Gray, The Grand

The 'party' lasted for six days and six nights. Vampires filtered outside the building now and then, setting up our traps and barricades. All of the shades were trained to notice more than we had before. Untouched blood fountains were discreetly placed in rooms for us to convert into more of our number. Where we had ten before, we now had twenty per shade. Though we agreed to only use four at a time, as that gave us the best capabilities.

Everyone was leaving the manor, a few hesitating as our internal clocks told us dawn was arriving. The dark clouds above us confirmed what I had seen through my bugs. The sun itself had been turned into a blood-colored moon. Every building was carved from dark stone, the cobbled streets naturally hiding the darker metal of the sewer lids. Spired roofs were on top of every building, colored glass and mirrors refusing to catch our armies moving.

It was cunning in a way, using the gothic architecture to make it seem as though we would only use the buildings for our assaults. How those mirrors wouldn't reflect our images, while only reflecting the movements of the living. The reinforced stone walls of every building offered cover, the long dark alleys with twists and turns allowing those foolish enough to follow to get lost. Even the clouds infused with magic to turn the sun into something to increase the power of everyone here today.

How much planning had gone into this? I shook my head while the shades talked and started to move out. Three bodies for everyone to map out the area, one body to stay behind and direct the other vampires. The Count simply saw us off before resting atop the roof of his manor. He would act when he felt the need to, this was supposed to be our battle. Our enemy didn't know he was alive, he was the final trump card.

The order was given for everyone to move, my shades informing the others as to how the groups would be distributed. There were some minor complaints, but I organized the groups based on who was allied with who. The effectiveness was reduced, but I knew enough about the culture by now to realize it would be reduced much more if they fought each other. We were going to attack them at the start, to force the enemy to rush in and take as much ground as they could. The sewers were not to be used in front of the enemy, though losing them this early didn't matter.

We didn't know what was happening outside, I had no idea how the enemy army was split at this time. Only that they were supposed to somehow be tricked into falling for an obvious trap. I began to move with the others following, when the Count spoke to me, |"I need a moment of your time, to speak in private."|

There was no reason to decline his invitation. Once everyone was far enough away, I used a fifth body to appear next to the Count's perch. "How may I help you?"

He inclined his head towards me, pulling out a long box from seemingly nowhere. "I have a gift for you, that will aid in this battle. If everything goes well, I shall give you something better. As much as it pains me to do this, Charles has told me to let you control this battlefield. It is to serve as experience for your Queen for future conflicts."

I took the box, opening it slowly. A strange cane was held there seated perfectly within silk and velvet. My fingers touched the smooth wood and I felt something shift. My power swelled, as I stayed there. Thankfully, the mask hid my gawking expression. "Why?"

"It is an apology of sorts, for stealing you away from the one you serve. The cane is made from the wood of the dreaming Eldar tree. Aether saturates the bark of such trees, the heart of wood elves traded so long ago." He paused, savoring what he said before speaking again. "My sons and daughters are all the family that I have. Even if you cannot ensure a new bloodline, do your best to keep any of them from dying." He closed his eyes, as he tilted his head towards the dark clouds, "Practice with it, this battle will take weeks."

"Thank you," it was the only words I could offer, despite the questions I was dying to ask. Everyone was moving into their positions, according to the documents. How could such things be so certain? I shook those thoughts from my head, the questions could wait. Even a second of hesitation could result in disaster. All of the shades were talking, all the reports ran through the nodes and hives we had. There was only victory or death, there was only one true option.

Guy'Spears

"RAISE YOUR BANNERS!!"

Those with the flags did so. The different corps of the army on full display. This was supposed to be it, the big great battle that ended the fire lord's most hated enemy. From the golden banners to even our lowly white ones, all of them with that phoenix embroidered proudly on them. The area was a sea of color. It'd move the more patriotic of us to tears, but we were trained soldiers, weren't we?

"ADVANCE! SURROUND THE CITY!"

