Trapped
8/4/10,122 - Ust-Alayakit, Thail Mountains
Spilling onto the plateau wagons were hastily dragged across the lower opening & the barricades manned, Molin, squaring his shoulders, drew his axe & stood side by side with his brothers, Kilite & Illyra waiting slightly to the rear waiting to assist, whilst Tharla, stood with her back to the central stone column, used Molin's magically enhanced composite bow to great effect, protected by spells woven about her.
Kilite, with the spark of an idea, turned & ran heading for the massed wagons of the clan, Illyra, realising that she could offer little assistance in the close confines of the barricade drew her sword & headed towards the sky city troops pouring over the higher barricade.
As the battle raged across the plateau Molin & his brothers desperately tried to hold back the Thailot militia who assaulted them from below, slowly the spears of the militia drove Molin back, once, twice thrusting towards him pinning him back against the rock face.
Setting the barricade to the torch, the assault momentarily subsided, however almost as quickly orders were shouted & the militia infantry used grapnels to drag the burning wagons towards & over the edge of the plateau, with a cry of victory the barricade was breached & the clan warriors, exacting a terrible toll, gave ground.
Across the clearing Illyra found herself surrounded, despite the blade sharp cast on her bastard sword she was gradually being overwhelmed, suddenly she was faced by a mounted & heavily armed dog rider, his pennant clearly identifying him as a V'Duuyek mercenary, as she desperately parried his strokes an arrow, fired by the keen eyed half elf to her rear struck the rider spilling its acidic sorcery across his chest & the back of his war dog, whilst not enough to maim him, it allowed Illyra sufficient time to gut his mount which slipped to the ground in a mass of entrails, reaching across the writhing corpse the fallen & pinned rider was soon despatched.
Kilite running for the wagons glanced to his rear, to late he saw the barricade tumble & the Thailot militia spill through the gap, as he watched, Molin along with his clan were being overrun, abandoning his plans he turns & runs back towards the line of clan warriors hastily forming a defensive line across the plateau from the pillared arch.
Molin, valiant though his efforts were & aided by the Zr'gsv ring on his finger, realised that his slip had allowed the militia to push through, rallying his brothers as best as he could they desperately fought a retreat, the Thailot troops paying a heavy price for every inch gained. Suddenly the line collapsed, the bear clan warriors around Molin succumbing to the pressure.
Illyra, caught in the euphoria of the moment finds her self cast adrift as the battle flows past her, alone behind the front line she is battered to the ground by two, then three sky city troops, severely wounded about the head, blood running in rivulets from the severed fingers on her right hand, she feigns death in an attempt to survive. Her plight does not go unnoticed however & Tharla, herself sorely pressed, uses the power of ring to translocate herself to Illyra's recumbent form just as Illyra is about to be put to the sword.
Startled by the figure which suddenly appears between him & warrior bitch, the trooper momentarily hesitates & dies under the thrust of Tharla's two-handed spear. As Tharla looks to give further succour to the blooded Illyra, she is startled to see her scrambling away with no thought for her rescuer.
(As Illyra lies below Tharla's feet, blood oozing from the gaping wound through her left cheek & ear, she draws upon the last vestiges of her will & throws a spell of befuddlement against the warrior facing Tharla, to little strength however remains & her will harmlessly washes over the ignorant trooper. Near death, Illyra scrambles towards safety racked with guilt for leaving Tharla to her fate)
Kilite, stood amongst those bear clan defending the new line is soon bathed in blood as an unseated V'Duuyek rider leads the charge, facing the near berserk warrior as well the thrusting blades of the mass ranks, Kilite calls on the last remaining power of the staff of H'ajorcy & thrusts it towards the face of his chainmail wrapped opponent, as blade meets staff there is a crackle of power between the weapons & the energy of the staff is absorbed into the warriors own blade. Appalled by this turn of events, Kilite's swings grow ever more frantic, his eyes drawn to the opaque blade of his counterpart. As the fight flows around both the wildly swinging warriors, Kilite calls upon the power of Jirre to aid his struggles, with his next desperate swing, his prayers apparently answered, he batters the dog rider into the dirt but not before he himself loses the sight in his left eye to a slash from the conjured blade.
As the line wavers all become aware of a change, a ripple in the press, the charge of the combined Thailot & Sky City troopers falters & then collapses, glancing about it is clear to all why their opponents falter, in a last desperate move the bear mounted clan warriors guarding the wagons, elders & children have hurled themselves forward into the fray, the bears & their riders break upon the ranks of Synalon's conscripted militia & troops, tearing & rending bodies asunder.
As the militia & troops falter, three horn blasts can be heard above the screams of the dead & dying, the massed troops instantly begin to retreat, however the inexperience of the Thailot militia confuses the ordered withdrawal of the sky city infantry to their detriment. As the combined forces are pushed back eagle riders give what support they can from above however both sides suffer from injury as the javelins hit friend & foe alike.
Feeling like hours, but in reality only scant minutes, dead litter the field, as Synalon's forces had withdrawn, they had taken those least injured but brutally slain those who could not walk, now the healers of the clan gave what aid they could to those that remained alive.
Gathering their dead, thirty-one in total plus three bears, the Bear clan administer to the wounded & guards placed on both approaches to the plateau, however as darkness falls into the day no further assault from the land troops occurs. That is not to say however that further blood is not spilt, as if to remind the bear clan that they are not forgotten, the occasional arrow or javelin catches somebody unawares, cast from either eagle riders high above or watchers on the higher bluff.
As the irony of battle fades the losses to Synalons forces are counted & their corpses stripped, eighty-nine mangled bodies will thwart the clans progress no more, with likely as many again escaped sore wounded. Illyra, her wounds healed but her face disfigured, fumbles to find a discarded helm, as does Tharla, her own skull cap rendered useless.
Some hours later, Tharla sits in quiet contemplation of the days events, fingering the amulet around her neck she notes that yet again the proportion of black to white has changed, pondering upon its meaning she again wonders what the change signifies. Clearly it is not as first thought anything to do with the phases of the moon or its proximity to Athalau, for a second she wonders if it reflects her closeness to danger, however with the arrival of a hot bowl of stew she tucks the amulet beneath her tunic for another time.
As darkness covers the carrion strewn plateau, watch fires are lit from the meagre supplies of firewood carried by the clan, pensively watches are set & the passes both above & below watched for tell tale signs of a night time attack, but as the sun rises on a chill morning only the occasional high flying eagle can be seen.
Not wishing to be caught out numbered again, the clan quickly gather themselves & slowly move up the trail, bear riders ahead & behind. Some three quarters of a mile later a runner returns from ahead. A message works its way back along the line, turn & move back to the plateau, the way ahead be blocked.
Determined to press, on our companion's wait as the clan, demoralised, trudge back to the plateau, the forward scouts inform Molin that where the pass turns into the mountains it has been hastily but effectively blocked by manmade landslide from above.
Wishing to see for themselves, the four press on & as reported find the narrow pass choked with boulders & dirt, the lip of the cutting some thirty feet above them.
Nimbly scrambling up the rubble Tharla reaches the top & shouts down that the blockage is only some thirty feet long & could be easily cleared by the bears. As she turns to descend she spots figures peering down from above & dives for cover, to late she is struck several times by hastily fired arrows, one piercing her leg.
Back in the cover of the cutting Tharla grimaces as the arrow is withdrawn & bandaged.