Chapter 46: The battle of the bridge

On the Forestian side, although they possessed several thousand fewer soldiers than the Riversians, their army had been built almost entirely for war. The majority of their forces consisted of Xilum riders capable of charging without rest, specially trained lizardmen who had spent years honing their combat abilities, and griffons carrying massive boulders that could be dropped directly upon enemy formations.

Unlike the resource-rich Riversians, the Forestians had devoted nearly half of their settlement toward military development, producing warriors whose individual strength could overwhelm ordinary soldiers.

Standing before this army was Cull, the leader of the Forestians.

"They killed my son, and the people who stood beside him. They claim he assaulted a child, but it was a human child."

"Humans multiply like rabbits. Even if we kill one, another will crawl from the same womb only days later. Men, we can no longer allow ourselves to be oppressed. Today, we fight together, and today, we take what belongs to us!"

A deafening roar erupted from the Forestian army.

Their voices carried none of the determination that had filled the Riversian soldiers before the march. This time, their cries were filled with anger, hatred, and a desire for revenge that had been festering for days.

Days later, the two forces finally met upon the same bridge where Ojura had once stood. Thousands of soldiers occupied both sides of the enormous stone structure, their banners whipping violently in the wind as weapons were raised and armor reflected the afternoon sunlight.

At the center of the bridge, Cull and Siar stood facing one another.

"Cull, leader of the bastards. How long has it been? A decade?"

"Bastard? How ironic. Are you not rumored to be a bastard son yourself?"

"Rumors. You still believe those old tales?"

Siar’s expression hardened.

"But your son assaulting a child is not a rumor."

"How dare you kill my son when he came expecting a peaceful discussion?"

"And how dare you poison my father while he was traveling under a banner of diplomacy?"

Cull’s grip tightened around his weapon.

"This is pointless. I am here to avenge my people, who were killed after entering political discussions in good faith. My son assaulting your people was nothing but a fabricated story."

"Fabricated?"

Siar stared directly into Cull’s eyes. "Do you truly believe a child would lie directly in front of my face?"

The argument suddenly ended when a voice erupted from behind Cull.

"You bastard! You killed my youngest brother!"

An arrow immediately flew through the air.

It struck a Riversian soldier.

For one heartbeat, everything went silent. Then the entire bridge exploded into violence.

"Charge!"

Siar immediately seized control of the chaos, raising his massive scythe as the Riversian forces surged forward. At the same time, the Xilum riders began their charge, their mounts pounding against the stone with such force that the entire bridge seemed to tremble beneath them.

"Loose the arrows! Do not let them cross the bridge!"

Hundreds of arrows filled the sky.

The first wave of Xilum riders was struck before reaching the Riversian formation, several warriors tumbling from their mounts. Yet those behind them continued forward without hesitation, trampling over the fallen and accelerating toward the defensive line.

The collision was monstrous.

Xilum riders crashed into shields with enough force to send entire rows of soldiers stumbling backward, while Forestian lizardmen immediately followed behind them and forced their way into the gaps. Spears stabbed through armor, blades struck against scales, and the narrow bridge became a violent mass of soldiers fighting for every inch of ground.

Siar entered the battle himself.

His massive scythe swept through the air.

The first Forestian warrior approaching him was struck so violently that his body was thrown several meters across the battlefield.

Another charged from the side, but Siar twisted around the attack and brought the blade back with a brutal swing, cutting through the warrior’s defense before he could recover.

Siar continued advancing. Every warrior who attempted to stop him was met by the sweeping arc of his enormous weapon, and wherever he moved, the Forestian assault was forced backward.

His soldiers began following behind him, using the opening he created to push deeper into the enemy formation.

But the Forestians refused to break.

A Xilum rider suddenly burst through the chaos and charged directly toward Siar.

Siar raised his scythe. Before he could strike, a Forestian lizardman intercepted him from the side, forcing Siar to step backward for the first time since entering the battle.

Elsewhere, the human soldiers were suffering terribly against the Forestian lizardmen. Their weapons struggled to pierce the thick scales of their opponents, while every clash sent them stumbling backward under the superior strength of the larger warriors.

One human soldier raised his shield just as an axe came crashing down.

The impact drove him to his knees. A Riversian lizardman suddenly stepped between them, catching the attack against his own weapon before shoving the Forestian backward.

"Stay behind us!"

More Riversian lizardmen rushed forward and formed a defensive wall around the humans. They absorbed the attacks that the humans could not, giving the weaker soldiers enough space to strike from behind and slowly stabilize the collapsing section of the formation.

Above them, the griffons finally descended.

One released its massive boulder. The stone crashed into the Riversian formation with devastating force, crushing soldiers beneath its weight and throwing others across the bridge.

Before the dust had even settled, another griffon released its own boulder, causing another portion of the army to scatter.

The battle descended into complete chaos. Bodies began piling across the bridge, their weapons lying beside them as soldiers continued stepping over the dead. Blood flowed between the cracks of the stone while broken shields, shattered spears, and discarded pieces of armor became scattered across the battlefield.

Yet neither side stopped. Every time one army gained ground, the other answered with another charge, another formation, or another wave of soldiers.

Then Cull entered the battlefield.

He moved through his own warriors without hesitation, striking down the Riversian soldiers who attempted to slow his advance. His presence alone seemed to ignite something within the Forestian army, and the warriors around him roared louder as they followed their leader into the heart of the fighting.

Across the battlefield, Cull noticed Siar. For a moment, the two leaders simply stared at one another.

Around them, thousands continued fighting as arrows continued falling. Griffons continued circling above.

The screams of wounded soldiers echoed across the bridge, yet neither leader paid attention to any of it.

Their eyes met once again, and in that single moment, both understood what the battlefield had already proven.

Their armies could continue killing each other for hours, perhaps even days, but the war would not be decided by numbers anymore.

It would be decided by them.