Chapter 31: The Second Assault (Flynn)

  Morning breaks on a third day. The birds and the creatures feast upon the flesh that rots in between the two camps. The smell fills the air and even though the bodies are closer to the Valtrex camp, the Bruin men are downwind and thus are swarmed by the odious stench that with each hour grows with a force to knock a man off a horse.

  "THIS MEN! THIS IS OUR FATE AND THE FATE OF YOUR FAMILIES IF YOU FAIL!" Flynn calls out to the people in his ranks. He knows he is outmatched and outmanned. He knows that with each skirmish ahead the doom of Valor, the home of his family nears unless he can turn the tide or hold out for further aid. Yet, he knows there isn't much to be had. The royal guard of Valor, they have their post. The small city garrisons are more peacekeepers than warriors. His uncle and cousin, Olec and Keith, with their men at Port Blanc. The house of Mert has pledged to the Bruin, and the central plains are currently held in check by Conner Bolden. The only reinforcements truly with actual power are the unit of Lady Meagan, the war queen. And she was off on a special quest to subdue Winter's Edge and Costal Wharf. So Flynn knew he could not rely on her for aid.

  "How long until their next assault?" Peter asks his brother.

  "Not long now. The Naudiz surely are well rested." Flynn speaks with uncertainty.

  "We're going to win, those of us that survived are stronger and better able to stand up to their attack." Peter seemed confident as he sharpened his axe, the moment of fear from the last battle seemed long since lost on him.

  "You don't understand Peter." Flynn rubbed his hand through his hair. "The longer these wars progress the stronger will be all that remains. That is the nature of war, the strong stand, and the weak perish. With each battle, the chaff is thrown out and the cream grows to new heights. Soon all who are left will be legends of renown, spoken of in hush whispers with the ability to raise men to passion and cause women to blush."

  "I hope they blush when they think of me, and my axe." Peter sounded ready.

  "Why don't we focus on surviving and not wet thighs?" Flynn was not having the delusions and daydreams of his brother. He saw to it that the camp was ready, as his men were still decimated from the last fight and many we still recovering from rough injuries.

  "You're always too serious." Peter laughed.

  "I am the firstborn it is my duty." Flynn gave his response hoping to end the conversation.

  "Is that why you haven't married Danielle yet?" Peter struck a nerve. Danielle was Flynn's betrothed but it was prior to the onset of the war he wished to not make a widow of her, so he pledged to marry at the conclusion of the war. Though it had been nearly 13 months since his army had left Valor. Flynn wondered if he made the wrong choice. Perhaps he could be a father by now. Yet he was just a man of conviction. Whereas his brother sought only cruel displays of rowdiness and violence for pure sport and pleasure, even in training. The two were different. But that did not matter as they watched the sun light up the field and move across from their camp to the Bruin camp.

  "TO ARMS!" Flynn calls as the light reveals the truth. The Naudiz were marching in once more. Ready for a longer fight. They kept their human form as they moved, knowing the Valtrex men only had a few ballistae and they were not ready to fire. The Naudiz marched keeping their human shape with the intent of storing stamina. Flynn knew this was the battle. The one that would set all things up going forward. Panic rose in the camp as men who could barely walk knew this was to be their stand and that they could not give in, as even if the Naudiz showed mercy they knew the Bruin would not. Several pulled themselves from deathbeds and grabbed what lances they could, armor-less and bandaged, and crying in pain they were prepared as best they could.

  The Naudiz encroached quickly. Flynn and Peter took their posts at the head of the palisade ramparts, knowing their presence and posture were going to be the key to emboldening the men to fight with every ounce of strength they still had. "If I fall Peter…" Flynn tries to speak as he stabilizes himself and sets his shield to purpose.

  "I know I know….." Peter smiles as he speaks. "I'll plow Danielle and make her call me Flynn." Flynn smiled for a moment and then shoulder-bashed his brother in playful jest. His humor was out of place but needed in the trenches as the beasts began howling with true power and making their move.

  The opening at the palisades of the camp was wide enough for 6 men to fit across with weapons in place. Flynn and Peter took the true center. Orlando was positioned at the rear with his spyglass he was heading the ballistae effort. The crew only had 6 bolts ready for firing but they still had to get the cords in place for the machines. They could not leave the line tensed overnight or for however long it could have been before an attack. Orlando liked this place better but knew the birds would be his issue in this battle as they were massive in size scale to his men and would target most likely the firing crew. All that remained were ready for the battle.

