Battle

You tell the farmers to torch the fields. The wind, at your back fans the flames quickly into an inferno headed toward the seething mass headed your way. The farmers rush back behind the wall just below the monastery.

You hear the report of the riflemen on the rooftop, finding targets... perhaps too early, but who could blame them considering the onslaught headed their way.

It is not long before gunfire begins to echo around you. Still, its pitifully minor considering what will soon be here. You cannot see much through the heavy smoke, the dry fields were perfect tinder for a deadly fire.

You caress the ring on your hand. Almost time to taste blood, you tell the ring.

Minutes pass exceedingly slowly, the flames and smoke obscure the mob but somehow your riflemen are still able to find targets.

You see a few of your opponents, perhaps a first wave, appear through the smoke on the main pathway. You know they're moments from their deaths.

Forced into the pathway below the monastery, the enemy bunches up right at the piled bomb. You nod at the rifleman standing at your side. He quickly raises his rifle, takes aim and fires.

Striking a small canister of fuel next to the mass, the shot ignites the fumes and begins the conflagration. Moments pass, the enemy unknowingly continues up the path before the explosion engulfs them.

You're nearly knocked off your feet by the force of the blast. The rocks lining the pathway turn into bullets ripping through the mass standing nearby. You feel the heat upon your face and feel the sting of the debris as it flies past you. Your ears ring but you recover your balance and grasp your sword suddenly in your hand.

With three short hops you're in the fray. The enemy, in full disarray, is woefully unaware of your presence and dozens fall at your hand before anyone attempts to defend themselves but with no effect. Minutes go by, the men you kill are humans, dressed and armed in what appears to be mid 20th century style. They're certainly not from this shadow. But that is of little importance, as you slice through several more. Because of the closeness of your attack, the enemy is unable to use their firearms on you, they certainly weren't expecting a hand-to-hand battle.

You hear someone shout, "He's mine!" And turn to see a large blond haired man charging toward you armed with a light sword and a pistol.

You parry his first attack and quickly remove the pistol from his grasp. Your riposte is parried and you quickly move to dodge another attack. Moments into the fight and you realize this is no normal human. You try to focus on the man, attempting to ascertain his lineage... he fights well and has intense strength.

You realize that the force around you has continue onto the monastery, and you hope that your men have either retreated, seeing the uselessness of fighting this mass. With your momentary thought your opponent cuts you slightly. You force him back intent on not allowing your focus to drift.

You continue to fight, exchanging blows and parries for some time. No human would have lasted this long against even the least trained son of Amber... but this man fights like Caine. Could he be...?

Your thought is cut off as a screeching, screaming noise surrounds you. Your opponent looks past you for a moment and you take the advantage to dive into him. Argentum digs deeply into your enemy's side and he staggers backwards.

The noise passes over your head as a large, ugly aircraft fires a huge cannon at the mass of men streaming toward you. You glance at it for a moment and feel the presence of Logan. The cavalry has arrived, and in style. Several large planes bomb, shoot and dive upon the enemy and within moments they're in full retreat.

Your opponent backs away, injured...

Engagement

The commander's voice was familiar... you're sure he was the one who took you prisoner temporarily after you were injured. You're still a little unclear as to what you were doing here, but you know Logan is somehow connected. The other person mentioned, Commander Avery, is unknown to you. You're sure you don't know him.

You send one of the guardsmen to the rooftop and bell-tower to have the sharpshooters focus on the first few rows. He snaps to attention, salutes and runs off.

You walk out onto a portico and stare down the valley at the mass of troops headed toward the monastery. You see the farmers at the bottom of the hill putting the finishing touches on the fuel-air bomb... you're not sure the monastery will survive the explosion, but they've place several large rolls of hay behind the bomb and dug a hole for the mixture. You hope they understood the balance, it could go off at any time and kill everyone there.

As you watch, you've come to the conclusion that unless this attack is stopped, these people... farmers, nuns, and all will be obliterated. You also feel that the opposition will enslave them. You're sure now that the fields are the best defense... setting them on fire... the wind is at your back... it would drive the flames right toward the enemy and force them to funnel down the narrow roads and into the awaiting bomb.

A grin forms on your face.

Contact

You think about what you'd like to do... sending the best marksmen here and there, etc. But your resources are few, and so you send all the men with rifles to the rooftop and the tower. You quickly explain to the nuns to take bottles and make molotovs. You set some of the others to making boiling oil... you hope you have time.

The end of the ramp at the dirt road below seems to be a strategic location, its about 300 yards to the bottom of the hill and so you send a couple guards and some farmers down with the fuel and fertilizer, explaining carefully to them what you want. They roll some round bails of hay to the spot and begin construction. You're not sure you'll have enough time.

While preparations are under way, you take a moment to reflect. Your memories... as scattered as they are, seem to be coming back to you slowly. You recall being asked by Logan to accompany him into shadow to investigate some strange goings-on, but you can't seem to grasp the exact nature.

You remember seeing battles in shadow, representative of historical ones. You seem to recall recently holding a black-powder rifle and firing on advancing men... humans you're sure but where and why you're still unclear. And now you're in another shadow, fighting someone during what appears to be Earth's World War I, yet the creatures here are certainly not men.

The strange pillars you saw also seemed familiar... but who created them and what they are is still a mystery.

You close your eyes and reach into shadow carefully, cautiously. You locate your trumps but don't try to take them, instead you simply... listen... feel...

You realize you're in someone's coat pocket, you smell gunpowder and human sweat.

"Major, I want push the advance toward the monastery. Don't be afraid of the man, he's only one against your thousands, plus Commander Avery will be with you and he can take him. The rest of these archaic people haven't a chance against our weapons and tactics, we'll sweep this land clear of the Amberite presence and move on." A familiar voice says. You can't quite place it, but you know he is the one in possession of your trump and who was the first cause of your recent injuries.

"But Commander, what if he's not alone?" another voice asks.

"He is alone. We made sure of that as his companion is busy with our forces in shadow. Remember we want him alive, that man must again be our prisoner. He is the key to our reaching Amber and ending our slavery. Kill anyone else who stands in your way."

"We're planning a direct assault on the building, sir. Our forces are within a few miles."

"Excellent, I doubt he's had a chance to mount any defense. He may know we're coming..."

It is at this moment that you choose to take your trumps. Your mental blast staggers your opponent. He was caught completely unaware. You hear him scream and clutch his head. You take your trump from him as if they were sitting next to you and immediately the link is broken.

You stand, dazed... holding your trump deck. You can feel that it's complete, but before you can look through them you hear gunfire.