Unto the Ages

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As Grud fought his way to the cages, he met lesser and lesser resistance, and as he looked around, he found out why. While he was only 1 person dragging along a bloodied and broken Borak, the rest of his forces were making a much larger commotion.

 

When Grud reached the cages, they were guarded by a measly 2 guards, whom he dispatched with ease. There he found men women and children, bloodied, bruised, and naked as the day they were born.

 

“I am Chieftain Grud, prepare yourselves we are leaving!” Grud announced to the people in the cages, and just like that, the dull defeated look in their eyes lit up with the will to survive.

 

By the swings of his spear, Grud broke the wooden cages and took a knife from the guard he had just slain to cut the binding of a man in the cage, “Go, free the rest.” Grud said as he shoved the knife into the man’s hand, and went off to help free the others.

 

Soon enough, Grud had over 80 freed people with him. 

 

Grud turned to the freed captives and announced, “I am going to get you to safety. Stick close and arm yourself with any weapon you find, I killed a lot of enemies on the way here, so that should not be an issue.”

 

With that announcement, Grud started making his way toward the sounds of combat while the freed captivated followed behind him in a column, men and women picked up swords, spears, and clubs, while keeping the children in the middle.

 

As Grud butchered his way to rejoin his forces, he had to be mindful to look back every now and then to slow down for those he rescued.

 

As Grud neared the 2 clashing forces, he knew that there were too many enemies to break through without the freed captives getting killed, he was powerful, but he could not be in multiple places at the same time to defend them, he needed man more power.

 

Grud brought his group between a row of tents as he stage whispered to the nearest man beside him, “I am going to break through the enemy and get help, stay here, keep low, and prepare to run when a gap opens and our people come through.” he then dropped Borak’s broken body to the ground and said, “Make sure this one does not die, I have plans for him.”

 

With that said, Grud charged the back of the enemy line and started swinging.

 

After killing his way through more than 10 men and receiving a few blows that bounced off his mana-empowered armor, he reached the front line. Grud had to block a strike from a tribe’s men who did not notice Grud killing his way to the front line.

 

“It's me! Chieftain Grud!” he shouted at the man, and the man stopped himself before he could deliver another overhead strike with a club. 

 

When Grud was confident he was not going to be attacked by his own people in a fit of battle lust, he turned around and started attacking the enemies that were going to strike him in the back.

 

He then turned to the tribes' man whom he had to block a blow from and asked, “Who is in charge here?” 

 

“I am.” A gruff older man said from Grud’s other side.

 

Grud nodded to the older man and said, “I am going to break through the line to rescue our people, follow me and hold the enemy back!”

 

After the older man gave Grud a nod and shouted instructions to prep his men, Grud was given the signal that they were ready.

 

Grud then shifted his grip to hold the base of the spear and started welding it like a greatsword, flooded his weapon with mana, and swung his spear in a wide horizontal arc. 

 

For any who were caught by the bladed portion of Grud's spear, they were immediately cut in two. For those who were hit by the shaft, they got folded by the impact and eventually slid to the bladed portion of the spear and cut in two. 

 

At the display of 8 warriors dying just like that, both friend and foe were stunned at the display of such power. 

 

That was until Grud closed the distance with the warriors behind the 8 he just slew, and the previously stunned people broke out into action. 

 

While the enemy brought up their weapons and shields to defend themselves, Grud's fellow hunters filled the gap he just created. 

 

Grud’s next swipe went through 3 men before coming into contact with something it could not immediately cut through, even if his spear was empowered with mana. In the split second of resistance to his swing, Grud saw a man bracing a copper sword to defend against his attack, but unfortunately, he was not strong enough to stop the powerful momentum behind Grud’s attack.

 

The copper sword bent under the pressure as the man lost the contest of strength and the sword smacked into the man and sent him flying, most likely saving him from a gruesome death. 

 

The rest of the men beside the man Grud sent flying were bowled over, but Grud did not stop, he kept advancing while those who came behind him finished off the downed men.

 

Soon, despite the enemy trying their best to stop them, Grud finally broke through the enemy line. When that happened, the first thing those behind him did besides securing the breach, was to rush a small hill where archers were shooting from.

 

As for Grud, he ran to where he left the rescued tribesmen, only to find 4 of them had died, but they took down more than 10 enemies that attacked them.

 

“Let's go!” Grud shouted at them and they were off and behind friendly lines within minutes.

 

By now, Grud could see the rest of the siege encirclement making its way to where he was, this told Grud that they needed to hurry up and make their way to the Riversong village and check on their status before they got overwhelmed by the enemy’s superior numbers in the case they decided to fight to the death.

 

As Grud was about to gather some men to make a run for the village, he ran into Chieftain Thagrak, “Grud, heard you made a hole.”

 

Grud nodded and pointed at the Riversong village, “We need to make our way to the village and-” Before Grud could finish what he wanted to say, a war cry came from the Riversong village itself, and soon, from both sides of Riversong village, tribe hunters and Newlander warriors came charging at the backs of the enemies that were gathering toward his location.

 

***

 

Within the Riversong village, they saw help arrive and actually broke through the line and rescued the captives.

 

Another thing they noticed was as the fighting progressed, they noticed the other side of the encirclement was starting to thin as the enemy’s encirclement began to consolidate to repel those who came to help them.

 

The various leaders got together for a quick meeting to see if they could take advantage of the situation, and it was quickly decided to wait a while longer for the enemy encirclement to commit to the attack on those they were currently fighting, then they would split into 2 groups and perform a pincer attack.

 

So they waited and prepaid, and when the time came, torches were put out to mask in darkness the ropes that were let down from the wall, and all the men who were old or strong enough to hold a weapon slid down the ropes to gather in the shade of the wall.

 

When they were all gathered, the leaders of the 2 groups shouted a war cry and charged the back lines of the forces that were previously sieging them.

 

They charged in formation, the tribe hunters were leading the charge and were covered in as much armor as the village could afford them, and following them I the rear was every Newlander warrior from the village, each of them with a bow.

 

The moment they got into range, the Riversong warriors loosed all their arrows to cause panic in the enemy ranks, which was soon met with the tribe hunters smashing into their lines.

 

***

 

Upon seeing the residents of the Riversong village strike out on their own, Grud decided the best way he could contribute to the battle was to cause as much chaos as he could within the enemy lines.

 

He dashed out into the darkness towards the enemies that were flanking them from the left. 

 

When Grud found a juicy target, like a shark attacking a rather blind school of fish, he swooped in with his mana-empowered spear and took a “bite” out of the column of enemy warriors.

 

This sudden attack out of the darkness spooked them, thinking Grud was some kind of monster that was taking advantage of the chaos for some food. After Grud struck 2 more times, the leaders shouted the men back into order and commanded all the warriors with shields to stand at the border of the column and have archers at the ready for whatever came to attack.

 

Seeing that they were now prepared for him, Grud decided to start fucking with them.

 

As far as Grud could observe, there were no shamans among the enemies, so they would be unable to tendrils of mana that snacked towards the warriors.

 

As the enemy warriors were cautiously moving toward the big fight, one of the warriors protecting the column from the mysterious monster that was killing the men, felt something wrap around his ankle, he looked down but saw nothing, and the next thing knew, he felt whatever wrapped around his ankle yanked him off his feet and dragged him into the darkness screaming, to where the screaming abruptly cut off somewhere out there in the dark.

 

At this unsettling scene, the enemy warriors started shouting about a shadow monster and praying to their ancestors for protection.

 

Hearing their outcry, Grud decided to play into their fears and released a bestial roar into the night, he would show them the shadow monster they were shouting about.