The Gate

The bells rang out for the second time. This time no soldiers went outside the walls, instead positioning themselves at the gate and on top of the wall. After all they were meant to defend against armies. As long as the sturdy wooden gate remained closed and nothing went over the walls, the city would be safe.

Lucas as well as the other knights stood in front of the city entrance. In the scenario that the gate fell, they would be the first to face the enemy. They were prepared. This is what they trained for after all. 

"At least there's no giant this time." Oliver joked. The rest of the knights nodded their heads in agreement. Most of the creatures were the size of a wolf, the bigger ones being about the size of horse. With no giant present, they could almost be sure the gate would hold. However they didn't have enough information on the monster so the forces were positioned at the gate in the event of a disastrous scenario.

Spearman and archers lined the top of the walls, prepared to repel any incoming beasts. Lord Brinton stood with, ready to wield his flames. 

The army of monsters was approaching fast. Soon Lucas could hear the sound of hooves, paws, and feet beating against the soil. The archers drew their first arrow. They all waited for the lord's order.

"FIRE!" He yelled out and the line of archers let their arrows fly. The arrows flew, landing at the front of the charging horde. Unfortunately they only managed to kill a few of the smaller ones in the front line with their first. volley. The mindless monsters didn't care, continuing forward, trampling over their dead brethren. The archers quickly readied another volley of arrows.

Meanwhile Lucas and knights remained below the wall unable to see this but hearing as the monsters only got closer and closer. Lucas looked dead ahead at the wooden gate in front of him. 

"If that thing falls I fully expect the immortal giant slayer to take the front." Leandro said without a hint of shame. Lucas couldn't help but smile, even considering the tense situation.

"You know I would anyway." Lucas told him confidently. Everyone had their weapons drawn and waited for the monster to reach the wall. If they could bash down the door, all hell would break loose. If they couldn't, the soldiers up above could safely rain arrows and rocks on the unintelligent beasts. 

But everyone at the gate knew it wouldn't be that simple. It couldn't be. Nearly every other city had walls just as strong and they'd been destroyed all the same. These monsters were a complete unknown. Abominations born from the rift. 

The forces at the gate waited. Lucas held his breath in anticipation. He listened as the sound of thousands of monsters charging got closer and closer. The archer readied shots as fast as they could. The knights below tightened their grip on their weapons. 1 second passed. two seconds passed. 

-BAM!-

The wave of beasts crashed full force into the gate, making the sturdy wood quake. The grain and surrounding stone seemed to strain but it held against the continuous impacts. Soldiers up up above threw large stones down at the foolish beasts who had slammed themselves into the wall. The ones hit in vital areas dropped to the floor but the overwhelming horde continued to charge into the wall without regard for their own safety. 

Against expectations, it seemed like the gate held. Those below the wall were ecstatic. They cheered, believing their lives to be safe behind humanities technology. Lucas and thus the other knights remained focused however. The sound of monsters slamming against the gate could still be heard.

"It held!" One soldier cheered. But in that moment, in a fraction of second, a large spear exploded through the gate, creating a human sized hole. The spear planted itself in the ground in front of the gate a little ways from where it burst through. The soldiers looked at the hole in shock. Quickly, smaller monsters took advantage of the hole and crawled their way soon. The soldiers broke out of their daze and readied their weapons. The knights did the same, completing their formation. 

The small monsters ran forward mindlessly, coming in bunches, but the soldier held on, managing to spear anything that got close. Lucas stood at the front center of the arrow formation. The monsters charged him first and with his shield and sword he intercepted them, cutting the vermin down. The ones that would peel off to the sides would be dealt with by the knights and other soldiers. For now it seemed they could hold their ground. Lucas could feel mana flowing in. That with each monster he killed, his mana only grew instead of dwindling. He would be able to deal with any number of these small monsters.

But the gate was already compromised. The hole initially made by the large spear was now being widened as bigger and bigger monsters forced their way through. Soon enough Lucas was facing beasts the size of bears. 

Although he couldn't cut them down as fast as the smaller ones, the formation and teamwork made up for it. Lucas would lead with his shield to draw their attention while Leandro or Matthias would spear the big ones with their polearms. Like that they continued to hold off the waves of monsters coming through the gate. 

Lucas's sword seemed to move fast and faster as he did battle. His shield was an unmovable bulwark only solidifying more and more. He felt as the monsters actually seemed to get weaker and weaker with each one he killed. The other knights and soldiers were getting fatigued but they managed to still keep up, killing monsters in the hundreds.