  The crashing at the front occurred as the beasts and birds battered the choke point while birds flew from above to target and grab Valtrex men from on high. One hawk managed to grab a man a proceed to pick him up off the ground then fly sky-high with the man in his talons, only to drop him to his death below. His body landed with a crunch on top of two other soldiers, killing them both from the impact. The crunch sent bones and limbs flying and the confusion in the ranks reared up. "LANCES HIGH!" one of the captains called to the men in the center. They sought to not let the birds cause further disruption by creating a spear line above them. The next series of fliers bombing down upon the mid and backlines found their efforts stymied and even one got skewered by a ballistae bolt, knocking the bird dead to the ground and ripped clean in two from the impact of the giant bolt.

  The sight of a comrade torn in two while airborne sobers the birds. The beats however crash with full force upon the men of Valtex. Peter and Flynn hold their own at the choke parrying and dodging, countering, and creating damage when able, yet the fighting is fierce and the allies around them are not of the same cloth, both in style and prowess and in quality of armor and weapons. The men of Valtrex are dropping like flies in extreme heat. They are injured and flailing and giving what effort they can and yet compared to a stronger and older Naudiz warrior, they are like children to an adult. Death descends upon them quickly and breaks several and leaves them as a dead body and an obstacle for going around. Flynn looks to his rear and sees his brother and himself growing in distance from the main lines. Flynn calls to his brother to take a few steps back to tighten the numbers and reduce a flanking chance on their person. The palisade lines are narrow and deep ensuring the best chance for a fair fight for the men, yet they all know that most of the soldiers are food in a 1 v1 against the beasts, as they continue to be outmatched, pushed, broken, and rend in two.

  Flynn then stomps his shield deep. He smacks the nearest wolf back a few paces creating a narrow separation, but enough, enough to proclaim his call. "MEN I WILL YIELD GROUND NO FURTHER! STAND WITH ME FOR VALTREX!"

  "HOOOOOO!" the call is weaker than he would like as wounded fight as though they are not, and men stab at the sky to keep the birds from swooping below and breaking the backs. Flynn knows his end is coming but he believes he can in this moment provide the best service to his father that he can, buying him time to prepare for whatever siege. He smacks another cat while shield bashing another into the spear thrust of a grunt next to him. Peter holds and knocks a wolf from his side, using his power and the leverage of leaning forward to add power to his stance.

  The Naudiz see a victory line and they press on with more determination. More fervor as while sure, they are losing men as well, the Valtrex men flail and fall with ease. The Naudiz know they still must claim the victory, but the smell of the demise is strong. Brail and the other leaders of the Naudiz races take a breath and smile at one another as they can see this phase of the mission ending, the victory is won. "This much closer are we to gaining a home," Brail spoke to Aram, Javy, and Vibral. Rigel was moving in near the head, the bear saw the prowess of Peter and Flynn and sought to end them, thus saving Naudiz lives in the process from two of the only soldiers really able to outmatch or evenly match any of their men. Yet, Rigel was a Kodiak Bear, a giant, and a powerhouse. He charges toward Flynn, knocking several smaller cats and inured men on the ground to the side as he runs with his teeth showing and passion for fighting in his lungs. He roars as he closes in on the general.

  "MY LORD!"

  "RAWRR!" A soldier jumps in front of the claws of the bear and takes a ripping strong blow to the chest. The slash rips through his armor and also smashes a rib in the process. The man is dead, even though his body lingers a moment or two longer as he hits the ground unable to breathe. Flynn silently thanked him as he kept his focus on challenging the bear that charged at him. Peter notices this and moves to double up with his brother to battle the bear. The Kodiak is angry at the notion and roars loudly. He then moves in only to get blocked by Flynn and Peter both holding the general's shield together to brace for the power of the impact. Looking down the force from the collision pushes both brothers a few inches into the ground. Somehow their legs hold. The Kodiak is not stayed or detoured, however. He takes his left paw and this time swipes upward colliding with the underside of the great shield, lifting it from the ground with Flynn still holding onto it and sending him flying several feet backward.

  Peter jumps forward to go between the bear's legs. The warrior slams his axe into the bear's side before taking a shot to the body by a cat behind him. The cat wrestles the second son to the ground as the axe stays put in the bear's side though it is not deep. The wound is still felt but it does not route the monster, it does not stay his bloodlust. The bear turns his jaw back and gripping the axe with his teeth he pulls it from his side and hurls the weapon into the Valtrex lines, colliding it into the chest of a soldier standing at the forefront.

