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Only the smoke remained, indeed. The guild captain's powerful attack with Leander's staff worked wonders in completely destroying the ram as well as the soldiers carrying it. However, she was mere seconds too late. Right before the thunder magic hit, the ram managed one last run that burst through the wood and broke the braces. The following force caused the doors to swing open. Only the smoke was visible.

The Leanarians not in battle with bandits backed up and formed around the entrance. They were soldiers! They would handle whatever came through. Tension came quickly as only smoke remained and no enemies came. There was relative quietness outside the walls and then a soft repetitive clopping sound. Then suddenly a small cavalry unit galloped in, throwing javelins at the front lines of the Learanians and trampling their bodies. Their armor was dark and much thicker than the cavalry armor of other countries. They rode in and swarmed the immediate area, attacking any person that was not a Mordachean soldier. They even speared the Sentrian brigands, just as they had been ordered to do. Now that Mordache was inside Eyris, Sentria was of no more use to them. It was simple and very easy for the commanders to brush off. Casualties of war happened, after all.

As the advance mounted unit distracted Learania, the foot soldiers began to slowly march and file in. Mordache had broken through the main gate; the battle had just taken a very sour turn.

- - - - -

"This is it...!" As Drake's last blow came, Fefga reeered back her head and arms. "Aaaaah...!" She turned and looked at everyone else and then her eyes turned to James. "...You are the true king... don't ever give up..." The spirit's ghostlike body then faded away. She was not gone, her power was simply exhausted. She vould pray that when she woke up again, that she would not see a different flag flying from Eyris' towers.

"...Be ready." Lord Zeon told the soldiers and his own people. But the doors did not come up. The seconds went by slowly. Everyone inside waited on edge for the eminent entrance that didn't seem to come. Just as the soldiers were about to lower their guards, they jumped at the unexpacted explosion. Lord Zeon waited until the smoke cleared and the man could be seen. "Attack!"

The soldiers charged forward and the mages cast their fire spells one at a time. When Lord Zeon saw an opening of his own, he reached out his hand. "Arcfire!" Inside his sleeve, a paper from a tome dissolved as the significantly more powerful flames roared towards the bandit leader.

Nino stood slightly breathless. What would happen next? She ran to the other side of the wall, grabbing Joshua's hand and pulling him along with her. She peered down into the crowd.

The gate was open. She was too late!

"But--" She was cut off by the sound of the Mordachean soldiers plowing through the broken gate. "No!" She yelled. Without a moment to lose, she raced back toward the stairs. "Come on, we have to help!"

If only she had been a few seconds faster...

Ignis Draconis sum. Thema fabulae, thema apologi.
c** igne sacrō, Flametongue, (prō amicīs pugnō) prō pace volō.

Fire Dragon

Everyone’s favorite dragon (and if he’s not, he should be) was still burninating many a Mordachean with his ferocious Flametongue as the battle continued on, whatever bat lizards remained no longer a problem to him from where he was positioned now. Try as they might like to, there was no getting past his hardened scales. He also whipped his hai- ermm, tail back and forth crushing any ground enemies it smacked against and knocking anything aerial it hit out of the sky. In other words, FD was doing one the things he did best in large-scale battles like these: eliminating enemies en masse. He wasn’t sure how things were faring inside the city, but hopes that his efforts from outside of it made things easier on those inside the walls, as everything he killed meant less potential enemies to get inside Eyris and less potential enemies for others to have to worry about. It was something the dragon could never verify the effectiveness, but it made sense in theory at least, and that further motivated him to keep frying more of the seemingly endless soldiers that were on the battlefield. That, and Nils…

And so FD kept at it as the night continued, the heaps of the dead growing larger and more numerous as time went on. It didn’t seem to him that any major change in the battle had taken place until he heard the enormous clap of reigning thunder, accompanied by the momentary flash of light. A few moments later, after the tension of Nino’s attack had subsided, the dragon turned around and realized the Mordachean troops were flowing faster than they had before. That could only be the case if they had somewhere to go; they had busted through the main gate, he realized. And that was really, really bad. Much fewer enemies would even be concerned with the presence of the Fire Dragon on the battlefield where he was if they could just charge Eyris as they were supposed to, which meant it was time to relocate. To inside of Eyris; if that’s where the action was, that’s where he’d go!

FD expanded his wings, ready to take to flight yet again. And with the injuries he had incurred so far in the battle to be exposed again, there was no time to waste. The sooner he go to where he was going, the sooner his underbelly wouldn’t be exposed to any remaining bat lizards or other potential threats. So, with a bit more effort than it usually took due to the injuries, FD launched himself back into the air towards the West Gate, blasting off a couple of Flametongues down towards the hordes of Mordachean troops headed the same direction before reaching the wall itself. The dragon flew directly over it and those atop it and aimed a very narrow Flametongue along one street to clear it of the Mordacheans and make space for his own landing, which he then made, belching out a ferocious roar as he did so. It always ******** with enemies’ mounts. On the opposite side of the Wall past the now busted Gate, he noticed Nino and some others descending stairs, as well as some Guild members fighting at ground level already.

