Yani city itself was situated on a large desert island. the island itself was about the size of a small country. The daemon horde usually came from the far south east region of the island where there was a vast jungle that had not yet been consumed by the desert. While the inhabitants of the city could leave whenever they wanted, the island happened to be rich in one thing: minerals, and lots of them. This is what had drawn humans to the island and forced them to stay. Now the city was thriving and it was too late to turn back.
As Kit scanned the horizon all he could see was sand and trees until the point where the sky touched the ground. But there was no doubt about it, the horde was coming. He turned around on Valo, to face his men.
"Listen." He said, calmly. His voice was loud and clear, and as the archers on top of the walls were all cultivators he knew he didn't have to speak very loud for them to hear him. "Can you hear it?" as the wind faded into the background the sound of a horde the size of which none of them had seen before charging towards them could be made out. "What does it sound like to you? Most men would say that it's the sound of death, come to take us all to the next life. Most men would tell us that it's the sound of our doom! That it's the sound of our demise!" Valo was now pacing up and down the front lines, making the horses somewhat uncomfortable even though over time they had grown accustomed to her menacing presence. She could hear the horde coming better than any man there, and she could smell it in the air. Daemons are widely varied creatures. They are also hard to understand. The eastern island hyenas were high up the food chain in the eastern islands. They were known for ferocity and an odd intelligence. Sometimes it seemed as though they were as smart as humans once they had reached a certain cultivation level. Valo was currently letting out a low growl, ready for anything.
"But we aren't like most men." Kit continued, "No, we are the shield that guards the realms of men! (AN: Sorry for that, game of thrones fans.) We hear the horde approaching and we do not fear it, for we know that it is not death or our demise that approaches. It is the sound of Glory from glorious battle!" Kit raised his spear to the heavens. The sound of rampaging daemons was growing near, but kit and his men steeled their resolve.
Out in the horizon a faint dark border between the ground and the sun formed. Kit knew the severity of the situation, but at the moment he felt confident. Even if all else failed, he had one epic trick up his sleeve.
Now the horde could be seen. This was only the first wave, but the daemons were still so vast in numbers they formed a tidal wave of destruction riding hard with no other intent than to annihilate anything in their paths.
Now that he saw them clearly a frightening thought crossed his mind. There were only two types of daemons in this wave. Usually, there was no order, pattern or tactics to an attack by daemon hordes, and if it weren't for the daemons Kit saw before him he wouldn't have noticed anything out of the ordinary. Now, with the enemy in his sight he realised something about this was wrong.
Thunderbirds. Countless thunderbirds soared toward them. They were large with streaks of colour that made them stand out from most daemons. Being too large to actually fly they relied on the fact that they are wind elemental daemons. Bat-like and monstrous their skulls were the size of carts with a set of serrated jaws that were more like swords. The flap of their monstrous wings was thunder. The creatures had no eyes, so they felt the wind, any displacement by anything that was alive and they would attack in a twisted frenzy akin to winged piranha.
Then there was the largest herd of rhinoceros behemoths any of them had ever seen. Each one was at least five tons of fury. They were rock elemental daemons which made them tough enough to withstand anything you threw at them. Fortunately, the cultivation levels for both were low, too low in fact to be ranked. But what kit had come to realise was that the rhinoceros behemoths were meant to dismantle his ground forces, the same way his cavalry men would do to an opposing army. The thunderbirds would then ignore the battle completely, and proceed to the city. Certain daemons were known to be intelligent, but kit had to admit that whatever it was leading the horde had just left doubt in his heart as to if he would be able to defeat it as the only one in his army who had advanced to the last stages of the Foundation Realm.
As the first wave approached he raised his hand quickly brought it back down. In an instant his archers let their arrows loose. Countless red streaks flew over the battlefield, covered in fire qi. The temperature seemed to rise as a malevolent red glow cloaked the soon to be battlefield.
Hundreds of thunderbirds fell from the sky, but there must have been thousands of them. For each one that fell from the sky with an ear-piercing shriek ten more took its place, flying hard to the city. The battle had begun and there was no stopping it now.
"Hold the line and push them back!" he shouted as the small mercenary army charged at the stampeding herd of rhinoceros behemoths.
