Skirmish struggles.

Nuria shuddered at the news and saw to it that the box was buried good and deep. She then returned to her troops and had them fortify their positions. The trench was filled with spikes and the contingent of reserve troops was hidden far off the flank, out of sight. The city was in view. The way forward was blocked. The enemy would have to come this way, through them. The artillery was staggered, and the troops were set...

Now... They waited...

Perhaps the one piece of comfort for Nuria was that sending out the contingency to harass cut the enemy celebrations short, but that would soon be followed by the cautionary report of their aerial units being much harder to deal with than the previous battle due to the new gear. It seemed as though the prodding would force them to advance sooner, but the chain of command behind enemy lines had become stricter, and their forces remained mostly where they had come from. Eventually though, turns would be taken between their own units and the ones facing the contingency, which was easy given their own proximity to home base as Nuria's force would tire out eventually and endanger themselves if they tried to prod too much.

That still left tensions on both sides, and Nuria would see the anxiety in her own forces. If she were silent enough, she'd hear murmurs of considering for an all-out offensive with their whole forces. Some were just looking antsy for a fight. A few kept gazing into the distance, fiddling in place as time went on, expecting the enemy to show up at any moment. In an odd twist of fate, knowing when the enemy was coming seemed to be a bit worse for the troops psyche than the random encounters...

Nuria had begun to hear tell of the murmurs and doubt spreading through the ranks. This frustrated her. They were to hold the line here and already they were speaking of direct assault on a stronger enemy than before. She walked out among her warriors, clad in new armor, just as the rest of them. She looked out at them as they waited and talked among themselves, scared, anxious, wanting for battle.

"... Brothers! Sisters!... Gather round!" She commanded. She waited until a good number of her warriors had gathered around her before she started speaking again. "I have heard the whispers among you... And I can only say that I share your fears. The enemy marches in force to extinguish us, and we may die this day... Make no mistake, I am not afraid to die. But I am afraid to die foolishly. Yes, we could march out, meet them in the field and fight until our hearts give out. But what chance would we have against the might of their entire army on the open planes? We would surely die, and our homeland would fall with us."

"But I say to you; Any of you who find yourselves filled with doubt..." Nuria lifts her claw and points to the city off in the distance. "Look to your home... The gates that will fall... The buildings that will crumble... The families you will lose if we fail..." She puts her claw down and starts walking toward the front of the ranks. "Think of those things... And when the enemy tries to cross your path, refuse them at every turn! Bash them with shields! Pierce them with spears and swords! Burn them with your flame, and let your battle cry be 'Home'!" The passion in her voice rang through the ranks, echoing off the armor and shields as she spoke. She reached the front of the line, just behind the long trench.

"Many of you will die in battle... But would you rather greet the Mother of Flame saying 'I cowered and fled'? Or would you rather say 'I was killed defending my home, my country, my brothers and sisters!' With fire in your bellies and blood on your teeth! I say to you I would pick the latter, even if I faced the demons of Tartarus themselves! So take up your arms and steel yourselves. For The Mother will be sated of hunger for generations to come as we drink deep the blood of our foes! Look to home, warriors! And take the courage of our kind to to your graves! Whether it be here, or years beyond us!"

The murmurs and anxiety faded away as Nuria gave her speech, replaced by pride, vigor, and eagerness to please the homeland, their Queen, and their legacy. As she walked on, Market followed close behind with a march, stomping his legs as if they were war drums; Between that and the speech, they all listened and followed suit by stomping along as well, eventually surrounding Nuria with a beat as proud and steady as her adamant heart.

With the speech completed, the commanders let out roars and war cries all about, Market following suit with loud neighs. The morale boost spread like wildfire throughout the army, steeling their spirit for good as the day went by and the big battle neared with all of them praising their Queen and their livelihood, along with celebrating their lust for battle to settle the bitter score once and for all.

The hours would go by, and in time, there was silence once more as day turned to night, until their contingency force returned in full as they were no longer able to distract the foes effectively and stall them. Fortunately, this time, all of them returned to fight another day. But that would eventually become a minor comfort as their celebrated return also faded to have everyone return to their duties. Among those duties, came yet another report to Nuria directly of the enemy making their advance earlier, but slowly. More than likely, they would arrive in the early morning.

Nuria was proud that her warriors were motivated now. But it wasn't over yet. Upon recieving the report that the enemy was moving, she gave the order to have the troops sleep in shifts. No parties, no revels. That way they could be rested for the coming battle. She took to resting herself. She would need all of her strength to lead them tomorrow. The only thing left was for the enemy to arrive.

In the time of respite, one more moment in time before the great battle came to be as Market went over to Nuria in private before she went to sleep for the night for good. "Ma'am? Sorry to bother you, but I had hoped to ask you something very important. I'm not sure if you'll think of this in bad taste, but... Do you have a backup plan to evacuate the land with your kin if things go badly?" More than likely an unpopular idea, but he really was concerned for her safety and that of the others above all else.

