Open Chronicles Death's Bitter Symphony

[Ilion]

Sindrost.

It was a wide and vast city with many tall structures, and was built upon a flat stretch of land alongside a wide river. A great bridge crossed this river, where on the other side a great temple was built. A large stone wall encompassed this city, and only a few of the gatehouses remained intact to pass through. However, as the Aerai and their allies' army came upon the city, it became clear to them that they would not simply be entering in to retake it. Arkhivom's army had established a formidable foothold in this place, and the allied forces, numbered around 3000, found themselves facing off against a well entrenched enemy.

---

They'd broken from the treeline a few moments ago. Their horses pushed hard, trampling the blighted ground beneath their hooves. The breaths were heavy and sharp.

Ahead of them, the northern gatehouse, whose gates were smashed and thrown asunder. From there, enemies charged forth, darkened monsters and hooded figures.

Poison spines and black feathered arrows rained down from above, deterred for only so long by magical wards and soon bombarding raised shields. Then came bolts of fiery magic, descending from the wall's high top.

To Ilion's left, a rider crumpled a fell, struck down. He charged forward still. In his left arm he'd raised his shield, but as they drew closer to the encroaching line of enemies he lowered it to hurl a spear with his right. He drew out his sword then, crying out as they came upon them.

Shouting and grueling howls filled the dark night's air, and the sound of crashing steel rang out.

 

[Rûhn]

Rûhn watched the cavalry charge from in front of the ranks of infantry. There was a tense silence amongst the gathered forces as they watched the first wave of their friends run towards their death. Screams and fighting filled the air and so did the scent of fear and dread. The Hammer's wings rustled uncomfortably. These were not his men to rouse. Commanders rode up and down the columns shouting encouragement and threats - whatever it took for the men to hold their nerve - but it was still an instinct he had to fight against to turn and offer his own words. Instead he turned to his own, or what remained of them.

Oriane was the only other member of The Thirteen who stood on this battlefield. The rest, including his own daughter, were scattered to the four corners of the Falwood, fighting on their own fronts. He tried not to think about the danger she was in and reminded himself she was a warrior of her own. All of The Thirteen were. Still, he was glad Oriane remained with him to help him focus.

"What do you think?" he asked in a low murmur, conscious of the keen elven hearing behind him. They both watched as one of the demons creatures ripped a horse's belly open, sending its rider crashing to the ground where another fell upon him in a mad frenzy. His fingers flexed towards the hammers shaft. They had been told to hold and then provide aerial support on the first infantry charge.

 

[Oriane]

Oriane dared not take her eyes off from the beastly thing gutting a horse, watching how it moved, how it struck out an attack. "They are quick." She noted, loud enough to be heard by such keen listeners. The playfulness and cheek she showed the first few nights of travel, mingling around campfires, was not present in the Avariel in this moment.

She was not fighting in the Thirteen, not that first of them to reach a battle and start dismantling the defenses.

No, she had been told to wait, to standby and watch the cavalry be slaughtered.

"They may be evasive if we are airborne... but we are not fodder made of darkness like they are." She turned to meet the golden gaze of the Hammer. "We know where to strike in combat."

Her attentiveness had been one of the skills that narrowly rewarded her a place within the Thirteen, but all her efforts were not for show. Oriane had proven herself, had worked herself to get here. To fight alongside the Hammer, she gave him a sly smile before turning to watch the grounds become sanguine sea. "You call the shots and I will follow."

Ilion Rûhn

 

[Ilion]

He'd volunteered. Every one of them had. For those of his kind it had always been easy to delegate such things, and to their surprise their allies seemed equally as fearless and quick. And each of them knew exactly what was going to happen - but it had to. He lay under the crushing weight of a ravenous monster, his body alight with magic - it was the only thing that gave him the strength to hold the beast's jaws open. In what could have easily been, and might yet just be, his final moment, he maintained this overruling need. There was no shame in death here.

A great flash suddenly blinded him. The monster lifted off of him, encased in a fixing light. It struggled against its bonds as it floated upward, but could do little more than twitch. Ilion rolled onto his side, casting a look back to the spellcaster who'd rescued him. A fellow Aerai. They loosed another terrible surge of light, and the monster was blown to pieces.

Tragically, the feat had left the mage vulnerable, and Ilion was far too distant to arrive before they'd been overwhelmed by a pack of monsters who'd encroached from the flank that had been left exposed.

