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Old Alliances: Chapter 4

Checkmate

Naxwell had been under it second siege for two and a half weeks. Tal had managed to stave of several massive assaults against the gates, but his forces were running out of supplies and the dead and wounded were piling up. Haedric had set up camp four miles away from the city and had avoided conflict with the demons who were too busy with the siege to pay them any mind. The weather was growing colder as winter began to set in. Snow was beginning to stick, but only light flurries had hit the area so far.

Early reports showed that the demons had a force of roughly 80,000, nearly all of which were the recently risen dead people of Gree. The sight of such a large force was unnerving, but under the watchful eye of King Haedric, the men and dragons kept it together.

Lord Grawning looked at his fellow crusaders. King Haedric was talking with Asmirl, son of Azsteric about how to break the siege. Mortic had retired to his tent some time ago since he made it known that he wasn't a warrior and had no help to give when it came to strategic planning. The camp wasn't busy since Haedric decided that an assault against the demons would be futile with their small numbers. Men lounged around, playing cards or just talking since they had nothing to do. The camp was set up, the supplies were bountiful, if one ignored the hordes of demons nearby, it seemed very peaceful.

The three of them stood around a brazier in Haedric's large tent. It was situated near the center of the camp that was arrayed like a circle. The tent was large enough to accommodate both man and dragon like it did now. The furnishing was simple with nothing fancy or exotic to catch the eye.

"The demons are building up to attack Naxwell's northern gate again." The sound of King Haedric's voice got Grawning's attention. The king was holding the scroll open and was reading it and a look of concern appeared on his face. "This is going to be a big one, I'm not sure if Tal will be able to hold them back this time."

"We should attack now." Asmirl was of the blue dragon flight like his father, but was only about a foot taller than a man. "We came here to fight, not dilly dally."

"We don't have the numbers to break the enemy." Haedric had handed the scroll to a guardsman and had turned his attention to the dragon. "If we attack, it would be all or nothing. Even if the northern gate is lost, there are still two other gates to get through before the demons enter the main part of the city."

"The main gate is the strongest point, once that falls, the other gates will fall swiftly," Replied Asmirl.

Haedric pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "Why did Tal have to go off like that, it was foolish and reckless. I should have stopped him when I had the chance." King Haedric opened his eyes, but still had his hand up between his eyes.

"He had a duty to defend his people." Grawning decided that it was time for him to insert himself into the situation. "He could not stand by when he had the opportunity to do something. To forsake one's own people as a king is to forfeit the crown." He went up to the aging king, hoping that his presence and words would ease the king's mind.

"I suppose so, I would have done the same in his shoes." King Haedric looked up at the dragon and the human. "Naxwell can't fall, but we don't have the men to prevent it either."

"King Thane is but a few days away now." Grawning knew that bringing up Thane wouldn't do anything since no matter how close he was, he still wasn't here.

"He can't do anything no matter how fast he marches," scoffed Asmirl. "You should have just left Trymal to wither away in his volcano."

Asmirl had often talked about how he disliked Trymal for leaving his father. He thought of Trymal as a coward and unreliable. "If you had not sent away such a large force to garner his support, you would have the forces required to save Naxwell."

"Quiet." King Haedric raised his hand quickly to silence the dragon who at first looked like he was going to bite the king, but quickly lowered his head. "What is done is done, we need to concentrate on the matter at hand. How are we going to save Naxwell?"

No one spoke as they each tried to come up with a plan. The sound of the daily routines of the camp could be heard outside. Then suddenly Grawning surprised everyone with an "Aha!" He stuck his index finger in the air.

"We don't have to break the siege outright, we simple have to delay it long enough for King Thane to arrive." It was so simple that the others mentally face palmed.

"And how are we to do this human?" The dragon seemed to question the men every chance he got.

"Demons are naturally attracted to magic. The come running to demon magic and they will come to holy magic as well. They hate the Light."

"You plan of using yourself as bait to lure them away for a bit?" Haedric was worried again and Grawning expected that.

