The Tri Firma army stood proud and strong atop the entrance to the valley, their heads held high and faces lit with a lust for blood. Their uniforms were the finest chainmail armor, adorned with deep blue overcoats bearing the triangular insignia of their legion.
In front of the crowd of barbaric soldiers was their commander, Edward the Eager, his eyes inspecting every inch of the assembly from atop his horse. Edward wore a demon-styled mask over his face and was also dressed in the typical uniform of the Tri Firma. His tall frame and broad shoulders gave him an imposing presence.
After a long moment of silent and careful inspection, Edward broke the silence. "Long before Olic claims the world for itself, it will corrupt the hearts of men. Our destruction will not be brought upon by Olic, but by mankind."
The army erupted into cheers at the sound of their holy doctrine. Edward waited for the cries to subside before continuing.
"Now, if I may speak without the influence of Samh's words, I must say: our scout has gone missing, and it can be assumed that the enemy is to blame. We must promptly subjugate the valley. By all the information we have, it is likely their fort lies within the bastion not far from here. Reinforcements will arrive in the valley within the next two hours."
At their leader's command, the army began their march down the valley road. The faces of the soldiers were filled mostly with joy, although a few were visibly anxious. Among them was a young female soldier named Anastasia, the first woman to join the Tri Firma. Her short blonde, luscious hair flowed freely down to her shoulders like the wind.
Anastasia, who had been born to an impoverished single mother on the south side of Godstown, thought about why she had joined the legion in the first place. Her goal had been to provide for herself and her mother, but now she questioned her choices.
Edward looked down at Anastasia as they marched. "This may be your first time at the front, but it will not be your last. Just remember, you must show valor to survive with men like these around you. Prove that you're the kind of woman they don't want to underestimate. You've stayed at the back of the army collecting your paycheck far too easily, and for far too long." His tone was serious and grim.
Anastasia took his words to heart. She looked down anxiously at her sword, gripping it tightly before resuming a normal posture, her face filled with conviction.
"What's her problem?" stammered a large, hideous man named David, spitting as he spoke. His comment was followed by laughter from the two men beside him, Noel and Alan, their faces twisted with vile amusement.
"Shut up!" Anastasia snapped, but her cry only made the brutes laugh harder.
Edward, from atop his horse, turned to look at Anastasia. He placed a hand on her shoulder, his touch sincere. "Don't mind them," he said calmly.
"We're not all brutes, though I'd be lying if I said most of us aren't," chuckled the man walking beside Anastasia. He extended a hand to her. "Name's Ezekiel. And yours?"
Surprised by the kindness of a fellow soldier, Anastasia accepted the handshake and replied, "Anastasia. Nice to meet you!" She smiled, sharing a brief, honest moment of camaraderie amidst the march to battle.
After further marching, the soldiers set up camp not far from the entrance to the bastion. Tents were erected as they prepared for the coming onslaught. Anastasia and Ezekiel sat together, inspecting their weapons and armor to ensure they were battle-ready.
"That blade looks dull," Ezekiel noted, standing to fetch a better sword from the supply carriage. He handed it to Anastasia.
"Thank you," she said, looking up at him gratefully.
Edward soon called upon the army and declared them ready to attack. The soldiers emerged from their roadside tents, their faces twisted with excitement and bloodlust.
The men formed into a line and resumed their march, the bastion now less than 300 meters away. Their chants echoed throughout the valley.
When they turned a corner, the bastion came into view: towering stone walls, weathered by centuries of storms, loomed over them at a height of more than 30 meters. Fresh artillery rested atop the walls, their presence menacing.
At the gate, thirty poorly equipped slave soldiers stood in defense against the 300 Tri Firma soldiers. A tense standoff ensued.
Edward's eyes scanned the rooftop artillery, its terrifying strength evident. He deliberated for a moment before shouting, "Archers, shoot the rooftop! Swordsmen, charge!"
His horse galloped toward the gate, sword raised high.
Anastasia and Ezekiel charged alongside David, Noel, Alan, and Edward. A cannonball struck the ground ahead, crushing ten soldiers and smearing Anastasia in blood. Petrified, she fell to her knees and screamed.
"Get up! It's too early for you to die!" shouted Ezekiel, his voice distant through the fog of her shock. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her until she gasped and stumbled to her feet. Together, they continued running toward the gate.
David, Alan, and Noel surged ahead but were struck by another cannonball, their dismembered limbs scattering gruesomely. Anastasia, her blue overcoat now crimson, screamed in horror but pressed forward.
The first few men reached the gate and clashed with the slaves. The undertrained defenders were cut down with ease. Edward's horse trampled many as he entered the fray.
Anastasia found herself dueling a tall, broad slave wielding daggers. She hesitated, dodging his strikes without attacking. When his guard finally dropped, she instinctively rushed in. The man made one last desperate attempt to strike, but she dodged and slashed his neck.
He fell against her shoulder, blood spilling from his mouth. His eyes met hers in a dying gaze as his knife slipped from his grasp. He collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
Anastasia dropped to her knees, frantically wiping blood from her face as she screamed and cried. Ezekiel rushed to her side.
"Get up," he said grimly, lifting her head to force her to look at the battlefield littered with the corpses of their comrades. "Ninety percent of our men die. And you wonder if killing was the right choice? This is all you can do now. Don't worry."
