The tremors grew stronger with each strike of Galarcia's siege engines, vibrating through the fortress stones as if the walls themselves could sense their doom. Dust floated down from the ceiling, and the crackling of fires grew louder, as if creeping closer. And I stood on the battlements, sword drawn, watching the enemy amass below. Galarcia's troops were dense, like a dark sea stretched out to infinity, his siege towers casting ominous shadows over the blood-streaked field.
Beside me, Chris surveyed the battlefield with eyes set in such steely resolve that even the tiniest laugh lines from his numerous close-shaved beards seem not to appear visible. I could see the weight bearing down on him, how calm the exterior would be masked by his true thoughts. He turned his head toward me, catching my eye briefly, and nodded his understanding. No words were spoken between us, yet we both knew: this was a moment that would test us beyond any battle before.
A sharp, heavy voice cut the silence between us. "Commander Chloe! Captain Chris!" A messenger got up the steps by leaps and bounds, panting and breathless. "Scouts report—the Blackwood Legion is advancing on the eastern ridge! They prepare for a full assault!
Chris cursed under his breath. "If they break through there, we'll be caught between them and Galarcia's forces at the walls." His jaw set, he went on. "If we split our forces now, we're likely to thin our defenses here.".
"We can't go leaving the ridge undefended," I said, my voice steady, though my head churned with mathematics. "Send a small force in to slow them down. But we need the bulk of our forces here." The decisions were hard, every decision a gamble, a burden on the lives of all around me.
He nodded, a flicker of respect in his eyes. He knew the cost as well as I did. The messenger dashed off; he vanished in the dark with our orders. We returned to the field, hearts beating faster now as Galarcia's men reformed and redrew their ranks into new shapes that reached out and closed in on us.
The sun was near and set. Down below the field, it cast its last rays to the horizon, painting everything in its eerie, bloody glow. The clangs of metal mix with the shouts of men and the rumble of Galarcia's siege engines: war pressing down from every side, a cacophony. A plume of smoke curled up from where part of the wall had suffered heavy damage, stone cracked and scorched from relentless bombardment.
Then the first wave hit.
Galarcia's lines advanced like an irresistible wave toward the walls of the fortress. Soldier after soldier, shields up and spears pointed forward, came running at us. Our archers on the walls aimed their shafts home by deadly instinct, killing man after man in row after row, but still they heaved themselves forward, tumbling over the bodies of their comrades who had fallen to the ground.
"Stand fast!" exclaimed Chris in a voice that rose clear over the commotion, one note of command piercing all the din. His calm assurance steadied the men, giving them something to rally to their cause. I could feel their resolve gathering strength, and I yelled for the archers to prepare for another volley.
The first of Galarcia's men struck the wall. I saw ladders surge against stone as soldiers climbed, their eyes hot and eager, each one determined to make an hole in our lines. I forward and raised my sword, cutting one from the ladder to crash back to the earth. In my wake, others did the same-to hold off the flood.
A shout up from below brought me round. I leaned down and saw the Blackwood Legion issuing from the trees-shadows moving in coordinate silence towards the eastern ridge. There was something dark and relentless to them, as if they slid through the trees like spectres, only just this side of invisibility in the fading light. Our small force there fought well, but they were outnumbered, and the tension written across their faces was plain to my eye even at a distance.
Chris looked at me, and his eyes told me that he was worried as much as I was. "We cannot keep both fronts open for much longer," he said with as much grimness as one can muster. "The Blackwood Legion will come in hard-they're too damned good at stealth and ambush. If they break through…
He didn't need to finish the thought. I knew what played out. Fortresses, villages beyond, and a kingdom now hung upon if we could hold.
I squared my shoulders. "Then we'll give them everything we've got. We'll fight until we're dead.".
Night crept closer, the battlefield falling into shadow, with only the flickering glow of torches and crackling fires below punctuating its dark presses. Galarcia's forces kept pounding at the wall, their assault increased now that they sensed a renewed strain on our side. We kept firing with our bows; we kept hitting with our swords, but exhaustion was coming on, and Galarcia knew it. Each clash of steel was harder still; each shout from the walls was strained.
And through it all, Chris and I took our stand, calling out to our troops, bellowing orders, each of us moving toward where we were needed most. We fought side by side, defending walls as the soldiers climbed over, one after another, relentless as a wave against the shore.
A shrill scream from the eastern ridge snapped my attention away. Our small unit there was failing, the Blackwood Legion moving forward, pouring in through our defenses like water through a perforated colander. They were close—too close.
"We're going to have to send a reinforcement to the ridge," I said, feeling the weight of that settled within me like stone in my chest.
Chris nodded, grim but resolute. "Then we'll do what we can," he said. "Even if it means fighting in the dark."
A wave of soldiers erupted out of our line, silent in the moving darkness, toward the eastern ridge. I watched them go, my heart hammering in a fervent hope that they'd be enough to hold the Legion back.
Then, as if conjured by the display of finishing blows, torches flared to life, casting a ghastly glow around the field as shadows stretched like grasping fingers on the walls and stained the ground with blood. The noise of battle ebbed and flowed, shaping the night into a dark refrain of clashing steel and shouted orders. Chris stood by me, and for an instant he reached for my hand, his finding mine in a touch that spoke volumes without saying one word.
"We'll get out of this," I whispered, holding his hand tight. "We've come too far to turn back now."
The next wave is pushing forward, and I raise my sword to meet it. I hear the determined shouts of our soldiers behind me, the resolve in their voices fueling my own. This is our fortress, our home, and we will defend it to the very end.
The night lay before us, great and unyielding, yet we stood ready, our hearts turned to steel against the darkness. Whatever should come our way, we'd face it together, bound by the unbreakable promise to protect what mattered most. And so, as Galarcia's soldiers once again stormed the walls, I felt a spark of hope, fierce and unyielding. We would make it through this night, no matter the cost.