"Aye, don't worry about me either. If we split up your army into two or three battle groups, each with a contingent of my paladins, we can pull enough of the demons away from the city for the night." Grawning was proud of his plan and was smiling. Secretly, he just wanted to fight. Unnecessary violence was frowned upon in the Order of Light, but this was necessary to save lives. Grawning remembered all the times he got yelled at by the previous Grand Lord for always getting into fights. He was still surprised that he was named the successor all those years ago despite butting heads with anyone and everyone in the Order.

"That could work, it's risky. I suppose any plan would be risky in this situation," Haedric conceded the point and they all quickly began to draw up the plans that would have to go into effect later that evening.

It was decided that the forced would be split into three groups. Haedric would command the 5,000 cavalry that he had and would be accompanied by 35 mounted paladins. They were to ride past the demons to the west at close proximity and would lead them on a chase. They hoped that he would be able to take a large group of the demons with him. Afterwards, Grawning would take the rest of the 15,000 along with the rest of his 190 paladins and would attack the enemy on their eastern flank to draw even more of their forced away. Grawning was to do what he could to ensure that they were always in slow retreat to minimize casualties while still drawing away the demons. Once the two groups had engaged the enemy, the dragons, led by Asmirl would attack the demons at the gate, using their fire to burn away as many of them as they could for about half an hour. The plan was to be quick and precise. If all went well, the demons would not be able to attack the city that night.

When all was ready and twilight began, the army of Haedric readied itself for trials that they would face over the course of the next few hours. King Haedric, Grawning and Asmirl gone their separate ways and were out in the field. Grawning led his north along the eastern side of Naxwell, making sure to avoid the demons until he got into position. The great demon encampment was a mere 200 yards away. Grawning could see three balrogs, great fire demons who were most likely acting as field commanders.

The balrogs were great demons that stood 20 feet tall, and armed with a great sword enraptured in flames. Horns sprouted forth from their heads and coiled out in front of them. Their body was shrouded in smoke with bits of red and orange glowing, betraying the fire that hid beneath. Their wings spanned 40 feet each and were on a sickly colored skin with spikes protruding from its length. Their body, when seen was thick and heavily muscled, that is the only way to describe it for it could not be compared to anything to describe its form. They were some of the most feared demons known to exist and would be difficult to defeat.

Somewhere on the other side of the wall, Haedric had made his move. His horn echoed across the whole of the field of battle and in response, one of the balrogs quickly ran off with many thousand other demons and undead to give chase to Haedric.

Grawning waited several minutes and then raised his hammer above his head. "Lord, give me strength and let me smite thy enemies with righteous fury. Watch over us and guide our arms." His war hammer began to glow as it was enveloped in holy light. He then leveled him hammer and aimed it at one of the other balrogs. "Be gone foul beast and return from whence you came," hollered Grawning.

A beam of light shot from his hammer piercing many demons and undead before hitting the balrog which didn't have the time to defend itself from the attack. It crumpled and fell to its knees with a horrendous shriek. A second beam of light hit it squarely in the face, blowing it clean off and carving another path through anything that got in the way of the light. The other balrog, seeing the death of its kin, bellowed in rage and began to charge the paladin with the rest of the demons behind him.

The humans drew up their shields in a wall and lowered their spears in a phalanx. "Hold steady and fear not for God watches us from above." Grawning was readying another blast which he released into the closest horde. The brilliant flash blinded all and when it dissipated, there was nothing but ash where roughly 100 enemies once stood. Following their leader, the other paladins began to fire into the horde with their own holy magic. They weren't as strong as Grawning, but the effect was still there. Flashes of pure white light erupted all along the line of charging foes. They were nearly upon them.

'Volley," Yelled Grawning to the archers that were about 25 yards behind him. They archers drew back their bows and released a torrent of arrows over his head and into the enemy.

