Willow’s Point, Forest of Dain, Kingdom of Dain- Mid Summer 14 years AR

Jaes sprinted back alongside the wall as knights, rangers, and adventurers poured through the gaps and gates. She had to duck under weapons and limbs to get inside the wall.

“Can’t run miss, it’s victory or death!” a passing knight yelled. Another knight yelled the same ‘victory or death!’ a breath later. According to Afgheir, it was a common chant among the legions. It was a reminder of their only two options when fighting this particular enemy. Surrender was certain death, routing meant their foe hunted the survivors, and retreat could only be a fighting retreat. Leading again to either victory or death. She paid no mind to it when the badgers were told the story but after seeing what was coming for her it terrified her. Which spurred her on to get her gear even faster.

“I need to get my stuff! My gear is still in camp!”

The knight was long gone but others rushing to get into formation moved out of her way. No one was actively blocking her but caught up in the mad scramble to prepare for what was coming. Yet she was hardly the only one running to arm themselves. Among them were Cara and Erin at their tents. Jon was also running up from the other direction carrying his weapons, having retrieved them from where they were shaping the logs to repair the walls.

Jaesmin quickly grabbed the last of her gear and started to get it on. She like many others had gotten complacent and removed it in order to suffer less under the summer sun. She looked around as she tightened her leather chest piece and realized they were only a few people left in the village. The walls were still half-rotted and would hold their enemy back about as well as a fence, so they’d make their stand outside the walls. She didn’t understand why, rotted was still better than nothing, but she didn’t have time to question it.

All she could think about was what she had seen. She hadn’t noticed the other werewolves running through the forest until a second after the howl sounded and people started pointing. The image of them all, a river of fur moving through the trees was making her sweat more than just the heat. As she was finishing up she started to tremble slightly, she fumbled with tightening the vambraces. Jon grabbed her arm and looked down at it, tightening it quickly and finishing her other straps. She looked up at him while he did it.

“It’ll be alright. Just tell yourself that over and over.”

His voice was calm and soothing. She didn’t know if he was really that fearless but the look in his eyes made her doubt it. He looked as terrified as she felt. As soon as he was done she reached up and wrapped her hands around his neck before he could pull away. Jon froze and she pulled him in for a kiss.

As their lips met she felt his move to meet hers, while his arm reach around her back. He pulled her in tightly as she caressed his cheek. Entire seconds passed before he pulled back and his icy blue met her emerald once again. He didn’t say anything but just slightly grinned in his goofy way as he placed his nasal helmet on. She placed her loaned squire helmet on herself, grabbed her shield, and they both started running towards the army forming up outside. Not realizing until a moment later that Cara and Erin had already left.

She made her way through the gate, drew her falchion, and took in the scene. The knights had spread out in three long ranks, each was in their wolven form, taking the center. Behind them, ranks of Elvanni rangers stood at the ready, each with an arrow nocked, Andrew was standing among them with Kaden’s bow at the ready. Slouch hat upon his head. The right flank was the lake, held by southern knights and adventurers.

“You lot fight with the squires and hold the left flank!” Kyanna yelled out as she spotted Jaes and Jon. Jaesmin turned and ran towards where the Elvanni princess was directing them. She ran past the other squires with ranged capabilities to make their way in the middle of the group. The 140 or so remaining young lycans stood in a loose formation going up to their adult counterparts. She looked around for her friends and quickly spotted Erin and Cara on the right flank. She had run there with Jon and Andrew was behind her. She hadn’t seen Aethred or Leo. She remembered that Aethred had been out on patrol but she could hav-

“Where’s the shield wall?” she heard a new but slightly familiar voice ask and she turned to see a dark orange furred lycan approaching. Her brother was wearing the enchanted armor of a fallen squire. Its enchantment had changed the armor’s size in order to fit his new larger build. Several of the squires turned to look at him with confused or amused looks on their faces.

“Pffft, there is none! We don’t hide behind shields!”

“In the Legions, lycans are heavy shock infantry. Just watch and keep up!”

They all looked comfortable… maybe a little tense but far less than someone should in such a dangerous situation. Even the youngest among them, Astrid. She may have been at the back flanks center but she only looked slightly afraid rather than terrified.

Jaes didn’t understand it at first but then realized the faces of the squire all had one thing in common. Some looked amused, angry, focused, or indifferent but they all had facepaint. She had to remind herself that they were northerners. That their version of paradise could only be entered if they died an honorable death in combat. Her mouth felt dry when she realized that many of them would get just that by the end of the day. She might be joining them! She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer to herself.