On his feet once more, sword in hand, he hurled himself to take the position, eager to avenge his fallen kin. As he buried his sword deep into the skull of one of the monsters he let out a terrible cry, and then tore the sword free.

Clashing with another now, as he fought he perceived his surroundings. They grew ever denser with enemies who continued to emerge from the gatehouse.

---

Rûhn | Oriane ​

 

[Rûhn]

Rûhn glanced across at his fellow with a raised brow. Oriane did not often so wiingly give over the role of leader. Out of the Thirteen both of them ranked amongst the oldest and most experienced. Many of their number had not tasted true war, not the likes of which he and Oriane had served in centuries ago. He rustled his wings uncomfortably as he always did when Oriane got that look upon her face.

It never spelt an easy day of battle.

With sigh he stepped away from her to spread his wings as their signal went up. The idea was that hiding back here and letting the cavalry take the brunt, the enemy would think their number less than it was. Now they had lured out most of the shadows it was time to reveal their true might, including their aerial contingent.

As the flag went down, Rûhn flew up. He had worked by Oriane's side enough he did not need to tell her to follow. The pair took to the skies and dove across the battlefield.

"Let's cut off their retreat," he shouted over the wind as the infantry below them bellowed and ran forward to meet the surprised enemy.

 

[Oriane]

Golden wings gave a powerful push and the Spear was taken into the air, keenly following the Hammer as he lead their attack. Her own instincts needed to be forgotten if only a moment, for Oriane's wings made her the fastest of the Thirteen.

They were twin weapons, side by side, as if this fight was not their first. Together, they reached the rear of the enemy lines, and with a brandish of her spear teemed with magic fuelled by the past Avariels that served as the Spear, Oriane struck down on the earth and levelled many creatures. She was airborn again, not one to stay still for long, and worked on skewering a great number into her golden spear.

Her incredible speed proved advantage already, halting many retreats. Oriane spared a glance to Rûhn.

Ilion Rûhn

 

[Vlash]

It was glorious, a ravishing of order as the charging multitude struck into the Demons entrenched position. Vlash was there, always in the thickest of the fighting and took a lance to the chest. It broke and he kept going, leaping onto the neck of the offenders horse and in a strike like ta bolt of lightening struck the head from his foes shoulders.
"NO MERCY!!!!!"
His shrill cry pierced the din of clashing flesh and metal. He struck the legs of horses and watched the riders sprawl helpless, cackled with the joy of evil as he pinned and slew them.
Not all weRE as devastating as him, but then, not all fought with three arms and a sword in each. Again and again the foe made the error.
They cut him and beat him but bone did not break for he had none and blood did not spill for he had none of that either. They never lived long enough to learn.
One begged for its life when it dealt a blow to his skull with a mace that would have crushed his skull, if he had one, before he struck it and it made the striking all the sweeter.

About him the demon host was joyous in its butchery. The larger ones beat and hammered their way forward, the smaller ones cut ankles and stuck blades into the tired and wounded. Those of his own more human stature fought wildly with unconventional weapons. Godenak's and spiked flails were seen more than swords and spears. All weapons that promised cruel and painful ends.

It was not long before Vlash saw the one in blue darting about like a loosed arrow from one target to the next. He even slayed a few which delighted Vlash to no end. Encouraged by the prospect of an enemy worth killing Vlash flexed his arms and marched on the blue warrior shrieking a high pitched wail as he did, the kind of noise that caused all the remaining horses to startle and what riders still remained to regain control of their mounts.

Ilion

 

[Ilion]

As the flag went down, rising with the wings of the Avariel, the sound of many horns followed.

With the dark host of Sindrost drawn out into the open, riders of a much greater number descended on the city. Where the vanguard force had been horribly overwhelmed, their numbers were much more even now - even more so with the talents of the winged elves amongst their ranks.

---

Things were going well. Even as his blade dripped of black ichor, even as all around him flesh was wrenched from bone and the hope of light and life was torn away. Even then, it was well, for it was as it had to be. For it was to him that all things were as they had to be. This much he was forever resolute in - even unto the ending of all, if such was to be, then such had to be.

His ruined foe crumpled before him, bloodied and lifeless.

For a moment he could afford a look upward, where he caught sight of the Avariel drawing near. Where he was in the midst of the fray he could not see so clearly, but he knew that by now on the fringes their reinforcements were no doubt cutting swathes in the enemy line.

But the moment remained brief, for there came a shrill sound of dread and calamity. He turned on his heel and beheld the foe whose eyes were already fixed upon him. Its approach was eerie in its focus, singular and terrible. It was not like these other demons, not of a mind entwined and intermixed. It was of its own purpose, and it seemed in that moment, that purpose was him.