  Flynn rises to his feet as he sees the carnage around him with his soldiers present, the men he loved and sought to protect and fight with until the end are overpowered and overmatched. He dares not give in to these thoughts and seeks to ensure that his men do not see him standing idle or pondering. "If I give up, they give up. I must fight on." He mumbles as he rises to his feet without his shield, he grips his lance and charges into a tiger, ramming his spear deep. He then pushes a cat directly into the wooden spikes of the palisade walls, causing the cat to scream in terror to its death. The bear is feasting on the weak, smashing and clawing through leather and soft iron armor that provides him no challenge as he sees the general rallying men to his cause. Rigel knows this is his challenge.

  "RAHHR! FIGHT ME SON OF FULCRUM!" He charges as if the sigil of the jackal upon the armor of Flynn is offensive to the eyes of the bear. He runs over two soldiers of the Valtrex and knocks a cat Naudiz into the palisade wall himself as he closes the separation he previously created. Flynn pulls his spear out of the tiger. He then throws the body toward the Bear to distract him. The body provides enough confusion as the bear bites down and slashes at it for the general to spear the bear's front right paw through with his lance. The bear screams out in pain as he loosens his bite on the dead comrade. The spear is pinned to the ground as the bear winces and tries to move and free himself from the pain at hand. Flynn can't seem to pull the lance from the ground. The bear then in a moment of painful sobriety bites down on the lance just above his hand and breaks it in his jaws. Flynn lets go of the lance as he now only has the back half without any bladed portion. He then falls to his back and scuttles backward never turning his eyesight from the bear as he feels around for a replacement lance on the ground. Rigel groans as he pulls his hand through the broken back of the lance, freeing himself from the ground. However, the damage was done in bringing the ferocious monster to a more level playing field as Rigel winces and clenches his teeth when trying to put weight on his right front paw. Yes, Rigel can stand on his hind legs and yes he can still bite and slash with his left. But standing as tall as he is only puts him out of range versus the Gebo in attacking, and allows their lances a safer lane to strike him. He grunts at this understanding as he seeks to still fight but hopes another leader will swap in for him at this moment.

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  Aram sees the opportunity and puts a paw on the bear's shoulders letting him know that he can sit this one out for a moment. Flynn has found a new spear though it was far inferior to his now broken weapon in both weight, design, and strength. Putting Flynn at a further disadvantage. Flynn grinds his teeth as the tiger slowly saunters into position. All around men are failing and Naudiz are dying and yet, the leaders have only one focus, him and his brother to a lesser extent.

  Orlando in the back is trying with all his might to keep the ballistae intact with the few men that can be spared to man the machines but with another crashed-to-ground soldier, the collision with the mechanism breaks the machine; making two down and ruined in the conflict.

  Flynn, Peter, Orlando, and all the others feel undone and fight on with all they can muster though their faith is dwindling with the seconds.

  "DO NOT FALTER NEPHEW!" the words ring in the wind, grabbing the attention of all. The Naudiz force outnumbered and was closing in on the final unspoiled men of the Valtrex force as the words rang throughout the camp. All eyes turned to see a small reinforcement force pouring in at the sides of the Naudiz lines. Keith and Olec Valtrex, the younger brother of Fulcrum and his son. Their men had raced down with haste from Port Blanc in the north. Keith is a famed warrior and his son is a fighter with a promising future ahead. They swing and intercept the Naudiz, turning focus quickly and forcing the birds to stop harassing the backlines.

  "BREAK THEM!" Olec the son calls as he rallies his men onward. The father and son command a force of 120 soldiers. Most are slightly more experienced than Flynn and Peter's force as they had been the conquest force of several of the cities now under Valtrex rule. However, the soldiers are still inferior in battle prowess to the average Naudiz combatant. However, this matters not as the arrival bolsters the remaining men of Valtrex and stalls the confidence of the Naudiz in the conflict. Vibral and Javy pull their focus to the new challengers while Brail and Aram keep their forces focused on the men already present.

  The fight rages with bodies still falling and being ripped to shreds the events of three days past seem to be happening anew. With neither side faltering, and with the Naudiz somehow this time holding their form longer than prior as if they had done something or taking an accelerant agent or spell to maintain their form longer. The hope for the Gebo of the Naudiz tiring out just isn't happening.

  Back at the Bruin camp, a captain addresses the hero General Varus who is looking keenly at the battle. "Varus, the Naudiz are up against reinforcements now!" He speaks with a flutter in his voice. "We must go and aide them in combat."

  Varus laughs at the notion. "Throw our men into that killing field. You must be out of your mind. We will not forfeit our lives protecting those filthy sub-humans. They seem to have done exactly the part I had hoped they would do, lessen their numbers and provide us a chance to smite the enemy without us taking damage." Varus marches forward and signals for his archer corps of 200 men to move into range, with six shots a piece.

