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1stDay of Sytarel

128 I.E.

All around Dane, the 81stand the rest of the Peacekeepers began to rally behind their leaders, their morale restored by seeing their superiors pushing the enemy back.

"Pitch, hold the left flank with Vedray," Dane ordered, taking charge to reorganize his troops as quickly as possible. "Welshy and Locke, hold the right. I want all available archers lending cover fire. The rest of you support the ursar fighting there."

"Yessir!" they responded in unison. They moved swiftly and shored up the front line while Dane continued to fight using his bow. His shots were weak, as he couldn't pull the string back as far, but at such short range they didn't need to be powerful.

"A bunch of new allies won't save you, ursar scum!" a voice shouted before a gnoll bounded over the throng of Legion forces and slammed hard into the ground before spinning in a flourish with kamas that sliced at the Coalition troops.

Elizabeth screamed as one of Fippy's weapons cut through her armor and into her stomach. Dane rushed to her side, ignoring the pain in his chest, and helped keep her on her feet.

"Locke, get her to a healer, quick!"

"I'm gone!" Locke shouted. With one of Vedray's arms draped over his shoulders, they hobbled as fast as they could back through the city.

"Good, you're finally here," Xellik said to the gnoll as he moved to disengage from Arion. "Deal with the ursar, I'll get that mage."

"With pleasure, Warlord!" Fippy snarled. He hit Arion with a shoulder charge, and despite the ursar's shields, he still struck with enough force to knock him off balance.

Xellik took the opportunity to duck around Arion and go for Dane. "I should've killed you when I had the chance all those years ago!" Xellik shouted.

Dane drew a bead on Xellik with an arrow and fired. Xellik side stepped it and rushed him, slicing the bow in half with his sword. With quick footwork, Dane managed to roll under the orc's wild swings and retrieve his sword from earlier. He brought it up just in time to parry another attack. Adrenaline surged through Dane's body, dulling the pain he felt as he darted around.

Sparks flew as Dane's sword came alive with lightning once again. He matched the orc blow for blow, never giving him an inch of ground. Without the orc's ambush, there was no way for Xellik to compete with Dane's skill. "Enough people have suffered and died for your war, Xellik, and it's time for it to come to an end."

Xellik swung at Dane's exposed arms but the man turned his sword vertically and braced himself to parry the attack. He slid his sword along the length of the weapon and tried to strike at Xellik's hands, but the orc shoved him away.

The two combatants exchanged blows, neither giving nor gaining any ground. When Xellik tried to cast a spell, Dane was quick to erect a ward to defend against it. He didn't expend any mana himself to try and counterattack with magic. He understood that it would be futile, and he wanted to conserve his energy where as Xellik seemed happy to use as much as he deemed necessary.

This isn't about revenge. This isn't about Tran. This is about stopping him! If Xellik isn't killed here, he's going to keep waging war until he's won.

Xellik's sword cut through Dane's skin, between his chain mail and his bracers. A fist came up and struck him in the face, causing him to stagger. He could barely get himself into a defensive position to protect himself from the orc's attacks. However, Dane didn't let himself fall to Xellik's attacks. He couldn't match the orc in sheer strength, and many tactics were denied to him merely because of the being's bigger size. The only option he had left was to attack his open spots between a few thin spots in his armor.

Dane's sword sliced and thrust towards each opening, focusing on the underarms and the face, but he was having a great deal of poor luck in trying to land a solid hit. Xellik swung with both hands and hit Dane in the chest, and he could feel the reverberations as the blade slammed into his chest. The wind was knocked out of him, but he was grateful that all that the orc had managed to do was chip off a few rings of his chain mail.

"Why. Won't. You. DIE!?" Xellik screamed at him. "I've killed hundreds of your filthy kin already! Why won't you just drop dead like the rest of your ilk!? By all rights, you should have died years ago in that damn ritual!"

"I won't fall easily because I have something worth fighting for," Dane replied. He grunted as he put too much into a swing and felt the reverberations in his arm as his sword struck Xellik's blade. "There's countless people beyond the city that will be put at risk if I let you past. I'm not letting you harm them."

"You think your conviction makes you invincible!?" Xellik balked. "Don't make me laugh! You're nothing more than a filthy human. You are beneath me!" He fired another magic arrow but Dane was able to avoid it in time. The orc followed through with a heavy swing as he brought his sword down on him. The magic blade grew into a large claymore as he swung with both hands, but it struck only the ground as Dane moved out of the way.

"It ends here, Xellik!" Dane shouted as he brought his lightning enchanted sword up to strike at Xellik's exposed underarm. One shallow cut, and the energy on the blade would do him in. That's all he needed to do to end it.

