Micali Alsara
Member
The Attack on Flumen Petram
[2822]
[2822]
The sun shimmered off of crimson scales as Aranov sat on a bench overlooking the sands that beset the Copiae Ocean. He and his squad, now including two temporary transfers from the north - a couple of spurii - had been stationed here in Flumen Petram for just over two weeks now, and the discontent had fully set in. He awaited the return of today’s morning patrols to the north and south side of the town, and just as he had said so, the three of his squad that he’d sent south returned. Casia, Laminn, and Erbis all approached, though they were clearly immersed in a separate conversation all of their own.
“I’m just saying - proportionally, spurii have been behind more killings in Pelagia than velen. That’s just a fact.”
Oh joy.
“Right, Erbis, but have you ever considered why? They’re disproportionately impoverished, oppressed, and discriminated against. That’s why I agree with you - spurii should be more monitored within the Pelagian military, but only until equality is achieved, otherwise they’ll continue to use provided weaponry in those killings.”
Laminn chimed in on the two’s squabble though she sent a tired look their leader’s way, “pretty naive to think equality is something achieved and not impermanent. There’ll always be someone in power with the inability to separate prejudice from their authority. I say let ‘em be - just treat ‘em like they’re normal and they’ll be normal.”
Aranov was half tempted to interrupt but the urgency of a potential naga invasion wore off after an entire fifteen days of nothing but calm tides and the stench of gutted fish. Politics were a topic often discussed within the squad - though he’d had to shut them down once or twice just as it had gotten too heated.
“Right, okay, you’re right. However, even if equality isn’t necessarily a set place we can be, we can still strive for improvements towards spurii treatment within Pelagia, and then evaluate further just what privileges we want to give them when they’ve proven to be a demographic that’s frequently targeted by discrimination and often retaliate with violence,” spoke Casia, her cream-coloured scales dancing beneath the hot sun’s gleam.
Erbis retorted then, his slender navy form obscured by the uniform he donned with the utmost of care. “I don’t know about that one- I say keep them out of the military at the very least, since most techniques developed are for velen anyway, and half-breeds lack the values and traditions that only velen in Pelagia can relate to, so their goals within the military will almost always be selfish.”
The yellow velen rolled her eyes. “Your bigotry is showing, Erb.”
He raised his middle finger to her and the three turned to their superior, who gave a short smile before he nodded his head up to them.
“Anything to report?”
“Oh yeah there was a naga attack, some dude died or something, it seemed pretty gnarly so we got out of there.”
Aranov stared blankly at Casia, and Laminn put a webbed hand to her own purple forehead.
“Joking! Same as the last two weeks, nothing. When people say they like long walks on the beach they don’t know what they’re talking about. It’s hot, it’s boring, and there’s sand in my boots,” Casia said.
“Well I don’t think most people wear boots to the beach.” Ever the lover of pointless arguments, Erbis always had a counterpoint, just as Casia did to him.
“Well, most people aren’t soldiers stationed in the middle of fuck-off nowhere.”
Aranov spoke up at that, “watch yourself, Cas. Foli’s from here. And yes, I know, we’re all tired and bored and don’t see the point in this, but that’s not our call to make. Superiors view Flumen Petram as a medium-risk area, so If we’re stationed here it’s for the good of the kingdom.”
Laminn sat down next to Aranov on the bench, and nobody said a word. She was the oldest in the squad, ten years the leader’s superior, and time had begun to take its taxes from her. “He’s right.”
Casia and Erbis alike nodded with twin sighs. The male of which spoke next, “I guess, but I really doubt that naga are going to choose to invade a fishing hamlet with little-to-no military impact involved.”
Aranov held a hand to his forehead at that, now tired of the conversation still going despite his clear commands. “You’re making assumptions. The Naga don’t care for military impact, they’re trying to kill us, which includes innocents in a fishing hamlet. That’s why we’re stuck here, and that’s the last we’ll talk of it.”
Casia and Erbis exchanged a look and nodded firmly. “Yessir.”
Aranov nodded at that. “Now we’ll wait for Quae and Inam to report in, and everyone will be free to go rest and get Foli and Gultum out here.”
Another round of nods. Erbis moved to speak at the mention of the two spurii that had been transferred, Quae and Inam, but must have thought better of it as no words were spoken.
Time passed, then some more. Then some more.
Aranov was annoyed, but realized, or at least hoped he would be given some kind of reasonable explanation at some point.
“Just like them to be late.”
“Erbis.”
“Casia.”
