The Loqui had brought at least seven different tribes with them for the attack.
Eirian could make out their banners among the first waves of attacking cavalry. They weren't full banners like the six-foot monstrosities the Crimson Army bannermen carried, intricately embroidered with the red camelia and the unit's arms.
Instead, they were small scraps of cloth or leather with symbols or animals painted by hand in whitewash and tied to long wooden poles. They were usually tossed aside after the first charge and left behind when the tribes left the battlefield. Yuze had tried to collect them after battles during the last war to try and build a catalog they could use to identify which tribes were attacking, but there was no actual organization as to which tribe used which symbols or animals.
Yuze had managed to learn that they tended to paint them before each battle as a way for the mounted archers in the rear of the charge to identify how far they'd made it into the attack.
"Bring down the banners," Eirian ordered and turned back to the attack as Wen Chunhan sent a runner to tell the archers in formation behind the infantry.
They didn't have the element of surprise, but they could try and sow a little chaos as the first wave of cavalry reached the camp wall.
Since it was just a temporary camp and they hadn't planned on fighting from it, the walls were more sturdy than strong, but at least they offered a bit of high ground for the Crimson Army's soldiers to fire into the oncoming tribalmen.
The Yang's archers were extremely well trained, bringing down all the banners in a single volley, those carrying them tumbling from their mounts or slumping over their saddles dead from arrows through their eyes or throat.
The Crimson Army soldiers wore armor that included helmets and face guards in a full kit that offered them some protection from iron-tipped arrows, but the tribes barely bothered with any kind of metal armor, though their thick leathers held up surprisingly well. Their faces and necks were extremely vulnerable, and they depended a great deal on being moving targets for protection.
Eirian watched the soldiers man the wall until there was barely a hair of space between them, firing volley after volley into the attacking tribesmen, while their infantry counterparts held up shields to protect them from the tribe's arrows.
The tribesman crashed into the wall with a deafening boom; the wall creaked in warning but somehow held.
More tribesmen were pouring into the gap between the hills, and they were moving to swarm the outposts on the crests.
"Call them back." There was no point in leaving them to be overrun and killed. "And send messages to Chenzhou and Mingzhe that we're under attack." Eirian had to come up to her toes to get a glimpse over the soldiers in front of her, since it seemed like every fucker in the Camelia was taller than her.
Ardain was practically howling as the noise of the battle rose in pitch.
"We should pull back." Wen Chunhan said, eyes darting around. "Regather our forces."
"We're gathered right here." Vitali snapped.
"If they get us on the run, we won't be able to stop until we're back at the Camelia." Wayland's expression was dour. "Five days on the run and we won't make it home with many."
It was better to stand and fight, he didn't say, but Eirian and everyone else heard it.
It was always better to stand and fight, because if you ran once, it became easier to run a second time and then a third and a fourth, and suddenly that's all you ever did when you were confronted with anything that seemed daunting or hard.
Eirian had never run from something in her life, and selfishly, perhaps foolishly, she wasn't going to run now.
Her magic was roiling under her skin, and at least in battle, Eirian could stop worrying about her dreams, about Chenzhou and Mingzhe and Brendan and Eric and whatever her father is doing behind the scenes in the capital.
In battle, the only thing that matters is the battle. The clash of steel, the smell of blood and sweat, the unceasing scream of metal on metal, and the constant need to pay attention to the blades that were coming after you from all directions.
It was glorious and Eirian smiled, ignoring the looks of wide-eyed suprise and apprehension on all sides.
All except Vitali, who's gleeful grin was the only thing more upsetting. "We're outnumbered." She added.
"You don't know that." Wayland countered, grim and determined. "Don't create more problems than we've already got."
"I don't know," Vitali pretended to peer through the defensive line in front of them. "They're still coming."
Anbd they were and even though only minutes had passed since the attack began, the shaking of the ground beneath their feet lent credence to Vitali's claim that they were outnumbered. The wall was still holding, but it wouldn't for much longer and the wall coming down would cause a fatal panic.
Eirian started to push her way forward through the defensive line, ignoring the sputtering of Wayland and Wen Chunhan behind her. She wasn't supposed to be at the head of the force, that was reserved for commanders of the individual units, who fought with their soldiers every day and whose presence was a comfort.
Eirian's would make them nervous, but only at the beginning. Eirian had dealt with plenty of men who didn't think a woman belonged on the battlefield, never mind the long history of female warriors on the Rock.
If any of those men were here today, they were going to get a surprising lesson.
Ardain's song rose in pitch as the blade started to hum.
The last few rows of soldiers parted for her as the tribesmen beat on the gates built into the wall. Volleys of arrows flying in both directions filled the sky as the last of the daylight faded.
Eirian let loose some of her magic, not too much, but enough that it manifested into the flames it was known for.
The gate bent inward as the logs started to splinter in the middle. The tribes must have brought some kind of battering ram, and the gate gave way before the wall.
Eirian, several steps in front of the defensive line, was the first to see the tribesmen through the opening, and she was the first thing they saw. While her stature might not be intimidating at first glance, Eirian knew exactly how to make a first impression.
The first rows of pale, wide-eyed tribesmen, too surprised at the sight of her on fire to push through the gap they'd made, quickly fell to the Crimson Army's archers as Eirian raised Ardain high into the air.
"CHARGE!"
~ tbc