Just as the sword connected with the orc's flesh, the lightning dissipated, and Dane could sense a powerful energy coming from the orc that dispelled the enchantment. Cursing the orc's magical skills, Dane put more power behind his swing as the blade sliced Xellik's left arm clean off his body. Dane then grabbed the bloody stump as the orc's other hand flew up and hit him in the side of the head. Doing his best to maintain his focus, he seared the wound closed with a fireball, ensuring that the wound could not be healed.

"Damn Rogarian!!" Xellik roared, dropping to his knees. He clutched at the smoking wound, and scowled at Dane. Before the man could deliver the final blow, Xellik conjured a portal and fell into it as the rift closed.

Damn it! Dane thought, stumbling as his momentum carried him to the ground.He was panting as he tried to stand back up.

Just a short distance away, Arion was locked into battle with the gnoll chieftain. "Fippy! Why can't you leave well enough alone!?" Arion said through gritted teeth. "My generation didn't exile your people." He spun his staff and swung horizontally, trying to strike the gnoll in the side but the ghoul was able to stop it with a parry. Dane rose to his feet and began to rush over to Arion's side to help him.

"You are descendants from those murderers!" Fippy yelled. "I won't rest, not until I've done to you and your people what you've done to me and mine!"

Dane evoked a blast of steam and fired it at Fippy, "You won't get the chance." The steam jet struck the gnoll in the side, causing fur and flesh to be burnt away. His putrid yellow-green skin could now be seen, and Dane understood the nature of the creature before him. It was going to prove hard to kill the ghoul if he couldn't hurt him with his magic.

The wound did nothing to stop Fippy from shoving Arion away and leaping towards Dane. The human shot him again with a fireball, this time in mid-air, but the blast just struck him in his head and he kept coming.

One swipe of the gnoll's kamas cut a deep gash across Dane's arms and a second swipe sliced him from the forehead and down to his cheek. The third swing of his kamas bounced off a mental barrier as Arion erected one around Dane as he ran to his aid.

Fippy growled and backhanded Arion across the muzzle, the blade of his kama just clipping the tip of the ursar's ear. "Can't protect both at once, can you?" One kama went for Dane while the other simultaneously came back around and aimed for Arion's midsection.

"Yes, I can!" Arion spun the staff around and smacked one weapon out of Fippy's hands while he telekinetically shoved the gnoll away.

"Hold him down, Dane!"

"R-right," Dane channelled a quick spell that caused the ground to turn to mud and engulf Fippy before it solidified around his submerged limbs, preventing him from moving. "The spell won't last long, he's struggling pretty hard against it."

<It doesn't need to hold long,> Arion replied as he ran at the prone Fippy while loosing a tremendous roar.

"You don't have the fortitude to finish me off!" Fippy taunted and spat in Arion's direction.

The ursar's eyes were consumed by a golden light and Dane could sense that he was channelling a great deal of energy to fuel his powers. Arion jumped and used the tip of the staff like a spear to strike Fippy in the rips with enough power to rupture his sternum, cracking his chest wipe open to reveal his long dead organs.

The taint of necromantic energy seeped from the open ribcage, and the sensation, like a nausea that made every part of Dane's body want to vomit, over-took him as he dropped to one knee. The R.A.A.S. forbade research into necromantic magic, and this had been the first time that Dane had been exposed to it. It felt disgusting, unlike the arcane magic he was so used to.

"NO! What happened to every life is precious? What about my chance at redemption!?" Fippy struggled even harder against the earth that held his body down.

<You've run out of chances.>

"I won't lose to you again!"

<Correction, Fippy Sabertooth, you are not losing. I am setting you free.> Arion gripped the Gnoll's heart and used his claws to rip it out of his chest cavity. <It's the only way to save anyone from you.> He held the organ in the palm of his hand, and pounded it with psychic energies until it exploded into countless pieces, freeing the soul that had been forcibly stored within it.

Fippy manic cries turned into a cackle that slowly faded into a groan as he said, "One day ursar, you will know pain just as I have, and I will be watching from the afterlife, revelling in your torment...."

<Begone from this world, Sabertooth, and never return!> To ensure that the gnolls could never restore their chieftain's body, Arion did the same thing to the corpse as he had done to the heart, and severed it into as many pieces as he could to ensure he could not be put back together.

Dane watched the ursar and mouthed the words "Wow." He'd never seen anyone do something like that, and he was suddenly extremely glad they were fortunate enough to have Arion on their side.

