The Clash of Urush

Chapter 13

It was quite a chaotic morning. Some of the men were panicking from the fear that they might not make it. Others were even scared to leave the fortress, as they had nightmares of the demons while they slept, despite not seeing them in person. Nevertheless things did calm down, and we started to make our way to the battlefield.

We were told that we had to defend our land by conquering what enemy had stolen from us. It was a tall order, but desperate times call for desperate measures. The entire regiment was nearing our destination. Every man had their weapons which I had laced with the demon poison. In my sheath was my broadsword which maintained its form throughout the journey.

It was only another hour until the territory we had to overtake was in sight.

The feeling was intense for me, as if my soul had left my body. My body felt hollow and my vision almost appeared to be tainted, as I navigated with as much ease and control as I would in a dream.

"What was that?!" a soldier yelled.

The ground was starting to rumble, an unnatural occurrence in this part of the land. The minor quaking of the earth signified it was getting ready to consume us. Above, a rough texture of greys and whites painted the infinite sky. As I focused more on the sky, I noticed the thick, overbearing clouds having faint flashes of red light behind them. Abruptly, a streak of crimson lightning broke through the gloomy atmosphere, followed by the booming sound of thunder.

With the strong wind conjured by the storm, it carried the sand particles into the air. None of the men or I could see in front of us, especially if we lowered our arms to protect our eyes from being blinded.

"We must continue pushing through," a man yelled out in encouragement. "We can do this."

Unable to turn back at this point, we continued to tread along the sandy terrain. We could hear our grunts, the thunder and the harsh winds until one daunting sound was added to the mix. Growls of various pitches resonated in our ears as our hearts clenched for a few moments. Some of us mouthed our final prayers, hoping to make it out of this battle alive. Gradually, the sand cleared up, revealing the swarm of demonic beasts running on all fours in erratic directions that would somehow lead to our regiment.

I was in the first row of men on the fleet, making me one of the first to come face to face with the fiends. Violently, I slashed my broadsword, cutting off the limbs of the beast before me. Without hesitation, I continued my attacks, allowing the momentum to help me strike faster and harder. In those moments, I had tunnel vision, as I was so caught up in the battle that nothing else mattered to me. My mind was clear and yet still able to help me fight without fail.

Belabouring my seventh demon, I saw another was about to pounce on me to defend its comrade. However, before the creature could sink its elongated claws into my limbs, an arrow shot past my face. Then, with impeccable precision, the weapon sunk into the target's flesh, killing it mid-jump. As I turned around, I saw that it was Alden who had saved my skin. He shot me a grin a second too long, as another beast jumped on him to attack.

Not wanting my friend to perish, I rushed to his aid. With one slash, I beheaded the creature that had pinned Alden to the ground. The head toppled to the ground, followed by the body that collapsed to Alden's side. He looked at its corpse, cringing with disgust at the hideous sight. Quickly, I helped him up, while maintaining my gaze on our surroundings.

"Thank you," he said before his eyes shot wide open.

Noticing his reaction, I spun on the heels of my feet to stab the beast that was ready to clobber us.

"That was a close one," I declared as the two of us resumed fighting.

To our good fortune, the enemy numbers were thinning faster than ours. It was also to my luck that I was still alive, despite the lingering fatigue that would kick in soon once the adrenaline wore off. Amid the haze of the battle, I caught sight of an abnormal figure in the distance, standing somewhere on the higher ground. It was neither fully human nor full demon. Instead, it resembled something that was told in folktales. The figure remained stagnant, with only movements of his hands. They were stringent gestures, which I eventually made out to be commands as I ploughed through the battlefield. Alden stayed close to me, fending off any beasts that I missed while a portion of my attention was aimed at the figure.