Chapter 30: The Toils of the Line (Flynn)

  Arrows rip through the sky and pierce the lines. Shields are up but some still slip through the cracks and gaps in armor that the soldiers give. "Fire the ballistae!" the cry rings through the air as Flynn calls for retaliation as the first wave of this battle for Lake Ike and perhaps the control of all the lands begins.

  The Bruin leader Varus sends the Naudiz in to attack. He is wise, he knows the Naudiz must see victory to gain any traction or foothold of lands in Wiera post the war. He also knows that once the bloodshed begins the feral side will take over and the beast will desire more and more fighting. They charge and cross the fields quickly with their high speeds on both wings and paws. The roars and cries of the transformations shatter focus in the Valtrex lines as they close in. Flynn sees it in his men. The volley of arrows was merely to set the tone and collapse the waves and focus of the men as the beasts covered the distance.

  "THUMMM!" The ballistae, the only three ranged weapons in possession by Flynn's army fire true and pierce dead two of the hawk Naudiz and 2 archers of the Bruin. Varus is not amused as he signals for another round of arrows sent over. The hero general of the Bruin knows he doesn't have to win a deciding victory today, but seeks to see how his luck will favor him. "Will Fortira, the spirit of luck grace us today men?" The men all sound off as the second round of arrows sends a deep terror and panic over the Valtrex lines. Some get caught trying to move to a position, and some simply fail to cover themselves properly as arrows connect and pierce. Stripping strength and sapping life from others.

  "Flynn here comes the fun," Peter calls as he sees the beasts closing in. They are massive in their transformed state. The hawks, the tigers, the wolves, all massive in size to a man.

  "My Lord watch out!" A soldier pushes Peter out of the way as an enemy ballistae shot slams through his chest, fully impaling him. Peter rises to his feet and is taken aback by the damage and carnage. He knows he has just escaped death and while a moment ago he was ready to charge the animals with reckless abandon, he now sees his mortality and is hit with a wave of caution as he pulls himself back to the main ranks.

  "Brother, please keep patient, the beasts are closing in. This should cease the barrages we are enduring." Flynn puts his hand around the head of his kin, trying to knock the spirit back into him. "Men prepare to defend yourselves." Flynn raises his lance skyward and grabs his shield. As the thundering paws close in to crash upon the Valtrex lines. He has done the best he can to prepare. He has, built a drop moat in front of the infantry position and then created a maze of barricades for him and his men to retreat into if the line is over-pressured by the beasts. His own three ballistae are already behind the barricades and on a push cart to allow quick moving if needed.

  The Naudiz advance as if they seem a wild horde to the naked eye, but they stay as their packs. The wolves, the rabbits, the beasts, the birds. They move as one inside the horde.

  The lines crash as the beasts of the ground attack from their lowered position or simply leap over the moated drop dug by the Valtrex men. The birds swoop and attack from above, proving strong and resilient. Flynn knows though that these creatures will attack without caution, but he also knows that the transformation is very taxing on their person. He hopes he and the men can hold out for this exhaustion to shift them back to their human form, and give them an opportunity for the Valtrex to safely counter.

  Peter regains his composure as he sees a tiger jump over the lines and begin to take on and eviscerate a pair of soldiers unable to match his strength. Peter runs toward the beast and gets its attention with a taunting display. The tiger turns from his current prey as clashes occur on all sides, surrounding and breaking lines ensue. Spears hit flesh and teeth, and claws rend the army of the Valtrex. The tiger lunges at Peter. The second son holds his axe steady with two hands over his face as he braces the impact from the tiger's leap. Peter holds and grunts while the tiger is shoving and clawing, trying to get around the warrior's leather spaulders and bravado. The man shoves to the left rather than shoving back straight. This movement of weight drops the tiger and gives Peter an opening. He then drops the axe upon the neck of the recovering beast. The tiger shifts back as his death is done. Peter pants as he gets his first taste of the sheer power of the Naudiz in combat. He grabs the hand of a soldier on his back nearby as He stumbles about trying to keep the lines as all around him, pain, fear, and death linger and hug the air.