'Brace!" At that command, the spearmen in the phalanx tightened their formation and leaned into the enemy. The sound that erupted the moment the enemy hit their line was truly sickening. The sound of thousands of spears piercing flesh all along the line and the crunch of bodies against shields and armor boomed across the landscape. The next instant was filled with the yells and screams of battle as both sides began to push into each other. Nothing could describe the carnage of such close warfare.

Grawning pushed his way to the front and released another ball of light into the fray, doing two effects: incinerating the enemy as it went by and inspiring his own soldiers as they fought valiantly. Another great flash erupted as the ball exploded, leaving a noticeable hole in the enemy formation. Grawning sensed danger and quickly turned around to see small and feeble imp was charging the great paladin. He struck down the imp with a satisfying thump as his hammer all but consumed the lesser demon as it was smashed into the ground.

A roar erupted not 10 yards away as the remaining balrog was cutting great swaths through lines of men. The balrog's blade cut across three men who dared to oppose it and were instantly turned to ash, not even a scream erupted from them.

Not wanting anymore people to die at the hand of the demon, Grawning shot a flare of light into the sky to signal the beginning of the retreat. The men slowly began to move back under the cover of both the archers and paladins, who were now also dealing with the flying demons that swooped down to slash at men. Grawning did what he could to hold off the demons while the men moved back west and then south. Trying to save his energy, Grawning slammed his hammer into the ground, causing a small quake that warped the landscape and caused enemies to fall into pits. It worked and would allow the men to fall back to the camp, their job completed.

Back at the camp, the wounded were taken care of and the men counted. All in all, it was not bad, Grawning had lost roughly 500 men and 6 of his paladins. Another 1500 were wounded, he did not know how many would be able to return to the fight. As he waited for the other groups to return, Grawning used his holy magic to heal those that needed help the most and instructed his paladins to do the same. An hour later, King Haedric returned, he did not fare as well.

Of the 5000 men and 35 paladins that rode with him earlier that day, only 3500 men and 22 paladins returned. They had been attacked by hell hounds that were able to swiftly catch up the horses which forced him to stop to beat them back. By the time he had killed off or chased away the hell hounds, many other demons had fallen upon them. All would have been lost if Asmirl had not seen that King Haedric was in need of help. The dragon had sent a quarter of his kind to aid the king long enough for him to escape.

Asmirl returned shortly after with as much of a grin as the dragon could muster on his face. The resulting sight was odd as the long snout only managed to bare its teeth. Asmirl had managed to take the demons by surprise and slew a great number of them before returning without suffering any losses of his own.

The plan had worked and the city of Naxwell was safe for another day.

The light of the morning sun revealed the carnage that had unfolded the night before. Despite what they thought, the demons had launched an assault on the gate during the night. The balrog that Grawning had believed to have left to give chase to Haedric had in fact led an assault on the gates, albeit an assault that was weaker than if the human didn't launch their own assault. The large gate, when untouched by the damages of war was 25 feet tall, 4 feet thick and made of pure iron. Behind it were 2 more gates that were 25 feet tall and 6 feet thick, but were made of wood. They all presided in a tunnel that went through the 40 feet of wall.

The first gate had been breached and extensive damage was done to the second gate. Tal's forces only just managed to hold them back by pouring water through water through slits in the wall that travel from the top to the tunnel. Often used to pour oil, the water doused the balrog which was forced to leave in its weakened state.

The entire area around the gate showed the price the enemy paid to get that far. There wasn't a single foot of ground that was visible within 50 feet of the wall. All of it was covered in their bodies and the ground was soaked with blood. Grawning could only imagine the smell that would begin to rise in the coming days.

The location of Grawning's stand was a truly queer sight. Bodies of the enemy laid strewn about for about 80 yards until they suddenly stopped where the phalanx was set up. Grawning smirked, gaining a newfound respect for Haedric's men who had done extremely well.

The men and the dragon met once again in Haedric's tent and were met by Mortic who had come out to inspect the results. Haedric still wore his bloodied armor and looked tired, but kept spry. Grawning on the other hand had washed his platinum armor and dawned some leather and wool clothing. Mortic was wearing blue silk and looked relatively well rested, though it was obvious that he had constantly worried.

