The Legion of Hell

The night was still and  quiet , the gentle burbling of the owls and the peaceful flow of a gentle creek lulling the inhabitants of a small monastery. The abbey of St.Jalupa was a serene almost hallowed place , the monks spent their days farming their crop , poring over their manuscripts and attending to the shrine of the saint. It was a quiet humble life , and as monks they were untroubled by the affairs of the war brewing in Mystria. The only time it affected them being when injured refugees came to them, their neutrality in the conflict allowing them this peace of mind. Yet despite all this , though it was late at night and all seemed as it should in the abbey the abbot , an ancient wizened man who'd served the shrine his entire life , felt some unease. On this night there was something foul , if not in the smell or the taste than in the very feeling..the air felt tense to him , so grabbing his gnarled staff and hooking a lantern on it , he silently made his way out of the building to check the grounds. Having lived so long a life caution was no longer much a concern to him , the saints would protect him or they wouldn't. And so in the quiet of the night he began to tour the grounds of the abbey.

For quite a while he examined the fields of kale and tomato , the orchards of grapes and mangoes , and found nothing. Though he still felt some unease about him , he was sure no foul thing had defiled his monastery  , and with this assurance he began to hobble back in. Yet as he neared the large wooden door ,carved with images of the saints , cherubs and angels he began to hear a clop against the stone of the path...one that was not the tap of his pepper wood cane. No...this was the pound of hooves , many hooves thundering down..and torches glowing in the black of the night. Soon the church bells rung deeply in alarm as monks rushed to bar every gate and door along the tall brick walls of the abbey, the abbot himself attending to the shrine as chaos buzzed about him. The bells echoed through the night , and they were answered by the beating of hooves .

As the morning light rose up over the rolling hills of the countryside , a thick black smoke blocked it out , for miles the train of smoke could be seen in all directions, it came from the abbey. Laying all about the ravaged building with the bodies of the slain , crows swarming about picking apart the corpses of the men of the saints. And in the center of the courtyard a tell tale sign of who committed this travesty. Upon a twelve foot stake driven into the grond , the body of the abbot impaled. The saints had not protected them that night , for those who had done this did not fear them...this was the Legion of hell.

As the smoke billowed up like a jet black river in the sky ,alarms began to ring in the camp as the soldiers on base began to get ready to sally out.

Rook emerged from the barracks; he was in full uniform which he genuinely despised, missing his enchanted coat which had more pockets to store magical equipment and really was far more stylish in his eyes. "What's going on?" he asked the nearest soldier having been late out of the barracks as he was rather slow to get ready much to the frequent irritation of the commander

"Rook." Alessio called as he put a hand on his wizard's shoulder " There was an attack on the monastery out by Marvante , the legion of hell." He explained with a frown "Follow me." He ordered and with that started walking with a purpose.

Rook frowned as he followed Alessio to the horses the entire concept of the legion made his blood boil "What kind of self respecting monarch sets a mob of criminals loose in their territories even if they are rebelling." He thought to himself; it all seemed lazy, and needlessly brutal; really just about the worst thing since the good lord had seen fit to establish the existence of Uier. "I was hoping we could meet these low lifes in person, I have quite a piece of my mind for their ilk."

"The only man who truly wishes to fight the legion is one we call a fool Rook." He replied with a shake of their head "They're insane the lot of them , and while it makes their tactics rudimentary and chaotic at best , it still bestows them great brutality on the field."

When rook spoke it seemed to be with more experience than one would expect, and since he was comfortable around allessio with an almost inspirational resolve he was unable to show the rest of the men "Then we need to meet them with discipline and determination; men like them rely on fear and brutality, but against the courageous and strong their weapons are inadequate; so long as we keep our aim steady and our heads cool we handle them."

"Oh I'm sure it's quite easy to think that fighting from the back." He replied bluntly as he clapped his compatriot by the shoulder , he did not say it in insult it was simply the truth of the matter. Rook's position allowed him to be quite a bit further from the direct action in pitched battle.

"Perhaps you would like to handle the next battle mage we come across then?" Rook asked, offense had indeed been taken; especially since in their recent skirmish he had put himself at risk engaging a battle mage that posed a risk to the squad despite having already used a good bit of his energy. Rook may often be happy go lucky at times but he had an amount of pride an self respect; he did not take kindly to implications of cowardice, though he made only a passing retort anger seethed quietly within him.

