Chapter55: Lost

*Akin* I have never felt fear like this in my life. The Oceanans are everywhere, relentless, swarming us on all sides. I can barely see two feet in front of me through the wall of bodies and smoke and flaring magic. There’s no formation to our soldiers now, no real lines left. We are hardly an army at all now, just soldiers fighting for their lives, one man against five or more Oceanans at one time. The only thing keeping this army from swallowing us whole is the barrier still shimmering weakly at our backs. We will retreat if we must, but there’s the very real possibility that the barrier will not hold up against our enemies. We have to fight them back as long as we possibly can… which, I fear, isn’t much longer. I fight. That is all I know how to do. I swing and block and press forward, my sword a blur in my hands, my muscles screaming with every movement. My boots slide in the blood-slicked mud. My shoulder throbs from a blade I didn’t deflect fast enough. My lungs burn with smoke.