Setting
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After the meeting and night had set full in the Rangers laid down for the night with the fires out and their bedrolls well hidden in the undergrowth so that no one could see them. The fire pits had been covered back up and even the animals lay sleeping that weren't on watch with their partner. Elijin just hoped it would be a quiet night.
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"We should make the castle today rather early without much trouble. I fear more though what we may face that is surrounding the castle and whether the assault has begun or not." Elijins voice low towards the group around him.
"Aye the demons could of began their attack and we may be entering behind the enemy. It would give us the perfect chance to assault from the woods." A well weathered ranger by the name of Cale Tristan said in between smokes of his pipe.
The other rangers murmured in agreement at this if an attack had already started. The could launch volleys of arrows at the enemy from behind with deadly precision, even funneling an enemy into a huddled group.
"Let us go quickly then and hope the kingdom is well and the castle safe for this time." Elijin's voice rather cheerful in the face of such things. The group stood moving back to the main force that was prepared to move out their own conversations being had.
They quickly left without a scant of a marking left behind making the river in minutes and crossing it just as fast with only minor slips and falls on the rocks. The bears mostly swam across along with some of the other animals minus Scout the dog who jumped on the back of a rather unpleasant grizzly bear who grudgingly swam him to the other side. Now crossed the group continued plodding forward in what would look to be a rather haphazard formation but made them less susceptible to attacks or being taken out all at once.
The day finally came forth and then going with the night appearing as the group came upon the edge of the forest and noise of a battle ahead. The lead scout Ehren called the halt as he delivered the message back to Elijin who was near the head of the formation.
"There seems to be a full scale assault on the castle up ahead." Ehren seemed a bit flabbergasted and even his monkey seemed to take on the mood running about his shoulders or on the ground.
"I want groups of 10 placed at 30 yard intervals throughout the tree line. We'll fire volleys at them from the rear. It'll make it harder for us to be targeted and easier to take them down. Have the partners on the defensive and watching for any other possible attack routes. Each elder take a group and dig in!" The commands rolling off Elijins tongue with ease showing just how he became the leader of the Rangers.
Soon volleys of arrows began to rain down upon the orcs from various sides. The volleys keeping tempo as the Rangers had prepared for such a war exhausting their arrow supply from the village. The arrows left no trail to give away the concealed positions they held. They simply loosed arrows with deadly precision from their longbows.
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"Keep up the attack! We will wedge them between us and the Kings Forces! They will have no where to turn to, let this be their grave!" Elijin roared from the forests as they continued their assault.
The rangers put up a staunch attack with their small numbers relying heavily on guerrilla warfare and the use of cover to appear as a larger force with their marksmanship. As long as they were not attacked they could continue to focus heavily on the assault why the remainder of the pets guarded the groups from any surprise attacks.
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"Load the explosive tips!" Elijins voice did not ring as it kept a normal tone now the message spreading through the men as they changed from the normal arrows to ones infused with a highly combustible head of iron. The arrows were each lit at small fires at the back of the groups as the rangers took turns unleashing the volleys. The explosions rocked both Yraels forces and the rear of Gorains forces.
Vyri Veyer
Vyri was on his sleipnir mount Egregie the horse has it's own radiance about it besides being a tower war horse clad in a shining gilded armor. His shield clipped to his arm and a very menacing lance was in the other hand. He had strapped the to the saddle of his mount along with a bag of spears. The horse carried all of the weight with ease. He even snorted neighed as he waited to wade into the gore of battle that both he and his rider knew. Vyri sat patiently waiting for the king to begin the charge the visor on his helmet up for the moment before they began riding out.
When the charged was called, Vyri snapped shut the visor of his helm the kings warhammer glowing the brilliant holy light as they road out towards the enemy. The royal guards dispatched any foe that came too close while Vyri lashed out with the lance knocking enemies back and destroying their armor.
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Yrael galloped back to his squad and returned his sword to his left hand. He divided a small group of soldiers away from the rest and ordered them to draw their swords and enter the forest to engage the Rangers in close-quarters. Those he had selected took formation, holding shields in front, above, and to the sides to ward off arrows and birds. Yrael remained with the rest of his force as they shot arrows into the trees.
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Assaulted from both sides, driven back by arrows and magic, Gorain felt the pressure coming on him and his troops. It almost seemed like he would have to retreat in order to save his forces from being over run, even though not many had fallen in battle just yet. He was relieved to hear the advance of Yrael and his troops coming into the battle. Now Gorain could push forwards without needing to worry about the archers. Opening his maw, Gorain let out an echoing warcry that shook the ground around him and many of the troops in combat. He was ready to start fighting.
Turning away from the arrows raining down and deflecting off his demon hide he rushs towards the swarm of human apes coming from the front gate tearing into his front lines. The giant Greater Demon formed a magic sigil (ancient Mark) in his left hand opposite his bell hammer and launched it at the dead corpses of a human in the fray of swords and bodies. The bones of said corpse erupted from the humans corpse in a large wall of bone spears that aimed themselves towards the main human forces, growing well over 12 feet in length and spearing several of the knights in the first couple rows of men. Gorain repeated this process three times, each time taking only a few seconds. Now an entire U shaped wall of bone spears surrounded the front gate of citadel, trapping most of the humans inside the bone spears where impaled horses, men and orcs lay dead.
