Daylor and his three companions walked along the bridge, they did not however go half way, instead they went a quarter of a way across the bridge and gestured for the soldier to come towards them. This was because both of Daylors bodyguards had insisted that he not leave the range of their own bows to ensure that the archers would be able to cover them.
The soldier looked uneasily at them as he approached, due to his own training he would also be aware that he was in range of the bows if things went badly.
"Report soldier!" Daylor commanded, his voice echoing a sense of command he didn't feel like he had. However the soldier instead looked terrified at the banner that Bray held, the smile that she gave the man most would say was a sweet one, yet he was convinced it was the smile of a demon after his soul, Ironic seeming he still had yet to respond to the actual demon. "Soldier, do I need to repeat my command?"
"Sir no sir!" the soldier replied, the years of training snapping through the fear and daze he was in. "We are all that is left of Griffin Dìonadair sir! We are escorting the survivors from the town we were protecting, sir!"
"What happened to those in command? And why do you leave your post?" Daylor pressed, his tone conveying nothing but command. As much as he could not cast magic, or cause miracles to happen he knew how to act, and at the end of the day that's all it is to seem commanding. To act like you know what's going on and you are in control even when confused and terrified.
"Sir I am happy to give a full report, but please let the villagers pass into the safety of the walls. Even if we must stay here, I promised to see them safely across the border, sir!" The soldier said. It was obvious from the tremor in his voice and the shaking of the hand gripping the reigns of his horse that he was terrified that he had offended the Captain who right now held his life in their hands, yet the man still thought about the villagers he had sworn to protect, and Daylor respected that.
With a wave of the captain's hand both of the gates opened, and Daylor gestured for the soldier to move to the side with him so the villagers could pass them. The soldier made a few hand movements which another soldier just within sight copied to someone in the distance, then the slow caravan of refugees started to cross the bridge.
"What's your name, soldier?" Daylor asked him with a faintly softer tone.
"Daividh sir." The soldier replied, he removed the helm showing the face of a man of barely eighteen. His eyes were a piercing blue and his hair a dirty blond. He had a scar across his cheek that looked quite fresh, the pink of the barely healed scar emphasising his amber skin.
"I am Daylor, leader of the… Aerouant Dìonadair" he said as something clicked into place in his mind, as Sgàil landed on his shoulder, staring at the man. Daylor than took a step into the middle of the path so he could be seen by most of the refugees and soldiers heading into the town, upon seeing him Flair cast a spell to enhance the captain's voice, and he felt the hairs on the back of his nick rise as the magic washed over before he spoke, his voice clear to everyone nearby.
"Any soldiers or refugees that are willing to fight can stay here, you will be brought into the Aerouant company. I will not force any of you to stand and fight, I am sure many of you are scared and want to flee from the force that has shaken you, the force that has taken away your home, your friends, your spouses, children and families. But before you pass I ask you to consider something. What would happen if this town guarding the bridge was to fall?" Daylor asked, his eyes flowing over the crowd of people, Sgàil's gaze also matching many of theirs.
"We all know what will happen if this town falls, The angered horde will charge into the undefended countryside, destroying the villages and towns that do no have the defences and walls between here and the barons city. They will kill any in their way, with no distinction between those who fight, and those unable. Any slaves they take will face a fate worse than death. I can promise you that and in the time it takes for the kingdom to have the next army ready they could have destroyed this entire barony. Yet all is not lost, already I have sent word to the capital, I need only hold this bridge. Hold this line that has not fallen in hundreds of wars, and for that I need your help. So if you are able, I would ask upon you to lend us your hand!" Daylor stated, murmurs followed through the crowd but he would not know how many had decided to lend aid until the next day when those who won't will have moved on.
"So Daividh, what happened to your Dìonadair?" Daylor asked the boy once he had moved back from the middle of the bridge, he pulled out a metal flask and offered it forwards while asking the question.
"Thank you sir," Daividh said, accepting the flask. He took a large gulp before handing it back, and then he started to say what had happened to them.
The Gryphon Dìonadair had been operating from a walled city called Pelly's Wish. It was barely large enough to be registered as a city, it had fairly high walls and a northern and southern gate, the southern part of the town was built into a tight valley which was inaccessible for days worth of travel making Pelly's Wish a highly defensible city.
