"This's fuckin' mad, Kas!"
"Aye! Looks like!"
"We're gonna fuckin' die!"
"Might be!"
"Then why the fuck're youse smilin'?!"
Kasoria hadn't even noticed, truth be told. There was little time for self-reflection in the chaos that followed the first, chattering squeals the greeted them as the horde fell upon their... Flight, wasn't it? That's how many it had looked like when they set out from camp that morning. Veteran soldiers, serving since long before the siege. Pikemen with their long weapons raised high, swordsmen with their shields strapped to their arms. Archers and crossbowmen, arrows and bolts nocked or chambered. And of course, the crowd of ghostly beings that followed them, mingling within the ranks, ready to advance or retreat as the officers commanding blew out the signal on their whistles.
Two long for Forward, three short for Advance. Depending on what we find.
Turned out, what they found, Kasoria had come across before. His eyes widened as a living carpet of armored flesh and clattering insect legs came charging towards them. At the sight of the invaders, a hideous, crackling cry went up from the monsters. Some of them were eyeless, moving by vibration or sound alone. Some were taller, squatter, leaders or brood guardians perhaps, but none seemed to be the size of the beasts he'd killed in the Underground of Etzos.
"BRAAAAACE!"
He didn't have time to reflect, or question, or wonder. No time at all but draw his gladius, will a Shield to sprout from his forearm. It changed from shimmering, glowing ether into hardened quasi-material that covered him from elbow to fist, maybe a foot wide-
-and then they were upon the Etzori. A howling tide of ravenous, infuriated madness given flesh and far too many legs. Sheer weight of bodies and numbers smashed into the rough line of men and women. Clacking mandibles and slashing, clubbing limbs crushed bone and eviscerated mere humans. Unlike the rest of his fellows, Kasoria was a little more ready. He stood his ground and waited for the first to rear up-
-then thrust his gladius up and forwards, impaling the creature under what one could call a "chin". The enchanted blade skewered primitive but effective brain matter, and the beast dropped dead an instant after he withdrew it. But it was just one out of dozens, scores, even hundreds. Another replaced it just as quickly and Kasoria raised his Shield. The hammering foot slammed into the ether construct, and Kasoria found an instant of satisfaction in realizing the strain didn't even register with him. He was far past such concerns now, for so small a spell.
Aye. And it cost you.
He growled and dispelled the hateful, mocking voice. He had more important things to worry about. Like flitting back as the beast made to strike him again, blow falling short, cracking the cobblestone in front of him-
-and he wasted not a moment of opportunity, darting forwards and swinging at the same time. Severing the leg at a joint and sending the monster crashing awkwardly to the ground. But it had plenty of others, and would right itself if he didn't-
SHUNK
-but he did. Backhanding the gladius across the creature's face and ripping deep into the grotesuque features, somewhere between a gecko and a cockroach. Ichor spewed and eyes popped. It reared back and screamed and Kasoria thrust again. Buried the gladius into its face and twisted it before yanking it back out. Two down in a handful of trills, but still they came on. His Shield came back up, and he started bellowing orders.
"Don't face the cunts 'ead on! Take their legs out from under 'em! Pikemen?! Keep 'em back, the let the swords take over when yeh can't no more! Redson, Hogue?! Fuck did I just tell yeh?!"
Like ripples from a stone, his example and words spread across the line. Here the Etzori could see a man who knew what he was doing, and what he was doing was keeping him alive. What more evidence did they require? The line tightened and shifted, moving closer to him, starting with his own Block. Two-dozen surly bastards, already being whittled away by monsters but following their mage's orders. They were the rock that the monsters broke against. Man after man went down, but more abominations spilled their guts and lost their heads than humans, at the end of it. Kasoria kept bellowing, kept shouting, cursing, knowing he had to be their example, their champion, their-
Don't even fucking think it. Irony only goes so far.
Mayhap that's why he was smiling. That or the simple, long-missed purity of such combat. No more nuance or subtlety. Not boredom or waiting, either. Life or Death, ever-circling, ever dodging and lunging in and out of your path. Kasoria hacked and heaved and the children of an Immortal died around him. A larger one came screaming at him and he flung out his Shield, infusing it with Backlash as it lunged-
-breaking the leg like a twig as it impacted on the energized Shield. It screeched and collapsed on its side, not getting a chance to rise before a trio of pikemen turned its underside into a bloody, spurting nightmare. Kasoria nodded curtly then went back to business, seeing the horde start to break and-
"Youse hear that?"
