Fable - Ask Bros Before Dying in a Siege

[Talus]

Talus' aim was better than most of the other soldiers, but his shots were nowhere near as effective as Landon's. Some of the armored men he managed to strike in the eye, but it was one in ten at the very most. Still, there was no frustration to that fact.

He knew that his true skill would come once they reached the walls.

"LADDERS!" Talus called out to those on the wall and the cry echoed all the way down as the enemy reached the base of where they stood. He could see the armor more clearly now, could even see through the slight slit in the helmet.

His fingers tightened and he dropped the bow. His head tipped up, and he spotted a robed figure among the ranks of black armored soldiers. "Landon!"

He pointed towards the figure.

"Take him down!" Talus drew his sword as the first steel latter clattered against the wall.

 

[Landon]

His pale eyes tracked to where Talus shouted. The knight leaped to balance on the wall as the top of a ladder clanged next to him. Sighting down the bow, his eyes narrowed.

Shaft of the arrow went to the corner of his mouth, brushing against his beard as he released.

It sailed true and as it got to the robed figure it disintegrated against some invisible barrier.

"Damn!" Landon muttered. "He's warded or something!"

Landon kicked out at the ladder near him, sending it falling back with a grasping enemy.

But just as he kicked it two more replaced it along the wall, one on either side of him. Knocking more arrows to his bow, he turned his attention downward, quickly firing against the tip climber along one ladder.

"Aim for the eyes lads!" His yell rang out across the battle of the wall.

 

[Talus]

The hoard of undead was a tide that just kept coming.

Talus was entirely sure that if something wasn't done they would be overrun in a matter of minutes. Yet what was there to do? His blade slid through the eyeslit of one of the monsters helmets, piercing it and crunching through the malformed skull as the monster was kicked back and down the walls.

A curse escaped the Dreadlords lips as he watched Landon's arrow disintegrate into nothingness around the figure. His hand tightened on his sword.

They had to be a key to this. Had to be. "Landon! Cover me!"

Talus shouted to his friend as he cut another one of the strange armored monsters. With a single step he swung himself onto the parapets of the wall, grasping his sword before his entire body suddenly shifted into its ghostly form. In two steps he was down below, his sword cutting through helmets as he carved a path towards the robed figure.

Had to be the key.

 

[Landon]

"Damnit mate, warn me before you...," Landon muttered after the ghostly visage of his friend as he quickly became surrounded by the enemy. Meanwhile, the endless hoard of the undead like beings continued to overwhelm and climb up the walls.

"Fuk," Landon kicked one back down and sighted along her bow. Releasing arrow after arrow into the slits in their helmets, covering Talus as best he could. There was a grip on his ankle and he was pulled to his back. Bow swung into the head of the beast that tried to drag him over the wall. A boot into the chest of another.

Glancing to the side, he saw two Anirian guardsmen pulled over the wall and their lines were broken.

They were running out of time.

Yelling in frustration, Landon kicked, swung, and punched himself free as he tried to regain his footing.

 

[Talus]

Talus dashed through the waves of soldiers as fast as he could. His body wisped from place to place, ghostly trails left between creatures whose wards would have eviscerated his being if he allowed them to touch him.

Behind him he could hear the screams of his men, the yells as they were pulled over the edges of the walls. Lips thinned, and his eyes closed for one brief moment. Tendrils of ghostly energy sprouted from his back, and with a sudden snap, Talus appeared before the black robed figured.

Shock painted a man's face beneath the hood drawn over his features.

Talus didn't recognize him, not even his features, but he was human. There were odd black marks on his face, tattoos that dug into his flesh deeper than they should have. It was the eyes that Caught most of Talus' attention though. They were black, completely so.

The Dreadlord didn't allow any shock to touch him.

Before the man had any second to respond the tendrils of ghostly energy lashed forward. Six of them snapped against the odd shield that hovered around the man, cracking against it as Talus' stabbed his dwarf forged blade forward.

There was a sickening crunch as the black metal slid into the the man's ribcage and through his heart.

Black brackish blood spat from the robes man's lips, and then Talus wrenched the blade free.

The effect was instantaneous. A massive swath of the odd black armored creatures suddenly crumpled, falling in on themselves and tumbling into the ground. A hundred of them, perhaps two, fell in on themselves. Including those that had dragged Landon down.

