"We are the shield between them and the city. We hold this fort or die on its walls!" Captain Vera's voice roared over the rage of battle, the fierce cheer of the garrison echoing around her in unison. Her cloak, black as the void, snapped sharply in the wind, a living banner that stood as a reminder of what they fought for.
As the cloak thrashed about, it revealed for but a brief moment, the emblem emblazoned upon it: a towering spire of obsidian, its jagged peaks, fierce and wicked, its core fractured with veins of orange that glowed like lava trapped beneath the surface. This was the symbol of the Obsidian Vanguard, a promise to those nestled safely away from the dangers of the world. It declared to the people of the capital, the realm, that they would stand guard against any threat that dared to challenge them.
She stood on the ramparts that crowned the granite cliffs, a stronghold carved from the remnants of a once-thriving mining operation. Even amid the madness her focus was unwavering, her emerald eyes a torrent of fire and ice. She lifted the obsidian-black helm from under her arm and placed it atop her head, concealing her tightly braided strawberry-blonde hair. The sleek helmet, free of a faceguard, hugged the sharp contours of her cheeks and jaw, a design as intense as the woman who wore it.
Her hand hovered near the hilt of her blade, its edge thirsting for Vescarid ichor, as she surveyed the fray below with the cool detachment that came with her extended assignment to this position.
"Captain!" a voice shouted from below. Loran, her young protégé, sprinted up the stone steps, panting and disheveled. He managed to glimpse her donning her helm and fumbled with his own, his sword awkwardly clutched in one hand. Frustrated, he tucked the helmet under his arm, saluted sharply, and blurted, "The east tower's taking heavy fire!"
She responded in a calm and measured tone as her focus remained primarily on the movement patterns of this enemy she had begun to understand over most of this past year. "Sheath your sword, secure your helmet, and reinforce the east tower. You'll command with my full authority. Take a squad and show your mettle."
"But ma'am, I–"
Vera cut him off, anticipating his concerns, "You are ready for this Loran." she said reassuringly, "Your men will follow your lead, but only if you show confidence. Go now. This is just another wave of Vescarid scum." She dismissed him and shouted a command to anyone within earshot,
"Juggernaut incoming! Target the legs before it breaches the gate!" her voice cut through the noise and in an instant the archers shifted their aim, loosing volleys of arrows toward the beast's vulnerable limbs, while battle mages unleashed a torrent of ice and lightning to slow its charge.
"Yes, ma'am!" Loran shouted, his voice trembling as he glanced toward the massive, armored Vescarid barreling toward the gates. Steeling himself, he bolted toward the garrison without further hesitation. He rushed into action, weaving through soldiers hauling barrels of oil and ducking behind the mages as they unleashed their spells. The east tower was his only focus now, once he mustered a contingent from the inner walls, he would reinforce the tower and maintain their advantage over the battlefield.
A volley of spines slammed into the parapets, the thick and heavy chitin embedding itself into the granite, a sign that the Vescarid were altering the design of their rangers, opting for heavier, more devastating projectiles over the anti-infantry spines they had deemed ineffective. Each impact sent a resounding thunk reverberating through the fortress.
Below the ramparts, a sea of Vescarid swarmed the slope, following the lead of the behemoth that built up speed, threatening to unleash hell upon The Obsidian Vanguard's forward fortress. The massive Juggernaut's rhino-like form was coated in chitinous spikes, its head lowered for the final push toward the gate. The ground trembled beneath its weight, fragments of loose granite shaken free now fell from the cliff side smashed against the unforgiving earth.
"Bow!" Vera shouted while from the corner of her eye, she glimpsed her request flying through the air. She caught it with her left hand while pulling an arrow from a nearby arrow cache with her right. Nocking the arrow, she took careful aim, with each breath the beast grew nearer until she found her opening and let loose. The arrow whirred through the air, she knew the shot was risky but the Vescarid had changed yet another one of their hell-spawn, and despite the pincushion that was its legs, they appeared to only harm it superficially.