Nuria looks up from her small pile of parchment to see Sugary. His question wasn't that difficult to understand, and she could see why he might ask such a thing. She gave him a smile and began to explain. "There are many things I can do as Queen Chief of my people, Sugary." She says. "Forcing my people to leave there homes is not one of them. Your question speaks of your lack of knowledge of what it is to be one of us. To be kirin, kin to dragon and bearers of flame. If I asked them to leave, I don't believe one of them would."

"You see our ranks, filled with male, female, young and old. These are the ones that dedicate their soul to the glory of combat. But our entire culture is one based on a warrior's life. Combat is how we settle wars, yes, but it is also how personal disputes are resolved, it is sport, it is done in celebration of marriage, it is taught to the young by their parents, kept by the old to the grave. With such a culture, how could one be asked to abandon it? To be subservient to another's will for the born right of safety. No, they will not leave. Whether I, or anyone else ask them to." She looks Sugary in the eyes and actually laughs, despite the dark nature of the situation. "I'm sure that if we're defeated here, our enemy will discover that for themselves."

Market smiled weakly in return before looking directly upwards and letting air our for a short while. "... It's gonna be a looong day tomorrow, I'm sure..." He then took a deep breath and sighed again as he gave Nuria a resigned stare, a smirk at the edge of his lips. "... Well, see ya at the battlefront tomorrow then. And try not to leave me behind this time, will ya? Good night..." The stallion waved casually, and left for the night...

And then, the time of battle drew near as morning came, but there was no sun to be seen...

Dark clouds had began to gather fast in the region as the night went on, winds picking up as the early morning grew colder. Before it was actually sunrise as expected, it had already begun to rain steadily. What wasn't steady were the troops who were on high alert as the signals went off: The enemy army, all of it, was approaching in the distance of the mist, barely clear in view. Nuria and every single able body was called upon to be ready for battle.

A stampede of Minotaurs stomped and marched ever closer with their war machines and heavy gear.

The great wall of dragons reverberated with their roars at mid-height.

Griffins filled the cloudy skies with a second layer of armor and feathers.

There was no doubt, the charade was over. Now the enemy was truly getting serious with their numbers as they all lost their patience after the long month of skirmishes and harsh negotiations. They've come to lay claim by full force. However, they all stopped moving at the edge of the Kirin's general vision with the rain still falling in the distance, cruelly or mercifully hiding more troops under the water in the far back. Speeches were being given, and the army began to wildly chant and proclaim victory. Not even the rain muffled their voices from afar well...

Wherever Nuria would be, Market would be close by in full armor, though if she looked at him intently, she'd notice he was shaking subtly and constantly looking up, though not quite at the foes. She may even hear him speaking in a low voice to her about a slice of his past. "... Cold, rainy, windy morning before a fight... This is either an ill omen, or ironic blessings..."

Nuria took position behind the trench, just to the rear of the center formation. There were... Certainly a lot of them... She felt the adrenaline start to pump through her as her heart beat like a drum in her chest. She took a deep breath and gathered her motivation. "The rain will keep our bodies cool." She said, loud enough for anyone around her to hear. "This is it, mercenary. Today we either live or die." She took her spear and looked at the point. It was freshly sharpened, ready to taste blood. She lifted it high into the air and brought the rear end of it down to the ground with a thud. She lifted it again and repeated, as other kirin started to join in. Soon the entire army would be slamming the ends of their spears into the ground, making a thunderous beat that echoed across the land for their enemies to hear. Soon they would break into song of their own as the war drums joined. They were not afraid. They would not run. And they would not give ground easily.

"May the Mother of Flame bless us." She was ready. Once and for all. "... Let them come..."

Along with the war chanting, another faint sound could be heard coming from behind Nuria's forces little by little; It was the very kin they were to protect back home, cheering their guardians on wholeheartedly. Morale had never been higher for the whole race before a fight. Soon that cheering was muffled, along with almost every other sound as well as thunder began to rumble, along with light flashing in the skies.

Next to Nuria, Market snorted and neighed with vigor as his horn lit up brightly and shook off the bad memories away again to face the present with a resolve of iron. Her forces would brace themselves to hold fast upon orders, and especially when the foes began their furious advance outright with the ground breaking away, figures darting through the rain, and fire steaming up the surroundings. Only when up close would both sides hear each other's lust for battle, and as soon as the first hit was struck, lightning flashed bright.....!

... It is said that on that day, the Kirins fought the fiercest they ever had. Indeed they had shown their foes that a hefty price would be paid if they wanted their victory. The event would go down into history guaranteed, as none could ever debate that victorious or decimated, the Kirins and the few willing allies would earn the infamous title of Scarlet Sentinels the world over... How the nation would be remembered as a whole, would always vary from that day onwards...