Tongpai on Fire

Dom first inkling that it was time, was when the music suddenly came to a halt in the distance. The sweet melody that had followed down south on the cool breeze had stopped and the slight light that had been emitted from Tongpai Town had also slowly turned to darkness. 

"It's nearly time." Tomyris announced from beside him as she drew her sword and prepared herself. He heard behind him the unsheathing of the Legionaries swords as well. 

She was correct, soon after the music stopped the first signal arrow was launched in to the air. It was an arrow that whistled loudly, before a second followed on fire, that arched back in to the town, causing a part of Tongpai Town to light up in an orange glow. A third arrow similar to the second flew, causing the same results in another area of the Town.

The sound of inhuman screams echoed as a fourth arrow was shot.

"ENCIRCLE!" Tomyris yelled as she charged forwards, her two Centuries of Legionaries and the rest of her unit quickly followed, spreading around the southern wall and towards the eastern point.

Subutai followed, the Cavalry quickly spreading out, the noise of the hooves echoing on the wind. Dom could hear similar noises in the distance as Tomoe and Xun You did the same.

"Archers, prepare arrows!" Subutai ordered. Each Horse Archer had a couple of Arrows that had a oil soaked rag attack to their heads. The Horse Archers quickly used flint fire making tools to make a spark that set their rags on fire.

Whilst this happened, in the distance, shadows could be seen below the wall with flaming torches, as the volunteers appeared from their hiding places and through the fire torches over the walls, before running for their lives back to their units they approached.

"FIRE!" Subutai ordered, as the fire arrows raised high in to the air, before indiscriminately landing within Tongpai Town.

Dom looked at Subutai with an impressed look, but was shocked to see the wicked grin on his generals face as the city suddenly began to engulf itself in flame and the creatures inside began to scream.

"HALT AND PREPARE!" Tomyris ordered as her units came to a halt. The Legionaries locking shields as they came to stop within Pilum striking range of Tongpai Towns wall.

Dom turned away from Subutai and stood beside Tomyris, his Slaying Spear in his hand, and by his side in it's golden sheath was his new sword the Harpe. He wanted to finally wield his new sword if the opportunity arose.

...

Hua Rong let loose his final fire arrow as the inner parts of Tongpai Town were all now beginning to engulf themselves in flames from the fire starting materials that had been scattered in the last couple of days. In the midst of the flames he could see the flailing arms of enemies who were set on fire, their agonised screams spreading into the air, as the flames around them spread to the nearby buildings. Those around them continued to charge towards the centre, a clear disregard for their flailing comrades.

Hua Rong looked down and he knew that he had to run now, they were at the inner gate. Their ferocious faces now visible to his eyes, their thin grey skin and long pointed ears. With vicious teeth and piercing white eyes that gazed around, their visibility in the dark clearly better.

He heard screams below as some noticed him, how they had, he was unsure, but they looked at him and arrows soon hit the tiles around him. Gratitude swelled inside him that the wind was in his favour, he took a normal arrow from beside him and shot it back in to the crowd. He was rewarded with the sound of a scream as he threw his bow over his shoulder.

He quickly scrambled backwards and jumped down the hatch that the Horse Archers had left open for him. He arrived in the office with a heavy thud as he skipped the small wooden ladder that had been made, arrows scattering out from his almost empty holder. Pulling himself up, he quickly sprinted in to the upper corridor to the room where the hidden passage to the basement was. As he ran, he looked down at the courtyard below, as a loud crash reverberated as the first of the enemy ran in to a metal sheet that had been used for the amplification. Soon behind the first one, a crowd of more creatures appeared, running straight through everything in their path like a swarm. Some seemed to sense him and they began trying to climb the pillars that supported the second floor.

At the end of the corridor he could see them appearing, he dived in to the room as arrows fired past him down the corridor beyond. He didn't even breathe as he leapt into the hole, his bow caught and almost winded him. He shook and loosened it and was grateful that it hadn't gotten wedged, he knew he should have left it behind, but it meant a lot to him. He stopped thinking and quickly shut the lid behind him, hoping and praying to whatever God or God's that he'd be safe.

He wasn't aware how he did it, but he crawled, climbed and scrambled as fast as he could towards the basement through the path that was hidden between the walls. On the other side of the walls he could hear bangs and eerie screaming sounds. As the enemy tore the place apart, the heat of the outside seeped through as he sweated more and more, his vision blurring as the water dropped past his brow and into his eyes.

He was suddenly free from the confined space, after what felt like an eternity, he was able to breathe again. The sounds now from only above him rather than beside and behind.

"Hurry up!" Hua Rong heard Gu Kaizhi shout at him from the entrance to the tunnel in the basement. The sound wakening him from the panic that had started to seep into him.

"Why are you waiting, you should be long gone!" Hua Rong shouted back as he entered the tunnel. The reality hitting him, partially helped by the fact he could hear screaming sounds getting closer and closer.

Gu Kaizhi quickly grabbed him and threw him to the ground inside the tunnel as the two Legionaries who were stood behind Gu Kaizhi quickly raised mallets and hit some wooden pegs that were next to the entrance, dropping some rubble that would become the first part of blocking up the tunnel.

