Chapter 16: Chapter 15: Dusk

Rayse found himself atop the city walls, looking at a sea of gray. There were easily hundreds of harbingers present, and that's just the ones he could see in the setting sun. They stood motionless, keeping a healthy distance away from the city. A night battle on top of being massively undermanned just stacked odds even more against Hios' survival.

He stood next to Brandon and Lacey, both uncharacteristically silent. Brandon stood like a statue, watching the enemy like a hawk. Lacey had her eyes closed, mumbling something under her breath. Maybe a last minute review of the spells she would be using.

It occurred to Rayse that he hadn't told his friends about his conversation with the overgod. He briefly debated whether he would tell them about it, but he figured it could wait. No use giving them more things to think about. He had been distracted with various things himself, anything to stop from thinking about the horde of demons down below.

He gave each of their gears a last minute look-over. They were wearing the armor Aleph made for them, along with more pieces provided by the army. They were much heavier than the cuirass Aleph had provided them, but those only go up to their shoulders, and they needed every bit of protection possible.

They still had a good amount of the miracle fluid Aleph uses to heal their wounds. Rayse had given some to the search team, but he distributed the rest to his companions, enough to heal their wounds thrice over. He had put those inside the empty pouch he used to store his mana crystals in, and securely tied them on his belt in case of emergencies.

He had lined this part of the wall with Aleph's magnetite spears, nine of them in total. He had already gone over how to summon them with his friends, although each had now wielded their own preferred weapons. 

Brandon stuck with the harbinger cleavers they looted from last time. He was getting really good with them, after all. They looked different too, but whatever modifications Brandon and Aleph had done to them was a mystery to Rayse.

Lacey carried an orb similar to Aleph's, but this one glowed a bright orange. Must've been a gift from Iona, Rayse thought.

Even with their formidable new equipment, he insisted they carry the horn knives Aleph made for them. The embedded harbinger crystals endows the user with increased strength on command.

Rayse was just about finished with his preparations when he heard a voice.

"Alright kids, listen up!" Iona called out from behind them. They turned to see their magic instructor fully decked out. She was wearing wizard's robes fully embroidered with innumerable runes. Her glasses were gone, replaced by a visored half helm. Orbs of various colors floated around her, following in her wake. 

A silent "Whoa." from Brandon mirrored his own feelings. Their playful but kind instructor had been replaced by a fully fledged warmage. Rayse subconsciously stood straighter.

"You guys are with me. My squad suffered losses due to Carrack's search, so I'll have you guys pick up the slack. Come, I'll introduce you."

They followed her down the walls to the guardposts beside the city. They were met by a group of six soldiers, who got up and stood at attention. Brig was one of them, giving Rayse a friendly wave before getting in position.

"It seems some of you already know each other. Good, that makes things easier. We'll be the vanguard along with the other magic squads, and the faster we get familiar with each other, the better."

Rayse looked at his friends. They didn't realize they'd be up front. Iona caught the looks they exchanged and said, "I know what you're thinking, but we lack too many mages. Ordinary soldiers would just be wasted against harbingers, and it's not like we have too many of those to spare, either. They'll be much more useful shooting arrows and pitching oil from above the walls."

She called Brig forward. It seems he was her second in command.

"Brig, bring the newbies up to speed while I meet up with the other squad leaders. We should be sortying soon."

"Yes, sir!" Brig saluted, but Iona had already turned towards the commander's tent.

Brig winked at the newcomers once Iona had her back turned.

"Alright, you guys. I'm Brig, Scoutmaster. I usually have my own troops, but today I'm filling in for Iona's squad, just like you. These guys know me, though, since I've worked under her before. Rayse, why don't you introduce your friends to us, and we'll go from there."

After some quick introductions, Brig laid out the army's general tactics against the harbingers.

"These guys don't really have much in the way of tactics. Honestly, I don't think harbingers are even capable of pulling them off. They are like those toy carriages. You know the ones with the wind up key, where you twist it enough and it just moves forward on its own? You ever had those as a kid?"

He looked around hopefully, but seeing no response, he just kept going.

"A-anyway, once they're in their bulky active state, they tend to just mow everything down in their path. They'll sorta just bang on the walls until they break through. That's where we come in. Our squad will be assigned a block of land to defend. We will intercept the charging bulls and redirect their attacks towards us instead of the town walls. Any questions?"