"If they attack again tonight, Tal won't be able to keep them out of the city." Grawning's observation was one that everyone else had thought of as well, but none had wanted to voice.

"We have to hold them off for one more night," said Asmirl. "My scouts have told me that Grawning will be here tomorrow morning."

"The battle that will be fought tonight will be inevitable." Haedric looked around at the people who he now called brothers and continued. "We need to draw out the battle for as long as possible. A diversion will not work, it barely worked last night." He went over to a table with maps on it and the others followed.

He pointed towards the north eastern edge of the wall on the map. "If we can coordinate with King Tal, we can launch a two pronged offensive. One from the city and one from the east."

"How do you plan on holding out the entire night? Even though the enemy took massive casualties, they still have the numbers required to take the city," questioned Asmirl in his usual fashion.

"If I learned anything last night it's that the enemy has the forces to either wipe us out or take the city, not both at the same time." He pointed at the city. "I don't know how many forces King Tal has left, but a safe estimate would be 30,000."

"So, we wait for the enemy to attack the city before we attack them from the flank." Grawning was starting to understand what Haedric was saying and agreed. "The enemy won't be able to commit their entire force to any single task."

King Haedric looked up from the map. "Precisely, it's what happened last night. The enemy attacked the city with a partial force and failed." He took off his helmet, realizing that he had worn it all night and ran his fingers through his graying hair. "It won't be easy, they'll come at us heavy and hard."

"I've seen your men in action, they fight with a spirit that I have rarely seen." Grawning waved his hand around to emphasize that he was talking about everyone in the camp. "They will hold and I will ensure that."

"You told me about those balrogs, Lord Grawning." King Haedric put his hands on his hips and leaned back to pop his back. "They'll prove to be nuisance. Can you and your paladins handle them? I can't ask my men to fight them."

Looking quite proud of himself as the memory of blasting one of the balrogs came to his mind, Grawning smiled. "Don't worry, we'll take good care of them, you just do your own thing and let us do ours." He turned to Asmirl. "The flying demons were troublesome to the archers, it will be up to you and your dragons to take care of them."

"They are mere flies to us, they won't trouble you."

"Good, the men need rest." Haedric began to roll up the maps now that a plan was formed. "Asmirl can you relay this to Tal if possible. I didn't think of it before, but I think you should be able to fly over the walls to tell him of our plans."

The dragon began to turn for the exit. "I will inform him myself." He walked out of the tent, extended his wings and flew off towards Naxwell.

Mortic had spent the entire meeting simply standing off to the side, unnoticed and walked out without a word.

The rest of the day was spent resting and caring for the wounded. Once the sun began to set, the army set out for the same location where Grawning was at the previous night. They arrived under the cover of darkness and waited for the demons to attack.

"They should begin their assault any time now." Grawning was standing next to Haedric who was on his war horse. They looked at the demons who were just a few hundred yards away. The demons had not cared to clean up any of the carnage which was beginning to rot despite the cold weather. It was noted that the bodies of the men who were killed before were gone, risen from the dead.

It was snowing heavier this night and the men were cold since they were under strict orders to not light any fires. The spearmen were at the front, ready to form a tight phalanx. The rest of the infantry was positioned right behind them and then the archers. Haedric would lead the cavalry assault from the right. The paladins were to act as a support and if any balrogs made an appearance, they would focus all their energies on the demon until it fell.

"There." Haedric pointed at the walls as arrows could be seen sailing down from the top of the wall at the demons. "They've begun their attack. We'll wait a moment before we atta..."

All the sudden a large force of demons came charging from the left flank. They began to rip through the startled men.

"Defend yourselves!" Without another word, King Haedric rode off with his cavalry to aid the left flank.

With no other option, Grawning picked up his hammer. "Attack, they know we are here." He shouted up and down the line to the men that he had under his command.

The spearmen lowered their spears and began to charge forward, followed closely by the infantry. The archers began to fire their arrows and the dragons took to the air.

