The War Machine Spits the Most Coin [Wolfman]

[WolfMan]

Zod cursed harshly and rapidly, quickly putting seafaring men who held a reputation for such language to shame. The sudden movements surprised him, although he felt stupid for not expecting such an obvious result.

Large hands quickly fumbled around the shoulders of the major, using her fully armored weight to stop himself from tumbling to the ground, although barely. As the horse began to stop circling, he put an easy hand against a tuft of the horses rough fur. "Easy there," he tried to calmly speak. What came out seemed like a gentle voiced plea more than anything else.

He gave a hearty laugh, "By the maker, I hope so." He said this in a light voice, but a shade of uneasiness could be heard, especially by perceptive ears.

Their training clearly apparent, the horse gave a sudden lurch forward. While an onlooker could easily the skill and speed, his lack of experience made every motion and command seemed like the Theocog's intuition. His hands cusped the thick armor around her hips. He held with a force similar to that of his attempt at strangulating the entity.

His shaggy hair flowed into the wind. Reaching speeds he only dreamed of, he relished every moment of this travel. He was still nervous, more than the major could possibly know, but no longer having to deal with the threat of falling off opened him up to enjoying such an experience.

Weaving and bobbing through the trees, their speed increased. The scent grew stronger with each powerful movement the beast gave. The air pungent with stench, dirt, and grime that had long intertwined with the robes the mages usually neglected to wash.

He gave her hip a soft tap, but with enough force to knock against her armor and get her attention. "We grow close."

[AevumEternity]

The knight jerked a bit in surprise as he tapped her hit- she was either used to utter stillness or a blow hard enough to vibrate the entire suit, nonetheless- the Major turned slightly," How close?" She inquired so quietly that her voice barely seemed to slip past the helm let alone the thunderous thud of the beasts' foot falls.

She held up her right hand, closed in a fist- the advancing line halting briefly- Corporal Phyr seemed to shake his head impatiently, the boar he sat upon already busily stuffing armored snout to the ground to look for truffles or roots to munch on while they waited.

[WolfMan]

He gave her a nod to acknowledge her question, and began to slow his breathing. Most people wouldn't have been able to hear, or at least coherently. Zod was not most people however, being cursed with the blood of a beast.  He listened for what he could, but the air was uncomfortably still. He brought in wafts of the air, smelling past the boar, and listening past the scoffs of the Corporal.

"That can't be right," said Zod suddenly but calmly. Not giving explanation of himself, he slipped off the back of the great Theocog and onto the ground. He walked ahead of the formation, and kneeled down. A wall of stench had now covered the whole forest, and began to seep towards him.

"Major, we have a problem, and a big one. There are hundreds, if not thousands of them coming directly this way. It appears, as though we've stumbled directly into a counter attack, attempting to flank the main army." How much time they had was unknown. Zod could smell them, but not hear them, or at least hear them well. Hauntingly, the scent he tracked could be had among the smell of the other mages and mercenaries.

"How do you want to play this," he asked drawing his sword.

[AevumEternity]

The scouting party grows noticeably tense but remains steadfast, the Major meanwhile seemed to fall still, as if listening even though it was clear she coud not hear the approaching army even without her helm. Turning the great white charger about, she motioned for him to again mount," We meet up eith our main force. If they wish to throw the ocean against the rocks, we will choose our own battle ground."

[WolfMan]

He jumped up on the Theocog, this time slightly more graceful than before, although still very clumsy. Feeling as though he failed, he began to meditate on the nature of what exactly they were up against. Something didnt feel right at all. Something beyond just an army of mages coming in their direction.

Still, it was too late now. The pair began to turn around and head back towards the way they had come. The forest seemed to block out an uncomfortably big portion of lght on this particular day. Perhaps there were clouds in the sky, but the trees were also thick. The sound of the encroaching army grew quieter as they rode, but it still lurked within ear shot.

[AevumEternity]

The troop soldiered on in stony silence, picking up the pace to where the massive beast's footsteps created a low thunder. It was rather impressive only 6 beasts altogether created such a sound, to imagine an entire battalion was quite preposterous until it was seen. Alas, this was heavy cavalry, meant to directly engage the enemy with brute force and god-like power. A deity's hand was no small matter, after all.

Hakon focused upon navigating back toward the column of her men, her mind abuzz with fury and confusion. How had so many mages appeared from over the mountains? It had to be interference from Serendipity, which would immediately mean this civil war had become a full out conflict. If she was wrong with this assumption but reported it, it could leave to the unneeded demise of thousands if not millions of people - extinguished because of suspicion.
On the other hand, if this was correct information, and she should die in battle, an entire army of a foreign power could sweep down from the North and devour the Connlaothan's weakened forces already spread throughout the land.

