Flying to his doom, Elstariath panicked and acted solely on instinct and training as power flooded through the young noble of House Roth. He forced gusts of wind to direct his flying body into position while gathering kinetic energy at his feet. Elstariath used the wind to bring his body upright, kicked off the air with his feet, while using a blast of kinetic force to bring himself over the top of the beetle. He grabbed his saber in two hands, smashed the spear aside, and counter kicked with another kinetic blast to wrench his body into a full swing at the rider's neck.

  Speed and instinct won out that moment for Elstariath. The regal scorpion warrior looked surprised by Elstariath’s lack of fear and confusion. And so the Scorpion King, Shishak, found himself beheaded by discipline as well as a father’s will to live.

  However, the locust king saw his assassin squads kill well that day.

  Elstariath landed on the ground in a tight roll that mimicked the scorpion insectoid's head. Arresting his fall by finally digging his heels in against the momentum, he was able to see what events had occurred during his unhorsing. The lights from the sky, still shining brightly, revealed the madness in front of him.

  To the manipul’s right, tunnels had opened in the ground along another hillside and insectoid people were riding out on large beetles and centipedes. Many of the insect mounts simply threw themselves in front of the horses in an attempt to take them down. This caused the uphill charge of the company to become stopped cold by a countercharge from underneath its very feet.

  One such hole had opened up under his horse, snapping its neck from the impact with the lip of the hole and tossing him straight into the air. Thankfully his training had saved him from being skewered upon the first enemy spear to come from the ground.

  The rest of the cavalry hadn’t been so lucky.

  The others were being swarmed by large insectoid fighters that were sprinting across the ground, two swords in hand. They would block the incoming attacks of the elven cavalry while taking one of the mount’s forelegs from under it with the other sword. Others were charging them with long spears that prevented the knights from being able to retaliate. The following cavalry had room to maneuver but not enough to engage both the armored giant beetles and the interspersed insectoids that sought to drag the knights from their saddles.

  It was a massacre.

  Bits of elven nobility were scattered and twisted from contact with the enemy. Elstariath saw his comrades crumpled from being thrown from their horses and stomped by the mounts of both their enemies and allies. Others were in pieces, their faces screaming from being bisected and beheaded from the blades of the enemies or jaws of the great beetle mounts. Armored centipedes wrapped around knights and horses without bias. The centipedes would then sink their venomous fangs into their victims, which left them screaming helplessly while they were ravaged from the venom.

  All in the blank silence that smothered this battlefield.

  Where had the information on this kind of enemy been? Why hadn’t they been told of the enemies strategies or abilities? How in the name of Roth, his grandsire, did they not know of the tactics and resources of their enemies? How was he supposed to lead his troops to anything other than death when this was possible!

  Rage and disgust built within Elstariath’s mind as he saw his brethren cut down in silence from their enemies’ blades. A silent slaughter of elven blood took place on the hills of the Naidenal coast, mere miles from the Eusa Aristocracy’s newest stronghold.

  Elstariath felt his rage at this lack of honor intensify to the fringes of madness. Frimans had led a night raid, followed by a night ambush. Did these savages have no honor? Where was the honor that they would have in defeating their foe by battlefield maneuvers? Where was their pride in being a warrior with honor! He now knew that they had no way of beating the great legions of the Aristocracy except by dirty tricks.

  This was the path they chose to walk, so they would pay for their deceitful and dishonorable ways. Karma would balance these scales.

  He felt the no longer subtle layer of silence that weighed upon him like an oppressive cloak. He grabbed ahold of it and tore it from his back while he built a layer of defiance around him. This latest act made him aware of the fact that he was just below half of his natural mana reserves.

  Elstariath picked up the long spear of the scorpion king and planted it into the dirt at his feet. His defiance became manifest in the banner of the 14th Legion of the Eusa Aristocracy, a simple banner of blue with a scarlet “XIV” upon it. Beneath that hung the proud banner of House Roth, which was also a blue banner but was emblazoned with a sword sundering a chain link. He took these banners, made purely from his mana and attached them to the golden spear of the beetle rider he had slain.

