The Battle of Millenguard - The Remake

[Dray]

Hello my children, my name is Drayke Silverwind, it is my honor today to share with you a great story of legend. Now I know many of you are too old for bedtime stories and fairy tales, but I think that should you lend me your patience for a few turns, you will find yourselves hard pressed to escape the attention I have stolen from you.

The Battle of Millenguarde:
 
In a time over 1200 years ago, in the early tenth century (900+ ESH), several hundreds of years after the final and fourth wall of Our-Commons had been completed. The Kingdom of Safe-Haven was finally able to breathe the air of freedom, for it expanded 6 to 8 miles in every direction from their God's Spire. The Military School had been successful for three generations in the development of powerful and brave male child warriors. Meanwhile in the city, strong young women carried the burden to protect and raise the future.

The seasonal battles, the Kah'tharta, were a huge success for over 100 years as the victories continued to allow expansion of the Kingdom. Life was still difficult, especially for the young, but the hope for all humankind's survival was strong and no longer in doubt. After almost a millennium of struggle, the city of Our-Commons and the people within it had become a finely-tuned machine for War.
 
The Summer Kah'tharta of 919 ESH was to be like any other, another chance to expand the land and allow humankind to grow. Each seasonal battle took the lives of young brave men, but with Kaine's guidance from heaven above, only a precious few would be lost in the conquest for the greater good.

However, as we all now know, it would not be a simple victory on this day in history, for although it is often said that history is written by the victors, it would be scribed with their own blood upon the parchment on this fateful day.

[Dray]

The following my students, is the Story of Legend, and the daring souls who saved this Kingdom over a thousand years ago. The battle can be accounted for in the pages of our history books, as can an enormous demon. Most of the courage, bravery and tenacity felt within the story I am about to weave to you is real.

The rest of it, Kithendria's existance, the Sword of Truth and the events as they unfolded around the two of them, are left up for to you to decide and debate.

I see I indeed captured your attention, with that, I will weave my tale...

[Dray]

The Ceremony of the Veil, the event that initiates each and every Kah'tharta, began on a beautiful and warm day in mid-summer. Melinda, a comely girl of 18 with a grace and stature fitting for the affection from a God, quoted from her heart passages from the Scripture of Kaine. The emphasis behind the words, inspired by her devoted passion to her Holy Father, affected even the most seasoned of troops and invigorated all of the soldiers with newfound courage for the days battle. Kithendria, her assistant and chosen Second Deaconess quietly watched on. The beautiful blond-haired and blue-eyed girl was the youngest Deaconess ever to be chosen for Kah'tharta. At 15 years old, the girl was ill-prepared for the hardship she knew to come, but her duty to God and Kingdom however, held her fast.

With the Ritual over, the pair of Deaconess from the Circle of Flame raced their white warhorses along the perimeter of the Outer Rim. With unerring accuracy, Melinda threw specifically designed bags of holy water at the torches along the perimeter. The white magic of our coveted holy flame was extinguished from each torch as they passed.

Every twenty feet, which comes in mere seconds on horseback, Melinda threw, while her assistant rode dangerously alongside her while preparing satchels of water in just as quick succession. And for almost a half a mile they were successful, Melinda even giving Kithendria a quick but appreciative smile.

It would be the last act of kindness to another from Melinda in this world.

[Dray]

As two battalions of over 600 men watched from their positions in the trenches a few hundred yards away, a horrific scene quickly unfolded before them. One moment, Melinda was riding at break-neck speed aside Kithendria, the next, the girl was being tackled by a Karh'Thul that had leapt from the Outlands and dismounted her. Her horse charged away unaware yet of its rider being taken by the enemy.

Kithendria quickly turned her horse sharply to return to Melinda's aid, but to no avail. In the moments it took to come back, the demon not only pinned the stunned Melinda to the ground but had ripped the girls innards out effortlessly. It stood as it waited for Kithendria with bloodied fangs and maw.

But a greater horror had other intentions for Kithendria....

[Dray]

Yes class, I said intentions and it is the word I specifically meant, for not all Karh'Thul are mindless terrors.

[Dray]

As the front line of soldiers charged from the safe positions to save Kithendria from a similar fate, an impossible task from that distance, a huge roar that shook the very ground bellowed from the Outlands. Everything stopped, including the Karh'Thul facing Kithendria who, atop her unmoving horse, hesitated in fear.

A gargantuan terror stepped from behind the ancient pines and walked into the bright sunlight where it lurched forward and roared again. Four long tentacles flayed about from its back, tugging at trees while four massively-muscled arms flexed with the roar which emanated from a maw lined with teeth taller than a man.