"I wasn't leaving anyone behind. You've done well!" Gu Kaizhi praised as he grabbed Hua Rong's hand and helped him up, "Now, we need to run, run faster than we've ever ran before."

Hua Rong took a deep breathe before following that advice as the rubble behind was scratched at from the other side.

"I thought they were hunters, not wild animals!" Hua Rong wheezed as he ran, the Legionaries hitting more pegs as they ran, the temporary roof above them smoking as the fire took over the Town.

"We don't know enough about them, this could be there style once they have their prey cornered." Gu Kaizhi wheezed back as they turned a corner and continued to run.

"Thankfully, they are the prey this time." Hua Rong responded, still disgusted after hearing about the horrors the others had seen in the aftermath of the previous attacks, both at the tree in the Silver Forest and at the Underground Ancient City.

....

Tongpai Town was on fire. The flames high in the sky as the enemies inside were surrounded. Dom wouldn't be surprised if others on Tongpai Lake could see the flames, but he hoped that Gan Ning and the small mismatched Navy were now in place. He hoped his Warriors inside, led by Hua Rong and Gu Kaizhi escaped, but he wouldn't know for a long time. Now however he had another issue to deal with as the gates in front of him shook as the enemy ran at them, trying to escape on the opposite side they they had entered.

He saw some heads appear on the top, but they were quickly shot down by Subutai and his Horse Archers that were currently running up and down outside the wall.

Dom's time would come, when more would escape and a real fight would be on his hands. He looked beside him to Tomyris, her sword ready to strike. Around them the Legionaries had their shields locked and ready, whilst the Hoplite were stood in front of them, spears held in front to take the brunt of the first wave.

He could hear the sounds of weapons clashing from the eastern wall, confident that Tomoe had made first contact.

...

Tomoe swung her Naginata down, taking the head of the crazed foe in one swift motion, before beating back another with the staff as she span it to take another head from a third. She didn't need to worry about the second one she had hit, the enemy may be fast and wild, but their bodies were weak and fragile in comparison to the Warriors of Riverside. If they were fighting in the forest, she would be at a disadvantage, but here on the battlefield, surrounded by her allies, they were easy pickings. She turned to give a follow up strike to the second one, but was impressed to see its throat slashed by the Hoplite Deimos that was part of her unit and now acted like an honour guard since their experiences in the Silver Forest.

Beside her the Hoplite were in formation, impaling the charging foe who skewered themselves as they ran from the towering inferno behind them. The legionaries flanked to the sides, a giant shield wall barely visible in the darkness due to them being covered in mud. Behind them, Xun You directed his part of the Horse Archers to fire at will, each with their own designated area to aim for.

The part that worried her the most was the entrance to Tongpai Town, where the Praetorians and Celtic Warriors had closed the gates and locked the enemy inside. They were in a similar fight as she was, with Abubakar currently directing his wandering units to support in that location. The majority of the Balearic Slingers were also in that location, firing at any enemy that tried to escape.

The key worry in the back of her mind was if there were any that hadn't entered Tongpai Town, the small fear in the back of her mind that their units could be ambushed from behind. She had expressed this worry earlier with Xun You.

"What if we don't trap them all inside. We could leave ourselves exposed to a flanking attack, our units will not be quick enough to turn and defend ourselves." She had argued.

"They will fall for the bait." He countered, "They have the confidence in their own skills and that they are the ultimate hunter, they have no reason to hold back reserves."

"But what it they do? We don't know them well enough. We are making assumptions." She had expressed, confident in her own ability.

"Then I will have some tactics to deal with it." He confidently replied, "You deal with your role and only concentrate on that, if you do that then we will succeed. I will make sure your units are protected if anything happens."

She swung her Naginata down at another enemy who had avoided the main line held by the Hoplite and was charging towards the flank that was well guarded by her and the Legionaries.

The Hoplite had rotated by now, their weapon tips flushed red with the amount of lives they had taken, the enemy bodies littering the outer wall as they escaped. She felt like a slaughterer as some enemies who were currently on fire tried to escape the burning carcass of Tongpai Town.

There was a large crash as the gate fell forwards, it's timber weakened by the flames and the number of enemies pushing through it. The swarm appeared and she could see them charging towards the Praetorian line. Abubakar was amongst them, shouting wildly, whilst Centurion Septimius seemed to ignore him and shout an order of his own. The Praetorians seemed to react to what ever the order was, by first taking aim and throwing their Pilum as a unified front, taking out the first row of the charging enemy.

The Celts beside them prepared to swing their swords as the Balearic Slingers unleashed stone after stone at the fragile enemy from all directions. Tomoe could see that Xun You was trying to make his way to support, but his Archers were still busy taking down enemies who tried to escape, more and more of them engulfed in flames as the walls themselves now seemed to be alight.

Tomoe could foresee that when the two lines did meet, it would be a bloody affair. She prepared to order a portion of her force to support, just as Xun You was also trying, until she heard the heavy sound of horses charging from the distance. She looked and was grateful to see that Lu Fang and the Lancers he was in charge of were charging wildly through the escaping enemies, the formation held tightly as enemy bodies flew through the air from the forceful impact of the strong cavalry. The enemy were either impaled on the lancers or were left as a mushy mess of trampled flesh and bone on the floor behind as the horses continued their charge.