Ashes of the Fallen

Before I could ready my next attack, I was forced to duck as a spear narrowly missed my face, grazing past my hair as the warrior next to me fell to a sword thrust into his chest. Unable to maneuver, the four of us were caught fighting shoulder to shoulder in formation as the ten or so players in front of us continued to attack.

Relentless in their pursuit, we kept them at bay with wide arcing swings of our two-handed weapons, slicing air mostly in an attempt to buy time and space.

One player stepped forward in a moment of impatience only to catch the hook-end of my halberd as I pulled him down onto the ground beneath me. A quick switch of grip, and a short wind-up brought the axe down into the man's chest as he rolled face-up right in time to witness the end.

Blood splashing from the open cavity of the man recently executed, I pulled back as my halberd ripped a censored rib out into the open. In the melee, another warrior fell to a spear as he missed his counter swing, and two more dropped down to replace them.

Then, fire started to rain down on our position as we were forced to roll back and retreat. One player was too slow, and was caught in the friendly-fire. Burned to death in front of our very eyes in what couldn't have been more than a second or two, he fell to his knees and ceased his screams.

The other warriors fell back as I held the frontline, standing alone at the entrance to my village. Daring any man brave enough, to challenge me to a one-on-one. A few challengers stepped forward as they attempted to prove their prowess.

Two-on-one was still within reason.

With fire raining randomly down around us and frost bolts impacting the walls, my remaining warriors fell back and retreated to the safety of the village's interior.

The two men circled me as one quickly dashed forward with a lunge and the other attacked with a high-arcing swing of his two-handed sword. Sidestepping the lunge and parrying the bastard sword with my halberd sent a shiver through my arm as the heavy impact jarred me.

Hands numbed, I stepped back once more as they repeated the process.

A side swing this time, I stepped into it and tackled the man to the ground, rolling with halberd discarded and knife drawn to hand. A quick thrust into his neck silenced him as I kicked dirt up in the face of the spear user that had missed his thrust.

Blinded, he swung wildly as I rolled and picked up my halberd once more, turning with legs spread and a knee nearly touching soil, I lunged forth from my awkward position and pierced the man through the abdomen as he dropped his weapon to the ground. Pulling back, the gaping hole in the center of his stomach was gushing blood as he clasped it in an attempt to stop the hemorrhaging.

Raising an arm, I fired off a quick arc lightning as he struggled in place. An arrow soon found his face, and I cut the connection and retreated back to join my men.

A few warriors had fallen to the magic bombardment as I navigated through their corpses that littered my way. Selene and Katherine were in the rear and were providing support with the priests as golden beams of light poured out from the heavens.

Yet, the line was broken.

Flooding my field of vision were numerous players, too many to count but at least forty as ten or so had been killed. Mages, priests, rogues, archers, shield-bearers, axe-wielders, all types, had filled the gaps as they continued to run through the narrow entrance and into the village.

Dropping my halberd a second time, I raised my arms and let out a quickened chain lightning as I yelled to the men, "ENGAGE!"

Chaos broke out as the two sides prepared to clash.

Thunder split the noise of the players and men screaming their battle shouts, while lightning filled the space between. Five players dropped to their knees as heals quickly followed, and a counter barrage of spells soon dotted my vision.

Dropping to a knee, I screamed, "GET DOWN!"

Flashes of red, blue, and white filled the air as fireballs and frost bolts shot out in a line. Burying my face into the ground at a moment's notice, half of the warriors did the same and avoided the attacks as they flew overhead. The other half, too slow to avoid, had been hit and were staggered as they were engaged in melee.

Swords were swinging wildly as the unsuspecting warriors were caught off-guard and slowed by the frost magic that had hit, including a few freezing rains that hovered above us. Two men fell as one's head rolled to the floor, and then as our own healers returned to the fray with a wave of holy light, the warriors that were left stood tall.

Jumping up with the rest of the men, I commanded them forward, "CHARGE!"

Running full sprint into the mix, I broke my charge with a swing of my halberd into the face of an unsuspecting woman. Taking half her head in single sweep, I brought the halberd back with the circular momentum and pressed forward.