Sarafan archers moved up, taking firing positions on either side of their infantry.
"Tortoise formation!" Turel declared and half of his troops angled their shields directly up, forming a metallic roof over them. The archers fired, but their arrows were unable to piece that barrier.
Quickly relishing they were going to have to engage in close range combat, the infantry formed themselves back into lines before charging with blades drawn at the Turelim. Both Sarafan and the clans were extremely well disciplined and trained soldiers and for a while it seemed as if the clash could go either way, but eventually the Sarafan's far superior numbers won out. There were simply far too many of them to deal with and the Turelim had to keep pulling back.
"Archers: loose!" Zephon declared as his reserves came into action, letting fly a volley of silver arrows that allowed Turel and his clan to withdraw and allowed Ruhab and his own soldiers to take up the fight in their stead.
Just when it seemed as if their defence might hold, a lone figure from the Sarafan raised his hand and a shaft of lightning thundered down, coursing through the vampires and ripping dozens of them to pieces at a time. Lord Aurora, second in command under Lord Sabre was an extremely powerful wizard. A fact he enjoyed displaying in full forced to the Rubahim to were trying to invoke magical barriers to stop him from striking them.
Fire and lightning rained down on the clans and with the vampires now in retreat, the Sarafan infantry charged forward with the archers either side. They could see the towers of Dark Eden from here. Kain himself was almost within their grasp.
They never even saw the translocation spell end. All they managed to catch a glimpse of where the dozens of vampires that seemed to appear from nowhere.
"Cabal; Attack!" Vorador orders and his own teleported troops, both vampire and human did not hesitate in clashing into the surprised infantry. Umah was already there with sword in hand, slicing through men two at a time; blood staining her face.
Janos Audron did not enjoy harming humans, but he had come to the conclusion long ago that these men were not human. No true human could be so cold hearted.
Casting shield spells of his own, Janos defended the Cabal from lighting strikes that Aurora was trying to bring down around them.
"Ah, Janos Audron." Aurora began almost excitedly, seeing who it was that was resisting his magic. "My challenger for the Pillar of Energy. I've been wanting to test your skills against my own for some time." Janos beat his large black wings and soured up into the sky, meeting the Druid there; the man was hovering high above using some form of arcane sorcery.
The Reaver sang as it sliced through the lines of soldiers, drinking deep their souls and through the blade; Kain could sense nothing in these men's hearts but hate. They weren't compelled here by concern for their families or paid enough gold. They were here because they honestly believed every word Sabre had told them and they rejoiced in their hate.
Seeing the sudden defence; the retreating clans stopped in their tracks. They were confused. They had expected aid from the Cabal.
"What are you waiting for?" Turel demanded, seeing an opportunity. "Attack!" Ruhab and Zephon ordered their troops forward as well and the clans about turned to charge back to aid the Cabal. Dumah already returned with his own reserves and quickly joined the battle.
Both men and vampires were falling by the score. The canyon was already littered with corpses, the ground slowly turning crimson. It seemed as if the battle would never end. The vampires had heightened skills the Sarafan solders did not, but the Sarafan themselves could rely on their sheer numbers.
Even Kain found he was beginning to tire under the relentless assault of men that charged as him. Sudden the situation worsened when the Sarafan generals at the front lines called in their own reserve troops. Another division of fresh soldiers marched down through the canyon to bolster their numbers.
"There are too many of them!" Archimedes, one of Vorador's agents declared, defending off an attacker with his katana blade. More mages came through the front lines, casting fire and lightning spells towards the vampire front lines. One of them struck Archimedes down the left hand sides, forcing him to move back to a safer position.
Vorador raised his claws and sent his own spell, a deadly blast of light forward. It tore two mages in half and sent several others flying through the air back into their own lines.
Without warning, there was a flash of white light as another spell enacted itself; but not one cast by either side. Both the Sarafan and the clans backed off as a translocation spell finished itself and two new forms emerged from the transport. One of them Kain recognised instantly. He growled and forged a deep frown.
It was Sabre, the new leader of the Sarafan Order.
The Elder's new errand boy.
Beside him was a figure completely clad completely in armour; even the face hidden behind lengths of chain mail and a jagged with the visor pulled down. Strapped along one arm was a short shield and in the other, the fingers of the gauntlet wrapped around the hilt of a long sword.
"My lord!" One of the Sarafan knights declared and dropped to one knee. All the others soldiers did the same, the entire rows of infantry, archers and mages descending to humble themselves before their master. The clans took the opportunity to form new ranks in a defensive line, Turel's well disciplined troops taking up the front with Zephon's archers behind. The Cabal formed up either side. They had taken losses but they were all still ready to fight.
Kain remained steadfast, his gaze fixed completely on the man in the golden armour; his hands tightening around the hilt of the Reaver. Sabre turned to face the vampire and smirked wildly.
"They're all yours my friend." He stated tapping the man in the armour on the shoulder before clenching fist and vanishing into the depths of another translocation spell. Once he had gone, the Sarafan army rose up.
Slowly the armoured man turned to face the vampires, sword in hand.
"You don't know I am, do you?" He asked; his voice echoing against the metal of his armour.
"Should we?" Kain asked.
"I am the scourge of the un-dead." The armoured man replied walking forward slowly. The Sarafan army formed themselves into ranks behind them and began to follow, the sound of their in-time footsteps emphasizing each one their new leader took. "I am the bringer of fire and death to the night dwellers." The long sword in the gauntlet's grasp was raised higher and began to spark with bolts of red energy. "I am the last of the first Sarafan Order." Bolts of lightning shot from the blade and struck several of the Turelim at once. Despite the shield Turel himself was casting around them it tore through their shields and ripped their bodies apart in a bloody display.
Slowly the armoured man reached up and removed his helmet with one swift tug. All those watching, Vorador especially, looked taken aback.
There was no head.
There was no neck.
There wasn't even a body.
The suit of armour was empty.
"I am Malek." The armour stated one last time, replacing his helm. Umah had heard about someone called Malek from Vorador. He had claimed he had been the guardian of the circle, but after his defeat he had been entrapped within his armour as punishment for his failure.
But Vorador had also claimed that he had put Malek down for good centuries ago. She glanced up at the face of her sire, it was adorn with shock.
"This night the vampire scourge is driven from Nosgoth once and for all!" Malek declared as his troops rallied around him. "This night shall be remembered throughout history as the night God smiled upon the human race. To me my brothers! Charge!"