Her breathing had quickened near hyperventilation. Ansgar- Ansgar give me strength. Steeling her will, she motioned for the platoon with her to move on as the Theocog slowed to a trot and then a complete halt. the scouts soon disappeared with not even a comment, but a glance back in worry.

Slowly, she took off her helm as the forest fell silent, resting it upon the saddle horn of the armored beast. White wisps of hair flew freely now in the breeze, she stared sightlessly ahead before speaking quietly," Zod..."

[WolfMan]

Zod began to hear his companion's breath start to speed up. He was concerned, but remained silent. He wanted to ask what was wrong, but held his tongue. How foolish a question that would've been. Zod's heart also pumped strong, his breath beginning to lose grip of its previously steady cadence. He had been in few battles, at least not in his proper state of mind.

Thats exactly what he was worried about. His heart burned to be able to take out the beast that seemed to stalk them, and every last mage who had harbored it, was it, or did nothing to prevent its existence. The more he had thought about it, the more it seemed to kindle him. He had to try and keep calm, for when enraged who knows that could be done. But with that beast present, how could he? His mind circled, attempting to calm itself, but firing up at remembering the reason why he knew he couldn't be.

The horse began to slow pace, and came to a sudden stop. Concerned, he gave Corporal Phyr one last glare as he disappeared into the woods.

"What is it Major, is everything alright?"

[AevumEternity]

" We will face this as Ansgar's Hand, on our terms in the valley below us," she began quietly, gazing at him for a moment, smiling weakly as she looked at him from the corner of her eye," But I do not want you to participate, if you are correct on the number of Mages that are coming... We will be destroyed, but not before letting them feel our power."

she turns as much as the armor let her, gazing at him fully, calculatingly," I would like you to stay within the shelter of the forest, and search for any indication that the body of our foes are of Serendipity origins. If they are, please rush to the Reajh do not wait for any of us, alright?" she smiles weakly. Hakon's armored hand lightly rested upon Purgatorio's arching neck, looking down.

" If this is an invasion, they must know."

[WolfMan]

He slipped off the back his friend's great horse, feet hitting the ground. He chose to remain silent. He slowly walked to get a view of his companion, and speak with her face to face.

"Major, if you do not wish me to participate with you, I can accept that," began Zod. He was hurt, as he had taken this as her not viewing him as competent enough for battle. Showing her none of this, his face seemed to be made of stone as he continued, "But you cannot stop me from joining the fight. Until that beast is dead, I shall continue towards it and kill any mage in their way."

He turned to run back towards the forest, but stopped after a few short steps. The sounds of the encroaching army were gone. He listened further, but only only hear the snorting of the Thecog, and the chirping of some birds...

[AevumEternity]

" Zod!!" She called after him but fell into a stunned silence. She was shocked at first that he would simply leave, this was quite possibly the last request she would make before her demise. Yet he had not even acknowledged it. She felt a knot of grief tighten around her throat, but rage quickly bashed that away, grasping the helm, she secures it over her head before turning the Theocog and urging the massive beast into a full on gallop- distant thunder fading as she rode toward her unit.

It took nearly a half hour to reach her unit at the Valley's floor, they had returned to the illage, the farmlands outside it were large enough to create a suitable range for Ansgar's Hand to churn under massive hooves. She had positioned her Theocog at the center of the field, always the Major took the very tip of the spear. Now was the wait- still Hakon fumed in silence. She couldn't spare even one man if it was as bad as Zod- no... The mercenary had said.

[WolfMan]

He listened for a few more seconds of silence, "I don't understand, they must've gone into an ambush or.." Zod stopped as he turned to where Hakon was, but was surprised to see her gone. His rage grew further yet, not at her, but of his own stupidity. He was fast, but not enough to catch up to her.

He turned and swore loudly, punching a tree and splitting the bark away as his fist drove into the wood. He angrily looked down to see bone exposed from the impact. Quickly, the sounds of violent snapping echoed across the forest, his bones correcting themselves. He could feel skin slowly crawling over his knuckles, and could figure the rest out.

He looked up, and in an dead sprint, took off towards the direction opposite of her camp. His speed continued to increase, as did the anger at his chest. He wasn't as fast as her Theocog indeed, but he easily surpassed the speed of that wretched, vile, and disgusting boar the corporal had used in the hours before.

He stopped after a short bit, to catch his breath. Still fuming, he listened again for any signs of an army, mages, or beast. Yet, he was once again greeted to the sounds typical to that of a forest. He couldn't even hear a single sign of the major's army either, just the haunting serenity of a mountainous forest.

