Fate - First Reply Hammerhead

[Caeso Diemut]

THE HAMMERHEAD ISTHMUS​

"Guardsmen!" said Commander Teritus in closing. "We are the hammer to the anvil! I don't know why in Kress's name these Kivren have come this far north, but we are going to smash them with absolute prejudice and take back the Hammerhead Isthmus. I want every last one of those overgrown fish-fucks dead. Do you hear me?"

Caeso stood in the back of the large formation of Guardsmen, a detachment from the Army of the West, the oft-called "expeditionary force" of the military, famed for its unique units. Against a wily foe like the Kivren, they were going to need such units.

This little region to the west of Vel Luin was known as "Hammerhead" by the locals—with their stunning imagination, the area looked something like a misshapen, grossly lopsided hammer on a map, the Isthmus being the handle of said hammer. Apparently this force of Kivren emerged from the sea with a horde of enthralled Cortosi warriors and took control of the entire Isthmus, including most notably the town of Maratan in the very middle of it. Relief ships from Vel Luin ensured that the people of Hammerhead were supplied and protected, but...strangely, the Kivren only seemed interested in the Isthmus, and no one knew what they were doing there.

To hell with them, was Caeso's reckoning. Loathsome creatures. Elements from the Anirian Navy had the sea on both sides of the Isthmus watched, Corsairs entrenched themselves into the northern end of the Isthmus, and now it was up to the detachment from the Army of the West to scour the Isthmus from the southern end upward and drive the Kivren to the Corsairs, trapping and slaughtering them. (Would Cortos be mad that their enthralled citizens were being killed? Too bad. Anirian lives were at risk here).

And as it so happened, Caeso and a fellow Initiate from his class were returning from a mission from even further west when orders via messenger from Commander Teritus intercepted them.

So here they were.

Caeso crossed his arms. Smiled grandly. Said, "Now this is my idea of earning extra marks."

Two missions for the price of one. And the chance to teach these Kivren what happens when you wield force unwisely and find yourself overmatched.

 

[Mieri]

Mieri stood on her tippy toes, straining as much as she could to try and take a peek over the heads of the much taller Guardsmen in front of her. A frown pulled on her lips, though she heard the brief of what lay ahead of them well enough.

Kivren. Mermaids, or whatever they were.

She'd never seen one before, except for some scribbles done in books they had studied at the Academy. Mieri had always thought that they would prefer to be...in the ocean. But apparently to them the Hammer...handle was particularly interesting for some reason.

Whatever. It meant another few days away from the Academy and out in a brawl. Something that Mieri could never say no to.

Falling back onto her heels the Initiate let out a slight huff. "Marks?"

"You're out here, in this beautiful weather. About to fight a new and exciting foe." She gestured to the sunny sky. "And you're thinking about your grades?"

Mieri snickered, a smile drawing over her lips. Nerd.

She thought to herself.

 

[Caeso Diemut]

While Commander Teritus was conversing with all of his subordinate captains and lieutenants, the rest of the Guardsmen all dutifully still in their formations, the two Initiates had a moment to talk.

"Two birds with one stone," said Caeso. He hated using that expression, but it was, unfortunately, apt. They got to enjoy all of what Mieri had mentioned and progress themselves as Initiates.

The weather was beautiful, though. Clear blue skies as far as the eye cared to wander. The warmth of the day was alright now, though after heavy combat it might become stifling. Not to worry though, for the strip of land that was the Isthmus was thin indeed, and cool crosswinds blew over the semi-arid soil, the thick scrubs, the rocky shores. What trees there were were hardy and sparse.

Seemed a nice enough place to visit, but who in Kress's name would want to live here? Supposedly this climate was excellent for vineyards, though.

"If we happen to liberate a wine cellar in Maratan," Caeso said, "we get first choice. Before the grubby hands of these Guardsmen get a hold of them."

Mieri

 

[Mieri]

Mieri snapped her finger and pointed at Caeso. "Now you're talking."

