The Other Side/Rise Of The Crow

We're immediately placed into a pretty large carriage as we all sit by the fire and prepare ourselves for the upcoming battle. Dalia, the general's daughter is driving the carriage to our destination.

"We never can catch a break on these jobs, can we?" Mari asks she increases the intensity of the fire with her staff.

"This is the hard part of the job, at any given moment you have to get moving. No matter what guild you guys end up choosing it'll still be the same." Landon explains as he looks really stressed.

"Kira use to basically say the same thing when she was trying to dissuade me from working for a guild. She told me how some days can be so peaceful and boring while others were horrible and filled with chaos and destruction." Layla adds as she holds her hands in front of the fire.

"Sounds about right! On the week of the rebirth ritual a whole bunch of them started flooding in and it was pure hell! We were stuck on the front lines for 5 days straight with no sleep and barely any water or food. Even still, at least it wasn't too cold! Nothing can compare to how intense the winter is up here!" Landon remarks as he starts shivering.

"Hey! You all better get ready! We're here!" Dalia points out as I look out of the carriage.

In front of us is an enormous gate that's at least thousands of feet tall and extending well beyond our sight horizontally.

"Holy… Is this really the border?" I ask as I can't take my eyes off the marvel.

"That's right, this is the only thing protecting us from our enemies. It really is impressive it hasn't fallen down yet!" Dalia responds as two guards let us through the gate.

We all hop out of the carriage and can already hear fighting on the other side of the gate.

"Okay, this is the real deal right here! Whatever you do, stay with me at all times! Got it?" Landon asks as he prepares to open the gate to the other side.

"Understood!" We all say in unison as we prepare our weapons for battle.

"Alright! GO, GO, GO!" Landon commands as he opens the gate and we enter the mayhem-filled battlefield.

There are griffins and giant silver-colored bats flying above us shooting magic attacks and going after the guild members who are dodging their attacks in the snow covered trenches. Behind the trenches there are dozens of towers filled with archers and mages who are trying to keep the flying enemies at bay.

Further beyond the trenches, there are icy skeleton foot soldiers-that are slightly taller than the average Frodian-making their way towards the trenches. Even looking beyond the horizon you can see thousands of them on their way. Next to them are giant snakes, goblin kings, cyclops, and even large bears that have weird symbols on their heads.

"This can't be real! They don't end!" Sachi points out her voice full of panic.

"Don't look for too long! Just keep following me!" Landon commands as we all run as fast as we can through the heavy snow.

"This looks like a damn war! Why isn't the government investing more money on stopping this?" Layla asks.

"Less talking, more running!"

We keep running through the snow until we finally arrive at a huge tower in the middle of the battlefield. We walk inside and climb up a long ladder until we reach the top of the tower. The top of the tower has a very spacious room where you can pretty much see the entire battlefield. In the middle of the room, there is a table with a map and a group of Frodians all sitting around it.

"Finally, you made it Landon! I was starting to think you weren't going to show!" A clever-looking Windian man remarks.

"I'd never dream of it, sir! The second Dalia told me you needed me I came as fast I could, General Daris!" Landon assures as his voice becomes way more formal.

"And these must be the saviors of our land! The Chosen Children and Layla of Umbra! For all of these years I thought that half-bloods were a myth but yet here you are helping us in the front lines! It's a pleasure to meet you all!" General Daris greets us as he takes a big chug of some ale.

"The pleasure is all ours, sir! What seems to be the situation right now?" I ask as he lets out a huge sigh.

"For some reason, they've gotten out of hand within the last couple of hours! Some of our best warriors are on break duty right now and won't be able to relieve our younger warriors until nightfall. So we're in a bit of a stalemate at the moment! I've heard that all of you are pretty formidable warriors and plus Landon's resume speaks for itself, so I called you down here for some assistance." General Daris explains.

"Of course, we'll help in any way we can!" Layla nods her eyes full of determination.

"See? That's the look I've been waiting for all day! All of our younger recruits love to complain about how cold it is and how tired they are! It's good to know we have some people here with some heart in them! Anyway, all of you take a look at this!" General Daris commands as we come to the table and look at the map.

"This map is massive… " Sachi comments as she starts scanning it up and down.

"Right now, their primary attack is coming straight down the middle! Which is where all of us are at right now! We've been trying to flank them on the sides but it's impossible because of those damned flying beasts! We need a two-way assault in order to break through that middle and sending those ugly things running home!" General Daris expounds on.

"This is tough… They're usually are more spread out so our forces are fighting them more evenly. But going straight down the middle while most of our forces are afraid to poke their head out is bad news!" Landon ponders as he clenches his fists.

"It may not be as hopeless as you think! Sachi, what do you think we should do?" I ask as Sachi looks really nervous.

"Huh? You're asking me?" Sachi asks as her face starts blushing.

"Come on, we all know you come up with the best strategies!" Mari encourages as she pats her back.

"If there's a person I trust with this it's you!" Layla reassures.

"Young lady, if you have any bright ideas we'd love to hear it!" General Daris requests as he clasps his hands.

"Okay, okay! Let's see here… Sir, how many forces would you say we have right now?" Sachi asks.

"Hmmm, I'd say about 400 give or take! We initially thought today would be a slow day considering our best forces took out a bunch of them yesterday, but our scouts estimate that they have about 6,000 heading our way at this very moment." General Daris explains as he hands Sachi a pen.

"That's quite a bit but it's not impossible either! We need to dedicate all of our forces towards these two towers closest to the middle! All of our best archers and mages need to be there so we can take out their aerial forces! Once that's done we can use a pincer movement to overwhelm their forces! If we do it right, it's game over for them!" Sachi explains as she uses the pen to visually explain the plan.

"Just what I'd expect from a Chosen Child, it's a very solid plan! If we're going with it then all of you need to head out there right now! Windian Art: Mass Communication! Listen up, everyone! Close ranged fighters are to head to the trenches and long-range fighters go straight to the Towers! We'll be running a pincer movement once we take out their aerial forces! I need all archers and mages to give everything they got to their attacks don't let those monsters overwhelm us!" General Daris commands.

"AYE!" A bunch of the forces says simultaneously.

"Good, they're all pumped and ready to go now! I'm expecting big things from you all! Let's see if Adora's so-called saviors of our land can actually live up to their names!" General Daris challenges as he smirks.

I, Layla, and Landon are all in the trenches as we prepare to launch our attack on the enemy. The trenches are tightly packed and a lot of our forces look really nervous. I can't really blame them, seeing that many enemies would make anyone piss their pants. Still, I can't let them stay down and out like this!

"Hey, my name is Crow of Goliath! I am a Chosen Child of Adora and I've come down here to help you all! I know our enemy is great in numbers and I know you're all tired! But all of the good people of our land are counting on us to stop these things! We cannot let Vedora have her way, my mother would be ticked at me if we did! Today… We fight for Goliath!" I shout passionately.

"FIGHT WE FIGHT! FIGHT WE FIGHT!" All of our forces chant as I finally got them back in the game.

"Okay, Landon! Are you ready to shoot the signal?" Layla asks as she readies her dagger.

"You know it little sis!" Landon confirms as he shoots a red smoke signal.

"Archers and Mages! FIREEEEEE!" General Daris yells as the battle begins.