Chương 99: Chapter 98- The Charge

Astra received a round of salutes in response, and as the men split to begin mustering their forces, Elias and Tiamat raced to join Astra as she met the vanguard. A spare mount was brought for Eli and he braced himself precariously in the saddle. He found himself wishing that he had had more time for lessons.

Mira had walked him through the basics as part of her lessons on the way to Emerald Grove, but the gulf in between learning how to not fall off and how to participate in a cavalry charge was large enough to drown in. Sensing his anxiety Astra leaned over, grabbing the horn of his saddle, speaking to him in a low voice, " Just stay close to me, knees tight, weapon out, and make sure you lift your rear clear of the saddle once we break into a gallop." She glanced over meeting his eyes, "Ready?"

Elias snorted and gave her a grin with a wink, " Always, it wouldn't be our first trip into the fire together, we can just call it our second date. Nothing we can't handle." She gave a macabre laugh as she rolled her eyes, " From your lips to the Ancient's ears." Astra turned to give the men last minute orders as their ridgebacks shuffled into formation, and Eli turned to look down at Tia, " Riding, running, or flying?"

The wyvern gave the ridgeback Elias was riding a dubious look and a derisive chuff, I think flying, that lizard looks a lot slower than my wings. Eli chuckled, " Yeah, true. Keep close, we don't know what to expect, but if it gets hairy head for the stars and get clear. Astra and I can take care of ourselves, and I don't want you getting hurt. You'll be a terror some day, but you have to live long enough to see it. How about you, ready for some action?"

Tiamat reared up on her back legs to free up her front paws, patting the large pouch on her harness that was slung across her belly." Ok, conserve your ammunition, this might be a long one. If Astra calls a target I'll transmit it just in case you can't hear, don't forget if you run low Coop has your spares, I didn't have time to grab them." I know, I know, I didn't forget the plan Brother. Eli smiled as he leaned down to stroke her head, " I know. I'm allowed to worry about my little sister, ok?"

Tia grumbled a bit more, but the pulse of affection along their bond ensured that Eli didn't take it too seriously, and with that time was up. A small hushed argument had occurred while Eli had been speaking to Tia, which had seen Astra booted from the center of the first rank to the second, with the pair of them flanked by Cooper and Mason.

Eli had missed most of it, but the little that he had caught, something about "glory doesn't help the dead" and " Lady Blackhall would skin me alive" was enough for him to puzzle out the rest. Eli reached over to pat Astra's thigh plate in consolation as he took the position to her right and Tia took to the air.

As Astra lifted her sword into the air a horn call sounded from the rear of the fifty rider formation, and as she dropped it forward, the note deepened into a basso rumble, the men and women of the assault moving as one. Breaking through the treeline the block of riders four wide and twelve deep swooped like a flock of birds. They began at a low loping trot, but as they crossed the small clearing and reached the road leading from a small lumberyard to the nearest gate, the pace picked up to rapid gallop.

A formation of Ridgebacks lacked the hoofs of a horse and therefore was missing the thunderous beat that every action movie featuring a cavalry charge had promised Eli, but the sheer weight of the massive animals and their armored riders pounded the ground producing a rumble more felt than heard, reminiscent of the faint tremble of an approaching train roaring down the tracks.

The formation streaked across the open space, the clawed feet of the drakes chewed up the ground sending a spray of dust and torn earth into the air in their wake. The horn sounded twice more, once as they approached the gatehouse, and a second as they grew close. Eli took a moment to glance behind them, and through the cloud of dust he caught sight of a river of armored men pouring out of the forest, charging in their wake with the supernatural speed that he had yet to become accustomed to.

Elias turned forward just in time to see Corporal Mason lift one hand, and with a gesture rip a series of large stones from the road side and send them rocketing towards the partially opened gate. With a series of rippling booms the projectiles crashed into the unsecured doors, blasting them open and clearing the way for the charge; and, as the gate flew open, Eli could see an eerily empty city street ahead, dimly lit, leading deeper into the town.

Once the formation hit the cobbled streets of the town Eli had to re-evaluate his initial impression of a quiet charge. The clawed feet of their mounts, which normally produced only a faint clacking sound when moving at a sedate pace, emitted a discordant screeching noise as their claws chewed into the surface of the road.

Pounding down the thoroughfare, they approached an intersection and, with another gesture of Astra's sword, a short pattern of horn bleats sounded from the rear as the formation turned at her direction. The distant sounds of battle grew close, and as they approached Eli began to catch glimpses of the occupants of the town. Huddled forms peeked from windows, fled down alleys, and ducked into entryways as the vanguard charged past.

