Bodanen: Cobalt War

Chapter 3: Blood Flow

As Siegfried approached the line of guards, his gut sank because in the centre of those twelve men dressed in chain and hide was a little old man hunched over on a walking staff. The old Boss planned to fight for his home as he had done for decades. While still a good fifty meters away, Sieg started to scream out, "Boss! You don't have to do this; the town has proper guards; you should be falling back with the rest of the town!"

"Gods damn ya, boy! Ya should be da one fallin' back! dis be a issue fer us adults. Now get back ta da cottage and wait fer me, I shouldn' be too long." The Boss then turned back to face the road that split the forest. There he could see men and women in armour running from something. With great effort, he stood his ground and stood up straight and unsheathed the blade that had lain hidden in his walking staff. Before the guards and the Boss lay fifteen meters of untamed fields, beyond which the tree line started; fifteen meters between their incoming foes and their town, their home. As Sieg reached the guard line, another burst of armoured warriors broke through the tree line and ran down the road, all heavily wounded. Men and women; angel, human, and elf; all sorts came running into Burkhart; terror in their eyes. The Boss watched as the warriors ran past him, only stopping one. He was a large man, and though he wore a helmet, one could see the terror in his eyes. The man wore complete, heavily decorated and intricate plate mail; the man was obviously of higher rank. The Boss grabbed the man's arm tight as he tried to pass, bending the metal that covered it, and staring straight into his eyes, only asked, "What. Are. We. Facing?"

The man stared at the Boss in terror for only a second before the Boss squeezed his arm tighter, with force enough to hear the strain of the metal, focusing the man. Based on his angelic accent in his trembling voice and bioluminescent glow from under his armour, the man was an angel, who quickly spat out his words, "it was a whole...whole company of those...those bastards; it's about...about two hundred at this point. We were...we were ordered to fall back to...to the capital, we were ambushed on the way to reinforce the...the eastern outpost, we were over three...three thousand strong, A whole brigade, and now...now we count less than a hundred. Please, please, let me go, we all need to fall back to the capital, none...none of us stand a chance," and with that, the Boss released the man, and he continued his terrified sprinting. A sigh escaped the Boss' mouth; he then turned back to the forest as explosions began to ring out.

Despite the fleeing soldiers, some were still fighting, and that fighting was getting closer to Burkhart at an alarming speed. Within moments, five soldiers were blown from the forest with an explosion of blue flames. The town guard helped them to their feet; they were battered and bruised but alive. Those five fighters surveyed their surroundings and got a bearing on their situation. The first of the five to move was a male angel in full plate mail, similar to the man the Boss had just questioned, though less ornate. Unlike the retreating soldier from before, this man's armour was scorched, dented, scratched, and missing pieces here and there; this man had stood his ground. Looking at the fourteen villagers that stood before him, he approached the one that seemed to hold the most authority with the others. As he came, Siegfried took a step in front of the Boss. The soldier stopped a few steps short of the two and introduced himself. "My name is Boris Hext; I am a sergeant in the An-ox army and one of the remaining warriors of the brigade that was ambushed on the way to the outpost. Unfortunately, we do not have much time, so it is imperative that I speak to the leader of this town's guard." The man stood straight at attention, looking down toward Sieg and the Boss, him being a head taller than Siegfried and nearly half a meter taller than the Boss.

"Sergeant Hext, den? Well, I'm da closest thing ta a leader dat da town guard has; so speak, what's it dat ya've brought ta our doorstep?" the Boss doesn't miss a beat, answering clearly and without hesitation, but one could clearly hear the anger in his voice.

"Sir, there are about two hundred artificial mortal units headed straight to the capital. I do not know whether they are trying to eradicate the entirety of what was our brigade or if they planned on attacking the capital with so few in number from the beginning, but regardless, once they reach this town, they will level it. Though it was not in question, your bravery to defend your home from an unknown entity is commendable. However, you all need to retreat, once these monsters hit the capital, they will be destroyed by the might of the soldiers stationed there, but this town does not stand a chance. My men and I will buy as much time as we can for you and the other villagers, so I implore you to fall back to the capital!"

"I didn' bend ta da kingdom when dey tore up my land fer der 'ighway, and I will not bend ta dose freaks o' nature. Yer men and ya can fall back ta da capital if ya want, but I'll be staying and defendin' what's mine. Dat being said," The Boss turned his gaze to the guards at his side, and with authority in his voice, yelled his final orders, "guards of Burkhart, if ya want ta flee as well; no one will 'old it against ya, so long as ya make sure da town is properly evacuated. Ya ain't warriors, yer traders and bread makers, so see dat yer families and friends are safe, and den follow suit. Ya needn't die today!" When the first soldiers began running through the streets, Burkhart began its evacuation, yet the twelve scheduled guards held their ground despite the terror held in their hearts. The Boss' words moved the guards, however; the town guards nodded, ponded their clenched fists thrice over their hearts in salute, one of the highest signs of honour and respect one could give. Then, with tears in their eyes, they turned and ran through the backroads and the houses, making sure everyone was gone, before they ran from the town. "Ya not gonna run, boy?"

After the short speech, the town guard was down to only two, the Boss and Siegfried. With a smirk, Sieg told the Boss, "I was raised by you, Boss. So if you think I'm being too stubborn in not running, you've only yourself to blame." Then, with a chuckle from the pair, the two men fixed their gazes on the forest entrance, past the five soldiers readying themselves for the following exchange with the enemy. "I don't plan on going anywhere; I'm going to protect my home with my own hands."

"We five are all that remains of the five hundred men and women who volunteer to buy the rest of the brigade time to retreat. I will not force you to leave, just do not get in our way. And one other warning, these creatures count augmented giants among their numbers, which is how they destroyed our forces so easily. Their appearance will be our cue to retreat. That being said, we will remain in this town for as long as possible to give those fleeing time to escape, but then we too will have to fall back as well; either way, your lives are in your own hands." Before turning to the forest, Boris gave the Boss and Sieg one final, serious glare, prepared for whatever was to come.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." So the final words before the battle were said by one voice, by two men of one mind, defending what was precious to them, protecting what was theirs.

Then, silence. The cobalt blue glow from the forest depths grew to be blinding. Then the enemy broke through the tree line, a wall of people of all races. Men and women; wearing armours thrown together from scraps of chain, leather, and steel. As they slowly bled from the forest, they looked more akin to a bandit horde than the well-trained and highly organised army they were known as. The only thing that tied all of the warriors together was the cobalt glow, their burning red eyes, and their sigil. Over their hearts was the emblem of 'Father', a symbol of fear that had become known as 'The Eternal Sun'. The sigil was a perfect circle with five stylised 'flares' protruding from the edges; the circle had five lines that curved in a spiral inward. This emblem glowed a deep cobalt blue from their chests, but behind this glow, there was nothing; they carried no emotions or expressions. The horde of beasts had stopped once they saw their opposition; seven warriors, five that had continued to trouble them, and two new faces; though, to them, they were all of no consequence. With their appearance, the Boss strained as he straightened himself further and readied his blade; simultaneously, Siegfried took his own blade out, preparing for the fight. The horde began to move toward the seven, but before they could attack, something happened that neither the horde nor the soldiers could have imagined. The two men, one young, one old, rushed the horde.