Like many other Initiates, she'd experienced most of the finer things in life on one mission or another. Short bursts of luxury that were stolen away when Proctors and Dreadlords either weren't around or weren't looking. Moments, that were precious memories even to someone like Mieri.

"I even have some space in my bag." She mentioned with a grin. "Sneak a few bottles home for the others."

She did always like to bring presents, and there hadn't really been much opportunity to grab anything on their last mission.

"Diemut! Taras! Get up here!"​

A shout went up from a Sergeant standing by the Commander. Her head turned, and she motioned for Caeso to go first. Half dancing on the balls of her feet as she moved behind him.

 

[Caeso Diemut]

"Speaking of grubby hands," Caeso said, amused by the timing of the Sergeant's call.

As Caeso and Mieri walked through a gap between two elements of the formation toward the front, he couldn't help but think on what she'd said. Sneak a few bottles home for the others. All the years of the old way just wouldn't let him completely dismiss the possibility that Mieri's personality was but a façade, a clever method of disarming potential threats by making them think that she herself was not also a threat. He imagined one, if not all, of those bottles being poisoned or tampered with in some way to give Mieri a cunning advantage over whomever partook.

Or maybe...she genuinely was intent on taking a few bottles from Maratan back to the Academy for nothing more than the benefit of her "friends."

He didn't have much longer to ponder the subject.

Commander Teritus, the Sergeant, a few of the Captains were all standing in a loose circle, serious and hard-set faces common to all of them. Teritus watched as the two Initiates approached and joined the circle.

He spoke in brief: "We're spreading our Line wide to canvas the whole stretch of this Isthmus. As you two can figure, it might look intimidating, but it doesn't leave much in the way of concentrated force."

Teritus dropped a heavy hand down on the Sergeant's shoulder, and the Sergeant, built like two barrels stacked atop one another, didn't budge at all.

"Initiates, I want you along with Sergeant Gainsborough and his Rangers to be the tip of the spear. Scout ahead, eliminate smaller pockets of resistance, reinforce the Line when necessary. That clear?"

"Yes, sir."

Mieri

 

[Mieri]

It didn't take a strategic genius to know that spreading your forces into the thinnest line possible wasn't exactly great tactics. In this case though it was also the only thing they could do. Vel Anir wanted the Kivren out, and short from lightning a giant fire Mieri didn't have any other answer.

"Yes, Commander." She answered, eyes flickering upwards to the giant barrel of a man.

The Commander gave both of them an appraising look, lingering on Mieri for a moment longer than he did Caeso. It was a look she was used to. It was harder for most Guardsmen to look past her height. To many of them she was a reminder that Initiates were still children. Which while true, wasn't something that Mieri ever let bother her.

"Right, gather your things and meet me at the southern line, we'll start there."​

Mieri nodded, and then turned on her heel to fetch her pack and gloves.

This was going to be so good.

 

[Caeso Diemut]

Caeso turned as well. Around them, the Captains of the detachment were all giving their orders to their particular companies. It was something of a grand logistical task to get all of the soldiers lined up across the span of a few miles in a timely and orderly fashion; still, it would be some time yet before the formation was ready and the command to Forward March came.

"Easy enough," Caeso said of their appointed task as they walked. "And no shortage of chances to fight these 'new and exciting foes.'"

Backward fishpeople, little more than that, these Kivren. They were essentially a footnote in the classes detailing the capabilities of potential enemies. They hardly seemed real to Caeso, if all honesty was to be told. Yet now they had come in force to the Hammerhead Isthmus, having emerged from the seas like a bad nightmare.

But they would give this nightmare something to fear. And that was exciting indeed.

"These Rangers better be able to keep up."

Mieri

 

[Mieri]

"Yeah! Never punched a fish before." Mieri commented, suddenly glad that she'd reinforced her gloves before they'd left on their last mission.

It had been one of the upper-classmen, Ralene, who had suggested adding the metal on the back and across the knuckles. Didn't do much other than protect the leather beneath, but that was enough really. Kept the gloves from getting torn.

