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#1 Band2 Mar 30, 2006 9:48:03	Sand and Ashes Episode 25 – The Battle Begins The Characters Ral meed, Ranger/ Preserver Anticus, Fighter/ Psionicist Ramsus, Gladiator Alrin-Ga, Fighter/ Earth Cleric Locale The fields outside Draj Date Dominary 27, Desert’s Fury, 190th King’s Age (Free Year 11) The first way of attackers were turned aside, as the tide broke on the barricades and were held. Anticus breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the line hold. Minutes later a second group of attackers charged forward on the left side. This attack was closer to the companions but not close enough that it involved them. However, as this attack moved forward, sling men began to hurl stones at the line of defenders both at the point of attack and on either side. “Get down! Everyone down!” Ramsus yelled out. All of the companions crouched behind the barricade, except for Alrin-Ga who was too big. Luckily for the half-giant the fire of the sling stones was sporadic and not aimed. When the half-giant noticed this he pointed it out to his companions. “They do not need to hit us. They are just trying to pin us down. Stop us from helping at the point of attack,” Anticus replied. “Still, we cannot just sit here and wait. Let’s attack!” Ral meed said. There was a gleam in his eye and an eagerness in his voice that had not been their before this day. “No! That is just what they want us to do. They want us to leave the protection of the barricade so that they can overwhelm us,” Anticus shouted over the din of sling stones striking the barricade. “No, look! The slingers are unsupported. They are counting on us to stay undercover and not attack,” Ral meed shouted back. Anticus peaked his head over the barricade. The elf was right. The slingers had moved forward so that they were half way between the two lines. Except for the force that was attacking the line, no other units of the invaders had moved forward. “It could work,” he allowed. “Of course it’ll work,” Ral meed replied. “Ramsus look, it is always better to attack then to be timid right!” the elf said turning towards the mul, who agreed. Ramsus, determined to show he was no coward, shouted to a half dozen gladiators to his left and another ten to his right to follow them. Shouting incoherent battle cries the four companions lead the slaves forward. The enemy slingers saw the group advancing and wanted no part of a fight with them. The slingers retreated towards their lines as fast as they could, leaving Ramsus and his companions to stop and jeer at them from the middle of the battlefield. The slingers retreat lead to a general retreat as the attackers gave up their attempt to break the Draji line and fell back. The four companions and the other gladiators who had charged shouted in triumph as the attackers retreated back to their lines. “Look, they’re forming to attack us. We have to get back to our lines,” Anticus said as he was the first to notice. After a pause as he studied the enemy lines, Ramsus agreed, “He is right.” “Everyone back to the lines,” the mul roared and motioned for the men to retreat. The men did so but refused to turn their backs on the enemy, walking backwards as they continued to hurl insults at the invaders. When they reached their lines the men were greeted with cheers from their fellows. Officers and templars began shouting at the men trying to organize them back into their battle lines. “Here they come! Make ready! Prepare for the attack! Ready yourselves!” From across the battlefield what seemed like the entire line of the enemy forces began to advance across the field. Yelling and cursing, the invaders came on rushing across the battlefield towards the companions. The attackers facing the four companions were a savage bunch of humans, dwarves, and a few muls mixed in. As the attackers advanced, Ral meed was pushed out of the front line because he did not have a long weapon to meet the charge with. He stood behind his three companions, bouncing from one foot to the other, filled with excitement. “Yes, yes. Here they come. Now its time for some action!” the elf said to himself. There was a huge clamor of noise as the two lines met. Ramsus felt his spear jarred as one of the attackers rushed headlong into it. The first line of attackers quickly went down, but those behind pushed forward to the barricade, and before he knew it the mul was face to face with many attackers. Ramsus dropped his spear, thinking his carrikal would be a better weapon in a close fight. He raised it to strike, as he dodged aside a spear thrust at him and felt a club bounce off his hide armored shoulder. The mul’s mind raced. ‘I cannot spin. With the barricade there I cannot pull the feint and upper cut. What move should I perform?’ It quickly dawned on Ramsus that all his training in the flashy fighting style of a gladiator would do him little go in this scrum of a battle. The closed quarters were too tight for a gladiator’s showmanship style of fighting. Unable to rely on his skills, Ramsus figured the best way to attack was the simplest and just chopped down. Striking an opponent, he raised the carrikal again and struck down again and again. To the mul’s right, Alrin-Ga and Anticus fought side by side. The half-giant swung his lotulis in wide arches in front of the two of them, striking down attackers as they approached. Anticus held back his attack waiting to see if any slipped past the half-giant’s aim. If so, the dwarf would thrust his weapon out like a spear to catch the attack in the chest, before quickly pulling the weapon back and readying it again. Past these two, Ral meed fought on the front. The two slaves in the line in front of him were hacked down by attackers, and the elf gleefully advanced into the opening and attacked viscously with his two weapons. He struck down the first two attackers. A spear was thrust at his face, but Ral meed dodged his head aside and hooked it with his hand axe. Using it, he pulled the man forward and drove his sword into the unbalanced man’s neck. Then with a push he shoved the dying man backwards into his fellow attackers, all while a scream of excitement escaped his lips. Despite the simplicity of his method, Ramsus seemed to be having success, as a couple of attackers lay bleeding in front of his section of the barricade. That is until he slipped. The ground had become slick with blood and Ramsus tumbled forward into a heap behind the barricade. Before he could get back to his feet, some of the invaders had crossed the barricade and climbed down, stepping on the mul in the process. More invaders continued to climb over the barricade and step onto the mul threatening to trample him to death. Gritting his teeth, Ramsus heaved upwards with his massive strength, forcing himself back to his feet. In doing so he hurled an invader, who had been stepping down onto the mul from the barricade, back over to the other side. Then with a roar Ramsus hacked at the backs of the attackers how were pressing their attack on his friends. The surprise and fury of the mul’s attack caught the men off guard. Ramsus hacked two down before the attackers could turn to face him. The three remaining attackers were then pressed between Anticus and Ramsus. Anticus slammed the blunt end of his lotulis into one attacker’s knee, and then quickly reversed the motion to bring the bladed end down on the man’s shoulder, felling him. Ramsus swung his carrikal in an arc at a wild-haired woman armed with only half of a spear. His blow caught her in the neck almost decapitating her. The other attacker swung a bone sword at Ramsus, which the mul ducked under than drove his shoulder into the man. The two crashed into the barricade. The man’s free hand smashed into Ramsus’s face. The mul ignored the blow and slammed his fist into the man’s side and stomped down on his foot. Finally, with the man off balance Ramsus pushed him over the top of the barricade where he crashed into another group of attackers. Now that Anticus and Ramsus had dispatched the invaders who had crossed the barricade, while Ral meed and Alrin-Ga held back others from crossing, the attack seemed to loose some of its momentum. The invaders had seen the carnage the gladiators had worked in front of the barricade and began to back away. In the respite the companions had a moment to catch their breath. “How are we doing? Anyone hurt?” Ramsus asked. “Only nicks and scraps. Nothing serious,” Anticus responded. “If anyone has lost a weapon, quick grab one from one of the dead,” Ramsus suggested. Ral meed grinned, and then turned and hurled his hand axe into the mass of attackers. After a satisfying cry of pain was heard, Ral meed said, “I seem to have lost my hand axe. I better find another.” And he began to laugh. None of the others shared the elf’s amusement. The silent Alrin-Ga turned away. “This not over yet,” he warned as he looked out over the attackers. Three large tareks had muscled their way through the crowd of attackers. There they seemed to be coming up with a strategy to charge the barricade. The largest tarek pointed out Alrin-Ga and seemed to indicate to the other two tareks to attack the half-giant. Next he pointed to Ramsus as if he himself was going to take on the mul. Lastly, he used the back end of his heartpick to beat three other invaders out of the line and indicated that they were to charge as well. The men cowered under the tarek’s blows and moved into position. As this occurred the companions made plans of their own. Ramsus began to bark out orders, “Alrin-Ga, you take out one of those tareks. Anticus, you help him by taking on the other. Ral meed those three retches are yours. Call out if there are too much for you to handle.” “Three to one. Ha. Better ask them, cause I am too much for them to handle,” Ral meed interrupted to response. “I’ll take the big tarek,” Ramsus concluded. He had felt the fear begin to leave him, leaving only cold determination. His right hand gripped the carrikal harder as he readied for the charge.
#2 ruhl-than_sage Mar 30, 2006 19:05:10	You really need to edit this stuff. Spell checker is a good start, but read through it again to make sure you used the right words and to eliminate unecessary text.