He gauged the three armed menace, measuring him tall.

He readied his stance, his sword held at the side.

A long breath.

Quickly forward then, drawing his sword up to strike down at Vlash as he drew close.

---

Rûhn | Oriane | Vlash​

 

[Rûhn]

Rûhn veered left as Oriane banked right, landing amongst the rear of the enemy army. A clutch of demonic monsters turned to face him as he drew forth the hammer from its holster. They salivated at the prospect of an easy meal, for they were a group whilst he alone which for their simple minds chalked up an easy win for them. One creature that looked like a mockery of a leopard turned upon a goblin looking fiend when it attempted to leap at Rûhn first, snapping at its throat.

So there was some hierarchy to the chaos.

As the leopard leapt Rûhn swung the golden hammer upwards, catching the creature under the chin and sending it hurtling back into its foes. Its broken body pinned three of its kin and the others did not hesitate to run screaming for retribution towards the Avariel.

As the group approached Rûhn brought the hammer up but this time struck down into the earth itself. Shards of rock jutted upwards in a line that ran directly for the foe, scattering them like leaves on the wind. He glanced across at Oriane with a nod and together they moved on to the next section.

 

[Oriane]

"Excellent shot!" Oriane called to the Hammer, a grin stretching across her face as with centuries of skill saw the golden spear she wielded twirl and cut into a number of pursuers, striking them at key points that slowed them enough for her to skewer their skulls with the pointed head. With practiced moves and honed strength, she pulled one end from one head, and forced the other end of the spear shaft into the eye of another creature that had come up her left flank.
The Spear had inspired many songs in Thyasari, but the one that detailed her triumphs in her first battle had earned her the title of The Harbinger. An Avariel grown of gold, gilded in her armour in suit, and her own wings adorned in the shimmer of golden dust. She was a beacon; the sun at dawn fighting the lingering darkness that clung to the earth and reaches of the world.

Oriane's Spear was a compelling dance to the song of Rûhn's Hammer. The help of two of the Thirteen proved how deadly and efficient they were, and for their allies, a strong defense to their numbers. They worked in harmony, as if the centuries they served together was now just memory of their practiced maneuvers. Where Oriane would pierce a wretched body and held it aloft, Rûhn would strike them clean from her weapon.

 

[Vlash]

Three swords rose to halt Ilion's line weapon while Vlash pressed closer his jaws opened like a viper to bite at the blue warrior's faceplate, tearing at the metal protection with savage force.
He was cackling as he did it.
This one would be a good kill he thought.

Ilion

 

[Ilion]

The allied reinforcements crashed against the dark army like the waves of a harsh storm against a battered shore. But as stalwart as the Aerai and their allies were, the monsters were not so easily vanquished. Hopes of a swooping victory were quelled, but the advantage remained in their hands. The enemy was drawn out, and they were largely surrounded. With the Avariel and the remnants of the vanguard blocking the retreat back into the city, it was only a matter of time.

---

Three blades came to match his, and stopped him in his tracks. They slid against his after a moment of struggle, and the monster's strength proved to be greater than his.

He moved back, forced away by the monster's retaliation. His sword went up, with it both arms. He released the grip of one hand, and his arms flung back around and to his sides.

The monster lunged at him. He could not lift his sword in time.

He moved backward, leaning away as the monster snapped its jaws at him, catching his faceplate and tearing it free.

He leapt back then, his footing just right, and gave himself some distance from the vicious beast.

He lifted his damaged helm from his head - now slightly misshapen - and tossed it away. Blue eyes and blond braids revealed, he planted his feet and readied his blade for the monster's approach.

---

Though most of the dark army had charged out into the plain to meet the allied force, there were still some who lingered within the city's walls. Among them were three great beasts, standing at least three meters tall, all bearing the likeness of giants, or ogres. They were clad in black armour, and wielded great weapons, and they called out with mighty roars as they appeared from the wrecked gatehouse, calling for Avariel blood.

---

Rûhn | Oriane | Vlash​

 

[Rûhn]

Rûhn paused to wipe some of the black blood and sweat from his eyes. Blue and golden wings spread and then in a leap, the Avariel was airborne. Arrows flew for the clear target but The Hammer barely seemed to pay them much heed; the runes his daughter had learnt of from the odd Knights who fought for the Aerai rendered most of them harmless. Indeed a few inches from his body they rebounded and fell harmlessly to the earth. The brief respite gave him a moment to catch his breath, a chance it seemed Oriane had taken too on seeing him leap into the sky.

