Lifesingers were warriors who were born with the ability to attune and regulate the Lifesong to augment their physical and mental capabilities by manyfold. On a battlefield, they could decimate entire companies and shift the tides of war, shattering or raising the morale of whole armies on their whim. Being one himself, Rashir knew how disastrous the effects of a lifesinger's presence can be.
This battle was the final chance for his people's escape from the Cerhin lands. They had to traverse the mountain pass of Tibmak at all costs. If he jeopardises this, the dreamsong will be forgotten...No, I won't let that happen, he told himself.
Shoving aside distressing thoughts, Rashir crashed into the rear ranks of the enemy. Having broken through the lines of his troops, the enemy spearmen surrounded them from both sides.
However the enemy on Rashir's side hadn't realised that their backs were unwatched, at not until Rashir struck them with a burst of energy.
Combining the momentum of his downslope sprint with the strength of his swing, he arched Wind's Wrath against a line of unaware spearmen. Twelve heads abandoned their bodies, flying off with a spray of blood. Their comrades looked behind in confusion, but Rashir didn't stop and continued flailing his oversized bladed cudgel.
Had these been armored troops, Rashir would have approached in a more decisive and calculated assault. However, these were just a well-disciplined militia unit with high morale but minimal equipment.
Since they wore linen tunics instead of bronze or even fibre armor, Rashir didn't have to aim specifically for the neck for a death blow. Before the spearmen grasped the situation, about thirty of them had bit the dust. Shifting their attention from soldiers before them, they tried to surround him.
Twenty young men armed with shields and bronze-tipped pikes that were twice the average man's height, encircled him. But before they could close in, one of the men who faced Rashir's back hurried and thrusted his pike at Rashir.
Sliding sideways, Rashir caught the pike. Twisting the shaft, he pulled it towards himself and swiped his weapon backwards, thus lopping off the man's head. The others around him wavered with uneasiness giving him a moment to strike.
Rashir took this opportunity and loosened his grip on the pike, waving it high in a circular path. Sixteen men dropped dead with shocked visages and throats sliced with the pike's tip. That meant three were still alive.
A wave of pain struck his right leg as he felt a pike pierce his thigh. Another wave hit his abdomen as a spearman impaled him through the left side. He had forgotten that he himself wore nothing but a knee-length cotton tunic with a travelling belt strapped across his waist. Neither provided even the slightest amount of protection.
Focusing his mind, he concentrated the flow of Lifesong to the wounded portions to trigger regeneration. The pain washed off while his wounds began healing. Rashir cut off the pikes with Wind's Wrath and flung the weapon at the spearman who impaled his abdomen, splitting apart his skull. Turning, he thrust the pike in his hand into the mouth of the man behind him, who still smiled with satisfaction for stabbing Rashir's leg.
He pulled the bloodied pike, looking around for the last man. On seeing Rashir stare at him with cold, blue eyes, the poor man dropped his arms and began running back to the front where the bulk of their forces clashed. Raising the pike with one arm, he threw it like a javelin and impaled the last spearman through the chest. Thus within a few moments after joining the battle, Rashir single handedly wiped out an entire platoon. Then he turned his attention to the frontlines.
The lifesinger, a tall figure clad in a purple cloak, led the offensive at the centre of the front. Rashir couldn't tell whether it was a man or a woman, since the lifesinger was probably the only person on their side who wore a helm and a cuirass although it was simply a fibre one that was painted red and blue. The lifesinger, wielding with a swordstaff, tore through Rashir's troops and gave the spearmen behind opening to finish the shocked troops.
Now, I must slay that one, he decided.