>>5478659The challenge of the brothers and the king does not go well. Your army is losing too many men, and he tosses them about like rag-dolls initially, shrugging off their blows and laughing, taunting about how he will finally have his revenge against your people. Whether it is the barbarian or the star serpent speaking, it matters little; the end of your civilization looms.
Then, the sylvian reinforcements arrive. They are not powerful, nor warriors at heart, but they are willing to make a sacrifice based on faith, trust and hope. Their reinforcements bolster your ranks and charge the barbarians, occupying them and momentarily drawing the attention of the king.
It is in this moment of distraction that the free-spirited twin makes his play; he leaps onto the weapon of his foe in order to get close. He grasps the man's head with both hands and shoves his thumbs into the glowing eyes of the barbarian, robbing him of his sight. The other twin, the more logical and calculating of the two, knows that his brother's sacrifice is meant to give him an opening, and so hoisting up a sharpened axe he hefts it backwards with both hands before bringing it down upon the skull of the king in a powerful downward chop from behind.
A spectral explosion of white-blue energy emanates from the wound as the corporeal vessel of the star serpent is once again destroyed, causing it to be released and drawn upwards into the sky in a spiral of coiling light. It screams in pain, anger, and ultimate fury as it is once more denied its prize. The barbarian army, upon seeing this, all scatter and disperse, just as the Seers predicted, running away into the wild. Many of them are picked off by surviving remnants of your population, some captured, but most of the survivors escape back south, fleeing for their lives.
Amidst the battlefield, surrounded by corpses, within the river as it washes over them, the reserved twin holds his free-spirited and passionate brother's dying body in his arms. The dying twin implores him to live his life well, but his brother refuses to let his twin perish. He calls for help, and the Eldest appears, the current leader of the sylvian council, and manages to use his healing magic to save the dying twin. The two brothers joyously embrace; victory, and life, is yours.
The battle was costly. Our foe outnumbered us and, despite our early tactics, were stronger in a straight-up fight. The cost was nearly one-to-one for the early portions of the battle before the barbarians rallied, necessitating the aid of the civilian sylvians.
Very nearly three-fourths of our adult population was lost in the battle. Our novice rank in Restoration only goes so far. We began this age with a population of 7231, and now possess a living population of 2699. A scale of loss of life unprecedented in the annals of your history.
Yet, victory is yours, and your civilization endures. Your people pick up the pieces and prepare to move on.
