Chapter 78: Battle begins
The dragon rider lowered his hand, and the entire invading army resumed its advance.
War horns sounded across the plains as the ground forces accelerated, while the winged host spread towards every side of the fortress.
The first assault layer consisted almost entirely of beasts, thousands of scaled hounds, horned predators, and malformed creatures rushed ahead of the soldiers, their different bodies merging into a single advancing mass.
Their purpose was obvious to every experienced defender upon the walls, they had been released to exhaust the fortress weapons, reveal its hidden defences, and bury every trap beneath their corpses before the real army arrived.
The ground trembled harder with every passing second, yet the fortress commander kept his spear raised.
Archers held their bowstrings at full draw, and the mana cannons tracked the larger beasts without releasing their stored power.
"Remain patient and let them enter the killing field," the commander ordered. "No artillery unit will fire before the ground formations activate."
The order spread across the battlements and prevented several nervous defenders from attacking early. Below them, the charging beasts crossed the first distance marker without encountering any resistance.
They passed the second marker moments later, filling the air with snarls and scraping claws. Several participants tightened their grips as the creatures continued advancing towards apparently undefended ground.
The front ranks reached the third marker, but the commander still refused to lower his spear. He waited until nearly the entire first assault layer had entered the broad stretch of land between the markers.
Only then did he close his raised hand, formation masters stationed inside the surrounding towers struck their palms against prepared control panels.
Hundreds of lines hidden beneath the plains immediately awakened, spreading through the ground like veins of pale fire.
The leading beasts reacted first, but their momentum left them no time to escape. Symbols appeared beneath their claws, and the formation bombs buried throughout the killing field detonated in carefully arranged rows.
The first explosion lifted dozens of creatures from the ground and tore them apart in mid-air.
A heartbeat later, the remaining bombs erupted from the front of the formation towards the rear, preventing the beasts behind them from turning away.
Fire and broken earth covered the plains as one detonation followed another.
Armoured hides were ripped open, limbs scattered between the advancing ranks, and smaller creatures disappeared completely inside the overlapping blasts.
The force reached the battlements several seconds later and struck the barriers as a wave of heated air. Even behind the defensive formations, the soldiers could feel the stone shaking beneath their boots.
The first assault layer lost nearly half its numbers before crossing another hundred metres. However, the beasts behind the explosions continued charging over the remains, driven forward by the soldiers controlling them from the rear.
Several larger creatures survived the formation bombs and forced their way through the burning ground.
Their armour had cracked, and blood covered their bodies, but their momentum carried the surviving wave towards the final marker.
The fortress commander watched until the survivors and the second layer crowded onto the same stretch of land. He then lowered his spear towards the centre of the killing field.
"Release the ground locks and open the first trench."
A deep grinding sound travelled beneath the plains. The earth before the fortress split across several kilometres as concealed formations dragged enormous sections of reinforced ground downwards.
The opening expanded directly beneath the charging beasts, revealing a trench wide enough to swallow entire siege towers.
The front ranks disappeared over its edge before they could stop, while the creatures behind them crashed into one another and were carried forward by the pressure of the advancing horde.
Hundreds fell onto the formation-covered stakes lining the bottom, larger beasts crushed those beneath them but continued sinking as more bodies poured into the trench and buried them beneath layers of flesh and shattered armour.
The formations along the inner walls activated before the fallen creatures could climb. Pale flames flooded the trench from both sides, burning through the trapped beasts while leaving the reinforced stakes and stone untouched.
Those at the rear attempted to turn, but the invading soldiers continued driving them forward. Several creatures were forced into the trench by their own ranks, while others used the growing mound of corpses as a bridge.
The largest beasts lowered their bodies and leapt, some cleared the opening, but many struck its far edge and desperately clawed at the stone as the creatures behind them collided with their exposed backs.
"Archers will target anything attempting to cross," the commander ordered. "Artillery units, destroy the heavy beasts before they fill the trench."