The trickle of townsfolk turned into a stream, and as the dim glow of the fire grew, more and more could be seen running down the street fleeing from some unknown danger, a series of horn blasts saw them part and dive out of the way. Turning onto the final thoroughfare that led in a straight shot to the fracture, they caught a glimpse of the heart of the commotion, and Eli gritted his teeth as Astra swore and a spike of alarm drifted down from Tia above.

Far ahead at the end of the lane the gates to the fracture enclosure stood open, the doors in shattered pieces listing drunkenly from loose hinges, as a small group of armored men manned a small wooden barricade across the open gateway meeting two small piles of stone rubble flanking the gate. The men held the gap with a line of pikes, the condensed line of polearms holding back the tide as a small cluster of troops arrayed behind fired arrows above their heads at a rapid pace.

Behind their line a mix of creatures poured into the gatehouse throwing themselves onto the small cadre as they strained to stem the flood. The bulk of the horde was a collection of massive wolves, their fur a mix of a dark black and a lighter grey, with a near even mix of taller pale humanoids joining them. The humanoids were around six feet tall while hunched, wielding hand tipped with sharp claws, pinched fang filled mouths, pointed ears and dark eyes.

Taller figures lumbered behind them wading into the press of bodies, their skinny emaciated bodies stood at nearly eight feet tall even as they crouched low to enter the pathway into the gatehouse. While their bodies resembled a naked and emaciated human, albeit a massive one sporting fingers tipped with claws, their heads were that of a large deer.

The muzzle on every single one was locked into a rictus grin of bared teeth, with at least two feet of antlers rising above the skull tipped with razor sharp tines, many already sporting a fresh coat of a dark red fluid. Astra lofted her sword and pumped it into the air twice while bellowing, " Sound for Clear, and Plug the gate!" a patterned series of three blasts sounded from the horn at the back of the formation before dropping into a long low note.

The men and women of the vanguard readied their arms, the front ranks lowering lances as the rest prepared for combat. The mounts picked up speed as the beleaguered men ahead noticed the charge, and after a moment of confusion scrambled to clear the passage, many of the riders exuding a faint glow as they triggered whatever personal enhancements that they may have.

With the pikemen clear, the horde of monsters surged forward, their line bowing outwards to race down the street and wreak havoc on the citizenry beyond. As the gap closed the song within his chest roared, and Eli's perception slowed as he couched his poleaxe into the saddle and braced for impact.

The drums beat in time with the pounding of his heart, the connection between him and Astra blossomed, the faint sense in his chest grew, and once again he knew her mind in a way that had been missing since that fateful day at the inn. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Thump. A spray of projectiles shot outwards blunting the charge of the monsters and disrupting their footings.

Astra and Eli reached forward as one, twin lances erupting from their palms, one the deep crimson of flames condensed into a superheated plasma, and the second the bright cerulean blue of raw condensed mana, each connecting with one of the towering deer headed monstrosities as it stepped through the gate into the town beyond. Thump.

With a series of sickening snaps, the front line smashed into the lead elements of horde, wolf and fanged humanoid alike crushed under a wave of scaled flesh and the Ridgebacks charged forward trampling all in their wake. Lances pierced pale grey flesh, and a chorus of squeals mixed with inhuman roars of rage blasted over the men as they made contact.

A feral grin blossomed on Elias's face as the large figure slumped, the first blast striking with enough force to arrest its forward motion and pierce the outer layer of its skull's flesh, the second blast punching through leaving a smoking puncture hole below antlers marking its fate, a feral grin he could feel mirrored on Astra's face without turning.

The pained sounds of their foes stoked the fires of the bloodsong, a ripple of satisfaction flowing down the bond as the pair adjusted to steady their aim as their turn to draw blood neared. Thump.

Elias guided the spearpoint of his poleaxe into the eye socket of a humanoid reaching forward to strike at the front line, the momentum of the charge causing his weapon to impale the creature and drive its limp body backwards into the press, a heap of shattered flesh and broken creatures piling at the front of the charge. Time resumed its normal flow, but the adrenaline roaring in Eli's veins, his still heightened senses honed to a razor's edge.

The horde had been bodily carried through the gateway and nearly halfway down the passageway until the mass of the wall of crushed abominations had absorbed the momentum of the charging mounts and the formation ground to a halt. Elias's poleaxe caught in the skull of the creature he had impaled, and with a flicker of [Veilrend] the tip swung free in a welter of gore." Dismount! Shields!" Astra's voice bounced off the ceiling of the gatehouse above as the screeches from the horde nearly drowned out the sound.

