Gods of Malcea ✔️

F O R T Y - S E V E N

"There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart's desire. The other is to gain it."

-Xamdú

____________________________

Karos looked around at the darkening sky filling with the colors of sunset. Clouds were all around shielding the sun from his eyes. Still, he kept an even pace with the soldiers in front of him. He hoped that he would be able to end this soon, so he could be back in Ake's arms before he did anything rash. Communication was a problem with them, Karos knew. He did not like to tell him things and Ake did the same. 

When he woke, Karos could not find Ake anywhere in the guesthouse. He asked around and finally came to the conclusion that he went to the palace as he slept.Karos was very wary, at first, of Ake going there alone. He had not come back and he wanted to see Ake's face before he left. However, he knew Rakkaus would never do a thing to hurt him. That was not what he worried over. It was his actions and what he would do next once he found out what Bash had done. Karos drew his face into a frown as they neared the first gate. 

"The first gate is the first defense against the gwasas, you know this," Karos yelled as he pushed his way to the front. "Defend it with your very lives. If you do not, you will not have much to go back to even if you decide to run. " 

"Aye, Commander," they shouted. 

He looked around and stared at the men before him. They were well armored and well equipped but Karos had no time to train them. They could not fight the same way they would fight humans. He had six hundred men here, five hundred at the second gate, two hundred at the third and the bulk of the thirteen hundred soldiers at the final gate. He accompanied his men to the first gate because it was no secret that many of them would die. And who was he to send them there when he would not go himself? It was reckless and it was dumb of him, but it was the only way he thought to comfort them. 

"Always go for the neck. Do not bother with superficially wounding them. They will tear you limb from limb if given the chance. And do not stare them in the eyes. Do not show fear. All they are are creatures of darkness and nothing more. They can be killed." 

"Aye, Commander," they roared in unison. 

They were men, but they were frightened men, terrified of death and the creatures appearing over the horizon. The earth shook underneath them from the multitude of footsteps coming from the creatures. 

"Archers to the back until the signal is given. Shields to the front. Left and Right regimen separate." They would attack each side and the front hoping to push them back into the large fissure in the earth from whence they came. If all went according to plan, all they would have to worry about was the griffins. 

"To the front!" Karos shouted as he saw the men's hesitation clear as day. Night was falling and without light, they would be like sitting ducks. "Begin spreading the oil." He had no time for a motivational speech and it was not as if he was willing to give one. They were meant to lessen the numbers for the second and third gate as much as possible. Many of those men were going to die. He knew it. They knew it. 

Soldiers from the back carried barrels of oil and covered the ground with them. The screeches from the creatures were becoming more pronounced as they started on the left wing. They hand no time for the right.   

"We have fought dragons and have won aplenty. These things should be no different. Take out the biggest ones and worry for smaller one later!" 

Before he could say anything else, Karos heard as some of his men erupt in screams as the gwasas ripped through their armor like it was a second skin and dug into their flesh with their claws and sharp teeth.