Sons of Ironstorm - Book 3: New Alliance

The First to Fall

The Wielder, however, wasn't satisfied with the apparent ease of the campaign's first victory. After summarily executing any tjor'riin they managed to capture, including the garrison's erstwhile and inept commander following brief interrogations, Shawn once again had Fjendin and Thordova send out their scouts.

This time, it wasn't a captured human fortress he wanted them to look for. No, this time he wanted to take the fight hard to the enemy. According to Fjendin's map, no less than three breeding pits lay within striking distance of Tal Furan. Minor pits, they were nevertheless responsible for supplying the bulk of the dark soldiers that were currently pressuring the western reaches of Galental, one of the strongest human kingdoms in the Hammer. If they could release that pressure, then a relieved Galental could be more easily persuaded to join them in any efforts they made against the Shadow to the west.

Out the scouts went, intent on gathering information about the three pits, looking for such things as garrison numbers, ease of travel to and from and the physical surroundings of the pits, both to confirm Fjendin's information about them and to better prepare the campaign force for their assaults against each. While they waited for the scouts to return, the companies were put to work rebuilding Tal Furan as best as their skills and abilities, along with the Wielder's magic, enabled them to. It would serve as a redoubt in case their assaults against the pits catastrophically failed, garrisoned by Redeemed and dark elves against the fort falling back into enemy hands and possessing a permanent sa'anish portal to the Redeemed base outside of Aerlorn.

As expected, the scouts found all three pits heavily guarded despite their size, not only by tjor'riin, but by Wendigo, Nahkiwin and Dakern trolls from the Yatual mountains as well, dug in deep behind reinforced battlements. It would take a major effort to take just one, the primary reason Fjendin finally ended the dark elf campaign against the Gyren pits. Unfortunately, because of the dark elves still languishing imprisoned in each pit's belly, Shawn couldn't just use the Star's power to destroy them, as he had Ka'thesck emplacements during the Torvus'sel campaign. They'd have to take each manually with ground forces, level by underground level, and hope to reach the dark elf prisoners before the pit garrison killed them in retaliation for the attack.

With the scouts' report in hand, Shawn again met with his command staff to discuss their options in war council. And again the decision was swiftly made. The campaign force would be divided into three separate elements, Redeemed, Aeshin'laur and dark elf forces in equal measure to each segment, the first under Feladorn, the second under Thom and the third under Kaelin, each general commanding equal amounts of lancers, swords and archers. Fjendin and Evandor would stay with Shawn in a much smaller command company, responsible for coordinating the elements in their attacks. The elements would advance to each one of the pits where Shawn, from a location equidistant between the three, would use the Star to break the primary defenses, letting the campaign forces win past the heavy guard on the entrance and into the pit itself.

From that point it'd be up to the individual commanders on how they would continue the assault into the labyrinth beneath the ground that was an imperial breeding pit. Armed with maps of the area and a general outline of a pit's structure, the three commanders set off for the pits assigned to them. In their wake followed Shawn, Fjendin, Evandor and a small cadre of dark elves acting as both rear guard and command group element.

Unlike the major pit Lawrence, Will and the dark elves had attacked first, several days' distance from Tal Furan, the minor pits Fjendin's map identified were all within a day's march. Pressing hard through the night, the three commands found themselves facing the heavy guard through dense underbrush just as Ri'im's first morning light chased away the stars and dimmed Rimnor's silvery crescent.

From where he gazed at the entrance of the southern most of the three, hidden in the embrace of a spider pine, Feladorn frowned. He and his troops were tired from pushing hard through dense brush in order to reach the pit entrance by daybreak. Did Shawn actually expect them to attack the pit immediately? He half hoped not, because that was the heaviest guard he had seen dark soldiers erect around any of their installations.

Along with the familiar tjor'riin and troll shapes, the Lusinoran prince identified several powerful reptilian creatures, brutes at first glance but given high intelligence and malevolence by the dark elves that named them Nahkiwin. They were particularly dense in attendance, these lizard men in their scale armor, several dozen at least. Along with other dark soldiers, the guard numbered in the hundreds, their positions marking the pit's hidden entrance's location. 'At least we don't have to face Wendigo,' he silently mused.

Fortunately the Lusinoran didn't have long to wait for the answer to his unspoken question; there was a tingling rush that swept over his command, renewing their vigor with ancient magic. Then, after a brief pause, the sky began to fall.

First came the lightning out of a clear morning sky, bending around tree bough and trunk to explode in the midst of the tightly bunched dark soldiers standing guard behind camouflaged earthen and timber work battlements. Concussive shocks sent bodies and their various pieces flying in every direction as the bolts shattered with deadly force upon impact. In the wink of an eye half the front guard was down, the wounded writhing on the ground in mortal agony.

And in the next the second half was done in, scythed to the ground by a devastating sleet of razor-sharp ice shards. Again they came out of a clear sky, solidifying out of empty air already hissing downward, shifting to leave tree and bush untouched even as they sliced through stunned dark soldiers, now caught between the thunderous primary assault and this new terror.

Only the Nahkiwin seemed relatively untouched, somehow avoiding both the lightning strokes and the murderous sleet to yank brutally efficient short swords and heavy headed axes free in preparation for an attack. At the same time a number of them raised horns to their scaly lips to sound the alarm.

<<Frosty hell,>> Feladorn hissed as he watched the horns lift into place. <<Here we go!>>

But before he could give the signal to begin the attack, there was a flicker of light around the heavy limbed dark soldiers still standing. Snarling with discharge, the bolts of power that reached out from the ring of energy that abruptly coalesced there easily ripped through the Nahkiwin still on their feet. Feladorn grinned fiercely. The big lizards may be able to avoid casted spells, but there was no way even they could survive a direct attack from the Star Sword.

A big Nahkiwin standing near the energy ring's outside edge jerked as an energy tendril punched through its armored body. Then it began to hoarsely scream as the tendril, via the length of shifting light and energy jutting through the dark soldier's body, picked the big lizard up and used it like a mace to pound through the staggered reptilian line of its comrades. Back and forth the tendril swung, its burden a club of meat and bone that was nearly as devastating as the energy tendrils themselves, working until no dark soldier still stood at the pit entrance.

Done with its makeshift weapon, the tendril faded to vapor, dropping the dead weight of the slain and almost unrecognizable Nahkiwin onto the ground with a muffled and bloody thud. The other tendrils followed suit, the ring of energy disappearing before the astonished eyes of Feladorn's command.

Having seen Shawn in action before, the Lusinoran was able to swiftly shake off his own amazement to stand, activating his armor's camouflage while drawing his sword and hand axes. He then pointed to his captains to signal the advance. Time to take advantage of the Wielder's power! Shouting elven battle hymns, two companies of lancers sprinted through the trees towards the entrance, their heavy short spears held ready. In their shadow ran the swords, ready for combat.

Feladorn watched them critically for a moment as they swarmed the entrance, taking out any dark soldiers that somehow managed to survive. Then, hefting his sword and throwing ax, he joined them, howling a Lusinoran battle cry as he sprinted full speed towards the entrance. Now they go to war!

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