The letters Part 2
I could barely see my own sword in the mist, but yet I fought. One beast after the other they fell to my sword. I tried to command my men but there was no use. The sound of thousands and thousands of men and beasts filled the air. One thing you should know about a fight like this, is that it is impossible to determine time. Every minute feels like an eternity. You dont know how long you have fought or when it is gonna be over. The only thing you can focus on is the next beast in front of trying to rip you to shreads. I was later told that the first battle of Roren lasted 6 hours and 23 minutes.
Imagine how long it actually felt. I slayed 47 beasts in that battle, and was wounded in 3 diffrent places. My armour, shatterd, sword bent, and my pistol i dire need of cleaning. But I will never forget the minutes at the end. When screams of victory was echoing over the field. The mist of gunpowder eased all around me and the remainder of my regiment. But I have never felt as much joy as when I saw the remnants of the Kaladêmian army running head over heals with their tails between their legs.
The Rorian army led by King Verith had prevailed. But there were no cheers after the mist lifted. No joy or calls to feasts. That battlefield still haunts me. Thousands and again thousands of men, beasts, horses and oddly enough dwarfs. That´s right, dwarfs. Little did we know that the King had asked his allies from Galdoon to aid us in our war against Kaladêm. It did not sit well with our generals. Galdoon is an old empire, older then Rorens. Galdoon and Rorens have been allies for an age. It has been more of an tradition then an actual alliance the last hundred years.Im not gonna tire you with politics. Im gonna say it the easiest way possible. Dwarfs have a bad reputation. They are grumpy, greedy and foremost they have a bad temper. Galdoon once started a war due to a failed greeting from a princess. You might think that this is nothing out of the ordinary? Well of course not, but erradicating the entire population and lay waste to the entire kingdom is not. Simply put, the dwarven kingdom of Galdoon may be our ally today, but our enemy tomorrow. It´s all about how King Verith handles the dwarf lord Etrian.
Moving on, today me and the dark legion are marching towards Evlon, wich is the lake of Tera. We have a great fortress there. Aparently we are reinforcing the garrison untill we can recieve new recruits. The dark legion as lost more then half strenght since day one of the war. We are no more then 56 men strong. I will welcome the rest, the bed and warm food. Most of all I will welcome the time I will have writing this story. As we are walking down the cobbled stone road, we pass the Eradûn mountains. They stretch all the way up to the sky. It´s the home of the famous flying batallions more commonly called Ravenriders. Im not sure if you know this story already but I have to write it down.
Two and a half thousand years ago a captain and a few of his men wanderd up on the mountain to seek shelter after a battle that had not gone in their favor. Once up there they found birds nests. But not ordinary nests, enormous nests. And after a while investigating their find, the enemy caught up with them and a battle took place up on the mountain. When the situation seemed lost and captain and his men had lost all hope a talon reached down amongst the fighting men. An enormous talon reached down and crushed the enemies about to slay the captain. Suddenly a myriage of talons came from the sky and took away every single enemy soldier on the mountain. Shocked and terrified over what just happend a giant eagle landed in front of the captain. As he raised his sword the eagle gave away an ear splitting growl. And the captain dropped his sword. He then realized that the eagles had choosen to save their lives. Captain Eradûn then founded the Ravenriders and the flying batallions. And generation to generation the flying batallions have served the people of Rorens.
The riders are led by a captain. There has always been a sky captain. Once the captain is accepted by the eagles he is captain for life. Untill only a few years ago. When the eagles turned down the most prominent candidate for the job. And choose a female captain. Satine, lady of Egraid. They say her beauty outshines anything. I hope I will meet her before this war is over. Anyway im drifting! We´re almost at Evlon fortress and I must get the men organized and ready to meet the commander.
The Letters part 1
Early morning and I wake from the sound of hovs outside my tent. It is now the third week into this war. The second war in our time, against the hordes of Kaladêm. Vicious beasts who knows only war and murder.
I dont know who will end up reading these letters or diaries or what I should name them. But I figured someone needs to know my story and the stories of those who serve alongside me. Let me introduce myself, I am Marcus Reid, Captain in the Rorian army and a loyal servant to our King Verith.
As I said it is the third week of this madness. During those three weeks I have already seen men die, some of them my friends. Today we are marching alongside the riverside to join up with general Dreid´s army. I command a rough group of men and our regiment has earned the nickname, The Dark Legion. I want to say it has a poetic meaning or that we fight better in the dark. It´s actually alot less complicated then that. Our armor is black alongside with our guns and swords. We were among the first regiments to face the invading forces from Kaladêm. The darkest days of the war was the first ones.
We lost so many due to the lack of intel. It took a day before the full strength of the army was alerted of the invasion. The king himself had to turn home from a royal visit to our neighbouring realm Larissa. The shear numbers of the enemy was enough to pulverise our primary defences and send half the army running. All this within hours. In this Chaos I lost family friends and my home.
We were pushed back half across the country before the King could get the army organized enough to mount a full scale counterattack. Me and my men was put in the front lines of the first major battle. I still remember that morning.
The morning mist had just started to clear alongside the woodline. And the silence, I will never forget the unrestfull silence. Across the field stood an army of beasts. The best description of a Kaladêmian is wolf on two legs, a man like beast. Wolfmen if that sounds better. Razorsharp claws, and fangs that can ripp a man to shreads. Sometimes I even wonder why they bother wearing weapons. But I guess when you live for war you spend alot of time thinking of ways to easier kill your enemies.
Where was I? Oh yes, the army of beasts across the field. I still dont know how many they were. They numberd atleast thirty thousand. Little did we know that it was only their advance troops. The main army had yet to reach our lands. The Rorian army emerged out of the shadows of the Mithali forrest, ever so eager to fight back these intruders. The cavalry moved out of the woods lances at the ready. The infantry moving into position loading their guns and drawing swords. Cannons getting ready to unleash a hail storm of lead into the beasts.
The beasts on their hand had the worst weapon of all, terror. Moments before charging at us they gave away what seemed to be a neverending howl. That sounds will haunt me til the day I die. They then took the initiative and started to charge. God, they move so fast. During the first war we learned that they even can outrun our fastest horses.
The lancers go into position and charges, and the infantry lowers their speirs and prepares for impact. The entire field in front of us grows dark as it fills with the beasts of Kaladêm. The cavalry comes in from the left and impact is horrible. The sound of splitting shields and horses dying along with men and beasts screaming out the top of their lungs ecoes over the entire valley. But we stand steady. I command my men to draw sword. And with a common motion 240 swords are drawn. Shields up, I yell.
Beasts comming closer and I begin to shake, not because im scared or overwhelmed. Because I have been wanting this for so long. To finally even the score. Thirty meters and closing fast. The beasts starts to roar as if they are starving and the meat is right in front of them for the picking. I hear other captains yell out their orders, shortly after i hear the distinct sound of swords drawn and pistols loading. Twenty meters and closing even faster. My pulse is rising and I grip my sword hard. Steady, I yell to my men. Ten meters, I now give the order fire at will, as my fellow captains do all over the line. A massive barrage of bullets fly thru the air. Firemasters behind us yells out for a barrage and the cannons opens the gates to hell. The first bullets find their targets and the death roars of the beasts is earsplitting. What follows after that is hard to remember, but I will try and describe it. Shortly after the first bullets fired, the beasts reach our lines and our armies clash together. People flying thru the air, beasts jumping over us, landing behind us. They are everywhere.
All around me I hear the sound of death, all kinds of it. Armor shattering, metal against metal, gunsmoke fill the air like the thickest of mists. The battle had begun.
End of part 1