 

[Landon]

Landon grunted and pushed the bastard that had him pinned off. Grabbing a dagger from his belt he pierced it through another eye opening. But there was a small...reprieve.

His mop of dark hair popped up over the wall, holstering the dagger as he got his bow with an arrow knocked back to the string in hands. That mage figure was down and so where a huge clump of the zombie-like creatures of Talus. He looked like he was alone on an island to himself.

"Well done, mate," Landon breathed even though he knew the dreadlord wouldn't hear him.

"Fire, fire, fire!" Landon yelled to rally the men who'd been about to flee. They doubled their efforts to fire on the remaining creatures. And there were still hundreds left. Pale blue eyes swept the field until he spied another robed figure. He whistled sharply and pointed, hoping Talus would get the hint. He loosed an arrow that ran into a similar barrier around the robed mage.

 

[Zana]

A single figure on horseback crested the hill which boxed in the city below and for a moment the grey clouds overhead parted enough to let down a single ray of sunshine that made her winged armour gleam.

Zana had driven the cavalry hard to reach the city with images from Talus spurning her on, urging her to drive her men almost to the point they wouldn't have been able to fight. It had taken every effort to keep a suitable pace; they would be no use to her if they were exhausted and fell in the first charge after all. But these men and women were Anirian's and far, far stronger than man gave them credit for. Every mounted warrior had been trained to fight and die in that saddle beyond exhaustion, beyond pain, beyond anything that should have been humanly possible. In the days gone past it had been the only way they had been able to fight against the elves.

Today it would save the love of her life.

Zana raised a horn to her lips at the same moment Zandor beneath her reared. From behind her suddenly came the rest of the army. Horses covered every inch of the horseshoe hill, row upon row upon row. Zana's horse dropped back down to all fours and galloped along the front of the army. She was clearly barking orders and other soldiers stepped forward to take command of certain sections. When she returned to the centre she drew her sword and charged.

The horses flowed down the hillside like a stormy wave that broke against the enemy army.

 

[Talus]

Elation filled his heart.

It was the call of the horn, the feeling that surged through the bond. Talus had not noticed it before, he had been too busy in the middle of the battle, had been too caught up in everything that was going on around him to really feel it.

Yet when he spotted her upon that hilltop, when the sound of that horn rang out across the battlefield, that was when Talus felt himself finally relax. Though only a bit.

His sword flickered forward, and through the bond he sent Zana a simple message. The Heads. Has to be the heads.

Words were still hard to send through the link they shared, but Talus tried his best to send impressions of what he and Landon had discovered, tried to show her what the men she had with her would have to do. Then he sent images of the men in black cloaks, tried to impress upon her that they were the ones who had to die.

His head whirled when he heard Landon whistle, his eyes shifting towards the other robe figure that his friend pointed out.

With a single step Talus shuttered forward, moving towards the man.

 

[Landon]

A cheer erupted through the lines and those still dredged in battle along the wall at the horn. Talus had somehow come through. Landon didn't exactly know the how, especially considering scouts hadn't even been able to get out. No messenger birds either. They'd been surrounded and walled in by forces more than triple their own defenses.

And yet.

Here was the goddamned cavalry.

Landon couldn't help the tired smile that crept up above his beard. Maybe they'd live after all. Kicking another un-dead down the other side of the wall, he brought up his bow with new vigor, sending long-range arrows to cover Talus. As much as he could.

He could already see a change in the tide of battle. The Anirian reinforcements were cutting paths into the black-armored sea of the enemy. Lead by a fierce looking woman. Definitely a dreadlord. And for a moment, he wondered if she could control the weather with the way the clouds parted on her figure. Didn't stare long though. He had a job to do.

There was a shout from below as the horde attacking the walls broke open the doors. They would be swamped. Landon took his sights off Talus and turned them inward, firing arrow after arrow at the heads of those trying to swamp the city.

"Hold the line!" He growled. They had to keep them from getting to the Keep.

 

[Zana]

The Anirian Cavalry were ruthless.