The arrow struck true as it drove through the eye of the Juggernaut and tore deep into its brain. With a violent twitch, its head jerked down and the sheer mass of this thing managed to carve a groove into the heavy stone floor as it slid to a violent stop, impacting the gate with far less force than was intended by the Vescarid. Still, the fort shook from the collision, the gate shuddering before returning to its stalwart, immoveable place.
The wall stood a solid twenty-five feet tall, designed and then redesigned with the maximum vertical jump height that this variety of especially dense Vescarid could accomplish. The creature they were most wary of was seen to number a dozen or more, the exact count hard to discern within the carpet of charging chitin that careened up the path toward the fort.
Not sparing a moment to so much as consider the state of their titanic ally, the heavy swarm of Vescarid crawled over and around the creature, some using its body as a quick step up toward the polished wall that had continually thwarted their advance. The Juggernaut, even when lifeless and prone, provided them a substantial boost of nearly ten feet. Many of the smaller yet still formidable killing machines darted at the wall with such speed that a few were even able to grab onto the openings in the parapet, fifteen or so feet above their fallen comrade.
"Ravagers on the wall!" a nearby voice bellowed, followed by the sound of dozens of swords unsheathing and striking against the armored carapace of their enemy. Some Ravagers, despite their weight, were forced back and pushed off the wall to fall amidst the growing wave of Vescarid that piled atop one another in a desperate attempt to cleave into human flesh.
"Oil! Now!" Vera shouted.
Above the gate, defenders tipped over barrels of boiling oil, some of them failing as more and more of the swarm struggled up onto the walls, tipping the oil back on the soldiers in an attempt to lash out at them. The liquid splashed down onto Vescarid's carapace, eliciting a deafening screech as the beast's armor cracked and blistered. The howls from the demonic bugs were more of a response to their bodies taking damage rather than actual pain. They pressed on, their wounded bodies slowed, and most of those hit were unable to scale the wall any longer.
The mages were tempted to step forward and take fire to the drenched bugs below, but the warriors fighting tooth and nail with the Ravagers were ready for this, they had trained for it. Several of them reached out to grab torches that lined the walls and flung them over, leaving their enemies no chance to react as fire met accelerant and in one fell swoop, the first wave of Vescarid was rapidly charring in the hungry flames.
The soldiers forced back the last of the bugs upon the wall, they each took a collective sigh of relief. They checked their equipment and gazed out into the fiery inferno, smoke clouding their vision as some of them knelt down to steal a breath of clean air.
"On guard!" Vera shouted, but it was too late. One of the hulking creatures they had feared and identified within the swarm had lunged from the flames, its powerful hind legs launching it high above the wall. A soldier raised his shield too late, the Springmaw's bulk crushing him beneath it. Another soldier drove his spear into the creature's abdomen, only for the Vescarid to kick him backward, sending him sprawling into a group of archers.
Vera cursed under her breath, her sword drawn and glowing faintly with enchantment. She leapt into the fray, cutting down a Springmaw that had only just landed, its body still smoking from the entrance. Its mandibles tried to fight her off as it battled futilely, only to receive her blade slicing through its neck, decapitating the beast.
"Halberdiers, to the edge! Hug the parapet and strike them as they land" Vera shouted, her voice hoarse from each smokey command.
Loran, bloodied but otherwise in fighting shape, charged back into view, flanked by a handful of reinforcements. "Captain, the east tower is secure for now!" he reported, struggling to inhale.
"Good. I need you here. Command the archers to focus on anything that moves below. Aim for the Springmaw before they gain momentum!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Loran turned and barked orders, having found something he knew had not had over the course of this battle.
A Springmaw bounded toward Vera, its body glowing in the firelight. She stepped aside at the last moment, her sword removing one of its hind legs as it landed. The beast screeched, and toppled to the side as he lost balance. With a precise strike, she drove her blade into its chattering maw, silencing the monster..
"Another one incoming!" a soldier shouted, pointing toward a Springmaw already mid-leap.
A mage nearby extended his staff, a wall of shimmering force appearing just in time to catch the creature mid-air. The Springmaw snarled, clawing at the barrier before sliding off and crashing into the flaming horde below.
