《Zerith Mors》 The Great War Third day of khas, Fifth year of his majesty''s ascension, south of the great forest, the army of beastmen continued its advance unopposed into the great human city of the east Rolheim. Establishing an encampment opposite the eastern wall of the city gates. The city lord held an emergency meeting field marshals, advisors, household guards, the magi and the secretaries were present. Captive beastmen were brought in who were caught attempting to spy on the city. Their eyes cloth-bound so as to dissaction sight from of the lord. The magus performed the incantation and purification, permitting the captives to speak. The first beastmen who was given permission to speak was a tall and slender wolf who appeared as a mixture of human and a black wolf," You have no hope our king marches upon your city millions upon millions have been called to his cause every living thing within the city will die." The city lord stared at the beatman gnashing his teeth " Foolish beast Gerald kill all the prisoners there''s nothing more we need from them". A tall man with a giant frame walked out his muscles still visible from within his heavy armor raised a giant two handed sword and ruthlessly beheaded the beastmen prisoners at the meeting. Blood flowed to the floor in a booming voice the city lord shouts" Gather all able bodied men prepare the army and send word to the king requesting immediate aid". In unison the marshals at meeting yell " YES MY LORD". Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!Zerith Mors I was awoken from my deep slumber by the vibrations pulsating through the floor. My initial reaction was an earthquake so I grabbed the clothes on the floor and hurriedly dresses. I walked outside and what greeted me was the sight of heavy armored knights walking in single file through the city. It looks like there''s some kind of parade or drill I thought, a stout man walked through my front gates and removed his helmet. I looked into his eyes and a realization dawned upon me that something dreadful was about to happen. He said " Young man you look able bodied and strong the city needs you to take up your arms and fight for the empire what do you say". I immediately replied yes not because I wanted to go to war but because those who refuse would be branded as a traitor to the empire and would receive horrible treatment. I walked inside and immediately went to the bathroom hoping to wash up and prepare myself for what was to come. War Part 1 A hazy reflection appeared through the mirror as the image of a dark haired boy with deep obsidian colored eyes began staring back at me. My tan skin and medium sized frame made me look above average although it wasn¡¯t the time to think about such needless things. Walking to my dresser I put on a dark red shirt with matching pants to fit the overall theme of the war then murmured a small somber prayer, ¡°Mother father I am soon to head off to my first battle please watch over me¡±. Walking outside I stumbled upon the once flooded street which housed endless markets appear almost barren a great contradiction, from the endless tide that would walk upon it on more peaceful days. It seems everyone fled to the underground shelters or locked themselves indoors if only I had such a luxury only women, children and the elderly were allowed to do so as they were unable to fight. I reckon they should all be safe there are easily over a million knights stationed here and not to forget mages with terrifying battlefield potential. An eerie breeze washed upon my face ending my childish thoughts of running headlong into battle attaining glory and killing the enemy who dared attack us. I heard a voice say ¡° Hey zerith is that you¡± a familiar face made way into my view. The one who had called me was a large male youth who had thick eyebrows and large eyes, a tall and straight nose, and long gold hair.¡± Haha ¡°Zerith you must be on your way to the city barracks come with us we will both attain high honors and glory in today''s battle.¡± The boy was Clayde a good friend of mine from the academy his only problem was his narcissism that tended to irk me often¡±. ¡°Do you know what''s going on¡± I asked as I lazily approached him.¡° Of course the disgusting beastman king has called a crusade against all human kingdoms and mobilized a large force to attack the city. We found out so late due to the great forest covering their advance¡±. As we made our way into the city barracks reminiscing about past misendeavours I gazed upon the imposing view of the large military barracks with a large sign stating ¡° DEATH TO OUR FOES¡±. The barracks was quickly being swarmed by young men searching for good equipment and their platoon. We walked in and saw stacks of various available armor and equipment. I walked into the shortest line I could find and once my turn arose went for a classic one handed sword and medium scale armor combination as I didn''t want to inhibit my mobility. Although this was my first war I knew how to handle a sword fairly well due to my father teaching me everything he before he passed on. After being given my platoon number 9 alongside Clayde we walked to the unit with our corresponding number embroiled within the banner.¡° Form up by Platoon!