Marcus raised his hand and held it aloft for a moment that felt like an eternity. The Iron Vanguard formation tightened, weapons glinting in the morning sun as the soldiers prepared to tear Valentra apart.
"Go!" Marcus's voice cut across the grassland like a blade.
The Iron Vanguard surged forwards in perfect coordination, their charge covering ground with frightening speed.
In the watchtowers, Lily's bow sang as she loosed her first arrow.
"Fire!" she called out to the other archers.
A volley of arrows descended towards the charging mercenaries, but the Iron Vanguard moved quickly shifting formation smoothly, and dodging the arrows or blocking them with shields. The few arrows that found their target did injure them but they were still able to continue onwards.
Only one man stumbled, an arrow striking his leg, he gritted his teeth and kept running despite the wound, however more arrows flew in his direction making him the first casualty.
"They're staying close to the walls!" Maya shouted from the northern tower, frustration evident in her voice as the attackers hugged the palisade's base, using the fortifications as cover against the archers positioned above.
Heavy mauls and axes began hammering against the wooden gate while others provided cover with raised shields, their movements were coordinated and swift.
The gates had been built to keep out creatures that relied on tooth and claw, not soldiers with actual equipment.
The wood began to splinter under the relentless assault, metal reinforcements bending and breaking as the soldiers applied focused pressure to weak points they'd discovered.
"Brace the gate!" someone shouted from within the settlement, but it was already too late.
Three sharp whistle blasts echoed across Valentra—the emergency signal. But the speed and coordination of the attack left little time for reaction. People scrambled towards predetermined positions, but chaos was already spreading.
Children's voices rose in panic as they were hustled towards safe houses, while adults grabbed whatever weapons they could find.
The gates exploded inward with a thunderous crash of splintering wood and twisted metal.
Iron Vanguard soldiers poured through the breach like a tide, their weapons already bloodied from the guards who'd tried to make a stand at the entrance. The defenders' bodies lay crumpled among the wreckage, their sacrifice buying mere seconds at the cost of their lives.
The soldiers split immediately upon entering the settlement—some turning towards the watchtowers to eliminate the archers, others charging directly towards where Ethan waited with his team, while the largest group dispersed into Valentra's residential areas.
---
Ethan stood motionless in his heavy armour as the Iron Vanguard's assault bore down on his position.
Kate flanked him to the left, her war hammer held ready. To his right were David and Carl. Elena crouched behind her shield with short sword drawn, while Jake gripped his long sword with white knuckles.
"Hold formation," Ethan commanded. "Let them come to us."
A dozen Iron Vanguard soldiers approached, their leader, a scarred veteran with twin axes, pointed directly at Ethan.
"Take the big one down first!" the veteran shouted. "Surround him, armour that heavy means he can't move quickly!"
The collision was devastating.
Ethan's large war axe swept in a massive arc, the obsidian steel blade screaming through the air with lethal intent.
It caught the first attacker across the chest, the sound of breaking ribs could be heard, as he was sent hurling backwards. The mercenary hit the plaza stones hard and didn't get up, his chest sliced and caved in from the impact.
Kate's war hammer followed immediately, the spear tip punching through a second soldier's leather armour before she brought the crushing head down on his skull.
But the Iron Vanguard was experienced. Even as their comrades fell, the survivors pressed their attack, spreading out to attack from multiple angles simultaneously.
A mercenary with a sabre managed to slip past Ethan's guard, his blade scraping across the armoured plates. The weapon found a gap between two plates near Ethan's left arm, the point sliding through the leather underneath and drawing blood.
David's spear stabbed the attacker in the throat before he could withdraw. But even as that one died, another soldier had appeared, stabbing at David's thigh with a dagger. David stumbled, as pain shot up through his leg.
"David!" Carl called out, stepping forward to cover him.
Carl's spear work kept two attackers at bay, but the mercenaries' superior experience was beginning to show.
They coordinated their attacks with hand signals and subtle movements, one drawing attention while the other struck from a blind spot.
Elena's shield took a crushing blow from a hammer that sent vibrations through her entire body. Her arm went numb from the impact, and she dropped to her knees as the shield slipped from her fingers.
Jake managed to kill Elena's attacker with a desperate thrust of his long sword. But Elena was struggling to get back to her feet, her shield arm hanging at her side.
"Jake, cover Elena!" Ethan commanded, his axe cleaving through another soldier with a spray of blood.
The veteran with twin axes pressed his attack on Ethan, his weapons moving quickly as he tried to find gaps in the armour. One axe blade scraped along Ethan's breastplate while the other aimed at the joint at his shoulder, but Ethan moved and the armour held against the assault.
Ethan's counterstrike was devastating, his war axe caught the veteran in the side, the obsidian steel edge cutting through leather and flesh as it buried itself deep in the man's torso.
Ethan struck again causing the veteran's cry to cut off abruptly as he collapsed, his twin axes clattering to the ground.
The battle raged across the plaza with neither side giving ground easily. Bodies began to accumulate, as both the Iron Vanguard soldiers who'd underestimated Valentra's defenders, and the residents who were giving their lives to protect their home were dropping dead.
Kate's war hammer was becoming increasingly effective as she found her rhythm. The weapon's multiple striking surfaces let her adapt to each opponent.
