Quest Old Stories, New Beginnings[Templar]

[Skuld Zajac]

With help, Skuld was equipped quickly and both set to the walls. Crossbow in hand, her assistant went along with those in their order while Skuld stood beside Saul and waited.

She tugged the medallion she had been given from beneath her armor and gave it a long look before stuffing it back into place. Silently she prayed for their luck to hold out one more time.

 

[Saul Talith]

"No ballista." Saul said quietly.

They hadn't brought any siege equipment, though he knew that there were still some scattered somewhere among the walls. He doubted any of them would work though. Lips thinned for a moment, his eyes narrowing on the blob that was quickly rushing through the field.

"Close the gates!" He yelled. "Brace them and focus upon the western walls."

That was where the largest breach of the walls were.

A scowl crossed his face. There was no doubt in his mind the Nisae would attempt to climb the walls. They were an agile people, though generally more known for their cavalry. Still, they were not to be underestimated.

 

[Anastasia]

Ana could be seen for a moment in the courtyard, dressed to the nines with a sword in hand. Yet the blonde Leane stood in front of her, a hand on her shoulder to stop her from passing. A tense exchanged occurred, Leane remaining calmer than Ana. After a long back and forth, a slump of defeat slipped through Ana's body. Her sword was put away, the helmet yanked off. While she tried to not depart in utter anger with Leane, she couldn't help the whirlwind of frustration that was her departure.

She went into the Great Hall with the civilians, seeing to it that the door was secured behind them as she guarded the lives in there instead.

She would not be seen for the remainder of the battle.

 

[Draedamyr]

Sat at the edge of the breach, Draedamyr was afforded an excellent view of the tribesmen below. They had gathered a distance from the Fort and seemed to be discussing their next move. He saw some of them gesticulating towards the towers. In hingsight having a few men pretending to be preparing the broken remains of the siege weapons up there might have been enough to scare off the marauders.

He couldn't see much armour on them. There were definitely a few of their leaders carrying severed heads and skulls at their belts. Charming. Not much armour meant that every one of the thirty bolts he had laid out would probably down a man.

They would be funneled into the breach he stood next to. It wasn't a difficult climb from there across the broken stones to the ramparts. If they made it then they would have to fight him from several feet below.

As tired as he was it would take more than a few barbarians to best him in those conditions.

"I don't suppose sending someone out to talk would lead to anything more than a head on a spike," he said out loud. The circle of marauders dispersed and then a horn sounded once more.

"Never mind. A bit late now." Draedamyr wound his crossbow. If he ran out of bolts before they managed to scramble up to meet the defenders then he had a nice pile of rocks too.

 

[Skuld Zajac]

Skuld had turned to address another when the horn sounded, drawing the crossbow from her hip as she began to wind the weapon. Others among her order were quickly following suit, some already taking aim and waiting for a better shot.

 

[Saul Talith]

The Templar were not meant to be soldiers.

Not really.

Originally the Order had been created to fight monsters, mages, and everything the darkness brought. Over time that had changed of course, they had morphed and adapted. Over the millenia of the Templar's existence they had fought as many men as monsters, but most of them had never signed up for that.

It just so happened the skills needed to fight both tended to overlap. "Shields at the front."

Saul was more speaking to himself than giving Orders, observing the Templar in Heavy plate with tower shields already standing at the front of the breach.

"Crossbows in the back." He muttered. "Mages on the walls."

The last part was the unbelievable bit, they actually had mages. Templar who excelled in combat magic. An odd thought that, especially when they were being charged by a barbarian horde.

A sounded horn ripped Saul back into the moment, his eyes shifting to the breach below. "HOLD THEM!"

He called out the order. There was no speech, no inspirational words, only a single command. They were being attacked, their new home was being threatened.

They all knew what was at stake.

 

[Draedamyr]

The mass of marauders charging the walls looked fearsome at first. Draedamyr could count on one hand the number of swordsmen that he felt could match him in skill. No amount of skill could have kept him alive out beyond the protection of the walls.

It became less fearsome when they reached the base of the walls. Not only was there a steep incline first to take the momentum out of the charge, but the base of the breach was a steep climb up loose rocks and bricks. Several of them went down as a dislodged stone became a landslide.

And then the arrows started. They were easy targets. Suddenly the marauders were trying to scramble across loose rocks and their own dead. One of them waved his axe and cried out in rage. Just because he could, Draedamyr launched a rock down at him. It struck the man's head and sent him tumbling back down the slope.

To draedamyr's surprise they kept on coming.

