Power Awakens

Precktis turned to face General Halfor. “You have your orders General, you know the disposition of the troops; keep the two Reavers and the Groloth pack hidden until the last moment. Then break right with ten thousand men and half the Groloth. The town is twenty leagues west of here and we need at least two hundred innocents, you will have to delay the Hayven pursuit but hopefully this tactic will give you a thirty-minute head start. Rendezvous at the base of Mountain Threnor and I will be waiting for you, another half Legion and fifty Death Priests will also be there.”

“So, it’s a sacrifice then Sir, twenty thousand dead just to act as a diversion. Surely if we keep our force together we can defeat a single Hayven Secular. We outnumber them three to one and we have the Groloth and Reavers.” Replied General Halfor.

“At best General, the Groloth and Reavers will help to delay the Hayven Secular from killing our warriors, without Necromancy to use against them it is down to the strength, skill and speed of the warrior. They have probably sent their elite, which means General that each one of their warriors is worth at least ten of the regulars in the Legion. That makes a three to one advantage in their favour don’t you think. You have your orders get on with it”

“Sir! ”

As Precktis had predicted, the Hayven Secular engaged the Necro’s at full gallop. The Hayven’s reeved through the Necro’s in the form of a wedge, which they used to penetrate deep into the centre of the Necro’s forces, the wedge shape fanned out to form a double flanking manoeuvre surrounding the Necro’s forces. Just as the flanking manoeuvre reached it’s zenith, two Reavers and half a pack of Groloth attacked the left arm about tow thirds of the way up, this had the effect of cutting off fifteen hundred Hayven Warriors who had to deal with the Groloth and the Reavers and an additional ten thousand Necro’s who had left the re-enforcement of their left flank to engage on the right and hit the left arm of the Hayven’s forces. As predicted, this tactic quickly destroyed half of the Hayven warriors that had been cut off from the main force, and it also had the effect of forcing the other half backwards. As the left arm of the Hayven flanking manoeuvre collapsed back in on itself, a large force of Necro’s disengaged and started west into the Morth Valley towards the town of Woldof. The remaining Necro’s Legion closed off the pursuit with half a pack of Groloth, two Reavers and fifteen thousand Necro’s.

Javelin, momentarily caught up in dispatching three Necro’s as they came against him, looked up in time to see the retreating ten thousand Necro’s.

“Alfer Group to me!!” shouted Javelin, “Pass on the order to all units in Alfer Group, follow the Secular bearer.”

Javelin, with his standard bearer, wheeled his mount and started towards the Morth Valley. Soon Javelin was followed by most of the surviving Alfer Group, this was the top thousand of the Secular by skill rank. Normally they were distributed evenly throughout each unit to provide stability and bolster the average skill across the whole Secular. Now Javelin needed to focus his best onto pursuing the ten thousand Necro’s. This was not what Javelin had expected, it was obvious that the remaining Necro’s had been left to die as a sacrifice to delay the Hayven Secular from pursuing the breakaway group. Javelin was desperate to pursue this group but first, he had to get through at least fifteen thousand Necro’s and half a pack of Groloth, not to mention the Reavers.

“Dellter Group, engage the Groloth! “

Quickly the message was passed on and Dellter Group, which was the next thousand best warriors by skill rank, these quickly appeared from the mass of the Hayven warriors.

The Necro’s were quickly dispatched, as they were no match for the best two thousand warriors in the whole of the Hayven Kingdom. However, the Groloth and the Reavers were a different matter.

Groloth were like large muscular dogs, a pack consisted of eight of the beasts, with each one as high as a packhorse. However, they were much wider and heavier than a horse with enormous chest muscles and large jaws with teeth as long as a human hand. The paws were the size of a human head and had three-inch extendable claws these beasts were formidable opponents. They were said to be spawned from Demi-Grolls, which were creatures that lived partially in this plane of reality and partially in a lower plane.

When Javelin first looked at Groloth he understood why people believed that particular legend. With dark black thick fur, huge chests, and powerful hind legs, the Groloth half pack immediately used their immense strength and terrifying speed, to reap havoc with the Hayven warriors.

Javelin left the Groloth to Dellter Group. To his right stood two beasts straight from a Nightmare, the terrifying shapes of two Reavers. A Reaver was frightening to behold. They were much more devastating to the Hayven Secular, than the Groloth, even though it was said that a full pack of Groloth could take down a Reaver, looking at the monsters before him, it was hard to imagine.

