Chapter 144


    Shifting Tides


    Oh shit.


    It was Cru that buckled, grunting the rak’s dagger drained him. The chief was quick, forming ring of stone spikes around himself to prevent any of the soldiers charging him. Tar had been dealing with a kragling that followed and Daegan shouted at him to support the rest of the squad.


    “Take down those spikes!” Daegan called out, rushing forward and trying to aim a shot between the spikes at the chief.


    He saw a glimpse of the white ghostwood mask and fired. The bullet bit into the wood but not through it. The rak was thrown back by the impact however.


    “Get Cru out of there!” Daegan shouted and the soldiers jumped to obey, pulling their captain out of the dagger’s range. Daegan rushed past them, his own dagger raised.


    “Thief!”the rak shouted in Old Esterin, eyes locked on Daegan. “Only the Khandamos’ chosen may wield the karak’adek” Daegan didn’t understand the final word.


    “Fuck the Khandamos!” Daegan shouted, though there was no direct Old Esterin translation for ‘fuck’ but Daegan’s response wasn’t for the rak. It was for his soldiers. Tar was now at his side, eyes fixed on the stone spikes. They began to shake and crumble.


    “More strength for the Khandamos,” the rak growled, raising his dagger, but Daegan raised his pistol first and fired. The bullet tore through the chief’s wrist. The dagger clattering to the stonework. The spike burst apart in dust and debris.


    Tanlor was through in an instant, blade thrust forward, driving the rak through in the chest. In that moment, a rush of more rakmen poured over the wall. Daegan flicked his attention to the oncoming mass, firing shots. He was eternally grateful that Tanlor had figured out a way to increase the capacity of his pistol. He had approximately a hundred shots before he needed Tar to refill the inlaid aradium for him.


    The defenders were pushed back to their original position on the Bastion. And Daegan saw the rakmen were prioritising recovering the chief’s bloodstone dagger, before it could be claimed by them. If that chief had been smart, he’d have waited for his comrades for support instead of charging in alone. For all their new tactics and coordination, the rak still mostly fought like individuals.


    “I can still fight,” Cru wheezed. He looked deathly pale.


    “Get your ass down to Yaref,” Daegan growled. “He’ll decide if you keep fighting. Go!”


    “Karas!” Daegan called over to one of the Reldoni bodyguards. “You’re captain now. Until Cru returns.” Torvin had recommended her to be his honour guard captain but Daegan knew the other Twin Garde men would have enough trouble fighting alongside a woman, let alone taking orders from one. But they can bloody well get used to it. Karas had already proven her quick thinking and decision calls throughout the night.


    “Form phalanx!” Karas immediately began barking out orders, directing the guards towards the rakmen pressing against the Bastion. Tanlor was at Daegan’s side, pointing out to the approaching horde.


    “I think we might have been wrong about them pulling back,” Tanlor was panting, having expended a lot of energy fighting that hellhound. But he pointed out to where even more rakmen were pouring out from the treeline. And a full dozen hellhounds. How the hells do they still have more of these things in reserve?


    Horns were blaring across the defending wall, alerting everyone that this was a large assault rush and calling all reserves to the walls. This was it, this would have to be the final wave of strength that the rakmen would throw at them. The one that could destroy them.


    The horns blared again urgently, and Daegan could feel the panic ripple through the lines. The soldiers around him shifted, nervous energy palpable. He needed to say something, anything to still that fear.


    “Torvin hasn’t missed this,” Tanlor pointed down to where reinforcements were flooding the walls to bolster the defence. There were ranks headed towards their bastion also.


    “They keep coming because they think we’ll break!” Daegan shouted. The eyes of the defenders all across the battlements turned to him. War is as much a battle of spirit as it is of flesh. It was something his old swordsmaster Garld had taught him and Landryn when they were boys. He’d seen those words ring true throughout the night. He understood how morale worked, but he didn’t realise how easy it was to manipulate with just a few shouted words.


    “They think we’re already beaten.” Daegan took a step forward, raising his bloodstone dagger high. “They may have their draega and their numbers, but we have the strength of men who refuse to give in. Who refuse to die.”


    The wall shuddered as boulders were flung against it by enemy stonebreakers.


    “We are all that stands between these fucking monsters and the innocent people of these lands. We. Will. Not. Fall!”


    Daegan could feel the ground at his feet rumbling as the hellhounds thundered across the killing field. Rakmen war chants resounded in the air.


    He watched as the hellhounds closed the distance, their powerful legs propelling them with terrifying speed. Closer to Daegan’s section of the wall, a pair of forerunning hellhounds slammed into the base of the wall with a force that sent a tremor up through the stone, cracks spiderwebbing outward. Without missing a beat, the beasts began clawing their way up.


    "Runewielders, focus fire on the beasts!" Karas bellowed, her curved sword raised as she moved along the battlements. It was the same tactic that they carried throughout the night of fighting. Once again, the rakmen riding the beasts tore ahead of their main forces, leaving them vulnerable and exposed. Daegan was beginning to realise that they simply didn’t have the control of their mounts to actually restrain them from pressing ahead. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    How can we use that to our advantage? Beyond how they currently were by focusing fire on the beasts.


    There was a wave of rakmen already clambering the wall. Tanlor and the other melee fighters were already moving to engage them before the hellhounds cleared the wall. Daegan raised his pistol and began firing at any rakmen that crested. There were a mix of riflemen, archers and crossbowmen beside him that were following suit. The air filled with the sounds of gunshots and shouts of volleys.


    And then it abruptly stopped.


    Daegan was aiming at a large rak that had been rushing towards Tanlor. He hadn’t noticed when all the others around him lowered their weapons. For all his education on military tactics and strategy, and his fighting experience over the past few months, Daegan was still a novice to war.


