The Last Mercenaries
It’s not really the right word since no one was technically paying them. Somehow the name got tossed out there and it seemed to stick rather quickly. Really they were more of a roaming band. Somewhere after the news of Mandahar, several thousands of soldiers struck out to take the fight back to the creatures. Small roving bands eventually began to link, united by the hunt for a common enemy.
It wasn’t long before they stood an army themselves. Tens of thousands of soldiers had joined together, taking violent action against these would be conquerors. Their success rate had been utterly incredible. Every encounter they seemed to cut down this great enemy with ease.
Since the onslaught began, humanity had spent its days panicked and frightened. News of victory swirled like a firestorm riling us into a frenzied fervor. For a moment since the beasts arrived on our shores, did we allow ourselves to hope. As these mercenaries tore a path through the creatures, the remainder of humanity faced a grim realization.
We were still losing. Even with recent victories the sheer sacrifice humanity made at every battle was taxing. We were running out of bodies. On the other hand, the creatures seemed to multiply limitlessly, with each death two more stepped in.
When the call went out to assemble every remaining soldier, our “heroic” mercenaries largely left it unanswered. Every beast they slaughtered was one less humanity would have to face in the end, if there ever was an end. They could not be pulled from their intended destiny. They struck forward driving their attack to the very core of the horde.
When the sun rose on a freshly liberated Granden Falls, it was clear the mercenaries had attracted the creatures full attention. They were outnumbered five to one with creatures’ shoulder to shoulder awaiting their orders. The message was clear, they had the horde’s attention now.
“Good”, they thought to themselves. All eyes on us and none on the others. Smiles touched their lips, each soldier standing ready to make the ultimate sacrifice.