Dark Armor: High Walls and Siege Engines

He began his advance amidst a line of heavy infantry, shields forward as they marched into a hail of arrows. There were earthworks ahead, blocking the way to the gates and defended by sorcerers as well as archers and pikes. No wonder Rebka hesitated. At a glance, Pallian thought the numbers of attackers and defenders were close to evenly balanced. The forces of Teregor likely had an edge in enchantments and sorceries, but not enough to break the city's defenses without exposing themselves to counterattack. 

There was a brief movement to his left, a flicker of pale green light along the front line of the advancing infantry, and a dozen figures in heavy armor crumpled to the ground, choking as they died. A burst of fire exploded on his right, but the troopers there merely staggered a bit and continued on. The line closed up, and the advance continued. 

Then a flight of four boulders came hurtling over the top of the earthworks, plowing through the advancing troops and the ranks behind them as they landed. A moment later a lightning bolt flicked back and forth across the area between the earthworks and the metal-bound gates of the city, and Pallian knew that his sister was attempting to cover his advance. 

Another volley of arrows shattered against their shields, and Pallian led his troop inexorably on. A line of fire lanced out from behind the earthworks, but the black knight caught it on his shield, which groaned as it absorbed the sorcery. Good, he thought. Target me. The more sorcery his armor absorbed, the fewer of his troops would die. 

More than one of the sorcerers had noticed him now. A line of pale blue struck him from another raised position, trying to probe past his shield and focus itself on his armor; he tracked the movements as well as he could, and his armor absorbed what little the shield did not. 

Then, for a brief moment, the world turned to fire around him. 

In the Dark Knight's armor, Pallian felt nothing. He continued marching forward, despite a moment of blindness as his helmet went dark to protect his vision. He was at the edge of the earthworks now, and he could see that the captain of the heavy infantry was still advancing at his side. Behind them, a handful of troopers picked themselves up from the ground and quick-stepped to reform the line. One of them risked lowering their shield to make a quick throwing gesture, and one of the raised overlooks exploded into steaming mud. 

Risky, but well done, Pallian decided, and had his helm mark that trooper for a commendation. Beside him, the captain nodded and Pallian thought that she might have done the same. They advanced together up the dirt slope, stamping steps into place for the others to follow. 

Here. Pallian crested the top and looked down at the trench behind it. A trooper in the colors of Marinul tried to ram an enchanted spear up into his crotch, but he ignored it and reached for his blade instead. 

He slipped his hand into the sword's shaped gauntlet, grasped the handle inside, and felt the weapon connect with his armor. Its blade extended directly forward from his fist, and its gauntlet covered his armored hand and forearm, becoming part of his armor and adding additional protection there. With the enchantments combined, he brought the blade down and around in a slow line, sweeping the trench with a trail of levin-fire. 

Beside him, the infantry captain lifted a hand and sent a small ball of fire towards the troops in the next trench back. It exploded in the air, burning, blinding, clearing the path for them while the Black Knight murdered the foremost line of defenders in its entirety. The line of fire struck him again, but Pallian merely lifted his shield as he continued slaughtering troops. His own troops were atop the earthworks now, moving in and spreading out to slay anyone he might have missed. Two squads had leapt the trenches and were headed for a group of Marinulan soldiery who clustered around the only catapult that still looked serviceable. They moved quickly, despite their heavy armor, and in a matter of moments the defenders were down and the way was--

There. On the far side of the open space between earthworks and gates stood a lone figure, arms sweeping through a series of graceful gestures. No doubt it was speaking as well, but Pallian couldn't hear it over the screaming and roaring and the crackle of new flames. He lifted his blade again, just as the sorcerer stepped back behind something that hadn't been there a moment before. Damn it. 

It was tall and pale and misshapen, a lump of flesh given the faintest approximation of human form; it was also about nine feet tall. He sprayed it with a burst of levin-fire from his blade, but it merely shook itself like a wet dog and lumbered forward to meet him. 

Very well, Pallian thought. The hard way. He gathered himself, and sprang across the trenches.