[Darkness, thou art our eye, our limb and thine bosom art our home.]
I saw… a group… a squad of Rendaro skulking through the forest. Their boots covered in mud and their figures hidden by the night.
They wore dark, fairly heavy amour and all carried backpacks filled with equipment and food.
Their heads were covered in sturdy helmets and they all wielding standard issue Dark Blades made in Coh by yours truly. These were razor sharp swords that served as they basic weapon for everyone in the UEF. Although individuals could wield whatever other weapons they pleased.
I… I had fallen asleep… yet I could still see the world as it was engulfed in the darkness of the night.
Yna had told me to get some rest, but I'm pretty sure I was technically sleeping, so watching over my soldiers wouldn't be bad, right?
I recognized one of the soldiers.
A tall, lanky man named Wolva.
He was part of the seventh squad of the Eimval Divisions, also known as the Harvesters of Death.
Wolva, along with the rest of his squad followed their captain towards a seemingly random bunch of bushes.
Sixteen other Rendaro then emerged from the bushes and other dark places.
"Hey. I'm Rheid, captain of the forty fourth. Are you guys the sixths?"
"No. I'm Sah, captain of the seventh. What? Is someone hurt?"
"No, but get down. I'm sure you heard about how they're filling the pits with the corpses of their own to cross." Rheid said as he and everyone else got into position behind trees, rocks and within bushes.
He and Sah were in the same bushes and they had their eyes glued to the north.
"Yeah, I heard about it. I suppose those who die in war are owed no proper burial." Sah said to which Rheid hummed in agreement.
The forest then returned to a state of silence.
Wolva was situated in a shallow hole a few meters away from his captain and he tightly clutched his sword as the minutes ticked by.
The summer may have been hot, but nights like this often brought a chill with them.
He spotted movement further up the path, but he didn't need to say anything because everyone knew exactly what to do.
The approaching force was a group of a hundred men. Much larger than the twenty eight Rendaro, but the Rendaro had the element of surprise and they would not let it go to waste.
"Umm… how much death have you and your men absorbed since this all began?" Rheid whispered.
"Now really isn't the time-"
"Just say it!"
"I lost count. Hundreds… per person." Sah said through gnashed teeth.
"Could you somehow coat all of our swords with Deathmist?"
"But-"
"Please." Rheid whispered.
"Men, imbue all our swords with death!" Sah barked as quietly as he could.
No one said anything as wisps of white smoke rose from the bodies of the members of the seventh squad.
The smoke then gathered around the blades of every nearby soldier and it slowly seeped into the dark swords.
"DAMMIT! Those bastards are going to pay for that!"
"Keep it down, you idiot!"
"Watch your mouth or I'll cut it off!"
"Oi, pipe down."
"Yes, sir!"
Such things were said by members of the invading force as got ever closer to the two UEF squads.
"Hold up!"
One of the human soldiers barked. He, like many of his comrades, was dressed in simple, thin leather armour and he had in his hands a steel short sword.
"What?"
"Shouldn't we wait for the knights to soften up the rear before we move forward?"
"Yeah, you're right, but can you see even a hint of those shiny bastards?"
"No, but you never know what the worms might be hiding."
"Mmm… good point, but I think if we caused a bit of chaos back here, it'd warrant some respect, no?"
"Yeah! You're right! Should we torch the forest?"
"Yeah-"
The soldiers all froze as a dark figure leapt out from the darkness.
The figure grabbed one of the human soldiers and stabbed him in the neck.
"They're attacking! Form a defensive circle around captains!"
One of the human soldiers yelled as countless dark figures jumped out of the shadows.
The forest was then filled with the sounds of screams and the clashing of swords.
One fighter in particular, made quick work of his every target.
Wolva was an Ash Wraith, meaning he was far taller than everyone and a lot stronger than normal humans and that's not even considering the fact that he was trained by Yna.
He grabbed a nearby human soldier and drove his sword into the soldier's neck before tossing him towards his comrades.
Wolva then reached out to grab another from their defensive circle. One of them struck his forearm in an attempt to chop it off, but the sword simply bounced off from the dark armour and Wolva grabbed his target easily.
The soldier screamed loudly as Wolva threw him onto the ground.
He quickly stabbed the soldier in the eye before facing the ever shrinking circle of enemy soldiers.
He unsheathed a second sword lowering his stance.
He then watched closely as his comrades mercilessly slaughtered the enemy.
His focus was on the handful of humans at the centre of the circle of death.
He took a deep breath before dashing towards an opening in the circle.
He then stabbed one of the few human soldiers who wore metallic armour in the face before absorbing all of his death and rushing towards his next target.
He forced his sword in the mouth of one soldier while cutting open another's neck.
Only one high ranking soldier remained and the human fell to his knees as Wolva approached him.
The man clasped his hands together and began muttering various things.
Wolva let out a grunt before raising his sword, but before he could kill the human, a voice called, prompting him to stop.
"That's enough. He's lost the will to fight." Sah said.
Wolva nodded before lowering his swords.
