"Alright." The commander gazed at the towering shadow in the distance and as if it was sensing his movements, the monster turned its face to see him. "One more, Gerald, one more. Don't you dare screw up now."
It swallowed something that it kept from its puffed cheeks before it cracked a smile and he, on the other hand, tightened the grip that he had on his weapons as a desperate attempt to keep it from shaking. Every step felt like he was wandering around in the middle of a snowstorm. His limbs were feeling weary while the air felt murky and heavy. His enemy just seemed different; it felt like it had the capacity to tear him from limb to limb and it won't be afraid to do so. Nevertheless, he continued to move forward despite every fiber of his being telling him to abandon his men and run.
"Dammit. I should've taken the ax instead of a sword. Great, just great. I can't feel my arms," he whispered. He then rolled his shoulders and smiled. "What's up. Why not come over here and let me take a stab at your perfe- oh- shi-"
Without a word, the monster kicked the ground and dashed towards him. The commander, on the other hand, dodged to the side as soon as he felt his blood flooding through his veins. He then clenched his left hand to tighten his grip before letting it fly into the monster's neck but to his surprise, the noctem found its footing faster than he had expected and it used it to twist its body to hammer its huge first into his head.
Left with no choice but to block, the commander raised his right arm and used it to cover his head from the blow. He heard a snap from his shoulder before he found himself floating in the air in a second, and rolling onto the ground within the next.
"Oh shit." He groaned as he took a pained deep breath with his face facing the floor. The right side of his upper body felt like it was being burned and his ears won't stop ringing.
He tried his best to stand using his left arm but then, the noctem turned him over. It pressed its feet in his chest and looked down on him like it was smiling as it continued to increase its pressure along with a slow satisfied growl.
The commander gritted his teeth as soon as he found the strength to grip the broken spear beside him. He looked into its deep black eyes that seemed as if it was also gazing back at him. "Well, aren't you the smart one?"
Mustering his the last bit of his energy, the commander twisted his body with a crack just to lift his left arm to bury the spear into the monster's thigh. The monster squirmed as it stepped back and he used that opportunity to jump on his knees and to roll forward to pull the weapon out of its leg.
He threw up a mouthful of blood as the pain in his back and chest began to sting but he didn't stop there. The monster tried to swing his fist into his head as a response but it didn't hit anything but air. With blood on his mouth, the commander leaned forward as if he was diving into its embrace but at the next second, he twisted his body to make an arc with his arm and he used that momentum rip through the soft spot right below its jawline.
The monster shrieked before it fell to the ground and by then, he found the time to catch his breath as his blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. He glanced at his side and saw that nothing was there, so he just let out a slow groan through his teeth and with a tired smile, he whispered, "Whelp, I'm gonna kill them later for leaving me alone with this guy but yeah, my battle does not end here."
He pushed his hair at the back of his head while he staggered towards its side. Without uttering one word, he pulled out the spear from its throat and when he saw that it didn't respond, he clicked his tongue and buried the spear right in the middle of its forehead with a satisfying crack. In the end, he just sighed and kicked its head before he walked back towards the second wall.
After a few minutes, he found himself entering a room full of wounded people being tended by the others who were injured themselves. Some lost their arms, some lost their legs and some were already laid to rest. He simply closed his eyes as he held his hand up into the coarse wooden wall as he made his way through the room. He forced himself to just focus on the arrows signing their high pitched lullaby just above them along with the sound of ballistas spitting their bolts towards their enemies down below. His friend's, his colleague's voices did not falter either, all of them continued to scream whether it meant to attack, to defend or even to retreat. He went down the stairs, he passed through the floors of people that were either left struggling to live or had died until he encountered a huge wooden door that he opened with his left arm.
His eyes widened as the sight of red flames and smoke welcomed him. The dense smell of burnt flesh and blood lingered in the air as he witnessed his comrades' desperation as they did their best to hold the noctems' onslaught in the distance. He saw bodies being dismembered with a single swing, he saw some other people running and he watched as some of those monsters tear his men's limbs with their teeth. Around that was the swords and spears that lost its wielders as it remained planted on the ground like a field of flowers standing beneath a crimson dawn.