Everyone marched in sync with each other. The ground drummed with our steps. We could see the walls of Eclipse now, everyone that wasn't an idiot knew this was going to be the time a counter-attack was launched. I kept my head low, marching with my brothers and sisters. The big fancy corps all spread out so we humble whites could start heading out in front. Literal meatshields for the important people, if we could even be called people.

"WHITES ADVANCE!"

I saw the others keeping their heads down as well, save for those few grinning idiots. Those lucky enough to have talents or some understanding of magic. My poor brothers and sisters believed such a thing might turn the tide in our favor. We were supposed to get real names after this battle. Something other than the task we were given, fuck, at least I wasn't Latrine. There was always someone that had it worse.

"HALT!"

Soft music started to fill the air, some kind of bardic magic? I looked up, seeing a single man with a silver crown. Squinting, I realized he was a dark elf of all things. I blinked, the gates were open? Those in front pointed their weapons at the man, unsure what else we were supposed to do.

"WHO ARE YOU!? STOP PLAYING THAT MUSIC!"

The pale purple elf smiled sadly, lowering his head as he stopped. With a few plucks of the lute, his voice carried all the way back to the lieutenant. All of us could hear him, "When man seeks conquest, they let slip the dogs of war. Yet, this blind fool did not understand that a hungry dog might sooner bite its master."

Magic fizzled, as people tried to attack him. I couldn't even bring myself to point my weapon at the man. "Sir!" I looked over my shoulder to see a messenger addressing the lieutenant. They spoke to each other before the messenger saluted and left. Greaves elbowed my side, "Don't get distracted when a potential threat is right in front of us." His cool deep voice had me refocus on the dark elf.

"HOW IS IT THAT WE HAVE MULTIPLE REPORTS OF YOU STANDING IN FRONT OF EACH AND EVERY GATE OF THIS ACCURSED CITY!? WHO ARE YOU!?" The lieutenant wasn't even moving to try and get closer to the guy.

A few strings were plucked again, "Who was I, might be a better question." He chuckled to himself, "Charles, oh Charles, how far was your fall? Former king of Eclipse, who let his people be slain?" He paused, "With the Count's death, his kin doth frenzied. Noble traitors and monsters alike~"

"STOP PLAYING YOU DAMNED FOOL! I WILL GIVE THE ORDER TO ATTACK IF YOU CONTINUE!" Our lieutenant was well known for having a short fuse. Though something told me, he was trying to make it seem as though he was in control of the situation. Our entire army was stopped by just one guy playing on the lute. "WHY ARE THERE MULTIPLE REPORTS OF YOU!?"

"Ah, oh great one, please forgive me." He looked up at the sky, "For, I can only sing. Sing, sing, sing you a song, to convey what you must heed. My name is Charles, the former king. King of Eclipse, that which fell again. Powerless, was I, who consorted with monsters. To see the treachery afoot, betrayed by all, when you slew the Count. Ask your seers, your oracles, and tellers. Ask of them, the truth~"

The lieutenant didn't respond for a few moments, as I heard him talk to another messenger. "YOU'RE THE FUCKING KING!?" The dark elf bowed while still strumming his lute. I could hear murmurs from everyone, until, "QUIET! I WILL NOT LOSE ORDER TO THIS IDIOT!"

Everyone shut their mouths, while those of us towards the back could hear the lieutenant talking quickly. Belts slumped a little, "We're going to go in there." He quietly whispered. I pursed my lips, knowing he wouldn't lie about this.

"What's in there?" I asked in the same hushed tone, our little group doing its best to keep our backs straight. I could see some poor fools leaning closer to hear what their soothsayers were saying.

"Vampires..." Was all Belts managed to say before the lieutenant spoke again.

"ADVANCE THROUGH THE GATE! THE CITY HAS BEEN OVERRUN BY VAMPIRES! WE MUST DEAL WITH THIS PLAGUE NOW, BEFORE IT CAN TAKE ROOT HERE!"