He then looked around and saw that he was standing in the centre of a pile of the corpses of close to a hundred men
Some of the soldiers who hadn't suffered fatal wounds writhed in pain as their lives were slowly taken as an effect of getting cut by a sword imbued with death.
"Casualties?" Rheid asked.
"None on our end. You guys?" Sah asked as he wiped his sword on the clothes of a nearby corpse.
"None. Although I'm guessing at least one person shat themselves after seeing what that guy is capable of." Rheid said while looking at Wolva who absorbed the countless streams of white smoke that rose from the many corpses.
"Yeah, he's pretty strong. Anyway, secure this spot and follow protocol when a knight appears. We're suppose to move to the next zone." Sah said as his men gathered around him.
"Got it. Also, it was a pleasure fighting alongside you." Rheid said with an extended hand.
Sah accepted the hand and firmly shook it before leading his men west as the sun slowly rose, bathing the forest in a dim grey light.
.
..
"Mmm…" Sah droned as he and his men approached what appeared to me the aftermath of a battle.
Countless corpses littered the forest floor and walking about were several members of the Foph Troops.
Sah walked up to one of the soldiers.
"Good morning, sir! Are you with the sixth?"
"No, we're with the seventh. Did you suffer any casualties or injuries?" Sah asked.
"No deaths, but a few people got hurt really bad."
"Oh? Where is your Arcus?" Sah asked prompting the soldier to point at a patch of trees in the distance.
A small tent could be seen there.
"Thanks." Sah said before leading his men towards the tent.
The only difference between soldiers from the Eimval Divisions and the Foph Troops was their weaponry. Everyone wore pretty much the same armour with slight variations here and there, but whereas the Eimval Divisions mostly used swords, the Foph used all manner of weapons. Hammers, spears, axes and such.
Everyone also had the same, standard helmet. It was a round helmet which had soft padding inside it. It was also designed so that dark plates covered the cheeks and neck.
Thanks to the brightness of the morning sun, Sah caught a glimpse of a few strange things in the distance. They were covered in sheets of dark cloth, but he knew exactly what they were.
Sah walked up to the two soldiers by the tent who seemed to be listing down various things.
"Sah, captain of the seventh Eimval Division, reporting!" He said prompting the two soldiers to stand attentively.
"Serenaya, Arcus of the twenty fifth!"
"Ulba, Arcus of the thirtieth! Nice to meet you." Ulba said as he offered Sah his hand.
Sah shook both of their hands before looking back at the battlefield.
"The pleasure is mine, but it seems as though we arrived a bit late." He said with crossed arms.
"Yes, unfortunately. What's the time limit for the death absorption?" Serenaya asked.
"A few seconds to a few hours depending on who the person was." Sah said before sighing.
"Excuse me for a moment." He said as he walked back to his men.
"Try and absorb what you can."
"Yes, sir!"
His men all said before walking out into various parts of the battlefield.
Sah then walked back to the tent.
"What's the situation like here? Will you be needing reinforcements?"
"No, not at all. The enemies we got were far fewer than the numbers I'm hearing about to the east. Not only that, they're coming a few at time, so no. I don't think we'll be needing any reinforcements." Serenaya said before bashfully lowering her head.
"Food and healers on the other hand…"
"What? Are you already out of supplies?" Sah asked with a furrowed brow.
"Not out… just low." Ulba said with a nervous smile.
Sah sighed before raising his brow.
"Well, send someone south-"
"We already did." Serenaya said making Sah lower his head in defeat.
"Ahem! Anyway, it's pretty clear here. Are you going to continue west?" Ulba asked.
"Yes. Oh and as for the sixth, two of them should arrive shortly. Hold on tight." Sah said prompting the two Arcus's to nod.
Sah nodded back before leaving the tent.
His men eventually all returned to him at the centre of the battlefield.
"Alright, men. Let's move out-"
Sah stopped as the space around one of his men twisted.
A hammer than suddenly appeared and it shattered the soldiers helmet before breaking off a chunk of his skull.
Sah's eyes widened as a silver knight appeared next to his squad.
"Haha! Hello, mud crawlers! It has been quite some time since my hammer was coated in worm blood." The knight said.
"Retreat to the treeline and someone man those fucking ballista's!" Sah screamed prompting everyone to run towards the trees.
"Where do you think you're going?" The Knight asked as he reached out to grab a Rendaro, but Wolva tackled the knight.
The tackle didn't do much, but it stopped the knight from chasing the other Rendaro.
Sah bit his teeth before dashing towards the knight who raised his fist and punched Wolva in the ribs.
Sah watched in horror as Wolva's armour was instantly shattered by a single punch from the knight.
Sah jumped into the Knight's back and stabbed him in the eye, but before the blade could go very deep, the knight threw Sah off.
"ARRG!" The knight screamed while removing his helmet.
Sah wasted no time in grabbing an unconscious Wolva and dragging him towards the treeline, but the knight quickly noticed this.
"You will pay for that eye in full, maggot!" The knight said, but just as he raised his hamme, a meter long bolt shot through his chest.