A definite plus when you were hitting things that had scaled.

"I heard they're pretty good!" Mieri chirped as they reached the tent which had been assigned to them. Quickly digging out her pack and chucking her meager possessions into it.

"Yorick wants to join them." Yorick, or Yor for short, was one of their fellow Initiates. His gifts made him an excellent scout, though his decision had always been somewhat questionable. "He once told me the Rangers held off an entire tribe from the Savannah on their own. Battle of the...Scattered Plain? Something like that."

Mieri said with a shrug. "I don't remember, you know how he rambles. Sounded cool though!"

 

[Caeso Diemut]

Yes. Yorick did ramble. It was surprising that he'd lived long enough to see the Revolution happen, loose as he was with his tongue and with a penchant for spilling just a little too much insight into how his magic worked. Caeso was certain that every class had that handful of Initiates who truly ought to be dead, yet through various flukes of fortune still drew breath.

Fascinating, in a way. So long as he didn't get stuck on a mission with the likes of Yorick or the others of his ilk.

Caeso snatched his pack from the cot it rested on. "He's missing his chance here. A veritable shame." As he was strapping the pack to his back, Caeso smirked a little and said, "When you inevitably regale him with the tale of the Battle of Hammerhead Isthmus, make certain that I am within earshot. Yorick's lamentations are a majestic melody."

Mieri

 

[Mieri]

Mieri tutted Caseo with her tongue. "He'll be so sad!"

She seemed to genuinely lament the fact. A frown pulling at her lips as she tugged her own pack over her shoulder.

"Ah well." The Initiate said, a shrug rolling over her shoulders. "Maybe I can get one of the Rangers to give me a memento for him."

That would at least soften the blow a little bit. Mieri knew that she couldn't keep everyone happy all the time, but she could at least do something. It was more than most of them ever got.

Shaking her head Mieri pulled on the second strap of her backpack, settling the weight on her shoulders and stepping out of the tent. With Caseo following behind her the Pugilist quickly made her way through the quickly disembarking encampment.

Before long they found their designated meeting point, a group of Guardsmen waiting for them like nothing she had ever seen before. None of them wore the shiny polished armor usually found in Vel Anir, instead draped in leathers and cloaks which matched the colors of the land around them. All carried at least a bow, but a mix of weaponry seemed draped on their forms.

"Glad you could join us."​

The Sergeant said, an immediate reply coming from Mieri without even a hint she might have detected any sarcasm. "Glad to be here, Sir!"

 

[Caeso Diemut]

Maybe I can get one of the Rangers to give me a memento for him.

"It would make for good leverage," Caeso said. He didn't smile and his tone was level but, in his desert dry humor, he meant it with all due mirth. Although, joke or not, if Mieri put some manner of price on the memento then Yorick just might pay it.

Out of the tent and into the coastal sunshine once more. They were directed toward the group of Rangers but, truth be told, even if they hadn't asked and hadn't been pointing in the right direction, they still would've been able to pick out the Rangers before long. The Rangers stood out in stark relief in comparison to the regular infantry currently forming the Line, yet they only stood out so because they were standing upright and were amongst their fellow Guardsmen. Given their gear, Caeso could imagine each Ranger vanishing from sight once they dropped down to the dirt and lay still, all within the blink of an eye blending in to their surroundings.

Sergeant Emet Gainsborough regarded the two Initiates, gave a curt greeting to which Mieri replied to with a chipper response and Caeso with an acknowledging rumble in his throat. He took a second to look both Mieri and Caeso up and down, getting an impression of them.

An impression which he apparently disliked.

"Let's make something clear," said Sergeant Gainsborough. "My Rangers don't need you. This entire operation doesn't need you. If Dreadlords were a necessity, Commander Teritus would've waited until real Dreadlords arrived. You're nothing special. You were just convenient. So don't muck this up trying to prove something or seeking glory; I won't risk any of my Rangers saving you."

