Luck have found me three guides through the mountain. Three swindlers, if I may add. Derset, Sadri and their sister Valia were the names of these people. They asked for a heavy advance. For equipmet they say. I bet they are just squandering for tonight. And so here I am, broke and waiting, hoping too that these people would honor their word.
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The third cohort of the Rooster legion joined the other cohorts in a line outside the wall. They were spread thinly and the supposed formation was but a sparse one-man deep line.
Fredrich gripped his spear and crouched behind his shield. The spear was steel-tipped and the shaft's coarse texture was designed for grip. The shield was of the tower kind, made of wood but reinforced with iron sheets. He was armored with mail but looking at the Shadow Beasts doubted the armor's effectiveness. The smallest of the beasts were the size of a dog while the largest was the size of an grown elephant. All of them looked like wolves though their furs were all dark and their canines were long.q Ninevans rode some of the beasts, armed with spears and magic.
"Why are we outside?" Gren asked to his right. The annoying Vanadian was unmoving but his flooding sweat betrayed his fear. "This is stupid. We have the wall, don't we? Walls were invented so we can hide behind them."
It was indeed stupid. If this battle was fought between two opposing human armies, then a sortie would be outrageous. But this wasn't a normal battle. They were up against Ninevans.
"The Melters" Fredrich said, hoping that knowledge would shut the Vanadian. "They can melt walls, crumble it with touch. Our job is to keep them away at all cost." He grimaced. "And hold the beasts in the process."
"And how can we hold them?" Gren looked at him. "We are but one line. One line! They would plow through us."
Gren's fears were not unfounded. The Shadow Beasts were fearsome opponents. But Fredrich trusted the several lines of trenches to their front. The trenches were dug deeper than three men and a few armspans wide. Spikes and caltrops were scattered and the whole trench was coated in Vanadian Fire. Four trenches separated them from the enemies.
Fredrich looked above. The catapults were prepared. The springs had been drawn and the projectiles had been loades. Those artillery pieces were said to be devastating in the hands of the Vanadian engineers. They wouldn't fall today.
Or maybe he was wrong. Maybe they would be slaughteted today. The world had strange ways in introducing problems after all. He didn't know.
"Oi! Answer me Fred. I said they are going to plow through us!"
"Shut up. You are annoying me again."
"Don't you want to live?"
"Of course I do you halfwit!" Fredrich scowled. "But alas we are here. We can't do anything but to stand here and hold our spears as those things barrel toward us. Am I happy with that? No. Are we safe? No. But we are a helpless bunch like turds floating in the river, waiting where the currents would sweep our stinky beings. So shut up. If I am going to die today then it better be in silence."
"But I'm scared." Gren's voice was low. "I wish Trest was here so I could hide behind his large belly."
Somehow imagining Gren hiding behind Trest's large body made him smile. But no he shouldn't. That wasn't funny.
Nothing was.
"Do you know that my father is a veteran of the Snow Legion?" The Shadow Beasts were just about a thousand paces from the frontmost trench and yet Gren was treating him to an unnecessary coversation. Gren turned to him. "He is. Why do you not believe me?"
"I have no need for further conversation. Find other ways to relieve your anxiety." Fredrich said.
"He was there when Holm burned, when Leopold Castonia led the citizens against the Wismarines. He told me that he ran, all of them ran to the waiting arms of the enemies. It was a surge he said. He didn't think. He just went with the flow. It was marvelous, he said. They made history that day. I wonder if we could too. I would love to be in the history books."
Five hundred paces.
"There are things I don't understand about all of this." Gren continued. "They say that before the attack of the Ninevans, everything was normal. People fought with swords and died with swords. Spears also but you know, swords are iconic. But the sudden attack of the Ninevans changed it all. They are stronger, they have Shadow Beasts and some of them have magic. What do we have? Swords and spears? I don't understand how come we are pushing them back."
Three hundred paces.
"Thousands have died and the whole north is under their control, I know. But they should have captured all of our nations right? But they didn't. We are standing strong. For twenty years we have stood strong. I wonder why that is?"
A hundred paces.
"But you know what? I don't care. My father lived in history. I will too. Not my name of course. I would be forgotten like everyone else. But my actions, this defense, it will have a reverberating effect to the future. We will win the war partly because I stood here. I just wish we were not sent beyond the wall though. It is kind of scary."
Loud springs echoed. Hundreds of flaming balls rose from the wall behind, rotating and barreling toward the Shadow Beasts. The sunless sky was illuminated into a bright day. There was a momentary silence as the flaming balls finished their arches.
They exploded, scattering a shower of flames. Entire lines of Shadow Beasts were wiped. Entire sections were decimated. It burned. Everything burned.
The springs of the catapults were pulled again. Click, click, click- simple yet deadly. The Shadow Beasts ahead were still struggling with the flames. Ninevans burned, still mounted on their beasts. They screamed. He couldn't hear their screams but he was certain of it. The sight was so horrid that Fredrich felt sorry for the enemies.