(Would totally have had FD go to save Mihira, but it doesn’t fit chronologically since she fell off after their plan and FD’s been on the ground since then for a while: good luck with that/make it work, Ziess!)

"Damn it!" he thought as another arrow let loosed on the soldiers holding the ram. Alex knew it himself that any of their efforts were futile, but he couldn't just give up. "Keep firing!" he yelled as another bow quickly zipped through the air striking the neck of yet another soldier holding the ram.

He heard in the distance a soldier yelling something from below. "What's that soldier saying?" he asked since he was near the outerside of the wall. "It's the captain!" one archer yelled to the others. Now that was news he did not mind hearing. He could see a group of units coming up the stairs to their location. Alex couldn't help but feel a bit relieved that there was now some reinforcements.

Oh how Alex wished he wasn't at the part of the wall that was right above the ram. If only he knew what was coming next. The green mage who was the captain summoned a great bolt of lightning that shot down from the sky aiming right at the ram. "Holy crap!" he yelled as he covered his eyes from the light. Of course the sound and the impact of the bolt crashing into the ram sent Alex off his feet and was sent to the floor.

When he got his head shook all back together, he was hearing some sort of commotion with the soldiers. "What's going on?" he asked one of the nearest soldiers as he slowly got back up. "The captain destroyed the ram," he started. That was surely good news, but the soldier's face said otherwise. "...but the enemy broke through the get right before it happened," he muttered as if he felt like they were defeated.

"What?" Alex said as that quickly snapped him back into action. He ran towards the inner part of the wall to see the soldier was correct. The Ram had successfully broke down the gate before it was destroyed. "Damn it," he said as he pounded the side of the wall. However, the man couldn't just give up now. "Assist the footmen on the ground!" he yelled as he pulled out another arrow from his quiver. He paused for a moment and looked at his quiver. Sadly, his arrows don't magically last forever like in some turn based strategy game. "Damn it," he said once again and he nocked the bow.

========================================================

One after another as the bandits went through the doors one by one, they were met the blue haired boy's sword and soon after the floor. However, bandits weren't that stupid to go through a single door forever. Oujay quickly jumped back as he saw bandits going through the windows of where he was taking shelter at. He had to change tactics if he were to live.

"The stairs!" he thought as he caught them from the side of his eyes. The boy ran up the stairs and quickly turned around bashing his shield right in the head of the bandit that was right behind him. Luckily for him the bandits were right by each other and Oujay had just participated in a little game of Bandit Dominos. Oujay took a brief moment to take in the small victory and enjoyment he had as he watched the bandits fall on top of each other.

Of course that small moment didn't last long as the other bandits climbed over their fallen comrades and raced up the stairs towards Oujay. The boy ended up in a small bedroom. He turned around to see a bandit with his axe raised swinging down at his skull. Such a simple attack method. Oujay easily stepped to the side and the axe met with the wooden floor.

The bandit's face met with the hilt of his blade then, after a quick twirl of the sword, a lunge to the chest ending his life. Another bandit leaped over the one that had just lost his life and rushed at the hero. Oujay's shield block the blow, but pushed him back towards the windows in the room. At this rate, he was going to fall down two stories and it was definitely something he did not want. Oujay went to the side and angled his shield so that the bandit continued going forward from his momentum while Oujay went off to the side safely. Unfortunately, the bandit fell out of the window and to his demise.

What a site Oujay saw next when he looked out the window. The gate had been busted open from the outside and soldiers were rushing in. It seemed like a crazy blood bath. What surprised him even more was that they were even attacking the brigands. The hero was pretty sure they were on the same team. However, something else caught his attention when he was hearing a scream from a familiar voice. Oujay caught a glimpse of Jezebel as she was dragged off by the Mordachean cavaliers. Oddly enough though, Oujay was surely relieved he wouldn't have to deal with her, he still felt bad for her being dragged like that.

Oujay saw other guild members and learanian soldiers down on the field fighting bandits and soldiers. He had to help them, but he was quite a distance away. Not to mention the hero was on the second story building. Now what the boy did next wasn't the smartest thing he did, but he knew that down the way he came from were bandits lying around and possibly more bandits that were still alive waiting to kill him. So Oujay went out the window instead. Raising his blade as he came down and took down a soldier riding by on a horse. He then landed on the ground and rolled to break the fall. Quickly getting back up, he made his way towards the other guild members

Tribal horns echoed over the field as the first rays of sunshine peeked over the eastern mountains. Rath rode into view at the top of the northern hill. He looked over the battlefield and was instantly astonished by the sight. "How long has it gone on? ...How many have died....?"