Before the two could get back into bickering, a rousing shout sounded out from the north side of the beach. “Sir!”
As the Optio Centuriae turned to watch the two spurii approach, one with a limp and both covered in what could only be blood, he stood and ran to meet them halfway, the rest of the squad in tow. “Quae, report. What happened?”
The two spurii moved forward. Quae, a blend of laicar and velen held Inam around their shoulders to steady her. The latter was some mixture of velen and everything. The questioned spoke, “a naga scout, sir. We spotted him from the treeline and pursued, but another two appeared and attacked. We managed to kill them, but we fear more are coming. Look, the horizon.”
As if on cue, the group turned to look to the ocean as in the distance, an array of storm clouds grew closer, inexorable and ghastly.
Everyone then turned to their leader, and Aranov’s mind raced to find exactly what they were to do. After a few moments of thinking as the dark horizon grew, he turned back to the two spurii women.
“You two go into town, and get Gultum out here. Quae, Inam, and Foli will evacuate the townspeople, the rest of us will hold off the assault along the beach. How far north were they, Quae?”
“About a half-mile, sir.”
Aranov nodded, and gave a short sigh. “Get the town guard to cover the north and south beaches, we’ll stand here.” The town guard was made up of eighteen bodies, and while they weren’t as well trained as the military members, they also knew the ways through town better, and could handle stragglers that pushed through.
Everything burst into movement at once. The two spurii women sped away, Inam clearly pushing through her limp despite the groans of pain she let out as blood ran from a gash in her calf. The remaining all drew their weapons. Laminn had her spear and shield, Casia her twin pistols, Erbis an enchanted tome that he used to better weave his magics, and Aranov his assault rifle. Until Gultum arrived, his own firepower as necessary as any, they would simply need to hold the line.
They huddled as the dark clouds began to blot out the sun. Aranov spoke again, “no stragglers are to make it through. We’re to buy the townspeople time to escape, and if we’re lucky we can hold off the assault altogether. Quae said there were only a few to the north, so it’s possible it’ll be a small offensive.”
A round of agreements, and the huddle was broken as everyone spread out, barring Laminn and Aranov. The purple velen turned to the leader, and her eyes spoke what neither dared vocalize around the two younger members of the squad present; if this force was large enough, it was incredibly likely that none of them would live to see the sun again.
Those thoughts aside, Aranov nodded slightly to his subordinate and spread out so that the four of them covered equal distance of the beach. Now there was only to wait.
It wasn’t long, as the storm approached far faster than any that Aranov had ever seen. He made his peace in that calm time as the clouds stretched onward. His brother Bryndalas was to the south, outside Eruditio. Their parents were gone, lost to the Black Portal incident. He had to live. He had to live so that his brother wouldn’t be alone.
He was shaken from his thoughts as the waves to the beach got choppy. The edge of the clouds reached just above them and within that darkness several sets of jagged fins and spines emerged from the water, keeping pace with the edge of the shadow cast by the storm. Then, slithering and writhing amongst the sand, they left the water. Scales sharper, more coarse than those of a velen, teeth pointed to finer, more snake-like fangs, faces longer, and bodies long and large. Crude swords and spears in hand, they slithered forward, mindless in their assault. If they were to get close, it would be truly dangerous.
Aranov didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger on his rifle as it recoiled in his hands, taking down a crowd of the naga as their hisses turned to gurgles and cut-off snarls. The blasts of gunfire and magic sounded out as the first round was dealt with easily. Distant, far shots registered that they’d breached the north and south beaches as well. Rain that had at first sprinkled now showered as the storm thickened around them.
Another round came, this time more naga involved - much more. Laminn twirled among three naga, felling them with no small amount of energy as she bounced their blades off her shield, her spear piercing one naga only to then pierce the next as she then reached down to a dagger on her belt and brought it across the last one’s throat. Erbis and Aranov both managed to deal with their respective groups with relative ease, bullets and orbs of energy effective in this case while Casia struggled to take down the disproportionate five that came at her. One, two, three shots from her pistols killed two of them, and then Laminn entered to fend the rest off of her, shield a deterrent to their attacks as Casia then threw kunai from her pockets. Aranov moved back a ways to keep an eye on both his and Laminn’s areas to not allow any stragglers through. Casia shouted out, “reloading!”
Some words were exchanged between his subordinates as his sights stayed trained on the waters. Laminn reappeared next to him, and before she could report, the third wave arrived, now ten feet further in than before. The most naga so far, an omen, most likely, of things to come. As the squad dealt with it, Aranov let out a brief warning of, “reloading!”