She tried to focus herself when she reopened her eyes, thinking of what Jon said. She thought of the battle and what the squires had said; although she didn’t have any clue what heavy shock infantry even meant. She soon found out as the center of their formation started moving without their weapons drawn, their flank moving along with it angled back and to the left. The lycans trotted on two legs and at the bark of command, they dropped to all fours and charged.

“LOOSE AT WILL!” she heard Kyanna yell behind her as they ran to catch up with the thin line of nearly 300 knights running full tilt at the approaching enemies. The squires over 16 in their wolven forms kept pace but the rest were quickly left behind. The knights were moving as fast as a cavalry charge. If the enemy hadn’t been so close it would have left a massive gap in their flank.

Jaesmin looked at the center just before impact and gasped slightly. There was a knight and a squire that had jumped over the advancing line of knights. The squire landed the jump but the knight was thrown off balance and crashed into the ground, sending her and her rider rolling. She recognized the limp form of Aethred bouncing on the ground but tried to stay focused, she couldn’t help him right now.

**********

The sound of the impact wasn’t like the crash that had taken his former life. It wasn’t the sound that movies made it out to be when two armies met. It was a series of loud thuds with yelps, growls, and whines mixed in. The two wolven-blood factions had slammed into each other at full force, the knights only rising to two feet at the final moments.

The lycan ranks were long and drawn out, while the werewolves were disorganized, following the ones in front of them. This resulted in a sort of wedge formation. As the two met the unarmed lycans in the first two ranks didn’t even try to kill their enemy, they pushed, pulled, or otherwise threw the werewolves down and continued without a thought. The final rank had their weapons drawn and made quick work of the downed werewolves. It wasn’t all one-sided as the enemy wedge blunted against their lines. A handful of lycans fell but the enemy lost dozens as their charge faltered.

Jon understood the squires' comments as he took his eyes off the scene and focused on what was coming for them. The knights didn’t fight on defense, their wolven forms a perfect counter against an enemy with the same physical strengths. Yet they held the advantage with armor, arms, and training on how to fight their foe. Like a scythe cutting down a field of wheat at the front while the rear efficiently finished the enemy off before most could even get up off the ground. The few that did were quickly taken down by the front row of Rangers with precision shots to the face.

The death of their own drove the werewolves into a frenzy. Their rage driving them to kill the ones that had harmed their pack. Jon understood this because he’d felt the same urges while fighting the bandits. The anger and rage replacing fear. He did feel the slight hints of the feeling as he saw lycans fall with slashed throats or tackled to the ground but not like before. He blinked a few times before shaking his head, he couldn’t watch the heart of the battle, that’d just get him killed. Seeing them take down 5 of their enemy for everyone did give him hope and through that, a bit of his fear evaporated.

He watched as werewolves started to attack the flank. The werewolves coming at them weren’t charging, they’d lost their momentum and were more spilling around the knights towards them. Jon stayed back. He was unsure of how squires, and him, were supposed to fight the much stronger monsters, Even at just over six feet tall, Jon was dwarfed by his opponents and it wasn’t just him. They were nearly all still children, only a few squires over 16 were among the 140ish that stood there.

He got his answer. The looser formation split as the werewolves pushed into the fast-forming spaces. Letting the wolves enter their lines. The squires would jump back or to the side to get distance from an advancing werewolf while another would hit it from behind or the side. The first squire would then lunge back in to strike as soon as the werewolf turned to attack the squire that had already injured it. They worked as a group, attacking the dangerous enemy from safer angles. They kept the werewolf spinning. While they continued stabbing or slashing every time it shifted focus. In short, they fought like wolves.

Seeing this Jon moved forward catching the attention of an injured werewolf, the beast swiped his claws at him. Jon ducked, the claws whizzing above his head. What he had already witnessed was repeated by the squires and the dumb monster. As it swiped someone swung an ax that sliced into its side, the monster yelped and spun.

With its back was towards him in a moment Jon swung hard while the wolf was still pivoting. Its head was too high so he aimed for the hip, his woodmaul slamming into the joint with enough force to cut deep. The monster started collapsing to the ground as its leg gave out.

It wasn’t his first kill, the final blow came from an adventurer who rushed forward to bash the monster's head in with a mace as it hit the ground. Jon moved to another one. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t able to kill it. It was still a win in his book, a pack fought together after all. Besides, he didn’t want the first selection of monster parts on this one. The corpse of the werewolf was already reverting back to a naked young man with dark brown hair.

Jon just moved to the next werewolf as a resounding boom tore through the sounds of battle. Both the lycan squires and their enemy flinched at the sound. So did he but he knew what it was so rather than looking in the direction it came from he took his opening and swung down on the neck of a werewolf that was crouched down, pinning a helpless squire to the ground.

The battle resumed a moment later as he grabbed the squire's arm and pulled him from under the dead monster. He didn’t bother to help the boy up, instead, he jumped back into the fray.