The bloody Karh'Thul, as if obeying its master, abandoned Kithendria and charged ahead to certain death that awaited with the angered soldiers of the front lines. Soldiers no doubt concerned about this unknown giant, but trained to prepare and fight anything out of the Outlands, including this abomination.

Kithendria, although not blessed by that training, did find her mind and spurred the horse to flee, but the massive giant, defying its size, snapped her up with one of its massive claws and held her fast. Within a second, even before the terrified girl knew she had been captured, the beast closed its massive maw over the horse starting to flee and bit it grotesquely in two with a bone-crunching, ripping sound.

Soldiers, that weren't immediately dispatching the lone charging Karh'Thul, watched the horror as blood sprayed from the giant's maw and blanketed the area and the screaming Kithendria.

Murmurs of the demon's name spread through the ranks of soldiers in disbelief.

Ustag.

Ustag, the gargantuan demon of scripture had returned to Kaine's people.

[Dray]

edits


With a word, the Captain commanding the front line brought his men back to the trenches as his lieutenant of the first battery brought their front siege weapons to bare upon the giant. In the few moments that these maneuvers occurred, Ustag, still holding Kithendria by the torso in one of his 4 massive claws, stood erect and pointed at the troops.

The lieutenant awaited the command to fire, in his stare the Captain understood all too well the implications of that order, for it would kill the girl as well.

It was then that a wave of black erupted from the Outer Rim, an attacking force of numbers never before seen as what appeared to be hundreds of Karh'Thul charged from somewhere behind the ancient pines.

With a prayer of mercy to Kaine for the young girl, he nodded at his lieutenant.

[Dray]

In his entire 4-year career and 17 Kah'tharta victories, the Captain had never had to order the firing of the entire front battery. The power of it was impressive.

An explosion of cannon fire and massive ballista bolts met the enemy attack with incredible force. Dozens of the black fiends were either obliterated by explosions or violently pierced through.

But it wasn't enough.

While dozens of Karh'Thul were eliminated, hundreds more still charged through the carnage upon the battlefield. Worse still, the giant seemed complete unphased by the explosions near and on top of him, and although the girl also seemed unhurt, this was small consolation. The captain barely had enough time to order the rear battery to fire before he and his men were in the thick of melee with the frontal assault.

"Did he receive any direct hits at all?!" the captain screamed to his lieutenant as he engaged a flurry of claws and teeth from two of the enemy.

"I watched a ballista bolt bounce directly off his chest Captain!" the lieutenant responded in disbelief as he ducked a demons attempt to deliver a flying tackle.

"Impossible," said the Captain as he heard the front lines fire again, which wasn't the sound he wanted to hear....it meant the demons were still coming from the border.

'We had become complacent in our success, we were not setup for this level of an attack, we will pay for the mistake with our very lives, he thought with regret.

[Dray]

I see now that I have not only captured your attention my students, but I have shaken it as well.

Excellent.

For that is the very reason I am telling you this story today, to remind you that our peace can be a fragile one should we let our guard down, as shown by this very "fable".

But I digress...

[Dray]

The Captain's heart raced faster than his horse, but he was not ashamed of the fear that pumped through his veins. He was now the lone survivor of the massacre behind him. All of his friends and comrades, kids he grew up with in school with and trained alongside each day for years, now nothing but chunks of torn flesh on a bloody battleground. Over six-hundred soldiers gutted and flayed at the hands of viscous demons, their bodies already forgotten by the enemy which now charged behind him towards the kingdom's heartland.

And what's more, the Outer-Rim remained open, for no one was left alive who could close it.

So he pushed the horse on with the pain of his regret pumping hard within his heart. He had abandoned his post and fled away to warn the city, each of the 8 companies within a brigade had one man for this purpose, and he alone had escaped the massacre to do so.

'Three miles to go,' Captain Darkwell thought to himself, for he had seen the old abandoned barn that was a familiar landmark.

He charged the horse as fast as the animal could run, for the fate of the entire human race rode with him.

[Dray]

The Captain made it to the city, but with the army of the Karh'Thul swarming behind him, killing those he passed. As the soldiers of the 4th wall spotted the Kah'tharta runner, they knew of the dark meaning behind his shocking appearance and sounded the alarm. As he charged through the main gate all the tower bells rang out, their signal for all citizens to retreat inside the outer wall of the city, and for all soldiers in the city to prepare for battle.

But for many unfortunate citizens outside those city walls, the signal was too late, the black wave of death washed over men, women and children. Without mercy the demons, some in pairs, tore them the humans apart and fed on them.

