Treachery : book 2 of Codex Elysium

Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Present time: Nidavellir

Rekkr watched with growing hope as the three white riders lead their army onto the battlefield. The Valkyries had come, Asgard had come, any moment now they would see the gods marching onto the battle field and their enemies would tremble. Rekkr turned to his king wanting to share the joy but one look at Dvalin's stony face was enough to completely shatter that hope. He turned back in time to see the three riders heading straight for Hell's army. Rekkr used every swear word he could think of as the riders dismounted and exchanged greetings with the other commanders. This third army of fighting women must have been twenty thousand strong. Rekkr tried to do the math in his head, they must be facing a combined mass of nearly one hundred thousand now. This just wasn't fair, their entire force must have equalled a tenth of what stood before them. This is what high king Dvalin had seen coming, this was the wave that was going to wash the wall of Nid-gate away. Rekkr looked down on the make shift hospital, the line of dead was growing longer, the weary and wounded were making their way back up onto the battlements. This battle was no longer a matter of if it was lost but when.

The Demon Commander faced the other four leaders, his snarling, beastly helmet reflected his mood perfectly, he had his back to Nid-gate and stood with arms crossed, his voice hissed through the helmets mouth piece

"No more mercy! We end this now!"

Lucifer turned her helmeted head away, she couldn't see the commander's eyes but she could feel them boring into her. She was thankfull that her own helmet was tightly closed so no one could see her stricken look or the tears of desperation that were falling. The Demon Commanders voice drew her back

"Send in all of your raiders to assault the centre of the wall. I will hit the left end with my demons and the witches will assault the right end"

Gullveig and her sisters nodded and went to seek out Fallon and instruct the Furies. The Demon commander walked off towards his troops leaving Lucifer standing ridged. This is it, no turning back now. Lucifer raised her face to the sky and sent out a silent prayer, begging for forgiveness and perhaps some divine intervention.

High king Dvalin gripped the rail tightly as he watched the enemy form up into three blocks. They were readying for the next assault and it was going to be the hardest strike yet. Worse still, they were keeping over half their force in reserve. The enemy had troops to spare but Dvalin didn't, there wasn't even enough of the prime legion left to fully hold the wall now.

"We can't hold against that" growled Rekkr "We need to pull back right now!"

High king Dvalin dropped his head. This was a make or break decision in this battle. If they hand over the wall without a fight then the enemy can attack the fortress with full strength. But on the other hand, if they stay and fight then they will only have the reserve legion to defend the fortress with. They had to make the attackers pay with blood for every step they took. That was the only choice. Dvalin looked down at the hospital. What would become of them if the prime legion retreated? They wouldn't be spared, this enemy didn't know the meaning of mercy. The high king looked up at the sky and saw two great black birds circling above. That was an ill omen. Finally the king made his decision

"Evacuate the hospital, get them all back to the fortress now! We will hold the wall for as long as we can"

Rekkr turned and stared at his king, this was not the plan. They had agreed that if there was a break in the fighting like this, then they would all abandon the wall and form a battle line on the ground below. The battle line would fight and slowly back up to the fortress, slowing the enemy the whole way. What the high king was now suggesting was much harder. There were stone stair cases all along the back of Nid-gates wall. As the defenders got pushed back they would have to back down those stairs while still fighting. They may even have to sacrifice warriors to hold the stairs while everyone else tries to retreat. There was a much greater risk of causing a panic and chaos this way. Rekkr growled out his disapproval and then looked down on the hospital. What other choice was there? This enemy was merciless, the wounded would be slaughtered where they lay. He turned and addressed the defenders below, all heads looked up at the scarred dwarf.