34 Battle of the black demon (1)

As anticipated in the first war council, the Force of Fate mercenaries were sent ahead. The battalion moves safely through the mountain paths. Most of the members were born in this area and have lived among these peaks throughout their lives.

The vanguard advances scattered throughout the passes. The men have to move in small groups to different pathways. Each team is spaced in intervals of a few tens of meters. In this way no team can be taken by surprise without alerting the rest of the troops. In addition, a small number of soldiers can move faster and attract less attention.

In this way the Olmaria army managed to approach the enemy camp within a few hours of forced march. Thanks to Simon's demonic bag the mercenaries are moving free from the weight of the equipment and supplies. Fortunately, no scouts managed to sound the alarm during the march.

After coordinating with Igors team through the runic box, the mercenary company meets at the head of the promontory in front of the Luberistan camp. Simon, without embracing his friends, immediately checks the situation among the enemy troops.

Small fights can be seen throughout the camp. Only two quiet areas can be seen, that of the official army and that of the mercenary beastmen. A big fight, on the other hand, can clearly be found in the area of a large mercenary group.

The young commander, after consulting his officer Drew, orders the preparation of a defensive line. While Simon pulls a series of woods, trestles and other things from his magic bag, his men assemble an improvised barricade.

Two teams of archers advance on both sides of the slope, eliminating every scout spotted. It is now a matter of minutes before the camp becomes aware of the raid. Simon knows he must hold at least an hour to allow the general's troops to arrive.

Simon is obviously worried, an hour is an exaggeratedly long time in a battle. All his confidence is placed in the dwarven arms. He never tried them against a real army but the prototypes tested against magic beasts and monsters showed excellent results.

Simon standing at the center of the barricade observes his men. Drew has positioned himself in the front rows. Nearby, George and his armored troops are positioned to defend him. Desmond is to the right of the commander, Igor to the left. John is organizing his two helpers on how to handle communications between the various groups of soldiers. Selin instead remained in the rear with Commander Eric.

Igor recalls his dwarf friends. Everyone is asked to garrison one of the machines invented by Simon. These are placed along the entire front.

The archers are recalled to avoid being cut off from the formation.

Once all the men are assembled behind the barricades, Drew orders a small group of swordsmen to place a series of small metal stakes in front of the soldiers. Each tied with metal wire to the next.

Simon screams resolutely "Enchanters! Prepare the 'ash rain'! "

Igor and one of the dwarves mechanically answer "We are ready commander!"

At the same time in the enemy camp a horn announces the discovery of the invaders.

Simon breathes trying to keep calm then throwing out all the air in his lungs "Activate the magic device!"

Igor and the dwarf are fiddling with a stove-like machine. Igor's aide inserts a black bag into the mouth of the oven. Then after activating the sequence of runes, from the chimney with a dull bang followed by a whistle, a kind of bullet comes out at great speed.

Both armies stop to observe the bag flying over the Luberistan camp. The bullet as soon as it reaches the sky above the tent opens, letting out a cascade of dust. The dust, thanks to the height and the wind, spreads over almost the whole area.

The enemy soldiers burst into a loud laugh, seeing that the bullet cannot reap any victim in their ranks. The officers restore order and deploy all available troops.

Simon laughs from the top of the rocks watching the black dust cling to the tents and then catch fire. In a moment, thousands of small fires light up throughout the enemy camp. Officers panicking try to hijack the men called to the gathering. Small teams are sent to the tents in an attempt to put the fires out.

George and his men begin to beat the short swords against the tower shields and shout obscene verses towards the enemies.

Simon thinks agitated "With this move we only gained a few minutes. It will be hard and there will be losses." Then turning to his men, he screams decisively "Hold your positions!"

Two groups of enemy soldiers take position and begin to climb up towards the position of the invaders. Covered by shields they manage to advance undisturbed by the few archers of the Force of Fate company.

Angry Simon confides in Desmond "Shit! They are too few. I was hoping they would be compacted before going up. I'm worried about playing my best cards against two small groups. "

Desmond shrugging "I can not help you in these things, I'm sorry."

Slowly Jonas advancing from behind hits Simon's leg with a stick and then talks to him as he talks to a small child "Did you think to exterminate them all with your tricks? Do not be stupid. If you wait to use them you will no longer have the chance to do it. Remember that you just have to buy time. As soon as my nephew arrives we can leave the job to him, ehehehe "

Simon heartened says "You're right, now we're in this shitty situation. Let's focus on one thing at a time. "Then shouting to the two dwarfs at the ends of the front "Prepare the 'mantises'!"

The two dwarf soldiers begin to activate the sequence of runes engraved on the machinery indicated by the commander. The devices this time seem like huge upside down pears.

Once activated, the weapons begin to spin on themselves at high speed. The soldiers in front of the 'mantises' move to open the barricade. After a signal from the two runic experts the two machines start moving randomly towards the valley bottom.

Each of the two devices increases the speed more and more. The rotary motion triggers long blades out of the machine. Like some crazy spinning tops, the two mantises crash against the opponents' shields.

The enemies prepare to face this new threat, they move the shields to the front leaving the opportunity for the archers to hit them more easily. Under the coordinated blows from archers and the furious blows of the 'mantises', the two battalions break up and the surviving soldiers line up with the rest of the army near the camp.

Most of the flames have been put out, but in some places, especially in the area of the mercenaries, they are still flaring up. Simon can watch at least two mercenary companies get away from the battle.

The army of Luberistan, regained its clarity and forms up along the mountain side.

All the Force of Fate mercenaries feel the chills running down their backs seeing such a military force deployed in front of them. Simon invokes the protection of the deity of Fate. Then, after all the archers armed themselves with round-headed arrows with the integrated 'spider web' device, orders "Shoot!"

A shower of arrows hits the shields of the enemy troops. No damage, but once the sticky substance is exposed to the air, a long, hard rock net blocks the soldiers.

Shouts of rage reach Simon's ears. He smiles thinking, "If their commander is stupid they will charge without shields and so we can kill a lot of enemies, but if he is a clever man he will wait for the right moment and then, if the gods allow it, reinforcements will come."

The enemy soldiers remain stationary in their place while some comrades try with their swords to break the sticky web that traps them.

The old strategist Jason observes the sun in the sky starting to go down to the west. Once mentally confronted the image of the star with that of when they arrived, he decides that the time for reinforcements has arrived.

The commander of the Luberon army shouts the order to move forward. Slowly a long wall of men begins to rise towards the invaders. The first rows covered with long shields protect the archers of the rear while shooting arrows towards the opponents.

Simon, observing this terrifying scene behind a shield to cover himself with the arrows, regrets the moment when his soul was chosen by Elza.