A Reaver was about fourteen feet high and had six legs and two front mandibles. It was easily twenty feet across and the mandibles were each a further eight feet long with razor sharp pinchers. The head was squatted on its fat gelatinous body and it had a huge three foot wide mouth with multiple rows of razor sharp teeth. The whole body was covered in a shiny mucous and it’s six legs were incredibly muscled in comparison to it’s fat covered body. These overly muscled legs allowed the enormous creature to move much faster than it appeared.

The main danger from a Reaver was its mandible arms, which had the ability to cover over one hundred and eighty degrees of movement with incredible speed. Each crablike razor sharp pincher was four foot long and could rip men in half with a single snap.

Javelin came face to face with the Reaver, the other Reaver was further back feeding body parts into its cavernous mouth.

There were already over twenty bodies around the Reaver facing Javelin, some with faces that he recognized. As he approached, two of his men darted in to engage the Reaver from the right, one of them had a broad headed axe which he used to strike the left hand mandible as it lunged toward him. The axe bit deep but as the Reaver moved the axe was ripped from the warriors hand and eventually fell off as the pincher suddenly whipped around and tore the wielder in half, with a sickening crunch and snapping sound.

Whilst the Reaver’s attention was diverted, Javelin darted in with his hunting knife in his left hand and his sword, Hammer, in his right. Hammer was one of the four fabled blades that were made by embedding all the powers of Majee into an inanimate object. Like it’s brother Harvester, the blade could cut through all matter like a hot knife through butter, as it too was invested with all four Majee base powers. Hammer was originally the blade of Dstri One Eye the legendary first warrior of Hayven. The blade was traditionally passed down to Generali One as they retired or were killed in battle.HHHhh Once over a hundred years ago, Hammer had been lost in battle to the enemy but two thousand warriors had gone on a Death Quest to retrieve it. The ancient blade and what it represented was more important to the Hayven Race than their own lives. Only three hundred made it back to Hayven alive, but they carried Hammer with them.

As Javelin reached the Reaver, he plunged the hunting knife hide hard into its body just above and to the right of it’s mouth. Using his momentum and the hunting knife as a handhold, he vaulted onto the top of the gelatinous body.

Knowing that he had fractions of a second to act, Javelin let go of the hunting knife leaving it protruding from the head of the Reaver and raised Hammer two handed above his head. With a loud Kia Javelin sliced Hammer two thirds of the way through the fat and the thick muscled neck of the Reaver. The Reavers mandible, which was rapidly moving towards Javelins head, stopped in mid flight, with another loud Kia, Javelin cut through the neck of the Reaver. It’s head bounced away from its body as it slowly collapsed under Javelin. With a graceful jump and roll, Javelin bounded off the monsters body and retrieved his knife from the decapitated head.

The second Reaver stopped its feeding frenzy to look at Javelin. An almost knowing gleam entered its multiple eyes as it moved rapidly towards Javelin. Ignoring the blows that the other Hayven warriors reined on it, the Reaver moved purposefully towards the human with an Unmaker. Two warriors darted in to intercept the beast and in an attempt to replicate the feat of Javelin, even as the words left his lips Javelin knew it was too late.

“Noooo!!! Your blades won’t cut through the armoured skin”

Too late one of the warriors landed on top of the Reaver and plunged his blade home. The tough armoured skin and the thick muscles of the Reavers neck, prevented the sword blade from causing any real damage, and with a loud snap of the razor sharp pinchers, the warriors head and left shoulder was snipped from his body. The other warrior was dispatched with a casual backhand swipe of the left hand pincher.

Two more warriors ran to the attack and they too were mercilessly mowed down. Another three managed to get under the mandibles and as their weapons lodged in the Reavers skin or fat, they too were torn in half. Javelin, running towards the monster, threw his sword Hammer with deadly accuracy. It plunged home directly into the eye cluster above the gapping maw filled with deadly sharp teeth. The Reaver reared back in obvious agony, throwing it’s mandibles high in he air. As the head dropped back toward the ground Javelin leaped high into the air and as his heavy body plummeted back down he grabbed Hammer with both hands, the blade tearing through the Reavers head slicing it in two. As Javelin leapt away he back swiped the Reaver across the remaining working eye cluster, The Reaver, now totally blinded and gushing with blood, thrashed around with it’s mandibles.