  “TO ME, RIDERS OF THE 14TH!!!” Elstariath’s voice sundered the silence of the enemy and established a rally point for his decimated manipul.

  A knot of resistance still fought the insectoids bravely. Roughly twenty other riders were riding in a circle around a knot of unhorsed elven cavalry. The unhorsed fought with the wild grace of wolves as they flitted in and out of their mounted comrades' shadows. The riders served to force the enemies from swarming their grounded comrades.

  They saw his banner a short ways away from them and brought the wheel of death through the insectoid host towards their leader.

  The scorpion king’s beetle was still between them, however, as well as a group of other insectoid fighters. A problem Elstariath would fix shortly.

  The golden beetle finally finished turning its heavy body around towards him. Its beady black eyes and giant mandibles were set in a wrathful expression. It began a lumbering charge towards his position, horned head and jaws lowered to allow no escape from it. The entourage seemed content to leave the beetle to its meal and went to join the others in attempting to kill the remaining cavalry.

  Knowing he couldn’t risk fighting this thing forever, Elstariath focused on what he could exploit from the beetle's fighting characteristics. In the two seconds he had to think of a strategy, he learned that it was two things: large and uncoordinated.

  Elstariath waited a second more and sent two quick blasts at the beast. The beast simply met the blasts and continued forwards. Dark ichor sprayed from its two eyes at the front of its face as Elstariath successfully blinded it.

  The war beetle uncaringly rushed forward to meet its hated enemy. Elstariath grabbed the dead body of the scorpion king and threw it towards the waiting jaws of the beetle. He also used the opportunity to dodge to the side of the beetle while, with the assistance of his wind magic, jump the beetle.

  Elstariath had also collected the king's long spear, now turned into the 14th’s very own warbanner. He used the spear as a club to knock aside two of the entourage that had turned their back to him as he landed.

  They screeched in surprise as they fell to the ground in a tumble. The others seemed to not hear them over the din of the battle and continue forward. His remaining elves had almost made it to him. In fact, it was just two of the entourage that were between them.

  Elstariath rushed to meet them, his righteous fury allowing him to carve through the backsides of the two final insectoid warriors that stood between him and his knights. Rushing within the circle of riders, he caught his breath within the knot of unhorsed warriors. A single officer of his original cavalry was keeping the rest of the men together and fighting from the middle of the knot.

  “Well met Galane!” Elstariath called to him, realizing that he did know his name.

  “Captain Elstariath! Thank the Karmic tides that you still live!” Galane tiredly rejoiced as he put a shaking hand upon his shoulder. Elstariath knew why it shook as the realization also hit him.

  It seemed as though countless insect warriors were streaming from their holes. They were surrounding the group as well as they seemed almost ready to overwhelm them with numbers alone.

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  They were expecting to die here, and it frightened them. Elstariath also expected this. He was but one of many legionaries of the 14th. The statistics were never good for soldiers, even as a captain.

  Yet he had never allowed this to stop him from enlisting. Elstariath was not content with being a statistic. He would make his own path, his own fate. If he was to die here then so be it, but he would make them pay a high price indeed to the Reaper.

  A sea of enemies had laid a trap for them to die in. Elstariath’s rage would make sure that this would not be the last his enemies heard of them. They would whisper of these elven warriors with fear in their hearts. He would haunt them forevermore.

  “Hold this my fellow knight, my kin. Let our defiance blaze throughout the night sky as a symbol of honor and defiance.” Elstariath handed the spear and banners to Galane as he turned to the rest of the elves that had survived so far. A group of desperate warriors that had accepted their fate within the jaws of the enemy. Accepted but not broken because of it.

  Elstariath would not insult them by breaking now.

  “My brothers in arms! My kin!” He called out to them. Elstariath used more of his own mana to kick up the dirt around the outer section of riders. The enemy was momentarily confused by this dirt screen and paused in their relentless assault. This gave him the final opportunity to address these elves once more.