Lacey brought her hand up meekly and said, "Uhhh, I don't know if you've looked outside lately, but there are easily hundreds of harbingers outside. There's no way we can block that many. I counted less than a hundred mages on our side. Won't we be easily overwhelmed?"

Brig turned to her cheerfully, as if fully expecting the question. "That is true, which is why we won't be blocking each one. Remember what I said about area assignments? Combat might be different, but harbingers move in a predetermined pattern every time. As long as we don't stray beyond our assigned area and take care of the enemies at a regular clip, we shouldn't really be fighting too many at a time. You'll see what I mean later."

Brig grew serious after this.  "What we really need to be worried about are emissaries. They're dangerous bastards, and capable of much more than just brute strength. Keep an eye out for the hounds, too. I heard you've had your run in with them, but a momentary lapse could lead to you getting flattened, or maimed, or… well, you know what I mean."

Rayse gulped at that. Hounds are one thing, but emissaries too? He remembered the one that Aleph fought. They seemed pretty formidable.

Brig patted his shoulder and said, "Rayse, it's fine! You're not fighting alone this time. We've all been fighting at the front for a couple of years, so just follow our lead!"

Rayse nodded, looking around at his new companions. Each of them had a reliable look. One of them, a large woman named Sonia,  even mussed up his hair. He felt far better afterwards.

"Actually, that leads into the most important advice I can give you: Pace yourselves. The chaos of battle will drain you more than anything else you've ever done. We will do what we can here, whittle their numbers as much as we can, but exhaustion leads to death. After a certain amount of time, we will fall back and another squad will take our place. Just hold on until then, alright?"

After their talk, they took up their position right by the gate, ready to jump out as soon as the enemy starts their march.

Rayse was sitting away from the others, trying to psyche himself up for the coming battle. The sun had almost completely set, and he could almost fool himself into thinking that the enemy wasn't there, that they were just shapes in the darkness he was conjuring up, but his enhanced senses told the truth. The harbingers' unnatural silence and unmoving gaze cast an eerie atmosphere on his home town. Rayse squinted at them through the gates' iron grills. The demons moved in an unnatural way, unbreathing, but swaying slightly in the wind all at once. As the darkness grew deeper, they looked like one massive entity, a horrifying creature coming to devour the town whole.

"Rayse." A man's voice disrupted his thoughts as a shadow loomed over him, obscuring the enemy from view. It was one of his new squadmates. Rayse looked up, hastily conjuring up the older man's name from his memory.

"Yes… Luke, was it?" 

"Hmm." The stranger grunted. He sat down beside him, looking out at the enemy as well.

"Stay your breathing. I can see you working yourself up too much. You'll be exhausted before we even set foot on the battlefield like this." He pushed a waterskin to his face, almost rudely.

"Here, kid. Take a swig."

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Rayse took a tentative sip, but the sour bitterness took him by surprise. He gulped it down with difficulty, making Luke laugh.

"Hahahah! Like it?"

Rayse looked at him like he was crazy, offering alcohol to a minor. And that sourness. It tasted revolting. It puckered his mouth up so much that he couldn't even spit it out. He took out his own waterskin to wash it down with some water, earning him another chuckle from Luke. 

"Ahh, you're no fun! Here, help yourself with this!" He tried giving him more, but Rayse politely declined. Luke's levity died down, looking at Rayse with surprising affection.

"You're Rasan's kid, aren't you? That guy couldn't handle his liquor either." 

"Yes, I- Do you know my dad?"

"Aye. Most of us are alive because of him, back in the front. The amount of rough spots he pulled us out of… When I  got this-"

Luke took off his shoulder plate to show a strange wound. It was like someone took a bite out of him. It looked old, but it wasn't something that you walk away from with your arm intact. Rayse was surprised Luke could move his arm at all, let alone fight with his arm in that state.

"It's not as bad as it looks, really… Okay, it is, but this much wouldn't hinder any old mage. Anyway, there was this large demon that appeared in the battlefield sometimes, swinging claws on chains and any other rusty things it could find. Claws that bite into people and refuse to let go. It hurt like nothing I've ever felt before. I still feel it, sometimes. Weird huh?

