Chronicles of Espiria Season 2
Episode 24 – The Lines in the Sand
Written by the Dude
After the Bears won their freedom from the Centaurs, the two tribes rarely interacted outside their service to Brutus. Even when they were tasked by Skriath with building a line of defense against the Hypogean invaders, their shared animosity did not allow them to cooperate; they could manage little more than grunts and growls at each other as they set up separate defenses. Despite this, their solutions to the threat complimented each other surprisingly well. The Bear watchtower proved to be invaluable to both tribes, as the Centaurs could never determine how to build their own tower to accommodate their unique bodies. With the watchtower, the Bears could alert their warriors of coming Hypogean invaders long before they arrived; but the Centaurs could hear the warning as well, and they were faster to send out their cavalry. The Raging Hooves were impressively efficient at crushing the ill-prepared invaders, leaving the Bears with little more than mop-up duty.
This arrangement lasted until Warek received a message from Golus, asking him to meet at the watchtower. Fellow leaders and champions Hunter and Petra were as confused as Warek.
"I smell a trap." Hunter said.
"It could be a trap," Petra mused, "but he could also want to talk about those rumors about the Durri line."
"Either way, we should be prepared." Warek concluded. "Petra, how is the archery training coming?"
"Not good." Petra answered glumly. "There just doesn't seem to be a bow that doesn't break in our hands. What we need are more durable woods or even metal."
"The spear training is coming along nicely, though." Hunter said with some optimism. "Our throwing accuracy could use work, but in close quarters, I think we're as deadly as the Raging Hooves ever were."
"Then pick your best spearmen and have them come with us." Warek said. "If we find out that Golus wants a fight, we'll be ready to give him one."
At the appointed time, Warek, Hunter, Petra, and three spearmasters arrived at the watchtower. Not long after, Golus arrived flanked by four Centaur lieutenants, each armed with a poleaxe and a bow.
"Out with it, Warek!" Golus demanded. "What is it you want?"
The Bears just looked at each other in confusion.
"What I want?" Warek answered. "You're the one who asked for this meeting."
"Please, why would I choose to breathe the same air as you unless I have to?"
Before any of them could conclude that something was wrong, the ground shook beneath them. Warek at first suspected a trick by the Centaurs, but put the thought from his mind at the look of surprise from Golus.
A few seconds later, the ground under them collapsed, sending them and the tower into a deep, dark pit. All that the Bear and Centaur guards saw was their leaders vanish in an instant, and threw open the gates to their fortresses to send help, ready to punish any possible treachery from the other side. This effort was halted as more such sinkholes formed, two at the gates of their fortresses. As the dust thrown up by the sinkholes settled, Hypogean imps began to swarm out of them, followed by slower orcs and mages. Caught by surprise, none of the guards were able to shut their gates in time. Soon, both fortresses were overrun; the Bears were forced to escape out their secret entrance, while the Centaurs forced their way out the front gate.
A glimmer of hope was restored when Warek and Golus dragged themselves out of the pit, their fur matted with Hypogean blood. As they took in the situation, Hunter helped Petra and one of the spearmasters out of the pit as well, followed a moment later by one of the Centaur lieutenants.
"How could they have overrun both our forces so easily?" Hunter wondered aloud.
"How could they have dug such tunnels so quickly right under our noses?" Golus wondered aloud.
"First thing first." Warek said to them both. "We need to regroup."
Warek let out a loud roar that echoed for miles. The Bear warriors who escaped from the fortress started to rally around Warek; not to be outdone by the Bears, the Centaurs rallied around Golus soon after.
"They have us surrounded!" Hunter observed.
"We need to get to a more easily defensible position!" Warek responded as he dragged an orc off of Golus' back and finished it.
Golus looked back to the Centaur fortress and, particularly, at the structure beyond it. "If we can clear a path through their ranks, we should be able to make it to the Coliseum."
"I'm not going back to that cursed place!" Hunter declared.
"It held your kind for decades; it will keep the Hypogeans out."
"We have little choice, old man." Warek admitted. "If we stay out here, the Hypogeans win. We need to survive if we're going to beat them in the end."
Hunter still didn't like it, but he consented in the end. The Centaurs charged through the Hypogeans, trampling them in their wake and allowing the Bears to follow. As the Hypogeans made a last desperate push to cut off their retreat, the Centaurs and the Bears flung themselves through the gates of the Coliseum. Golus slammed the gates shut behind them as Warek threw the lock in place. Petra and the Centaurs and other Bears ran to the other gates to make sure they were secure. Hunter, not wanting to be anywhere near the dungeons, chose instead to take a position at the wall to try to ward off the demons at the gate.
Eventually, the Hypogeans let up trying to break the gate down. Hunter breathed a sigh of relief, until he saw why. He did not recognize the demon Azmonath; the rumors he had heard of the destruction of the Durri line of defense did not describe this creature. Still, even from a distance, he and the other defenders could feel the power and the dark chill that emanated from him. One of the other Hypogeans, a lesser commander, turned to face Azmonath with the excitement of a toddler who had just finished a finger painting.
"My lord, we have driven the beast men from their fortresses and trapped them in this arena! Their fortresses are ours! The land is ours! Victory is..."
Azmonath grabbed the commander by the throat.
"Victory, do you say?" Azmonath hissed. "Do you think I give one Durri's corpse about this land?! The entire desert could fall into the ocean tomorrow and I wouldn't care less! I don't want the land; I want the beast men, torn apart and scattered like confetti as a warning to those who would oppose the Hoard! And now, because of your impatience, they are beyond my reach!"
The terrified commander struggled in Azmonath's grip, seemingly begging for forgiveness, but Hunter could not hear what he said. Azmonath's response, however, was unmistakably clear.
"Indeed, you will not fail me again!"
Azmonath touched his staff to the commander's forehead. Hunter watched in horror as something, what he could not say, was slowly drawn from the commander's body as the commander screamed in agony. Finally, the commander fell silent, and Azmonath cast his limp body into a nearby crevice.
"Half of you will stay behind to finish this battle!" Azmonath shouted. "Beat down the doors! Blast the walls! Do what you must, but I want the beast men dead by the time I return!"
Azmonath slowly climbed into a covered palanquin as the army moved off. Unbeknownst to Hunter, he was not alone in the palanquin.
"You look exhausted." Safiya said, mildly surprised, but hiding it well.
"Your plan required a much greater demonstration of my power than I expected." Azmonath snarled weakly. "Otherwise, I would have been able to blast the doors off their stronghold and finish them myself!"
"Do not fret, my friend." Safiya said as she took a bite from her steak. "They cannot oppose us anymore. As you wisely surmised, your forces need only to prevent their escape, and they will eventually succumb to thirst or starvation. Now take some food and refresh yourself; you need to be at full strength for the battles ahead."
Soon, Petra returned to Warek's side, Hunter soon after.
"We're all secure." Petra reported.
"But we are cut off from our people." Golus lamented.
"And in the worst place imaginable." Hunter grumbled.
"We will survive for now." Warek noted. "Your people are nomads; they know how to survive for long periods without being found by the Hypogeans. Mine will have retreated into their dens by now and disguised the entrances as Arachin nests. We must focus on our own survival. The demons will constantly seek a way in, so we must stay vigilant and plug up any weakness in the defenses we can find. At the same time, we must be watchful for any weakness they show that might let us break this seige."
"And the sooner, the better." Petra interrupted. "All the food I saw down there was plants and Tidus' meat."
"Tidus is still down there?" Hunter already hated the Coliseum, and Tidus' presence only made it worse.
"I will speak with him tomorrow." Warek said. "We will be here a while; we must do all we can to make it safe."