Alessio's eyes widened slightly if only for a second , then he let out a short sigh as they approached the rest of their men "You think I'm calling you a coward." He surmised with a shake of his head "But I know better than to presume that of you , if I am to speak in complete honesty I simply meant that in this battle you will not be on the front. It is simply that it is much easier to speak of a foe like these madmen on horseback in such a way when you have never seen them in action and will not be in the thick of the fighting." He concluded , arms folded behind his back as he approached their squad of men , posture firm and confident as emerald eyes scoured the men like hawks. With a sharp nod he cleared his throat and began "I am sure you've heard of the travesty out in Marvante .I can presume that many of you have already deduced who the enemy is here , whether through rumor ,eavesdropping or a man's common sense. We've all heard the stories , horses blacker than midnight smoke , eyes like hot coals , barbed lances running with blood .....what an absolute crock of horse dung." The green eyed officer grinned roguishly as a relieved laughter ran through the ranks "These men are no demons , no monsters, some say they're a punishment from the Saints , and I say the Saints don't burn down their own shrines! No these are no demons we face , these are but mad men , rogues , knaves , dockhangers , sneak thiefs , rapists , kin killers , but we are soldiers! We have trained together , bled together , and when we face the enemy we face them with courage ! Do not allow such petty killers and rogues to infect your strong hearts with fear! Today we avenge all of our people they have wronged , all of the women and children and men killed , defiled or worse , now mount up men! And prepare to move out!" With a lion like vigor the words came from his mouth , the very energy in his words spreading like a current through the soldiers as faces turned from fear to a righteous anger. As the troop rushed off towards the stables and began to mount up Alessio cracked a small smile , he knew Rook wouldn't accept an apology but he figured that would help. The wizard was never very good at talking to the men but perhaps using the message of his words to inspire them would make him happy.

As quickly as it had come the anger was gone, he said nothing about this, as to know it was not their leader's own words originally would do nothing productive, and he knew Alessio meant well, and in fact rook did accept the "Apology" and was relieved too, as had Alessio not made one they might have been forced to settle this with pistols at dawn for the sake of honor. Shooting or being shot by one of his few friend was something rook most certainly did not want to do. As usual he let Alessio do the speeches and what not while he mounted up.

Alessio was swiftly on his horse as well , fixing his black shako in place as he made his way to the front of the formation , gates to the fortress slowly swinging open before them "We're to scout out the farmlands to the south while the infantry face these bastards head on , understood?"

"Understood" Rook would reply for himself at least. "Why is it we're scouting farmlands instead of moving to flank?" He would ask Alessio quietly as the men were mounting up

"...The farmlands are on the flank,we're scouting them because we're not a large enough force to strike at the legion itself , and also to prevent any flanking maneuvers from the bastards." He explained smoothly as he snapped his reigns ,horse picking up speed beneath him.

Rook would follow the formation, being their only mage and what not he was placed in the very back instead of at the head of the artillery and support mages where he would be if there were others with them. Being at the back had ups and downs, but admittedly he was glad to have something between him and the bullets most of the time, he just wished it wasn't his squad...

Soon enough the plains of Mystria began to shift into farmland and the men began to grow more tense as they trotted across the landscape.

Rook on the other hand was dealing with thoughts far from here, immersed deeply in a torrent of memories and Ideas

Alessio let loose a frustrated sigh as they passed the ashen remains of one farm house , pieces of charred black wood peaking through the pile of ash and soot. "This couldn't have been recent." He surmised as the troop simply cantered away.

Rook yawned quietly still a bit  tired from having been awakened so early, and turned his horse to follow the troops.

As they rode they approached a large hill , surrounded by some woods , in the distance one could see Sonora itself past fields of glistening grain and corn "Hmmn , this would have been an ideal place for a flanking force to hide , yet perhaps they never sent one out."

"You think they are just going to hit our infantry head on?" Rook asked from the back, this was curious and useful information as it would suggest they were not very tactically savvy; given their track record in battle however that would imply that they were very effective head on. If this was the case sending out the infantry to face them directly had been a mistake, indirect means of inflicting casualties with as little pitched engagement as possible would have been more effective... either that or they did send out a flanking force, and the force was expecting them.

"I cannot yet tell " He replied as he raised a gloved hand and halted his horse at the foot of the hill , hopping off and beginning to make his way up. Alessio was no skilled tracker by trade , but he'd gone on a few hunts in his time and could tell when something had made it's way noisily through woodland. "Watch here , and holler if you see anything."

"Understood" Rook said, and stopped day dreaming enough to keep his eyed pealed for possible enemy activity "Alessio... I saw a bird" He jokingly said before alessio was out of earshot

"Was it pretty?" He asked with a grin as he kept walking.

"Indeed" rook chuckled before going back on alert

Soon enoug Alessio was lost from view , hidden behind the sloping cresting brows and folds of the hill, and the cover of bush.