  “HERE ME, BROTHERS IN BATTLE!!!” Elstariath thundered. “WE ARE DESCENDANTS OF THE ELVEN HOUSE OF ROTH. OUR GRANDSIRE IS ROTH, SLAYER OF UVBRYG, THE SLAVE TYRANT!!! OUR KIN HAVE BEEN DISHONORABLY SLAIN AND SCREAM OUT FOR VENGEANCE!!! WE SHALL ANSWER THEIR CRIES AND BLOODLUST!!! LORD SOLOLYN, WITNESS OUR LAST SONG OF VENGEANCE!!! MAY OUR ENEMIES LOOK UPON THE LIGHT!!! LIBERA NOS!!!”

  One simple phrase. A simple phrase they had developed long ago. A final act of desperation. Libera Nos. The two lights above the manipul dimmed until they were darker than the moon.

  As one, their outer riders jumped from their saddles and sent their steeds out of the dirt cloud. The entire cavalry looked down as the outer riders joined and melted back into the heart of the knot of warriors.

  Light exploded upon the hillside, so bright, one would think that two suns had risen to witness this final act of a desperate elven cavalry. The enemy became blinded by the sudden intensity of the light. They even thought the horses sprinting from the inner cyclone were a last desperate charge and attacked them blindly.

  The cyclone of dirt was also shot out in a thick haze as Elstariath forced it away from them. The elves sprinted towards Fort Lyric, the frontline rank spearing their swords forward to release desperate blasts of magic from them.

  Elstariath grabbed Galane by the shoulder and looked him in the eyes. Both warriors knew these moments were likely their last. Each nodded to each other as they saluted a fist over their hearts.

  One must be alive to bask in glory.

  Elstariath’s thoughts went to Drina and his family, the most important people in his life. He thought of his newly born son that he had never yet met. He thought of his other children that he had raised and loved over these long years. He tightened his grip on his sword as he moved along with his knights.

  “Move any with injuries to the inner circle! Only rotate back into the front if you are healed or have no other option. Anyone with healing affinities, stay near the standard!”

  Elstariath knew Galane had healing affinities so it would be best If the rest of the healers grouped together.

  “Frontline, focus on digging us out! Rearguard, focus on defense and keeping distance from the enemy!”

  Elstariath grabbed his standard-issued shortsword in his left hand and forced himself towards the frontline, despite his fears. Sweat ran down his forehead, and his mouth felt dry. He positioned himself in the second line of the frenzied wedge of fighters, ready to fill in for the next man that needed a reprieve.

  The insectoid warriors had been taken aback by the sudden ferocity of the elven assault. The blinded foes fell by the score as the frontline thrusted their spear formation into the maw of their would be killers. Blades of wind and fire shot through all manner of insect humanoids, maiming and killing by the dozens.

  The sandy dirt they rushed over was such a mess of blood and broken bodies that Elstariath had to constantly step over and wade through the blood mud. The dirt haze was also beginning to lighten up and make their surroundings visible again in their standard’s light. Their dirt cover was slowly draining, yet Elstariath knew that he needed to conserve the lower ledges of his mana.

  Elstariath and his loose formation of secondary fighters were white knuckled as they saw the frontline begin to slow. The elves had reached the lowest part between the hills. The enemy had begun using magical shielding in an attempt to slow their advance and bring them into melee.

  “Backline! Scrounge spears or weapons to reinforce or launch!” Elstariath ordered as he sheathed his shortsword, grabbed a long spear, and readied himself to use it as needed. His mana had refilled slightly in this battle but there wasn’t much mana to draw in from their surroundings. The Frimans had been as greedy with their use of mana as the Eusans had also been, leaving the area they fought within light in the resource.

  They would run out of mana soon. If that happened then they would be overwhelmed by superior numbers. The only thing that was saving them right now was the lack of cohesion between the squads that made up the insectoids.

  To their right, the beetle and centipede riders were attempting to engage them with the land warriors. They were currently unable to due to the press of their own warriors attempting to blindly swarm them.