  "Sir…." The captain calls as the archers take position.

  "What? This will decimate the men down there. I was waiting for exactly this chance. A chance to destroy the armies of Valtrex. And here it is, looking me in the face like a gift from Iagus."

  "Iagus?" the captain called.

  "FIRE!" Varus calls as he signals the archers to churn out their six shots on the battlefield. The arrows go flying in quick succession. The men are instructed to knock and loose the shots as quickly as possible to ensure less chance for the men to take cover. Even though they are downwind the wind provides no defense for the Naudiz and Gebo fighting up ahead.

  Aram closes in on Flynn ready to begin and third round of their private duel that has left Flynn with a dislocated shoulder and Aram with a few glancing wounds on his person. "Fall NOW VALTREX!"

  "SHUNNK!" "SHUNNNK!" "SLOOSH!" The arrows rip down from the heavens indiscriminately among the men. Naudiz and Gebo alike find themselves in the range of fire as the first arrows collide and pierce body and ground. Shot after shot comes upon the people on the field. Some catching three or four in rapid succession. Peter, still wrestling with the cat Naudiz suddenly hears the thud and finds the life fade from the cat as he reverts. Aram the tiger is hit multiple times and whimpers as he sees that he and his people are betrayed. Flynn grabs a dead body and rolls it atop him as his shield is still out of reach. Aram sees this and calls out to the people in the field both Naudiz and Gebo. "THE BRUIN ARE SEEKING TO KILL US ALL! QUIT FIGHTING AND TAKE COVER!" The birds are sitting ducks in the sky, as they are stricken through, both by arrow and ballistae shot as the long bolts fly clean through several birds in a single shot. Carnage ensues. Vibral tries to seek cover only to catch a bolt through his chest dropping him dead to the ground in a crash. The raven leader dies as a few more arrows pierce his arms and legs as he lays now reverted. All around the fighting has ceased as the only action is to try and find cover though cover cannot be so easily found.

  The bolts hurl forth even as the arrow rain slows to a crawl and then to a true halt. Over 1200 arrows had been sent upon the field. Yet, the final bolts of the conflict barrage the camp and the men. Slaying some who thought they had escaped death. Screams are no more as all who are alive, wounded, or clear of damage are simply thankful. Soon the final bolt crashes and connects with its last victim. The Bruin men are out of arrows and bolts…for now.

  "Well done men," Varus called off the dogs as the arrow supplies dwindled. His captain asks if now they will charge down the remainder. "No. We have a better plan in store for the remainder, plus I don't know how many of those sub-humans survived. I'd hate to lose men when we now have a perfect ploy available. He laughs as the archers pull back to their tents. The battle is over for the day.

  Flynn pushes the corpse off of him. He stumbles to his feet and begins looking around as all he sees is the dust kicked up from the large number of arrows and the panic that followed the calls to cover and hide. He calls out to the people who survived. He cannot see far with the dust still settling. Ahead his eyes adjust as he sees Aram the tiger. His body is pierced with 4 arrows, he lies on the ground panting heavily. He is unable to adjust himself and soon he reverts to his human form. He is still large, but the wounds show him to simply be a man on death's doorstep.

  "Fucking….Bruin cunt…" Aram spits blood as the words are mouthed. Around the scene, a few others emerge from the rubble and from under the bodies and arrow piles. Some are unscathed and lucky while others are limping and or wounded beyond salvation, at least in this life.

  "You…you didn't deserve this tiger," Flynn speaks to his opponent. He offers him a hand of fellowship as the wounded tiger is visibly nearing the end. Aram reaches toward the general, but there is no more fight in him. He is not mad at the situation, he is sad that his people placed their trust in a man who treated them as cannon fodder. He fails to reach Flynn's hand as his strength gives out and his hand falls to the ground, never to rise again. Flynn placed a hand on his head as he examined the scene around him. The people who emerge are few and far between.

  "PETER!" he calls out.

  "Here!" Peter pushes a cat corpse off himself. He is shot in the upper right shoulder but the bolt has gone clean through and should be able for the warrior to pull it through cleanly out. Peter coughs a few times as he stumbles to his feet. Alongside the two brothers, a few soldiers arise, that were lucky enough to have been shielded by the wooden trap walls.