[AevumEternity]

Still, they waited- Ansgar's Hand waiting for the index finger to point to the enemy so the entirety could crush it. But still, no sign. It had taken several hours for them to prepare, enough for an army of a thousand to be here within an hour. Where were they?

Purgatorio reared slightly, prancing to and fro while gnashing flat teeth together, turning tight circles. This energized the other animals enough for them to be distracted from the slow passage of time, so Hakon did not bother reigning him in, simply moving with his motions, watching the forest with gathering unease in her belly.

" Where are you..? Where are you..?" she chanted in a soundless mantra.

[WolfMan]

And answered she was.

Arrows began to fly out of the forest, and towards the front line troops. Some of them were struck down instantly, but the majority raised their shields and took the barrage of arrows. As soon as they stopped, mercenaries and mages alike burst through the clearing. They all began charging the frontline, but the troops were ready.

The mob clashed into the frontline, killing a few of the troops instantly. The lines further down, away from the front, started pushing towards the front in reaction. For what seemed like a brief moment, the spot seemed contested. But as quickly as the skirmish started, the well trained troops were able to repulse their attackers from their rank, and quickly closed the remaining gaps in their defense.


Meanwhile, Zod's mediations were broken by the sounds of a distant clash. He arose, to a painfully familiar scent, now close to his vicinity. With fear, he grasped his sword. His eyes darted around, searching for possible danger. The whole air was wretched, but as quickly as the scent came, it vanished...

[AevumEternity]

Of course, the arrows and frontline only hit the mercenaries. Otherwise what was the point of having a heavy cavalry if they could be felled so easily? Hmph- The Major couldn't help but sneer beneath her mask, this was almost insulting!

She strapped her shield to her arm, drawing her scimitar before pointing it forward. The Theocog began to move, and like a great curtain being drawn upward, the line of heavy Cavalry fell in to an arrow shaped formation, each rider locked shoulder to hip with their partner. An assortment of weapons were drawn, all flashed eerily in the dimming sunlight.

Hakon watched the surviving mercenaries begin to fall back at the Charge began to move forward, picking up speed until the entire battalion of Ansgar's Hand roared across the field with a sound akin to a continuous nuclear explosion (if they knew what that was, exactly). Of course, the Mages and their mercs followed their retreating allies, but soon realized why the men seemed to be splitting in opposite directions.

Alas, by then- even with bolts of lightning, fire, shadow and other elements tried to put a dent in the line, the blessed armor upon both riders and steed took the brunt of the useless attacks.

Then. They hit. From an aerial view it wound have been line watching a hot knife cut through butter. And oh what a beautiful dance it was...

[WolfMan]

The calvary crashed into retreating enemy. The screams of the dying grimly filled the valley, and the vast majority weren't of Hakon's forces. The pitiful attack was repulsed almost as quickly as it had started. The mercenaries on Connlaoth's side watched in awe, as the various bands of mages were quickly mowed down. The calvary shot up and down the battlefield, cutting down pockets of resistance.

A band of mages quickly formed together, and attempted to block the calvary and the rest of the army, by creating a massive wall of fire. The flames stretched not to attack the riders, but to simply prevent them from advancing any further, or attempting to at least. A faint attack whistle could be heard, as long range mages appeared from the woods, attempting to shoot bolts of various elements across the flames and into the enemy. Long bow men appeared next to them, replacing the dead short bow wielders. They attempted to shoot into the crowd, but dared not aim for the riders. An unlikely shot that was unlikely to do real damage, to the rider anyways...

[AevumEternity]

The Major pulled up the white Theocog just short of the flames, quickly signalling to several bowman of her own to begin to sweep the barrier. Forming a unit of their own, they put down their melee weapons and rode their beasts parallel to the barrier of flames, carefully aiming for the Mages summoning the flames as pointed out by the other riders who carried shields between them and their enemies.

Hakon paused and cut down a Mage who attempted to take a strike at her steed's leg, the beast quickly turning to crush the offending robed one. Her eyes shifted to and fro frantically, with excited delight. She felt utterly drunk with bloodlust. Already her captains taking units to glank the fires as it began to die.

She turned to face those behind the flames, pointing her scimitar toward them and roaring," Come on, bring your demons, bring your angels, bring your fake Gods and FINISH us!!" The last word came out as a defiant scream. if they could see those eyes, they would see... They would see fury brought from years of training, of be oppressed, of pain, rage, an entire life crashing before them to feed upon their blood.