Some fools decided to murmur, while I gripped the dagger at my side. Funny how that worked, they named me for tending to the spears, yet all I had was a dagger like any other without a coin to their name. "How fucked are we?" I asked just loud enough for Belts to hear.

He shook his head, "We'll be fine until night falls. Then the snow starts and I don't know what happens."

We started marching again, the king of Eclipse using our confusion to disappear. Someone really should have captured him, the privilege of nobles I suppose. The army walked through those gates, all of us marching to the rhythm of the drums. We could already see the inner walls, just like the rumors said. Three great walls for one huge city, seemed excessive at first, but now I see those dark clouds swirling above those walls. Much like a dome of darkness.

All of the armies were filtering in, their banners on display. I guess coming in here made sense, we were supposed to blockade the city and starve them out. There would be less ground to cover, we could surround it a lot more easily. Still, this all felt like a trap to me. A few people broke formation, running to the fields that had not been harvested. Almost as if someone gave the order to stop right in the middle of the final reaping. Crates half-filled with the Fall harvest, every farmhand must be dying a little.

"DON'T TOUCH THE CROPS! THEY COULD BE POISONED! GET BACK IN LINE, DAMN YOU ALL! WE WILL HAVE ORDER, THIS IS THE ARMY OF OUR FIRE LORD!" The lieutenant was screaming at us. What did he expect from an army trained on the march? I wasn't the smartest, but I knew no one liked our lieutenant. The way he talked down to us, how he sneered. We were all going to be punished because of this.

Fuck it, I stepped out of line drawing my dagger. Belts looked away, his signal that this wasn't going to end well. The lieutenant was glaring at me from atop his riding drake. I was going against his wishes, then he grinned. "FINALLY! SOMEONE WITH GUMPTION! SPEARS! MAKE AN EXAMPLE OUT OF THOSE DUMB ENOUGH TO BE DISTRACTED BY THIS OBVIOUS PLOY!"

Peeler was the closest man to me. His muscles bulged, while his skin appeared to devour the light and give him even more strength. He put himself in this position to keep anyone from messing with the others. He was a leader among the farmhands and slaves, their protector in a sense. A man with scarred hands that went all the way up his forearms.

It wasn't his strength that made him dangerous, no, it was the sharp look he was giving me. A cold intellect hidden behind his tired eyes. The lieutenant probably figured we'd kill each other, or just one of us would die. Then there'd be one less problem for him to deal with. I approached the man with the same bleached rag uniform as myself. Then I flipped the blade, offering it to him. "Can you guys carve a path through the poisoned fields?" I joked.

Peeler snorted, taking my dagger with a smile. "We were just getting on that." His pointed ears flicked a little. "We'll put it safely into the crates, just in case we need to use it against our enemies."

"WHAT IN THE HELLS ARE YOU DOING SPEARS!?" The lieutenant rode over, "I TOLD YOU TO MAKE A FUCKING EXAMPLE OUT OF HIM, NOT LET THIS SLIDE!"

I nodded at the man, "What better example is there, than letting the poison kill those dumb enough to not follow orders? You're always telling us that we don't need soldiers that can't follow orders, sir." I did a half-assed snap to attention.

The lieutenant's face scrunched up with rage, as Peeler promptly abandoned me to deal with the 'poisoned' harvest. We were supposed to be brothers in arms, damn it. "OF ALL THE LIZARD DUNG YOU FUCKS COULD TRY TO PULL! DO YOU SEE THE OTHERS STOPPING TO HARVEST!? DO YOU SEE HOW THE ARMY IS ADVANCING AND CRUSHING THE CROPS UNDER THEIR FEET LIKE PROPER SOLDIERS!? WE'RE SLOWLY MAKING A BULGE, MY PLATOON WILL NOT BE THE LAUGHING STOCK OF OUR GREAT LORD'S ARMY!" He pulled out his glaive, leveling it at me. "EITHER YOU KILL HIM, OR YOU IMPALE YOURSELF ON MY BLADE, YOU FUCKING WASTE!"