  A hawk flies true overhead. Yet Flynn catches it clean in the underbelly with his lance. The bird screams a pure sound so rough and strong that it pops Flynn's eardrums as it falls off the spear tip to his death. The general calls and pleads for another firing of the ballistae. The men were ready from the last shot as they fired their second round. Two targeted the birds and 1 targeted the Bruin ballistae mounds.

  "A good start it seems." Varus laughs as his servant hands him a cup from the safety of the good distance they are from the conflict. Yet a crash quickly occurs not 40 feet from the Dol hero, as he has to witness the very closest ballistae he has to himself crash and fall apart in that moment. The loud thunder came from the power of the enemy soldiers decimating their offensive weapons. The men look to see two of the ballistae are destroyed by the shot and the resulting shrapnel. This angers Varus and his officers but he is not moved to foolish action. He is patient.

  Back in the thick of the fighting the Naudiz are breaking the lines of Valtrex men with firm force and fierce attacks. Claws rip through armor and the men cry as they fight through their terror, sweat and blood flow as a river. Flynn knocks a wolf back with his lance and then slams his heavy shield into the skull of another. He then thrusts his lance forward and skewers a third wolf. His form is impeccable. He appears with his brother Peter to be the main threat to the Naudiz force.

  The skirmish ensues. Peter is seeking the heads of the clans, hoping for two things, the best fight and perhaps an honorable death, or the ability to sever the heads of the leaders of the clans. However, his efforts prove to only get him into deeper conflict. The Naudiz try and break through and collapse the lines of the Gebo soldiers. However, the discipline, resolve, and planning set forth by lord Flynn prove a healthy edge in the conflict. Bodies lay all about, but the fighting continues.

  "Pull back to the palisade corridors!" Flynn cries to his men as they begin both in terror and in disciplined formation retreat the lines. The rider Orlando is at the side of the general and though his battle skill is minimal each wound he inflicts proves a little edge to the cause. For the fight, he wears at his back the banner of the Valtrex, a flag to signal to his comrades the position and standing of their general. He was honored to be wearing such a banner but felt it made him that much greater a target as the beasts wildly charged at the general. Flynn signals Orlando to move to the inside of the palisade. The rider is hesitant but then moves with purpose, leaving his general and the few who remain at his side in dwindling numbers.

  Peter is equally out of position but rallying. Hard. He slams his axe into the head of a bird attacking, sending him to death on the ground. Though his axe is stuck. A cat charges him and knocks him to his back. The two begin wrestling in the bloody ground turning to mud from the sweat and blood mixing. The ground is slippery as the pain of the day proves the fertilizer for the field. Peter catches the cat in a slip of posture and gets the cat in a choke. He squeezes with everything he has in his body. Biting down so hard on his teeth that one cracks from the pressure he exerts. Until, the sound of a snap occurs and the cat shifts back into his human form, showing his death. Peter still holds his grip for a few moments longer as he fails to realize his victory, or perhaps he is feral from the rage of the battle. He is covered in mud as he lets go of the corpse and gasps for air while flailing and hoping to regain his footing and flee back as he sees the banner retreat to the palisade traps. He pulls himself to his feet, exhausted by the fighting. He pushes the hair out of his eyes, causing further blood and mud to cover his face offering little sight and skin relief to the man. He takes staggered and beleaguered steps to the corpse of the bird now reverted. He pushes his boot over the skull and then pulls back on his axe to free it from the body. His hearing opens and he realizes that around him are few of his allies and mostly the beasts and birds zoning in and slaying the remaining of the Valtrex men caught beyond the wooden traps. Peter readies himself as a tiger charges him. He yells with everything in his soul and slashes his axe upward at the leaping beast.

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  "WACK!" the axe swing both cuts and breaks the jaw of the tiger as he is redirected to the right of the warrior. He falls to the ground not dead but severely injured and wincing in pain at the wound to his jawline. Peter staggers. The swing took most of the energy he still had. The man is shocked as he thought himself a true force of a man, and here he was. Faltering.

