"DAMMIT, why are there so many of these bastards here!" an old Chinese general glowered as he was holding onto his abdomen. There was also a black arrow that pierced through his armor from where he was holding, and which was the reason why he is applying pressure to stop it from bleeding out. Moments later, he then forcefully pulled it out once he gathered enough strength and immediately apply a black solution over his wound.
The wound stopped bleeding, but then he felt an unbearable sting and tossed the black arrow beside him which lost its shape breaking down back into strings of hair.
"Ray!" he yelled and a young boy ran to his side from the nearby wall.
"General Xia," Ray answered as he backed against the stone pillar which was a couple of feet away from Xia. He was wearing white Lamellar Armor and carried his Kai Yuan bow.
"Arrows!" someone shouted and a swarm of black arrows rained down upon them.
Most people made themselves a shield while others ducked behind cover, but hiding behind a shield does not always protect the user. Some of the unlucky ones had their shield knocked back from the kinetic energy of the arrows leaving them wide open for the rest that was falling.
Ray was behind a pillar that still has a platform above it so he was somewhat safe but he knew his general was wide open for the falling arrows. There was no cover and the wall the general is at was already broken down from explosive arrows. So Ray quickly made himself a white scutum shield and jumped towards the general and both of them got down against the floor. Ray then raised his shield above him.
pang pang pang...
As the rain of arrows finally ended, Ray disassembled his shield back into his hair and helped his general lay against the broken-down wall.
"Your skills in creation never stops to amaze me," General Xia grunted as his abdomen still hurts like hell, "You, take whoever is wounded back to the temple, we aren't going to last much longer."
Ray did not talk back and nodded his head obediently, he knew it was not only the wounded but the majority of people who aren't able to fight such as the ones taking care of the wounded. They are losing and were left with two options. One is to stay and be killed as they slow down the approaching enemy, and the second option is to have those who can fight to stay behind and die for the rest to get the hell out of there.
Ray always thought General Xia was a heartless person but no matter what he is still smart and this reminded Ray of a quote he read a long time ago, "He that fights and runs away, May turn and fight another day; But he that is in battle slain, Will never rise to fight again," by Tacitus. The general does not admit he cares about his soldiers but those who were with him long enough know he does what he can to keep them alive and as those who stay behind, are doing it because they feel obliged to do so.
There were many white tents about five minutes of running distance from the front line. Ray shouted at the outpost to tell the person they have to retreat back to the temple. All the available personals at the camp screamed the lungs out to get people moving. Those who were civilians who helped the wounded had their faces turn dark and started to panic.
"EVERYONE STAND YOUR GROUND THIS INSTANT," a loud roar from a wounded general in command tent caused everyone to stand still. He then instructed the soldiers to reorganize positions and getting civilians in line so there be no accidents. After they are done packing up, they hurried and marched towards their temple.
"We should have known they would attack our village!" the room was in utter silence after the elderly man yelled as he punched against a pillar in the hall.
"It was partially my fault brother, we been secluding ourselves from war only ended up being seen as targets," the head of the village who sat on the chair on an elevated platform, rested his head against his hand as it covered his eyes in frustration. His name was Yuan Xiu and his brother who yelled out of anger was Yuan Qiu.
From where he sits his subordinates including his brother all look at him with seriousness. They were at a loss, the invasion into their territory was so quick they never really had a chance to organize. Yuan Xiu had led an army before but not as good as his brother Yuan Qiu who had not only led but participated in an invasion into the forsaken territory. He became the head of the family which also became the head of the entire village after all this village was created by his great grandfather who gotten this piece of territory by the Yang emperor.
"Father! The front line had fallen we brought back the wounded and those who can't fight to the temple, the rest are staying behind to slow them down for our evacuation," Ray barged into the temple and kneeled down in front Yuan Xiu.
Yuan Xiu had a dark expression and pondered what he should. As for Ray, he waited patiently for orders. He was a soldier, built from the ground up to his rank but his influence can not be ignored. As for the reason he called Yuan Xiu his father was because of his relation to his daughter, though they are not married they do have a close bond.
Before Yuan Xiu could say anything the voice of a girl cried out loud as she ran out from a nearby room, "Ray!"
Ray felt something was not right as he felt the entire world around him was getting disoriented, and then he noticed something. Everyone around him had white hair and white eyes which included himself and for some reason, he felt out of randomly it made no sense. The voice that called out his name, he could not help but think, who is she? Out of everyone in this room, the girl stood out so much everyone could not help but look at her. The reason being was her appearance, because out of everyone in this entire village she was the only one with black hair.
"Mi?"
Beep beep beeeeepppp…