Bloodshed

Standing amidst the fire, watching frantic medics running about where Rachel stood, she lowered her head, wincing as she felt blood trickling down her forehead.

"How many?" She turned to Samuel, her second in command, who squirmed at hearing the question, handing the injured soldier he was helping to another medic.

"General, I..."

"Tell me now!" Irate, Rachel cut Samuel off, demanding an answer, the latter letting out a sigh.

"We've lost at least 4000 men. 2000 more are injured." 

Rachel lowered her head, a moment of silence for the good men and women she had lost, feeling tears start to drip

"Please inform their families, and deliver my condolences. Tell their families that they were brave, honourable and good, and that their sacrifices will not be in vain." Rachel said, trying her best to maintain her composure.

Samuel nodded, saluting before turning away

As Rachel surveyed the Carnage that laid before her, she cursed the gods for locking her into this cycle of violence and death, wishing for nothing more than to be rid of this cycle, but with the unrelenting attacks from the Kingdom of Qaetis...Little could be done. Their cursed horde of undead soldiers was something that Rachel had never seen before, and their assault was unrelenting

...

A commotion quickly caught Rachel's attention, turning to see Samuel standing in front of two people, an elderly man holding an elderly woman, presumably his wife, back as she shouted at Samuel

Rachel walked over to the elderly woman, wishing to find out what the commotion was about, but as soon as she did, the elderly woman spotted her, instantly recognising her.

"You there! General! I told him! I told my son that this was too dangerous! There was no place for my baby fighting against zombies! But he insisted on it, saying it was his duty to the Kingdom...and now he's gone! Give me my son back!" The elderly woman screamed, clearly distraught , turning to hug her husband.

"I apologise, General, my wife meant no disrespect...but Julius was our only son. He meant the world to us"

"I'm sorry for this, I'll do what I can to stop further bloodshed." Rachel said, bowing to the elderly couple.

Desperate to get away from the battlefield, Rachel rushed to her home, carelessly tossing her armour pieces away, dropping her broken sword and dented shield, removing every piece of suffocating armour that smothered her soul. The losses wore her down, as she began to sob, emotions overrunning her. Her eyes wandered to the bloody handprint on her pauldron, the incident was still fresh in her mind.

...

After the armies of Qaetis broke through the first layer of defence, there was no choice but to descend from the wall, holding them away from the city. Surrounded by her soldiers, Rachel charged at the undead, shields up in a phalanx formation as her soldiers wildly slashed and stabbed at the armour clad opponents.

"Break!" Rachel shouted, seeing Ballistas being loaded up.

The phalanx formation rapidly split up, the soldiers getting into defensive positions separately  as they struck down any enemies near them, running from any incoming fireballs, the unlucky ones being struck down by Qaetis soldiers as they ran from the mammoth projectiles.

Despite being undead, the Qaetis soldiers were smart, and they fought like hunters. They knew the way to beat a pack. Go for the leader. 

As soon as the formation split, Rachel could vaguely see a skeletal hand pointing to her in the distance, causing her to curse in frustration. They found the leader.

Dozens of enemies surrounded her, slowly boxing her in as her other soldier's attempts to get to their leader were thwarted by the sea of enemies that separated her and them.

Rachel knew the plan, she had to hold them off long enough for their position to be reinforced by Samuel and General Victoria, but then again, it was easier said than done.

From a distance, Rachel drew her bow, arrows flying as she shot down any enemies who got too close, the Twang of the bowstring ringing in her ear. She quickly ran out of arrows however, she swung her bow wildly which knocked back two enemies, eventually unsheathing her sword and drawing her shield. 

She then found herself circled by twenty soldiers, all too close together for her to relocate out for a better position in the fight.

Rachel adopted a defensive stance, her shield held in a low position while her sword was held slightly outward. Knowing that she couldn't wait for one of them to catch her unaware, Rachel struck first, taking an assertive first step, aggressively swinging her sword at one of the soldiers.

Seeing this, the other soldiers swung at her too, Rachel then was stuck spinning, fending off the onslaught from all 360 degrees. She was able to incapacitate 12 of the soldiers, but with 8 soldiers left, one raised their blade high, striking down at Rachel as she tried to parry the blow, but the force of the strike proved too much for her sword, as her sword broke into smaller pieces, the only piece left connected to the hilt barely long enough to be considered a dagger.

Staring in shock at her broken weapon, Rachel was forced to use her defensive shield offensively, wildly swinging it at the enemies, using the parts that had been chipped off by relentless attacks as sharp edges, cutting down the enemies who still stood. 

Breath raggedy, Rachel finally let her shield down, moving to pick up her dagger of a sword, when all of a sudden, she heard a loud shout, causing her to quickly turn, greeted by a sight that shocked her.

An enemy had snuck up on her, taking aim, before throwing it's spear. The Spear's path was true, as it sped across the air, hurtling towards it's intended target, a nauseating squelch audible as it pierced armour, the now limp body collapsing into Rachel's arm

"Kyler!" Rachel screamed in horror, the spear was lodged right through his heart, Kyler's body sliding down the spear through his chest.

Kyler looked to Rachel with pain in his eyes, shakily raising his blood-soaked hand, grabbing Rachel by the pauldron, his last word barely a whisper.

"Jeanette."

The battlefield grew more hectic, reinforcements in the form of General Victoria's Legion of soldiers let out mighty battle cries as they charged at the enemy, Rachel using the chaos to drag Kyler's body back.

...

A knock on her door shook Rachel out of her thoughts, Rachel quickly acknowledging. In stepped General Victoria, clearly fatigued from the battle.

"It's time for the funeral Rachel."