The thunderous sound of our hooves echoed throughout the courtyard, hardly muffling the battle cries that came from the others. We galloped out of the fortress, and immediately turned south, riding directly towards the growing horde of monsters.
I knew the monsters were considerably disorganized and always used their numbers to overpower an enemy. However, this was different, somehow. The portals made sense for rapid means of transportation, but why they weren't all immediately killing each other was something I couldn't figure out.
I'm sure the Master is thinking the same thing, I thought, noticing his look of resolve.
Within the next few minutes, we were getting close enough to our new targets. "Formation!" Garett shouted, prompting us to form three boar's heads and maintain our speed. The formation was triangular in shape, hollow in the middle, and served as a wedge whenever there was a line that needed to be broken.
Three hundred meters, I calculated, adjusting my position to be just behind the apex of the boar's head.
The southern wind began to blow, and the stench of the oncoming horde of glicks and daemons became palpable, prompting a few of the less-experienced to almost greet their late lunches.
"Gods above and below, they smell awful," Irun said to Batch who rode by his side in our boar's head, making Batch take a deep breath through his nose. "Ugh! It's like a thousand pieces of rotten bacon put under the sun," he tried to expunge the stench from his nostrils. "Or an ochelon's ass," Irun grinned, trying to take his mind off the stench. "Not helping. There might be one there for all we know. So, focus!" I snapped.
Two hundred meters, I thought, starting to see the horde in more detail.
I could finally see the large portal clearly; a violet swirl of mana, with dark tendrils of power facing the northeast poured out the horrid creatures. The monsters screamed and gurgled their war-cries which echoed throughout the small valley just south of the fortress.
What the hell is that? I thought momentarily, noticing a creature I'd never seen before.
It was the first time I'd ever laid eyes on a daemon outside of a textbook. Its disfigured body and blackened, rotting skin almost made the glicks look like something straight out of a child's bedtime story.
"Swords," the Master shouted from the center of the second formation, a short command which we all followed promptly. "Bow-casters, fan out and support them," Garett barked, the rear part of the formation pulled back, supporting the others as commanded.
I could feel the copious amounts of mana they infused into their bows even from where I was. I quickly turned my head to see their bows beginning to glow with mana in accordance to the elements they wanted to use.
"Loose!" I heard Garett call out just before a rain of arrows bathed the front row of creatures in death. They screamed and writhed in pain, flopping to the black and green blood began to soak the ground beneath them.
Fifty meters. Just like before, lean in and… I swung, feeling the edge of my blade bite into the scaly flesh of a glick's shoulder.
The pungent green blood sprayed my cheek, but I didn't even have time to flinch as I was forced to prepare for another strike. I kept moving forward, hacking away at anything that was within striking range, hitting more than a few targets as I did so.
The boar's head was successful, wreaking havoc on everything in its path. Heads flew and blood sprayed up in the air as our swords sang a beautiful song of war.
My sword-hand was now covered in the obnoxious green blood, but I pressed on, slaying more than a dozen on my first pass. Edryd, too, was having his blade sink into the screeching monsters. "Take that, you ugly fucks! This is payback for last time," he shouted as his sword sank into a glick's mouth and came out the backside of its head.
The boar's heads finally broke with the swarming creatures, and it soon became every man for himself. Roburn was riding into one of the thicker clusters of daemons when suddenly, one of the horrid creatures jumped and knocked him off his horse. He fell to the ground with a thud, and was soon swarmed by the very ones whose blood he had already spilled so much of.
"Roburn!" Edryd called out and hacked his way over toward him.
Shit, did I just watch him die? I thought, watching them pile on top of where he landed, as my stomach turned.
Just as I was thinking that, a large explosion of mana was released from the newly formed mound of daemons and glicks, setting all of them alight. They squealed and attempted to swat out the mana-flames that began to consume their flesh.