As the horses thundered down the hill causing the very ground beneath their feet to tremor and quake, it split into three sections. The middle was led by Zana and the left and right flank by Dreadlords of equal level to her. They pierced the army from three sides and slide through it like a hot knife through butter. Screams rose as people were trampled beneath the horses hooves who ploughed on with no heed but their riders mission. The armour the beasts wore became coated in the blood from the undead.

The message came through and Zana raised the horn to her lips again and gave two sharp blasts: the head. go for the head. Every Anirian recognised the signal as they were trained to do and brutal hacking became more concise. As the battle began to turn the undead began to scramble and flee. The battleground soon became utter chaos.

Zandeer weaved his way through gaps and Zana made them when the need arose, ploughing on through the army like the head of spear. The flashes from Talus were still coming; hooded figures, taking them out. She cast her eyes around the field but the tangle of bodies made it hard to pi-

There.

There, there and there.

"Do not stop," Zana unseated herself from her horse, her left leg wrapping around the horn of her saddle so that she was riding side on. Leaning all the way out she picked up a lance from a dead soldiers hand and then wrenched herself up right then threw. Purple energy crackled down the length of the shaft and it pierced straight through one robed figures chest before the magic exploded outwards, turning the body into a pile of meaty chunks. She was on the second one before he could even turn, her sword drawn and through his neck.

As she suspected with two of their number down the other robed figures were beginning to look for and target her. But before one of their magic strikes even hit the space above her saddle, Zana was on the ground and moving towards them.

 

[Talus]

Elation filled his heart as Zana lead the Anirian cavalry down into the enemy forces.

He watched for only a brief second as the tide of battle began to shift, slowly curling as the black armored golems moved and hacked away at horse and man. His lips thinned thought as he heard the gates of the city break open, his heart thundering in his chest as he let out a string of curses.

His entire body flickered and flashed.

A whirling whisp of blue hurtled across the battlefield and half a dozen of the strange armored monsters, crashing into a space between the broken gate and hacking down one of the creatures with a swift slice of his blade. There was a rattle of metal as a helmet hit the floor, a gnashing of teeth half a second later as the still animated corpse attempted to bite him.

"To me!" He shouted in the empty space of the courtyard, his blade flickering forward to catch a hooked axe swinging for his head. "Don't let them into the city!"

If even a dozen got through it would be a disaster.

They had to hold out just long enough for Zana to turn the tide fully. These monsters could not be broken, but the necromancers leading them could.

Just then, as though the thought evoked some sort of response from the enemy, Talus spotted twelve of the black robed figured heading directly towards him. Their steps were heavy, and around them were dozens of black armored soldiers holding everything from pikes to heavy blades. They stepped towards him in unison, and then suddenly a fireball shot from one of their hands directly at the gatehouse above him.

 

[Landon]

Landon jumped just as the guardhouse exploded into fire, heat and splinters. He could feel the flames lick at his clothing and the exposed skin at the back of his neck. The knight landed on top of a horde of the creatures that were trying to get into the city.

Just as a few hundred fell from Zana's kill.

A grunt of pain escaped his throat as he patted out lingering flames along the back of his armor. Luckily that thick leather hide kept him from becoming BBQ. Didn't have much time to stop, drop, and roll though as one of the horde he fell on top of swung a sword. Landon rolled and snatched a dagger from his belt, flicking it into the opening of the helmet.

With a violent heave, he tried to clear the smoke from his lungs.

 

[Zana]

Panic.

It shot down the bond like acid and coated her tongue at the same moment her sword went through another of the black cloaked figures. Another 100 of the undead fell but Zana's eyes were searching for what had caused Talus' spike of fear. She caught the tail end of the fireball just as it arched through the air and her feet were already moving. They couldn't get into the city. Flashes of people, civilians, came through her mind and she tried to send back that she understood.

Zandeer whinnied and burst through a crowd of undead. His flank was red with blood, though whether it was just the enemies she couldn't tell. As he pulled along beside her at a steady canter she hurled herself back into the saddle, gripping the pommel and swinging herself up with a grunt of effort. Her eyes never left the fire ball as it arched through the skies and collided with the gatehouse.

It exploded and then froze. Zana's jaw clenched with the effort as splinters, debris, bits of motar and brick hung in suspended animation above the heads of those below. Then suddenly it all shot back into place. It took the barest of minutes for the whole thing to be rebuilt in a crackle of purple energy.