He threw a glance over her in a quick assess for any serious injuries.

"The regiment here can hold, we should help the original charge," he nodded to those brave warriors who had offered themselves up as bait. Most lay unmoving on the field but a few still fought, and more still gave signs they might live despite their prone positions.

"You are faster - can you do a few flights to the medic line before those things reach us?" he nodded to the monsters that were emerging from the city gates.

 

[Oriane]

It was faster to just smile at Rûhn and salute him before flying off to scout those in desperate need of medical attention. She fought off any foes during her extractions, had stained her wings in more black ichor in some cases, but now, came to land behind Ilion as he faced something not quite like the others.

The Spear hummed and glimmered as it shifted in her hold, and the Avariel came to the aid of her ally. Her strength in parrying with the sworded devil left her determined to give Ilion a moment of reprieve and to catch his breath. Oriane met each swing of each sword with a block, learning the sequence of Vlash to know when to swipe at him with the pointed end to her Spear.

She did not tire, demonstrating the strength she trained for centuries before becoming a member of the Thirteen.

 

[Vlash]

"YEEEEEAAAGH!"
The winged one interrupted his kill and he was instantly furious!
He being beaten back was worse, this flying things knew how to fight. He was lucky to face so many today.
Then she struck him with the spear and his bloodless flesh parted just over his bare abdomen.
The wound showed no flesh underneath, no muscle or bone as if he was solid all the way through.
His rightmost eye swivelled independently to keep an eye on the blue clad warrior but his attention remained on this new foe which he came at again, this time his arms coiled like snakes, slithering forward to slash and swing in ways no regular arms could move.
Snapping and spitting as he attacked with his terrible jaws and three rows of jagged teeth. He advanced quickly, not caring at all for his own safety. The spear, though ornate and brilliant, was no threat to him as he charged forth with the single minded desire to eat this flying things wings off its still living body!

Ilion
Oriane
Rûhn

 

[Ilion]

For a moment he was awestruck, almost dumbfounded by the Avariel's sudden and hasty appearance. She moved with a grace unlike any elf he'd ever met, and the strength she employed rivaled that of no doubt even the likes of Phyrra, or perhaps even Te'leis, or Erën. She was magnificent.

But he could admire her for only enough time to catch his breath. It was a reprieve very much needed, and with strength in his lungs he could persist.

He batted away the claws of a gnashing beast, quick to undo its existence with the furious swing of his sword. Another great swing and another monster fell.

With space between he afforded his attention back to climactic battle waged between to towering giants in the midst of those far beneath. But this beast the winged one clashed with, this... monster among monsters...

He knew then what must be.

He drew his sword to his side, determination in his veins. And then he charged.

He drew nearer, closing the gap on them as Vlash closed the gap upon Oriane - but Ilion was nimbler. His feet carried him farther, faster. He leapt, and he leapt to bring himself falling upon Vlash, raising his sword up high to bring down upon the beast, regarding not for a moment what might come next and instead only hoping his blade would strike true.

---

Oriane | Rûhn | Vlash ​

 

[Rûhn]

Rûhn did not bother to watch Oriane as she left, trusting the Spear to do her job as she trusted him to do his.

Hold the line.

The Hammer took a deep breath and gave his luscious blue and gold wings a shake to ride them of some of the blood crusting his primary feathers. Most of the action was at his back. The deep gorges he had forged in the earth had trapped a large portion of the demonic army there within easy distance for the army of the Aerai to throw their spears, fire their arrows, and pick the enemy off one by one. He would bide them as much time as he could before they were forced to fight on two fronts. Tilting his wings he launched himself forward, hammer arm swinging back and gathering momentum with his speed.

The fastest of the giant beasts raced ahead of its allies, eager to taste first Avariel blood. It cried as Rûhn approached in challenge, teeth flashing in the afternoon sun. The Hammer kept flying straight and true. Faster his wings took him until the outer edges seemed to blur with the speed. The monster only took this as a challenge, picking up speed to meet him. And meet they did. Rûhn swung the hammer as he approached the great maw of the beast, catching the creature on the underside of its jaw. The noise alone was like a crack of thunder turning heads. The beast let out a terrible scream as it was launched into the air where Rûhn shot up to meet it a second time, hammer hitting it in the opposite direction to send it thundering back into the earth.