The siege on Steelton

We managed to make our way back to the gates of Steelton, but it appeared the Ghanral soldiers and the undead weren’t far behind. We barely had time to sit and rest before the enemy was spotted on the horizon.

“Coat the ammo for the trebuchet with pitch and flame. It will slow the undead and make quick work of them.” I commanded the Steelton soldiers at the walls.

The Ghanral had brought siege weapons, hoping to destroy the strong and fortified walls of Steelton. I learned from the duke that the walls of Steeltin had their forged steel built into the structures, making it difficult for them to be breached.

The king was no where to bee seen, the rumour was that he had barricaded himself in his chambers, trying to hide from the threat that loomed over his kingdom.

The Steelton soldiers fired upon the Ghanral troops and undead, taking out a small percentage of their numbers. The Ghanral threw a large wave of undead at the Steelton walls, the trebuchet had dealt some damage to the enemies numbers as they approached.

The living soldiers of the Ghanral kingdom held back from advancing, letting the undead take the brunt of the attacks from Steelton weapons. The resources began to run low, and less ammo was being used to fight against the undead. Only strategic shots were made, and it seemed the Ghanral kingdom sensed this, as they now started to match their soldiers onto Steelton. They started shooting their own siege weapons against the walls, but luckily, they hardly made a dent.

The undead corpses started to pile over one another at the foundations of the walls, creating a hull of dead. That was when I noticed something running at the piled up bodies with quick speed. Undead wolvir.

My warriors that had fallen in past battle against the Ghanral kingdom had been reanimated and used against me. There were a handful in number with what I could see, matted and blood caked fur, open wounds and chunks of flesh missing from them. They had hollow and white eyes, no life behind them, they were now puppets of Caine. They ran up the hill of dead, and somehow managed to scuttle up the walls of Steelyon to make it to the top of the battlements, this was when they started attacking and killing Steelton soldiers.

“Wolvir! With me!” I shouted to my warriors. They fell in line, understanding that they would have to fight against their fallen brethren. Wolvir upon undead wolvir, even dead and decaying, the undead wolvir out up a good fight, not reacting to severed limbs or debilitating blows thrusted upon them.

With my leadership, we managed to put to rest my fallen warriors, with strikes and slashes from our weapons. Caine would rue this day that he made my warriors fight against me.

The slain soldiers of Steelton were burned to stop them from reanimating, then the attention was put back onto Ghanral.

The siege and counter attack lasted for most of the day, the sun began to set, creating an alluring but anxious glow across the battlefield. The walls held up, and the numbers started to dwindle for the Ghanral kingdom. They had also made direct hits against Steelton trebuchets, and some soldiers had fallen to the enemy.

I then suggested to the duke that I would take my remaining warriors, and out flank the enemy. This would hopefully catch them off guard and diapers them, making it easier to pick them off and decrease the morale. The duke agreed to this plan, and I set off with my men.

Due to the speed of wolvir, we managed to get around the enemy without being noticed until it was too late for them. Thanks to the barrage from Steelton, we took out a large number of them before they had time to react. In the chaos of being flanked by wolvir, the Ghanral soldiers dispersed and were far easier to kill. They became overwhelmed by our might, finding it near impossible to gave a wolvir in close combat.

That was when I saw Caine in the distance, next to the Ghanral king. My great-axe was held firmly in my hand as I advanced to them, they noticed me, just as I wanted them to. Scattering humans ran around me as wolvir slew them, Steelton must have seen that my forces were winning, and stopped the firing of trebuchets.

Caine wore a sadistic smile on his face, the hoard soul stone in his hand.

“Stop beast!” Shout king Atlus, his sword drawn to face me. “Cease this attack now, and I will pay you with riches.”

I saw the rest of the king’s retinue and council around him, and even the witch known as Aconite. Her strange and alluring smile never faded from her, her eyes were practically piercing me as she seemed to take in every detail of myself.

Chantal soldiers tired to kill me, but I swiftly dispatched them as I carried into towards Caine.

“I said-!” King Atlus began again, but was cut short as Caine dug a gagged into his throat from behind him. The rest of the Ghanral council was shocked at this betrayal from Caine, as the king brought a hand to his throat. The dagger was deep in the gullet of the king, and he would soon bleed out.

The soldiers around their king tried to attack Caine, but Aconite used magic to subdue them, throwing them back with an unseen **** with the flick of her wrist.

“It’s too late, wolvir.” Said Caine. “This was my plan all along.” He chanted out his foreign words, and the dead around him began to rise once more, reanimated and waiting to do the bidding of their master.

“This is where you die!” Shouted out Caine.

Undead soldiers surrounded me, I could easily be overwhelmed by them. So, Caine must have been willing to kill his allies to reanimate the dead for his needs.

I will not die here!

Even though I was on my own, my warriors busy with the Ghanral soldiers and newly risen undead, I made sure to fight smart. I did not let them suppress me, moving fast and striking hard. I took longer than I would have liked, but I destroyed enough of the undead, so as not to be overcome by them.

The smug look of Caine now faded, as he knew that his advantage was quickly slipping away.

He raised his hand, his fingertips sparking with an unknown energy. He was about to cast a spell against me, one that he would hope to kill me with.

But before he could finish the incantation, a blade flashed and stabbed him in the back. His breath was taken, and words never finished, as Aconite twisted the dagger into Caine.

“Only the strong are worthy of this power. And you clearly aren’t strong enough.” Whispered Aconite in Caine’s ear. The necromancer looked helpless as his own apprentice had betrayed him. She withdrew the weapon from his back as Caine fell to his knees, and Aconite gestured for me to make the killing blow.

I closed the distance between myself and Caine, he looked up at me with pathetic and pleading eyes, understanding that his end was to come at my hands. I raised my great-axe high then buried the axe-head into his skull, killing Caine instantly.

The day was won.