The fires raged across the battlefield, painting the sky orange and red as the sun began to set below the horizon. Black smoke billowed into the sky like a chimney, choking the air and chasing the light, altering a beautiful scene into a dark haunting glow that struggled to break through.
The soldiers of the Obsidian Vanguard stood trembling from exhaustion, their bodies battered and broken, but in one piece, with the exception of the few unfortunate souls. Slowly, the tide of Vescarid began to thin. Ravagers were cleaved from the walls, Springmaw scorched in the smoldering embers below, and the last of the swarming drones fell to arrow and blade.
Captain Vera stood firm atop the ramparts, her blade dripping with ichor, her emerald eyes desperately surveying the battlefield for a surprise attack, something she had not planned for. Her voice cut through the chaos as she shouted to her troops.
However, nothing happened, it appeared as though they had killed the last of them. At last, silence began to creep over the battlefield. The soldiers looked out over the walls, their breaths ragged and their faces smeared with soot, blood, and sweat. The fires continued to crackle and cast shadows of the charred Vescarid corpses, the light seeming to reanimate the images of the bodies.
Loran staggered to Vera's side, prying his helmet off his head with a sickening slurp as the ichor within clung to armor and skin. "Captain," he panted, his voice hoarse. "I think... I think we've done it."
Vera didn't respond immediately. Her gaze remained fixed on the flames and smoke, her instincts screaming that something was wrong. The Vescarid didn't retreat, not like this. They either swarmed relentlessly or prodded at the defenses, searching for weakness. But here, they lingered at the edges of her perception, just beyond the veil of smoke…Then, it happened.
A darkness so pure she felt it in her core, it radiated from the base of the slope, the aura cutting through the haze and nearly sending the soldiers to their knees. The soldiers fell silent as an unnatural force overwhelmed all. This wasn't just fear, this was something far more intense. It was a feeling that every last one of them could not shake, despite their significant battlefield experience. It was a primal warning, begging them to flee and save themselves.
From behind the wall of flames, that darkness they could not see but felt with such intensity now took physical form. The flames themselves began to change, turning an inky black. The dark aura grew stronger, oppressive, suffocating, and in an instant a blast of wind erupted from the base of the slope. The flames snuffed out as though nothing more than a flickering candle on the brink of death. Smoke was dispersed in every direction, the sudden gust forcing the soldiers to brace against its impact. Banners snapped and fluttered wildly, some tearing from their standards and gliding away.
When the winds died down, the battlefield was laid bare, absolutely silent. There, in the distance, at the bottom of the slope amidst the wreckage of its brethren, was a creature, unlike any Vescarid they had faced.
The imposing figure was massive, easily fifteen feet if not more. Its bipedal frame was encased in chitin so dense it could rival anything the dwarves were capable of crafting; each plate overlapping in perfect formation to create an impenetrable armor. Jagged ridges jutted from its shoulders and forearms. In its clawed hand, it held a sword, if it could be called that, it might as well have been a small tree. The blade was absurdly large, nearly as tall as the creature itself, carved from the same chitin it wore and so dark it seemed to absorb all light around it.
The Vescarid raised its head, its two enraged orange eyes locking onto Vera. It lifted the colossal blade with ease and pointed it directly at the walls of the Obsidian Vanguard.
"A challenge," Vera said coldly, more to herself than to anyone else.
The defenders stood frozen, their earlier victory a distant memory. Even Vera, unshakable as she was, felt a chill crawl down her spine.
For a moment, the creature held its stance, its blade unwavering. Then, with slow, deliberate steps, it turned its back to the fort. It began its return to the hive, walking calmly back onto the Vescora as if to say, This is only the beginning.
The darkness followed it, retreating with the beast until it disappeared into the horizon. The soldiers remained rooted in place. Captain Vera exhaled slowly, her hand tightening around the hilt of her sword. "Get the wounded inside," she commanded, her voice low but firm. "The real battle has begun today."
Loran swallowed hard, his gaze lingering on where the creature had vanished. "What do we do now?"
As the figure left her sight, so did the fear she felt. After what felt like forever, she turned to Loran, to her men, and replied, "We prepare."