God's Awakening

Chapter 2

Tallia lay with her eyes closed listening to the Golgarian survivors who had captured her. She observed them silently through the eyes of her familiar Saang, a Black Raven given to her by the Primordial Father who was her patron. Well Almost a Raven she silently mused to herself, at a glance Saang appeared like any other Raven but the longer you looked the more you realised it was... something else. You wouldn't be able to put your finger on it but something was off about Saang that made most people uncomfortable and because of that Tallia made sure he was out of sight whilst she spied upon her captures.

She counted eight people, six were human men, Golgarian soldiers all of them. Most of the men had minor wounds and were cautiously recovering under the wings of a downed airship where they'd made their camp. A seventh person was an orc blood, he seemed to have fully recovered already, possibly due to the faster healing his heritage afford him, and he was trying to keep the spirits up of the men around him. Tallia frowned, she would have to keep an eye on him, he seemed to show a foolish face, acting the clown the others clearly thought he was, but she could see a ruthless intelligence in the man's eyes.

All of the men were being cared for by the eighth person, a woman or more specifically a priestess. The cleric had been the one who stopped the men from harming Tallia when they found her on the battlefield. Tallia was told she had manish looks and for once she was glad for the Golgarians had mistaken her for male. At least she didn't have to worry about them trying to take advantage of her, her magic would have kept her safe but it would have caused more problems than it solves, especially as the Father seemed to have plans for these Men.

Tallia, not learning any thing new from her observations broke the connection with Saang and thoughtback to the battle, trying to work out what had gone wrong for her. She had joined the Estonian Militia when the Duchess had put out the call for recruits. Word had quickly spread that Golgarian Duchy had rejected any peace talks and were massing their forces. Rumours spread like wildfire on how the Golgarian Duke had murdered the Estonian ambassador after he took offence at the suggest Golgaria scaled back it's magical construct industry. There had been some concerns in Estonia on how the Nexus had been weakening ever since Golgarian had built their Spire, which acted as an artificial Nexus point, letting their machines more easily connect to the Nexus. Most magics required connecting to the Nexus, the network of crystals that imprisoned the old Gods. Due to the geographic distances between the various crystals some places had more power than others and limited the amount of magic that could be used. Golgarians spire seemed to draw so much magic it was actively weakening magic elsewhere, connecting to the Nexus was almost impossible in Estonia at the moment.

The Golgarians didn't know it but the further from Golgaria they moved the harder it would be to move their magically powered war machines, it was Estonia's only advantage as Golgaria had both the numbers and training. The few wizards that were on Estonia's side were powerless to aid the Militia and the Druids who's magic was drawn directly from the land were unsuited for fighting. Only the Duchess' personal soldiers, the Wyvern riders, had any sort of professional training.  As a Witch, Tallia'a Magic came from her Patron and didn't need the Nexus but Witches were extremely rare as the Father only championed a few and the price was high.

The plan was simple. Split the Golgarian force by feeding them reports of a small Estonian Force trying to take the Golgarian city by surprise, then lead both parts of the Golgarian army into an ambush when they moved far enough away from their Spire that they would have to rely on other Nexus points to power their machines, but before they could realise how weak those nexus points were. Their war machines would become sluggish and unstable giving Estonia enough of an edge to win.

The first Ambush was to take place on Harish Plane, a large flatland flanked by a series of hills where the Estonian forces could hide. Mallek, an Estonian Druid Elder, had used his magic to bring a thick for bank that rolled down from the hills to cover the plane.  The Golgarians would have to use the plane to bring their war machines through to attack the fake force that the Estonians had used as bait.

Tallia had stood with her comrades, the tight leather armour hadn't really fit properly and chafed in places she didn't care to mention. Her hastily shorn hair made her look more boyish than usual, the thought had momentarily distracted her from the impending battle. She was quick, wiry and determined to survive, she also had her magic to enhance her and her body had thrummed with the tension.

A horn sounded and the Golgarian War machines came into view, parting the Fog like Giant metal monsters. There were six of the larger Metal eight legged walkers meant for carting troops across difficult terrain, large platforms hung from them allowing troops to quickly drop into combat. They also had Ballisters mounted to the front and a rock slinger mounted towards the rear making them effective killing machines.  A number of smaller 4 legged walkers designed to defend the larger machines carried troops armed with crossbows,  anyone trying to deal with the large machines by getting too close for the Ballisters and throwers would soon become pincushions under the crossbow fire.

Finally 4 large airships hovered above them acting as bombers and spotters for the coming fight. Tallia wasn't too worried about those as the Wyvern Warriors were set to deal with them. As soon as the thought had crossed her mind she heard the blood curdling scream of a Wyvern taking flight followed by a chorus of answering cries. Leathery wings could be heard beating in the foggy gloom and a second horn sounded signalling the start of the attack.

She had run with her comrades down into the field, her footsteps pounding against the rock, her blood boiling with adrenaline... And then the memory got hazy, the surprise had been enough to get the Militia relatively close before rocks and bolts had come raining down on them. Golgarian soldiers poured out of the carriers like ants and battled the Estonian forces for their right to live. Blood was every where. The few Druids aiding the Estonians summoned large elementals pulled out of the ground made from rock and mud, which tore and smashed through the enemy ranks. The tide began to turn in their favour when one of the airships came crashing down into one of the large walkers. The smaller machines weren't able to move and turn with their usual speed, made sluggish due to their weak connection to the Nexus and the Golgarians were thrown into disarray.

 Tallia remembered squaring off against a large smirking Dragonkin carting an axe that was almost as big as her. She had dived under the man, or woman as it was hard to tell with Dragonkin, swing and tried to plow her short sword into it's gut thinking her enhanced strength would be enough to pierce it's armour, but the warriors scales underneath gave it an extra layer of protection and she suddenly found herself weaponless as her blade got caught up in the metal plates.

The impact had at least caught the soldier by surprise as he was stunned into missing a killer blow. She jumped out of reach and resorted to pulling Eldrich energy to her, feeling a small part of her soul burn away as payment to the Father, and blasted the Soldier into a charred melting pile of flesh. She had grabbed another weapon and battled on.

She had barely avoided being crushed by a falling Wyvern, it's rider still hanging limp in its saddle, when she was knocked off her feet by a second falling airship. This one had exploded on the ground nearby and the magical detonation had been enough to fling her several feet. She tried to gain her footing but a wave of nausea hit her and she felt blood trickle down her back. Her Patron's enhancement also aided her healing but it wasn't enough to keep her conscious as she felt her world go black.

By the time her magic had brought her back, the battle was over, judging by the wreckage the Estonians had won, she judged a third of the Golgarian army had retreated, although it was hard to estimate just how many casualties the Milita had taken. Softly after she had her found by the Golgarian Men, her magic was all but depleted and she daren't risk any more of her soul to borrow more from the Father. She had surrendered and been brought back to the camp just as a drizzling rain began making her thankful for the small.mercy that was the shelter.  As she was planning her escape she had felt a familiar pull that was her patron desire, for some reason that she couldn't understand the Primordial wished her to be with these people.