"S-sir…" A soldier called out to him with a weak tone before he lowered his head with a tired smile. There was a huge gash that ripped through his eyes and skin that went down to his torso that ended with his arm that was now missing. He leaned his back at a stack of dirt behind him and he remained there, clutching a small glass bottle filled with a red liquid. "Sir… p-please… this… please take this…"
The commander glanced at him and when he noticed that the soldier was too tired to even raise his head, he clenched his jaws and walked towards him.
"I'm sorry," he said as he sat in front of him to unravel his cold dry hands. "And thank you… for the potion."
"No worries sir…" the soldier replied without taking his eyes off of the ground with a hopeful smile. "Please… save others… please save us."
"I will," he said as the soldier's life faded before his eyes and with that, he drank the contents of the bottle before he threw it aside.
"We have no other choice," he shouted and called the attention of the other men guarding the doors of the second wall and they all responded with a nod as picked up their weapons. Those who remained unhurt, those who sustained some injuries and those who can still walk despite losing their arms took a stand and followed their leader towards the frontlines with dread tainting their faces.
The burning pain that tortured the commander's body was then alleviated as soon as he felt his right shoulder slowly pulling itself together. It didn't take long before he was able to move his fingers and sent it right away into his pocket to fish for a set of cards along with a silver locket.
"Ah, no, not this one. I don't need an illumination spell, neither some fireworks or some dragon breath," he whispered as he went through the cards one by one. "There, the incantation for the Funeral Pyre."
He threw the cards aside to pick up a sword sticking out of the ground as he raised his left arm while holding the incantation and the locket in hand. The others that remained in the frontlines began to fall back and the ones that followed the commander stepped forward with their weapons drawn.
"I'm sorry," he said and as a response, all the soldiers at his side shouted and ran into battle with a proud smile on their faces.
The locket that dangled on his wrist began to glow as his men collided with the wave of noctems that followed the others who had fallen back to regroup. There, he took a quick breath and started his chant.
"I call upon the great green dragon who has conquered the sun, let this be thy offering."
His voice echoed in the air as soon as the arrows sang their songs as they barged into the battlefield. He clenched his sword, as he looked at the few noctems that were about to break through their defense that looked as if it was thinner than paper.
"Let this be our prayer to celebrate the fallen…"
The arrows continued to bring down the few that were able to jump over or decimate those who remained at the front and to that, the wounded others with their sword in hand would always follow to block them or to at least hold them off.
"So we ask of you, use us, use the flame that we had in our hearts and our regrets to tear through the darkness before us!"
The splinters of the broken walls as well as the wooden barricades along with the arrows, spears, and swords that were left on the ground erupted with a blue flame. On the other hand, their defense was penetrated by four other noctems and after seeing this, his men that were holding off their own enemies abandoned their post to run towards him.
Two of his men risked their lives to stop one from its tracks, three others came to the side to impale the second one with their spears, and the rest got decimated while turning their backs to get to the third one who was stopped by a man with a single arm as he used his body to stop it..
"Those of you who can still stand! Run back to me!" The commander shouted with his voice almost breaking. He noticed the fourth noctem coming at him and behind it was another wave of monsters that were excited to pay their greetings.
"Fuck!" He shouted as he knitted his brows. He took a deep breath through his teeth and with a pained look that colored his eyes, he followed, "Let us be the beacon! Let nothing remain nor body nor ashes and let this be our Funeral Pyre!"
His last words echoed as the locket that he held in his hands disappeared. All of them heard a great roar that was soon followed by a steak of light that in a second, engulfed the whole canyon with a bright sea of blue flames. The wave decimated everything that it came into its path until it blew another hole through the first wall that brought up an even greater explosion that destroyed everyone around and inside it.
Silence fell upon the battlefield but this time, none of them dared to even open their mouths. For all through that great flame and the thick cloud of smoke that it summoned, the black knight with now its armor glowing red staggered out of the destruction with a small group of noctems growling at his back.
The commander sharpened his gaze as he pushed his hair at the back of his head. He then raised his blade and after a long deep breath, he said, "I'll stop you here you knightly son of a bitch."