Book 4, Chapter 85 (1/2)
The Portal Opens
The western portions of the Baruch Kingdom were mostly comprised of a harsh desert with undulating terrain. However, these barren lands had been transformed over the past month. Sentinels and horses now patrolled the area regularly, looking for possible hiding spots in the empty desert. A massive army was camped nearby, ready to charge in on a moment’s notice.
A scout was currently urging his horse forward to circle around a stone pillar that was ten metres thick, his horizon expanding to reveal vast flatlands ahead.
The ranger was already quite old, his face filled with the vicissitudes of time, but his gaze remained sharp. He looked into the distance where everything was calm as per usual, preparing to have his horse move on.
However, the old horse that had accompanied him for a long while was unwilling to go forward. Startled by the creature neighing and backing away, the scout squinted ahead and saw the space in front of him beginning to distort. A dazzling light suddenly filled the air in front of him, splitting space apart!
The ranger found himself blinded in the moment, but with decades of experience he immediately brought his hand up to block the strong light. Blinking his vision back slowly, he managed to discern the scene ahead of him.
An enormous portal had already taken shape a few hundred metres away. Groups of fully-armed soldiers walked out from a ripple-like screen, the style of their armour entirely different from anything the Faelorian had ever seen. They were evidently not of this world. place.
“Invader!” the man gasped, producing a short red flare. A single press and this would fly hundreds of metres into the sky, sending a magical wave of energy that would alert all mages within a hundred kilometres to the location.
However, just as he was about to press it, the ranger hesitated. The first few groups of invaders had just walked out of the gate, yet to discover him. Once he sent out this flare, he would not be able to escape.
The old man’s hands gripped tighter and tighter, large beads of sweat rolling down from his forehead as throbbing veins popped out. Squad after squad of soldiers continued to walk out…
The scout knew that the ability to determine the location of the invaders and attack them before they could assemble would play a huge part in the oncoming battle. In a war of the entire world, his life was nothing. The man suddenly gritted his teeth and pressed hard with both hands, the short red stick shooting into the skies as it shot out bright red light. The tracks it left behind took quite some time to dissipate.
The ranger felt as though all strength had been sucked out of him, body going limp. He immediately turned back and had his horse bolt, fleeing as fast as he could.
A powerful general leading the vanguard was quickly urging his soldiers forward with a loud voice, having them leave the following squads some space. Bright red suddenly flashed in the corner of his eyes, the red beacon immediately revealing the fleeing ranger. His eyes glinted coldly as he snorted, taking an enormous bow off his back and nocking an arrow.
*Twang!* *Thump!* The arrow sparked as it flew into the distance, crossing several hundred metres in the blink of an eye to bury itself into the scout’s back. The horse continued to run on, but after a mere dozen metres or so its rider exploded into a torrent of bloody rain!
The general loosed a thunderous cry, having the soldiers set up formation even as he dispatched a group of light cavalry that had just stepped through the portal to go hunt for and kill any other scouts nearby.
More and more soldiers continued to stream out, the formation growing a little disorganised as it approached the 10,000 mark. The general’s voice grew slightly hoarse, but many of those who had just walked out the gates were still a little disoriented from the leap. Some even had trouble standing, an unfortunate side effect of using an unstable passageway
Thankfully, a second general soon followed. The one in the vanguard sighed with relief, working together with the new arrival to bring things back into order.
However, it was at this moment that the earth trembled slightly. A cloud of dust rose up in the distance, pressing closer to their location until they were finally within range of sight. A row of cavalrymen was charging over at full speed!
The expressions of the two generals warped. With vision surpassing that of normal soldiers, they noticed that there were nearly 10,000 horses in the vanguard. The problem was with the dust obscuring their sight. If just the vanguard was this large, what about the army behind? How many would there be?
The soldiers that had already walked out of the portal quickly adjusted formation, the heavy infantry in the front with the spears right behind. The flanking cavalry was quickly withdrawn as the army closed up in preparation for battle.
The Faelorians had already charged up. Their commander quickly noticed that Raymond’s troops were experienced and didn’t dare to rush into the wall of spears head-on, instead splitting the vanguard in two and having them flank around the wings to strike at the rear near the portal. Norland may have been proficient at planar incursions, but Faelor was experienced in fending them off. They were aware that the teleportation gate was the key to this battle.