~ The Sea of Blades ~
[The Year 9840 in the Age of Heroes]
THE CLOUDS HANG LOW ON THE HORIZON, promising heavy rainfalls that were yet to come.
It looked like a storm was in the making with the first strong gusts of wind racing across the expanse known as the Sea of Blades. This was no sea filled with water and fish, but a sea of vast prairie fields. And instead of waves, there were hills creating shadows on the grass. This region encompassed an area that could hide away countries. Many brave travellers had lost themselves in this vastness of space.
The Fields were renowned for their golden hues and sunsets that could be witnessed here like nowhere else. Fiery sunsets during which the sky itself seemed to be ablaze. It was as told in the tales, recounted by boisterous adventures, about the mythical Ember Plane.
This was not such a time. Another grand spectacle had encroached on this region.
A lone soldier holding an ornamental flag stood on the ridge of a hill nearby. His polished armour stood out, silhouetted in front of the closing dark clouds in the background. The ever increasing gusts of wind were close to shredding the beautifully crafted standard.
“Soldier! Come back here at once! What are you standing there for? I do hope not because of the god damn pretty views?!” A stern voice was heard downhill.
“Coming, Sir!” The soldier replied while hurriedly turning around and running back to his squad and squad leader.
“By the Five! Who is chasing that fool for making him run like a madman down that slope” the older squad leader murmured to his second in command. And louder he shouted “What has gotten into you boy?! Did you lose your senses up there, enjoying the clouds? Pay attention to that spear, damn you!”
It seemed that luck was on the side of the soldier this day. While slowing his precarious descent, he quickly checked his equipment and reaffirmed his hold on the heavy spear that took both of his hands to keep upright. On the slope of the hill the strong winds had lessened and the ornate flag hung limply next to his face. He brushed it away and continued with his descent, albeit a bit slower under the irritated glare of his squad leader.
“Finally, and without injuries I might add, soldier! I don’t know if I should praise you or start crying for being in such a situation and considering doing the first!”
“What are you laughing at, you bunch of miscreants?!” The burly squad leader exclaimed.
The other members of the squad had tried to hide their laugh behind their hands, some had even tried to surreptitiously turn around unable to properly hide their amusement. Their leader always had it in for their newest recruit, since him joining up the squad and war effort a month ago. Due to him not really being a proper soldier, instead having come from one of the closest kingdoms as mere farmer boy, the squad leader had it somehow taken up on himself to “properly” educate the boy from day one. He had been relegated to the safest place of the army, at its back. There his duty was to guard and dutifully watch over the armies supply chain which followed behind. It looked like a huge snake winding around the nearby hills behind them, until it got lost on the horizon the soldier thought.
He let his eyes wander and his gaze fell upon the arguably most breathtaking sight his young life had ever been able to witness. The army he was part of, the “one army” as it was already being called by its members sprawled in front of him. Being the rearguard he couldn’t even see the first ranks, this army had to have at least hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Nobody knew the exact number, some speculated that even the army generals didn’t know the specifics. Maybe the five knew these things, yet such individuals were equal to gods to someone like him and he couldn’t even hope to resist their presence.
While the soldier was lost in the grandeur of this army, its generals were giving orders and preparing this body of man for one final confrontation. This army had been only one of the many before it that were thrown against their enemy. Until today none had been successful, suffering horrendous casualties. During the past years, the surviving units had scrambled together and had amassed to this massive force. They had learned from their past mistakes, the generals keeping their plans secret on a lever seen before. Rumour was it, that the enemies methods of repeatedly uncovering their plans and tactics had been discovered. As a consequence, the remaining generals of every remaining race had come together and had secluded themselves only reappearing not so long ago. They had lead the army here to make one final stand they had said. A final confrontation like no other. The battle of an Age.
Soldiers were being called by their superiors, supporting staff checked every equipment one last time and supporting mages walked trough the ranks murmuring helpful incantations for the last time. Messenger boys and girls ran from one place to the other.. Final orders were relayed and commanding voices arose everywhere.
“Stand orderly! What do you think you are doing? Get back here! What is this …where did you put your sword soldier?!”
Many squad leaders were heard, shouting order into the ranks. The soldier and his squad could feel the palpable tension in the air. People of every colour were preparing themselves. Some individuals sported a wild look and had pale faces, twitching at every little sound, scared of what was to come in the next hours. And others stood there without moving, no sound escaping their closed lip, while looking straight ahead with resolute eyes. A squadron of spearmen marched by. The soldier noticed white fists tightly holding on to spears and inaudible mutters could be heard every now and then. On an open patch of land not so far away horses neighed and trotted restlessly around. Suddenly, a horn blared in the distance and the cavalrymen began galloping away, rallying towards three distinct banners that could be seen flattering on a nearby hill. The ground trembled, giving the assembled combatants a feel for the forces that were on display.
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The soldier’s squad hat met up with others, forming a lager unit of men and women. The squad leader looked with a longing look after the receding cavalry. The soldier noticed this and he gave the stories he had heard more credit. At a campfire some nights ago, his squad companions had voiced the rumours about their leader having been a renowned and successful cavalry officer a long time ago. Due to an accident he had had to resign and had thrust himself into the legions instead. The soldier could relate to that feeling of longing, often he had dreamt riding a mighty war horse into battle earning glory and fame, collecting a fortune in the process. Yet this wasn’t meant to be, his father and their fathers before had merely been humble farmers. They had cultivated their lands along the border of the Sea of Blades and had maintained the family’s farmstead throughout the generations. Then, not so long ago, an opportunity presented itself to the soldier. Reports had preceded the army that was moving towards this region. Words of one decisive battle, deciding the fate of the known world and heralding the end of an Age and surely the rise of a new one, had dominated the evenings at the inns, taverns and local forums. The opportunity promised glory like no other and a way out for a young farm boy who dreamt of adventure.