¡¯ our heated fantasies cooled down on the march to the city wall. As we reached the top we made our way to the front of the ramparts squeezing by the men who blocked our path. War Part 2  Soon we could see the entire fifteen million strong beastmen army with draping celebratory banners from their ranks. The earth cracked at each of their every step which was followed by a heavy torrent of rain. A man''s yell echoed through the fort ¡° LOOK THE GODS WEEP FOR THE POOR SOULS WE WILL SLAUGHTER¡±. A resounding laugh followed although it seemed more grim than jovial. News spread amongst the ranks that from the western wall the beast king Normar a giant lion-beast had arrived and began setting up his ceremonial tent beyond the reach of our archers. The siege had yet to begin and the rain had started worsening my footing it was so bad I held on to the ramparts to stand. The sun was barely visible from the ominous dark clouds covering it but worse of all our vision was slowly growing impaired by the coming of night. A smoke cloud came from the ranks of the beastmen signifying the siege was about to begin. A strong sense of fear and anxiety had overwhelmed me for the first time in my life I felt true fear the fear of my death. I wiped away the tears that were slowly forming from my eyes and gripped tightly to the hilt of my sword hardening my mind for the oncoming fight. From the city wall I could see the beastmen miners being put to work constructing trenches parallel to the city¡¯s defenses and erecting wooden palisades in front of them. It was a brutal affair the wretched miners digging into the damp earth in the open were massacred by our archers. I watched as an arrow pierced the skull of a wolf-beast pinning his body to the ground. Blood flowed like a river and bodies of beastmen grew so numerous that the miners used them to shield themselves from arrows. I watched with a queasy feeling of unreality ,as a blood splattered form across us with a strangely contorted leg hanging loosely down, began wailing HELP! HELP! It was a beastmen miner who managed to crawl to the bottom of the city wall. I could not identify his origins as he was covered in blood and mud. In unison Archers held up their bows and pointed it upon the waling beastmen, his pleas soon ended as arrows entered every part of his body riddling him with holes. The rain washed the battlefield of the blood as if it was making way for more. A putrid stench quickly amassed and spread across the field soon reaching us, the inexperienced troops entered a coughing fit as the veteran soldiers watched with amusement. An old man with white hair yelled in a booming voice ¡° LADS THIS IS THE SMELL OF WAR ENJOY IT FOR IT MAKES YOU A MAN. I couldn''t help but grimace at the stench to avert my attention I gazed at the battlefield and realized the soil had changed color into a mixture of brownish red due to the field being covered in copious amounts of what looked to be blood, guts, and fecal matter. The once beautiful plain that laid beyond the city had turned into a corpse field. War Part 3 I felt irresistibly drawn to this site of calamity it held an inexplicable sense of beauty. Through the massacre the miners had somehow managed to complete their work. The billowing smoke gave way to Siege towers even higher than the city walls. They began moving steadfastly as large beastmen clammered inside them. The beatmen archers moved into the trenches dug by the miners giving themselves a safe spot to fire upon us. An arrow the length of my arm whizzed past my head entering the man behind me I felt a large breath hit the nape of my neck as his body slumped lifelessly to the floor. I immediately turned back to the face of my friend Clayde who lay beneath me with an arrow protruding from his skull. I ducked under the ramparts turning away from his corpse as tears slowly fell from my cheeks only to see waves of beastmen approach. They were fully visible for the first time, waves of lizardmen advanced in front of the main army. They walked is disorganized fashion and wore loose robes with hardened leather covering only their vitals. Men on the ramparts begun shuffling into defence formations and carried with them large black rings. The lizardmen ran in frenzy upon the city wall and began setting up ladders several detachments ran to what seemed to be the city gates. A commander who stood upon an arrow tower on the rampart yelled ¡° THROW THE FLAME RINGS KILL THEM ALL.¡± ( City Lord''s Mansion) Lord Hizen Pov I could not help but frown at the report in my hands, we were heavily outnumbered and the king was unable to spare any troops to aide us. ¡°Gerald what our chances of winning this battle¡±. ¡°My lord they are very slim and we lack the sufficient supplies for a prolonged siege. ¡° Our only hope of winning is the beastmen army running out of food before we do.¡± I see so this will be a war of attrition ¡° All troops are to be rationed a single meal a day and civilians one meal every two days.¡± This was going to be a harsh war i pray to the gods we win. