06-06-2014, 04:33 PM
The sounds of smoke and screaming were too familiar to Yves, and he hated it. He had been ordered all the way to the other side of the Empire on a suspicion that this fortress might come under attack. The march had been exhausting, and secretly he had hoped that when he got here, there wouldn't be any reason to stay. He wasn't sure which was more disheartening: the fact that the Emperor's spy network had been right, or the fact that he knew just how doomed these people were. Regardless, he squared his shield and waited for the order to come, as he knew it would.
"Armored Division! Charge!"
And with that, it was chaos. He and the rest of the armorknights that had hung back until now let out a roar, then rushed the mass of fighters that had made it through the gates. They were trained soldiers, and they fell on the ranks of the rebels like a thundering landslide. Yves spotted a mage, casting fireballs up onto the walls, and rushed him. The robed man noticed only too late that some of the walls in this fortress were mobile. Yves rammed him with his shield, sending his tome skidding across the cobblestones, and skewered him with his lance. He barely had time to nod briefly at the man before a bolt of lightning seared across his back, partially deflected by the pure water coating it. Hissing at the burning sensation, he turned, and another glanced off his shield, numbing his arm.
Even through the forced coldness he adopted during these battles, his heart sank. A pair of mages- twins, it looked like- were hurling lightning at him furiously. They couldn't have been more than sixteen. A bolt sizzled past his head. This was no time for sympathy, he thought, and he rose up to his full height, charging toward them. A look of utter terror suffused their faces.
A horn blast sounded from outside the walls. Yves frowned and stopped, looking toward the gates. Reinforcements? It sounded again. No, this was a retreat. He looked back to the twins, who took one look at him and bolted, sprinting for the hole in the wall. The tide of attackers, such that remained of it, started to recede. Yves relaxed slightly; they would run, and maybe live to learn not to pick fights with the Imperial Army.
The voice of his commanding officer snapped him out of that delusion. "They're falling back! Kill them all, before they make it back to the border!" Yves half-thought to object, but shook his head, falling back into formation with the rest of his unit. The armorknight squared his shield once more, and somewhere in the rear, someone signaled to start the charge. He was a soldier, and soldiers followed orders, after all. There were a few stragglers still trying to make it through the breach, but in a few seconds, there would not be. A battle cry went up, and the soldiers started running.
"Armored Division! Charge!"
And with that, it was chaos. He and the rest of the armorknights that had hung back until now let out a roar, then rushed the mass of fighters that had made it through the gates. They were trained soldiers, and they fell on the ranks of the rebels like a thundering landslide. Yves spotted a mage, casting fireballs up onto the walls, and rushed him. The robed man noticed only too late that some of the walls in this fortress were mobile. Yves rammed him with his shield, sending his tome skidding across the cobblestones, and skewered him with his lance. He barely had time to nod briefly at the man before a bolt of lightning seared across his back, partially deflected by the pure water coating it. Hissing at the burning sensation, he turned, and another glanced off his shield, numbing his arm.
Even through the forced coldness he adopted during these battles, his heart sank. A pair of mages- twins, it looked like- were hurling lightning at him furiously. They couldn't have been more than sixteen. A bolt sizzled past his head. This was no time for sympathy, he thought, and he rose up to his full height, charging toward them. A look of utter terror suffused their faces.
A horn blast sounded from outside the walls. Yves frowned and stopped, looking toward the gates. Reinforcements? It sounded again. No, this was a retreat. He looked back to the twins, who took one look at him and bolted, sprinting for the hole in the wall. The tide of attackers, such that remained of it, started to recede. Yves relaxed slightly; they would run, and maybe live to learn not to pick fights with the Imperial Army.
The voice of his commanding officer snapped him out of that delusion. "They're falling back! Kill them all, before they make it back to the border!" Yves half-thought to object, but shook his head, falling back into formation with the rest of his unit. The armorknight squared his shield once more, and somewhere in the rear, someone signaled to start the charge. He was a soldier, and soldiers followed orders, after all. There were a few stragglers still trying to make it through the breach, but in a few seconds, there would not be. A battle cry went up, and the soldiers started running.