    He missed what was happening.


    He fired. The pistol ball tore through the large rak’s neck. A perfect shot. It brought Daegan a sick sense of satisfaction. He glanced at Tanlor who’d staggered to his knees. A moment of panic lanced through him then as he looked around at everyone else. All around him defenders were falling to their knees. Their faces stricken. Tanlor himself looked pained.


    What the hells?


    The rakmen reached the defenders and started cutting them down like gardeners cutting grass. Daegan saw Jerrin, slack-jawed, as a rak rushed and impaled him with a thick iron sword. He didn’t even raise his weapon to defend himself.


    What’s happening?


    He looked over and saw Karas. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she forced herself to hold her sword aloft. They all looked terrified.


    But at what? There were no new hells facing them. This was the same fight they’d been facing all night. Sure, it was a big wave, but they were just giving up? A moment of disgusted anger flashed to Daegan as he turned to the man next him. A Reldoni rifleman.


    “What’s gotten into you?” Daegan shouted, grabbing him by the shoulder.


    “W-w-we cannot w-win,” the man stammered. “M-my lord. I’m s-s-sorry, but…” he trailed off, his eyes going wide at the hellhound now crested over the wall, bearing a masked rider. He looked no different than the other chiefs they’d fought this night.


    All across the battlements, most of the defenders were on their knees. Some managed to continue fighting. Daegan could hear Tanlor roaring in defiance as he engaged a pair of rakmen.


    What was happening to them? It’s as though something was blanketing them in fear like a… Daegan cursed himself for not realising it sooner. Like a Foebreaker. He’s got a fucking diamond mindstone. Daegan had always suspected that his infirmity had made him immune to the effects of mindstone. Bloodstone worked by guiding one’s own edir to the beat of the healer. Mindstone must work on the same principle. Foebreakers were always highly valued on the battlefield. There were two in Commander Torvin’s battalion, but both of them were at other sections of the wall.


    Daegan had never heard of a foebreaker being able to paralyse anything more than three or four enemies at a time. There were over sixty defenders on Daegan’s bastion. Most of them were completely incapacitated.


    Shit shit shit.


    What could he do? He could send a runner to Torvin, request one of the foebreakers to join them here and block the enemy''s effects. But that would take time, valuable time that the rakmen would use to slaughter them all.


    A part of his mind told him to flee. That fear shaped the thought around running himself to Torvin to request the foebreaker, but that would mean abandoning these soldiers he’d fought alongside all night. Abandoning Tanlor and the Twin Garde men.


    The other hellhound was mounting the other side of the Bastion and Daegan felt real genuine terror grip him. They were going to die. The chief began tearing through the defenders and Daegan watched in horror as the ragtag mix of Bluewater, Reldon, Westmark and Twin Garde soldiers were mauled.


    He had to do something.


    He had to do something.


    He had to do something!


    Why wasn’t he doing anything? Tanlor was fighting alone now against the hellhound and the masked rider. His greatsword flashing as he cut at the creature''s flank. He dived and rolled a swipe, dodging the creature''s attention. The rider was more focused on driving his spear into the gaping defenders. Some had the will to raise their weapons to block, but many simply fell.


    Daegan took a step forward and raised his pistol.


    He needed to kill that chief. He was surely the foebreaker. Surely the source of this. He fired three shots. Two sank uselessly into the flesh of hellhound, the third clinking off the rak chief''s black iron plate. Daegan took a breath, steadying himself.


    There were more rakmen climbing over.


    Without the rangers picking them off, they’ll quickly overrun us. The rak wouldn’t even need the hellhounds. A cannon blast sounded as one of the cannoneers managed to shake himself of his fear. He was no longer focusing on the encroaching horde, but instead on the wall itself where more and more of the creatures were piling on.


    Daegan’s arm was shaking. He couldn’t aim like this.


    Tanlor was knocked on his back and the rak chief saw the opportunity, raising his spear for a strike. Instinct flooded him and Daegan fired. The bullet caught the chief in the side of the head. He sagged to the side, slipping off the draega.


    Daegan unclenched. But then the horror crept over him.


    They weren’t standing up. The defenders weren’t getting up. The hellhound jumped over Tanlor, now riderless and directionless, it was mindlessly mauling any nearby defenders.


    Why aren’t they recovering?


    Daegan looked over at Karas who was roaring out a charge call. Daegan couldn’t hear her words. She threw herself into a fight against three rakmen, evading attacks and striking with her sword like a trained dancer.


    But she was alone. All around her, Daegan’s honour guard was failing. The entire bastion was failing. They’re giving up?


    No. Daegan was. He’d failed. As he always did. That chief hadn’t been the foebreaker. The enemy runewielder was still hidden somewhere else. Somewhere nearby. But Daegan had no edir. He had no way to detect where the runewielder could be. He was, after all, still just… a cripple.


    Useless. Broken.


    No. No, he’d faced this already. His father had been wrong. Everyone had been wrong about him. Daegan was strong. He’d fought and defeated countless rakmen now. He had power in… in the dagger. It was all in the dagger. That was the source of his strength. He looked down now at the glowing blade.


    It wasn’t even his strength. He knew that it wasn’t. He’d always known it but hadn’t wanted to face it. There was a connection to it and something… someone else. He could feel it, like a pair of eyes watching him from far away. Unable to see him clearly but knowing he was there, hiding in the dark.


    Daegan looked up and saw Tanlor pulling himself back to his knees. Tanlor was a true fighter. Not like Daegan. He wasn’t pretending. He was giving everything he had.


    Even that won’t be enough.