He craned his head behind, toward the line of catapults. The engineers and their crew were busy measuring trajectories. Abd soon the catapults were ready again.
The second volley was more devastating than the first. The Ninevans were trudging across the trenches when the flaming balls hit them. They were so close now that Fredrich could see limbs- arms, legs and heads- flung by the explosions.
Gren vomited beside him, puke dripping from his helm. Disgusting. Just disgusting. Fredrich wasn't safe either. Sourness was already rising in his throat.
The Ninevans still continued. They were scarce now. What remained of their forces were being slaughtered in the fourth trench. But the catapults had stopped.
Arrows flew next. The crossbows sung from the walls. The Shadow Beasts were riddled with arrows, some hitting the riders. Fredrich saw a Ninevan accept an arrow in the eye. He tried to yank it out while wailing in pain. Several more arrows hit him and soon he was dead.
The horn blasted. Fredrich's trained ears identified it as an order for the infantry to prepare. It was unnecessary. Fredrich was already prepared. He gripped the handle of his shield though the sweat made it difficult. Contrary to what Gren's father said, Fredrich didn't feel marvelous. The songs lied and the plays exaggerated. There was no honor in this war. There was no glee either. It was just plain horrid.
A Shadow Beast clawed his shield. Vibration rang across his entire body. His arm went numb as he was pushed back. The Shadow Beast was strong- stronger than what he expected.
He should run. That was the only logical thing to do. The Shadow Beast was more terrifying up close. The one he was facing was the size of a cow, probably too small for a Ninevan to ride it but not harmless. Saliva dripped from its teeth. Its eyes were red as blood and feral.
He should run, Fredrich repeated. Run. But where? The gate was closed. The only way was to live until the Ninevans retreated.
The Beast hit his shield. The claws went through, tearing the mail on his arm.
No. Stupidly, no! I thought these things could hold?
The beast's claw was stuck and it turned into a tugging match. Fredrich would never let go of his shield. Being stripped of protection would be bad.The beast swiped its other arm and the near miss made Fredrich rethink about his decision.
He let go of the shield and thrust his spear. The tip punctured the beast's chest. It roared. The beast lunged at him in return, trying a bite into his head. Fredrich held on his spear, his feet sliding back. He had lost his shield. He wouldn't lose this spear.
His legs found grip. With every strength Fredrich pushed, avoiding the bites in the process. One of such bites scraped his temple. The blood was immediate though the pain dallied.
The spear snapped. Fredrich was propelled forward, barely avoiding a swipe overhead. His face hit the ground. His nose broke. Things blurred for a moment and Fredrich hoped that the moment wouldn't last too long. A single heartbeat would mean the difference between living and dying.
"See? This happens when you are weak." He heard that voice again- that voice he despised with all his being. "You are a mistake. Oh yes you are Fred. The largest mistake I did in my whole life."
Fredrich avoided just in time before the beast could bite his skull. He tilted and scrambled up.
"Oh Freddy. Just die already. Die and make our lives easier. Let the beast devour you."
A hand pulled him away from the beast's maul with the teeth grazing his shoulder. Gren. They tumbled back, puffing dust around. There was no time to think nor to thank. The beast barreled to them.
Gren locked his shield and ccepted the beast's claw. The Vanadian's spear flew toward the beast's neck. It struck true and hard, thick blood dripping like candle wax.
Fredrich circled the beast. He drew his dagger, the steel glinting fine. He stabbed, whatever part of the beast he was stabbing at. The dagger sank deep. He yanked it out and stabbed again. Stab. Stab. Stab. It didn't stop. He didn't stop. Stupid, he should just run but the trance was too overpowering.
The rage surged through him. His arms stiffed and his mind was focused. He could only see the flesh of the beast. He could only dream of stabbing it to pieces. He would mince it like stew. A thousand stab wounds. A thousand deaths.
"Fred!"
He was quivering.
"Fred stop!"
He was out of breath.
"Stop!"
He wouldn't stop. He must survive. He must kill.
"I said stop!"
A slap rang against his face. It jarred him. It woke him. Thankfully.
There he was, kneeling behind the beast. The thing was dead and its back was ground meat. The spine was protruded, broken like ground chicken bones. The skin sagged and slid. The meat was tender.
The dagger on his hand still had bits of meat tangled. Thick blood dripped down to his elbow. It was like mud but with meat in it, still red but more disgusting. Fredrich threw the dagger.
"What..."
"It's dead" Gren squatted to his side and gripped his shoulder. "You've been stabbing it for a while now. What was that Fred?"
His jaw stiffed. His mouth trembled. Coldness crept to his back. "I killed it."
"No I killed it. You just stabbed it without end." Gren puffed a sigh. "No matter. It is over anyway."
Fredrich scanned around. Mangled and dismembered body parts were scattered. Blood of both humans, Ninevans and beast puddled. A head here, a head there, a piece of skull a few steps away. But the worst were the burning corpses. Beast and human flesh had a strange bitter but alluring smell when burnt. Many of the corpses froze with expressions of pain but the bodies were dark now and dripping with oil. Fredrich vomited, puke odored with spiced stew sprayed to the ground.