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Zerith Mors The lizardmen in their loose robes began their ascent to the top of the wall. Scrabbling men set forward, torches were set to the rings, they were levered over the rampart with iron tongs and set bouncing and spinning down the edge like demented circles of fire. The effect was devastating the clothes of two or three soldiers at a time would get trapped by the giant wheels. They became balls of flame as they screamed for mercy. The dark sky was illuminated by the scattered bodies of lizardmen set ablaze. I attempted to retreat to the back of the ranks but the crowd of men behind me wouldn¡¯t budge. I slowly adjusted my helmet as the massive siege towers of the beastmen approached the walls. My limbs were stone; I could feel neither hands nor feet. I prayed with every ounce, simply for the courage not to faint. The siege towers made a huge thud as they hit the city walls men stumbled onto to their knees due to the already bad footing caused by the rain. I recalled my feet planting them solid on blood and urine on the floor, the walls of the tower fell exposing masses of various beastmen charging at us. The already crowded rampart offered no space for neither friend nor for. I could feel the breathing of knights behind me and see the eyes of beastmen in front of me. I raised my sword parallel my body and a green scaled lizardmen ran straight into. His scales offered no resistence to my steel sword as he slid along it. War Part 3 From behind me a spear ran through the neck of the beastmen separating his head from the body. I had killed for the first time a great horror overcame me glancing down I saw the corpse of clayde his one golden hair had turned dirty from collecting dust. His once vitality filled eyes dimmed as his face veiled itself with his blood. My feelings of fear, sadness, and confusion vanished what replaced it was an indifference a sense of enlightenment came over me as I entered a trance. From the front a large Goaren a species with a goat head and large hairy body ran up to me. I quickly maneuvered my blade toward his unprotected throat. As my blade point entered he made a large wheezing sound as his body fell forward on top of me. I could tell that the situation was growing dim the beastmen were too large in number and the knights were getting pushed back.¡± I can¡¯t die here I thought to myself ¡±. From my peripheral a large man with shiny steel armor walked forward. All knights opened a path for him he emitted such a strong aura that everyone stopped fighting and started at him. He was around 7 feet tall with short black hair and a massive frame. He grabbed a lizardmen by the head and pulled it from its body then proceeded to throw it at the siege tower. The siege tower was bisected in half and hundreds upon hundreds of beastmen fell to their death. A cold sweat ran down my back while the beastmen upon the rampart looked on with shock. Seeing an opportunity I kicked a bearmen of the wall and ran my sword through an distracted lizardmen. The large man began killing beastmen with his bare hands I could see a milky white aura come out from him. The knights on the tower entered a frenzy and began ruthlessly slaughtering any beastmen they came across. After what seemed to be hours of fighting the beastmen army pulled back. I sat upon the rampart wall exhausted my body refused to move. I layed my head on the hard cobbled floor and went into a deep sleep. When I awoke the darkness was increasing rapidly, as the whole sky had clouded and threatened with thunder. There were still men shooting arrows from the ramparts but they were few and far between. A boy that was around my age sat next to me he was average height with bright red hair he looked at me grabbed his water bottle and took a long steady sip from it. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.¡° I left this bottle full of whiskey,¡± He said, ¡° but those greedy knights must have smelt it¡±. Here take a pull yourself; you look as though you could do with one.¡± I took the bottle without any hesitation the bitter whisky made its way down my throat. He continued¡° We should go down to the main plaza all the knights are heading there, Oh and I almost forgot my name is Karas what''s yours.¡± ¡°Zerith¡± I replied in a placid tone ,¡° So you coming I heard there''s a great whore house down the street if we pool our money we might be able to afford one¡± I couldn''t help but let out a small smile before responding ¡° Sure let''s go¡±. As we were making our way to the plaza I noticed the streets were surprisingly empty and quiet ¡° Where is everybody all I see are knights¡± I asked karas. ¡° The city lord imposed martial law and gave civilians a curfew anyway i¡¯m glad you pulled through, not many saplings like us survived.¡°I see I just turned nineteen this year yet you look much older than me, I said.¡± ¡° I¡¯m only twenty but my manliness makes me look older there¡¯s the city plaza¡±. We walked into an open ground with various knights old and young alike arranged in a circle. In the center cooks were distributing food to the famished knights. I eagerly made my way to the cook forgetting completely about Karas. I walked past what seemed to be a line but before I could ask for my ration a I felt a cold hand on my back. War part 4 ¡° Hey brat get to the back or i¡¯ll beat the life out of you¡± , a middle age knight said as he looked down on me. I let out a straight punch catching him off guard while hitting his chin dropping him to the ground. He looked dazed as blood flowed from his mouth I let out a small laugh and began stomping on his face until he went quiet. As I looked up all the surrounding knights began staring at me, some had looks of interest other anger. I knew I had to defuse the situation but before I could say anything Karas walked up and said, ¡° Calm down folks nothing to see just a minor dispute.