The battle had dissolved into a bloody mess. Chaos rippled through the enemy ranks, and though many of their faces betrayed the knowledge that the day was lost, plenty still fought with the desperation of cornered animals.
When the battering ram finally charged toward the enemy's makeshift gate, the watchtowers on either side rained stones and arrows down upon them. The men pushing the ram ignored the onslaught, they were shielded by the thick, reinforced planks built into the roof of the machine.
Adrian was at the heart of the push. When the ram finally connected, the gate, flimsily constructed in haste, didn't stand a chance. It shattered under the very first impact. A roar of victory rose from the allied ranks, but the enemy was not ready to concede.
While the use of a heavy ram against such a weak gate had been overkill, it had served its purpose, it kept Adrian's men from dying needlessly in the breach. As the wooden shards settled, a horde of fresh enemies was revealed, waiting in a tight formation. With a unified war cry, they charged.
'How many have I killed today?' Adrian wondered. He didn't have time to count. He hurled his badly battered shield at a charging soldier, catching the man squarely in the head, and immediately followed through by plunging his sword into the man's chest.
After a grueling period of close-nit combat, they finally pushed deep into the camp. Adrian took a moment to survey the interior, it was a sparse collection of structures, mostly open-air pavilions with basic roofing rather than proper wooden buildings.
What caught his eye, however, was the blackened, charred inner face of the palisade walls not far. Most of the red fire had burned itself out, leaving only a few flickering inferno clinging to the scorched timber.
He could still see hundreds inside, surging toward them and fighting, but he knew they had won this. Now, he just needed to survive, and the threat of Laluga would be gone.
By then, he could relax… Adrian quickly shook those thoughts away. Now was not the time for pondering, he was about to charge at two enemies who had noticed him, but before he could move, two cloaked figures flashed past and quickly killed them. Their yellow cloaks were now stained with dirt and blood.
It was the Prince's knights, two of them.
'They joined, too?' Adrian looked at them with a raised brow. The two turned toward him and gave a nod before killing whichever foe approached them next.
He had a moment of reprieve. As he watched, more of his allies surged inside, most were from the ships, and were therefore quite fresh.
Adrian, however, was on the brink of collapsing, not from injury or pain, but from mental exhaustion. He held himself up by sheer will alone. The battle didn't just drain him physically, each time he used his Gift, it took a toll on his mind.
Still, Adrian didn't stop. If he did, he might fall straight asleep, and this was certainly not the place to do so.
He found a small group fighting on the flank and joined them. He was in the middle of tripping an enemy when the front gates, where the bulk of the enemy had surged out to meet the allies on the field, suddenly swarmed with returning foes.
Adrian heard a roar of victory from the other side and knew their allies had finally pushed the enemy back.
But it also meant the number of enemies inside the walls had increased.
Adrian killed the enemy he had tripped and gestured to the men closest to him. "Form a line!" He tightened his grip on his sword and the shield he had scavenged from a fallen foe.
Then, he saw him…
One of the retreating enemies was a massive figure, standing taller than the rest of the lot.
Ulric. He supposedly had the blood of giants. Adrian's heart skipped a beat, he hoped the man wouldn't recognize him, but then Ulric looked down, spotting the colors of Adrian's armor and the broken sword sigil.
When Ulric looked up, Adrian paled. Recognition dawned on the giant's face, followed by anger and a tint of cruel joy. The giant strode in his direction, followed by a small group.
"Ah, fuck…" Adrian cursed. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the soldiers beside him stepping back in fear.
Then, much to their relief, a surge of allies intercepted the giant's path, led by the two knights of the Prince. Adrian hoped the two of them would be enough to kill the big man. Some of the other enemies managed to slip through the chaos and charged toward Adrian and his group.
Adrian plunged himself into battle again, deflecting and counter-attacking. It had come to the point where he could feel his sword losing its edge, it wasn't as sharp as it had been at the start of the day.
Suddenly, he heard the whip of the wind. Instinct saved him, he jumped and rolled to the side before quickly scrambling back to his feet. Lost in the heat of battle, he hadn't realized the large figure had edged closer.
Adrian looked at the grimy, bloody figure of Ulric, who was holding his war axe and smiling sinisterly, madness glinting in his eyes.
"Could it really be? Is this the young Lord of Harrowfield? Hahaha!"
Allied soldiers bravely surged toward the enemy, emboldened by the comrades beside them, but the enemy met them in turn, preventing them from interfering.
For a brief moment, it was just Adrian and the half-giant, Ulric. Adrian tried to recover as much stamina as he could while his eyes drifted past his opponent.
