41. Taste of War
The group of four entered into a large tent. In there was a number of people. They seemed to be the elites of the camp. Darius stood Infront of the four of them and the meeting began.
A heavily armored man with blonde hair spoke, obviously the Ryden general. The Ryden's heavily outnumbered the churches men, but it seemed like the quality of the church was higher. "Everyone is here good. Listen up. The Ryden army will advance when night comes in a surprise push. The umbral is a kilometer past their defensive line. We need to create an opening for the special operations squad to push through and make a break for the umbral. This will consist of seven from the church and ten from the Ryden army. The man gestured to Darius and the group of four. Castus noticed that while he counted five of them here, he didn't see the other two.
Castus looked at Wyden curiously, who simply shrugged. Looking back at the general he continued. Once we breech the defensive line the church special operations squad is to send one to scout ahead while they are on the move, then when it is clear, they will place a spacial coordinate, then they will use a jumper to get as close to umbral as possible. During this the church will also provide disorientation with a sound attack to keep the Mordens unorganized. We don't know how long everyone will be in there, but the church has also provided a mobile forger and enchanter to come with everyone to help keep equipment sustained." He paused, turning to a tight group of heavily armored men that counted ten. "As for you ten, you will be the muscle and force to clear the umbral and claim it for us. Once the group had made it past the defensive line we will retreat and form a defensive position. When you succeed the jumper will take everyone away before the Morden's can make a move on you. I'm repeating this for understanding. You are on your own. This is our only shot to snatch this umbral. We cannot have the Morden's gain another powerful set of individuals."
The general slammed his hands down on the table. "For the glory of the Ryden kingdom." He then paused looking at Darius, the continuing "And praise be to Sol." The tent erupted into a roar and then broke as everyone prepared themselves. The group of four followed Darius to a preping area in the center of the camp. Waiting for them were two familiar shadows. Cerone and Grant.
Cerone quickly ran up to everyone, greeting and asking about their welfare. Grant and Darius talked as Darius gave him a quick rundown of what he needed to know. Grant was clearly not pleased with what was happening. He moved Darius away from the chattering group of five and spoke in a hushed tone. "Darius, this isn't good. Those transplants have some unique skills, but it sounds like the Ryden's want us to help them get to the umbral, then stab us in the back and take it all. We are playing with our lives here." Darius nodded in agreement before looking around quickly.
"I'm well aware Grant. What they don't know is we plan to do the same. It's been some time since I've had any action. Try to keep up." Grant seemed perplexed. Unlike some of the older generals, Grant had personally never seen Darius fight honestly and had no idea of the true power he held. "As long as your confident I guess." Grant huffed. a nearly imperceptible smile started to form on his face while Darius looked away.
It was nice to see Cerone, especially because Castus hadn't seen her in a long time as well as just knowing she was ok. The group chatted and shared information, mostly Cerone as everyone else had been in the base all this time while she had been here supporting the war. Soon enough darkness overtook the light and the time for the attack was upon them. The group stood closely behind Darius and Grant. Flanked on both sides of them were the heavily armed group of ten men. This was the special operations group that was to penetrate the Mordens and enter the umbral.
There was no excitement for Castus though, this was something he had never experienced, people were going to die and his life was in danger. He gritted his teeth trying to get himself to stop panicking. He looked at the armored men and back to Darius. He breathed deeply, trying to get ready.
It wasn't some glorious shout to start the charge, nor was there a warning. A line of men and women formed in the front of the prepared army, raised their staff and Castus witnessed hell. He saw the true destructive potential of mana. Thousands of fireballs, strikes of lightning, spears of earth, frozen waves and twisting vines erupted without warning from the line in front of them and then everyone was sprinting behind the barrage. It was quiet for a second, then a resounding explosion of unwitnessed proportions.
Castus fully expected that firepower to be enough to wipe the opposing army out completely, but when the dust settled, he saw that the damage was minimal at best. The Morden army had been quick to respond, their own line of mages raised to intercept the attack. While the attack did not create as much destruction as he expected it did buy the time the advancing army needed to engage with the Mordens. Clangs, clashes and screams followed and Castus stuck close to his group as they followed behind an advancing unit. They neared the combat and Darius yelled backwards at Zed, who flashed with lightning and blitzed through the distracted combatants, disappearing ahead of them.
Darius then paused for a moment, raising one leg in the air and holding an arm behind him, signaling for everyone to halt. He then slammed the leg down. The earth below Castus trembled with the force of the stomp. In front of them fissures in the earth opened up, swallowing allies and enemies alike. The disruption and subsequent damage was without warning. Everyone was tied up trying not to fall into the crevices Darius created or helping an ally out of one. Darius then moved his arm forward signaling to keep moving. They ran through the defending line. The flanking groups of heavily armored men cut down the enemy as their density increased significantly. Alyssa began speaking, but Castus couldn't hear anything coherent, just what sounded like thousands of voices constantly overlapping. He felt sick. So many people were dying, so much bloodshed. A number of times he saw swords, arrows or magic almost hit him, only for them to be deflected by Grant inches from him or just barely miss. Suddenly Dimas seemed like an angel compared to this.
Pushing forward once again, Castus noticed that the density of the Mordens had lessened, like they were ordered away from their group. Castus noticed Alyssa huffing as she spoke millions of words in an instant. It wasn't completely enough though as the group was slowing down and the Mordens they had already passed were beginning to circle around and threaten to attack their exposed backs. Cerone, seeing this jumped into action. A red hue engulfed her body and spread out to the entire group. Castus felt power like never before. The fatigue from the sprint so far was gone, and he felt stronger than ever. Darius though seemed to have gained the most significant boost as rather than actually fight the enemy he was now a human wrecking ball. Every movement he took launch Mordens like rockets.
Castus saw the crowd thinning and they were almost through when a Ryden soldier on his right took a spear to the throat. He collapsed instantly and the hole he left was enough for the attacker to make his way through the defensive line. The soldier's furious eyes locked with Castus'. Instinctively Castus summoned the spear he had made with Grant and stabbed forward. The soldier deflected it, but it bought enough time for Grant to stab the man in the head. Castus pushed forward with the group, now white knuckling the spear.
The group broke through and we're now in a full run trying to make a gap between them and the army behind them. Barrages of wild magic landed around them, but the mages seemed hesitant. Castus swerved around a tent and struggled to keep pace with the others. A flash appeared on the horizon steadily making its way towards them.
Zed appeared next to Darius. "All clear until a few hundred feet from the umbral where a small post of guards are waiting, the spacial marker is active." Darius nodded and then shouted. "Wyden start moving us." Wyden, while running began to move his hands and a portal ahead appeared. Without hesitation everyone entered it and vanished from the battlefield.
Far back in the Ryden camp the general noticed the flash and the portal. He raised his sword and shield clanging it together. "PULL BACK, DEFENSIVE POSITIONS. MAGES BUY US ROOM!" The army slowly unfurled its bloody self as the two lines separated and magic ravaged anyone in between.