His glaive was recently polished, with an edge clean enough to see my reflection. My body stiffened, even as I smiled. There was something wrong with me, everyone knew it by this point. I couldn't keep myself from smiling whenever I felt threatened. The lieutenant pulled his glaive back, ready to cut me down. Only for someone to bark a sharp, "Halt!"

The major rode over to us, asking why we stopped. Our wonderful lieutenant promptly started getting his nose brown with some flattery. He carefully explained how some of the half-elves began to harvest against orders. He made it very clear we were at fault, while he was just a poor lieutenant trying to keep this ragtag platoon together.

To the major's credit, he listened to the explanation without batting an eye. He did occasionally glance at Peeler and the people working beside him. Our lieutenant finished his speel, sitting at attention atop his drake. The Major's eyes focused on me for a second, before he nodded to himself. "You have impeccable insight." He said without looking at anyone.

"What do you mean, sir?" The lieutenant asked with careful tact.

"I need to let the others know that we need to stop and harvest the crops. It will take longer, but if I'm right it may have just saved a few lives." He rode off, leaving the two of us standing there in confusion.

A few minutes passed, both of us waiting for the Major to come back and say he was joking. Belts tossed a pebble at me, tilting his head towards the field. He made the hand gesture for harvest and winked at me. I nodded slowly backing away from the lieutenant. He was still sitting at attention, completely dazed. Before I knew it, we were all harvesting the fields. The other platoons slowing their progress to do the same.

Looking behind us, I could see the backlines setting up their tents and crude fortification. Earth users were constructing walls, while the fire users cleared the crops left behind. It almost felt as though we were being sealed in, left to fight whatever was going to come tonight. Belts and Daggers stuck close to me, despite the fact that we were stuck with moving the crates of food over the recently made barricade. The hours went by, night coming slowly and bringing the first snow.

It was strange to see how the dark clouds above the inner walls refused to mingle with those dropping snow on us. It was dark enough, the barricade was made, and it was time to go back behind the front line and set up camp. I started to walk towards those crude walls when Belts grabbed my wrist. The slender youth looking at the ground, his moppy hair covering his eyes. I paused, blinking at him, then looked at those barricades to see they were sealed.

The blue corps stood atop the small walls, spears and lances pointed towards the inner walls. Some pointed directly at us, as we stood there staring at them. It felt as though my heart was turning to ice, as I turned back to see darkness moving in the distance. I could hear the condescension in the lieutenant's voice, "THE ENEMY IS IN FRONT OF US, THOSE OF YOU THAT SURVIVE THE ATTACK WILL BE ALLOWED TO EAT TWICE YOUR RATIONS."

"This is usually how it goes, isn't it?" I said, my voice quiet.

Belts took out his dagger and handed it to me. "They have an oracle, I can't see what's going to happen." His voice was shaking, while I took his only weapon. The snow was falling, while the air refused to move.

"REMEMBER! WHEN YOU DIE, THE BANNER OF THE WHITES WILL BE STAINED RED WITH YOUR BLOOD! YOU WILL RECIEVE NAMES, EVEN AFTER DEATH! LET YOUR SUPERIORS SEE WHAT TACTICS THESE SAVAGES HAVE. THEY ARE MONSTERS, WE WILL NOT ALLOW THEM TO ESCAPE!"

"Shut up," I muttered, gripping the dagger hard enough that my knuckles were turning white. It was cold, as my breath hung in the air, we were tired. Everyone was exhausted, hoping they'd get at least one last meal before fighting. A lot of them just collapsed, falling to their knees, waiting for whatever the fuck was about to come out from those shadows to slaughter them. Our great lieutenant abandoned us, just like the others all across the small walls that were made. A few people even turned around to try and climb out only to be stabbed by one of the blue warriors.