Casia was once again overrun, though this time Laminn herself was pinned, a gash to her calf sending her sprawling to the hard ground as she finished off the naga that had dealt the blow.
Just then, Gultum showed, arms ripping the naga off of Casia’s now shaking form, a few bloodied cuts now along her body, soaking her uniform. Gultum was a large velen man, easily matching the stature of the naga brutes that slid up the now-soaked sands of the beach. The fourth wave was the worst thus far, as expected. Even with the extra body, there was simply too many.
Erbis managed the best, holding most off with his beams of magic. Laminn stood despite the injury she sustained and fought her best, but it was until she was pinned beneath four of the naga that Aranov even noticed her plight through the raging storm as lightning crackled in the atmosphere, thunder a reminder of the death that awaited them. He shot down every last naga that had piled on, though Laminn seemed to barely move beneath the bodies. After he was done he shouted out, though a second voice aligned with his own.
“Reloading!”
Aranov turned, eyes wide to Casia as she returned the look. They both tried their best to reload as quickly as possible, but with only two squad members there to help, it was an inevitability that they’d be overrun. Casia screamed as they reached her, and as Gultum tried to power through the crowds of naga that swarmed, he was simply too late. Aranov had some extra range out, and managed to reload in time. After mowing a section down, he ran to Casia, shooting all he could that surrounded her as Erbis and Gultum held off the rest. Sure enough, as he approached, Casia gave one, two, three twitches as her blood-soaked body spasmed its last. It was at that exact moment that he knew he wouldn’t survive.
It was at that exact moment he knew he had to fight regardless.
He turned to watch Laminn shrugging the bloodied bodies from herself as her shield had been lost, her spear now supporting her weight as she barely lifted herself. Gultum rushed forward to help her up as the last few stragglers were dealt with by Erbis and Aranov. “Reloading!”
There was no time to command anyone to move, to do anything before the fifth wave came mere instances after the last of the fourth fell. Gultum turned in time to watch a trident shoot from the waters and toward himself and Laminn. Without question, he placed himself between them and took the projectile to the chest. He sank to the ground, but just as they had all been trained, he fought on, blood streaking from his wounds for the next dozen seconds he had to live. The fifth wave was the last they would see. Gultum and Laminn went down together as swords and spears skewered and cut them down. They died with their weapons drawn and laced amongst the bodies of naga. Erbis and Aranov held on, and as the last of this attack ended, there was an unsettling calm. The two breathed in exhaustion as the rain ceased, the wind calmed. With the weather gone, there was a much more clear view of the battlefield.
Piles of corpses were strewn along the beach, blood soaked down into the grey sands to create a crimson portrait of the wars to come with these foes. Aranov’s eyes were drawn to the bodies, including those of his three fallen comrades.
Erbis spoke, after about ten seconds of nothing. “Sir...Sir, I think it might be over. I think we did it.” His voice betrayed any happiness, as his tone quivered with emotion. The squad didn’t always get along, but this wasn’t a sight that Aranov would wish on anyone.
“No,” Aranov spoke as he realized what had happened. “The storm isn’t over, Erbis,” he stood, gun trained on the waters as they receded. “We’re in the eye of it.”
Erbis let out a sob at that, likely with the same realization that his captain had come to before. “It’s been an honour, sir.”
“Call me Aranov, kid. I don’t know what’s coming, but it isn’t good.”
The tide continued to recede, and the two could only watch as a form began to emerge from the waters. It was horrid, a large, beastly creature. A naga, though much different from the prior they had killed. She reached twelve feet, and by the devilish grin that possessed her face, this was not to be good. Aranov raised his gun to fire, but not before he felt a chill up his spine.
In an instant of blinding light, the world shook and the two velen were shocked by a bolt of lightning directly from the clouds above. As Aranov’s body adjusted to the volts that had surged through it, he turned to look to Erbis, whose body laid dormant on the sand mere feet away.
Aranov’s gun was still in his hands, though it was beyond use from the electricity that had warped it, the barrel bent in a strange position. He could only watch as the shaman raised her arms to the clouds, her eyes glaring with power. Aranov braced for the end, ready for another shot of lightning to take him from this plane.
Instead, he watched in horror as Erbis’s body shook beside him.
Every single body in each pile squirmed and writhed as they righted themselves to stand. Their faces were different, expressions blank and eyes empty. Aranov watched in absolute horror, and with a dark chuckle from the shaman, they descended upon him.