The Broken Horde

BR49
January 686
Agrax fumed as he watched the battle unfold before him. He had
argued with the healers that he was able to walk and needed to stretch
his legs, and after repeatedly telling him his back was broken they had
agreed to let him move about only because they knew they would be too
busy with the men who were taking part in the assault to stop him doing
what he wanted anyway. He had painfully made his way to the edge of
the camp using a pair of long axes as crutches. Every step he took had
grated his spine, sending jolts of pain up and down his body, but he had
endured the pain and settled on a sack to watch the assault.
To his one remaining eye the breach was tiny and steep. It would
have been manageable if the attackers had taken ladders to assault the
wall near to the breach as well but the poorly made ladders from the
escalade were either broken or left at the base of the wall and no one
had had the courage or the insight to collect them. Nor had the
craftsmen made any more. The arrogance of his commanders angered
him beyond bounds. He sat in silence as the assault force moved in. At
least the best armed men were used this time. They would need all the
help they could muster to get through that small gap and most of them
would be dead or maimed. The rest would think themselves as gods
even though the dead had likely done all the work. He huffed and puffed
as he watched the slaughter begin, desperate to be among his
comrades regaining his lost honour.
The bells and horns of the city began their tune, making a clamour
that could likely be heard for miles, letting all know that this was the end
of Thilasia. The walls and ramp of the breach became redder and redder
and the golden armoured man and his retinue swung their hammers,
and within minutes the shine of gold was replaced by red. Every now
and again smoke would obscure his vision and it was then that he saw

the thousands of men running across to charge into the support troops.
The others about him were still focused on the breach.
Screaming in pain he hauled himself to his feet, yelling to the
groups of warriors around him to gather their weapons. The men looked
at him in confusion, and it was only when the slaughter began that they
hurried to grab their equipment. Agrax sent runners to spread the word.
There were almost forty thousand men around the encampment, and
though they were armed with nothing but knives and hand axes they
could still stop the disaster that was unfolding in front of them.
Adrenaline surged through Agraxs veins and he hefted the two
huge weapons and ran out in front of the untested men who were now
forming up in front of the camp. The pain was in the back of his mind
now as he shouted orders for the men to advance. Thousands had
formed up in the short time already, most of whom had been watching
the battle. He pushed his way into the front rank and ordered the men to
move at double pace. Their formation immediately turned into nothing
more than a horde, but Agrax cared not. The sheer numbers would be
enough he thought to himself, they had to be.
The hammerers still held the breach, and the North Born assault
was now being stuck from behind as the men who destroyed the reserve
charged in their rear. Agrax saw banners emerge from the city and a
mass of cavalry charge into the flanks of the assault force. He was still
minutes away but he shouted to his men to go faster and the horde
stretched out looser and looser as the slower or less eager men
struggled to keep pace. Agrax could feel the pain begin to itch at the
back of his mind but he forced it down and screamed in fury as he
carried on the charge.
His own scream soon was joined by others behind him, but not
screams of rage but of pain and death. He heard a noise like thunder
and turned to see a heavily armoured man riding a huge bison. The
sudden twist of his back to look behind him was too much. He felt a ping
in his back, like thong snapping under tension, and the pain went away.
He fell to his knees, keeping himself upright with the axes, and watched
the end unfold before him. The Alliance of Light relief force had arrived,
and the unarmed horde was broken.