Though his words were cold, they held a silent truth. Anastasia eventually rose with his help, though her wide eyes betrayed her unease.
The battlefield grew quiet. Of the 300 Tri Firma soldiers, only 30 remained, huddled under the gate's archway. Edward stood somberly in the center, gazing at the hundreds of corpses strewn across the ground.
"We've faced severe casualties," Edward said, his voice steady despite the horror surrounding him. "But count yourselves lucky. Reinforcements will arrive soon. We must disable the artillery before they do, or they will suffer the same fate as those men out there. Avoid the courtyard; we'll clear the rooms and make our way to the rooftop."
The soldiers erupted in a rallying cheer, bolstered by Edward's resolve.
They pressed into the bastion, clearing room after room of ambushes from hidden slaves. Despite their superior armor, the ambushes whittled their numbers down to just five: Edward, Ezekiel, Anastasia, and two others.
They found a spiral staircase and ascended cautiously. Near the top, two slaves lunged at them, but Edward stepped forward, cutting them down with a single, precise swing.
"I'll go first. Ezekiel, cover me," Edward whispered before stepping onto the rooftop.
Seven well-equipped slave masters surrounded him. One charged, but Edward sidestepped, driving the man onto Ezekiel's blade. Enraged, the others rushed forward. Edward fended them off, forcing them to retreat.
The remaining Tri Firma soldiers split up. Edward and two others took the right flank, while Ezekiel and Anastasia went left.
A slave master feigned an attack on Ezekiel before turning to Anastasia, pinning her against the wall. Ezekiel struck the man down, but as he turned, a hammer struck his head. He collapsed and was pushed off the rooftop.
Anastasia screamed, reaching out, but was stabbed in the back and thrown over the edge as well.
Edward roared in rage, cutting down his opponent before charging the remaining enemies. He managed to kill two, leaving only one. Before their duel could begin, flames erupted from the lower levels of the bastion.
"What's happening…?" Edward stammered. The last slave master laughed before leaping to his death.
Below, Edward saw Big Abe standing amidst the flames.
"Abe!" Edward shouted.
Abe looked up, his expression calm and sinister. "You will die, and I will rebuild. Did you really expect to win? You were fooled from the start. Your scout told us everything."
With that, Abe vanished into the southern forest. Edward's eyes widened in terror as he stood alone atop the burning bastion.
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The reinforcements begin to pour into the valley, loaded with supply trucks and horses, their charge frantic. Previously they had been held up by some bandits earlier that caused them to lose much time causing their panicked state.
"Do you think they're alright, or did we miss the bloodshed?" Asks one of the soldiers to commander Jean although Jean remains deadly silent and serious perched atop his steed as he looks to the horizon.
"Why must you worry about such superficial things? We are just a small reinforcement group to help aid and supply the battle, now don't waste any more energy talking," Jean says to the man, his eyes not even looking across to meet the soldier.
the commander asks the men to speed up, his eyes fixated on the bastion, he sees smoke slowly rising up against the skyline, the troop of twenty breaking out into a run as they get closer and closer to the bastion.
…
By time they turn the corner and reach the building there is not a living man to be seen, although the ground is lined with the corpses of fallen warriors who seemed to be dead for quite some time.
The building is engulfed with smoke and the flames soar inside the rooms of the bastion, Jean looks in horror as his men stand behind him.
"JEAN!" A voice shouts from the roof of the fortress, his voice one of urgency and terror. Jean's gaze looks up to be met by Edward's, his demon mask making his expression unreadable but his voice says it all.
Edward tries to warn the reinforcements in a frantic tone, "everyone is dead! The Tri Firma and the Slave Army! Please, please, please, Abe escaped, he went south into the forest, go get him, for your fallen comr—" his warning being interrupted by the explosion of flames consuming his body, his screams not to be heard at all, as if he took the death silently.
Jean's men look towards to roof filled with outrage, they shout their curses out at Abe as they sit upon their horse's outside of the burning building.
"You can say all of that when we capture Abe, bring your steeds and follow me into the forest, we will capture and torture him," says Jean before turning his horse arround and galloping off into the dense and tight forest, his men taking a moment to view the destruction before they too follow suit and dash into the forest.
The men manoeuvre their way through the dense and thick woods, the trees tightly packed together. Jean masterfully moves between the wooden pillars that engulf the land, his men trying their best to keep up.
"South?" Pants one of the men, "I know this area pretty well, there's not much down that way, you sure it isn't a diversion tactic?"
"Dont know," Jean replies loud and blunt, leaving a few seconds before continuing, "but it wouldn't be uncharacteristic for a man like Big Abe to have some get away plan down south, he's a smart man," his words confident and affirmative making the soldier rethink his words.
The commander looks up and sees the light of a campfire in the distance, "we will head there, it's been lit recently," Jean says, his horse veering to the right to reach the place.
As their horses draw near they see a young boy sitting outside of a log cabin, the boy cooking a rabbit over the campfire, his face serious and focused on the task.
The boy looks up to see the men walking carefully towards the cabin, his face seemingly unsurprised by the sight of them.
"Hi young man, what's your name?" Ask Jean in a friendly yet monotone voice, his arms clasped behind his back as he looks down at the boy waiting for a response.
"The name's Gabriel, and yours?"