Spear thrusts for reach, blade for piercing, and crushing blows when raw power was needed. Splatters of blood covered her from head to toe as she pressed forward with grim determination.
Carl managed to kill another attacker with a well timed spear thrust, but it left him exposed to a flanking attack. A soldier's sword opened a deep gash along his side, sending him staggering backwards with blood streaming down.
The Iron Vanguard kept coming. For every soldier they killed, another seemed to take their place, and Ethan's team was beginning to tire from the sustained combat. Their movements were becoming slower, their reactions less precise as exhaustion set in.
"We can't keep this up forever!" Kate called out, as she deflected a sword strike that would have taken her head off.
"Just hold on a little longer!" Ethan replied, his axe never pausing as he cut down another attacker.
---
Throughout the settlement, the battle raged with savage intensity as Iron Vanguard soldiers spread into every corner of Valentra like a plague.
Near the livestock pens, Janet had been leading a group of frightened children towards the designated safe house when the sound of heavy footsteps made her turn around.
Three Iron Vanguard soldiers emerged from behind the animal enclosures, their weapons drawn and their intentions clear.
"Run!" she shouted, pushing Isaac and Noah ahead of her as the soldiers approached with wide grins. "Get to the safe house, now!"
The children managed to scatter, their small size and familiarity with the settlement's layout giving them crucial advantages in their escape. They disappeared between buildings and under obstacles that would slow down their larger, adult, pursuers, their terrified cries fading as they fled towards safety.
Janet remained behind however, standing between the children and their would-be killers. She grabbed a pitchfork from beside the animal pens.
"If you want to catch them, you'll have to go through me," she said, her voice steady despite the fear that made her hands tremble.
The first mercenary laughed at the sight of the middle-aged woman with her improvised weapon. "Give it up, woman."
The mercenary's amusement died when she drove forward with surprising speed, the pitchfork punching deep into his stomach. Her desperate strength, fuelled by adrenaline and wisps of mana, caught him completely off guard.
He stumbled backwards with a scream, his hands clutching at the wooden handle protruding from his belly. Blood flowed between his fingers as he tried to pull the weapon free, his face pale with shock and pain.
But two more soldiers remained, and Janet had exhausted her element of surprise and they weren't deterred by one lucky strike from a civilian.
"Kill her," the second mercenary commanded coldly.
Janet tried to retrieve another tool, but they were on her before she could arm herself again, a sword thrust struck her in the chest.
She collapsed beside the animal pens, her blood soaking into the earth as her vision dimmed. But even as she died, Janet could make out the sounds of small feet running towards safety.
Her last thought was a prayer that Isaac and Noah would survive to see their mother again.
---
In the medical centre, Sarah had been helping Doc Hayes prepare for the inevitable stream of wounded when the sound of splintering wood announced unwelcome visitors.
Iron Vanguard soldiers kicked down the door, their weapons drawn as they surveyed the room.
"Medical facility," one of them announced to his companions, noting the clean bandages and medical tools. "Take out the doctors."
Sarah stepped forward, though she had no illusions about what was about to happen. She grabbed a knife from the instrument table, the sharp blade glinting as she positioned herself between the attackers and the patients.
"These people are wounded civilians," she said, her voice carrying quiet determination. "They pose no threat to you."
"Orders are orders," the lead soldier replied indifferently. "Doctors prolong resistance by keeping fighters alive. It's nothing personal."
The first soldier approached her with casual confidence, clearly not expecting significant resistance from her.
His mistake became apparent when Sarah's blade opened a deep gash across his sword arm.
His weapon clattered to the floor as his fingers went numb, blood streaming from the wound. He staggered backwards with a curse, cradling his arm against his chest.
The second soldier approached more cautiously.
Sarah managed to wound him as well, but she was fighting trained killers with nothing but courage and determination, and those had limits against superior skill and numbers.
The third soldier ended the fight with a dagger thrust that hit Sarah in the throat, she collapsed beside the medical supplies she'd been organising, her blood spreading across the clean bandages and staining the white cloth a bright crimson.
Doc Hayes watched in horror from across the road, her hands pressed to her mouth as she watched the soldiers pour into the medical building. The Iron Vanguard soldiers finished their work quickly, ensuring that Valentra's medical capabilities were crippled.
---
The slaughter continued throughout the settlement as Iron Vanguard soldiers encountered pockets of desperate resistance. Near the workshops, a group of people tried to defend themselves but they were ruthlessly cut down.
Robert's apprentice died trying to protect the forge, a sword thrust through his chest silencing his screams as the Iron Vanguard soldiers destroyed the equipment that had produced weapons for Valentra's defenders.
In the residential areas, families barricaded themselves behind makeshift barriers of furniture and hope. Many were dragged from their hiding places and killed, their blood soaking into the floors of the homes they'd help build with their own hands.
An elderly man died clutching the necklace of his deceased wife, refusing to leave behind the only thing that connected him to happier times. A young mother fell while shielding her son, using her body as a barrier in the hopes that he would escape alive.
The settlement that had celebrated its harvest just days earlier was being transformed into a slaughter house, its streets running red with the blood of people who'd dared to believe they could build something better in this transformed world.