Eli vaulted from the saddle, setting his stance as the wall of bodies slumped. The creatures inside the enclosure dragged the corpses of their fallen aside as they scrambled forward to reach the battle line inside. One of the tall antlered creatures crouched forward to scramble over the press of creatures trying to clear the blockage, only to slump forward with a roar, rearing upright in anger as a small javelin punched partway through the back of its skull.

Elias's grin grew slightly wider as a row of shields crashed down to protect the frontline, Good shot Tia. A rumbling chuckle filled his mind, Thank you brother! I've been getting a lot of practice from up here. Her words were quickly put into action as a piece of debris rocketed the wrong way down into the gate's passageway, braining a wolf that was lunging towards one of the shieldbearers on the front line as the horde recovered.

I don't even know why I practiced so much, there are so many it's almost impossible to miss. Eli laughed as he lunged forward to spear a humanoid that was attempting to climb over the shield wall, as a pair of hands reached forward from behind to grab the reins of his mount and guide the beast backwards.

As the passageway cleared, the men of the front line covered down, arraying themselves shoulder to shoulder six across, behind the shield wall that plugged the gap, the din growing as the creatures finished clearing the mound and began crashing against the shieldwall scrabbling for a seam in their defense from which to grasp and rend flesh. Elias and Astra turned to each other in sync, flashing each other a grin.

A current of shared exhilaration at their successful charge, tinged with no small amount of affection, flowed between them, before turning to face the tide shoulder to shoulder themselves." BREAK!" The men of the shieldline stiffened, bracing at the call for the commands they expected to follow, as they roared their response in readiness." STRIKE!" The men of the second and third ranks braced, Astra and Eli included, as Astra roared the next command." KILL!"

On Astra's call the wall shifted, angling their shields forward in a swift motion, and the ranks behind plunged turning the shield wall into a pincushion, as a chorus of pained shrieks filled the tunnel, before quickly withdrawing." WALL!" The front line bellowed backwards as their shields slammed back together and crashed to the ground, closing the breaches in their defense before the horde could retaliate." BREAK!"" STRIKE!"" KILL!"" WALL!"" BREAK!"" STRIKE!"" KILL!"" WALL!"

After two more rounds of blows a crimson river flowed from under the shield wall, and the cacophony of loud banging strikes against the shield wall dropped, however slightly. The noise level produced by the rain of blows against the bulwark fell from an avalanche of gravel poured into a metal dumpster, to just the staccato beat of tin roof in a hail storm. Regardless, the drop in frequency signalled a weakening in the resistance. Astra bellowed again." FORWARD!"

The men of the shield wall crouched, bracing against the wall with their shoulders. The second and third rank pressed forward, closing in preparation to push." LOCKED!" The frontline called back, the faint sounds of boots gritting against the floor could be heard as the soldiers steadied their footing, their labored breathing filling Eli's ears as Astra bellowed the next commands." READY!"" MARCH!" A crash of steel on stone resounded as the whole formation pressed forward and stepped in unison." READY!"" MARCH!""

READY!"" MARCH!" After a short series of steps the blows had picked back up on the shield wall, and the third step nearly faltered as the weight of the creatures pressing against it grew heavy enough to resist the full strength of the company. A scraping sound ground across the ceiling, but the following spike of alarm from Astra was all that was needed, as before she could even issue an order Eli's arm flashed upwards as he stood tall peeking over the shield wall.

He sent a blast into the face of another one of the lanky antlered monsters. He fired blind as he stood, but instead of a single lance, Eli sent out a continuous beam of concentrated cerulean blue mana. As soon as he acquired his target Elias swept the beam downwards, striking into the gap in between the antlers. The top right half of the creature's skull sloughed off, and Eli quickly ducked downwards, but not before he caught sight of the courtyard beyond.

The fracture enclosure was filled to the brim with an ocean of creatures, the sight of which finally cemented in his mind exactly why they called it a monster tide. Thankfully most of the creatures were ill suited for climbing, but the ramparts were silent, and Eli had seen several of the larger antlered creatures carving handholds into the wall, not only hauling themselves upwards, but also allowing their smaller comrades to follow.

As he glanced over Astra met his gaze, the exuberant smile from before fading into a grim one, as the urgency flowing down the tether from him was all she needed to know of what he had seen and just how fraught the situation had become.