¡± To my surprise they seemed to look down when he spoke and went back to eating. My hunger sent sharp pains through my stomach so I just pushed the matter to the side and got my rations. It was a green soup that looked poisonous and inedible but I swallowed the whole thing down. It looked like Karas was talking but a felt sleep take me into it¡¯s embrace shutting his voice away. During the morning the sun gradually pierced the fog and spread a pleasant warmth on my face after I slept on the floor for a while, curiosity impelled me to inspect my equipment. After cleaning them I walked to the city gates it seemed Karas was still asleep so i didn''t wake him. The city gates for the most part looked undamaged but all around it lay the bodies of brave defenders. A headless torso was jammed into a wooden beam. His head and neck were gone while his cartilage gleamed out of of his reddish black flesh. I found it difficult to fathom it was a peculiar feeling looking into dead eyes. Men wearing all black attire removed all the corpses that littered the floor knight and beastmen alike. I looked for a sunny spot beneath the rampart and began stretching and practicing my sword forms. After I was done I walked to the top of the rampart and caught the image of beastmen tents lined across stretching throughout the plain. Groups of knights slowly made way to the top and began taking defensive positions. I walked back to the city plaza but this time what caught my eyes were the swarm of women and children clammering around the streets. They were walking around and seemingly stocking up on whatever they could afford. I walked past the crowd and entered the plaza going straight until I saw a familiar face it was karas sitting upon a beam cleaning his sword. I sat down next to him and asked ¡° Is it safe all of them being out, while the beastmen army is camped outside.¡± He looked at me and said. ¡° Of course beastmen only attack at night something about tradition.¡± I glanced down on the sword he was still cleaning and was shocked to find out the quality. It was a straight one handed bladed sword that gave out a dangerous looking silver luster. I looked at and said ¡° Impressive sword you have there how much did it cost.¡± He replied ¡° Nothing it''s a family heirloom passed down to me my father is commander Vace you must have seen him on the wall yesterday¡± . I replied ¡°You mean the guy that was killing beastmen with his bare hands¡± He said with a proud look on his face ¡° Absolutely my father is a powerful rank three warrior he¡¯s slain over a thousand beastmen in a day.¡± War Part 5 I could feel my heart beat increasing rapidly the image of a man ripping beastmen apart with his bare hands made its way into my mind. I couldnt help but ask Karas¡° Whats a rank 3 commander¡±. He turned and looked at me like I was some kind of idiot. ¡°You¡¯ve never heard of the caste system which divides individuals in society based on power which is raised through aura¡±. I replied ¡° You mean the social order that goes , knight, captain, commander, general, Marshal, Count, Duke Lord, and king¡±. He replied ¡® yes these labels structure people based on how much power they have and within each title holds 5 ranks. I replied ¡° I see but can you explain aura¡± He puffed out his chest then said ¡° Every living thing has an aura this aura is divided into two types enhancer and transmuters, in some rare cases someone can be a both. Enhancers have the ability to strengthen their bodies while transmuters can change the properties of their aura into things like poison or fire. Those who are enhancers are labeled Augmenters while those who are transmuters are labeled sorcerers. The last group of those who are both are referred to as magus and are widely feared and respected. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. No matter what type of aura you have you fall into the social caste system. To awaken your aura and determine your aura type you have to enter a state called one with the world in which you gain in which you gain enlightenment and sense the aura within you. ¡± After his lengthy response he began smiling with a proudfull look. I entered a deep thought before asking ¡° how can someone enter the one with the world state¡±. He replied ¡° There is only one way to do so undergo extreme stress by walking the fine line between life and death which is why I came to Rolhiem.¡± I could still feel the warm sun on my back as a looked down on my two hands. I felt how lowly of an existence I was I wondered what aura type I would be and the height of power I could reach. All my life I searched for a goal it feels like i¡¯ve finally found one. Sorry for the short chapter today I will try to release another one today to make up for it.