"Master Arion, are you alright?" said an ursar in a set of purple robes that were tied tightly with a red sash. The ursar monk was down on the ground and panting heavily. A gnoll charged at him, only to be swatted away by an invisible hand.

"I am okay for the moment, Hannen," Arion stood and used the staff for support. "Hold the line. We can't falter now."

* * * * *

Elsewhere near the back lines, Helga was working hard to save everyone that she could. It was obvious from the dried tears on her cheeks that she'd been crying, even as she worked with bloody hands and a sweaty brow to save the lives of the Coalition soldiers.

"Lightweaver, Lumine, please don't forsake this child's life!" she pleaded and focused what mana she could into her hands, drawing on healing energies to seal an axe wound on a dwarf. When the soldier expired even with her help, a new bunch of tears rolled down her cheeks. "Damn it all!"

If only I had been a bit quicker. If only I had tried a bit harder, prayed a bit harder...

"I need a healer! Someone help please!" a male voice rang out. Helga wiped her face with the sleeve of her robe and looked up. A short distance away a human was carrying another, clearly wounded soldier with a severe cut across the stomach. Helga got up and rushed to their side.

"Lay her down, quickly! Remove her armor!" Helga ordered. The injured woman's face was pale, her breathing shallow. On inspecting the cut, she could see that her organs were threatening to slip out. "Hang in there. What's your name?" she yelled to the woman as she began to bandage the cut. The human didn't say anything, and Helga spoke more firmly. "Get it together, don't slip away. What's your name? Talk to me!"

"El-eliz..elizabeth," she stammered between groans of pain.

"Hold on 'Liz, I won't let you die on me." She looked up to ask what had happened, but the other soldier was gone, already running towards the front lines. "What the hell happened to slice through your armor like that?"

"A... a gnoll." Elizabeth was straining hard to answer her question. She didn't need to say any more. Helga understood almost immediately what had happened.

Curse that Fippy. Now I definitely can't let her die! Once Helga had completed the bandaging, she uttered her prayer and began casting her healing spells again, trying to seal the wound and return Elizabeth's organs where they belonged. However, the spell was refusing to take hold, and she couldn't seem to restore the human's health.

No, don't falter on me now! I need your power, Lumine. Help me save this life! Helga prayed. She applied more pressure to the wound and shut her eyes tight, trying to put all her will into the spell.

However, she could hear Elizabeth take her final breath, and her body went limp. Helga panted as her spell came to an end, and slammed a fist into the ground. "Why have you forsaken this life, Lightweaver!? What has she done to deserve this?" Her body shook as she tried to hold back her sobs.

Once she had regained her composure, Helga sighed, and went back to running around trying to help people.

* * * * *

Across the field, Xellik reappeared from a portal, panting. He dropped to his knees and clutched at his wound, groaning. A few orcs ran over to help him but he swatted them all away. The wound wasn't bleeding anymore thanks to the human's magic, but he couldn't heal it, either. He'd deal with the pain.

Haij had remained behind and was issuing orders, making sure that the Legion troops didn't run around freely doing as they pleased. "I want the ogres to fall back." Spit flew from Haij's mouth as he shouted at the messenger. "They're too far out and will get cut off. Have the undead support them!"

Nazridia slid up behind Xellik, causing the orc to jump. The succubus' touch was soft and gentle as she traced a hand around his face. "How are things, dear Xellik?" Her fingers ran over the stub of an arm. "Looks like you took a nasty blow."

"Shut up!" Xellik shouted. "I'll have a new arm crafted. Our engineers can do anything! I don't care about that damn arm!"

"I think you're letting your emotions get the better of you, young Warlord," Nazridia said softly into his ear.

Xellik snarled and spoke through gritted teeth as he felt the succubus run a hand over his burn again. "Things are not going as well as I was originally hoping, but not outside of my plans." Xellik began working to remove his armor with the aid of a peon, taking his gauntlet off first.

"I'm amazed you can be so calm even now that you're less of an orc," the succubus stopped touching his injury. "Do your plans include losing the gnoll chieftain?" It was clear from her haughty tone of voice that she was mocking him.

"When did he die?" Xellik asked. "He was fine when I last saw him out on the front lines. Ugh, don't tell me, the mutt fell to that ursar didn't he?"

"He did. And now he's nothing more than a pile of bloody chunks somewhere out there." The succubus smiled. "I'm sure the Sabertooth family won't be happy."

"To hell with them!" Xellik shouted, and swung a hand out to his side. "The gnolls fulfilled their purpose. If anything, this means I'll be able to take full control of the Darkpaw tribe." Once his armor was off, he ordered someone to wrap his wound in cloth, to shield it from the elements. "That damn human. I'll make him pay! I'll rip out his entrails and scatter his body to the four winds for what he did to me!"

