RHUN WAS HIT from behind so hard the wind he had managed to recover was knocked out of him. Kildrack, one of the two members of Clan Ironhammer he had faced in the pit during the blood sled trial, bowled him over. A split second later, the heavy axe the giant carried struck the sand where Rhun was standing. The barbaric blade cut deep, burying the better part of its bulk in the sandy floor.

The giant was massive, two stories tall with an assortment of furs and mismatched armor across his frame. A bald head and a wild beard added to the insane picture of the green creature.

“On your feet,” Kildrack said, already pushing himself to his own.

Rhun followed beside him, ready to fight no matter what the odds. How they were going to take down a creature of this size was beyond him, but Rhun wasn’t going down without a fight.

The sounds of war were like a cacophony of violent music. Shouts and explosions riddled the scene around Rhun. As much as he would like to get his bearings and check to see how Lierna was faring, he had much larger problems to solve at the moment.

“RAAAAWWW!” the giant screamed as it prepared to launch another attack.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Not a moment too soon, the Mecha piloted by Harbeck opened fire on the giant. Rounds struck the creature dead center. Its armor repelled a handful of the small projectiles, but a dark crimson stain washing over its chest showed more than a few rounds had found their mark.

Kildrack cheered as if they had won. Rhun, having already seen firsthand how difficult it was to kill the creatures, knew better. It was his turn to save the bulky warrior.

The giant looked down at its chest and bellowed again as it charged Harbeck’s Mecha.

Rhun was barely in time to push himself and Kildrack out of the way as the machine and the monster locked in deadly combat. More than anything, Rhun wanted to see what would happen as the giant fought the robot, but there were lives being lost on the right flank as the monsters tore through their lines.

Fighting was brutal up and down the front gates of the city. To Clan Ironhammer’s credit, they held their own, either taking the lives of their enemies in the process or giving their own for the hallowed ground they fought over.

Rhun caught sight of Lierna as she drove a javelin into the heart of an enemy who lay on his back. With one foot placed on his neck, she tore her weapon free, then plunged it over and over again into the creature’s face and chest.

Rhun would look back on that battle as a mixture of blood and terror. The monsters were either immune to pain or somehow were able to ignore it to the extent they fought with missing limbs and disemboweled.

Kildrack and Rhun battled their way to Lierna’s side and the three reformed the left flank, giving as good as they got. The fighting continued for hours until it was clear to Rhun there was no retreat or surrender in the enemy army. They were going to win or die to the last soldier.

Rhun’s arms burned. His movements were slow and weak by the time the last beast was slain. The ground was littered with the bodies from both sides, a sight Rhun would never forget as much as he would try later in his life. The sand was more of a clay or mud now as the blood from Clan Ironhammer and the monsters soaked through.

Three of the Mecha units were sparking or injured to the point they were unable to be piloted. One was down altogether, the victim of a pair of giants ripping its pilot from his cockpit and tearing him limb from limb.

Even as the final monster gave his last breath, there was no joy in the hearts of the victors. This kind of triumph called for a somber still in the air. An exhausted lull was born as the survivors looked to one another for answers.

Rhun bled from a laceration across his right temple and a shallow cut on his left arm. Lierna had a bloody nose. A sword had found its way to her right thigh, making her walk with a limp. Kildrack had fared the worst by far. The black-haired bulky warrior had been stabbed across the face, the cut slicing his left eye. A true testament to the soldier’s toughness, he had refused to go back into the city and instead wrapped a bandage around his head and fought on.

At least half of Clan Ironhammer’s forces were wounded or dead. Had it not been for their superior weapons, including the Mecha unit and the Long Shot Corps, who continued to fire from the top of the wall with pinpoint accuracy, there was no doubt in Rhun’s mind they would have all been dead.