Broken But Not Beaten

Part 1

After gathering intelligence and ensuring safe passage,.

I quickly marched towards General Hudson, who was waiting with the army.

In the evening, I reached the camp and walked towards the commander's tent.

"What's the situation, Senjar?" Hudson inqiured.

"It seems as if they are aware and are waiting for us."

"Why do you think like that?"

"Just a feeling."

"What about the city?"

"Heavily guarded, my Lord."

"I see, Good work, Senjar."

After getting the information, General Hudson ordered the army to complete the preparation, as our next destination is Maldor.

Part 2

As we marched towards Maldor, I was getting anxious.

From childhood, I was trained in the ways of swords.

As the son of a renowned knight, there were expectations from me.

My father, Gabriel is a formidable warrior and a General.

He is also a good Lord. After being awarded Stonecreek as his fief, He successfuly built a castle and transformed the village into a stronghold.

Stonecreek was the edge of the Province of Sindhiria and serving as a connection between Sindhiria and Mescaria Province.

Royal Capital Ririth was also located in Mescaria Province.

I had also discovered my potential in magic since i was 8.

I trained my magical abilities for a very little time on my own, Thus i knew some basic spells.

But my main focous was to be trained as a Knight.

I wanted to impress my Father.

I wanted him to acknowledge me, this was why i decided to be trained as a Warrior rather than a Mage.

Casting Magic was also a difficult process as you have to learn spells to cast them.

Also, Mana is very crucial for mages.

The thing about magic is that Mana is already set from birth, It can't be increased or decreased.

But in my case, I don't really know.

As i never really decided to enhance my abilities and learn about my mana pool.

But I learned some tricks useful for combat. Surprisingly I did not have to read lengthy passages to cast them.

That was the question I never really paid attention to.

I could cast fire on my sword and its abilities would increase by just thinking.

But the sword would break after couple of hits.

I learned many little tricks, but never really further explored magic.

My mother Elara was always anxious for me.

She always told me,

"Senjar, Always train to survive, as there is no place for weaks in the World."

"Do not train to impress anyone."

"Nothing is important than life."

She always seemed to see right through me.

She wanted me to live an easy life. 

Soon I became one of the best swordsman in the region, depite my young age.

Part 3

At night, we reach near Maldor.

At some distance from the city, General ordered to make camp.

The scouts were sent to report if any unusual activity happens.

My anxiety was increasing, so instead of sitting i decided to take a walk.

While making my way through the camp, I realized I was not the only one who was afraid.

I saw the fear on soldier's face, it was clear as water.

Everyone was nervous.

Part 4

Next Morning,

We were standing in front of Maldor.

As expected, Demons were ready.

The gates of Maldor were closed and their walls were filled with soldiers.

General Hudson mounted on his horse was reviewing the army.

Hudson was a renowned commander and was loyal to Duke Kaer of House Ravensheild.

There were scars on his face due to countless battles that he fought, He was mascular and tall and had an aura that made the enemies tremble in fear.

But this time was different, he was hesitating to launch the attack. Perhaps our numbers were low, But we had capable mages in the army that would be enough to make the difference or not.

Soon i felt the wind, it seemed as it was going right through me.

Black clouds were approaching us with them the rain.

General Hudson then stopped to adress the army.

He gave a rousing speech before the attack and motivated the army to remain steadfast and do not break the lines.

After finishing the speech, he faced the city and shouted:

"Forward! For Achillia. Eradicate these foul creatures and make them crumble before our might."

With this the battle started.

Infantry moved forward, with swordsman taking the front and archers supporting them.

In response, burning arrows were released from the walls.

Spells were being cast from both sides, and soon the calm atmosphere changed with the screams of the wounded and the roars of soldiers filled with fury and smoke due to burning because of fire spells that were damaging to both sides.

I was waiting with General Hudson with the reserve, waiting for the city door or wall to fall.

It was just bloodbath, mostly for our side as the demons had the advantage of the city.

Time was running out, and with it, the casulties were increasing, as the numbers were low.

General Hudson ordered the mages to focus on the gate and destroy it.

Soon, mages targeted the city gate, and it fell under the destructive fire spells of the mages.

General Hudson shouted:

"With me! to the city."

I marched together with the remaining army to the city.

"So the moment has arrived, huh" I murmured to myself.

Soon I was in the middle of the battlefield, trying to make way into the city.

Their commander came into my sight and came out of the city, leading her soldiers to confront the humans.

My intuition was telling me something was wrong.

After some time, the demons succeeded in pushing the humans back.

While fighting, I made my way to the riverside.

Frustrated, General Hudson gathered all his army for one last attack.

Arrows were flying while spells were cast, which seemed to bring destruction.

Bodies were lying on the battlefield, with arms and legs missing and heads flying.

In all this chaos, a feminine figure moved towards me.

There she was, the dark elven commander, standing in front of me with a sinister smile on her face.

"Tell me, scout, what did you see?"

"What?"

I was shocked and surprised and started to question myself—did she see me.

If that were true, then our death was certain.

"Why are you surprised, Human?" She spoke again:Did you really think that we did not notice you?"

This was it, she was trying to put fear in me.

She succeeded in her efforts, as my nervousness was increasing with every second passing.

I shook all the thoughts and prepared myself for the clash.

"Impatient, are we?"

Before she could finish her sentence, I lunged forward with speed, hoping to catch her off guard.

But my move was stopped halfway as she raised her sword to meet mine.

She countered with a sword move, aiming for my chest. I used a little spell and forced myself back with air pressure.

"You can use magic, huh?"

With this, she started her move and charged forward, aiming for my heart this time.

Shocked at her speed, with an air spell, I force myself on the other side and counter the attack by swinging my sword, hoping to cut her arm.

She saw right through me and blocked the attack.

The distance was close, It could have been advantageous to me, but with an enemy of her caliber, nothing was certain.

She cast a fire spell and launched it at me.

I was surprised but quickly moved to the other side using air spell.

With the fire spell, my view was cut off. 

When I moved to the other side, she was already there smiling.

In the air, I enchanted my sword with fire and swung it.

She was surprised, but her attack succeeded, blood started flowing fron my left arm.

My arm was still intact, but the wound was deep.

Fear started to take over me.

I realized I was on the edge of the River Moor.

Death was looking certain.

I was losing hope, as she was moving towards me with confidence.

I was already crumbling from inside, as I was failing to take control.

In all the chaos,. A large shadow emerged from the smoke, It was a wyvern. It's size was quite large.

Wyvern started attacking the humans army, its presence was enough to put fear in the already distorted human army.

The dark elven commander was now near me.

She swings her sword, aiming for my neck. At that moment, I cast an explosive wind, creating space between me and the commander.

Even though it does little damage to me, with this as the last resort, I fall into the river.