Realizing that all outside were lost to the evil, the gates were closed even as dozens of citizens still screamed and cried out for help.

As the soldiers prepared for War atop the 4th wall, they watched as the army of Karh'Thul amassed just a few paces farther than their long-distance siege weapons could reach. Thousand of blacker-than-night demons gathered in a horrifying wide swath about a mile long. The awesome spectacle of so many Karh'Thul struck fear into even the bravest men of the City Guard.

Whispers on the wall rumored that the demons would wait for the cover of night to make their attack. Their only chance at limited success in traversing the wall would be by sheer numbers. Numbers they could much more readily cut down with siege weapons during the day. With the initial shock of seeing so many of the enemy at their doorstep gone, many soldiers returned to their confidence in the protection of the city wall that stood the tests of time.

But the demons did not wait for night. The demons instead brought the night with them.

[Dray]

The warriors of the city had trained their entire lives for an eventuality such as this. They did not wait on the enemy, but had their ballista, cannon and catapult trained and ready for the order to rain down their deadly barrage upon them. Each swore an oath that no demon would make it through the kill zone. And each wanted the glory of killing Ustag, who had been reported by the Captain from the Kah'tharta Massacre, even though the huge demon had yet to be spotted outside the city.

Meanwhile, the mindless horrors from the Outlands were furious at being made to stop when so close to their enemy. Whatever entity commanded them that day, it was powerful and intelligent enough to keep the demons from yet crossing the invisible boundary and into the range of the city's weapons fire. The Karh'Thul, restless with their rage and hate, stood their ground but slashed at one another, the ground under them and the already ripped apart bodies of lost citizens while they waited impatiently for the order.

The calm before the storm was brief.

As the people of Safe-Haven watched in utter shock, the demons slowly formed a circle in their ranks, and two humans stepped into the center of it. The first was a man with skin darker than coal, and long thick hair braided in hundreds of strands. The floating black staff that hovered and followed obediently behind and his black robes which shifted as if they were alive around him spoke to only one profession, this human from the Outlands could only be a Dark Sorcerer from the Outlands. One who sold his soul to the enemy for the lust of power. The man led Kithendria, a rope binding her hands, behind him. Through a spyglass the lieutenant reported to the Major in command that other than scratches and a horrified look she otherwise appeared unharmed.

[Dray]

Yes, I see your questioning looks my students, but if this fable is true, then history intends to demonstrate that there are possibly human survivors in the Outlands to this very day. Yet, we wouldn't want to meet them, for they surely all must be dark allies of our enemy. It also will plainly show that black sorcery still exists amongst the enemy and runs strong through the cold-hearts of the humans who have turned against us.

But I again digress, let me return to the story with the reminding note before I continue, one that the government obligates me to disclose. The 'drama' within the rest of my story is taken from the stages of the theater, weaved into my tale, to continue to hold your interest. Please know that a lot of the following dialogue is most likely just romanticism of playwrights and not actual fact. Ustag doesn't even appear in our history books after the Kah'tharta massacre, and this entire war ended outside the city, with the Karh'Thul not able to even achieve the first gate.

Drayke then whispered and leaned towards the class.

Although, can one necessarily discount all of my words as mere fable? Where does truth end and the fantasy begin? I will let you, my children, decide with your own minds.

[Dray]

"Is there anything in our arsenal that can reach that abomination?" the Major almost shouted at his lieutenant.

"No sir, he seems to have an understanding on the range of our weapons, or got really mat'in lucky," his lieutenant swore.

"Then may Kaine watch over us, for I fear what comes next," he whispered, more to himself than his lieutenant. With that the Major walked the wall fast and encouraged his men to stand fast and be ready for anything.

[Dray]

"Ustag, I beg of you, turn back to the Outlands and have mercy on your own kind." It was the first time Kithendria spoke to the Sorcerer since he had transformed from his huge Karh'Thul form back at the Kah'tharta. Ustag however, had done nothing but share his plans with Kithendria during the journey to Our-Commons, and her mind was slipping into insanity because of it.

He turned to the frightened girl, his pupils and iris the blended darkness of midnight, focused upon her. She shrunk from his gaze, it was the attention of all-encompassing evil.

"Brave child, you will make an excellent choice as mother to the heirs of this fallen kingdom," he then approached her and took her face into one of his large black hands.

"I will rape your body, heart and soul on the altar of the false-god's temple, and you will see this rabble for what they are, confused and lost souls that need only my guidance to know true power."

Kithendria let out a cry of despair and turned away from him.

Ustag refocused his attention on the city walls hundreds of yards away. "Patience my children," he spoke aloud. "Our time is near."