"We won?" Fredrich asked after the last drip of puke.
"The bastards are all dead and those still living are running away. I think that's the definition of winning."
The horn blasted one more time. Fredrich had learned loathing the horns. But this time the command was for them to retreat inside the wall.
He joined the line of the broken men in armor. Bowed heads and blood-stained armor indicated a struggle not better than what he and Gren experienced. Men too wounded to walk were carried on top of shields. Some had smutted bandages wrapped around arms, legs and faces.
Gren was silent, a dream of his. But Fredrich found Gren's silence to be uncomfortable this time. He cocked his head behind. The Vanadian had his head cast down. His boots dragged against the earth. His hold on his shield and spear was limp.
Gren noticed his look and lied with a smile. "I wonder if Trest survived. It would be good seeing him again. Yes, good."
"Stop worrying about him. He is a burly man with an even burly attitude. I think your friend still lives."
"Our friend" Gren leaned his forehead against Fredrich's back. It made walking tricky but he allowed it. "What do you think goes on inside their mind? The Ninevans"
"Just leave me alone alright? And take care of your wound. I saw that gash on you shoulder."
"It must have been terrifying for them too. You saw what catapult projectiles coated in Vanadian Fire can do. It shattered them. I saw a man riding a beast had his body torn in half. He wiggled, Fred. Even after being shredded, he still wiggled for a few moments. The worst thing was that he still burned. The pain must be terrible."
Fredrich ought silence to that. He saw it too.
"I saw paintings introducing battles." Gren continued. "The paintings were all of the colorful hues. The dyes were just too light. But it isn't, is it? Battles. It's not colorful or glorious. It is confusing and dark. Dammit Fred. We won today and it still feels horrible. I wonder how it feels for the Ninevans."
"They chose this." Fredrich was surprised by his sudden participation in Gren's mumbling. "The Ninevans want us dead. Sympathizing with the enemies will get us nowhere."
"I am not sympathizing. I'm just curious. Why? Why keep doing this? For years we have shed lives. Thousands of lives. Or millions. I don't know. When will this stop? When one side is defeated? I don't think that would happen anytime soon. Will my grandchildren inherit this war? Will they hold their spears and shields where I stood?"
They entered through the gate. The reserves were responsible enough to relieve them of their shields and spears. Fredrich only had his battered shield. Half of it was missing and the other half was crumpled.
"I'll find Trest" Gren said before they split. The Vanadian scurried away.
Fredrich found his body heavy after that. He wasn't wounded except for a few scratches and bruises but it was still painful. To make matters more excruciating, the hardened blood was thick on his arm. He put his wrist under his nose and spitted. It reeked.
A bath would be nice, he thought. Back in that house, he would take a bath with the slightest dirt on him. But this wasn't that house. He neither had the opportunity nor the authority to waste water. And so he just leaned against the wall, butt cold with the ground. He shut his eyes for a doze.
"So how was it?" That was Ice's voice. Fredrich kept his eyes shut.
"My first battle? I wouldn't say that I enjoyed being nearly mauled to death. It was more vile than your loyalty."
"A fair assessment though I do not enjoy having my loyalty scrutinized." Ice chuckled. Fredrich felt the Ninevan sit beside him. "Just so you know, the battle today is one of the tamed ones."
"I must excuse myself for not seeing it that way. You seem to disregard my statement. I nearly died today."
"And so did thousands of others. A battle bare of losses is not a battle but a mere argument."
"Your talk fabricates the idea that you know. But do you? Really? Where were you..."
Fredrich's shut his mouth after opening his eyes. Ice was indeed beside him. The Ninevan's face was busted- torn lips, gashes on the cheeks, swollen eyelids and a portion of his right ear was missing.
"You were there? Below?" Fredrich asked.
"I was. And like what you said, it wasn't pretty down there. Harsh, perilous, heart-pumping. Ah I hate it."
Fredrich retreated to a slump. "Why are you doing this? You could have lived in the back lines, mingled with the locals. And yet you risk being in the wall."
"I have a reason of course. Yes, a reason. A thing done without a reason is just a whim. You mock my loyalty Fred. I honestly don't mind. I am a traitor to my kind and my reputation has been slathered. Still, I stay. For my reasons, I stay."
Ice opened his palm. A silvery blue thing floated. The air around it seemed to sway. "Ice" The Ninevan said. "Must be strange for you seeing one. Snow doesn't come anymore. Water does not freeze. But life goes on, without halt, it goes on. People nowadays don't know what they have lost. What was taken from them."
Ice threw the thing toward Fredrich's lap. As if by instinct, Fredrich tried to catch it. It burned his hand. Not actually a burn but something else akin to it. The sensation was weird and new and the thing slipped off his hands.
"Rub that on you face, the swollen parts. You'll find it'll better the aches." Ice rose, a struggle made apparent by his shaking motion. "Rest Fred" He limped away. "Rest and wait for the next attack."