The clash from the battering ram caused cracks in the wood of the gate to splinter and come loose from the hinges. The gate was coming down after a few more attempts. The Bats did not have much time to recuperate before the next serious attack took place. Barracker raised a hand up.
“Ready yourselves. Take a short time out to focus on getting your breath back.” Barracker walked towards the gate and took a long look through to the danger and an eyeful of what sort of enemies were beyond the gate. His face dropped a little.
Thank the gods they cannot see my expression right now, the Paladin thought about his troops. His unit could not see what he was seeing, on the other side of the gate, but soon they would. For the first time, doubt filled his mind. Would he and his unit be able to step up to the occasion? This was going to test the mind, body and spirit of his women and men. The Bats had incurred only a handful of serious casualties so far. The shield wall formation had done its work.
But even the strongest and most experienced spear unit would likely be crippled here. The battering ram’s next hit smashed a giant hole in the gate and everyone in Barracker’s block were looking clearly at the giant stone gargoyle dragon's head staring down upon them. Barracker was the only one with his back to the gate as he moved around his unit, making adjustments to each rank. Their shape. Their posture.
“You, back a step… You, dip further down on that knee. A low centre of gravity will give you the edge you need. The very ground will be your defense. Drive the bottom of your shields and the butts of your spears into the cracks between the pavestones. Remember to stay low.”He kept tending to his men, even as the dragon-head of the battering ram backed up out of view and out of the hole in the gate. Men and women in the block started glowing again, different shimmers on their weapons, on their shields as many enchantments were blessed upon The Bats. Casted magical barriers,like a semi invisible wall, popped up in front of them. The Dire Stags were ready to aid the Bats once the charge was over, they stood around the corner from the gate.
Once the final ram hit, it outright flung the gates open. The trolls looked fierce enough, but they ignored the defenders and occupied the battering ram, wheeling it back and out of view, into the fog outside. Barracker took his place, front and centre, in front of the shield wall and drove the tip of his sword into a gap in the pavestones, to free his hand so he could cast his own barriers. He did not cast the barriers in front of himself as one would expect. Instead his barriers appeared on either side of him, making the vampire a one-man front rank to the shield wall. Hopefully all this magic would increase their survivability enough that they could take this titanic charge.
Barracker muttered the incantation for his transmutation spell,
“Stoneskin,” as the final piece of magic to complete the preparations.
Warren, out of view of Barracker, had to place his arm around his fellow comrade next to him, to calm their nerves and solidify their resolve. Things were on a knife edge right now, if even one man broke and ran, it would probably cause a full rout. The silence screamed volumes. The waiting was unbearable.
Barracker looked straight ahead. He could hear it. First the horns, then the rumbling beyond the fog. It was as if a horde of giants were zoning in on Valhiem’s position. He could hear the footsteps, then the monstrous hisses growing louder and then louder.
I hope this is enough.
Hades protect us. Lizard cavalry, they looked like small wingless dragons that stood at a whopping ten feet tall, trodding on two legs, with a muscular physique. Their heads used as battering rams and the riders wielding halberds out of reach for the bats to touch them. These were the elite cavalry.
As soon as the impact happened, the contact made the vampire’s shield-arm feel crushed under the weight from the scaly beasts. His feet were ripping up concrete bricks from the path, heels sinking into the ground as if it was mud, such was the force impacting him. Due to the vampiric strength and resistance of his stone skin form, he was just about able to withstand the pressure, but he was sent skidding back towards the Bats. Magical barriers started to shatter immediately as riders barreled their way through easily. Barracker kept sliding backward and was about to reach the first rank when it happened… the familiar feeling he felt when outside the Temple of Hades, when their Leader James had used his blessing on him and the rest of Second Chance. His endurance peaked, his strength accelerated and he was able to stop himself sliding back.
For the whole unit of spears and shields, the crash of the cavalry charge was like an explosion. Some were crushed down upon and were ran over. Some were sent flying twenty feet. Some were impaled on the long halberds of the lizard riders. But most survived and managed to do damage back, tripping some lizards over and sending their riders flying. Some lizards ran onto the spears of The Bats.
As the lizard cavalry charge slowed down to a stop, The Bats rose to their feet and began stabbing up at the beasts and their riders.
A fierce battle began, with the Dire Stags block running in for support.
