Frostbound [LitRPG Apocalypse]-Chapter 189 - of Death

Plans were drawn up, orders were issued, and people stood ready for the signal.

Everyone had their marching orders and there was no more reason to delay. The decision to attack was finalized and everyone's role was clear.

Being the leader of one of the two forces, I stood at the front of the group that was to charge ahead. Our position at the front gave us a clear view of the valley we were about to enter.

The valley was big enough that we couldn't see the Demons we were to fight, but we could clearly see into the depths of where the battle would take place.

Mages and Rangers stood at the ready behind us, prepared to provide us with ranged support but that didn't mean much to the people calming their beating hearts at the front.

All they saw was the hands of Death closing in around them. It stared them in the face because a once lush Valley was strangled of everything it had. The only thing left were converted demonic plants or withered plant life.

They were to charge in and fight an army that severely outnumbered them, what did they care that they would have ranged support? They were the ones going face-to-face with literal Demons!

The wait only made the tensions rise and made me regret agreeing to fight from the side we were already on. We had to wait aimlessly while the rest got into position.

Of the fifteen hundred, six hundred would charge in melee, of those, half stood behind me. Ashton was in charge of the other half and his group left hours ago to circle around from the other side.

Half and half. The best battle plan we could come up with. No matter how long we stared at the maps or recounted the people with us, the details didn't change. Even if some hoped with all their might that they would.

I could only sigh.

Even with the strength I held and my wish to keep everyone under me safe, I wouldn't be able to do so. I wouldn't even be able to keep an eye on my family.

Every fight since the 'Mindbreaker' where my father fell, I made sure no one else came close to dying. I always had an eye on them or had someone else I trusted completely do the same.

Austin and Jonathan mostly, with Rachel being used only rarely.

They had the strength to be protectors and I called on them to do it in my place when I couldn't. Austin complained about it constantly but he never once said no.

Not that we babied them either, I was entirely disabused of my notion of doing anything of the sort. My family needed to fight to get strong and keeping them in glass cages would only hurt them.

It was a silent guardian angel sort of watch over them. Stand at the ready to intervene but not until the fight was lost and death or severe injury was certain.

Still, that wasn't possible anymore.

This wasn't the kind of fight I could afford to split my attention. It wasn't my job, either. My job was clear and being anywhere near the others wasn't what I had to do.

With the abilities we had, historical tactics couldn't work anymore. Not that they didn't work, just that they weren't what was best. You would think with medieval weapons and armor, medieval tactics would be best but that went out the window with stats and skills.

What we used instead were tactics from fiction and fantasy. Some were more well-read in that genre and we relied upon them heavily for what we were about to do.

I felt that we would have come up with these tactics given time, but this was the first time we needed to use them.

My role was simple really. With my strength, I was to act like a 'champion' of sorts. The name they called it reminded me of what my previous class was and I couldn't help but wonder if it was how everyone fought.

I was to charge deep into enemy lines and in their words 'cause as much havoc and mayhem as physically possible'. Hearing the orders almost made me smile.

Havoc and mayhem was something I could definitely do.

A few others were given the same task as me but they didn't look toward their future assignments with a smile. They instead saw it as a death sentence. There were contingencies and plans around them to escape the fighting but that didn't fill them with confidence.

Other than the few strong enough to be assigned the 'champion' role, the others were rather normal. None had training to fight in orderly lines but I was confident they would be able to get the job done.

We did have to sort any that had skills with the possibility of friendly fire differently than the rest and put them near people that wouldn't be affected, but that was left for someone else to work out.

We had more than enough people to delegate that tedious task off onto. Plus, some even had the professions for such organizing tasks. They worked wonders as they broke people out into manageable-sized groups and had people with leadership Classes take charge, but that didn't really matter to me.

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I was in charge, technically, and would issue orders if I saw fit, but it was more in the general sense. I wasn't going to micromanage the entire fighting front nor did I have the ability to.

None of that mattered now though. I couldn't change it even if I wanted to.

The silence was near deafening as we waited. It wasn't completely so but no one was carefree enough to sit and chat with what we were about to do. At most, people talked in hushed whispers.

Whispering with the person next to them or in front of, for some it was the first time meeting each other.

Others were praying. Mumbling their words and hoping that the person they were praying to was listening.

I did neither.

I stood and watched. My armor shined with the fresh polish and my hammer sat on the ground next to me at the ready. My armor was a completely new set I had managed to make while I focused on raising my Profession skills.

It was now firmly in the Uncommon grade. After my [Create Armor] skill reached Uncommon, it was well overdue to make a new set.

I even managed to add a few new Runes to it. When before my skill only allowed me to engrave one Durability Rune, I could now add a few to my armor. One was a Frost rune to help it merge with the outer layer of [Frost Armor] and the other was a Rune of Protection.

It was the best I could create and it glistened in the afternoon sun.

