[center][h2][color=fff200]⚜[/color] [color=0072bc]Camille de la Saumure[/color] [color=fff200]⚜[/color][/h2][img]https://i.ibb.co/10ZC8wb/Profile.png[/img][/center][hr][i]Interaction: [@YummyYummy][/i]
[i]Siege of Relouse / Beach Landing[/i]
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It felt strange when Camille wore her armor. The gift of Dami removing the burden of the weight she carried made not only her armor and equipment weightless, but the clothes she wore underneath. It was like a thin air levitated everything away from her and it made her feel naked. Naked at a time like this in front of all these people! She could never get use to this feeling of being exposed and always it seemed people looked to her. It was almost like she was really nude in front of them like some spectacle.

Her people weren't like that, she knew. They were just looking to her for hope, many have said it to her before. The put her on a pedestal of what the best of Perrence could be. Maybe that's why she felt the way she did. She wasn't a saint like the people in the stories, she was just Camille. Somebody who would gladly accept Dami's Judgement to let her return home and live a quiet, peaceful life but she was judged to have more work to do, especially this day.

Her grip tightened around her weightless greatsword watching the mass of ships roll in. There were so many. She had fought the Eskandr before, leading battle groups against an array of three longships at most. But this? How many were out there, she wondered. A hundred? A thousand? Each with savage warriors who would rend the heads of newborns and drink their blood. Her right sand slipped from her sword and reached into the small bag she had tied around her waist. She couldn't feel it on her skin, but she knew what she was touching. The sand of her home, still fine and soothing as she dug her gloved fingers into pouch. It gave her hope for a better tomorrow. A tomorrow where she would return to the beach by Port Morilles...

[i][color=7F4C20]”Dame Camille de la Saumure.”[/color][/i]

Camille froze. The deep voice of the giant boomed with an air of authority. She wasn't the only one to freeze around her as everyone ahead of her seemed to stiffen, even jump.

[i][color=7F4C20]”Come.”[/color][/i]

The giant's hand raised and fingers motioned of her to approach. She knew better than to dodge a summons of a lord, though this man she had heard about. [i]Le Séisme[/i], the stories often called him in a testament to his sheer force of presence. She wasn't sure if the ground shook when he spoke, but her certainly sent a ripple through the people around.

She stepped around the levy's, some making a path for her, others too zoned out to notice until she brushed past them. It wasn't long before she had approached the giant's side, dwarfed in every sense of the word next to him. The only thing she had comparable was her greatsword, still resting in her grip, propped up by her shoulder, the tip of the blade towering even over the giant. 

Camille turned her head and looked up at him as he spoke, her own helmet disguising her reluctance to be here. When initially summoned, she had no idea what a man with that reputation could want that she could offer. Yet here he was, asking her for support. She wasn't sure what he was getting at. Did he need the reassurance like the many draftees? Surely not, considering his reputation but maybe, he did. Claude always told her that when people asked her for a blessing or what their chances are, she had to be confident. It gave them hope and made them fight harder. If that was even half true then a man like the giant fighting harder would surely be a gift to them all.

[color=fff200]"Je ne veux promettre que ce que je suis sûre de réaliser...[sub]1[/sub]"[/color] Camille replied back, projecting her voice from experience to sound stern and reassured. She continued, [color=fff200]"I'll do my best if you do your best."[/color]

She hoped that was enough.

A mist rolled in, Camille knew enough to suspect the underhandedness of magic to cause this but she didn't know to what end. Hide were the boats were landing but there was only one beach. They had to land here as scaling any of the cliffs seemed like a lot of work but she wasn't sure. Tactics that some of the nobles would employ seemed far out of reach for her head. She never questioned them, even if they did seem nonsensical so who was she to judge in Dami's place? If this was an attempt to outsmart them, she would do what she could to not make it easy.

Eskandr landed on the beach and made their way up to where the Grand Armee awaited them. Camille couldn't help but wince at the sight of more than a few of them going down to quicksand. She liked the sand of a beach but not that much, hearing some of their last cries before getting submerged entirely. Those of the invading army that made it past the line of defenses made their way towards the defensive line. Camille brought her greatsword off her her shoulder and she slid into a ready position. 

[color=00a651]"Right behind ya, girl. We'll keep an eye out."[/color] She heard Claude call out from behind her. The two of them were instructed to back her up but they discovered quickly how best to do that.

[i][color=fff200]Dami, give the strength comparable to your will.[/color][/i]

The Eskandr warriors charged and Camille stepped forward. With a display of experience, she timed her swing just as the first line of warriors approached her range. The three warriors looked to rush in before she could swing. They chose poorly. Camille felt the strength Dami gave her course through her arm, bringing her sword swiftly along a horizontal line in front of her. The blade whistled sharply in the air. The rightmost warrior hastily raised a shield in an attempt to deflect or block the blow but even with his shield raised, her greatsword had such a power behind it that it cut through the wood without a slow of momentum. Her sword continued and the warrior let out a roar of regret as the blade sliced through his arm, torso, and through his other arm without stopping.

Her blade didn't stop, either. The other warriors on their approach continued, only managing a step or two closer before the greatsword cleaved through them just as effortlessly. It was a mess of gore as she severed bodies cleanly through. A warrior in the second line, on her rightmost again, looked to dart in quickly with her sword to the left, trying to close in before she could recover. She was weightless, however, and any awkward footing from momentum never existed in this case. Her grip on her sword adjusted, bringing the tip of the blade pointed towards the charging warrior and Camille thrusted her reach forward. The steel ran swiftly through the warrior who had scarce time to react before being punctured in the stomach. She pulled the man forward, catching a glimpse of his weathered, aged face. 

Old. They were all old. Camille felt her stomach tie in a knot in revulsion. The Eskandr were sending their elderly to die, first. Such savages! She punted the man, planting her boot on his waist and sending him off of her blade. 

A spark of lightning zipped from behind Camille's head, hearing it crackle as it went. The bolt continued on, striking the hastily raised shield of an Eskandr, slowing her to stop. Claude's doing as the man was a one and half wheel Thunder Knight. He knew well enough to stay out of Camille's swing range but his role as to slow or pick off those that tried to get the drop on Camille was enough to keep her virtually untouchable.

Camille brough her blade around and ended that warrior's chance at continuing in this battle.

[color=00a651]"Girl, I fear the Eskandr are up to something. Do not stray far."[/color]

She hadn't realized she was stepping further away from the mainline but that was natural given her tendency try and catch opponents as far as she could. There was a bit of a break in the wave of warriors, anyway, and Camille pulled back to the line just as the giant began weaving a powerful wind. She hadn't noticed the storm roll in until now. Was it always going to rain today?

[color=f7941d]"I heard the Witch Wood is under attack."[/color] Armand chimed in, appearing out of nowhere. Camille frowned and glanced over to the walls of Relouse. Were the Eskandr actually attacking the Witch Wood? If so then why were they here? The Eskandr were just sending their elderly to die. [color=fff200]"We should go help."[/color] Camille replied but was quickly spoken over by Claude. [color=00a651]"No that's exactly what the enemy wants. The beach is the only accessible way to land a massive force. If we give up any ground here then they can land more of their forces here. Let them waste energy climbing those cliffs."[/color]

Camille looked once more to Relouse. Claude sounded convincing but then why would the Eskandr send their old to just die without any gains? They could have just attacked the Witch Wood without these needless loses.

[i]Maybe the Eskandr weren't that clever...[/i]

[i][sub]1: I promise only what I can realize[/sub][/i]