Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer… but in this case, it was a decidedly fast killer. Aishael who was still in the midst of organizing her troops had spotted the Harpies flying towards her. With a quick flick of her wrist and a couple of slashes later, a couple of energy slashes were sent out. At the same time, her longsword fell back into its sheath with a clean snap.
Those poor Harpies were immediately brought down from the ceiling, crashing unceremoniously into the ground with a bang, still alive but no longer a threat. Unfortunately for them, the former wasn’t going to be true for long as well. A couple of eagle-eyed Half-Elves promptly seized upon this opportunity to score a couple of kills for themselves, turning both the Harpies into pin cushions in the process… that will you teach birds a lesson!
The 5000 strong Composite Dark Elven Army was led by Reyage. Because Jezsere decided to follow me, he ended up being roped into the reinforcements as well. Given his background, he wasn’t suitable to be a lowly soldier, especially not when Paliseth had plans for him to be the leader of the clan in the future. In light of that, this war was a good opportunity to rack up some merit for himself. Even though it wasn’t a large war, it was still an opportunity that held no disadvantages.
Reyage himself was an Assassin, but unlike the others, he was trained by Paliseth personally. Because of that, he was stronger than most elites of other clans.
As such, the sudden ambush by the Minotaurs and Harpies did not throw him into disarray. Under his calm leadership, the Dark Elves quickly regained their footing and formed into a defensive position under his orders. Shieldbearers at the front and long-range attackers at the back, they prepared for the oncoming onslaught of the Minotaurs and Harpies.
While the Half-Elves were already engaging with the airborne Harpies, their numbers were too many for the Half-Elves to handle alone. From just a glance alone, I counted at least 7000 Harpies. Faced with such overwhelming numbers, the best the Half-Elves could do was ensure that their ranks did not fall to the harassment of the Harpies. Yet despite their best efforts, it was only a matter of time before these Harpies broke free with their obvious airborne advantage. The Harpies, having felt the sting of the Half-Elven army, decided to turn their sights on Reyage’s army.
Unfortunately for these Harpies, if they thought the Half-Elves were bad, the Dark Elves were only going to be worse. This was a properly maintained and trained army that was organised for the purpose for handling battles such as this. Furthermore, this was Paliseth’s own son leading the battle, the soldiers were all the best of the best. This very army held the honorable title of the Blood Brigade.
The only reason why there was even a brief moment of confusion was because Reyage was suddenly shoved in as their commander. Simply put, Paliseth really went all out to pave the way for this son of hers.
Dozens of Harpies swooped down with the intent of grabbing a member of the Blood Brigade. But this was the worst possible target they could have ever chosen. The Archers and Mages of the Brigade were already ready and waiting. Not only that, this particular army had an occupation unique to them, the Javalineers. Armed with short spears, these Javalineers might not have had the longest of ranges when compared to the Archers or Mages, but as long as the target was within their effective range, their accuracy rate was well over 90%.
Furthermore, a short spear was a lot stronger than a mere arrow. One hit was all it took to skewer a Harpy. In contrast, an arrow probably had to hit a weak point like the head or heart in order to take down the target.
Now… the Elves were all a force to be reckoned with, but when it came to the Murlocs…
5000 Murlocs was definitely a staggering figure, but their lack of training meant that they were in complete disarray when faced with such an ambush. In fact, quite a number of Murlocs had already thrown aside their weapons and jumped into the river.
The Murloc Shaman and Clanleader tried whatever they could, scolding, beating, cursing, but nothing could stem the tide of deserters. Something worth noting at this point was that these Minotaurs had clashed with the Murlocs before. The result was that the Murlocs were thoroughly trounced. As for the Harpies… in their own words, they hated those flying birds…
In the proverbial food chain of the Underdepths, the Minotaurs and Harpies were well above the Murlocs, like how a cat was to a mouse. The Murlocs weren’t willing conscripts to begin with, so even if the Murloc Shaman and Clanleader were here to control them, there was no way they could overcome the innate fear in their hearts. That was how much higher up in the food chain the Minotaurs and Harpies were. At the same Star-level, a Murloc had no chance of ever winning against a Minotaur or Harpy.
Murlocs? Hah, how about you guys call yourselves salted fish instead.
Out of the 5000 or so Murlocs that marched with us, not all had managed to escape in the chaos, roughly half of their numbers rallied back under the Murloc Shaman and Clanleader. Of those that fled, some chose the river while some chose to run in the unfortunate direction of the Blood Brigade.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login