Hurry Up Tau

Dom quickly headed through the gates and looked at the chaos that was taking place. Tomoe was slashing with her sword and decapitating and dismembering unprepared Hittite guards where ever she went. Leonidas and Cleombrotus were both beside her stabbing with their spears, shorter ones than they usually used, and killing indiscriminately.

Abubakar had created a line with his Egyptians that were pushing out in a semi circle formation, whilst some others under the charge of the Elegantly Dressed Warrior were damaging the giant hinges that held the gate doors in place, so that they couldn't be closed quickly if they did lose control of the gate.

Beyond the gate were small houses and buildings, most of which were single story and were made from an off-yellow stone. The streets were dusty from the arid weather that covered this part of the world during the summer seasons. The houses had wooden shutters instead of glass windows of the modern world and also had thick wooden doors, that were not perfectly cut to size. These houses and buildings were tightly compacted, leaving small pathways that headed deeper in to the city.

Dom could see as he looked, that the buildings got bigger the further in to the city that you went, with a small palace like building in the centre that Dom assumed was the manor that the City Lord would most likely live in. He knew that they would have to take that building to declare this a total victory.

Dom could see that there were five pathways that lead away from the gate that they had entered through, two open passages to the left and right that traversed around the wall. The other three pathways entered the city between the buildings, one centrally and then one on each side of that.

Tomoe had taken to blocking the central path with the two Spartans, whilst the Egyptian forces had broken up in to smaller units to block the other four routes.

"How is it going Prince Sethi?" Abubakar shouted to the Elegantly Dressed Warrior as Dom approached them.

"We should have them jammed shortly Commander Abubakar." Prince Sethi responded, sweat on his brow, as he and the others kept bashing the hinge with the some hammers they had brought with them, borrowed from the carpenters specifically for this task.

Beside the gate were some wooden steps, that would take them to the top of the wall, where a wooden scaffolding was in place, running the breadth of it in all directions. Dom planned to walk up there and have a look at the Battle taking place across the River.

"It looks like the first step is a success Lord Lazarus." Abubakar smiled at Dom when he noticed his presence. This was soon followed by the sounds of horns within the City of Kadesh.

"I think you spoke too soon." Dom replied with a shake of the head, "They definitely know of our arrival."

There was soon the sound of more clashing as Hittite Warriors that were inside the city rushed from the rest of it towards the gate that they had taken. The clashing was coming from the location of Tomoe, the path to the right of her and also the left pass that went around the wall, as more Hittites ran to towards the gate.

Dom was grateful to see that these seemed to be the weaker of Hittite Warriors that he had faced, with the majority of the elite units being across the River fighting against King Rameses II and his three legions, Amun, Seth and Ptah.

"Get the signal lit!" Dom ordered Abubakar as he headed up the wooden steps to the top of the gate.

"You heard the man, get it lit!" Abubakar ordered some of the Egyptians that had been with Prince Sethi. They unrolled small packs that were on their backs that were full of kindling and small glass jars of powder. They followed Dom up the stairs of the gate and started to put the kindling and small amounts of wood on the top of the wall, whilst smashing a small piece of flint stone against a piece of metal. After a few attempts a spark successfully hit the kindling and it started to smoke in parts.

"Don't let it go out!" Dom exclaimed from beside them atop the wall, as a small breeze hit them and almost blew the small smoking embers out.

They continued to blow and shield the embers as it started to spread and create a small fire. They then added on some more wood and allowed it to start to grow. One of the Egyptians took a step back and opened his jar of powder, which was dark red in colour. He threw the open jar in to the small fire, which created a huge bloom of red smoke that started to rise in to the air. The red smoke would be seen by the Hittites across the River, but they were busy in battle against the Egyptians. The others who would see the red smoke were the Ra Unit under General Tau that were waiting nearby for this exact signal.

Dom looked down from his spot on the wall and saw that Subutai had just taken down the last of the escaping horsemen that had left the City Walls only a minute or so earlier. Subutai turned and headed in through the open gate with a smile on his face as he looked around at the carnage that was taking place.

"We just need to hold this place until reinforcements arrive then!" Dom shouted down to the Warriors that were fighting below. "Tomoe, continue in the centre, Prince Sethi take the left pass, Abubakar the right pass, I'll take the Left path, and Subutai can take the right path."

"Got it!" Subutai shouted up to him as he headed to his designated location where some of the Elite Egyptian Warriors were fighting against the weaker Hittite Guards.

Abubakar was about to shout back to Dom about ordering a Prince and who was in charge, but decided, for once, that now wasn't the right time and headed to his location, as did the Prince. Dom headed down the stairs, where the two Egyptians who had started the fire would stay, they had bows with them and they would target any enemies that somehow got passed the blockades that were in place.

Each pathway had ten warriors defending them, five at the front, and five behind, creating a small but solid shield against the weaker opponents that charged at them. Dom stabbed his Slaying Spear in to the chest of an enemy that was rushing at them, whilst the Egyptian at his side slashed down at another with his curved blade. As Dom went to stab at another enemy, another Egyptian by his other side stepped forwards and stabbed out which his sword, killing him before Dom had chance.

