(14)

Saurus watched the Spider Queen drop her arms and turn, disappearing behind her walls. The land that separated the town from the army grew quiet. When the Empire soldiers were in formation: Two lines of crossbowmen in front, five lines of armoured soldiers behind, and a further five lines of archers in the rear which were protected by a rearguard; Saurus began his patrol. He rode his mare from one side of his army to the other, patiently displaying an air of calmness as he trotted. He made sure to try and look at every single one of his soldiers in the eyes as he passed. Once he made it to the end of the line, he turned to return.

“You are men and woman of the Empire,” Saurus began, “That bond makes you brothers and sisters by all laws of man.” He brandished his sword which drank the sunlight above, its tempered steel, which was more alchemy than smith, caused it to glow like molten gold.

“Beyond those walls,” Saurus exclaimed pointing at the town, “Your innocent brothers and sisters were murdered, children were slaughtered. Hiding behind those walls is the bitch responsible, help me go kill her!”

A round of roars fired up, accompanied by war beats that thundered loud enough to make the ground tremble. Saurus galloped down the line, his sword that caught the sun still raised. When he returned to his cavalry unit, he stopped beside Windermere.

“Feed them fire.” He ordered and the order echoed until it reached the archers in the rear. The longbows had the range, and the town was past saving.

“LOOSE!” Came a captain’s shout.

Saurus watched as the sky filled with firelight, the flaming arrows arched then fell like a thousand falling stars. Some arrows deflected off the town wall, chips of firelight skirting off into the grass. Most arrows disappeared behind the walls and were consumed in darkness. Saurus watched for a heartbeat to see if anything in the town would take flame. The soldiers celebrated when they saw some flames take root in the town.

The spider silk seemed flammable and with much of the town covered in the stuff, it was not long before the town began to shimmer and dance in an amber glow. Another volley of fire sent the soldiers into another cheer but this one was cut short by a sudden growing rumble. The ground shook to tremor like an earthquake and from the town of Wetbrook, a wash of spiders flooded over the walls. Fear spread among the soldiers like the fire that spread in the town. Whether it was the fire that caused the charge or perhaps a counterattack, Saurus did not know—but wasted little time as he formed a wedge with his cavalry.

Saurus watched as the approaching wave of black death scurried across the barren marshland ahead. The crossbowmen loaded their bolts and prepared to shoot once the enemy came into range. Saurus looked down at the ground in alarm to notice a single flower grow and blossom. None of his soldiers seemed to notice the phenomenon, all too invested in the charging enemy. Saurus placed a palm over his chest plate and closed his eyes. Beneath his armour he heard the Nymph bean stir, it spoke to him in its silent language, the language of tree and root. Saurus hesitated, then turned to face his cavalry.

“To me, maintain wedge formation!”

The men around him faltered a moment at the immediate order but obeyed, each one forming into a wedge with Saurus leading the tip. He spurred his horse and felt her strength begin to carry him into a gallop. Everything around Saurus became a series of white noise as he charged. The enemy outnumbered him, but the bean continued to assure him, or rather act through him.

Behind him, he sensed his horsemen follow him. The respected soldiers had not abandoned him. The spiders ahead drew close now and, in their mass, they began to encompass the entire cavalry unit for a single gulp. Fire arrows traced the sky above illuminating the battleground below, and in its illumination, Saurus saw the earth stir to wake from its eternal slumber.

Earth exploded ahead of Saurus, sending hundreds of spiders to tear apart on impact. Saurus led his unit through the tornado of earth and root, and the chaos seemed to guide him; pushing aside all the spiders in a wave of earth that flowed like water. Saurus slashed at the displaced enemy, trampling the beaten spiders that got caught in the wave of soil. Saurus gritted his teeth and put all his trust into powers beyond him, powers that fought to free Wetbrook, fought to purge this corrupted land of its blackness.

He stopped his gallop when he reached the walls of Wetbrook. Turning his mount, he digested his surroundings. His armour was slicked with dry earth and corrupted blood. His mare was panting restlessly, and his unit was now engaged in open warfare, their initial charge spent. Some still rode over the crumpled bodies of fallen spiders amidst the fighting. Saurus had asked the forest for its aid and the Tree Nymphs answered.

“This is not your land!” Saurus shouted at the wall that loomed behind him, then broke into a charge, too bloodlust to remain idle for long. His unit followed him, trying to reform the wedge, cutting down any recovering spiders as they passed.

“Tree Nymphs!” A voice cried next to Saurus through a muffled helm. An arrow flew passed Saurus’ visor to strike a leaping spider in the leg, blowing the appendage off and causing the spider to fall and become swallowed up in the jungle of charging horses. More arrows flew from unseen archers in the surrounding forest but Saurus saw the unmistakable arrows, the same arrows they found in the forest that day.

Retreating through the army of spiders a great shadow suddenly enveloped him. He looked up he to see a great boulder gliding through the air. The sight of it startled Saurus who turned to see similar boulders being tossed out of Wetbrook.

‘Siege engines?’ he wondered with astonishment. ‘How’. He watched a boulder descend to completely crush an entire cohort when the boulder suddenly stopped—mid-air—as if caught by an invisible hand. Saurus was even more perplexed when the boulder suddenly reversed its momentum and travelled backwards, back towards the town. The boulder travelled back over Saurus’ head and came to a resounding impact on a group of spiders. From the centre of Saurus’ army, black ash blew up into the air like a dark cloud. Ash from an expenditure of Sphene Dust. His son Alaric was keeping the boulders at bay, catching them, and even using them as weapons of his own. Saurus let himself smile beneath his helm and lead his cavalry off to the side, the side where most of the Tree Nymph arrows were coming from.

He knew Tree Nymphs seldom missed their shots so would offer good cover, it would also give his main army free range at an already shaken and weakened army of spiders. He heard the crossbow bolts thrum across the stretch of marshland to cripple a line of charging spiders. Then the main force marched forward just as they were trained to do, raising their shields to endure the enemy’s initial impact, then it turned into a simple case of thrust and shield.