Welcome to Gaia! ::

The first three lines of Ravagers separated from the main force to sprint ahead faster than the rest, Gorash preferring to keep a steady pace with them instead of taking point. He watched Salim's defenders settle back on their heels defensively, some holding shields and standing slightly outward and most raising their weapons. He grinned and reached back for his halberd, the gleaming skull raising into the air above the crowd briefly as he held it a downward-diagonal to the ground.

"Brace yourselves!" Rore shouted loudly, standing ready behind a shield bearer. The woman held a slightly fearful look on her face, an attempt to hide it clear when the first demon wave reached. The two forces met solidly at first and then quickly became a whirlwind of flashing blades. As the shield bearer leaned back with one of the demons pressing into her shield, Rore sprang around her to stab at her opponent. In turn the tusked thing took it's attention on him, and the ex-knight had to admit that the Ravagers were trained well.

Elistral, with her eyes, had easily distinguished Crow among the army, flying back from the front lines of course. She'd always found him as a "strike when the opportunity arose" kind of fighter. Most rapiers weren't meant for close combat fighting. She made her way quickly down the archer line to one of her most skilled pupils, instructing him that Crow would be his specified target. Best to take out the obvious if minor players in the battle first.

Elistral bit her lip as she watched the air battle taking place, an uneasy feeling growing in the pit of her stomach as her gaze traveled down to the close battling below. The army had begun to rejoin the part that was already fighting the defenders vigorously. Then, feeling eyes on her back, she glanced behind her to find Jake smiling guilty at her. She waved a hand as if to say that it was no problem and turned back to stare up at the sky. A slight tickle began in her shoulder blades, and she wondered if the dragon fight was going relatively well.

Rore blocking the incoming strike from his opponent, circling a little to the side of it. He swung and promptly winced when he saw his blade bite into it's flesh. Under his breath he scolded himself. He hadn't been in a full out battle in years and the recognition was slow to come to him. But in the time it took for him to blink, he'd already moved onto a newer foe, the tusked thing lurching to the dirt.

Crow, flying low above the bloodthirsty Ravagers, watched as Gorash's little strategy began to form. At the forefront little groups of 3 or 4 were breaking off to fight as small units, each facing a different direction. It didn't look like much was being accomplished with the method, but soon it might.

Gorash heard a whizzing sound almost constantly as arrows began to feather the demons fighting in front of him, and more than a few slumped to the ground. Luckily none had found him, his black armor like a shadow. When a clear path showed in front of him, the one blocking his view dead now, he grinned all the fiercer. He took a long stride forward, simultaneously pulling his halberd off his back, and swept it in a powerful large semicircle with two hands. The closest soldiers had no chance like an axe to thin saplings. Gorash took a smaller step this time, his boots splashing in pooling blood.

More unfortunate defenders fell under Gorash's grim halberd as he continued to cleave a path through them. As he lifted it once again and prepared to bring it down, a chuckle in his throat, a clear sound registered above the battle noise. Pain flowed into his arm just as an arrow sprouted from the armor close to his right shoulder, halfway between it and his collarbone. The halberd blade whistled as he let it drop to his side, using one hand to pull the arrow out. After a brief inspection, the arrow tip taking out a tiny black scale, Gorash glanced up at the wall for the culprit. "Nice try elf," He called up to the woman he saw looking at him. "How would you like my arrow in your shoulder?!" Yanking a light spear from the Ravager beside him, he brought his arm back and launched it at her.

Rore kicked out at an enemy that was surprised to see arrows poking out from it's chest, slashing downward to dispose of it properly. He glanced back at Salim's outer wall in the briefest respite, noting that during the battle they'd slowly been inching backwards towards it. When the second brunt of Reaper's army barely joined the melee, he urged the people around him to repel them as long as they could.

"Rore!" At the sound of his name, the man bashed his sword's hilt into someone's face before answering. "We're being pushed back too far!" Alarm shot through Rore when, glancing back, the closeness of the city stood solidly. He swore loudly under his breath, bringing his foot up hard between an enemy's legs. Jake, we have to fall back soon., he tried thinking out loud, remembering their mental conversation just a day before. I can try to stall it a bit longer, but not much.

Ignoring his companion's grumbling, Gorash grunted in annoyance at the sight of a barrier above the wall. That was very inconvenient for him, just like the arrow streaking towards him. Quickly, he reached across with his left hand to grasp the hilt of his great sword and swung it diagonally out of it's place under his cape. A small c***k! rang out and the arrow embedded itself in the ground. He glared up at the elf woman before his grin returned, and he darted off into the melee again, heading towards the gate he'd noticed going into Salim. He'd made his decision: the elf woman would die, even if he had to hack through the front gates himself.