  The birds are decimated. As Vibral himself, their leader lies dead on the field so too is the sum of their race, dead on the field. One or two show any signs of life but they are pierced deep and just bleeding out and quickly. Rigel the Kodiak bear, is huffing and puffing as he in his giant human form is on his knees panting from the shots much like Aram was. He falls over after a few more seconds. Falling backward, it is revealed that in the chaos he covered, 1 soldier of Valtrex and two female cat Naudiz and Brail the dire wolf.

  "Thank you, Rigel, for your sacrifice on our behalf." Brail and all other Naudiz are no longer in their beast form. He moves and closes the eyes of the bear who pants a few more painful breaths before his chest stops pumping. "General of Valtrex, it seems our host has betrayed us."

  Flynn is sore and holds his ribs as he hobbles toward the wolf. "It would appear so, such a cowardly move."

  "I agree." Brail turns toward the man. "Our people joined with the Bruin because they promised to save us from the wastelands, from the deserts, from the barren mountainsides that have been our meager existence for the past thousand years. We barely had enough to survive all that time and many babies would die in their mother's arms screaming for food."

  "Such was the fate we hoped to avoid when our father began annexing cities and towns a few years ago now. The actions that started this war." Flynn replies as he seats himself near the wolf.

  "Your people didn't start this war, the Bruin always wanted to act on the evil that had crept into the lording house. They just used you as an excuse." Brail looks over the field. He sees the body of Javy the rabbit leader as well. He sees barely any arise from the ground in any fashion. "And we played right into their hand by literally offering them our full racial strength without any real promise." He slams his hand into his leg. The wolf is furious at the betrayal.

  "Camp with us if you wish wolf, we both have suffered enough today, and for this moment, you are an ally, or at least not an enemy."

  "One second, I will take you up on that offer, but first I need those cowards and scoundrels to know there is yet one Naudiz leader who still draws breath."

  "RHHHHHHHHRRRRRRR!" the wolf howls. The howl is smooth and his voice booms across the water and the land around the water. The sound carries pure and makes its way back to the Bruin camp, the sound rattles the nerve of many a man as it whistles through camp loudly. Varus, however, smiles as he knows he is holding all the cards.

  The men of Valtrex and the feral ones of the Naudiz are enemies no longer as the ones who rise clear the dead and build a makeshift barrier wall in front of the palisade traps. From the clearing, the men find Keith Valtrex dead under a pile of cats and hawks. He was run through by both arrow and claw, talon and bite. His son Olec slams the ground in agony as he is the one left behind despite knowing his father to be the superior warrior.

  "Cousin Olec. We mourn with you." Peter attempts to be somber in the moment, he is still reeling from the arrow to his shoulder but knows he must comfort and discover who all is left of the men.

  "Don't give me your false sentiments cousin Peter." Olec hardens his demeanor quickly. "We both know you had little to do with him or me in your entire life and yet I am now supposed to believe your sorrow for my father."

  "How else am I supposed to feel, he was family after all."

  "Family is more than just blood Peter." Olec signals the warrior away as he stays by the side of his father. He remembers all the lessons taught and all the battles fought together with his father. He smiles at a few inside memories but is filled with dread in his heart as if today a piece of his spirit died alongside his father.

  Brail and the two cats help Flynn and any others who arise from the ashes to their base. They take the wounded as best they can, or they finish them off. Sadly the latter proves to be the more immediate need. As they reach the tents for the first time with a few people strung over shoulders or being helped to walk, Flynn notices a horse, turned on its back. A rider, crushed beneath the body of the horse.

  "Orlando….rider…I am sorry to see you go like this." He was not hit by arrows yet his horse was full of bolt wounds. Which perhaps caused the horse to fall backward, onto the rider's body. The experience both knocked him out and broke his spine and chest. He died soon after the fall of the horse.

  The rest of the day was a terror for those in the camp who were in any way healthy. In total, the remaining men found and alive for the entirety of the camp was 27. Six of those were Naudiz (two being cats, 1 tiger, 2 wolves, and 1 rabbit). Brail is the only leader of their tribes left and for the moment they are sad as they fear their races will vanish and be no more. Though they try to avoid these thoughts. Flynn and Peter take stock of their military. They are happy to have survived this battle, but the catastrophic death toll from the selfish action of the Bruin, had their army looking like nothing more than a small noble bodyguard unit.

  As the evening came they gathered around a campfire to toast the fallen and two see if there could be discourse among one another. "Praise Kaya for our survival." Even the Naudiz replied amen to the comment made by Peter.

  "I don't know when he'll attack next Brail, but I do hope that we can continue holding them potentially. We must buy more time." Brail was in agreement and was shocked at how logical was the thinking from this northern general.