"Shield wall!"
"Form a circle around the King and the children!"
"Do not let them break the line!"
Aedh found the strength within him to keep his eyes open, devastated; the scene before him clouded his chest with heavy sorrow and filled his mind with a suffocating fog.
The surviving royal guards rushed forward, the absolute elite of the keep.
They slammed their shields together, creating a tight ring of steel and oak in the center of the courtyard.
In the past, Aedh would have drawn his own blade. Aedh never let his men fight alone, demanding absolute loyalty from his soldiers and never leaving them to face death without him. Even his enemies knew he led from the front.
But he could not stand today... This wasn't out of fear or surrender, but a complete paralysis born from the poison in his veins, leaving his muscles screaming in agony as Captain Domnall hauled him up from the freezing mud.