A hand came onto Rath's shoulder as Songhua rode up next to him. "It is a new day. Let us show our enemies who we are... and what we can do." He grinned as he patted Rath shoulder.

"Their numbers are superior." commented the steady voice of Elder Kenafa, who rode up on the other side of Rath. "Fortunately, they know not the meaning of the word strength."

Songhua smiled. "It fills me with pride to see you on the battlefield, Elder, but I still wish you would heed our wishes and stay where it is safe."

Kenafa scoffed. "Many tribesmen will die this day. If this should be their end, I will not insult them by sitting in my chair, doing nothing. Shamir can handle things in the plains, and Chieftain Ishtur elected to stay behind for protection." He glanced over at Songhua, who was evidently not appeased. "... ...Stow your concerns, Songhua. I will take up the rear. Kusume will stay here and establish a healing station. We will both be fine."

"...Thank you, all of you." Rath calmly stated.

Elder Kenafa looked at Rath and said nothing, as the words did not come. The sight of the battlefield was difficult to take in. Mordache and Sentria were inside the city on all sides. It was clear that the man was troubled by what he saw. Eventually, Kenafa sighed. "...I believe it is we who should be thanking you... for waking us up." The Elder glanced away again. "Now then, the troops are coming into place. Shall we begin?" As Elder Kenafa finished, other chieftains and a great gathering of mounted Adlians appeared atop the hill. "I leave you to lead the charge, Songhua." He then rode to the back.

Songhua turned his horse to face the nomadic army. "Hear me, brethren! The force you see in front of you is our enemy. They outnumber us perhaps three to one. They have breached Learania's walls. For all we know, we could be too late to be of any help. But they do not know of our power! They see us and cast us aside as nothing! Well I say we show them what a storm of arrows truly looks like!" He began to ride down the line of steeds and raised his sword in the air. "Drums! Unleash their echo! I want them to hear our fury!" The bards began to play and the tribal drums echoed into the ears of the Mordacheans. However, the true effects came upon the Adlians themselves, whose morale was greatly rejuvenated. "We will show them that no longer can they spread their darkness unopposed! They will see that we are here and we will fight them!" He came back around and stopped next to Rath. "Ride, my brothers!! Ride, and uphold our honor! For the Learanian guild has a saying that I find to be truly beautiful... TOGETHER. WE. RIDE!"

A proud, strong chorus rang from the Adlian army as they stormed down the hill. Rounds of arrows were fired and they never seemed to stop. The army's speed quickly turned into a grand stampede as they headed straight for Avery's forces.

(Enter Adliana, bitches)

O Father Sky, Mother Earth...
I pray that you give me strength.

Sue had to look twice to believe how much Learania had been ravaged. By the looks of it, Mordache and Sentria had broken through, and were wrecking havoc on the city in all directions. She almost got disheartened by the sight, until she heard Songhua's words of wisdom. Yes, she thought, let them know the true force of warriors! Today would be the day that Mordache and Sentria paid for what they'd done, but also, the day that they'd hopefully save their endangered allies.

"Hold on, everyone! I'm coming as fast as I can!" Sue thought as her horse kept by Rath's, and the nomad trooper shot into the sky to add to the storm of arrows that made up Adliana's first strike. Her horse's hooves thundered along with others in the meantime, as she prepared, at any time to meet the enemy. All was not lost yet, not as long as she and the others were still here.

"I know we're not too late, Father, Songhua... the others are quite strong, and we've faced worse. If we just keep our hearts strong, no one will conquer us, ever!" She then looked to Kenafa, keeping a grin. "Let me thank you once more for riding together with us, Kenafa. It will be an honor to fight beside your tribe." And more so, she thought optimistically, it would be an honor to seize victory beside them.

<|Nomad Trooper|=0

[And we all know that since Sue's the hero, those Mordache and Sentria baddies better watch out! 8D -shot-]

Joshua had slain another man when Nino suddenly grabbed his hand and started dragging him around the battlements. This kinda made it difficult to kill things thankfully him and the others had been doing such a good job at that, and there wasn't much left on the battlements to handle. First stop was the edge of the battlements where they watched Mordachean's pour through the hole that had been made by the ram before Nino could destroy it.

He took stock of the situation quickly, Nino obviously wanted to go down and help those poor souls that were getting massacred even with everyone on the battlements they'd still be horribly outnumbered.

"Guess it's time to toss the dice." He muttered as Nino and him re-joined the fray.