Another Piece of the Puzzle

Suggested Music: Disturbed - Indestructible

Cecil Ithin calmly rose from his kneeling position, exhaling for the duration of the movement and coming to a rest as he looked over the hill in the distance where the marching and chattering of the incoming army began. He had spent the early morning hours preparing for his last stand, his men where exhausted and their food and water supplies had been gone for days. The men awoke at the sound of the incoming fae army, the calm presence of their commander steadied their nerves but could not give them enough strength for what was about to come. This would be their last stand, it had been a week since the fae army had ambushed their company and they had been destroying their spirit ever since. It ended today, one way or another.

Cecil's anima jumped to life, bursting blue essence fought back the light of the orange and yellow horizon with violently lashing tendrils flaring out towards the approaching enemies. The fae were not likely to be discouraged, but the display gave his men courage to fight with him and die with honor. It was the best end they could all hope for. As the goblins and trolls scrambled over the hill in an unorganized motley Cecil stepped forward and hoisted the mighty reaver daiklave from his back and pointed it forward at the encroaching army.

"Form up! Assemble behind me and protect our flank!" Cecil commanded the troops in a booming voice that forced their obedience.

Cecil lunged forward as the unit stayed behind him on the defensive, Cecil struck with tremendous slashes and cuts that made the wind howl and his enemies were rent asunder. But for every goblin and creature he felled two more took its place, it was undoubtedly a losing battle. Cecil let primal anger fuel his essence enhanced muscles, grinding his teeth as he dug into the loose soil at his feet to hold his ground and make a short clearing of enemies at the front of the formation. As a mighty swing of the daiklave tore through a goblin horizontally he allowed the momentum of the blow to spin him back towards his unit, steel cold gaze evaluating the state of his unit. A grave prospect at best. Half of his men had been cut down already, what remained had managed to hold the flank but wouldn't last much longer. Cecil felt a rare moment of helplessness, there was nothing he could do about all of their inevitable fate. He was reminded of the day of his exaltation, the booming voice of The Unconquered Sun cut short by the shrill tones of the Nephwrack who murdered his family and took him hostage.

Cecil turned back to the enemies that had closed in the small clearing of gore and viscera that had been left behind after his initial onslaught against the army. Still there was no hope of victory, but as Cecil had proved in the lair of The Silver Prince his will could not be broken. Cecil pushed forward into the swarming horde despite the odds, the tentacles of his anima lashed out at his opponents with fierce aggression to match that of his fighting style, even the indomitable fae gave pause before engaging him directly. Still it was a losing battle.

The bone chilling roar that interrupted the entire battle brought combat between both sides to a screeching and nerve rattling halt. The roar originated from the hills behind Cecil and his men, shaking the twisted scenery of the Wyld and echoing endlessly off the rolling hills and glass snow that covered the land under their feet. Cecil slowly turned over his shoulder to look at what beast the Wyld had spewed at their backs to deliver their final blow, to his surprise and dread he saw yet another anima. The man-beast engulfed in a blazing anima that was unmistakably that of a lunars was a sight of terror to Cecil and the fae army alike. Too many of the solars companions had been lost to the twisted and corrupt Wyld that Cecil knew it could not be trusted, but perhaps the gods had shined down on him in another moment of need.

Without further warning the werecat lunged down the hill on all fours, massive stride propelled the beast off the ground in massive bounding leaps. It closed the distance between itself and Cecil unit before Cecil could react, but in the leap that would have pounced on top of his men it instead shot into the air over the unit. As it leapt over the gathered men, it righted itself and drew a flashing moonsilver reaper daiklave from its back. As the beast landed the blade struck in a crushing flash, striking down three goblins in an instant at the head of the unit. Cecil readied himself to defend a similar strike, though it seemed he was at least second on the beast's hit list. To his surprise it turned and spoke in Sky Tongue, a low growl of a voice in the moment that it took the fae army to respond.

"Get your men out of here, straight back. Over the hill. You're not far from the border marches. I'll hold back what I can, you'll have to dispose of what gets past me."

Cecil nodded in response, turning quickly to his men and casting a hand out in the direction the beast had just appeared from. "Move out! Straight over the hill, on the double!"

Cecil glanced back at the lunar that had already pushed forward into the swarm of wyld twisted creatures, in a different moment Cecil might have appreciated the contrast between the two twisted forms. The smooth elegance of the lunar exalted made the warped and chaotic wyld creatures seem primitive and inferior; the lunar's prowess went a long way to enforce that thought. Cecil thought perhaps he should stay and help the beast, perhaps the two of them could best the horde, one of the goblins had latched its razor sharp teeth into the leg of the lunar. The goblin was sent flying back with a single swipe, the wound left behind was already healed before Cecil could cut down enough of the foes to make his way to the Beastman.

Cecil didn't doubt it could handle itself, and a few goblins had already tried to slip past and chase after his men which Cecil immediately chased after himself. Cecil sent his reaver daiklave spiraling through the air as he took off in a full sprint after his men, the spinning blade decapitated the first goblin effortlessly and continued to sail through the air, arching around from his right to his left and cutting down the second goblin with equal ease. The blade finished it's whirling arc by circling around and landing comfortably back in Cecil's hand mid-stride.

Cecil caught up with his men quickly, highlighting just how exhausted the men were and what little energy they had to push out of the Wyld. Cecil did what he could to push them on at least until they cleared the middle-marches and made it to the relative safety of the border-marches. Several times small groups of goblins approached from behind them, but Cecil was able to easily dispatch of the creatures before they could reach or slow his men's flight. Finally Cecil and his troops broke through the middle-marches and found the relief of some structure returning to Creation around them. Cecil decided he had pushed the men far enough, and called out for them to stop and take a short rest before they would move on until they could clear the border-marches.

---

Cecil stood watch alone, looking back at the treacherous middle-marches they had left behind, he was not sure if he should expect to see the fae army chasing after them or if he would ever see the Lunar who had undoubtedly saved their lives coming over the horizon. Either way the men needed rest to brave the harsh cold that awaited them in their journey through the north, they were a long way from civilization even after they escaped the Wyld. The rest of the men were currently huddled around a few small campfires they had managed to start and were starting to drift to sleep. Cecil debated how long he could afford to let them rest, he would have preferred to wait until they fully reentered Creation but wasn't sure the men would make it.