"A perilous position you've placed yourself in with such words," Caeso said icily. "Sergeant."

A sidelong glance to Mieri. Seemed in Caeso's estimation that ever since the Revolution, the Guard in general had become much more prone to forgetting their place.

Mieri

 

[Mieri]

If there was one thing as sure as a man eventually needing to shit, it was Mieri's up beat personality. She had never taken things too seriously, whether it was beatings or even being locked in the box. Throughout their time at the Academy she had always tried to be a force of joy. A markedly different personality among her peers.

Yet, Mieri's trademark smile seemed to slowly slip from her lips as the Sergeant offered them an unwarranted rebuke. Her eyes set fully ahead, but never quite laying on the man himself. She stood there, firm and quiet until Caeso's frosty rebuke was offered.

"We won't need saving, Sir." She added, that chipper note notably forced into her tone this time.

For a few seconds she thought the man would offer some other insult, but instead he simply stared at the two of them. His eyes almost desperate to drill a hole through their skulls.

"I guess we'll see."​

The sergeant bit off, his head jerking towards one of the nearby Rangers.

"Dix! You got charge of these two, make sure they don't fuck things up."​

Before either of the two Initiate's could tender another reply, the Sergant turned on his heel and began to call out to his men. Quickly the Rangers began to organize themselves, pulling up weapons and slinging packs over their shoulders. The one called Dix pushing himself up from the floor and stepping towards the two Dreadlords.

"Who put a stick up his ass?" Mieri whispered quietly to Caeso.

 

[Caeso Diemut]

"Tell Yorick such sticks are standard issue," Caeso said flatly in whispered response.

Sergeant Gainsborough's departure had helped Caeso rein in his testiness, and his shot at humor was another method for the same. He wouldn't allow himself to be spoken to in such a manner, not without a fair retort (and he had indeed given it), but it also wouldn't do to descend into a brutish resolution to the conflict. Lesser men would've put their hands on the Sergeant, and Caeso Diemut was no lesser man (even though the fires of youth burned hot with anger at times, this furnace ever the challenge to control).

Besides, what better vindication, rather than the impulsive and ephemeral and foolish gratification which came from slavering, ogre-like physicality in the moment, than the satisfaction of making Sergeant Gainsborough eat his words and taste irony? If his Rangers needed help somewhere along this forsaken Isthmus, Caeso would gladly provide it...replete with a knowing smirk.

He watched Dix approach. Hopefully, his demeanor would not match that of his Sergeant.

"And you? Are you to carelessly dispense with the two most important assets on this battlefield as well?"

Mieri

 

[Mieri]

Mieri let out a snort. When had Caeso learned humor?

Maybe she was rubbing off on him.

A wide smile brimmed on her lips at the thought of her positive influence. Quickly taking a mental note to tell Proctor Melina about how it was another reason she would be a perfect candidate for her new Mentorship Program.

She was about to say something else when the young Ranger stepped forward. He was only a few years older than the two Initiates, sandy blonde hair decorating his head and the slightest wisps of stubble on his cheeks. He offered Mieri a rather charming smile, and then tried to do the same to Caeso when he was met with a rather terse greeting.

"Me? Naw."​

He said with a flourish of language that clearly marked him as an Anirian from the east.

"Sarge knows I'm a bit fragile. So I'll let be lettin’ the both of ya run in front of me, eh?"​

A chuckle escaped the Rangers lips, and Mieri followed along with him. "Don't worry, I'll keep you safe!"

She said with a beaming smile of her own.

 

[Caeso Diemut]

"In front. There is no place where we would rather be."

Behind them, shouted orders were being passed up and down the Line and standards were being raised, the preparatory command given. As far as Caeso could see, men were stretched across the breadth of land comprising the thin Isthmus. Thin. Well, all things relative. He could see the waters of the Cortosi Coast off to the east but not to the west, though he didn't doubt the undulating land played a part in that (and it wasn't anything some minutes worth of walking couldn't change, revealing the inlet of the sea to the east soon enough into the effort).