Waves of them came through with not a single one getting through their formation. It felt like they were unstoppable. Piles of monster corpses lay in front of them only growing bigger as time passed. Just then a noticeable creature came through the large hole on a horse like beast.

Lucas recognized him as the demon who'd been leading the monsters. Despite having killed so many powerful beasts, Lucas was shaken. The demon reached down from his steed and pulled his spear from the ground. He then looked at the formation of knights and soldiers just before charging toward them, spear in hand.

Lucas could feel the danger. It emanated off the demon like waves. It seemed everyone else could feel it as well, seeing as they took an instinctive step back. Lucas however stepped forward running toward the charging demon. 

Lucas readied his sword but before he could even think, the demon had swung his spear like a blade toward Lucas's neck. The demon had moved faster than he'd ever seen anyone move before. Lucas hastily raised his shield just barely blocking the strike. But the hit, unexpectedly, sent Lucas flying back. The Demons strength was comprable to that of the giant and Lucas was caught completely off guard.

With Lucas being knocked down the formation was broken. The demon rode in swiftly and, almost imperceptibly, thrusted his spear forward. 

The soldiers looked on in horror as the demon raised Leandro, impaled at the end of his spear, up in the air, his torso bleeding like a stuck pig. Leandro's eyes were wide and surprised. He let out a weak blood filled cough before collapsing forward on the tip of the spear.

"NOOOO!" Lucas screamed out. Matthias, who was closest, thrust his polearm full of rage toward the demon atop the monster. In response the demon swung his spear, with Leandro still pierced, into Matthias sending him flying back. 

While this happened Oliver took his chance and thrust his sword forward. His sword firmly planted itself in the neck of the demon's steed. With a painful cry the creature dropped to the ground. The demon however jumped, spinning with his spear mid-air. He raised his weapon high and as he fell, swung down on Oliver with it like a blade. His powerful strike cut straight through Oliver's armor at the shoulder. The demon pulled his spear out and Oliver fell pitifully to ground having nearly been bisected. The demon then stood tall and readied himself to charge the rest of the soldiers. The soldiers took another step back in fear. 

"Who's next?" The demon growled with a sadistic tone. But before the demon could charge anyone Lucas ran at him from the back. The demon spun, swinging his spear at him once again. But this time Lucas was ready, blocking with his shield and letting the swing slide off. Lucas brought his sword forward for a thrust but the demon jumped back in response.

"Ah, a tough one." The demon sneered. Lucas prepared to face him again but before he could, the demon launched forward, swinging his spear like a whip. It was way too fast! The blade part of the spear cut through into Lucas's side, reaching about to his stomach. "But not tough enough." The demon said proudly. Lucas dropped to his knees feeling the mana flow toward his abdomen. The demon turned back toward the soldiers, assuming Lucas to be dead. But as he did so a geyser of flame erupted around him.

"Arghhh!" He growled, feeling as his skin began to singe. Standing amongst the group of soldiers was a small red-haired teenager with his hand extended. It was the lord's son, Riagon. Lucas's eyes widened in shock. He wasn't supposed to be here! He wasn't supposed to be safe at Brinton castle. 

"Ha,'' The demon said snidely as he noticed the young lord. But before he could do anything Lucas moved quickly. Suddenly the demon felt someone grab him from behind, joining him in the flames.

"MATTHIAS!" Lucas yelled out holding the demon with all the strength he had. "TAKE THE YOUNG LORD AND RUN!" Matthias who had gotten up did not hesitate to follow this order. He quickly moved, scooping up the child, despite his feeble protests, and running with him on his shoulder. The rest of the cowardly soldiers took this chance to run away as well.

"HUMAN!" The demon roared as he strained against Lucas's grip. It took everything he had to barely hold the demon. He channeled every ounce of mana into boosting his body, just to maintain his hold. But soon enough he gave out and his grip came undone. 

The demon quickly turned, bringing back his spear and piercing the defenseless Lucas. Standing level, their eyes met.

"I killed you!" The demon yelled in surprise. Lucas took this chance to take a dagger from his belt and stabbed it into the demon's shoulder. It went deep enough for the demon to cry out.

"YOU PEST!" The demon yelled furiously. Suddenly his hand reached out and grasped Lucas around the neck. He walked forward, bringing him off the spear and raising him up. Then with an ungodly amount of strength the demon tossed him into the nearest building, a fortified place held up by stone pillars. The building broke as Lucas crashed into it, the pillar falling onto him. The Demon then walked over and with one large slash seemed to bring down the whole building. Lucas looked up as the stone bricks came falling down and suddenly everything went black as he was buried beneath rubble.