A full on battle had ensued on the surface. Lucrece had to use all her arsenal of tricks to keep up with Gabrielle’s destructive power, jumping from head to head and feeling the pain on her legs growing harder and harder to withstand, all while the redheaded witch swung her two-hander from one side to the other, the sharp edge of that slab of steel easily breaking through skin, chitin and bone. Her arms were tired, her posture lacking, but the sheer force of her sword was compensating for now… and reinforcements had finally arrived. Riders skewered abominations by the dozen, most of them managing to actually break through the creature’s siege and access the city.
But sadly, there were those without luck. Poor saps whose horses were caught by the claws of the bog walkers before they could react or move away, their screams echoing through the whole city as terror mixed with pain. Click, click, clack. Their armour offered little to no defense against the closing of the creatures’ claws, flesh and bone being cut without mercy and then devoured by hungry mouths with a myriad of teeth.
The captain closed his eyes for a moment, just… internally mourning those bastards. No one deserves a death that grizzly, that painful and quick. Too old to jump like the blonde girl did, he opted for remaining in the ground, covering the redhead’s back with his lance, poking quick holes on the chest of anything that dared get too close to them.
The circle around the three had broken as the bog walkers’ ranks devolved into complete disarray. Even if most of them were too ravenous to even consider running away, there were those specimen among them that held enough of their self-preservation instinct to at least try to play it smarter, hiding behind the less aware members of their own horde and letting them be killed first by the arriving army.
Battle shifted direction, going from trying entering the city to putting all effort into pushing back the intruding Church Battalions. Gabrielle’s arms fell as the bog walkers seemed to lose all interest in them, turning to push outwards and face the more immediate threat. She needed a moment to think, to breathe and properly recover from all the concussions and the abuse of her poor muscles. Lucrece arrived with her soon after, landing close and letting out a deep sigh of relief.
“Thank the saints these people are here… for a moment I was starting to worry, to be honest!”
“Battle is still not over.” Gabrielle pointed at what was left of the horde, squealing and screeching while the soldiers of the Church did their best to fight back… with limited success. “It’s a bloodbath…”
“They are being reckless! Have they never fought a bog walker before!?” The captain shook his head slowly. “They wont be able to keep them busy forever, not when the Horde acts as it does.”
“You have seen hordes before, old man.” Lucy narrowed her eye, catching the wisdom in the Captain’s words.
“This is not the first city I see fall to one, no.” He sighed. “I thought it would be the last for a moment, though. Thank you…”
“You are welcome.” Gabi spoke out of compulsion, it was hard not to say that when someone thanks you. “Now go with your people. We will stay here for a moment.”
“...Don’t do anything stupid.”
The captain was old, but that didn’t make him appreciate life any less. If there was a chance for him to escape, he would certainly take it. Turning tail, the man rushed straight out of the battlefield… Lucrece blinked twice.
“We are staying!? Why! We already did our best, woman. Let’s get out!”
“There’s something I still have to try.” The redhead sighed, rolling her shoulders and taking the sword in both hands. “I think I can end this bloodbath.”
“Oh boy…”
With a frustrated sigh the lancer simply accepted, already knowing that she couldn’t convince the woman of anything when determination filled her eyes.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the field, a desperate Dame tried her best to guide her people to what should had been an easy victory. Wielding her lance with grace and power she cut the heads of as many beasts as she could, only to see them being replaced with twice as many creatures as she killed. Esperanza gulped, seeing her people dying to these uncharacteristically smart creatures only pushed her determination further to end this battle soon.
She looked up and onwards, seeing how the beast collective had completely turned towards them filled her heart with conflicting emotions. It was great to take away the attention of those abominations from innocent civilians, but at the same time it was costing them a lot. But she also saw a figure, a woman of red hairs rising her sword… looking right back at her.
And both felt it again, that same connection they had months ago. Their eyes stared at each other for a moment, looking at the light in each other’s soul, and a message was silently relayed. Gabrielle never understood how… but just by looking at her in the eye, Esperanza knew precisely what to do.
“Fall back! Now!”
The army looked back at her for an instant, unsure of what happened but not going to protest an order from their superior, especially if that order was to run for safety. The remaining soldiers turned to move away.
Gabrielle could feel it, deep in her being: something burning green, beautiful, powerful… the mark on her left arm began shining bright under her sleeves, the single rune marked on her skin by anger and desperation. Pain returned to her body, coursing through her veins and all over her skin, a burning, numbing pain that spread like roots all over her: Lightning, all contained within the girl’s being like a raging storm, now sparked and flowed from Gabi’s hands into her sword, as she slowly raised it to the skies.
Don’t faint, don’t faint…!
The blade of her sword began shining with a bright blue, the steel practically about to burn. Absolute power, distilled destruction concentrated in a single sword… Gabrielle was not really aware of just how much energy she held in that second. She just kept focusing more, and more, and more of it!
“Gabi!” Lucrece could barely see in the middle of all that light, but she could feel how the redhead spasmed and shook out of pain. “Gabi, that's enough! Let it out!”
The words were her guide, and she was going to oblige. With a single swing downwards, she could feel the relief of her whole body letting go, electricity unleashed to its maximum potential, with the sound of a myriad trumpets going off at the same time.
