The air is cold with the coming night, the sky darkening as the sun sets in the east, the clouds moving with the light wind, blowing his long, tattered cape in the wind. The giant Daemon steed beneath him snorts and stomps at the dirt road under its hooves, restless and bored. His stature is of an enormous man, nearly nine feet tall, he is a sight to behold. His armor grafted directly to his flesh, his helm hiding what little emotion he has, a giant sword in his right hand, a large tower shield in the other.
Around him, other monstrous armor clad warriors ride with him, fifty three of his most devoted followers, they are warriors from the Hordes of Chaos, a vast legion of monsters and men from the far North. Where and why they are here remain unknown to them, save for their leader. Their gods commanded him to travel into the south, to the border between the Grandall Empire and the Halteese republic, to find a sword of ancient and terrible power. Though he does not know this either, it is undoubtedly SoulEdge.
They ride along the road, surveying everything, sensing anything with power. Their leader stops, the others noticing, come to a halt. He looks about, smelling the stench of rotting flesh, hiding the real scent of whatever is bearing it. He knows a predator is stalking them.
Watching them with blood red eyes, the lizardman stares with atmost patience, studying their movements, guaging their strength. His forked tongue flickers in and out of his jaw, tasting the warrior's scents. The ground around him begins to shake as two giant monsters walk up the hill behind the him, their jaws gaping and huge, the wartyrants are following the lone lizardman.
"Archaon..." A telepathic voice slowly whispers into the mind of the Leader, he listens. "They can see you... can you see them?" He turns and sees the two reptilian monsters and the one lizardman. He telepathically informs his warriors of the incoming threat. With silent ease, they form into a battle line, Archaon at the head of his cavalry, waiting for the monsters to make the first move.
The lizardman, noticing he's been spotted, stands up and roars, bearing his razor sharp teeth, he begins to charge at the warriors. The wartyrants lumber forth, following the lizard, the ground reverberating with each smashing foot step. Archaon lifts his giant sword ,known as Slayer of Kings, from its hook inside his shield, making a gratifying metal scraping sound. He holds it up and commands his Steed, Dorghar, to charge. The Chaos Knights follow.
The lizardman barely keeps pace with the charging wartyrants at both his sides, he grasps the hilts of his shield and sword, embracing the adrenaline flowing through his warmblooded, yet still reptilian, body. He sets his sight on the leader of the Chaos Knights, waiting to sever his head from his body. Right at the moment of collision, he leaps into the air, using his small shield to parry a thrust from the knight, he plants his foot into the knight's chest, dislodging him from his mount.
They fall to the ground, the lizardman rolling to his feet, the knight slowing standing up, leaves and dirt dotting his cape. Around them, the other knights collide with the two wartyrants, one falling and crushing two of the warriors after a long spear had been driven through its chest, its bloody tip sticking out of its back. The other wartyrant thrashes about, a sword impaled into its stomach, one of the warrior's steeds being crushed in its jaws.
Archaon stands, he looks down on the puny lizardman with hate, an emotion all to familiar to him, he embraces the feeling, loving it, just as he loves the chaotic battle ensuing around him. He raises his giant sword and brings it down on the lizardman, hitting nothing but the dirt that the lizard once stood on.
The lizardman easily dodges the attack, though he may seem dimwitted, he knows the basic fundamentals of battle. He knows to be an effective shieldman, the only weapon suitable to be used with a shield is a small one, whether that be an axe, a club, a flail or a sword. Using such a large sword with a shield, especially a tower shield, its blade can easily be hindered by the shield face, making the shieldman slow and awkward.
He counters, swinging overhand from his right, he tries to cut into the knight's neck in an attempt to cut off his head, but the knights gorget deflects the blow from the tiny sword. The knight spins, swinging his blade from his right, the lizardman jumping back, dodging another attack. The knight presses forward, swinging wildly with the massive sword, charging forward, the lizardman has little time for a counter attack, the knight's immense strength carrying the massive sword through the air with ease.
The lizardman backsteps then sees a small opening in the knight's attack, he uses it instantly, his reflexes perfect, he rushes in after a swing, he drop kicks the knight. The knight stumbles back then falls to the ground, the lizardman jumping to his chest, using his left leg he pins the knight's sword hand to the ground. The lizard snarls and nashes his teeth in the knight's face, gloating over his victory. He raises his sword to stab into the eye socket of the knight's helm, he doesn't notice's Archaon has unstrapped his left arm from his shield.
The lizardman stabs his sword forward but is cutoff when the knight clamps down on his arm with an armored fist. The lizardman bellows in pain as the knight crushes his arm, snapping the bone easily, several of his scales falling to the ground.
The lizardman growls and sends his shield into the knight's face, it clangs loudly as the knight gets disorientated, yet he does not relinquish his vice like grip. The knight slowly stands up again, the lizardman flailing around, kicking and biting, futily attempting to inflict damage through the knight's impervious armor. Archaon looks on, indifferent to the lizardman's blows. He lifts the lizard into the air, then smashes him into the ground repeatedly, until the lizardman is nothing but a tattered glob of flesh and blood.
He drops the lizard's lifeless body and looks around him, seeing the other knights had defeated the last wartyrant, losing only four of their warriors in the melee. Dorghar returns to him, showing no signs of injury, Archaon remounts. "A glorious battle my followers, you have done well." He tells them telepathically.
The night has fallen and Archaon can see the orange glow of a fire burning above the treeline from the direction the lizardman and the two monsters had come. He can sense the chaos happening there, he commands his warriors to go forth and find it. They know its a burning city, they know what they are looking for may be there. But to get it will be the real challenge.