[b]Redana and Alexa![/b]

There are allies, and there are slaves. 

Slaves are all Sagakhan is left with.

The Master of Assassins has spent her deadliest coins but she always had fewer to use than her enemies. Now she must take the field herself as the storm of war reaches the edge of her pyramid once more. The tool she calls to hand for this moment is a ten meter long sarissa - a pike five times her height. From her position atop the pyramid she walks at a steady pace, stabbing down at those trying to climb the steps towards her. The motion is like that of a crocheting needle - a sudden and precise dip in and out of her victim's chest, threading a single bloody stitch at a time. So steady and precise is she that the offense is stalling out, morale collapsing as entire waves are sliced down in thrust after thrust and blood runs down the black pyramid in rivers.

She does not stand alone either. A unit of elite Kaeri Bloodfeathers have detached from the battle to help her hold this position, perched with wings unfurled along the upper edges of the pyramid like gargoyles. Now and then one will detach from the stonework and descend silently and alone into the enemy ranks. There she will snap the neck of a commander and then lay about her in bloody carnage with scimitars, dragging ten souls down into the bloody sand with her as she dies. 

While the skill of these warriors represents a significant barrier, the real defense here is [i]terror[/i]. The theory here is obvious: The way to defeat a phalanx, even one formed of a single hero, is to hold the line long enough to bring up an Esoteric weapon who can sweep them from their position at a safe distance. But the terror and disruption caused to the lines by the combination of the Master's presence and the Kaeri's bloodlust is keeping the lines too disorganized to properly shield the Hermetics as they approach. 

Leadership is required.