Siege

The actual siege didn't start until dawn, just as the sun began to peak above the horizon the army that King Myron of Edicia sent moved into place. Those within the castle had fared well. Caine had made certain that everyone was resting in shifts and kept morale up with the help of his generals.

Everyone within the city walls was wide awake, the soldiers standing on the walls watched as the enemy army set up their first attack. Caine was holding them back, he wanted to see what the humans would do before they slaughtered them.

Soldiers with shields moved closer to the city's walls and slammed the shields into the ground to give them more stability. The shields were as tall as the men who yielded them.

The archers moved behind them and crouched down so that the shields would protect them from an attack from the walls. The archers were within 200 yards from the wall and well within the maximum damage zone.

A barrage of arrows shot up and headed straight for the soldiers standing on the wall. The only ones who reacted to this were the human soldiers. They took a step back as the arrows came into view. What none of the humans expected was for the arrows to stop sudden, as if they hit a wall, and fall to the ground.

While the archers were letting their arrows fly five men were off to the side casting earth and air spells to bombard the gate. Their goal was to break down the gate so that the human army could take the battle within the city's walls.

Just like with the arrows, the spells hit an invisible wall and dissipated.

Humans knew how to create shields from magic, but they hadn't spent a millennia perfecting shields. It had been a specialty of the demons before they were run off by the humans. Their skills with shields had only improved since then

"Ready. Phase one."

Caine called out and his soldiers returned to their formation. A handful of soldiers stepped forward and called out a spell, each one in perfect sync with the other.

Fifty yards behind the archers was the calvary. It was the smallest section of the army with 15,000 men. A moment after Caine's soldiers stepped forward to speak their spell the ground beneath the horses lost its stability.

The legs of the horses began to sink into the ground. Those at the edges of the spell managed to get out. Those who were in the midst of the sinking sand quickly lost their horses and only half of the soldiers were able to escape.

"Next."

Caine called out the moment the horses started to sink. The soldiers who had performed the first spell moved to a second spell. This time holes began to appear in front of the wall and moved outward, towards the archer and shield formation.

When the soldiers moved back to escape the holes that were appearing they found themselves falling into the sinking sand.

"Next."

The handful of soldiers that had initially stepped forward moved back to stand in formation. They were replaced by a thousand soldiers, mostly composed of demons with a few humans here and there.

Before the human army could recover from the earth spells the new batch of soldiers called out the most basic of spells: the fireball. A thousand fireballs rained down on the human army.

The moment the spell was cast the soldiers stepped back, only to be replaced by another thousand soldiers who immediately cast the fireball spell. This attack was repeated two more times before Caine stopped them.

"Hold."

The human mages had managed to shield a large amount of soldiers, though it had taken a lot out of them. Even from the wall it was clear how overdrawn the human mages were.

The soldiers with shields had managed to save those the mages couldn't. Even then, more than a few shields had holes where the heat had been too much and melted them.

"Good job. Next."

The soldiers on the wall switched out like they had been doing. This time, though, the spells they were using were a mix of wind and fire.

The spells had been merged together to create small fire tornadoes that pushed their way through the ranks of the human soldiers.

They had managed to survive up to this point, unfortunately the fire tornadoes tore apart the physical shields and bombarded the human mages until they lost the ability to shield the soldiers.

Screams filled the air as the flames from the tornadoes jumped out to catch soldiers on fire. The tornadoes themselves sliced at anything that came close; limbs, heads, shields.

The humans were not used to magic being used to such a scale. Not everyone was able to learn magic; only the nobles and people with money. The kingdom worried that the peasants would use magic against them.

There was a small amount of magic that the average person could use. Without access to spells and a mentor they wouldn't be able to move beyond the basics.

Demons, on the other hand, believed that everyone should know magic and didn't hold anyone back. Even a demon child knew more magic than most of the soldiers in the human army.

A moment before the spell dissipated the soldiers on the wall switched out and a new set of fire tornadoes were cast.

"Halt."

Caine called out and the fire tornadoes were allowed to fall away. This time the destruction was indescribable. More than half of the human army was dead. A large portion of those who were still alive were injured.

"Do you wish to continue or do you surrender?"

Caine's voice was amplified so that the human army could clearly hear him. The fact that he was still wearing his armor and his voice came out deep and growling only enhanced the fear the humans were experiencing.

It didn't take long for them to decide. One of the mages stepped forward.

"We surrender."

Gavin stepped forward and leapt off the wall. He used wind magic to slow his descent, making it look as if he was flying. He landed in front of the mage.

"I am Lord Caine's right hand and general of his army. You may refer to me as General Gavin."

The mage went down on one knee. This was partially to show respect and partially because he was too weak to continue standing.

"I am Lieutenant Varen Hart. I am the highest ranking officer still alive. It is with that authority that I can speak for my men and offer our surrender, General Gavin."

Gavin snorted as he looked at the carnage before him. He hadn't expected the battle to be so one sided. The human army had discipline and worked well together, that had been clear enough from their initial attack. Unfortunately, when it came to magic they were weak.

"I am disappointed with how weak Edicia's army is. To only send five mages against an army of mages is just stupid."

Varen started to speak and Gavin motioned towards him.

"You don't need to defend yourself, I understand how humans work. It's one thing to know and another to see it.