  "Not the best time to run out of energy." He says with small laughter as he catches a hawk flying in from overhead. He looks over and sees Flynn taking his small and scaled steps to pull his remaining unit back in as calm a fashion as he can. The fighting is taking a toll.

  "SHUUHS!" this loud series of calming noises comes over the fighting, mostly from the front lines and then nearer the rear of the Naudiz. The noises give both Peter and Flynn a surge of joy. The Naudiz are reverting. They are equally tired and unable to maintain their beast form. Peter feels his hands gain a rush of renewed energy and he calls for the men to rally as he swings and splits in half a cat Naudiz. They are now in their human forms and thus lesser in combat. Peter sees this as the exact need for the army. He calls for a rally. "KILL THEM!"

  "HALT!" a voice more powerful from the palisade area emerges. "All Valtrex stand down," Flynn calls to the people. "Naudiz, men who have sided with the Bruin. You have fought with honor today. Allow us to disperse for the day and take stock and reflect on this fight."

  "Brother, what are you doing?" Peter questions from a distance.

  "What I believe is right. We are in no condition ourselves to continue this fight and I would rather not get the remaining men of the Bruin fired up to charge our lines." Flynn says with his shield and spear relaxing at his sides. The fighting ceases instantly, mostly from the confusion of everything. Though the Naudiz leaders emerge from the piles and corpses and the ranks. They are all massive in their frame except for the rabbit Javy. The largest by far being Rigel the Kodiak.

  "You fight with honor Gebo. This is a strange thing to see. In my 264 years, I have never seen a Gebo ask for a ceasefire once our bodies are spent and in need of rest."

  "You have fought well today, I do not know how many of your race or of each of your tribe exist in this world. I do not wish to see your lines erased further from history from a small groups to myths and legend." Flynn replies. Rigel looks to the others, Brail has a series of cuts on his arm, Vibral has a torn wing, and Aram is panting heavily, clearly still interested in fighting but exhausted.

  "I think we will take you up on your request. Though I cannot say if or when this will occur again going forward." Rigel speaks, being the largest of the feral ones, his voice carries the weight and while many in the ranks still are red with blood lust seeing and feeling a good battle, they heed the word of the brown bear. The lines separate. There is a frustration that is felt by those back at the camp for the Bruin. Yet, Varus still feels he has won the day, dealing deep blows to the Valtrex forces. The Naudiz limp and walk back to their tents to treat their wounds and prepare for the next assault. The Valtrex men are left with the dead and the dying. The men spread about the bloodshed searching for the wounded and those able to survive. They find few, and those they find with life still but it is lingering weakly, they help them onward to the eternal, with merciful lance blows.

  "They really are just like us," Flynn speaks as he and Orlando take stock of the day. They observe the dead posture of a Naudiz man and a Gebo man. There are differences sure, the Gebo are normal human composition and cannot shift into beats and birds, but the Naudiz corpse, the Naudiz body is only so different. "They share this land with us. Do they really have to be an enemy or a scourge?"

  "I know not my lord." Orlando is taken aback as this was the most Naudiz he or any in the army of Valtrex had ever seen in their lives. Sure some lived here or there all throughout the lands, but most were either treated as slaves or neutered in one way or another, weakening them permanently. The field is full, arrows and spears and claws and blood surround the littered corpses all around.

  "MEN, let us pull our camp back a few hundred yards, grab any wounded, and get your bandages on. We still have much to do." Flynn calls out. Peter is simply sitting in the spot where he was when the fighting was called off. Near the absolute forefront of the fighting. He is still breathing heavily and trying to calm down. He is oblivious to the commands around him.

  "Sir," Orlando puts his hand on his shoulder. Peter shakes his head as if he frees his mind from the haze.

  "Yes, rider?" Peter replies. Orlando explains that the camp is moving further from the killing fields. Flynn gave this order to allow his men to prevent them from having to clear the dead, in addition, he sought to allow the dead to be an obstacle for the enemy to have to maneuver through during any incoming attack. It is a rather grotesque ploy, and one that many would consider dishonorable, but Flynn believes it will sober and weaken the morale of the Bruin men on their next march.

