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CHAPTER 33 - DRAVEN
When the god Perunfought with his sisters and split the sky with his blade, legend says dark creatures came through. Beings not of Aercanum.
When we made landfall, creatures of the dark were waiting for us.
We reached Eskira as night was descending, the sails of the ships billowing like vast wings against the sky. Above us, the towering peaks of the majestic Ellyria Mountains came into view. Draped in emerald forest and crowned with snow, they seemed to almost touch the sky itself. The air was filled with the fresh scent of wildflowers and pine, a stark contrast to the saltiness we had gotten used to all these long weeks at sea.
As the first ships in the fleet neared the shoreline, anchors were dropped into the shallows and sturdy rowboats were lowered from the sides of the ships.
I stood watching from the deck of the first ship in the royal galleon, with Crescent and Gawain by my side, as groups of soldiers were ferried to the shore. One by one, young soldiers stepped down onto the sand with relief in their eyes as their feet touched solid ground once more.
Their moment of respite was short-lived.
A shadowy horde emerged, surging towards our forces in a nightmarish onslaught. The attackers had been lurking in the caves along the beaches, hiding in the shadows.
The clash of steel against unnatural flesh filled the air as the soldiers on the beach engaged their assailants.
Throughout the fleet, more rowboats were swiftly lowered and more groups of Siabra joined the fight on the beach.
The metallic tang of blood mingled with the scent of sand and sweat. The roar of battle and the screams of the fallen began to reverberate off the mountains.
Amidst the turmoil, the forces from Myntra fought with fierce determination. But the ambush had been swift and brutal. The coast was supposed to be uninhabited, a serene and untouched landscape. We had not anticipated resistance here. I cursed our folly. For we had been anticipated.
The shock of the attack rippled through the ranks as creatures born of corrupted fae and twisted humanity came in wave after wave from the shadows, their eyes burning with an eerie, malevolent light.
The new, untested soldiers struggled to find their footing. One after one, many went down, never to rise again.
At first, I flew above it all, riding on Nightclaw with Sunstrike beside me, raining down power upon the twisted creatures pouring out from the cliffs.
But as the battle raged on, fierce and unrelenting, I could not fight from the skies while my soldiers died on the sand.
Plunging off Nightclaw's back as he dove low, I rolled into the fray, thrusting my sword through the dark horde over and over.
When the dawn came and the dust finally settled, the price of victory was evident.
The dark creatures had been slaughtered. Those that were not had slunk away.
But we had faced losses. Especially amongst the newer recruits who had never faced such horrors before.
I had been wounded. Bruised ribs, a slice along my side. But I had been dealt far worse before. Blood coated my face, some of it mine, some of it not.
Amidst it all, I saw the faces of our soldiers. Shocked and horrified as the day dawned and they realized what they had been fighting. Shocked and horrified as they realized that may have been only the first fight of many.
I stood by Crescent, Gawain, and Hawl in a small cluster as we paused to take stock. All along the beach, the captains were reforming their units. Soon we would clean up from the devastation. The bodies of our people would be buried. Those of our attackers, burned.
“They were untried, untested, unprepared,” Hawl said, their normally booming voice surprisingly soft. The Bearkin had a huge ax slung over their shoulders as they stared out at the beach.
“Yet they fought well and bravely,” Crescent said stoutly. His eyes kept darting back to the ships. I knew Taina was safely waiting in one of them. Was he regretting bringing her now?