“Conwuin!” Shouted Javelin, “even one such as this does not deserve to suffer finish it quickly but don’t get injured in the process. Without it’s sight you should be able to overcome it. Take the mandibles off first, and then you won’t lose any more men.”

“Alfer and Dellter units to me, we follow the Necro’s”

There were still three thousand Necro’s between them and the Morth Valley, however, the best of the Hayven warriors didn’t take long to win their way through with almost zero losses.

The fight with the Reaver and the remaining Necro’s had cost Javelin about twenty minutes but he finally had freedom to chase down his quarry. He had just over thirteen hundred of the finest warriors on the planet, each one worth more than twenty times a Necro’s Legion Regulars; however, they were after ten thousand Necro’s and half a pack of Groloth. Javelin needed to ensure he didn’t become complacent.

Just over five minutes into the chase, Javelin called a halt and turned to Axen his second in command who had also made it through to give chase.

“Sign only from now on Axen, spread the word with the chain”, each man in the Secular knew his relative position in the chain of command, this allowed any and all to take command of a full Secular or part unit as the leader died, right down to the last man.

“The Morth Valley Narrows from here, it would be ideal for an ambush, I hate to slow but we need to be careful, take two hundred up the scree slope on the North and ask Nole to take two hundred up the slope on the South, I’ll give you ten minutes then I’ll spring the trap, if there is one and I’m not being over cautious, go, and remember sign only”

Almost to the second, Javelin took the main force directly down the centre of the Morth Valley. At the neck of the valley lay a number of deep gulley’s on either side, which could hide a large force. Conscious that he could be wasting time Javelin steeled himself to advance cautiously. He signed to his next in command to focus and be patient as he could sense that all of the men here had a similar level of impatience. The longer it took here, the more damage the Necro’s could inflict on Woldof.

Just as Javelin had thought he had made a mistake, two thousand Necro’s poured out of a large gulley to the right and slightly ahead of Javelin’s position, at the same time a thousand Necro’s and the other half pack of Groloth appeared from the left and slightly down from where Javelin was positioned. They clearly intended to decapitate the Hayven forces.

Javelin made the sign for dismount followed by the hundred square sign and within seconds the whole force had split up into nine separate units formed in tightly packed squares twenty five men down each side. What the Necro’s did not realize was the strength of the Hayven hierarchy. Each unit now a command structure that depended on where each individual stood in the overall line of command within the Secular. Javelin’s last sign given before the battle commenced was the ‘hold and break’ tactics, which the Secular had trained for many times in the past.

Drawing the Necro’s forces in to the centre of the valley, the nine closely packed squares remained generally static, the squares where almost randomly placed but no more than ten paces from each other. The Necro’s milled about trying to penetrate the squares with no success, but they endured horrendous losses. The lead square faced the Groloth pack and Javelin signalled for a two square joining as the beasts took the offensive.

The lead square moved back the ten paces and joined with the one next to it. However it did not present any more men to each side of the square. Instead the additional men were waiting for the gap that they knew was coming. As the first of the four Groloth attacked, the square parted and allowed the creature inside. Immediately the square close and the remaining Groloth were fended off with the ferocious strikes from the warriors in the wall of the square. The twenty-five roaming squad inside the square engaged the Groloth. Coming at it from all sides the Groloth at the same time, the monster was quickly dispatched, although two of the Haven men were down and many more had serious injuries. Another Groloth was allowed inside and the tactic was repeated. By the time the last Groloth was defeated, the toll had escalated to twelve dead and six injured, but the menace of the beasts was gone. As the last one died, Javelin saw his flanking patrols drop from the tips of the valley on either side. They both formed large wedges, which quietly but firmly ploughed through the Necro to meet in the middle.

Javelin signalled attack square formation front and the top half of the Hayven force encircled the top third of the Necro’s attackers. Javelin was one of the first to attack this isolated force with devastating effects. His almost inhuman speed and incredible grace made his kata look like a flowing dance. This combined with his natural power and the unstoppable blade Hammer, made him look as if he was reaping wheat rather than killing men. The Necro’s who had time to see him thought he was some kind of God of War, all who came against him were killed or downed in seconds and the speed of his blade could not possibly be human. Literally hundreds died by his hand alone before the top third of the Necro’s force was destroyed.