Roburn, whose braided hair was now coated in his own blood and the monsters', stood up and cast the Pyrus spell. The flame cloak surrounded him, keeping the unburned monsters at bay briefly while he seared his wounds shut.
Ed rode towards him and dismounted his horse quickly when he arrived. "I've got your back," he said, cutting down a few daemons in his path. "Thanks. Just don't get yourself killed," Roburn replied, glaring behind him with glowing eyes. Both stood side by side, severing limbs and removing heads from shoulders.
I was still on my horse, but I too was nearly knocked off the same way I had been in my first battle. This time, however, I saw it coming and quickly dismounted off the back of my horse, who proceeded to crush a few creatures to make its escape, and rolled to my feet. In the same moment, I severed my attacker's head at the jaw, sending a spray of blood into the air.
A few more glicks came rushing towards me, and I got into my guard again. Chaos reigned about me, but it seemed the whole world was shut out at that moment, leaving only me and the monsters in my immediate vicinity.
Three daemons to the right and two glicks to the left, I thought, calculating which one would try to reach me first.
The first glick jumped at me, aiming a sharp claw for my head. I ducked under the blow and struck its gut, spilling entrails on the ground beneath it. Two daemons came from opposite directions, sprinting towards me.
Shit, they're quicker than the glicks, I thought.
I saw the first claw being raised, and knew that would be the first one to strike. I grazed the blow off my sword and took off its head, using my momentum to its fullest advantage. The other was now within striking range, and its claw found its target, cutting into the flesh on my left arm.
I barely even felt it through my armor and adrenaline, and severed the claw, the next claw that came for me. I swept its legs with a kick, causing the creature to fall on its back. With my eyes darkened, I drew mana from the Ethereal and sent an Exar blast downward, crushing the daemon's skull.
"Three down," I said, glaring at the remaining creatures in front of me. The glick fluttered its scales, and the daemon produced a horrifying, knocking and scraping sound by smashing its teeth together in protest of my bravado.
"You're dying first," I muttered, readying my sword for my attack. I pushed off my left leg, dashing quickly towards it. I brought my sword down, making a diagonal cut that split the creature in two, spilling more blood and entrails onto the ground. Seeing the other's attack out of the corner of my eye, I twisted my body quickly, jabbing my mana-infused sword into the final monster's eye socket, causing its head to burst into flames.
I watched as it hit the ground with a wet and crackling thud. I was breathing pretty heavily, but took a moment to survey my surroundings to get a better sense of what was going on.
We're winning! That's a powerful spell if ever I've seen one, I thought as a flash of bright green sent glicks and daemons flying into the air, immediately rushing over to its origin.
Anwill was busy exploding glick after glick, while the Master and Bernar had infused their swords with mana. Their swords glowed a vibrant orange and cut through the oncoming creatures like a hot knife to butter. Anwill continued casting in conjunction with the cuts made by his sword, turning any target into little more than a mist of bones and bloodied entrails.
I watched them for a moment, ensuring that no other creatures were around me first. Suddenly, I heard and felt loud roars coming from the direction of the portal. "Ochelons!" Irun called out over the screeches and screams of battle, prompting me to look in his direction.
Bernar, Anwill, the Master, and I cut down the remaining enemies around us and cast our eyes upon the lumbering beasts. Four of them could be seen exiting the portal that closed behind them, their eyes glowing red and claws spread wide, ready to strike.
"That's more like it. Ready for round two, shit-bird?" Bernar grinned at me. Anwill turned toward us, listening intently to our conversation, as if something had piqued his interest. "More like round three, fuck-ass. Lead me to the slaughter," I said, nodding with determination, not wanting to show my absolute exhaustion at that point.
Anwill scoffed and chuckled in amusement, but never voiced his reason for doing so.
However, the Master could tell I was already tired from fighting, but he knew that if I stopped right then and there, it would be no different than giving my neck to an executioner. "Go, now!" he commanded after a curt nod of acknowledgement of my resolve.