Lokanos

The sky was red, just as it had been the day before. Vexala’s scouts gave me their report as we assembled our forces on the fields east of Lokanos. Spineripper was still nowhere to be seen, the demons still numbered fifteen thousand, and, best of all, the dwarfs had arrived in the night.

Ten thousand dwarven soldiers, sent by the Council of Carcinex had arrived around midnight the night prior. They joined our forces on the field of battle today, tired, yes, but still ready to fight. I placed them in the reserve to allow them at least a little respite. I couldn’t help but smile. Our forces now nearly doubled those of the demons, and we’d figured out Spineripper’s plot before he could put it into action. Now, all we needed to do was to catch him out, and the rest would all fall into place.

Now we waited, thirty thousand in formation, battle ready and prepared for the events of the day. The banners of the Order of the Golden Sun, Church of the Great Father, the Sisters of Saunlan, and the kingdoms of Nabouti, Carcinex, and the Spirit Kingdom flapped overhead. As I watched them rippling in the thin morning breeze, I wondered if I’d ever seen a more glorious sight.

Gwendolyn, Lynessa and the mages had worked tirelessly through the night to perfect our wards, which had been placed on each of the banners. So long as they were held aloft, their protection would be shared over the troops of their company. I prayed that it would be enough to keep our soldiers free from disease, though I had confidence in Lynessa and her work. She seemed in high spirits recently, especially after the reinforcements had arrived in the night.

She looked at me, dark circles plain under her eyes, and smiled. “Today we end this war.”

I nodded in agreement. “Don’t count it over just yet. We have yet to win the battle. But yes, if we fight our fight correctly, today will be the day it all ends.”

We’d done as much preparation as we could. Our wards were set, our battle plan in place. If we fell today it would be due to a difference in sheer strength. At least, that’s what I hoped. A nagging feeling started in a small part of my mind. Was there something I was missing? Something I was overlooking?

The city’s walls loomed high, and as I squinted I could see demons atop them preparing to defend the city. A dark shadow flapped above the walls, circling on high above the city. Skythrasher, Spineripper, it made no difference. I would kill the demon. I would end the war.

That nagging thought persisted. It shouldn’t, I told myself. I couldn’t let my troops doubt that we would succeed on this day, and besides, we outnumbered the demons two to one. This battle was over before it had started. And yet…

The east gate of Lokanos creaked open. Murmurs took up among the troops. We’d prepared for the situation that the demons would meet us in the field, though truth be told we’d all assumed that the battle would be within the city. It defied reason that the demons would abandon the security of their walls to attack a larger force directly, and yet there they were, opening the eastern gate, practically begging for us to attack.

“Hold fast!” I called, and my command was passed around the gathered forces. I smelled a trap, and did not want any eager troops rushing forward to spring it.

“What are they doing?” Lynessa asked from her spot next to me.

“I have no idea.” I said, keeping my eyes glued on the open gate. A single figure emerged, though from this distance it was too far to make out fine details. The figure walked oddly, almost limping as it left the mouth of the gate.

“That’s her.” Lynessa said, pointing. “The Lady of Plagues and Boils.”

“Well, let’s hope that those wards do the job.” I replied, “Otherwise, this will be a short fight.”

The demon general raised her arms and began to chant, though from across the field her words were inaudible. We had chosen a spot far out of range from any archers atop the walls, but even so the distance brought me no comfort. It seemed to me that we had to do something to stop or delay her, though from our distance an approach would take far too long. We simply had to believe in the strength of our wards.

The Lady of Plagues and Boils finished her chant and a dark wave of miasma swept out from her. It rolled across the fields, withering the grass as it passed over. Birds called in warning as they flapped away, small field mice and rabbits fled before it, but soon all were swallowed by the wave.

“Stand near your banners!” I called. The lines visibly scrunched together, packing tighter against their banners. The wards were supposed to have more than enough range to cover the whole army, even so, nobody moved to stop them. Thirty thousand men stood rigid in place as the wave of miasma swept closer, praying that they might be spared the sickness.

They needn’t have prayed. The wave stopped, dead, when it contacted the invisible line of protection created by the wards. Our banners glowed white under the magical strain of keeping back the plague. Men shifted uneasily in their positions. I looked to Lynessa and gave her a nod. She nodded back, a small smile overtaking her uneasy expression.

”Forward march!” I commanded. The line advanced slowly and steadily, commanders keeping close watch over their men to ensure none stepped beyond the bounds of the banners’ protective field.

The distant figure of the Lady of Plagues and Boils disappeared back into the walls of the city, the gates slamming shut behind her. Our advance picked up speed, lines still packed tightly around the banners in case the demons tried for another wave of disease. As we entered the final long slope down towards the city walls we came into range of demon sharpshooters who fired long-shafted arrows down towards our banners.

The demons knew our game. Fortunately our mages were able to throw up protective screens against the missile fire. Already, our pikemen were moving back, allowing our armored dwarven sapper corps to move forward with their massive, iron bodied battering ram. Imalor called it Underhall’s Retribution. Supposedly, it had been forged from the iron of ten thousand fallen dwarfs’ weapons from the infamous Battle of Underhall.