"Stand. Separate the injured from the uninjured. I will be your shadow until my orders change."

It took everything Varen had to stand and walk towards his men. This wasn't how things were supposed to end up. Varen had only taken on the title of lieutenant because it was so far down the chain of command; the general and his two captains would have to be taken out first.

That is exactly what had happened. One of the captains had been lost with his horse. The general had been injured during the fireball attack, he had died alongside the second captain during the fire tornadoes.

Varen instructed his men to place all the injured together. Anyone with minor injuries stood with the uninjured. Varen stood beside Gavin, it wasn't like he had a choice in the matter.

Gavin raised his hand and signaled Caine. A moment later the gate opened and Xanthe walked out, followed closely by a hundred soldiers. Captain Raul and his men came out as well and secured the soldiers who weren't injured as well as taking possession of their weapons.

The injured were collected and brought with the city walls. They were taken to a large tent that had been erected as a temporary hospital.

Once the injured were taken away and the remaining enemy soldiers were secured Caine joined them, sans armor. He enjoys the affect the armor has on others, he just does not like how heavy and bulky it is. I'm a demon, not a knight. He thinks as he walks towards the soldiers of Edicia. Caine finds himself smiling at the collective looks of fear and defeat on the faces of the soldiers. His army had proven their strength.

"I will give you two choices; permanently lay down your arms and become civilians or join my army. If you so desire it, there is a third option and that is death."

Whatever arguments the soldiers might have initially had were completely wiped away. They had been thoroughly defeated and yet none of them desired death. To live is to have hope. To have hope is to believe that their king will eventually free them. Or is it to believe that maybe living under the rule of the demons is better than the King of Edicidia?

"Those who wish to become civilians will leave now."

Gavin spoke up and several of Captain Raul's men stepped forward. A large part of the soldiers left at that moment. Less than half of the soldiers chose to stay.

It was hard to say what went through the minds of Edicia's soldiers when they made their choices. Maybe the ones who stayed thought that they could help their country by integrating into the enemies army. Maybe more than a few genuinely defected. After their short stay in Dreymore it was clear to the demons that the country had chosen to suppress the powers of their citizens.

It would be days later before any of the soldiers fully understand the meaning behind their choices and the consequences. It was hard to say who chose the hardest path.

Once the first group was escorted within the city's walls the second group was brought in. Captain Raul was in charge of assigning the soldiers to their new captains. Captain Tan was in charge of integrating the soldiers into civilian life.

They already had a job moving around the soldiers that were within Dreymore. Adding the soldiers from this attack would put a strain on the already full city.

"What about me?"

Varen spoke up when the last soldiers disappeared behind the city's wall. It had been clear that the choices given didn't apply to him. Neither Caine nor Gavin had looked at him when they spoke. He knew that commanding officers tended to get treated differently.

"You get the fourth option."

Gavin turned his full attention to the man standing before him. His auburn hair was cut short and scorched in places from the attacks and his hazel eyes were eye level with Gavin. His clothes were in tatters and skin smudged black from the fire attacks. Average was a word that you could easily use to describe Varen. Gavin felt pity for him, Varen's eyes were filled with pain and fatigue with a hint of anger.

Varen's eyes narrowed as suspicion and fear chased away everything else. They're going to torture me. I may not be the commander, but I am the highest ranking officer.

Gavin stepped forward, putting himself within arms length from Varen. Before the other's worn out and sluggish body could react Gavin had cut his finger on his sword and drawn the slave mark on Varen.

Varen felt the mark before he saw it. Mages in Edicia do not receive a lot of physical training, but because of the country's history with slave marks they are taught how to fight them. The moment he felt the magic of the slave mark he pushed back. He would rather die than lose his will.

Varen ended up on his knees, crying out in pain as he battled with the mark. Gavin was confused since using the mark up until this point had gone smoothly. He turned to Caine, his face full of confusion.

"He's fighting it. I suppose it makes sense that the creators of the mark would refuse to accept it so venomously. You will have to add more of your power to the mark to counteract his resistance."

Gavin nodded and turned back to Varen. He placed his hand over the mark and added his power to the mark. Varen screamed, his body on fire and stuck in an endless loop of pain. The harder he fought the mark the more power Gavin put into it. A few minutes later Varen collapsed, the mark glowed brightly then settled down.

Gavin went down on one knee beside Varen. Even in defeat Varen still had eyes filled with fight.

"I admire your determination. It takes a lot of strength for a commander to surrender in order to save his people. When it was clear that your side had no chance of winning and holding on only meant death, the other's in command kept fighting. The moment you were the one in charge you chose to surrender.

"This is the first time I've had to fight someone over the slave mark. Your persistence and determination to fight me gained my respect. I don't require loyalty from you, that's what the mark is for. You will be a tool that I plan to mold into something that I can use. I will chip away at the unnecessary parts until you come out stronger, sharper, than you are now."

Gavin places his hand on Varen's arm and uses light magic to heal Varen's wounds and fatigue. Once he's satisfied he stands and offers a hand.

The last thing Varen wants is to accept the hand. After everything that's happened it would just be another wound that the enemy inflicted on him. He tries to get up on his own and nearly vomits. The simple act of sitting up sent his head spinning and his stomach rising in revolt. Gavin offers his hand again and Varen grudgingly accepts it. Between the two he would rather take the enemy's help than vomit in front of them.