(6) Desperation

"Archers, be prepared to fire upon my command...Fire!"

Rhia let the bow string go, sending an arrow flying with many, many others fired from all of the archers around her into the ranks of the demons in front of the main force of the Kal'dorei defense. She couldn't be sure if it connected, but from the death roars of the demons, she could be assured that the volley had at least connected with the felguards that made up the bulk of the demonic army. Another arrow was notched into the bow, and Rhia lifted it back into the air to prepare to fire another volley at the officers command.

It had been many years since Rhia had gotten to the front line, more than she could remember. Every day was the same to her. She would suit up into her armour, let loose arrow after arrow into the endless ranks of the demons, and then she would gather as much rest as she could. Every day was the same, and countless demons had fallen, yet their armies still pushed onwards relentlessly. She often wondered if there could be any hope, if they could ever win this war against the infernal creatures from beyond.

Today was no different. Another volley was let loose upon the command of the officer, and although many demons fell to it's wrath, it was barely made a dent in the endless armies of the Legion. For every one that fell, it seemed like two took their place, and it was only a few seconds before the demons were attacking relentlessly at the front lines of the defense where the soldiers stood vigilant and fought valiantly against the endless foe.

A lot had happened in the seven or so years for Rhia. First, Thaldren had been killed by a wrathguard only a few months into the battle. The other soldiers had found out that she was a woman, but by that point women had been introduced into the kal'dorei defense, mostly part of the sisterhood, so the others didn't mind so much. Thankfully they hadn't found out about her age. Also, they seemed to be making some progress, with at least some strategy being used now.

Rhia pulled out another arrow from her quiver, notching it into her bow and drawing the string back. Although she did have melee weapons, she had found that she was better with a bow due to a steady hand, so she had become an archer. Survival rates were higher as an archer as well, which meant she could kill more of the demonic scum in front of her.

That's all she could think about now. Her endless hatred for the demons. When she wasn't in the process of filling one with arrows, she was thinking about all the different ways of killing them, and she had spent a little time with the orc creature who called himself Broxigar, from which she had learnt about the many types of demon and their weaknesses. It was like an obsession, and sometimes she even dreamed about killing demons.

The officer began to call out for the command so that the Archers could ready their bows and prepare to fire, but before he could a scream from Rhia's rear right caught her attention. She spun around to see an archer that had been killed by a felhound, the rest of it's pack right behind it and pouncing on the other archers. Rhia wasn't too far from the back herself, and she quickly acknowledged that it would only be a few moments before they attacked her as well.

The arrow soared from the bow to hit a felhound in it's rear right leg, causing it to stagger and look her way. She quickly cursed under her breath, drawing another arrow as the felhound charged at Rhia. Thankfully, she readied the arrow and released it just in time, but her aim was off again, and she only hit his left side, opening up a long wound but one that was also shallow.

Rhia was knocked onto her back by the felhound, who started trying to snap and bite at the young and struggling elf's neck, who barely held him off with her arms and hands. As she battered the hound with her right hand, she let her left stray to her boot so that she could pull out her dagger, which she plunged into the side of the hounds head, delivering the killing blow.

Getting up, she drew her spare sword as she prepared herself for melee combat instead of ranged. She stood sideways on to the oncoming wave of hounds, crouched slightly with her dagger held out in front of her and with her sword held raised above her head behind her, also pointed towards the direction of the felhound flank.

She swung her sword in a vicious cleave, clean decapitating a fel hound mid leap. But, before she could feel victorious over her accomplishment, another fel hound ambushed her from behind, latching onto her leg with it's teeth. She let out a scream of pain as her bone splintered, before swiping her dagger down at the things hide in an attempt to kill it or at least make it back off. However, she only opened up a shallow wound, and as she crumpled to the ground it at advanced towards her neck, going for the killing blow.

An arrow pierced the things neck before it could deliver the killing blow, causing it to crumple on top of Rhia dead. As she pushed it off, she saw two more hounds approach her, but again bother were dispatched by the mysterious archer before they could even get close. She started to crawl away from the battle, dragging her mauled leg behind her.

Someone grabbed onto her, pulling her away from the felhounds who were being slaughtered by some reinforcements and by the archers. At first, she struggled, thinking that it was a demon trying to take her and execute her, but eventually she spotted the familiar green armour of a Night Elven soldier. She was placed onto a saber, where one of the archers, the same one who had rescued her, also mounted up and lead her away to the Temple of Elune in Suramar.

As they rode, what seemed like a grim truth came to Rhia. They could never beat the demons that fought against them, they proved to numerous. Eventually the lines would break, and the demons would pour through to the refugee camps, where any last remaining survivors would be killed by the onslaught. However, she told herself that although she would die with her people, she would take down as many of the demons as she could with her before she died.