We reached the shade of the city walls, and there established a temporary staging area where an exterior tower met the southeast wall. Our mages threw up protective barriers against the spears and arrows that rained down from the battlements above. The mages’ wards once more proved useful as the Lady of Plagues and Boils attained the top of the walls and once more sent sweeping gusts of plague-filled miasma down at our soldiers. The dwarven sappers quickly set to work, splitting into two companies with one commanded by the dwarven general sent by the Council of Carsinex attempting to breach the gates with Underhall’s Retribution, while Imalor commanded a second, smaller force that was attempting to dig beneath the foundations of the guard tower in an attempt to collapse the sturdy defenses at a vulnerable corner. I worked closely with Ser Erik and Grand Inquisitor Hamlon, scanning the sky for the flying menace that was Skythrasher, but the elusive figure was nowhere to be seen.

Once more, the similarities to Spineripper were made evident. He wasn't showing his face. He was keeping his head low, like he always had. That had to be his plan. We had to be ahead of him this time. There was no other explanation. I just had to be confident in my own judgement. After all, I was the foremost expert on our enemy, if anyone could guess his actions, it would be me.

So why, then, did I feel so uneasy?

A loud crash followed by an alarmed cry came from above. The demons had quit using arrows or spears, and had instead dropped a large chunk of concrete rubble from the battlements. It had burst apart on the mages’ shields, but the shield at the impact had collapsed after the impact, sending crumbling bits of concrete raining down from above. More mages rushed in, layering magical shields to close up the gap as soon as it opened, but the damage had already been done. The enemy now knew that our shields could be overwhelmed, and it now would be a race to breach the walls before we were overwhelmed by projectiles and pestilence.

Underhall’s retribution slammed into the iron gates of Lokanos, screeching and scraping with every impact. The gate itself echoed and cried with each and every impact, shaking and shuddering more and more with each successive blow. I redirected the remainder of our reserve mages to ensure that the barriers above the ram stayed active. No matter what, that had to be our priority.

Another block of debris crumbled to dust above me as I pushed my way through the packed lines to check how our other crew of sappers was doing. Imalor pushed his head out of the short opening in the ground, his eyes wide, face and arms covered in dirt.

”Tremors!” He shouted above the battle’s roar.

”What do you mean? What’s going on down there?” I asked.

”We got down under the foundations there and cut our channels!” Imalor explained, his words flying fast and hard from his dirtied lips, “But the ground shakes unnaturally. We can’t plant our charges, lest the movement set them off while my dwarfs are still down there!”

I looked down at my feet. The earth did not seem to be shaking, at least no more than it usually did when thirty thousand men were trampling all over it.

”The tower is more unstable than we initially thought?” I suggested.

Imalor shook his head. “The foundations are sturdy and our passages are dug deep. This is something else.”

A barrage of debris rained down on the barrier protecting the ram crew. Even with the extra mages I’d assigned, they were struggling to keep the barrier up. The solid line of force wavered unsteadily in the air like the heat rising from a fire. Any minute now, the barrier would part, and our ram crew would be crushed.

”We’ll take losses if those charges go off, but we’ll take more if that barrier above the ram fails.” I said, “And if we delay, then we all will die.”

”It’s not that I thought we’d be ending the day without casualties,” Imalor said, “But you ask me to choose a plan of action. To decide who will live and who will die.”

I nodded. “How many will we lose if the charges go off?”

”Nine.” He responded.

”Plant them.” I replied. “Clear everyone else from the blast area. You will lead them through the breach behind me and the Grand Inquisitor when the tower comes down.”

Imalor opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but the words never came. Instead, the ground beneath my feet jolted out from under me. I staggered, arms flailing as I barely managed to keep my footing. I looked around frantically. Our tightly packed ranks had been spread, men, elves and dwarves alike cast to the ground as the tremors continued. Our barriers fell as our mages were knocked to the floor, a hail of arrows and debris coming down from the walls and carving holes in our ranks. One of our banners on the left flank was crushed, and rushing in was a purple wave of miasma. Soldiers cried out as they were consumed by the cloud, boils spreading across their skin as the Lady of Plagues and Boils’ wicked laughter echoed over the fields. Skythrasher streaked down from above, grabbing wayward soldiers and flying them high into the air before dropping them back down on their own comrades as deadly projectiles.

”What the hell is going on?” I demanded, pressing myself against the stone walls of the city.

A massive, pale worm blasted upwards through the soil behind us. It was bigger than a skyscraper, shedding mulched dirt and rock fragments as it attained the surface. Atop its back crouched two dark figures, one holding what appeared to be the worm’s reins, and the other riding along behind. That second figure’s iron foot gleamed in the late morning sun, a pair of skulls hung from his hip.

Spineripper grinned from his seat atop the back of that enormous beast as it opened its maw, revealing endless rows of spiraling teeth and a singular amber eye that burned with an unholy loathing. It turned to cast its gaze upon me, and I heard in my mind a thousand voices all screaming over one another in the sudden deafening silence of my mind.

’BLOOD’