"Whining about it won't get a thing done, whelp!" Haij shouted, interrupting Xellik mid-rant. "Stop getting so emotional and do something about the situation before it all goes downhill!"

Xellik was taken aback by Haij's behaviour. No one had yelled at him like that, not since he was younger, before he'd become high priest of the Fleshgorgers. "Brother, you forget your place, and you'd best soon remember it!" Xellik walked over and backhanded Haij across the face, cutting his knuckles on the orc's teeth. One of Haij's fangs was knocked out, landing somewhere in the tall grass below.

Haij lunged at Xellik, but stopped when swords were drawn and pointed in his direction. Xellik's body guards wouldn't hesitate to cut him down if he laid a hand on their leader.

"Will you tempt fate?" Sorda asked, the female smirking as she wagged her sword in Haij's direction. "Ten years my senior and twice as stupid as any other orc I've ever met."

Haij stepped back and relaxed slightly, but not until the weapons had been sheathed. "No, I won't, 'brother'."

"I'll have Bytej deal with you later!" Xellik went back to stand next to Nazridia. "Hmph, subordinates... at any rate, my plans are in motion as we speak. In another hour or so, we'll be falling back a league towards Olaraa, then taking the long way up the coast and besieging Kitair."

"So you never intended to win here?"

"I had hoped to gain an easy victory, but I'd been prepared with a backup plan all along," he replied. "I intended to use the gnolls and their undead as meat shields for my own forces, to have them soften up the enemy before we assaulted Kitair. Winning this fight would've been a bonus and nothing more."

"Do you value life so cheaply, Warlord?" Nazridia asked.

The orc crossed his arms. "Only the lives of those who have served their purpose." He turned and began to walk away. "Fleshgorgers, we're pulling out and meeting the fleet. I have other things to tend to."

"Other things, Warlord?" Nazridia called after him, idly looking at her nails. "My, my, aren't we ambitious, leading an army and working on so much all at once. Think you can handle it with only one arm?"

Yeah, go ahead, make fun of me all you want. I'll cut you down myself like the annoying pest you are, if I'm ever given the chance.

* * * * *

"Oi, what's goin' on?" Gantors panted. Blood caked his armor and he was nursing several bruises and minor cuts that had gotten through his defenses. Gryph stood beside him, gripping his shoulder where his pauldrons had been cleaved by an axe. Blood ran through his fingers and covered his hand.

"They be retreatin'," he replied over the horns that sounded from among the Legion's forces. "Does that mean we won?"

Gantors spoke into his gemstone on his helm. "Don't give chase, I repeat, do NOT give chase!" If the enemy was planning something to try and bait the Coalition forces out, he wasn't going to let his men fall for it.

The defenders were hesitant to celebrate at first, but after a tense couple of minutes of no combat, a great cheer rose up from the huddled masses. They had won. They had driven off the Legion and protected Sanctuary.

"I can't believe we did it," Gantors said. He knew how the enemy fought, he'd seen what they could do at Olaraa. He couldn't believe that even with the increased number of soldiers from the rest of the Coalition reinforcing Sanctuary that they would be able tow in. "It be too good to be true."

"Aye, perhaps." Gryph said, but even he couldn't remain grim for long and he joined in the cheering as well.

Out on the field, the Peacekeepers and 81stwere clapping each other on the back and congratulating themselves on the effort they put forth. Arion approached Dane and reverently handed the staff back to the man. Dane simply pushed it back towards him.

"I was never good at staff fighting, and its useless for magic," Dane explained when Arion gave him a confused look. "You should keep it. It's mithril, and it'll serve you well."

The ursar took it, and bowed. "I appreciate the gift, Dane Trueshot."

"Thank you for saving me back there. I doubt I would've made it if someone hadn't pulled Xellik off me." Dane told him. "I need to debrief my troops. I was hoping I could get a chance to speak with you sometime in the future. I have a lot I want to ask you. I've always been curious about things outside of Rogarian society, and Xen has always been of special interest to me, since I was born during Xenar."

"Certainly, it would be my pleasure. We have time to rest, after all."

As Dane walked away, thoughts flooded his mind about what had transpired earlier that night. Memories that he thought he'd forgotten came back to him as he thought on Xellik Fleshgorger and his presence in the Shadow Legion.

If he's leading the Legion, then that means he's after revenge. Whatever the case may be, if Xellik is their leader, I'm not going to rest until I kill him and his ilk. To protect the Coalition. And for Aiden's dream.