Instantly, Kasoria was alert. Fazil had surprisingly turned out to be a good soldier, cunning and canny and brave, at least in combat. But his ears were what set him apart. The man put a bat to shame. Kasoria stopped, and at the edge of his hearing... he could make it out. An almighty buzzing, so loud it was starting to drown out everything else. He swallowed and shouted his command as the sky started to darken. As a cloud of living, hissing bodies rose from Rhakros.
"Block Four! Block Four! IRREGULARS?!" That got their attention. Just over a dozen surviving South Etzos street daemons turned quickly to their mage and their Highmark. "Incomin' swarm! Close up t'me!"
They knew what that meant, and what to do. They huddled under him as he raised his arms to the sky, one still holding a gladius. Kasoria breathed deep and pulled as much water as he could from the well, as it were. This, unlike the Shield, would get some reaction. With a grunt he spewed out a dome of light from his hands. It rose like a fountain and then quickly flattened, forming a dome that shielded him and the men around him like a vast umbrella-
-just as the insects hammered into it. Kasoria grunted again as he felt countless impacts, each one tiny but impossible numbers drawing more and more effort from him. Beyond his protection, he saw ghosts go down in droves. Scores of them. Run through by a cloud of copper-carrying little bastards, as if cut apart by massed arrow fire. The ones with the remaining sense to heed him seemed to huddle closer to the living, knowing the frightening mage was protecting them from the same fate. Sweat poured from Kasoria's brow. He risked a glance around, and saw other bubbles in operation. Other mages were sending jets of flame into the sky, destroying great swathes of the swarm.
But there's always more. She throws legions against us, and we slaughter them. But we always take losses. Take losses in men and ghosts and don't get any more bodies. But she always has more.
Not now, you fucking idiot!
Fazil shuddered as the man next to him growled with effort. As terrifying as Kasoria had been before the Siege, as the Raggedy Man of Etzos, he was positively daemonic by this point. His jet black eyes seemed to spark with ether energy. The smoke forever surrounding him shuddered and hissed as it spun faster and faster. The long, thick black marks on his arms writhed like snakes or turgid arteries. Kasoria was... not just Kasoria anymore, as Fazil had always known him. He was something far worse, and the little man still said-
"Kas?! They're goin'!"
They were, and they did, but Kasoria waited until he saw other Barriers go down before doing the same. Once he saw that those men were not butchered immediately after, then he lowered his own. He slumped down to his knees, breathing heavy, chest heaving and the motions seeming to spread to his whole body. Someone thrust a bottle of something wet into his hand and he almost drained the fucking thing. Fates, how long could they keep this up? How many trials had it been? How many hundreds or thousands dead? The Flight was down to just over a hundred men. Sixty-something had died in this one minor battle.
This can't go on for much longer. We need to-
"The course of this last swarm needs to be backtracked if at all possible! It could very likely lead to Lisirra!"
Now that was sure to draw his attention. Struggling back to his feet, Kasoria formed up with the rest of the irregulars and nodded at the survivors. Once again, one face or two was not there to return it. But they were energized now. They could see the carpet of twitching bodies, glinting with copper, leading back to the center of the city. And at the middle, in her lair, her nest of horrors...
The Army roared, and all but charged down the streets where the swarm had emerged from and then died. Kasoria did not. He frowned. Because this was-
"Too easy."
"Eh?"
He looked to his side, and Fazil looked back into a mutated face without fear. Kasoria was hardly surprised. There'd be a whole generation of street scum from the Oh'Pee who'd not frighten easily in the arcs to come. Not after surviving this nightmare. He scratched under his chin and started walking after the rest of them. Not run. Walk.
"Summin' I read a while ago. If it looks too good, if the battle's goin' too well-"
"It's probably a trap?"
Kasoria blinked in shock. "Youse... You read-"
"Read? Nah, bollocks t'that. S'what Tiny Pete a' the Sidestreet Stranglers used t'tell us, when we went on raids an' shite."
Kasoria blinked and resisted the urge to fall over laughing. In this place, in this time, surrounded by fresh corpses and dying men and the carcasses of monsters unimaginable. Instead he shook his head and raised his arm. The Block continued after him... and he started to look for sneakier ways to follow the same trail as the rest. Alleys and side streets were more his domain, as it was for the rest of them. He didn't want to march into the same maw as the rest of the army, and yet... he couldn't really avoid it.
"You men?! Into formation! We shall end this war today!" The Shieldarm was as jittery with anticipation as everyone else. She rode up and down the column with her sword swinging, badgering and inspiring in equal measure. "Mage Kasoria? Up to the front with your scouts! Keep us appraised of what's up ahead! Fine me an entrance, Kasoria! Find me the hole that bitch is hiding in!"
"Aye, Shieldarm!"
He even snapped a salute, good little soldier that he was. But his face remained troubled as he set off. This didn't feel right.