The battle quickly escalated as the spearmen formed their phalanx moments before meeting the demons. This time, there would be no retreat.

Grawning casted a spell that inspired nearby allies and made his way to the front to find his target. The first balrog showed up shortly after the heavy fighting began. Grawning shot a beam at the beast, but it was ready this time. It used its wings to block the beam and made a mad dash at Grawning. It blasted through the spearmen without caring to attack them. Grawning rallied 5 other paladins to himself and attacked the great demon.

The demon parried Grawning's first swing with its blade and used its wings to keep the other paladins at bay. It then spewed out fire which Grawning managed to block with his shield. One of his paladins fell screaming and on fire. Grawning moved to it left and fired a ball of light which hit the inside of the balrog's wing causing it to shriek and wildly swing in his direction. Grawning barely ducked in time to save his head, a few undead behind him weren't so lucky. It then let loose a piercing roar, the smoke that shrouded its body gave way to pure flame. Grawning felt as if he was cooking in his armor. He and the other paladins were forced back farther as the demon advanced upon them, raising its sword to strike at Grawning. One of Grawning's paladins managed to hit the balrog with a beam of light and the flames instantly died away and it collapsed onto one knee. Grawning took advantage of the situation and all of the paladins shot forth beams of light from their hammers into the balrog. Under the fire 5 different sources, the balrog could not block them all and it fell as a smoking heap.

Grawning had no time to celebrate as the phalanx had broken apart and the ensuing melee threatened to cause the entire attack to fall apart. Grawning spent the next several hours pulling the forces back together. They were suffering heavy casualties, but they were holding. The sun would rise in two more hours, which would weaken the demons and would also bring King Thane and his army with it as well.

At some point during the fight, the ground shook and a great chasm opened up. Both men and demon fell into it screaming before their voices faded out. What came out of it was something that no human had ever seen before.

"May god have mercy on us all." It was all Grawning could say as a marilith slithered out of the ground. It had the upper body of a human except for the eight arms, each wielding a different kind of blade. The lower body was that of a snake. It was at least as large as the balrog.

"To me, rally to me." The sound of King Haedric's voice could be heard. Out of the left flank, King Haedric rode out with 300 mounted soldiers to attack the new demon. They rode hard and fast at the demon with spears lowered, swords raised and shields out in front. It was an image that seemed like it should have been painted rather than actually done. They made a pass at the demon, slashing and hacking at her and then rounded about for another pass.

Using all eight arms, each swing took out eight men and they stabbed at the demon to no avail. They whittled away until only King Haedric stood to face the demon.

Grawning rushed to help King Haedric, but the battle was too fierce between him and the king for him to get to him.

Skillfully, King Haedric blocked the first wave of savage attacks from the marilith. He hacked off one of its arms and clocked three more swings. The king was slowing for he had fought all night and the marilith was fresh. He managed to cut out a chunk of snake flesh from the thigh of the marilith, but not before losing his shield hand and taking several gashes and cuts to his own body. The next attack slew the king's horse which toppled over headless, bringing the king down with him. The king staggered back up with a spear in hand and charged the beast. Despite being slashed at from all sides, he pierced the marilith in the chest. Bloody and barely conscious, he collapsed. The marilith took the spear from its chest and was about to pierce the dying king before the great roar erupted from above. The marilith was engulfed in dragon flame before it could kill the king.

Asmirl landed next to the king along with several other dragons who staved off any attack. Grawning ran to the side of the king, took off his helmet and took the king's only hand in his own.

"I did better than I thought I would." The king smiled up at his friend and coughed up blood. "Shame I wasn't the one to deal the killing blow."

"You mustn't speak, I will heal you." Grawning knew better than that, he had been pierced by demon steel and there was nothing that could heal those wounds. Instead he simply continued to do what he could to comfort the dying man.

"Keep the attack up, my friends. The sun is rising." With that, the light left his eyes. King Haedric, Ruler of the Kingdom of Ishmin, Commander of the Crusade of Man, the man who united both men and dragons, was dead.