A moment later, the command of execution was given: March. Standards flashed with familiar motion in the bright sunlight of the day. The Line was thus on the move.

The lead the Rangers had was small now, but would surely grow. They had free range to move ahead, to maneuver as they saw fit, while the Line had to maintain solidarity—at least until they all got to Maratan.

"What a strange and foolish tactic these Kivren are employing," Caeso said as he and Mieri and Dix walked. During the address Commander Teritus had given, he said that observations from the Navy placed a good many thralls just...milling about randomly throughout the Isthmus (hence Teritus's use of the Line formation to sweep the Isthmus clean). The Kivren seemed to be treating them exactly as a necromancer might with a horde of disposable zombies.

"A paltry means of delaying us, if such is in fact their goal."

Mieri

 

[Mieri]

As they walked, Mieri had to be reminded several times by Dix and a few other rangers that whistling wasn't exactly conducive to stealth. It was a habit she'd picked up for the longer journeys, much to Caeo's dismay on their earlier mission.

Each time she picked up a merry tune, one of the surly looking scout rats whirled on her and glowered. And each time Mieri would be instantly reminded of what she had forgotten just a few seconds before. Offering a sheepish apology, a smile, and then a small wave.

When Caeso began to question Kivren military tactics Mieri was concentrating hard on not whistling another tune.

"Nah, they're lookin' for somethin'."
​

A frown touched Mieri's face. "Huh? How do you figure that?"

She asked, temporarily distracted.

"The ways they're movin'. It's a pattern. Though don't make much sense to me. Ain't random though."​

Mieri frowned, glancing over at Caeso. Neither of them had much insight into the Kivren, much less what they could be looking for all the way out here.

 

[Caeso Diemut]

Caeso stepped over a particularly large rock. The whole Isthmus thus far was littered with them, but such was the climate of the place. Commander Teritus's Line was going to have a difficult time keeping formation; the terrain was not so rugged as to be a major constraint and render the formation impractical, but it was just rugged enough to be something of a nuisance.

"Is that so? Who has said as much? The Navy? Or are these observations from you and your own?" he said curiously. Above, a few gulls flew by overheard and gave their shrill cries.

Mayhap the higher command, Commander Teritus and all the other officers involved, had some notion on what the Kivren might be up to. Oh, would it not be all the better if such a notion warranted as a sensible precaution the presence of a couple of Dreadlords? Something magical in nature, that he and Mieri would have to investigate and thwart?

The look on Sergeant Gainsborough's face would be one for the ages.

Mieri

 

[Mieri]

"Naw, just my own personal pet theory."​

Mieri continued to have her lips clamped shut as Dix continued to elaborate on what he had personally observed. Quietly reminding herself now was not the time for a jaunty tune that might add some atmosphere to this droll stroll.

"Navy thinks they're here for slaves."​

An eyebrow popped up and she frowned ever so slightly. Were Kivren known as slavers?

She had never read as such, but then she could hardly claim to be the authority.

"But I don't think so. Easier and closer targets for em' closer to home. Naw, I think they're searching for something on this sand bar. Not sure what, but I'll be damned if I'm wrong. Not that anyone wants to hear it."​

Mieri slowly looked over at Caeso, her expression quite easy to read. Opportunity?

Mirroring the other Initiate's thoughts.

 

[Caeso Diemut]

"Time will reveal it," Caeso said perfuntorily, for while he spoke to Dix in that moment, it was Mieri whom he truly wished to speak with, "if we do not simply wipe them clean from this forsaken Isthmus before it is so."

They continued in their walk, the Rangers, in a manner of speaking, at center stage whilst the Line formed the all-encompassing curtain behind them. Caeso had seen it in Mieri's glance, the little arch of the brows and firm line of her lips. Dix was likely correct in one of his assessments: that the Kivren were, to the chagrin of the Navy thinking heads, not here for slaves. Caeso didn't think the Kivren to be stupid, no: likely they knew the risk of invading land under the sphere of the Anirian Republic. Whatever the truth of their reason for coming here and occupying the Hammerhead Isthmus, it had to justify and outweigh that risk.