"Aye! Looks like!"
"We're gonna fuckin' die!"
"Might be!"
"Then why the fuck're youse smilin'?!"
Kasoria hadn't even noticed, truth be told. There was little time for self-reflection in the chaos that followed the first, chattering squeals the greeted them as the horde fell upon their... Flight, wasn't it? That's how many it had looked like when they set out from camp that morning. Veteran soldiers, serving since long before the siege. Pikemen with their long weapons raised high, swordsmen with their shields strapped to their arms. Archers and crossbowmen, arrows and bolts nocked or chambered. And of course, the crowd of ghostly beings that followed them, mingling within the ranks, ready to advance or retreat as the officers commanding blew out the signal on their whistles.
Two long for Forward, three short for Advance. Depending on what we find.
Turned out, what they found, Kasoria had come across before. His eyes widened as a living carpet of armored flesh and clattering insect legs came charging towards them. At the sight of the invaders, a hideous, crackling cry went up from the monsters. Some of them were eyeless, moving by vibration or sound alone. Some were taller, squatter, leaders or brood guardians perhaps, but none seemed to be the size of the beasts he'd killed in the Underground of Etzos.
"BRAAAAACE!"
He didn't have time to reflect, or question, or wonder. No time at all but draw his gladius, will a Shield to sprout from his forearm. It changed from shimmering, glowing ether into hardened quasi-material that covered him from elbow to fist, maybe a foot wide-
-and then they were upon the Etzori. A howling tide of ravenous, infuriated madness given flesh and far too many legs. Sheer weight of bodies and numbers smashed into the rough line of men and women. Clacking mandibles and slashing, clubbing limbs crushed bone and eviscerated mere humans. Unlike the rest of his fellows, Kasoria was a little more ready. He stood his ground and waited for the first to rear up-
-then thrust his gladius up and forwards, impaling the creature under what one could call a "chin". The enchanted blade skewered primitive but effective brain matter, and the beast dropped dead an instant after he withdrew it. But it was just one out of dozens, scores, even hundreds. Another replaced it just as quickly and Kasoria raised his Shield. The hammering foot slammed into the ether construct, and Kasoria found an instant of satisfaction in realizing the strain didn't even register with him. He was far past such concerns now, for so small a spell.
Aye. And it cost you.
He growled and dispelled the hateful, mocking voice. He had more important things to worry about. Like flitting back as the beast made to strike him again, blow falling short, cracking the cobblestone in front of him-
-and he wasted not a moment of opportunity, darting forwards and swinging at the same time. Severing the leg at a joint and sending the monster crashing awkwardly to the ground. But it had plenty of others, and would right itself if he didn't-
SHUNK
-but he did. Backhanding the gladius across the creature's face and ripping deep into the grotesuque features, somewhere between a gecko and a cockroach. Ichor spewed and eyes popped. It reared back and screamed and Kasoria thrust again. Buried the gladius into its face and twisted it before yanking it back out. Two down in a handful of trills, but still they came on. His Shield came back up, and he started bellowing orders.
"Don't face the cunts 'ead on! Take their legs out from under 'em! Pikemen?! Keep 'em back, the let the swords take over when yeh can't no more! Redson, Hogue?! Fuck did I just tell yeh?!"
Like ripples from a stone, his example and words spread across the line. Here the Etzori could see a man who knew what he was doing, and what he was doing was keeping him alive. What more evidence did they require? The line tightened and shifted, moving closer to him, starting with his own Block. Two-dozen surly bastards, already being whittled away by monsters but following their mage's orders. They were the rock that the monsters broke against. Man after man went down, but more abominations spilled their guts and lost their heads than humans, at the end of it. Kasoria kept bellowing, kept shouting, cursing, knowing he had to be their example, their champion, their-
Don't even fucking think it. Irony only goes so far.
Mayhap that's why he was smiling. That or the simple, long-missed purity of such combat. No more nuance or subtlety. Not boredom or waiting, either. Life or Death, ever-circling, ever dodging and lunging in and out of your path. Kasoria hacked and heaved and the children of an Immortal died around him. A larger one came screaming at him and he flung out his Shield, infusing it with Backlash as it lunged-
-breaking the leg like a twig as it impacted on the energized Shield. It screeched and collapsed on its side, not getting a chance to rise before a trio of pikemen turned its underside into a bloody, spurting nightmare. Kasoria nodded curtly then went back to business, seeing the horde start to break and-
"Youse hear that?"
Instantly, Kasoria was alert. Fazil had surprisingly turned out to be a good soldier, cunning and canny and brave, at least in combat. But his ears were what set him apart. The man put a bat to shame. Kasoria stopped, and at the edge of his hearing... he could make it out. An almighty buzzing, so loud it was starting to drown out everything else. He swallowed and shouted his command as the sky started to darken. As a cloud of living, hissing bodies rose from Rhakros.