  “Lines, prepare to swap!” Elstariath ordered, understanding the knights were also probably low on mana. He tapped the base of the spear with his foot as he jogged and imbued the end of it with a silver glow. Then, he hefted his spear before he gave his next command, “Throw and volley!”

  The second row of elven knights hefted spears, axes, or even their standard-issued shortswords and threw them at the enemy. Each weapon also had a glow similar to what Elstariath had used somewhere along the weapon. A final volley of intense magical blades were thrown as quickly as possible by the frontline of elves as they slowed to let the second line take the lead.

  As the weapons crossed the twenty yards to the waiting insect warriors, the magical blades reached their shields. Elstariath saw that many of the magical shields gave out and the warriors were bisected as many didn’t carry a shield. Some attempted to block the magic with their weapons but were met with mixed success as the magic usually just parted around their weapons and the rest of the deadly attacks slashed into their armor or bodies.

  The hodgepodge of thrown weapons came within a few yards of the enemies. Elstariath and the rest of the elves activated their kinetic magic attached to the weapons. His spear surged forward as if thrown by the hand of a giant. It skewered through three warriors and shattered upon a fourth, sending the gold and green warrior flying back and knocking down a small knot of others.

  The other weapons also activated and shot into the ranks of humanoid insects. The other spears met with a fair amount of success, like his, many penetrating through multiple ranks of the enemy. The axes and swords often smashed into armor and bounced off into the distance or dismembered others while tossing them into groups behind them.

  The volley of weapons served their purpose: to create space.

  Elstariath’s knights surged into the space left behind as they moved up the hill, him in the lead once again. On the right the insect cavalry of beetles and centipedes began to bulldoze their way through their own warriors in an attempt to stop them from breaking through their lines. They were fifty yards from them.

  Elstariath and his men were half that distance from breaking through the enemy encirclement.

  “HURRY!” he screamed to his kinsmen. Their freedom was within sight. The banner of the Legion and House Roth lit their way from behind them as they surged forward with hopeful desperation. They were all tired and sucking air from having run so far while also fighting.

  His body was heavy, so Elstariath burned more of his dwindling mana reserves to reinforce his body and ease his tiredness. His saber arced again as he threw more blades of wind and force into the enemy. One took a many-eyed head from its shoulders and splattered the other warriors around it with its blood.

  Uncharacteristically, the final three rows of warrior insects seemed to dishearten and actually moved out of their way. The resistance they fought against melted from the sides as well. The enemy actually scrambled out of their way as they were about to reach the top of the hill.

  It was eerie seeing everything scuttle back into the darker sections. Eerie and alarming to Elstariath as he heard the screech of the beetle riders behind them.

  He turned to see another opulently armored, feminine figure with a scorpion tail atop a beetle similar to the one that had tried to kill him in the first ambush. Fear rooted him in place as his knights fled to the crest of the hill.

  The rider held her hands to her sides and screamed in rage as they glowed an ugly green in the night, “Come here Elven bastards, so that I may mutilate your bodies before death mercifully takes you from my clutches!” She began to form an acidic looking blob of green between her clawed hands that would most definitely afflict them with a certain and painful death.

  The scorpion woman suddenly shifted herself defensively and reformed the orb into a shield around her. Shortly thereafter, a large spear smashed into the bubble. Similar spears sparked with red flames smashed into the squads of insect humanoids that had backed away from the charging beetles.

  Eruptions of fire burst from the spears as they exploded outwards into great large fireballs.

  Elstariath looked back with wonder to see a large grin looking out from a helmed head that sat on a five foot tall, three foot wide figure. A sparking beard of red hair rolled down the upper torso of the figure. Large plates of metal wrapped around its thick arms that ended in steel gauntlets. The rest of being’s upper torso was bare and his stout legs wore studded leather trousers and steel capped boots.

  The figure reached into a runic bag that sat on his hip and withdrew another of those large spears that contained a sparking orb within its spearhead.

  Elstariath sighed in relief, the dwarves had arrived.