Yorick might have been yearning to join the Rangers, but they weren't going to be the ones who claimed glory here.

Caeso descended back over a short period of time from Dix. Coming alongside Mieri to have a more confidential word (not that it particularly mattered if Dix overheard them or not).

"We are going to have a delightful little chat with the first Kivren we encounter." A malicious smile crossed his expression. "How many bones would you wager are in a fish-man's body?"

And, judging by Caeso's tone, an implied follow-up question to her: and how many do you think we will break before the creature talks?

Mieri

 

[Mieri]

Mieri rolled her eyes. "Ugh, why do boys always go right for bone breaking."

Her head shook from side to side as though he had said the most ridiculous thing.

"I bet you three coppers that we won't need to snap a single one." Mieri wagered, mostly trying to avoid revealing that she also did not know how many bones were in a fish-man's body. "There's a way better way to get information out of someone."

Mieri had never liked torture.

It was one thing fighting someone. Taking down a soldier or a sneak-thief intent on killing you. She could right that in her head, but torture? Pinning someone down and breaking them piece by piece?

She could never do it, a fact the Proctor's had exploited more than once.

A shiver ran up Mieri's spine, and she quickly cast the memories away.

"Make that six coppers." She said, the cheer in her tone almost a bit too forceful.

 

[Caeso Diemut]

Caeso scoffed. Half in derision, half from amusement.

"Have you allowed the softness of the Revolution to dampen your nerve? I had thought better of you." He gave a small shake of his head, smiling at his next thought before he spoke it aloud. "So what are you going to do? Massage his gills?"

He preemptively waved off any answer to this question (and he'd little doubt that Mieri would've answered it if he'd allowed).

"I need not make any wager. We shall see if your dainty ways will prove efficacious."

And if said ways wasted his time? Simple. He would take over the interrogation, and that Kivren would be wishing dearly that he had been swayed by Mieri's flowery tactics.

Mieri

 

[Mieri]

"No! I'm go-" Before she could get a proper answer out Caeso waved dismissively at her, clearly not interested in an actual answer.

Her eyes nearly rolled out of her skull, but her lips snapped shut and a rare spark of anger flickered over her features.

She would show him. She would show all of them. Torture was a shitty way of getting anything out of anyone. They would just tell you whatever you wanted to hear to make the pain stop! It was so obvious. Even a brick wall like Caeso should have been abe to understand. "Oh they'll prove plenty efficacious. SO efficacious."

Mieri bit back, arms crossing over her chest and whistling entirely forgotten.

"You're lucky you're to scared to bet, you'd be losing those si-" Before she could finish Dix shot up a hand.

"Quiet!"​

Mieri instantly whirled his gaze on her. Why did people keep interrupting her?! "I w-"

"Quiet!" Dix hissed again. "There's something up ahead."​

It was only then that Mieri realized they had distanced themselves from the main line of the army. Having ranged far enough that an outcropping of rock and sand obscured their vision of what lay up ahead. A quiet chanting ringing out just above the din of nearby waves.

 

[Caeso Diemut]

Caeso's attention snapped forward when Dix's hand went up and he hissed his singular word. All of the Rangers dropped to a knee, eyes alert, bows raised and arrows nocked, ready to be drawn back. The wind was in their favor, carrying the sound of the chanting toward them and the sounds of their own approach away from whatever awaited on the other side of that outcropping.

He looked to Mieri. Signed, Take the other side.

Caeso flicked his hand. The twinned swords on his back drew themselves, and each spun over his shoulders and gracefully flew down into his waiting palms. A useful spell of his own devising, a combination of his own gift and a modified College Magic spell.

Wordlessly, he moved forward. Going toward the left side of the rocky outcropping. He stayed close to it. Peered carefully around the edge once close enough.