On the other side of the wall of bone Gorain rallied his troops together and took lead at the head of his army, smashing a hole in the wall of bone and sending a jet of flame 20 feet long straight through it into the opposing army, lighting an entire column of troops on fire only a few rows away from the king himself. "Go my hogs! Send bolts and javelins over the wall at them! Crush their king with magic!" Several of the hogs drew crossbows and started sending bolts and arrows over the bone wall while a couple of the mages who were once defending the Dragon Mortar sent fireballs over the bone spears at the King. Any soldier stupid or brave enough to venture into the opening Gorain had made was crushed or incinerated by the Tyrant himself.
Xavier Lent
Xavier watched the horror of the bone spears sprouting up out of his troops corpses. The sight was, without question, going to punch a hole in the moral of the men. Even Xavier who was normally too logical of mind to be frightened by anything was a little put off by this power Gorain had. Luckily Xavier also had magic of his own. Standing up from his position on the front wall Xavier summoned as much energy as he could to his hands and cast his strongest spell. "Curacio!"
A white glowing mist settled over the human troops behind the wall of spears, healing light wounds and returning their will to fight. Of course the spell was limited, any major wounds would only partially heal, and the exertion tired Xavier immensely. Now barely able to stand with the weight of his armor Xavier sat on the front wall with his back to the outer raised portion as he rested there staring back into the inner courtyard.
He would have to take a rest before he could resume his part in the battle. Perhaps after he had recovered from his fatigue he could give his blade a taste of orc, and get a shot at that Greater Demon himself. For now all he could do was listen to the battle and watch the upper tiers of the city get bombarded by magic and javelin.
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Even as he prepared to give the order to charge, rallying his men by doing so, he spotted Gorain advancing through the tide. His yelling was drowned out by the clash of weapons and there was nothing he could do as the wall of bones burst from the ground, impaling dozens of soldiers. With the brief lull in combat, the human troops began to reorganize themselves, killing the last few orcs trapped within. Even as all settled a jet of flame burst through the wall of bones, incinerating dozens more soldiers. Rather than charging through, projectiles, both physical and magical, began to pour through, aimed at him. Two Royal Guardsmen died in the initial barrage while another tackled him from his horse, ensuring his safety.
Turning to Xavier as Ivy approached the group, he said, "Ivy is correct. We must regroup for the moment. Do what you can, consolidate the other mages if you must. Just make sure we survive." Turning back, Aldric ducked behind a shield-bearer, most of the men having taken defensive positions to weather the barrage.
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Xavier was nearly about to pass out from the effects of his spell when Ivy appeared before him. She was talking about magic... he slowly became more aware as his adrenaline kept him awake. Sitting up he listened to her plan and nodded in understanding at the need. They were rather in a pickle with the artillery. Hearing his King's voice from below in the battle he stands up now and calls out at the soldiers on the walls. "Bring me three Energy Mages! And a Force Mage! On the double!" The soldiers scrambled to find whoever could fit their commanders needs the best. After a couple of minutes four men in cloaks were standing infront of Xavier and Ivy.
Xavier now turned and pointed at the fountain in the middle of the courtyard below. "That will have the water you need. But let me do this first." Turning around he gave the Force Mage orders who nodded quickly and stood near the wall. Xavier kicked over two large pots of boiling oil that are always on standby for siegers. The force mage stopped the oil from falling on the King's vanguard and sent it out into the orc artillery position, burning many of their operators.
Glad with his strategy, Xavier gave the Energy Mages the go ahead to assist Ivy in anyway they could while Xavier jumped down the wall, using the claws on his custom gauntlets to slide down the stone wall and land in the middle of the mortal forces. He ran straight out to where the opening was and faced down the Greater Demon on the other side as a young soldier was knocked by the Bell Hammer just over his head. "Come and get me, you pompous rat!"
This move was probably going to kill Xavier, but it was all part of his short term plan. Running up one of the bone spears he jumps over the crack in the spear wall, hopefully as Gorain rushs in to kill him, and activates the tatoo on his arm. A bright flash of light appears as his giant buster blade is summoned into his hands, the extra weight bringing Xavier with the blade pointed down right at Gorain's body.
Gorain
The large demon kept on killing soldiers, seeing them cower in fear of his coordinated assault. He laughed allowed in conquer and smashed another human who dared try and spear him through. He did not notice the flying globs of burning oil until it was too late. They landed on the demons artillery, scorching those who fired at the castle and King. This enraged Gorain greatly and he threw several orcs onto the machines. "Work them! Now!" The orcs rushed in fear to use the machines, but they were still coated in boiling oils, and so were unusable for the time being. Only the Dragon Mortor ,which was still firing at the tree line and the archers, and one of the ballistas were able to be used now.
Turning in rage Gorain saw the lone soldier there taunting him. Calling him a lowly rat. Gorain's cracked skin burst in a spout of fire before returning to normal as Gorain charged. "Rat?! Look who is talking!" He was too slow however to evade the fast human. He somehow summoned a sword and drove it straight through Gorain's left shoulder, the holy metal burning his flesh and nearly severing his arm.
Growling with pain as he shrieked in agony he used his right arm and hand to grab Xavier and toss him back towards his own brethren. He then painfully pulled the giant sword out of his shoulder with his hand burning with holy magic the whole way. He threw the sword at Xavier where it implanted near him in the ground.
"You pitiful human! I shall crush you!" But Gorain was in no position to fight anymore. His pride and bloodlust turning to hatred and fear. He pulled back behind his troops and kept them back surrounding the entrance to the bone wall. Turning to the female who was for some reason killing his orcs he would remember to recommend that his master revoke her powers for killing her allies. Moving towards Yrael he shouted across the field. "Yrael! Finish your fight and get in that cage!" He pointed at the trapped soldiers inside his bone wall and let out a strange wolf like howl of pain.
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