Meanwhile, as she concentrated half of her mind on the tower, Zana was dealing with the last of the black hooded figures on the ground that had been one of her targets.

 

[Talus]

The black clad soldiers began to fall en-masse. Zana's cavalry and her own magic was making short work of the unprepared forces.

Yet their death knell drove them directly towards Talus.

It was the remnant, or at least it appeared to be, those twelve figures that controlled the last of the enemy army. Talus' fingers tightened on his sword even as he spotted Landon fall into a mass of the black clad ghouls still streaming forward.

A curse rang from his lips as he ripped his blade free from one of the monsters. "Landon!"

Talus shouted as he snapped forward.

He rushed through some of the figures, his hand lowering to scoop up a bow from one of the fallen Soldiers on the ground.

"Those twelve!" He called to his friend, sending the impression of the same men to Zana. "They have to die."

His words came as he stepped besides Landon, offering him the weapon.

 

[Landon]

He stood and grabbed the bow his friend and commander offered.

That angel-like dreadlord had stopped the tower from raining down and crushing him.

What a babe.

A scary babe.

"Not counting this toward the total mate, I'm fine," Landon grunted, pale blues swerving to the ones Talus pointed to. Hand went back to his quiver. Just a few arrows left. One hand shoved another walking dead down as it came toward them, his heel coming to smash in the thing's head.

Running a few steps froward, he planted his feet and sighted down the shaft of an arrow and released.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Of those 12 went down quickly. Then he was out of arrows. Scanning the battle field, he reached down and began wrenching some free of the dead. Hopefully Talus and Zana would finish off the rest of cover him while he reloaded his quiver.

 

[Zana]

Zana raised the horn and blew into it three times now. Twice in short succession and one long low blast. Protect the city gate, the message said. Defence. The contingent that had been on Zana's left had been the lucky ones who had had their hooded figures mowed down by Zana the most. They were in a greater position to push through and they did that now, cutting and slashing to form a line between the gate and the oncoming army. The flank on her right blew back their own horn asking for reinforcements and Zana uttered a small curse, splitting her own group. Two thirds went to the right whilst a small group followed their commander on.

With magic being useless against the hoards of dead Zana trusted the group around her to keep them from her flank whilst she focused instead on the cloaked figures. She saw the arrows shoot from somewhere on top of the walled city into their hearts and focused instead on the remaining eight.

Magic might not have worked on the undead but it seemed to work on these things.

Zana stood in her stirrups and purple energy slowly crackled over her eyes as she raised her hands and aimed. Purple spears appeared overhead and then thudded in a rapid fire of blows towards them.

 

[Talus]

As soon as the arrows began to fly Talus shot forward.

His body shifted into it's ghost like visage an in an instant snapped forward. He darted through the undead forms, dancing through the walking corpses and flowing like a river between them. His sword flickered up, through helmets and eyeslits as he severed the creatures wherever he could.

Within seconds he closed the distance between himself and the eight remaining robed figures, stepping forward and moving to catch one with his blade when he suddenly raised his hand.

There was a flicker of something, a haze within the air as Talus came to a sudden stop. He froze where he was, no momentum carrying on his ghostly form as a shield suddenly welled in front of him. The purple energy that Zana cast from the skies suddenly stopped, bending the light that had appeared before Talus.

A curse escaped his lips, and then ghostly tendrils sprouted from his back and suddenly pierced through the shields.

The robed figure recoiled slightly, as if shocked.

Talus peeled away at the shield, grasping, pulling, and tearing a slit in it large enough for him to dart through. Before the man could counter Talus stepped up to him, his sword impaling through his stomach and wrenching free with a splatter of blood.

The shield above shattered, and Zana's spikes of energy fell down into the other men.

 

[Landon]

They all dropped as the last of the mages fell.

Dropped like stones thrown into a lake. Dead weight. Pale blue eyes searched the surrounding field, alert for movement a moment longer. Then another. Only when he was sure that his bow arm finally relax. Bow slinging back around his shoulder. Back of his hand ran across his sweaty and soot-streaked brow.

Shoulders rolled.

He was fukin sore from that blast and fall. Not to mention the lack of rations from the past few weeks. That fight in the hillside the night before. Gods, he missed being nineteen. Knees were starting to creak.