Barely aware of the battle just on the other side of Salim, the golden haired demons were still swaying in unison, their chants whispered among them like dry grass or shifting sand. The keystone hovering silently already had twin arcs of mana flowing from either side to flow into the ground. With a flash, the glow pooled into the arch, the whitish-blue light humming deeply as it traveled to the center from the outer edges. The group opened their eyes and watched as a minotaur stuck it's head out of the portal at that moment. "About time you opened it." He, obviously a male by his bass rumble, chuckled. "Time doesn't matter when you do things right." The leader smiled in return. The minotaur snorted in agreement.

As the fires burned and, to her dismay, Demios fell from the sky, Elistral took advantage of the distraction among the ranks and picked up a broken bow that one of the archers had discarded for another. With a word of magic the bow mended itself, and she brought the up to aim at the sky. She easily spotted the one responsible for her friend's fall, George. Another magic word and a glowing blue shaft materialized on the strung bow, and Elistral held it for a second before releasing the arrow at him.

Upon hearing Demios's cries, Rore immediately began to push through the throng to find him. It was not hard, the dragon's armor bright among the hardy defenders' garb. He knelt down beside him, enclosed by a few Protectors on the outside for safety, and tried to asses the volume of the wound. If one of Reaper's company could hurt the dragon so, then... Jake! We have to withdraw into Salim now if we plan on keeping it and our lives!

The opposite side's forced surprisingly grew thick around Gorash, as well as two of the Ravager's following him, a dark elf who'd managed to make his way there and a demon. He gritted his teeth in anger at being held back, slaying now at the fringes of the Protector's line. He'd have to wait before he killed the elf...but it would be well worth it.

((XD Oh no, George died! ...Again!))

Elistral hadn't expected her arrow to strike George, but even so she didn't let the surprise distract her. Instead, she watched his descent closely, leaning over the edge to better see, though her sight was far anyway. Slowly, without looking away from the spot, she nocked a solid arrow and brought the bow up again, loosing he glowing arrow towards the other figure on the far hilltop.

The two speaking paused in their conversation, glancing at the bright spark sent up into the air. "Was that--" "Looks like the signal." The minotaur sighed, disappeared into the glow for a moment, then stuck his head out again to sigh once more as a surge of bodies marched out from the gateway. "If only Vlad...Fenrir...wasn't allowed such leniency..." The golden haired demon gave a small smile. "But then things wouldn't be as interesting, as our master would say." The minotaur only stared silently with his liquid brown eyes before ducking for a second time into the arch, and the portal blinked out of existence as the 2,000 strong host finished going through. The leader caught the keystone in the palm of his hand and quickly explained the situation, and the force split in two, flowing around Salim's opposite walls to begin clashing with the Ravager army.

"That time," Rore couldn't help but scoff as he helped support Demios on his right side to the gate. "Let's just hope nothing else eventful happens." Remembering their current situation, he chuckled at the irony of his statement. Around him the Protectors helped to spread the message among the ranks and, as quick as they could, back up into the city. Rore thanked Fenrir silently for the help, as he saw new skirmishes on the outer edges of the line.

Gorash felt his throat burn with a growl when he was cut off from the wide open gates. Out of nowhere, new fighters had appeared and begun frenzied fighting.

"You'll be able to get in." Crow assured him. He had landed and was taking an active part in the fight, dodging and weaving as he slipped his rapier between ribs. "Strike when the doors have just closed and they haven't set up inside defenses, but wait until those oil pots are emptied on the others first."

Gorash nodded at the plan, his teeth clenched down hard on themselves.

((Sorry, stuff has been making me lazy. Oh no, Marie. XD ))

Elistral waited until a small crowd of Ravagers swarmed the tall gate before yelling aloud to that crew and the one on the other side, using magic to empower her voice, "Tip the oil now!" With him nods and looks, the pots and kettles and cauldrons were slowly tipped over, their molten contents spilling out. Piercing screams rose up as she commanded that arrows be lit on fire and loosed t the carnage. Blazes sprung up at the archers rained death on the Ravagers and the reinforcements did their best to separate large groups into smaller ones.

"Start blocking the gates," Rore rose tall and instructed those around him. "Defensive positions as well if they do manage to break them down!"

"You're one crazy b*****d." Crow commented with a small chuckle to Gorash. Eying the distance between him and the gate, and the manner in which he hacked and slashed those around him, his words wouldn't stop him.

Gorash, oblivious to which enemy of the new force he was fighting, demon, hybrid or some human in their midst, felt his muscles tighten in his arms. His armor gave an unheard protest as he rushed forward past his burning comrades, the blade of his halberd drawing a long line as it bore into the ground. "Metal, wood, stone. I'll break it all down!" He shouted recklessly and brought his weapon up. As he stopped right up close to the gates, he threw both of his arms forward in a downward arc. The laughing skull figure flashed briefly before the blade met the gates' metal, an ear-splitting screech assaulting everyone nearby as it traveled halfway down. With a wicked laugh, Gorash repeated that twice to widen the hole and began to tear through the metal easily, bending some parts back while others he ripped away.