"YOUR SACRIFICES WILL BE REMEMBERED AS YOUR LIVES WILL FINALLY HAVE MEANING!" The bastard was reading rites straight from some kind of book. We weren't even people to those behind us. Anger was surging through me, I walked forward, marching towards the enemy. My only goal was to die where they couldn't see me, to force just one of those bastards to suffer. "YES! MARCH FORTH! MEET YOUR ENEMY WITHOUT FEAR AS BEFITTING A PROPER SOLDIER!" The bastard had the gall to cackle.

I looked over my shoulder, "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Rank and file be damned, there wasn't much more that could be done. We were going to die here, I wasn't going to listen to some asshole talk down to me. Sadly, the great lieutenant just went back to shouting the verses in his book. I could feel the others watching me now, "We're going to die here, but we're going to die fighting."

A few of my brothers and sisters started to get back up, my lips curled into a smile. Someone needed to take charge if we were to have any hope of making it through this. I didn't want to lead, people I knew were going to die. There was nothing that could be done to stop that, but leaving it like this would only make it worse. I pointed a dagger at the shadows, glaring at them as though I could stab them with my gaze alone.

We cursed soldiers, damned to die. Too poor to afford weapons or armor, dirt beneath the feet of our greatest. Many of us from the cursed bloodlines, our families in ruin for attacking the elves. More of us damned at birth, for mixing blood with the inhuman. Slaves, beggers, drunks, thugs, and scum. None of us were able to escape those soldiers that gave chase and drafted us into this grand army. None to help us, even amongst ourselves, as those above us wouldn't send all ten thousand of us to the field.

"Gather up! Form a line!" I gave orders for the first time, and it felt right. We continued marching forward, others joining our small group of three. "Anyone that can use magic, I want you bringing up the rear! I'm looking at you Drummer!" He started a slow beat, the bard helping to get more of us on our feet. "If we give in to despair, then we're as good as dead!"

Gray, The Grand

Night came, five hundred of the others were left behind to cover our retreat should the worse outcome happen. The snow was starting to fall outside, as the shadow elementalists weaved a shroud to mask our movements. Hive bugs were sent out into the fields, where they reconnected with those left behind. Our glorious Queen had left them here for us to collect. Memories and thoughts flooded through our web, as news of Beru's survival graced us.

Such joyful news was tempered by the fact that Berry died, Argus was close herself. It was a shame that we couldn't reconnect with our Queen, these bugs left on the assumption we still weren't able to communicate. The order given by her to leave messages in return after this is all over. Every shade was moved by her compassion and forethought, as they should be. Every shade wanted to take a moment, even I wanted to take a moment, to sort through the feelings we felt due to what transpired without us knowing.

Alas, it was not the time. The time would come later, for now, it was paramount to focus on the battle before us. If the enemy army had only attacked with abandon, this would be over due to their sheer numbers. We were going to win due to the importance placed on one's life. There was no way for us to break through the enemy lines with our numbers, not without massive losses. That said, this was a battle in our favor as we were defending. It allowed us to choose when and how we engaged.

These open fields were the most dangerous part for us, yet a few thousand of their disposable soldiers were presented before us. The enemy backlines were ready to fire arrows, while they constructed ballista and catapults to seize control over the immediate area. The poor fools did not realize that it only allowed us time to whittle them down while the bugs frayed their weapons and tools.

Everything was going according to one of the many plans presented on those documents. I paused as one of the targets pointed their dagger directly at me. It was impossible for them to see me through the shroud, yet here they were. Their efforts to rally their comrades were commendable, yet we were enemies in the end. I gave the orders to those closest to me, pointing out those that we were not to kill. Everything needed certain requirements to be met before a new bloodline could be created.

The stage was being set by both sides, as the majority of the shades were tasked with ensuring our vampire companions did not become overzealous. Our targets needed to be treated with care and groomed through the proper actions. It was time for the first act to begin.