My hammer was the same as always, sadly. I had tried to push my [Ice Manipulation] skill to form Runes on its icy surface but my skill wasn't high enough to manipulate whatever ice it was made of.

I had the feeling it would be possible in the future, but I wasn't there yet sadly.

Unbeknownst to me, as the time drew nearer to battle, the area around me changed. I had to keep my aura in check consciously and it was starting to slip without me noticing. The people around me could feel a stifling hand pressing down on them and turned to me with wary eyes.

Accompanying the stifling aura, the air started to chill. Not to any significant degree, but just the natural effect I had on the area. My mana pool was already full and any excess leaked out similarly to my aura, causing the two to come hand in hand.

I was too focused on what I was about to do to notice, but others certainly did. They shied away from where I stood and even if there was already a slight gap between us, it grew larger as they tried to step out of my range.

While they stepped away, another stepped toward it.

"Are you nervous?" A voice asked to bring me out of my running thoughts.

I turned to see my brother standing next to me. While he was supposed to be with the other mages, I wasn't surprised he was here. We still had a few more minutes until Ashton was ready on the other side.

"I am," I admitted.

I was nervous for more reasons than one. Not about my own death, but everyone else's. About the possibility of us losing. If we lost, that left the Demons to run free.

It would leave my City defenseless.

Gabriel's face showed shock but he quickly covered it up. Most likely he was surprised I freely admitted it.

"I..." His voice faltered, "I can't lose you too."

What he said made me turn to look him in the eyes. They weren't brimming with tears but the sorrow was clear. While he wasn't with us during the fight our dad died in, he had heard about it.

He couldn't help but compare the two.

"If it is my time, then there is nothing I can do about it," I said steadily.

The nature of death was something out of my control. It wasn't something I could stave off or delay. If the fates decided this would be my last battle, then I would make sure to make it memorable.

"Don't speak like that." He said venomously. The heat was clear in his tone.

We had different outlooks on death. I'd watched as my family fell around me for months and it colored how I looked at it. Gabriel didn't have that experience.

I didn't want it to be my time and I would do everything in my power to make sure it wasn't, but death wasn't something we could control. It came for everyone equally.

Everything in the universe would die eventually. Nothing lived forever.

It reminded me of a poem I once heard and I had a small smile as I recalled the man who once told it to me.

"Ours is not to reason why," I said.

It was a poem our father had once read to us. Both of us.

Gabriel's face changed upon hearing the verse and he looked off into the valley in front of us with a different expression. His eyes took in the trees and plants, the leaves and flowers. I couldn't tell what went on in his head but I had a guess.

It was an eerily fitting memory to resurface now.

Before we could speak on it more the stone in my hand shattered. The stone was the handy work of a Fort Hope enchanter and she somehow linked two stones together. When one shattered, so too did its counterpart.

The other half of our forces were ready.

The sharp crack caused a deadly silence to fall as everyone knew what it meant.

Faces turned grim and helmets were put on. Swords, axes, and spears alike were unsheathed and the collective atmosphere entirely changed.

Everyone here had done battle before. Everyone had gone through a baptism in blood, in one way or another. They were all at least marginally experienced with what was about to happen.

Knowing what was to come, I looked down at my hand. My skin was rather pale compared to the shade it usually was during the summer and on my right index finger, sat an unassuming ring. Both hands were un-gauntleted, as the additional ice layer would ruin my dexterity if I wore them. Thinking about it, I slid it off and handed it out toward where Gabriel stood.

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My intent was clear and no words needed to be said as he took it. He marveled at it for a moment before sliding it on to one of his fingers.

If the worst were to happen, he would keep it safe.

With that last order of business taken care of, I turned and faced the brave souls behind me. The ones who would join me in this battle.

"It is my great honor to fight alongside you. For better or worse, we march to end the threat against us. If you are to fall, know you did so in defense of your loved ones. Do not fear it, for it is not a bad thing. You should not fear such an end for I can think of no greater honor!"

I knew my words weren't the most inspiring speech in the world but I said them from the heart and meant them. I hoped that everyone who heard them recognized that.

Ashton was probably giving a grand inspiring speech to his half on the other side, no doubt, but I wasn't going to let the last words people heard be lies. Nor was I going to prop people up with false hope.

The time for grand speeches came and went.

I took my helmet from the ground and placed it on my head with both hands. With one last deep breath, I hefted my hammer from its place on the ground next to me.

Sounds of the same happening rang out from behind me and I could only imagine what it looked like for our group of hundreds to prepare. For hundreds of weapons to ready and all point in the same direction.

My blood began to pump and I could feel my anticipation rise.

The time for action had arrived and I met it with open arms.

Lifting my hammer straight into the air for all to see, I said the last word that many behind me would ever hear.

"Charge!"

I took off and everyone fell in behind me. 321 men and women followed my charge. 321 warriors ran into battle.

Into the Valley of Death, rode the six hundred.