Fights like the one he had with bandits, didn’t really last as long as stories made them out to be. It usually only took a few seconds to a couple of minutes of fighting before one side had the upper hand. The same couldn’t be said about battles. They’d fought themselves to a quick stalemate, neither side able to take the initiative and ensure victory. Instead, a grueling battle of attrition had started.

**********

“Oooow-AAAH!” Aethred rolled over onto his back. Changing his groan of pain into a scream. He looked down at his left arm and could see a bit of white sticking up through the skin. even through the throbbing in his head, he recognized it as his own bone. He dropped his head onto the ground and looked up at the billowing clouds above him, that and the Rangers that were advancing forward. Nearly all of them just stepped over him, the one that didn’t was worse.

“Get on your feet!” a hand reached down and roughly pulled him up. He ended up biting his cheek as he clamped his mouth shut with the pain of moving around with a snapped limb. He was lifted onto his feet but the Ranger moved on. Aethred winced in pain and tried to hold his arm still with his right hand and took in his surroundings. Before he could get a grasp on it another Ranger pushed him forward.

“If you cant fight get up there and pull the wounded back!”

He limped forward, following the order without thinking. His still pounding head kept him from really understanding what was going on. When he walked out of the formation of Rangers and other archers he looked at the battle proper, he wasn’t sure if they were winning but they at least weren’t dead yet. A thunderous sound made him grabbed his ears and his watering eyes turned to tears as the sound pulsed through his head.

He looked in the direction where it had come from. The sound was too much for him but he’d seen a flash of light accompany it. He knew what hit was from at least, having seen it multiple times over the months since the bandits. From his slightly higher elevation, he could see a dozen werewolves thrashing in the water. Most of them were getting back up but a few lay motionless, lightning and water don’t mix. The defenders on the right were all on the shore as a second bright light and loud crash nearly dropped him to his knees while holding his head.

“For the light!” Someone grabbed his neck and a warm tickling sensation covered his scalp. He looked up and could see a slight golden glow emitting from a hand above his head as his headache went away. It didn’t do anything for his arm though, “Now get out there!”

He turned to look at the Elvanni man who had already pulled his bow off his shoulder and was placing an arrow on the string. Aethred just shook his head quickly, trying to get his thoughts in order. He remembered the order to help the wounded and looked back towards the fighting. Another loud bang erupted and he saw it wasn’t just Cara using BOLT, at least one other adventurer knew the spell, it was quite effective as more werewolves dropped into the water and stopped moving. He kind of hoped it didn’t kill them and just paralyzed them, let the fuckers drown.

The center and left were both a bloodbath. Leo was the easiest to make out, his red fur contrasting to the blondes and browns around him. He was grappling with an enemy, holding it in place while several others impaled it with various weapons. As soon as it was down, he grabbed another and tripped it onto the ground, where a blonde werewolf dropped a warhammer onto its head. There were already a few squires with missing arms or legs pulling the wounded back so that’s the direction he headed. They needed more help than the right and he wasn’t going near the two groups of giant monsters killing each other in the center.

He didn’t move very fast, trying to limit the movement of his arm, and was slowed anyways from the pain in his right knee. He got there though. Aethred went to grab a squire crawling back with his leg missing below the knee and pulled but nothing happened other than pulling the squire off his arms and onto his face.

“The fuck you doing!?”

“Right! Sorry!” he backed away as the squire swatted at him and pulled himself further away. Aethred was fit but he didn’t have the bulk needed to pick up and drag someone his own size, much less someone bigger than he was. He also didn’t know HEAL or the mundane ways to take care of a wound. Hild had been a healer and used both but he never paid attention to what she was actually doing the few times he’d seen her work. The only thing he could do was draw his sword, which had remained on his back.

The longsword wasn’t that heavy but he wasn’t used to using it with one hand. He spotted a short sword lying next to a dead squire and tossed his away for the shorter one. Now armed, he still didn’t know what to do. He had held onto Dame Helga’s back on the run back, he didn’t know if there was a plan.

A cry turned him around quickly as a squire lay on his back with a werewolf on top of him. Aethred sprinted at them and started wildly slashing at the beast with little effect other than the monster rolling away from him before rising to its feet. It didn’t make it as an arrow pierced its head just below its dog-like ear. The squire was already getting back onto his feet with blood dripping down a deep gash on his face.

“Thanks for the assist!”

The squire didn’t even wait for a response before moving back into the… there wasn’t really a formation left as it had turned into a spread-out free for all. Aethred decided the best he could do was harass the enemy and kick them while they were down. He moved towards the red and blonde lycans and waited for them to toss another one down and moved in to strike…

**********

The lines were fully engaged and casualties were mounting. The only side that was held with few deaths was the right as even the wolves had learned their lesson about entering the water after multiple BOLT spells charged the water around them.