Another sign from Javelin and the Hayven warriors turned on the remainder of the Necro’s, these were similarly quickly defeated, not one was left alive or able to continue fighting. The efficiency of the defeat was testimony to the training and dedication of the Hayven warriors.

Quickly, Javelin gathered his men and leaving a small rear-guard, they once again set off after the Necro’s remaining force.

As the Hayven warriors crested the last small hill before Woldof, Javelin knew it was too late. Javelin estimated at least twelve hundred dead Necro’s but all hundred of the Woldof outpost guard had been slain. They had obviously given a good account of themselves but they were dead nonetheless. Apart from the dead of the warriors and a large number of older men and women, the small town of Woldof was empty. This meant only one thing, that the whole penetration attempt had been about capturing what the Necro’s called ‘innocents’ to aid the monster Precktis or Grakkor himself in some evil sorcerery. The shear number of warriors that the Necro’s had thrown away was an incredible waste of human life, as far as Javelin was concerned, and he had a very difficult time of trying to understand such an attitude to life. His men quickly found survivors and they related to Javelin that the battle and capture of prisoners by the Necro’s. Approximately two hundred young had been taken from the Town.

Javelin, knowing that it was futile, gathered his men and set off towards the border wall. Three hours later as he reached the border, he knew what he was going to see. The warning beacons had been lit, but of course they were designed to warn of an enemy attempting to cross the border into Hayven lands, not out. The border guards at the wall of the Valley as it exited onto Necro’s lands were all dead.

The wall was only three hundred paces across then the valley walls were shear for over eight hundred paces high on either side. A small force could hold thousands at this point until re-enforcements arrived notified by the warning beacons. However, the wall was designed to keep an enemy out not in. The four hundred guards would have been taken by complete surprise, half of which would have still been in their bed between wall duties. Again an impressive number of Necro’s lay dead in a testament to the prowess of the slain Hayven warriors.

Javelin climbed one of the two central lookout towers above the only gate in the wall. He had managed to focus all his energies during the pursuit on being Generali One as he had followed the Necro’s, whilst simultaneously suppressing his personal feelings. He knew his half brother, Slater, had been visiting Woldof with his Auntie. Slater had always been incredibly close to Javelin and he loved him deeply. He was only eleven years old and was at the age that he knew the Death Priests craved. Javelin was seen as an incredibly hard and disciplined man and people often mistook this as him lacking emotion. They could not have been any further from the truth, deep down and hidden, Javelin was an emotional wreck. His closest friends knew how emotional he could be but most other people thought he was heartless.

His worst nightmare became true when his number two told him that Slater was not in the survivors or the dead. Javelin knew he had been taken and he felt broken inside. The only outward emotion was to give a nod and to stare at the bustling army. What could he do now, what does his heart say, what was his duty.

Emotions and logic in turmoil he tried to consider what to do next, pursuit onto Necro’s lands where Necromancy worked, or consolidate his forces and report back to the capital. His loyalty, his life and heart said that he must pursue those who held his brother prisoner, but his duty lay heavy on him to ensure the protection of the realm. His remaining nine hundred men could hold almost a hundred times their number here if need be, and re-enforcements were already on their way as the beacons had been lit. His heart felt heavy and dead in his chest as he considered his options.

At the top of the tower, Javelin looked out onto the plains in the distance. He immediately made up his mind with an almost physical pain at the realization that he couldn’t directly pursue the captors. What lay on the plain was at least another thirty thousand men and he could see the tents of several Death Priest scattered around the huge Necro’s camp. They appeared to be packing away the camp but that could mean either they were departing or they intended to further attack Hayven. His duty was to hold and protect the Nations borders, but his heart felt leaden at leaving citizens of Hayven to the terrors of their captors and he couldn’t even think about his brother Slater.

An old saying came to mind as he made his way back down the tower. The chains of Duty weigh heavy on the heart, Javelin made ready for an attack and also began the preparation and organisation he would need to hand over his role in Hayven to his number two.

Javelin could not live with himself until he at least attempted to recover his brother or die in the process.

Precktis, with just over two hundred innocents started his journey back to Kronda. He had enough to fulfil his charge to Grakkor but first he must take further instructions before returning to the gate. A four-week journey back and then a further six weeks should see him return to the Gateway with five Legions of Necro’s and the messages that Grakkor needed him to deliver. Within a year, two at most, the Nexii would be dead and Precktis smiled as he thought of how this was going to happen.