A full on battle had ensued on the surface. Lucrece had to use all her arsenal of tricks to keep up with Gabrielle’s destructive power, jumping from head to head and feeling the pain on her legs growing harder and harder to withstand, all while the redheaded witch swung her two-hander from one side to the other, the sharp edge of that slab of steel easily breaking through skin, chitin and bone. Her arms were tired, her posture lacking, but the sheer force of her sword was compensating for now… and reinforcements had finally arrived. Riders skewered abominations by the dozen, most of them managing to actually break through the creature’s siege and access the city.
But sadly, there were those without luck. Poor saps whose horses were caught by the claws of the bog walkers before they could react or move away, their screams echoing through the whole city as terror mixed with pain. Click, click, clack. Their armour offered little to no defense against the closing of the creatures’ claws, flesh and bone being cut without mercy and then devoured by hungry mouths with a myriad of teeth.
The captain closed his eyes for a moment, just… internally mourning those bastards. No one deserves a death that grizzly, that painful and quick. Too old to jump like the blonde girl did, he opted for remaining in the ground, covering the redhead’s back with his lance, poking quick holes on the chest of anything that dared get too close to them.
The circle around the three had broken as the bog walkers’ ranks devolved into complete disarray. Even if most of them were too ravenous to even consider running away, there were those specimen among them that held enough of their self-preservation instinct to at least try to play it smarter, hiding behind the less aware members of their own horde and letting them be killed first by the arriving army.
Battle shifted direction, going from trying entering the city to putting all effort into pushing back the intruding Church Battalions. Gabrielle’s arms fell as the bog walkers seemed to lose all interest in them, turning to push outwards and face the more immediate threat. She needed a moment to think, to breathe and properly recover from all the concussions and the abuse of her poor muscles. Lucrece arrived with her soon after, landing close and letting out a deep sigh of relief.
“Thank the saints these people are here… for a moment I was starting to worry, to be honest!”
“Battle is still not over.” Gabrielle pointed at what was left of the horde, squealing and screeching while the soldiers of the Church did their best to fight back… with limited success. “It’s a bloodbath…”
“They are being reckless! Have they never fought a bog walker before!?” The captain shook his head slowly. “They wont be able to keep them busy forever, not when the Horde acts as it does.”
“You have seen hordes before, old man.” Lucy narrowed her eye, catching the wisdom in the Captain’s words.
“This is not the first city I see fall to one, no.” He sighed. “I thought it would be the last for a moment, though. Thank you…”
“You are welcome.” Gabi spoke out of compulsion, it was hard not to say that when someone thanks you. “Now go with your people. We will stay here for a moment.”
“...Don’t do anything stupid.”
The captain was old, but that didn’t make him appreciate life any less. If there was a chance for him to escape, he would certainly take it. Turning tail, the man rushed straight out of the battlefield… Lucrece blinked twice.
“We are staying!? Why! We already did our best, woman. Let’s get out!”
“There’s something I still have to try.” The redhead sighed, rolling her shoulders and taking the sword in both hands. “I think I can end this bloodbath.”
“Oh boy…”
With a frustrated sigh the lancer simply accepted, already knowing that she couldn’t convince the woman of anything when determination filled her eyes.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the field, a desperate Dame tried her best to guide her people to what should had been an easy victory. Wielding her lance with grace and power she cut the heads of as many beasts as she could, only to see them being replaced with twice as many creatures as she killed. Esperanza gulped, seeing her people dying to these uncharacteristically smart creatures only pushed her determination further to end this battle soon.
She looked up and onwards, seeing how the beast collective had completely turned towards them filled her heart with conflicting emotions. It was great to take away the attention of those abominations from innocent civilians, but at the same time it was costing them a lot. But she also saw a figure, a woman of red hairs rising her sword… looking right back at her.
And both felt it again, that same connection they had months ago. Their eyes stared at each other for a moment, looking at the light in each other’s soul, and a message was silently relayed. Gabrielle never understood how… but just by looking at her in the eye, Esperanza knew precisely what to do.
“Fall back! Now!”
The army looked back at her for an instant, unsure of what happened but not going to protest an order from their superior, especially if that order was to run for safety. The remaining soldiers turned to move away.
Gabrielle could feel it, deep in her being: something burning green, beautiful, powerful… the mark on her left arm began shining bright under her sleeves, the single rune marked on her skin by anger and desperation. Pain returned to her body, coursing through her veins and all over her skin, a burning, numbing pain that spread like roots all over her: Lightning, all contained within the girl’s being like a raging storm, now sparked and flowed from Gabi’s hands into her sword, as she slowly raised it to the skies.
Don’t faint, don’t faint…!
The blade of her sword began shining with a bright blue, the steel practically about to burn. Absolute power, distilled destruction concentrated in a single sword… Gabrielle was not really aware of just how much energy she held in that second. She just kept focusing more, and more, and more of it!
“Gabi!” Lucrece could barely see in the middle of all that light, but she could feel how the redhead spasmed and shook out of pain. “Gabi, that's enough! Let it out!”
The words were her guide, and she was going to oblige. With a single swing downwards, she could feel the relief of her whole body letting go, electricity unleashed to its maximum potential, with the sound of a myriad trumpets going off at the same time.