Thousands of bowstrings released together as arrows passed through the fortress barriers without resistance and descended upon the creatures trapped along the far side of the opening.
The first volley covered the ground in coloured light, formation arrows pierced weakened armour, severed gripping claws, and knocked struggling beasts backwards into the burning trench.
The mana cannons fired before the second volley landed. Thick beams crossed the plains and struck the largest creatures gathering near the opening, blasting through several bodies before detonating among the enemy ranks behind them.
One beam struck a towering beast as it prepared to leap, the attack tore through its chest and hurled its enormous body sideways, crushing dozens of smaller creatures beneath it.
Another beast managed to cross before the artillery could reach it, it landed upon the fortress side of the trench with enough force to fracture the ground, then continued charging towards the main gate despite the arrows buried across its body.
Three ballistae rotated towards it and released their formation-covered bolts together. The first pierced its shoulder, the second shattered one of its forelegs, and the third entered through its open mouth before erupting from the back of its skull.
The creature collapsed and slid across the ground until its horns stopped less than two hundred metres from the wall. Soldiers upon the battlements answered its death by striking their weapons against their shields.
The invading army provided no time for celebration. More beasts climbed across the bodies filling the trench, while enemy soldiers advanced behind them carrying enormous shields and materials intended to construct permanent crossings.
Formation-breaking pillars stopped beyond the range of the buried bombs and drove their sharpened bases into the ground.
Dark symbols spread across their surfaces as energy gathered above them in compressed spheres.
"Enemy artillery is preparing to fire," an officer warned. The commander immediately ordered the outer barrier reinforced while the mana cannons continued targeting the troops approaching the trench.
The dark spheres launched together and crossed the plains above the surviving beasts. Hundreds of smaller projectiles followed them, filling the sky before crashing against the fortress formations.
The outer barrier bent inwards beneath the combined impact. Violent ripples travelled through its pale surface, towers shook upon their foundations, and fragments of stone fell from the battlements around the defenders.
Before the formations could completely recover, the first winged creatures reached the fortress.
They struck the barrier with claws, horns, and armoured bodies while others released streams of flame and dark mana from above.
The barriers trembled beneath attacks from both directions, formation masters replaced draining crystals, archers changed their aim towards the sky, and the mana cannons continued blasting apart the troops attempting to bridge the trench.
Several enemy units finally reached its edge beneath interlocked shields. They threw reinforced platforms across the narrowest sections and began securing them while beasts poured over the growing mound of corpses elsewhere.
The commander turned towards the close-combat units waiting behind the shield formations.
"Counterassault teams will descend from the marked platforms. Destroy those crossings before their main army reaches them, then withdraw behind the barrier."
Sections of the lower wall opened as stone platforms extended above the battlefield. Ancient soldiers rushed onto them alongside the participants assigned to close combat, their shields raised against the enemy projectiles striking the surrounding formations.
The first units jumped together and channelled mana beneath their feet before reaching the ground. Shield-bearers landed in front, absorbing the charge of the surviving beasts while the warriors behind them attacked through the gaps.
Weapons collided across the ground between the fortress and the trench, spears entered open jaws, blades cut through damaged armour, and bursts of mana hurled creatures back towards the burning opening.
More defenders descended from the surrounding platforms and advanced behind locked shields. Their formation moved steadily towards the enemy crossings while archers upon the walls cleared the winged beasts diving towards them.
Beyond the trench, the enemy soldiers raised their weapons and charged to protect the bridges. The fortress defenders answered with a roar, tightened their formation, and met them among the bodies of the first beast layer.
Behind both armies, artillery continued firing without pause, dark projectiles hammered the barriers, mana beams carved through the advancing columns, and the concealed trench burned beneath the soldiers now fighting across its edges.
The fortress had destroyed most of the enemy’s first assault layer before it reached the walls.
However, the invading army had already begun using its dead to bury the traps and build a path for everything advancing behind them.