'Where are the Prince's knights? Don't tell me they're dead?' He thought. Then, he spied a single yellow cloak carving through the fray to get to them, but there was only one.
"What? Is the young lord frozen in fear?" Ulric's voice boomed tauntingly.
"Big words for a big guy who's on the verge of losing," Adrian inadvertently quipped back. This only caused the big man to let out a booming laugh.
"It really is you! I'll say this, a young lord like you fighting like this? You have balls. But pity..." Ulric brandished his war axe, each blade was as large as Adrian's head. "I'll cut them and crush them here and now!"
Realizing they wouldn't have much time to banter without interference, Ulric charged, waving his menacing weapon. Adrian didn't bother trying to meet the attack head-on, he attempted to sidestep, but the man was quicker than he looked.
Ulric shifted his momentum, swinging the butt of his weapon at him. Adrian managed to block, but the sheer force made him stumble back.
'Strong!' Adrian was shocked. Knowing of Ulric's strength and experiencing it were two very different matters, he finally realized the massive gap between them, physically.
'This is a half-giant?' He thought, twisting his body to let out a precise stab. The enemy maneuvered his axe, the shaft sliding against Adrian's blade. Realizing the enemy wanted to hook his sword with the axe head, Adrian quickly pulled his weapon back and used his footwork to dance around the enemy.
The enemy was fast and possessed a massive reach, swinging his weapon in wide, lethal arcs. Adrian felt that even if he defended with his shield, he would still be cut in half. Instead of blocking, he spun and retreated, sheathing his sword in one fluid motion. He kicked a spear up from the ground and caught it.
The enemy had the greater reach, and it was too dangerous to get close. Adrian needed to match that distance. It was a little uncomfortable holding a spear and a shield at the same time, but he wasn't about to get rid of his only protection.
Adrian opened with a series of quick stabs, halting the enemy's rush. Ulric tried to grab the spear just below the tip, but Adrian didn't let him.
For several moments, their exchange consisted of Adrian keeping the big man at bay while Ulric sought to cleave him in half. At this point, something had to change otherwise one mistake and Adrian was dead.
The shift came when the surge of fighting reached them. Adrian momentarily diverted his attention, swiping his spear at an enemy that had drawn too close. He didn't worry about taking his eyes off the giant, as he saw his own allies surging forward to swarm the half-giant. The battle had dissolved into total chaos, it was no longer a duel.
For once, Adrian found relief in the mayhem. He lunged with his spear again, pushing back two enemies who tried to charge him.
"Kill them all!" Ulric's enraged voice resounded.
Adrian managed to bury his spear in one attacker. As another charged, Adrian let go of the spear and raised his shield. The man buried his axe deep into the wood of the shield, but in one fluid motion, Adrian pulled his sword and stabbed the man through the shoulder.
"Ugh!"
Adrian wrenched his sword free, blood spurting and staining his armor. His attention snapped to the big man, who was currently occupied fighting one of the royal knights. Adrian scanned the fight and acted on impulse.
He unstrapped his arm from the shield, which still had the axe buried in it, and threw the heavy weight toward the giant.
He lunged sneakily toward Ulric's flank. Using the shoulder of a downed enemy who was struggling to rise as a foothold, Adrian launched himself into the air. He fell toward the big man just as Ulric was in the middle of a heavy swing.
It was too late for the giant to change course. Adrian stabbed downward, his sword burying itself deep into the man's neck.
Ulric's eyes widened. Despite the blade in his throat, one of his hands released his weapon and snatched Adrian out of the air. Before Adrian boots could land on the ground, he was slammed down hard, knocking the wind out of his lungs.
As he lay on the dirt next to a corpse, he had a fleeting thought to just stay there and rest, but he forced himself back to his feet. His gaze snapped to his enemy.
The giant was now on his knees, his hands trembling and empty of his weapon. The knight he had been fighting had already turned his attention to other foes, leaving the finish to Adrian.
The big man tried to pull the sword from his neck, but his strength was failing, his eyes were dazed, losing focus.
Adrian scanned his surroundings. A small gap had formed in the crowd around them. He approached the big man and looked him in the eye, but the enemy no longer had the will to glare back. Adrian gripped the hilt of his sword, still buried in the man's neck, and wrenched it free. Blood spurted as he kicked the man in the chest, sending the giant toppling backward.
Adrian took a moment to breathe, closing his eyes for a heartbeat before raising his bloodsoaked sword high.
A final roar of victory rose among the ranks.