Three Kivren there, arranged like the points of a triangle, their attention rapt on some kind of watery orb each was channeling magic into during their chanting. A dozen Cortosi thralls surrounded them, an unmistakable fanatic look in their eyes.

Three Kivren. Perfect. He could take one, Mieri could take the other, the Rangers could mop up the thralls to feel like they did something, and then the last Kivren could be the proving ground for Mieri's beloved six copper technique. The only thing they would have to be wary of was ensuring none of the Kivren sang their Siren song and beguiled the Rangers. Otherwise, simple. Almost trivial.

This was the prime opportunity, in ambush and against a stationary target, for a Forcewave technique he liked to think of as the "Hammerblow." Simple in concept. Manifest, like a gathering storm, a pocket of Force above his target and then bring it crashing down on their head.

Caeso did just that. Eyes on one of the Kivren, the air above the creature warbled and became violently distorted. Then before the creature had time to look up, the Hammerblow came down.

A gigantic splatter of blood sprayed across the ground, coating the boots of the thralls and tails of the other two Kivren and turning the dirt crimson. Crushed utterly. Like a bug beneath a titanic foot.

Mieri

 

[Mieri]

Mieri moved exactly how Caeso had demanded, happy to let him take strategic lead.

She broke off from the side, catching Dix's eyes for a brief moment and making swift motion towards the other flank. Quickly she crept, the sound of chanting growing louder until her head poked up over some of the rocks. Her eyes flickered over the scene before her.

Lips thinned as she counted the thralls, though most of her attention fell on the three Kivren in the center.

From across the way she caught Caeso's eyes, noting where he was and the intent in his eyes.

Mieri frowned, glancing at the clearing below and considering for a moment. Unlike the Rangers, or Caeso, she wasn't much for attacking at range. In her head she began to map out a path, her fingers furling and unfurling into fists as she readied herself.

A slow, deep breath folded into her lungs, she rose up ever so slightly, and then just as Caeso brought down the hammer Mieri darted forward.

Like an uncoiling spring Mieri launched herself. The energy and magic within her launched he girl forward. She moved like a blur, dashing from the rocks and rushing through the string of thralls in the blink of an eye. Within seconds she reached the three Kivren. Coming to a sudden stop as her fist connected with the second of the strange amphibians.

The sound of shattering bones drowned out only by splattering blood of the Kivren Caeso had killed.

 

[Caeso Diemut]

Caeso swept his sword forward, giving the go ahead for the Rangers, but it proved unnecessary. At Caeso's unleashing of the Hammerblow and Mieri's dash, the Rangers all lined up on either side of the outcropping, arrows already drawn and ready, and unleashed barbed hell on the thralls.

Good. Very well. Maybe Yorick's aspirations weren't so lackluster after all. The Rangers, thus far, were proving themselves a capable unit still worthy of their reputation. Sergeant Gainsborough's bluster wasn't baseless.

The thralls were in disarray. Some had wheeled on Mieri. Some had turned when the sound of the Hammerblow crashed down. Some ran at the Rangers and some stood in place, frozen not with fear but mayhap with a lack of coherent orders or instinct.

But they were falling to the Rangers' hail of arrows.

The last Kivren quickly dispelled the water orb, the locus of magic making a loud splashing sound upon its dispersal. The Kivren (perhaps in a panic? Caeso had not seen its face) turned and, with astonishing speed, tried to slither away.

Caeso was advancing forward. He absently swiped his left sword out and cut the head from a charging thrall.

Then he stopped and aimed and channeled for a second and summoned a reverse Forcewave. It slammed into the last Kivren and sent him flying backward, backward, all the way to the rocky outcropping next to Caeso with a dull SMACK. And there it was pinned, struggling against the Force which now pinned it against the stone like the ceaseless wind of a gale.

"I may have broken one of its bones," Caeso called facetiously to Mieri over the commotion, as he looked with disdain upon the wretched creature.

Mieri