There was a cheer that started along the city walls and soon filled the air with roaring. The younger recruits whooped while the older ones sagged against the walls in relief.

Landon began to pick his way toward Talus and the babe dreadlord. Lots of undead-bodies to wade through. Head turned to Zana. "Good timing, lass." Landon dipped his head in respect and clenched a fisted hand to his chest as the official Anirian greeting.

 

[Zana]

Once the undead had fallen the city flung open its gates to admit the cavalry that had saved its inhabitants from certain death. Each flank streamed in in a steady and controlled manner in a column of twos to the cheers. A few of the men and women on horseback raised their hands in a gesture of acknowledgement and some city dwellers threw dishevelled petals at their feet from flowers that had clearly been sitting in vases for the length of the siege or longer. They gathered in the town square where they dismounted and began seeing to their wounded, helped by the townsfolk.

Zana was one of the last in and she closed the gates back behind her with a wave of her hand. She did not follow the rest towards the square but lingered where she had seen Talus follow her inside of the gates and dismounted carefully. Zandeer was breathing heavily and she noticed he had more than a few nasty cuts that needed tending to, but her heart allowed her to pass his reins to another so she could seek him out instead.

"Are you alright?" her voice was low when she came to stand with him in the near shadows, her hand coming up to touch his cheek as she searched his gaze. "I came as quickly as I could, I-" Zana's hand snatched back from his face when she heard Landon and with effort the worry and concern on her face was replaced by the cold hard mask of a Second Level Dreadlord.

Cordially she inclined her head.

"It was my duty."

 

[Talus]

Talus was tired.

He had not slept in two days, he had used more of his magic that he should have, and the weight of what he had declared in this city was still sitting on his shoulders. When Zana touched him some of that weariness flew away, but she would be able to feel his tension through the bond.

Her hand snapping away sent a wave of woe through him, and Talus couldn't help but lean against the wall behind him. His head shook slightly, and Zana would feel a wave of tiredness rush over her as Talus couldn't hold it back from the bond. "I trust him."

Talus said softly. Through the bond she would see that he did not mean that Landon yet knew, but at the very least know that she did not have to be as harsh as she was with other Guardsmen.

"I might have fucked up, Zana." He said quietly, his head tipping back as he leaned back against the wall. "I used the Marshall Order."

Talus was sure it had been the right thing to do, but taking over the city and relieving the leader of this city had been...drastic. Something not done in nearly two hundred years. He was sure there would be fallout, but he was also sure that if he had not they would all be dead. "I'm currently The Military Governor of this City."

Talus chuckled out as he slid down the wall.

"But fuck. I am Really. Really tired." He said as he closed his eyes.

 

[Landon]

Yeah, definitely scary.

A single, dark brow quirked along his forehead at the transition of Zana's emotions. Hands held out non-threateningly. He gave a quick glance around them. The others were too busy with their own recovery and clean-up to notice the trio.

Zana would quickly find that he acted differently around Talus. More casual than a normal knight-to-dreadlord scenario. He didn't hesitate as he stepped up to Talus's other side and knelt, tugging the man's arm around his own shoulder as he stood, supporting his weight.

"C'mon mate. You need some rest. Hell, so do I. And some food." His own empty stomach from the past few days growled on cue. Landon turned to Zana, winking in her direction. "Always shouldering the weight of a dreadlord." A disarming half-smile spread above his beard. "Maybe we can find a private room for you two to catch up. For the, erm, debriefing."

The knight's voice was low but the twinkle in his eyes didn't leave. Being a close friend of Talus helped him figure out what was going on between the two. That and her reaction earlier.

"Just promise you won't goddamn kill me though, cougar."

Yeah, he just called the babe, scary dreadlord a cougar and figured she could snap his neck like one too. Just one bite.

 

[Zana]

I trust him.

Zana's lips twisted as she battled with her own opinions on the matter and her brows pulled down into a scowl as she looked the knight over. She didn't budge when Talus continued to speak, though her eyes did flicker to him briefly and concern danced across her face in the blink of an eye. Out here she couldn't help him. He was a Dreadlord; he should be able to stand on his own two feet and not need her to help him, even though it tore a hole in her heart to not do so.

