"Roar!" The bellow rang with anger and pride.
Ola swung his enormous axe in a full arc, the savage gust knocking away two beetles lunging at him.
Their black shells were no tougher than eggshells beneath his axe, and green fluid burst everywhere.
His knights down in the pit did not disappoint him either.
The Shatterrock Knights had clawed their way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
One knight crouched while another stepped onto his shoulder and shield, scrambling upward with all his strength.
A comrade above immediately reached down and hauled him up.
Working in groups of three, they moved with practiced efficiency. Soon, all thirty knights had escaped.
They quickly formed a back-to-back circle around Ola, shields held before them, axe blades and spearheads pointing outward like the quills of a steel porcupine.
Yet that spark of hope flickered for only an instant.
Behind Veylin, beyond the gentle slope, more black shells poured into view.
100 of them.
200 of them.
The black tide surged past on either side, surrounding Ola and his knights.
This time, they did not form a rigid square.
The swarm divided into dozens of smaller squads.
They began maneuvering nimbly.
"Shhh-shhh-shhh-"
The synchronized rasp of jointed legs sounded like Death sharpening his scythe.
A squad of beetles on the left suddenly accelerated, launching a probing charge.
The knights immediately raised their shields to brace for impact.
But just before contact, the beetles veered sideways in unison, as if they had received a silent command.
Their sharp horns scraped along the edges of the knights' shields, throwing off a trail of dazzling sparks.
They did not clash head-on.
As the feint momentarily distracted the knights, another squad to their right rear seized the opening. Like a black dagger, it stabbed viciously at