"Block Four! Block Four! IRREGULARS?!" That got their attention. Just over a dozen surviving South Etzos street daemons turned quickly to their mage and their Highmark. "Incomin' swarm! Close up t'me!"
They knew what that meant, and what to do. They huddled under him as he raised his arms to the sky, one still holding a gladius. Kasoria breathed deep and pulled as much water as he could from the well, as it were. This, unlike the Shield, would get some reaction. With a grunt he spewed out a dome of light from his hands. It rose like a fountain and then quickly flattened, forming a dome that shielded him and the men around him like a vast umbrella-
-just as the insects hammered into it. Kasoria grunted again as he felt countless impacts, each one tiny but impossible numbers drawing more and more effort from him. Beyond his protection, he saw ghosts go down in droves. Scores of them. Run through by a cloud of copper-carrying little bastards, as if cut apart by massed arrow fire. The ones with the remaining sense to heed him seemed to huddle closer to the living, knowing the frightening mage was protecting them from the same fate. Sweat poured from Kasoria's brow. He risked a glance around, and saw other bubbles in operation. Other mages were sending jets of flame into the sky, destroying great swathes of the swarm.
But there's always more. She throws legions against us, and we slaughter them. But we always take losses. Take losses in men and ghosts and don't get any more bodies. But she always has more.
Not now, you fucking idiot!
Fazil shuddered as the man next to him growled with effort. As terrifying as Kasoria had been before the Siege, as the Raggedy Man of Etzos, he was positively daemonic by this point. His jet black eyes seemed to spark with ether energy. The smoke forever surrounding him shuddered and hissed as it spun faster and faster. The long, thick black marks on his arms writhed like snakes or turgid arteries. Kasoria was... not just Kasoria anymore, as Fazil had always known him. He was something far worse, and the little man still said-
"Kas?! They're goin'!"
They were, and they did, but Kasoria waited until he saw other Barriers go down before doing the same. Once he saw that those men were not butchered immediately after, then he lowered his own. He slumped down to his knees, breathing heavy, chest heaving and the motions seeming to spread to his whole body. Someone thrust a bottle of something wet into his hand and he almost drained the fucking thing. Fates, how long could they keep this up? How many trials had it been? How many hundreds or thousands dead? The Flight was down to just over a hundred men. Sixty-something had died in this one minor battle.
This can't go on for much longer. We need to-
"The course of this last swarm needs to be backtracked if at all possible! It could very likely lead to Lisirra!"
Now that was sure to draw his attention. Struggling back to his feet, Kasoria formed up with the rest of the irregulars and nodded at the survivors. Once again, one face or two was not there to return it. But they were energized now. They could see the carpet of twitching bodies, glinting with copper, leading back to the center of the city. And at the middle, in her lair, her nest of horrors...
The Army roared, and all but charged down the streets where the swarm had emerged from and then died. Kasoria did not. He frowned. Because this was-
"Too easy."
"Eh?"
He looked to his side, and Fazil looked back into a mutated face without fear. Kasoria was hardly surprised. There'd be a whole generation of street scum from the Oh'Pee who'd not frighten easily in the arcs to come. Not after surviving this nightmare. He scratched under his chin and started walking after the rest of them. Not run. Walk.
"Summin' I read a while ago. If it looks too good, if the battle's goin' too well-"
"It's probably a trap?"
Kasoria blinked in shock. "Youse... You read-"
"Read? Nah, bollocks t'that. S'what Tiny Pete a' the Sidestreet Stranglers used t'tell us, when we went on raids an' shite."
Kasoria blinked and resisted the urge to fall over laughing. In this place, in this time, surrounded by fresh corpses and dying men and the carcasses of monsters unimaginable. Instead he shook his head and raised his arm. The Block continued after him... and he started to look for sneakier ways to follow the same trail as the rest. Alleys and side streets were more his domain, as it was for the rest of them. He didn't want to march into the same maw as the rest of the army, and yet... he couldn't really avoid it.
"You men?! Into formation! We shall end this war today!" The Shieldarm was as jittery with anticipation as everyone else. She rode up and down the column with her sword swinging, badgering and inspiring in equal measure. "Mage Kasoria? Up to the front with your scouts! Keep us appraised of what's up ahead! Fine me an entrance, Kasoria! Find me the hole that bitch is hiding in!"
"Aye, Shieldarm!"
He even snapped a salute, good little soldier that he was. But his face remained troubled as he set off. This didn't feel right.
which is why she got a few more 