Relief that Landon was going to do it instead finally eased the tension from her body and towards the knight. His joke - or at least what Talus was teaching her passed for a joke - won him a flat look and his nickname for her turned said look into one of pure icy rage. Purple energy licked at the corners of her eyes and fizzled over her skin, the air becoming a little thick with it.

What she wanted to do was comfort Talus and discover what had happened and smartly tell Landon where exactly he could shove any kind of promise. What she did instead was march off ahead of them with a barking order here and there; food from their supply train was to be brought immediately to the Governors Quarters along with first aid supplies. Then she was off, meandering her way with an odd look over her shoulder every now and then at the pair to ensure they were keeping up.

For someone who had never been to the city before Zana didn't need directions once to get them to the suite of rooms that had once been the Governors. The two soldiers on duty she told them to to let the three of them be disturbed unless it was food and then she locked the door behind them.

The facade fell off her like water off a ducks back.

She sat on the bed where Landon had laid him and brushed her fingers through his hair then claimed a slow and deep kiss from him.

"What happened?" her eyes passed over his face then to Landon. "Why did you take control of the city?"

 

[Talus]

Talus was more than a little surprised when Zana kissed him.

He trusted Landon, but he hadn't exactly revealed this particular secret to him just yet. Still, as she pulled away he couldn't have been happier at the expression of her love. His hands gently reached out to touch her, and for just a second he felt like all his fuckups over the last few days were worth it.

Almost dead yesterday. Maybe dead tomorrow, but gloriously alive today.

"He was going to take his guards and leave the city, was sending us out to scout, just..." His head shook.

The man had been a complete and utter fool.

"He wanted to abandon the city." Talus said more succinctly. "Leave the people out of the Keep while he and his men used a back door to get away."

A fact that he was sure many of the Guardsmen could, and would testify to. Talus reached up a hand and gently let it trail over Zana's side. "We didn't kill him, mind. Just...well he's not the Governor Legally speaking right now."

 

[Landon]

If Landon knew what kind of danger he was in, he didn't show it. Even through his ragged tiredness and hunger, he kept that easy-going smirk on his face. Gods, he could pass out right now. But he was a trained knight.

AND HOLY SHIT THEY JUST DECIDED TO MAKE OUT.

He politely shifted his gaze and sunk himself down into a wooden chair by the wall next to the door.

"And of course the drunk bastard didn't accept the Marshall order," Landon tipped his head back, eyes tracking to the ceiling of the room. They closed for a moment. "Had to take him and his wife...their guards by force. Lock 'em away."

He sighed.

"We lost a lot of good scouts." Young recruits, too. Landon shook his head. He kept volunteering to go himself but Talus said he needed him to lead the others along the wall. Before they were able to complete the Marshall order.

Eyes dragged open and he looked to Zana.

"Please tell me you and the others brought some food?"

 

[Zana]

Zana listened intently. Her eyes shifted from Talus to the other with a cool, calm focus that only a Dreadlord could achieve. They lingered on Landon a little longer after he had finished speaking but instead of opening her mouth to respond to either of them she stood up abruptly and walked back to the door. A second later she had unbolted and opened it to reveal a hesitant young boy about to knock on the door. He was trailing a trolley behind him. Obviously startled at being confronted with a Dreadlord so abruptly he flinched back and stuttered.

"Y-you ordered ... food... I.."

"Go," her word begged no argument, not that the kid wanted to hang around to have one. He practically legged it back down the corridor. With a wave of her hand said trolley came wheeling in and she shut and bolted the door once more.

"In answer to your question; we did bring food. I thought given the... situation your food supplies here would be dwindling. My people are passing supplies out to the people and soldiers as we speak," her tone softened as she spoke and fussed over the tray of food. These had come from her own personal supply having known what Talus' appetite was like.

There was soup, breads, cheeses, fresh slices of meat and fruits. Then there were stodgier things like fresh meat pies and delicate cakes.

"Please, you must be hungry," Zana handed Landon a plate and motioned for him to help himself before taking a bowl of soup to Talus and sitting beside him once more. Her hands drifted through his hair before she set the bowl in his hands. "The Governor will be easy enough to deal with. Submit your report and I will submit mine too, the Houses will rule on taking the command of the city off of him for even thinking of abandoning his city," cowardice was never forgiven in Vel'Anir.