His memories were interrupted when whispers of returning scouting units, discovered by the forefront, echoed between the ranks. The marching soldier tried to raise his head looking over the gathered units. He hoped to catch a glimpse of said scouts returning, a famous and respected unit always in the midst of conflicts and adventures acting as the army’s eyes and ears against the enemy. Meanwhile, his squad had finally found their intended spot situated on a slight elevation. This seemed to be the end of the hills in this area. To each side of them the elevated ground stopped, giving way to plains of grass. There seemed to be no end to it, the grass merging with the sky on the distant horizon. The Army had chosen this place for their last battle and had already started to entrench itself. The construction of fortifications and the placement of magical shields and wards was well under way. The forefront of the forces camped right behind the trenches. The visible squadrons sported different banners of its leaders, each an highly decorated officer who had proven themselves in previous battles against the foe.
It was an army that seemed to have taken up the challenge with this part of the Sea of Blades about which of them had more individuals in their ranks. The soldier could see a vast number of species gathered here. He recognised men and women who stood orderly in rank and file and were geared up with different armour. He had expected to see polished and glittering armour shining in the sunlight. This had always been the case before glorious battles in the stories he had heard as a youth. Yet, today said armour seemed rather dull. The sun was hidden away, forgotten behind a thick blanket of low hanging clouds. No sunlight could shine upon the gathered carapaces and helmets. Next to men and women, to the soldier’s delight, mingled the fabled dwarven warriors hailing from various clans. They were shouting illustrious profanities about their expected foe, encouraging each other and trying to lighten up the tense atmosphere. Occasionally, one boisterous voice shouted a dwarven chant in their native language and all the dwarves responded as one, shouting words back while shaking large war hammers and axes towards the skies.
In the centre of the forefront stood the elegant and powerful elves, a stark contrast to the rowdy dwarves, making up the biggest number of spell casters in the army. The soldier was deeply mystified by them, he hadn’t heard much about these people. Their lands were far away, on another continent he had heard. For someone who had never even ventured into the neighbouring Sea of Blades, such vast distances were unimaginable. The soldiers gaze continued but was stopped again right away by another sight. Next to the mysterious elves stood their closest allies, the proud beast folks. Individuals in their true form and various humanlike appearances were present. There were too many different kinds for the soldier to count. But his focus stayed glued at the sight in front of him, drinking in the fill of mysticism represented here. He was sure that the next awe filling recounting of events at the inns would surely be his when this would all be over.
Suddenly, the ongoing burst of winds were interrupted by something strange. A number of deep recurring thumps could be heard and even felt as tremors in the air. The hairs of his youthful beard were vibrating along to this strange phenomena. Following this, various presences gradually came into existence and washed over him and all the soldiers around him, nearly making them all fall on their knees. The banner that was pinned to his spear flailed wildly around. Each new thump made it change its direction, as if the governing laws of the winds were no more.
Accompanying this, a flight of wyverns and dragons dived out of the low hanging clouds announcing their arrival withbestial roars. Wyverns and especially dragons were recognised as one of the most formidable opponents in existence. Not many could hope to stand up against the wildest members of the beast folk nation. The soldiers eyes bulged and he couldn’t help but follow their flight in silent stupor. The wyverns and the dragons crossed each others flight path, flying loops in the sky and breaking their fall at the last possible moment above the spear tips of the humongous army. At last they descended and landed on the army’s flanks.
The soldier inched unintentionally forward, seeking to discover more about the beasts straight out of legends. However, a strong grip on his shoulder rooted him in place and a gruff voice sounded out.
“Where do ya think you are going boy? Never have seen a dragon in your life, eh? You listen to me. And listen carefully. You stay the hell away from those creatures! To them, you are no different to a rabbit. Better to stay right here with us folks. And the same goes for those gods damn big bastards over there! How in the holy Five’s names did the generals get those giants to join?! That’s what I would like to know!”
The squad leader had begun to rant, voicing his opinions to everyone present. The soldier noticed only then the solitary giants helping with the fortifications. These behemoths of nature were known to live in the most desolate of places, numerous myths and stories surrounded them. Some people even believed they were distant offsprings of the legendary Earth Titan, a living cataclysm in itself. The soldier saw each of them wearing an iron club as big as a tree on their backs and were currently tasked with impaling enormous stakes into the ground. A mind-blogging effort he surmised.
A sudden stir in the army’s ranks made the soldier look up searching for the unknown commotion that had to be the source. Others looked uncomfortably around, muttering under their breaths. The giants stopped their work and gazed towards the horizon, as if they had singled out the direction. Like immovable stone sentinels they stood, thought the soldier.
Suddenly, people started pointing towards the horizon. Many heads turned around. On the horizon, the clear divide between the earth and the sky seemed different, flawed. Like if the earth had finally decided to stretch its previously hidden fingers towards the sky, trying to grasp the clouds. Many flocks of birds were escaping towards the sky and a blanket of silence descended upon the gathered army, underlining the severity of the sight. The silence was interrupted soon after.
“Soldiers! Prepare yourselves! The enemy… is upon us!”