"Everyone, hold formation! Left unit, save the children, protect the innocents, and evacuate them immediately!" The commander ordered, his glare fixed on the approaching storm. He knew they wouldn't survive if they kept defending the city, especially with his two-year-old's life at stake. The land was cursed, and there was nothing else they could do.
The citizens' screams grew louder as they tried to escape, trampling the fallen and jumping over them. The entire city was in chaos, with no evacuation plan in place.
The commander struggled to hear the voices of his knights as they sprang into action. One fleet tried to quell the flames and clear a path, while another tried to evacuate whoever they could find.
The flames devoured everything in their path, consuming those who were slow to escape. Their screams echoed as they turned to charred flesh and bones, terrifying the rest. The knights scrambled to quell the disorder around them.
The gods they had trusted and honored had ended up punishing them. A never-ending fire razed their land, and an endless horde of monsters appeared. They couldn't fight them with what they had.
The city, once home to 100,000 citizens, fell to a few thousand in one night. The knights laid down their lives defending the gates and perishing in the fire.
The commander smiled for the last time, realizing he might never see his child grow up again. It was painful, but he knew this was the day he would meet his end.
"Commander, what will we do now?" Lorenzo asked, out of breath.
The commander asked him, "Have they all been taken away?"
"The people?" Lorenzo asked, confused. After a moment, he confirmed that his unit had evacuated the remaining citizens, who were now outside the city, protected from the fire for the time being.
"Ah... that's good... ahaha..." he chuckled with a somber face.
"Commander..."
"Commander, what are your orders? How should we proceed?" His men began to ask, each waiting with bated breath.
He looked at them, their soot-covered and scarred faces staring back at him. They waited for a final order. There was nothing left for them – no city to protect and no living family to count on coming home.
Finally, he sighed, blinked away his tears, and gave his orders.
"ALL UNITS STAND DOWN..."
"Did he tell us to fucking stand down?" Lorenzo whispered to Teo in disbelief.
"Everyone...' He dropped his formal tone. 'Today, we've done our best as the knights of Neheida, saving the people and ensuring their safety...' He paused, composed himself, and continued. 'But as part of our knighthood, our duty is not done... By our handbook, what was the first rule we learned?"
"Protect the gates..." Lorenzo, Teo, and the rest of the knights hesitated before answering.
"BY OUR HANDBOOK, WHAT WAS THE FIRST RULE OF KNIGHTHOOD?" the commander yelled.
"PROTECT THE CITY! PROTECT THE GATES! AND PROTECT THE CITIZENS!"
"LOUDER!!!!!!" he ordered them.
"PROTECT THE CITY!"
"PROTECT THE GATES!!!!!!"
"AND PROTECT THE CITIZENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" they all cried in unison, chanting each line repeatedly.
"AND WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO NOW?" he bellowed yet again.
"PROTECT THE CITY! PROTECT THE GATES! AND PROTECT THE CITIZENS!" The foot soldiers, horsemen, and archers screamed.
"ALRIGHT, BROTHERS AND SISTERS. FROM THIS DAY FORWARD, WE DEFEND THE GATES TILL WE PERISH. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"
"YESSIR!" The soldiers pumped their fists in the air.
"STAND IN FORMATION"
The footmen lined up in front of the horsemen, and the archers were right behind them. The commander sat on his horse, Flamethrower, at the front of the row, holding the flag of Neheinra.
Another horde of monsters emerged from the void, more perilous and hideous, with spiked clubs. They rushed forward without rhyme or reason. The mages and flame casters came forward next.
The commander observed the chaos, about to give orders when a young gallant approached him.
"SEBASTIAN, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE, WHAT IN THE DEVIL ARE YOU DOING HERE?" He whisper-shouted to the gallant carrying a child on his shoulder.
"Evacuating, isn't that what you want?" Sebastian quipped.
"Well, yes and no, Sebastian – just leave..." he hissed in return.
"Commander..."
Sebastian, you are NOT a knight; you WILL leave this area right NOW, you HEAR ME! "YOU ARE NOT A KNIGHT. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO INTERFERE IN THE KNIGHTS' BUSINESS." He growled, enunciating each word, startling the little girl on his shoulder.
Sebastian clicked his tongue, annoyed, and then clicked his heels to leave with the child. The commander watched him go until he disappeared from view.
He calmed down...
"Commander..." His petrified soldiers warned him, anxious for his orders.
He turned around, and in those few seconds of distraction, the enemy was at the bridge, charging at them at full speed.
Shit, they're here!!!!!
"GO!!!!!!" The commander screamed, and they followed him to meet their inevitable end.....
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" ah.....It seems none of them survived in the end...." he mused as he sat along with the rest of the survivors in the makeshift home made out of wood and leaves away from the epicenter. With a child on his lap playing on his hair