The Dìonadair had many successful attacks in the first months, they had been attacking their targets camps and towns with success after success. Each clash they had with the orcs and their allies led to the orcs breaking and fleeing for their lives, and each time that happened the commanders got cockier and cockier. They started to believe that the stories of a giant army had been overly exaggerated and that they would crush this incursion in only a few months.
After each strike they would return back to the city and celebrate with meat and ale, and as their confidence grew the watch on the walls became smaller and smaller until it was but a ghost watch, the captain and lieutenants ignored the protests of the soldiers to increase the watch. They had become convinced that the so-called barbarians could not even fight on the fields so would have no idea how to attack a fortified city.
In the end this had led to the fall of the Gryphon, on the end of their tenth attack they had been once again busy celebrating; the only reason they managed to fight is because they had begun the festivities without even bothering to strip out of their gear. While they had been partying a group of dragcafolk had silently used their claws to cut into the stone and climb the wall, the group of assassins killed the guards silently and within quick succession. Before any change of shift or before anyone even noticed that there were no guards on the walls, or looked over to see the bodies thrown off the wall the leather armoured assassins had already opened the gate.
The army had only noticed something was wrong when the screams reached the middle of the city, before they could form up the ranks the army had the wolf riding goblin and raptor riding orcs smashed into the hastily moving soldiers. While they ripped the first twenty men to shreds the rest of the Dìonadair managed to form into ranks, the front row formed into a spear formation, one soldier would place the spear butt against the ground and hold it into place while the one next to them would cover both with a shield. Yet the second charge they expected never came, instead the mounted enemy retreated back, and the sound of a marching army instead came through the gate. One of the sciath, bodyguards for Captain Charles quickly scaled one of the stone houses to see what was coming.
She hastily came down and whispered something to the Captain, who visibly pailed before yelling a command to one of the swifter soldiers to grab his mount. He then started to yell commands to his three Lieutenant but Daividh was too far away to hear the commands, his Lieutenant came to his Sgioba, the youngest and least trained of the three Sgioba that formed the Dìonadair. It was then that they were informed that they would be covering the fleeing refugees;his fellow soldiers had protested harshly to their captain, yet as soldiers they would end up following the orders they were given.
The men and women who had protested had been convinced that they had been given the dishonour of protection detail, it wasn't until days later they found out just how lucky they were. While they had been evacuating as many people as they could and that would follow them, the remains of the Dìonadair were doing everything they could to buy the civilians time. Even Captain Charles had charged in on his carnotaurus during a crazed and desperate cavalry charge. But he had been impaled by over a dozen arrows as he tried to attack a wyvern riding chieftain, his carnotaurs had turned and felt with him still strapped in the saddle after it had sustained a fair few wounds and its rider was unable to direct it.
The remaining fifty soldiers and their Lieutenant had only found out what had happened when the large beast had limped up to their refugee guard a few days later. They had been walking down a naturally narrow pass where a cart could barely pass, escorting only twenty thousand of the town's original seventy thousand. The dying captain had informed the Lieutenant what had happened, how he had seen almost all the soldiers be cut down under the tidal wave of the enemy's attacks and how as the last shield wall collapsed his men had charged to buy as much time as he could.
One of the refugees, an elderly man with silver hair that had only a few lines of its original black had tried his best to heal the commander. However his wounds had been too much and he had passed not long after telling his tale. Not much had happened since then, after they had left the valley they had been attacked by an overly large group of bandits which led to the ten men being injured and their Lieutenant had told them to lead the refugees to the town that guarded the bridge so they could report what had happened.
While the lieutenant went with a larger group of refugees to the biggest city on this side of the river, most of the refugees split into groups to go to the various cities without crossing the river so they could stay with loved ones or friends.
Daylor had listened to the tale as the people entered the town he was protecting, at the end of the tale the large carnotaurus at the back of the group was being led through the gate, and it was than that Daylor realised the lump on its back was most likely the corpse of its master, and the captain of the Gryphon, he sighed as he led Daividh into the town behind the last cart and the gate closed behind them.