Steel Haven part 4 - Battle for the mine

The Kingdom of Chalybs was a large land with a formidable military. If the kingdom’s army marched on the Tirk plagued iron mine, the mine would be cleared and reclaimed in no time at all. The problem was that it would be impossible to mobilize the entire army in a short time and even getting a small number of reinforcements would take days. Steel Haven and the other cities of Chalybs had to put construction on hold for every day that the iron mine was closed. The tirks could not attack Steel Haven itself but their presence at the mine was damaging to the city. The trouble with the mine was either a very strange turn of luck or someone planned it in attempt to hobble the great steel city.

            Captain Brussles and Joseph decided that they were the best hope for removing the tirks before the iron mine situation dragged on any longer. The group was made up of mostly knights and soldiers and while the group was sent specifically sent to clear the tirks from the mine, no one counted on such a large colony of creatures living on top of the mine itself.

            Joseph decided that their best bet would be to attack the tirks with the soldiers while he and Brussles used the fire crystals to blast groups of the creatures. 

            Joseph knew almost nothing about the fire crystals except that they would glow brighter before they burst into flames. Dull red crystals meant they were safe to handle. Joseph assumed that the tirks didn’t know much more about the crystals than he did and they most likely stumbled upon them in the same was as Captain Brussles.

            A small task force was sent back into the mine but this time it was Joseph who led the way. He and a few brave volunteers traveled deep into the mine and slowly gathered the flame crystals from the large room. Each crystal had to be broken off of the wall like corn being torn from its stalk. Every small impact made the fire minerals glow slightly but would darken when left alone. Each crystal had a visual cue before they exploded and had to be watched carefully as they were transported so the soldiers couldn’t risk throwing them all in a big sack and hauling them off.

            Night had fallen over the land, soldiers carrying dull, glowing, red stones emerged from the mine. Now the task was to safely carrying the flame stones up the hill to the Tirk encampment. The sound of scuttling feet and small rocks falling from the cliff side could be heard. Tirks appeared out of the darkness and were now surrounding the group of soldiers.

            Soldiers readied their weapons but Hurly just walked toward the group of Tirks without his weapon drawn. “We don’t wish to fight, but this is our mine. We are only defending our land” Brussles shouted so everyone could hear.

            “This not your land, no homes here, only our homes, Ural homes. Not your land. Shadow man gave us this land when humans rumble forest” One of the lead Tirks shouted back. Ural was what they called themselves but to the human soldiers these creatures were Tirks.

            “Who is the shadow man? Maybe we can help you get a new home. Away from these dangerous fire crystals” Hurly replied.

            The lead Tirk stepped away from his group. “Fire crystals make us strong. Shadow man grows them here. For us!” Said the Ural. The other creatures in the group began to chant “For us. For us”. The leader pulled out a dagger with a jagged edge and a red crystal built into the handle. “we no weak. You leave or you die” Said the lead Tirk.

            Hurly sighed, he had hoped that they could avoid a large battle. While Captain Brussles was talking, Joseph had been striking one of the fire gems with a small rock. The fire crystal was glowing bright red at that point and seconds away from bursting. Joseph lobbed the crystal at the head Tirk. Joseph figured out that hitting the crystals once every few seconds would keep it on the verge of denotation but the glowing would quickly die down. Since the leader decided to not end this peacefully, Joseph had struck the crystal several times rapidly.

            The fire crystal landed behind the leader of the Tirks and exploded in flaming sphere. The flame engulfed several Tirks turning them to ash. The leader managed to escape the blast but was now burned on the right side of his body. Ural the leader charged at Captain Brussles and tried to stab him with his dagger. Brussles dodged the attack but then a small burst of flame erupted out of the dagger. The flame singed Hurly’s right side but he was undamaged. Captain Brussles brought his arm back and slashed using the hooked blades on his gauntlets. The gauntlet blades slashed Ural across the top of the head. The Tirk leader jumped backward, fury in his eyes and blood trickling from his forehead.

            The Tirks all charged towards the group of soldiers. A flame crystal soared through the air and exploded mid-air directly above the charging Tirks. The group scrambled away from the flames and the human soldiers charged in while the Tirks were distracted.

            The Tirks had a larger group and were agile. The stabbed out with their small blades and hit with clubs but the soldiers of Chalybs were armored, bigger and took advantage of chaos caused by exploding fire gems.

            From up on the ledge of the cliff side a lone Tirk spun a wooden staff, the small creature kept tapping the staff against the rocks and spun the stick. A gem began to glow on the head of the staff. The Tirk shook the staff and struck forward with it releasing a fireball from the gem. This tirk was no mage but it learned how to shoot fire out of the crystal instead of just making it explode.

            The fireball flew at the humans. A soldier with a shield jumped in front of the group, she lifted her shield high just as the fireball struck. The large fireball hit the shield, knocking the shield wielder backward. The flame burst into smaller less harmful flames. This caused a distraction, giving the Tirks a moment of advantage as more Tirks descended from the cliffs.

            Joseph knew he had to get rid of the staff carrying Tirk or the next fireball might seriously hurt someone. Joseph ran toward the cliff with his short sword drawn. The staff wielder started to shake the staff and then pointed it at Joseph. The young engineer jumped out of the way as a large fireball hit the ground and then burst into smaller flames. Joseph began to strike a small fire crystal with his sword, then threw it. The crystal burst into flames just before it reached the Tirk on the cliff side. The tirk was so startled from the blast that it dropped its staff and stumbled off the cliff side. Now on the ground the Tirk tried to reclaim its staff but Joseph ran up and stabbed the small monster.

            Now armed with a fire staff Joseph began to spun the small stick around in hopes of summoning a fireball. With luck the staff spat out a ball of fire but did so mid spin and so the fireball was sent sideways and exploded against the cliff.

            The battle continued and the humans were slowly beating back the Tirk invaders. The small monsters used the cover of darkness to attack and while the occasional fireball did light the battlefield it was actually more of a hindrance. The soldier’s eyes would adjust to the dark then a fireball would cause a flash of light, temporarily blinding the soldiers.

            Ural the leader of the Tirks was joined by other tirks as he fought Captain Brussles. The experienced captain would have already won the battle if there was daylight but the night was giving him trouble. Brussles swing his two short handled axes with precision strikes, killing or wounding a tirk with almost every swing. Ural the leader stabbed Hurly was his attention was on another tirk. The Ural blade stabbed into Hurly’s leg, then the fire gem in the dagger erupted small flames into the wound. Hurly fell to the ground as she yelled in pain. Another tirk stabbed Hurly in the arm with a regular knife as the captain fell.

            Hurly swing both of his arms to either side. The axes swung and killed two Tirks. He then spun around while he put his weight on his knee. Hurly slashed with his gauntlet blades, slicing the hand of Ural, causing the leader to drop his prized dagger. Hurl lunged forward and brought both axes down onto Ural.

            The leader of the Tirks was saved as one of Ural’s companions jumped into the way and was split into three pieces. Ural was horrified and demoralized with the loss of his dagger. The leader took off running and began to howl as he did. The other tirks all turned and began to run off into the night.

            The battlefield was cleared of living tirks and only the dead remained. Several human soldiers died fighting the tirks, while dozens of dead tirks littered the ground. The fight was won but the champions of Chalybs were tired and wounded. Joseph found a soldier who was not wounded and sent him off on a horse to alert the King of what happened. It would be a long night of recovering but hope would be renewed with the rise of the new day sun.