The sound of arrow-lances bathed in bright red fire qi ripping through thunderbirds high above Tor faded into the background as without thinking he urged his steed forward, with his long-sword drawn at the ready. He was a middle fighter about to progress into an upper fighter. From what he had heard the first few waves wouldn't be much of a challenge for someone like him, but still…
He was one of Kit's commanders and had been charged to hold the eastern wall. Now as the behemoths came closer he found that all the thoughts that had plagued him earlier. All the uncertainty seemed to fade away. Now his mind was clear, except for one thought. It was of her. He imagined her waiting for him in the city after the battle, and held on tight to the memory. They were getting closer now. Large, herbivorous behemoths with three large horns arranged in a triangle; two on its head and one on at the tip of its snout. They shook the earth as they knocked down anything in their way. If they got through then the city would definitely fall.Suddenly something heavy came down on him. He hadn't expected it. It knocked his horse over, throwing him to the ground. it was the corpse of a thunderbird that had been slain in mid-air. As he fell he spun around and kicked the thunderbird into the path of an oncoming behemoth. The lumbering beast tripped on the corpse, resulting in a d
She regained her footing and prepared to fire again. The thunderbird was busy snapping at something. She realised it was one of her men that the alpha thunderbird must have snatched as it swept over the wall.A few more chomps and it swallowed, leaving a dismembered leg to fall limp to the ground. Meera conjured another bow and began firing arrow-lances like crazy. With amazing agility it dodged them all and returned for another bite.it was clear the alpha was faster and stronger than normal thunderbirds, but Meera kept firing. As it swept over the wall again it snatched up another soldier with its tremendous jaws and took another one in its talons. The soldier trapped in its talons was still alive and was struggling to get free. The alpha thunderbird simply squeezed and there was a crunching noise. The soldier stopped struggling. The talons released him and he fell limp all the way to the hard ground.The alpha thunderbird made another hundred and eighty degree
Bastian sat in the Cole family garden. It was a charming botanical wonder full of flowers Bastian had never seen before and well trimmed trees and hedges in neat little rows. Soon the plan would be put into action, and Bastian's mind had been racing. Several gardeners were tending to the maize of stunning flora. His clothes were fine and comfortable, provided by Tyson Cole while Bastian had been living under his house to prepare for the ensuing battle that was to come. His hair was growing again, in fact he found it grew quite quickly, but Bastian had become accustomed to keeping it short.He had been taking walks in Tyson Cole's garden more frequently in the past few days, choosing to seclude himself in meditative isolation as much as he possibly could, and he knew why. Since the deafening roar – no, that was too recent – since he had woken up in a foreign body in this foreign land and trapped with this foreign soul inside him that claimed to have become a
Kitrid started breaking into a cold sweat, because Meera's point was quite valid. Best way to deal with a horde this size is to deal with the alpha. The problem was that in this case the alpha might be too strong for them to handle, so Kitrid was not sure how they were going to go about it."What is taking Tyson so long? The support he promised should be here by now" Kitrid was fighting on the east wall facing the south east direction from which the horde was coming from. Due to the fact that his troops faced the full brunt of the horde, the elder council had promised support. Tyson Cole represented the elders by giving his word that he would send reinforcement if they were in dire straits.At the moment they had lost thousands of men. Thousands more were injured and even more were to fall in battle if this were to continue. The birds in the sky and the beasts on the ground formed a perfect combination minimizing all the advantages Kitrid and his troops had. 
Every ten or so years Yani City would accept a new batch of mercenaries within their city. The unsuspecting mercenaries usually came from far away lands, so they had no clue regarding the tragedies that would befall them from the horde. On the Sovereign Continent, wars were as numerous as the stars in the night sky.Plenty of cities and countries would rely on mercenaries to deal with the problems that plagued the, with Yani city being no exception. The difference between the weak and strong however became apparent at this point, with the strong cites having strong home grown armies.Onismo York stood above a pile of daemon corpses.These were some of the birds that had made it over the wall. Onismo had stationed his men just behind the west and north side of the wall just in case the mercenaries were overwhelmed.The man was adorned in armour from head to toe while his right hand held a large battle axe that was far bigger than what his body should be able
Let's rewind time a bit to understand what was happening. All the bigshots of the Cole family and Shasha family had gathered together. Bastian had put together a plan, and they were getting told what to do."First is the southern wall. This will be the only defensive battle on our hands, so it makes sense to have most of our soldiers there. Vermaelen will take most of General Moto's soldiers and hold the wall for us. This job is probably the most simple yet most pivotal.The aquatic daemons will have to climb over the wall to have any chance, so all Vermaelen has to do is keep them away from the wall. If that's hard, then take care of them if they climb it."Vermalaen grunted in response. General Moto was uncomfortable handing her his troops, but he trusted Bastian so he nodded, giving his blessing."Both Sula and General Moto, select and take the most elite soldiers from both armies and make a second group. This group shall move in tandem with Tino
The streets of Yani City were abandoned for the city was under siege. The usual hustle and bustle of the markets, the shouting and cursing from the arena and the footsteps of civilians were now like ghosts of memories past. No one would have accepted that this was a previously active peak C-class city. Repeated attacks from previous years had taught them many a painful lesson, especially when it came to evacuation procedures. The entire city had been safely evacuated to a large underground bunker by the Dwight family members.As the de facto leaders of the city, they had the ability to mobilise all city resources under them. The troops provided by the Yorks made sure the civilians followed the orders and kept the peace while the Cole provided provisions. The large bunker was under the stewardship of the Oxlade family.At an intersection, in one of the richest districts in the city, an area considered just outside the Dwight family compound, stood a relaxed Guy, looking at the sky. He
Glossary of Terms.Marks.Mark Bearer:A person chosen to bear the Titan's Mark. They are also descendants of Ambevilius and are his possible successors.Titan's Mark:Proof of being a Mark Bearer. It is in the form of a tattoo in the shape of a golden coiling dragon.Custodian:A formerMark Bearer who has given up their rights to succession and willingly follows another Mark Bearer.House:A Regiment of Custodians under a Mark Bearer. A Marke Bearer can only posses a maximum of five houses. Custodians in a House have ranks. They are ranked in this order from highest to lowest-Minister PrimeMinisterReverentClerkOrdinary CustodianA House is organized as follows-House Scale- a group of Custodians and their ClerkHouse Claw- a group of Clerks and their ReverentHouse Fang- a group of Reverents and their MinisterClaws:These are claws that are on the Titan's Mark, they represent t