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Stone Will 113
A giant, worthy of doing battle with Dogar, stepped forward out of the infantry ranks of the savages. Six and a half feet tall, two feet at the shoulders, holding a huge hammer in his hands.“Cover me,” Hadjar asked his friend and jumped down.The soldiers of both armies formed a circle around them. Sometimes, someone too hotheaded would break the temporary ‘truce’ during this separate phase of the battle.The would-be troublemaker was soothed by Nero's sword right away. The young warrior had Hadjar’s back and would not allow anyone to interfere in the fierce battle.The giant was circling Hadjar and displaying his tan muscles, which were covered only by the skins of various animals. He wore no armor. At all. Only skins, leather pants, and boots. Apparently, a single hammer was enough for him. Somebody’s remains dripped down from it, but Hadjar believed that it would also be quite easy to break through the walls with such a weapon.The savages greeted their illustrious warrior general
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Setting a fast pace and carving a path through their foes, Hadjar and Nero quickly reached the bridge. There, covered by shields, the archers were on their knees. They were launching arrows at the parapet so that the defenders could not get to the hooks and get rid of them.Nero and Hadjar finished off the archers with just two slashes and threw the shields at the savages running toward them.Jumping onto the wall, they, without saying a single word to each other, immediately ran to opposite sides of the bridge. The hooks had been fastened with special chisels, and when they pried them out, the defenders of the Fort came just in time to push the bridge down.Someone also brought a canvas bag and then threw it into the open ‘mouth’ of the tower. An archer, after dipping an arrow into some flammable liquid, shot at the bag. The bowstring sang and a powerful explosion rang out. Burning logs fell on the savages rushing in to attack and they screamed as they burned and died.The arrows fle
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Whether they were on their monsters and horses or on foot, they were rushing toward the city. Some immediately started looting while others attacked the barricades or got bogged down in battles on the streets.Hadjar pulled back the bowstring and fired. The arrow flew forward and then went almost a yard over the enemy’s heads.“Give that to me!” Nero roared, taking the quiver away from his friend. “You’ll only waste arrows!”Nero fired three arrows in quick succession. Each of them sent a savage to the next world.“Where-”The officer didn’t have time to finish his question before pillars of white light struck the battlefield once more. The lightning bolts descended like angry dragons from the black skies to tear through everything and everyone.“Pull back!” the soldiers screamed immediately.Discarding their bows, arrows, and even part of their ammunition, the defenders jumped off the barricades and rushed toward the southern gate. They ran so fast that the steel soles of their shoes
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The carcass of the monster, in which the two madmen had hid, was lifted like a light feather and then dragged ten yards across the ground.Nero and Hadjar got out, groaning in pain as they did so.One of them pressed his hand to his side. Something white protruded from his bleeding forearm. It seemed Nero had an open fracture.Hadjar tried to put some dirt on the hissing fluid which had coated his right thigh. Alas, it didn't help much, and the monster's boiling gastric juice still scalded his leg severely. Not to the bone, but enough that his flesh and muscles were visible.“In any case, we’re better off than the rest,” Nero nodded toward the Fort.Or rather, where the fort had once been. There wasn’t even a single pair of stones left. Only a black ravine. Blood rained down and charred pieces of bodies, tiles, stones, and iron joined it, making for a truly macabre downpour.Nero and Hadjar had been thrown far enough back to avoid the danger of being ‘killed by the sky’. And, smiling
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The orderly he was talking to turned away too abruptly and went to the field.Hadjar could not take a single step further. The whole area, as far as the eye could see, was littered with bodies.Dead, moaning, wounded, dying, impaled on a spear, torn to pieces, burned, broken people… were everywhere.The once beautiful plain was covered in bodies, all the way to the horizon.Hadjar looked at his feet - they were buried in blood up to the ankle.“Damn it,” Nero hissed. “Damn it... Damn it!”“Let's go,” Hadjar said softly.Overcoming their fatigue, they kept dragging the bodies back to camp until nightfall. Only when they themselves had almost collapsed on the battlefield from exhaustion were they replaced by the lightly wounded soldiers. As well as by those warriors who’d come out of this monstrous meat grinder with no more than a couple of cuts or bruises. Those people must have been cared for by God since their birth.The hard, brutal days stretched on.Hadjar and Nero set up their te
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The place where about a thousand trainees had once used to suffer and train now belonged to the two friends. A feeling of loneliness sometimes came over them because of that fact, but more often than not, they were calmed by it.And they’d had to cut some new logs. The old pieces of wood had gotten covered in grass during their absence.“How could they know?” Hadjar waved his friend’s words away.He was carrying something like a huge plow on his back. Only instead of digging up the ground, this tool was used to remove the soil altogether. They would then have to bring some sand in and make a completely new training ground.“What about all the songs praising our deeds in battle? Do you know how many songs there are about us?”“Nope.”“I don't know either, but it’s a lot. Especially considering that you and I covered the withdrawal of the army from the Fort.”“Yeah, we sure did,” Hadjar smiled wryly. “You and I were saving our own asses and weren't covering the retreat of the army at al
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And rather creepy.Hadjar greeted the new spymaster with a nod.Simon was a good man with a difficult past. He and Hadjar often chatted.Tuur, the chief engineer, now walked with a crutch. His leg had been cut off by a healer. However, the most important thing for the chief engineer was that he’d kept his brain, as he could work even while missing a leg.“I want all of you to listen to the report from the Generals.”The General, who was now covered with scars, pointed at a figure hidden in the shadows with the wooden prosthesis that had replaced her left hand. The woman she’d gestured toward looked like a shitty person at first glance.Wearing a light leather jacket and high-heeled boots, she stood ramrod straight and constantly adjusted her brown hair.“By the order of the Highest Generals, the army of the Moon General Leen must be at the border with the Kingdom of Balium in two months.”The commanders looked at each other. Damn it! Why were they being sent to the cursed north again?
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Even Nero's punches felt much weaker now. They were still deadly, but Hadjar could feel his progress.“Do you think it’ll be a waste of time?” Nero asked.“Absolutely,” Hadjar nodded. “Why do you think the King doesn't know the whole story and is sending us to war? And why we’re at war with The Black Gates in the first place?”“With Balium,” Nero corrected.“Don't be so naive, buddy. Balium is the cash cow of The Black Gates. If you start a war with that kingdom, you will have to fight the sect as well.”Nero thought about it for a moment and then shrugged.“I won’t argue with that,” he said, producing another ring of smoke. “If it turns out that the generals have forged the message...They'll be staked alive, at best.”“If they did it and it’s found out, sure,” Hadjar added. “I have a feeling the king’s going to have a lot of trouble on his hands soon, regardless.”The friends looked at each other. People were afraid to say it out loud, but rumors had spread throughout the Kingdom tha