"Stay in line!" Dom ordered, not wanting them to get carried away and leave them exposed.

Soon he could see a larger group of Hittites appear, and he realised that the enemy were starting to group together rather than charging at them in an unorganised manner.

"Prepare for a proper attack!" Dom ordered, preparing himself and getting himself in to a position that he had been shown by the Spartans. He held his spear forwards, whilst having his body turned slightly, his feet in the position of a boxers, whilst his arms grasped the spear shaft in a relaxed manner.

Rather than charging, these Hittite's walked towards Dom's group, banging their swords against the slight armour that they wore, trying to intimidate the Elite Egyptians that awaited them. Dom heard more clashes from around him as the other paths were fighting similar battles. He heard Leonidas and Cleombrotus laughing, whilst Tomoe berated them for being in her way whilst she released her blood lust. He could also hear Subutai explaining things to the Egyptians that fought alongside him and calmly explaining some fighting techniques as he was dispatching the enemies that came towards them.

The group of Hittites soon reached Dom's position, attacking as a unit rather than individuals. Dom stabbed towards one of them, whilst the Egyptians beside him followed suit and slashed and stabbed with their swords. Unlike on previous exchanges their attacks were parried and sent back their way, with several stabs and slashes coming toward the Egyptian side.

Dom parried away the incoming slash towards him with the shaft of his spear, pushing it away before using the sharp tip to whip in to the enemies exposed face as he brought it back. The spear tip cut in the the Hittites face, causing a large flap of skin to come loose from his cheek. The Hittite screamed in pain as Dom pulled his spear back and stabbed him through the throat.

As Dom stabbed, another Hittite used this opportunity to slash at Dom's exposed flank, but was quickly blocked by the Egyptian that was covering that side. Dom was relieved that he was fighting alongside the Egyptian Elites rather than the Egyptian Infantry that was on the other side of the River. Dom pulled his spear back and stabbed at the enemy that was to his right, protecting the flank of the Egyptian beside him that was under heavy attack by two of the enemies.

The Egyptian at the end of the line suddenly screamed in agony as a sword stabbed through his side, he fell back and his space was quickly filled by the Egyptian behind him in the second line. He fell to the floor and was holding his chest tightly as blood flew from him freely. Dom wanted to look back and see if he could help, but that small moment of distraction allowed the Hittite that had been leading the pace to charge at him, pushing his spear aside and charging straight in to Dom.

Dom fell to the floor heavily, with the Egyptians beside him wanting to help, but also fighting for their lives as they struggled with the more experienced Hittites that were fighting them now. Dom was looking up at a tanned, bearded enemy that had bloodied teeth and a cruel look in his eyes. His breath smelt of stale food and alcohol. The enemy raised his fist back and punched Dom hard in the face, causing Dom to be dazed for a second. Dom tried to push the enemy back, but the enemy was much heavier and Dom struggled.

Another fist came down quickly, hitting Dom again in the side of the head. Dom could taste blood in his mouth from this hit and knew that he had to do something soon or he may not see another day. The realism of the game was too high and Dom could feel the pain in his face from each hit. He somehow freed his left arm and placed it underneath the Hittites neck, trying to squeeze it and push the Hittite up with all of his strength. The Hittite punched down at Dom again, trying to knock him out before he could get the strength to fight back.

Dom felt to his side with his other arm for his belt at his side, feeling the sheath of his jewelled dagger, before moving his hand up and trying to get a grip on the handle. He pushed up with all of his strength with his other arm that was now against the Hittites neck, whilst pulling the dagger free slightly and tilting it up in his hand with all of the strength that he could.

As the Hittite came down for another punch, he pushed all of his weight down to free himself of Dom's arm against his neck. As he did so however he pushed himself on to Dom's Dagger that was now facing up, feeling the pain as it pierced in to his stomach. The Hittite growled in pain as he recoiled in horror, looking down seeing that he had a bloody wound in his stomach that freely poured out blood. Dom lay there dazed as the bloody dagger was held in his hand.

The Hittite was soon stabbed in the throat by an Egyptian from the second line and his body kicked back, whilst another Egyptian helped Dom to his feet and pushed him behind to the second row.

"Get back Lord Lazarus!" The Egyptian ordered Dom, before stabbing forwards with his own sword.

Dazedly, Dom looked around and noticed that the bodies had slowly began to pile, meaning that the Egyptians had to take a step back in to the centre to keep fighting, rather than falling over dead Hittites. They were being pushed back and Dom could see through his blurred vision that there were also Egyptian bodies on all sides that were adding to the numbers of the dead. Dom didn't have enough Egyptian Elites with him for a prolonged battle, and each loss of life was heavy.

"Hurry up Tau!" Dom mumbled as he stepped back dazed in to the area in front of the gate.