“We have the Sacred Stones!” Avina offers. “Sigvid! You and I could share the power. If the sapphire stone increases my ability, can you imagine the might from the unified stones?
“That is still risky.” Slode’s arms are together over his bare chest. “What if you fell while invisible?”
“Riskier still if you fell and Beast could not control himself.” Grim raises a brow.
“She will not fall,” Sigvid intercedes curtly. “Avina and I will certainly have favor in the fight. I can rip the undead to bits if she becomes a silent assassin.” He puffs his pipe, and the itch to settle in a direction grows.
“If I may,” Calder interrupts. “The cliffside grows narrow and steep with boulders the size of five grown men along the path, creating a pinch point. With their heavy numbers, we could push them into the fjord using the trees as cover.”
Even Kar remains silent as they consider the plan suggested by the youngest Drengr.
“I don’t suppose that would destroy the army,” Slode muses, “but it would annihilate a significant chunk.”
“A more even playing field.” A smoke ring encircles Sigvid’s head as he stares at the jagged cliff edge, a plan forming. “Excellent work, Calder.” He snuffs his pipe, stashing it in his pocket. “Avina, grab Tyo and Elsrith. We have undead to send back to the Abyss.”
As Thrain’s army approaches the narrow path, Sigvid and his Drengr Army wait. Tall grass, trees, and boulders offer shielding from their position. They watch silently as the Salt Army marches directly at them, none the wiser of the ambush.
Along the steep forested hill to their right, with an impressive view of the fjord below, hide Tyo, Elsrith, and the massive Timber Army amongst the thick trees.
Sigvid, Calder, and Grim crouch behind a boulder. The Lord Commander peers around to see Salt warriors intermix with the undeaddrauger, forming an unimaginable horde. Their march is sluggish, as the boulders lined along the cliffside force the fighters to funnel into thinner lines as they tread carefully on the long edge of the path.
His warriors ready their weapons, preparing for the onslaught. Sigvid glances at Calder on his left. The young man holds out his massive great axe and strokes the curved steel and long shaft, allowing ice to crystalize. An enhancement that gives him a deadly advantage. He continues the icing process along his armor, too.
“Remind me to never get on your bad side, Avardsson.” Sigvid quips at the young man.
Calder smirks as he finishes coating his armor in jagged ice shards.
Yet another mystery ability to take up with the gods.
Thrain’s Army nears the end of the narrow stretch, and thunder rumbles down the hill, forcing Sigvid and his Drengr to brace. A rockslide five times the strength he and Avina encountered on Fjell Mountain careens through the forest toward the precipice. Tyo and a hulking battalion of brutes at the summit prepare another stone wave.
The sound of the rocks tumbling through the trees halts the troops’ progress. Some vainly attempt to retreat or scramble forward along the path toward the hidden Drengr. To their terror, the falling stones slam into the bodies of those along the cliff, tearing them off into the open air and the fjord below.
Oh, Briny God of strength, we revere these fearless spirits who venture to your halls in the Depths.
The Timber Army materializes, clutching bows and quivers like phantoms in the dark thicket. They release a hailstorm of arrows upon the surviving drauger and Salt warriors. More stone crashes upon the never-ending stream of fighters cresting the cliffside.
Thrain’s force navigates around the stone debris, ready to fire at the archers. Once they reach the end of the boulder aisle, where the path begins to widen, Sigvid shouts, “Shield Wall!”
All of his hardened warriors emerge in a roar from the grass and build an impenetrable barrier with their shields. Shouts from Thrain’s army are a hum so loud Sigvid can no longer hear himself think. The front of the drauger and Salt Army reconverge and slam into the Drengr force, shuddering their fortification yet not theirresolve.
“Open low!” Sigvid shouts, and a lower section of shields is clear enough for spears to shoot through the line of Drengr, impaling the front line of soldiers. As fast as they maneuver, the wall closes before they can retaliate.
“No fucking mercy!” Sigvid’s voice booms through the shade of the shields.
“Open!” Slode and Kar bellow their commands on either side of the shield wall. All shields shove outward, forcing the nearby troops back as his Drengr leaps forward for another attack. They repeat until Thrain’s army confronts a blockage. Due to the Drengr, they cannot move forward, yet their sheer numbers prohibit them from retreating.
Avina awaits Sigvid's signal in the tall grass. Finally, he nods to Calder, who signals her from the rear of the wall. She unsheaths her axes and runs along the cliffside toward Thrain’s Army. In the blink of an eye, she is invisible to all but Sigvid. She becomes a silent fury through the enemy ranks, slicing throats and splitting skulls.
The blood bath continues in a glorious carnage until the sun passes the highest point in the sky.
Sigvid, Tyo, and Elsrith stand atop a layer of bodies as their warriors press along the remaining enemy troops.
“Did half the army take a nap on their way?” Tyo kicks a shield away. “Where is the rest of this horde your boy saw?”
They fought off a third of the soldiers they expected to confront.
“We push them until the line ends.” Sigvid claps Tyo on the shoulder before rejoining the fight.