Kyanna looked at the tall figure that she knew was Erik, fighting in the front line as was his custom. She’d tried to talk him out of it but of course, he refused. She cursed the stupid bravery and would put him in his place when this was over… or just go to their tent and lay down with him, thankful they lived through this mess.

“LEFT FLANK! PREPARE TO DUCK ON MY MARK!” She yelled out to the kids holding their flank, it wasn’t crumbling but she could tell they were getting too spread out and the number of wolves engaging them was increasing. The wolf pack tactic wouldn’t work if the squires were the ones surrounded. She didn’t even have to relay the second part of the command to her Rangers, they all spread and drew an arrow back.

“MARK!” She yelled and nearly as one the squires dropped, only the newcomers from Terra hesitated but were drug down by ducking squires. At the same moment over 250 arrows were released with another volley immediately after. She took a deep breath to prepare for her next command. Not all of her Rangers were expert marksmen but enough of them were. The wolves within the lines of the left flank and many others dropped with arrows to the head or heart.

“EASE!”

The squires heard the command and grabbed the injured while falling back to reform their lines, the center did so in unison, taking three steps back. The right? Eh, they figured it out quickly.

“EASE!”

Again the entire formation fell back, including her Rangers. The bodies were piling up and it made it difficult to fight. A step back to dodge a claw could be a fatal mistake if you tripped over a corpse. Granted the werewolves, being the feral beasts that they were, had the same problem and continued to trip in their mad rush to close the 6 pace gap. Axes and swords descending on their heads as they hit the ground. Two eases was a good number to achieve just that.

The battle had turned into a grind but she could tell that it was going well. Through small gaps between her fiance and his lycans, she could see the pile of nude human corpses that had once been their foe. It was a considerable number. Likewise, their casualties had mounted but at a much slower pace. A quick glance told her that the squires had lost near 30 to death or injury, the center was looking at the same number despite being twice the size and the right had lost only a few. She went to draw an arrow and realized the quiet around her before quickly rectifying it.

“CHOOSE YOUR TARGETS! LOOSE AT WILL!”

They stopped loosing arrows aimlessly over the top of the lines. Most would only injure the enemy while a kill would be just luck. Most of her Rangers turned toward the left flank, it being easier to put an arrow on target over the heads of the shorter squires. She glanced at the squires quickly and loosed her own arrow, satisfied that they all had their helmets on. Their helmets were different than the knights but they didn’t need the plumes. It would surprise people to realize they actually served a purpose… well it would surprise people who had never fought with the legion.

Lycans looked the same as werewolves and when dealing with soldiers and, more specifically archers, from a fallen empire's worth of kingdoms; friendly fire could get just as dangerous as the enemy for her loves kind. The plumes were there, bright red and standing in a tall line from the top of the helmet to the back, to ensure no one killed a lycan by mistake… it still happened from time to time she knew, either by mistake or malice. She knew her Rangers wouldn’t make that mistake but she still checked as there were a few adventurers among her unit.

She continued to loose, arrow after arrow. Her speed had slowed as she had to pick a suitable target or wait for a clear shot. More than once she let go of her string to watch her arrow miss, not for a lack of ability or accuracy on her part. It was due to another arrow dropping her target before hers reaching it, leaving her arrow to fly over its head and strike another wolf behind the first.

She kept putting arrows down range and ordered another ‘ease’. The battle was going well as she saw another pile of bodies. She nearly puked when she realized that some of the wolves were eating their own, taking quick bites before rejoining the fight.

AAAAWOOOOOOOOOO!

The sound made Kyanna jerk, that was a lycan call but unless someone was watching the far side of the village it wasn’t. She turned to look and could see more werewolves charging through the village. Fur matted with blood and dirt, fangs bared.

“ATTACK ON THE REAR!” She yelled out and saw Erik turn his head quickly before focusing on the fight in front of him. She felt a flicker of relief that he heard, “RANGERS ROTATE! ON ME!”

Her formation turned quickly to face the incoming threat. Nearly half the rangers hadn’t even waited for the command before shifting their lines. The adventurers followed suit as the wolves ran out of the main gate behind them. They charged forward but with a bark from the lead one they skidded to a stop.

Kyanna wasn’t sure what it was doing. She knew some could speak but they were exceedingly rare. She remembered the story from the survivors of the village talking about one but-

The lead werewolf started making an intermittent sound, she understood at that moment. The children were right, it was laughing at them.

The next moment hundreds of bows twanged, the lead werewolf barked, and the rest charged. Kyanna’s eyes went wide, they didn’t have lycans in front of them to break it this time.