[WolfMan]

Alone, and in hunting mode, Zod's watchful eyes adjusted to the coming darkness. With but a final burst  of light, the sun now dipped below the horizon. Crouching, he snuck along the forest floor and to the rear of the valley. This part was in nature, being apart of the woods that hadn't seen permanent human contact in years, or perhaps ever. The path lay in sight, but Zod swiftly crept through nature surrounding it to stay hidden. As he left the battle, a sudden feeling of relief went through his body. it mattered not, for a single life form couldn't be detected save the birds sleeping in the trees far above. He approached the boarder, and jumped quickly into the road. Not a soul. With haste, he turned towards the direction of the battle, and started to run as stealthy as he could. As he ran, a chilling feeling began to creep back upon him

He followed the scent to a small camp, a tiny fire glimmering just ahead of him. He peered around the tree, and saw a group of 15 or so mages/mercenaries gathered around the fire. He could attempt to crush the mages between him and the calvary, or at least leave them no where to run.  Drawing his sword, he charged two siting closest to him with their backs turned. As they crumpled down, he growled, plunging his blade into a third assailant. He yelled and prepared for battle, charging to meet a 4th head on...


The mages were utterly terrified of the display before them. They had the ability to conjure magic, but the might of the gods were no comparison. The early attack tried to muster what it could, but it was easily cut down and completely annihilated. As the major grew more into the swing of the battle, her troops rallied behind her, fighting with more and more skin with every successive mage/mercenary death alike.

[AevumEternity]

As it became more and more obvious the mage forces were being routed, she did everything in her power to make sure they absolutely could not flee. This is what Ansgar's Hand was most famous for, complete and under annihilation. Several units disappeared into the forest to herd fleeing mages back into the field, others continued to slaughter those who were left.

The Major now had her massive warhorse walk idly through the carnage, kicking aside corpses as she calmly looked about, quivering with utter primal pleasure as the adrenaline coursed through her veins. Soft laughter bubbled from her lips as she tilted her head back in bliss...


Before he could reach the 4th mage, alas, a sudden weight slammed into him. Pinning him on his stomach on the ground. It felt as if a massive hand was crushing his back- and that was not far from the truth. Instead it was a large claw, sparse white-gold fur popping from bare skin as the lycanthrope beast loomed over him, saliva dropping from its great maw as it squeezed his back.

It briefly looked down at him with feral eyes, nostrils flaring once before it suddenly launched off him, shredding directly into Zod's former quarry. The sight was... Something to make bile rise from the stomach...

[WolfMan]

The major looked upon the destruction around her. The wounded combatants tried to crawl away, as they looked upon the face of a women clearly enjoying their pain and death. As her laughter bounced along the valley, it was received by the sound of marching. A two square formations broke out over the horizon, slowly coming towards the calvary. 40 men each square.

Zod was mostly wrong, in the fact that the marching wasn't the sound of a thousand strong army, he merely misjudged their approach. It echoed, making it sound as though many more men were to be seen. Hakon could make out the heavy armor that accompanied each man. Although not as heavy as the one she wore, they are clearly a step up from the shoddy armor the typical mercenaries wore.

Zod tore through the first couple enemies, he felt the lust for battle and killing. He wished he could've gone back with her, to the main army. He wished he could've clashed head on with the mages, instead of trying to to track some ridiculous beast. What a waste of time that was...

With the these words, he was thrown into the ground, dust kicking up around from the impact. The claws dug into his back painfully etching its marks. He could hear sniffing, before the animal used Zod's weight to jump, further shoving him into the ground. Angrily, he got up and snarled. He wanted to tear everything he saw limb by limb. He ran towards a mage opposite direction of the besat, and ducked. A fireball sizzled past, as Zod's sword met the assailants neck.

A blade sliced into his chest armor, sticking into it. He kicked the man's knee as hard as he could, hearing the bone shatter. As he hit the ground, Zod drew is axe in his other hand, and swept downwards towards the man...

[AevumEternity]

She paused in her reverly, instantly calling out to her men to form up again, the armored cavalry flocking together like great steel birds as they wheeled about the field to face the incoming enemy. Yes, Zod would likely feel the anger of the surviving unit for exaggerating and causing much panic. That was, if they still survived. Ansgar's Hand was originally over 200 strong, now about 170 men and beasts were left. Not bad due to most of the casualties being mercenaries., but not particularly good either.

The wolf in turn seemed busy wreaking havoc at its own cruelly slow peace, the screams of its victims piercing the night air as it seem to relish in the slow torture of its prey. The clearing began to empty until only the wolf and Zod remained, slowly it turned toward him, hunching over as it stood on two legs easily- massive forepaws supporting its great torso as it gazes at him with a small sneer.