 

[Skuld Zajac]

The chorus of bolts and snaps of crossbows began. With alarming speed Skuld's order began to stagger shots, each calling a target as the next aimed and found home. A few abandoned their crossbows and moved toward the front, swords and kite shields prepared to stop any from advancing beyond the line of tower shields. Skuld had an assistant suddenly from her order, a pair of crossbows being switched as the other wound and loaded while she placed shots.

 

[Saul Talith]

The bolts came first, and then came something else.

Saul didn't know what it was, what they did, but he saw the effects. The air began to sizzle and crack, his skin crawled, and then suddenly there was a loud snap.

It was as if the air simply seemed to burst apart and explode, a shockwave of flame erupting within the very center of the charging Marauders. Fire caught upon flesh, screams began to echo. Then it happened again, and again. Small pulsing beats of flame that seemed to erupt and explode within the enemy rank.

The sight nearly turned Saul's stomach.

His gaze wandered along the wall, through his own men until he saw them. Black Templar, their clothes more robes than armor. They wore the symbols of their Order, each of them with eyes closed as they concentrated on their task.

 

[Draedamyr]

He paused over his next shot. Out of the smoke crawled several more of the marauders, only to die in a hail of bolts. Draedamyr saved his ammunition. They weren't scrambling up towards his position on the broken ramparts yet. It was a dark, yet practical thought to know that saving any of the humans would only gift them a few more years of life. They were mayflies in the wind, not destined to live long enough to truly experience the world.

A horn blared in the distance. Those already in the breach started to desperately scramble back down towards what had once been a moat. Draedamyr looked down at a soot-stained face of rage. One of the younger ones pressed on, climbing up towards him. As his axe was lifted high Draedamyr gave just the slightest perception of motion.

The next moment the tribal warrior was rolling back down the slope, trying to stem the flow of blood from his neck. Bloodied Reverie was now in Draedamyr's hand.

 

[Skuld Zajac]

The symphony of bolts and sharp snaps of crossbows stopped with the next horn to sound. The Black Roses loaded before checking their stock of ammunition. Some handed off what remained and joined the others below, others divided what they had left or offered to load.

Skuld and her assistant loaded and gathered bolts. A small stockpile of rocks and broken pieces of the wall slowly growing as a just in case while the shield and sidearm sat against the wall in preparation.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul watched, his expression grim.

Something pulled at his heart-strings, a desire to fight, to help, but the knowledge that he could not. His arm was shattered into a hundred pieces, and he knew that any attempt to join the fray would only be to the detriment of the others.

So instead he had to watch.

There were the Templar of the Black Rose who seemed to strike home with every bolt, those of the Broken Sword entering the melee with shields forward. The Black flinging their spells.

It was quickly turning to carnage.

The marauders seemed confused, some pressing, some pulling back as the sound of a horn called out. They attempted to attack Herath, but none had realized what they faced. The Templar were not simple squatters, no, they were soldiers.

 

[Draedamyr]

With the shields plugging the gap in the wall and giving the tribesmen no route forwards Draedamyr was left with little to do. Trying to get uphill against a line of shields with several rows of Templar behind was a big ask. With their numbers being picked off from above they had no chance of getting enough weight to break through.

Another one of the sprightly ones made the climb up the broken inside of the wall towards Draedamyr on the ramparts. The elf raised his sword. Suddenly he felt a deep sense of melancholy. This was a waste. He hoped the young brave might realise that there was no hope if he kept climbing.

Reverie fell just once. The tribesman tumbled back down to join a growing pile of bodies behind the line of battle. They were starting to realise that their plan of attack was not going to break them in. Several were pulling back from the line of shields and climbing over the dead.

He hoped the pointless death would end here. If they had ropes and ladders and tried to sneak into the Fort from multiple directions at night then the Templar might still be in danger.

 

[Skuld Zajac]

They held their fire, watching for signs of a return and clear views of fire as Skuld took a glance at the Black Templar that had conjured up the firestorms earlier. She made a mental note to never cross them considering the show they had just displayed.

 

[Saul Talith]

Saul couldn't help but feel his stomach churn.

The mauraders had retreated, at least for now, but their forces still remained on the field below. None of them were running entirely, lingering instead just out of shot of crossbow and bow. "Send some of the engineers to see if they can't repair the siegeworks."

He spoke quietly, but one of the men quickly went running.

"Pull those from the frontline back into the courtyard, have those that remained in the back guard the gap." His fingers curled. "Get me the Chapter Master of the Black Templar."

A pause. "When she has time."

There was a conversation that needed to be had, one about potential and risk.