February 2, 795
"Remind me again why we are the ones sent out here?" Ravyson stood at the top of the hastily-built guard tower.
"Let's think. You found out about this invasion, maybe?" The archer Reeven scanned the dark horizon for the Refvin Clan rumored to be working in the area. The two of them had taken a number of their soldiers with them, and left the rest in the officers they had chosen.
Ravyson remembered back to the point that he had discovered this whole mess. He hadn't been able to talk to Jerreck since, and did not know what he was doing. They could sure use his help at this point.
Reeven squinted. "That ain't good." He could see what looked like a fire lighting up the horizon. "Rav, something's on fire. It looks like it's a few miles away."
"Alert the men, make sure that they're ready for this. Take half of them and go towards the fire. Make the rest guard the tower. I'm going out there myself." Ravyson put one foot on the edge of the tower. "And hurry." He jumped off and flew towards the fire.
Reji'nik watched as the guard tower burned. It had been no difficulty to overwhelm it, but he was angry that Dantimos had erected it. They knew now. The invasion had begun ahead of schedule. But these towers were to be destroyed. The were on land that belonged only to them.
Ravyson saw the blazing tower. The ground was littered with bodies. The killers stood nearby. Around two hundred barbarians had attacked the post. The fifty soldiers of Dantimos stationed there had died. He dropped to the ground, near the barbarian leader he remembered from before.
Reji'nik smiled. He thought he wasn't going to get another chance at the flying man who had gotten out word of the invasion. "Good to see you again! I'm glad to see you could make it." He picked his axe from the ground. "And unarmed again, I see. I've been wondering, how did you defeat my men so viciously without a weapon?"
Ravyson looked the massive man straight in the eye. "You are an enemy of Dantimos. You wish to invade it."
"Well, yes. Good point. No result in being nice, is there?" He turned to five of his men. "Now, more troops looking for your death. Can you fight all these off also?"
Ravyson smirked. "Them and more. And by the time I'm done with them, my men will arrive to battle yours. And guess what? We have archers."
Reji'nik showed nothing. "They will be dead by tonight." He made a motion with his hands and stepped back. The five he had chosen out rushed towards Ravyson.
Ravyson executed a quick kick to the face of the first one to arrive. He continued the move, lifting himself onto the face of the barbarian, and using the other leg to viciously kick the side of his head. A wet snapping sound could be heard as his neck snapped, and he dropped down to the ground.
Two others grabbed Ravyson as he dismounted. Holding him back, the other two prepared to kill him. Ravyson jumped straight up, the two barbarians now holding onto them for life. He made it higher and higher into the air, and stopped after the people on the ground were mere specks. They could see the men that Reeven was bringing coming quickly. They were only a few minutes away.
The barbarians holding onto his arms were panicking. What if he let them fall? Both men's thoughts were cut short as Ravyson's blades went out of his gaunlets and into them. They hit the ground mere seconds after their blood. Ravyson was the next thing to come down.
His blades out, the two remaining barbarians both had out their swords. Attacking him at the same time, he could only block with his gaunlets. He was holding them both at bay when he heard his men yell out. Momentarily distracted, both barbarians let their guard down. Ravyson took that moment to pierce both men in the chest with his weapons.
He then jumped into the air and landed next to Reeven. "Fire!" The twenty archers let loose their shafts and the shouts of pain could be heard from the barbarians. Reji'nik shouted something, and the barbarians attacked. Ravyson's own men responded in kind, fighting them. Blood and death was rampant.
Ravyson saw Reji'nik mount his horse. The man was leaving his own men to die. Ravyson pointed to the barbarian, and Reeven knew what Ravyson wanted him to do. He fired two bolts, which both hit home in the horse. As the animal fell, Ravyson leapt in for the kill.
Reji'nik could barely get his blade up in time to repond to the slashes of the flying man. The two battled, metal striking metal. Ravyson was kicked in the chest, and hit the ground hard. Reji'nik lifted his axe for the kill. As he began to bring it down, another bolt from Reeven stuck into his forearm. Taking advantage of the window his friend had given him, Ravyson was on his feet and brought his blade up towards Reji'nik's arm. Seconds later, the severed arm and axe lay on the ground, as the barbarian roared in pain. He lashed out and hit Ravyson with his remaining arm, cracking the his ribs. The leader of the barbarians retreated as Ravyson began to pass out.
Reji'nik held his bloody arm. He would ask the Shaman if he could heal it when he got back to camp. But the important thing is that the men who had remained at Ravyson's post were all killed and set ablaze while crucified. He wanted to get a message through to Dantimos. Lenishin had waited for the men to leave, and then attacked the unsuspected warriors in the tower.
OOC: I'm confused.. did the barbarians kill all soldiers that
were with Ravyson, or did he kill the soldiers that were in some
outpost further away? Hmm, i guess what i'm asking is if Ravyson
and Reeven are now alone out in the field?
February 3, 795
Dawn broke over the land. The survivors of the battle had finished burying their comrades and enemies. The numbers of those living after the battle were 36 warriors of Dantimos, and 3 Refvin barbarians.
Ravyson was still unconcious. Reeven had taken command of the situation. If the barbarians were to return, they would be killed very quickly. They also had wounded to care for, including their leader and the remaining berserkers. It had looked as if one of the barbarians wouldn't survive another day, so the wounded were made comfortable.
The injured soldiers were picked up by the remaining men. Their gear was split among those who had room to carry it. They had to make it back to the defense post.
The sight that awaited them was a grisly one. The soldiers who had remained at the post had been killed, their bodies eviscerated, and many had been crucified. Those who weren't on poles had been decapitated, and their heads now rested on what had been the tower.
Many of the hardened soldiers were in tears. Others simply clenched their jaws. Some were unmoving, shocked at the brutality of this act. This was an insult to the dead. The bodies and heads were taken down and buried, so they could have a safe passage into the afterlife.
Reeven called together the men. "We have to get back to Dantimos. The clan will be attacking sooner than we expected, and the nation needs to be defended." The quiet soldiers, still pained from what they had just been through, merely nodded their approval. Even the two surviving barbarians agreed; they were angry at Reji'nik for leaving them there to die. There was no honor in that.
Cylthyn's body lay on the floor in a position extremely unnatural for a human. His head was bent too far. His eyes were too open. His mouth was too loose. He was dead.
The dead body had rested there for quite some time before anything took notice of it. The first things to notice it were the rats, and they did not much like what they found. They left as soon as they had come.
Before Reji'nik had interrupted his studies, Cylthyn had been reading it. He had been quite engrossed and distracted even, for he could usually anticipate the barbarians physical motions some time before they occured. A very perceptive fellow, he was. But he had been distracted, and now he was dead. It had distracted him, because he had not been previously aware of its prescence in his collection. He had awoken that day to find this odd book, entitled Häs Naledák, laying on his desk. He had only just begun to examine the book when Reji'nik had entered the tent.
The book was somewhat more pleased than the rats. Soot-black mist began to billow from its spine and swirl around Cylthyn's prostrate corpse. It drifted into his orifaces and seemed to consume him. Then, where there had been death, there was movement. Cylthyn slowly closed and then opened one eye. Then the other. Then he rose painfully to his feet. He clasped his head in both hands and twisted it so that it rested in something close to its original position. Cylthyn ached eternally, he had the taste of smoke on his toungue, and he could only mouth one word, "Reji'nik."