"Anyway, I was laying there while the captain fought off the beast, and then there came your dad, looking as out of place in a warzone as… well you, actually. He pulled me off of the claw thing while the big beastie was distracted, and even carried me out to safety. He had to cut off  bits of me to get it out, and it took a while. Surprised the demon didn't come back to finish the job.

We got an earful from Shelly the second we got back. Hell, if I wasn't so glad to be alive, I'd be shouting along with her! Rasan waited just long enough for Shelly to start stitching me up, and you know what he does? The fool runs right back out for another poor sod!" Luke was howling with laughter by the time he finished.

Rayse was getting choked up. He hadn't really thought much about his parents lately, but hearing Luke talk about them brought forth feelings he had locked away. He was furiously blinking back tears seeing this old soldier remember them fondly.

"How did it happen?" He asked in a small voice. Any louder and he would have kept his composure. Luke heard him though, his boisterous nature belying his compassion for his old friends' son.

He patted his shoulder softly and told him about it. The demons had been clashing with the army for years at this point, repeatedly trying and failing to gain any ground. They grew wily, sending out a stealth unit that up until then had not been seen in the front. They managed to sneak into the medic tents and wreak havoc, finishing off a lot of the wounded, as well as the doctors. 

"A lot of men fell that day." Luke sighed.

"Thanks to his Highness, we have since managed to recreate that stealth ability for ourselves, but that was the harshest loss in this war to date. Hundreds were lost, and hundreds more followed as we lacked personnel to treat the wounded."

The silence stretched heavily after that. Rayse felt the familiar numbness setting in. Luke tried to talk to him more, but eventually he just stopped. With a final pat on the shoulder, the older man somberly walked over to his buddies, sneaking glances at Rayse from time to time.

Rayse wasn't sure how long it was, but the next thing he knew, someone was talking from beside him.

"Ray, you're doing it again." A voice to his left said. "Snap out of it. We're going out there soon."

"Yeah. You okay? What did that old guy say?" A kinder voice said to his right.

Rayse pulled himself back, but just barely. He noticed he was still clutching Luke's wineskin. He steeled himself and took a massive gulp, and immediately regretted it. He kept hitting his chest as he coughed, the sensation of burning acid running down his throat.

"Dude, what the hell?!" Brandon yelped as he got out of the way. Lacey patted Rayse's back trying to comfort him, eventually taking the wineskin away. She must have smelled it though, because next thing Rayse knew he was being scolded.

"Hey! This is alcohol! Where did you get this? You're too young to be drinking, Ray!"

Brandon was back at his side in a split second. He snatched away the wineskin and took a little swig. 

"Ohhh yeah, that's the good stuff. Where did you get this, Ray? This is great!" He said, smacking his lips appreciatively.

"Oh, please, Bran, not you too. I thought you quit drinking?"

"What? If it might be the last thing I taste, then I might as well have some wine, no?" Brandon said innocently, sneaking in another swig. Lacey snatched the wineskin from him, and made to throw it away. A sort of mini tug of war followed, ending with an orb smacking Brandon in the shins. 

He yelped, throwing the wineskin up in the air. Lacey tried to catch it, but a large man suddenly towered over her. Luke had caught the wineskin, carefully stowing it away.

"Stop it, newbies! You're wasting good wine!" He scolded. He stomped back to where he was watching the commotion from, but not before giving Rayse a little wink as he walked past him.

Aside from the disgusting taste lingering in his mouth, Rayse was feeling like himself again. He chuckled to himself, pulling Brandon and Lacey in a tight hug.

"Thanks, you guys. I'm alright now."

They stayed like that for a while, only breaking up when they heard Iona's voice.

"Alright, men! Time to move!" 

Their squad was ready in an instant as the gate began to open, like creaking jaws that beckoned them to the darkness beyond.

Rayse was in good spirits, though. He turned to his friends, still with a little smile.

"Alright! Are you guys ready?"

The two nodded, each with a determined look as Rayse turned away from them and back into the night. The darkness felt closer somehow, the shaking ground the only indication of motion. 

The rest of his squad stepped forward, seemingly heedless of the danger beyond. Iona's orbs lit the way, as if the darkness refused the illumination. Rayse steeled himself and marched with his friends into the darkness.

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