  …

  "What stands the results of the battle?" Flynn asks an advisor to his side.

  "Our losses are substantial. We seem to have 236 dead, and 127 wounded. With all our ballistae still active."

  "Oh Kaya, that is worse than I thought, those Naudiz really are ferocious." Flynn slams his hand against the table in his officer's tent. Going into the battle he had little more than 500 total men at the ready, and while he knew he was outnumbered he had hoped his men would prove the better, yet the inclusion of the feral ones had proven to be the difference. As he knew most men would falter 1 vs 1 against the larger and stronger Naudiz. The report showed further that the heaviest casualties from Peter's army as he was positioned the deepest in the conflict with barely 4 of his men escaping free of notable injury. "Get everyone mending as best they can and call all soldiers to bathe in the lake tonight, we must keep our wounds clean!" Groans and aches filled the camp air as the men slapped wet cloth and chopped away rotten and damaged flesh, some even burning wounds with fire to clear out any impurities. The men are scared but they know they are fighting for something larger than themselves. This is the first time in the series of wars this generation of Valtrex men have ever fought on the defensive. Whether they are from Valor proper, or any of the towns or villages under Valtrex rule, they know this battle is for the safety of their families their wives, and those they have taken under their banner. Yes, there have been events and conquests of towns that have been done in wicked fashion, most notably by Lurch who controls Til, but the men of this army see a purpose in their fighting that is bigger than themselves.

  …..

  "Why call off the fighting? You guys could have crushed the remainder of that worn-down army." Varus speaks to the Naudiz leaders in his officers' tent. The Gebo men of the Bruin privy to the conversation all look on in dismay and agitation at the ceasefire and the stalling of the battle. "We have the numbers and they were on the ropes."

  "We were worn from the charge and the fighting. Our bodies don't sweat when in shifted form. Meaning we don't have the stamina that we have as humans." Brail explains while wrapping his left arm.

  "You mean sub-humans!" The comment is by a captain near the edge of the tent. The words fired spark a loud growl and visceral look from all the Naudiz leaders present. Rigel silences them all quickly and then proceeds to walk toward the captain. His steps are heavy as he is a giant of a man. The Kodiak saunters and with his movements, none of the other Bruin men of Gebo origin dare move. They know who holds the real strength in the room, or at least allow themselves to remain calm as the movement of the bear. The captain knows he has messed up as the bear is now directly in front of him. Rigel then leans down to the eye level of the captain.

  "Well these sub-humans, might like some help on the frontline." He says with a grace that strikes terror into the captain as he is now sweating bullets. "Perhaps you and your men will join me on the frontline for the next assault since you most certainly can fight better than a sub-human ever could."

  "ENOUGH RIGEL!" Varus speaks. "Captain apologize to the bear and leave this tent." The captain did as commanded. The Bear stood back up to his true height as the man exited, returning to the general conversation of battle preparation.

  "We lost 64 cats and 30 birds, 5 wolves, and 4 rabbits in the skirmish. If it please you, we will go and mourn tonight for our brothers." Aram spoke breaking the silence. The Naudiz leaders left the tent without any rebuttal from Varus. They both knew the truth of this campaign and how the Bruin were putting a seemingly impossible task before the feral ones in the fragile hope of them no longer starving in desert and mountain lands or hiding in the hills unable to truly in any real way thrive and recover the damage from all the years back their tribes were dealt when they sided with Iagus.

  "Be careful with our brother's lives," Aram spoke to the others. They knew there were others around the realm of their tribes, but this wasn't simply a collection of warriors. This was the collective of their people, men, women, young and old. These feral ones, were the only of their tribes living in their tribes, be it large or small in number this was their people. And each death, was a blow to their species continued existence.

  As the evening moon arose from the east to dance over the sky the men of the camps who fought for their respective sides both felt a similar sobriety and a feeling of being trapped to a purpose absent a reasonable choice or option.