The Siege

“Everyone, prepare yourselves! Our first goal will be to take out their ranged support! With them out of the way, Princess Sylva and her troops will be able to provide us with cover as Mikuru can focus on taking out those siege weapons! Understand?” asked John as he looked over the troops. Whoops and hollers were John’s answers as the troops showed their readiness for this battle.

“Ok, Mikuru, go ahead!” ordered John as Mikuru, deep in concentration, swelled with power before she slapped the ground with both hands. The moment her hands touched the ground, the soldiers felt the earth beneath them shift and rumble. Soon the earth itself shot up around the legions of soldiers who were positioned tightly together. They all stayed silent as the group was transported underground past the castle’s walls and the Order’s own troops. The Trojan square, as John liked to refer to it as, popped up behind Lord Brighton and his troops, effectively trapping them between the fortress’ wall and John’s troops.

“Prepare for the walls to drop! And when they do...GIVE ‘EM HELL!” John yelled to his troops, who roared back in approval.

What is that?” questioned Lord Brighton as he looked behind him to see a strange earthen cube that was making strange sounds. It took a moment for Lord Brighton to collect all the dots as he looked from the earthen cube to the castle walls and then back to the cube. “No...they couldn’t have...” he said in a hushed tone as his thought proved to be correct as the cube cracked open and the castle’s defenders flooded out of it, with John Newman at the lead.

“What? No! Behind us! Protect the rear!” Moira commanded as she realized what had happened. She did a quick glance at her father to notice a shocked look on his face. He never thought this could happen, did he? To be fair, this is a very unorthodox tactic to break a siege. Moira thought to herself, impressed by John’s resourcefulness.

John used Charge to reach the nearest mage and slashed him across the back with Spinesplitter. The Order Mage cried out in pain as he fell to the ground. John quickly turned and struck down another mage near the one he just killed. By this time, John’s troops had poured out of their cube and had engaged the back row of the Order’s troops, mostly the mages and gunners. The lightly armored troops quickly fell to the swords and arrows of John’s troops. By the time the Order troops realized what had happened, half their ranged troops had been slaughtered by the surprise attack.

“Form up! Here comes their close range combatants!” shouted John in response to Moira’s own commands. The two forces clashed against each other, sword against shield, arrow against armor, blades clashing against each other. Moira knew none of her troops were a match for John, so she took it upon herself to stop the warlock she helped to create.

“John Newman! Your reign of terror ends here!” shouted Moira as she drew her hammer on horseback, her sheer strength on display for all. Her horse trampled both friend and foe alike as it took her master to her target. Unfortunately for Moira, her tunnel vision once again caused her problems as she was plucked off her horse and flew through the air over the battlefield.

“You won’t hurt my master, bitch!” Idena growled at Moira as the harpy carried Moira to the side of the battle.

“You dare touch me, you Abyssal filth?!” Moira growled back as she attempted to swing her hammer at Idena, but the angle in which Idena held her prevented Moira from doing this, much to her dismay. “Argh! If only I could get a proper swinging arc!” cried Moira as she basically just rocked from side to side in Idena’s hands. Idena, annoyed with her passenger, did a quick spin to disorient Moira right before she dropped her off in an area surrounded by slain Order troops.

“Bitch is all yours,” Idena quickly said as she turned and returned to the battle, blasting groups with lightning from the air.

“Ugh. What was that damned harpy talking about?” asked Moira to no one in particular as she slowly got up, one hand on her head and the other on her hammer. It was when her eyes focused on the bodies around her and the person standing over them, did Moira feel a burst of rage. “TRAITOR!” she yelled as she summoned her shield in her free hand. Fran merely smiled as her step-sister began her attack.

“MOIRA!” cried Lord Brighton, finally snapped out of his stupor by the abduction of his daughter. “YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT, JOHN NEWMAN” Lord Brighton yelled across the battlefield. Lord Brighton’s horse quickly jumped as it was startled by an explosion that tore his troops apart. Lord Brighton looked up to see that the mages and archers had returned to their perches.

“Sir, what shall we do about their ranged attacks? Our mages and gunners have been decimated. They can’t provide enough cover fire to pin them down!” a lieutenant asked his commander.

“Send X and Y, I’m sure those two are ready to play,” Lord Brighton told the lieutenant.

“A-as you wish, sir,” the soldier said as he saluted Lord Brighton and heads off. “Can’t believe he wants to use them...” the soldier said as he made his way to the summoners to relay the message.

“Now, to deal with this troublesome warlock,” growled Lord Brighton as he rushed towards John Newman, his blade drawn. Lord Brighton made sure to strike down every heathen he passed by with his blade, their cries fueling his rage against the warlock that caused this battle for his clear heresy against The Lady.

Another Whirlwind cut through the dozen or so Order knights that had surrounded John in an attempt to overpower him. A strange noise caught John’s attention as it seemed to get louder and closer. A cursory glance around the battlefield gave John the answer to his question of where that noise was coming from. He spotted Lord Brighton on a horse making a beeline directly for him. In his hand, a rapier that seemed to emit a sort of glow.

“Let us see whose beliefs are stronger, mine in The Lady or your heretic beliefs in these filthy animals!” cried Lord Brighton as he brought his rapier up to strike John, who readied his own weapon counter the incoming blow.