Hundreds of arrows whistled through the air, arcing high as if they were trying to pierce the veil of black clouds, before succumbing to the whims of gravity and arcing downwards. They fell like the torrential rain that had descended days ago, only much more deadly.

"SHIELDS UP!"

Throughout the army, the Treants - The towering tree people - clapped their hands together and held them high above their heads, putting it easily over 10 metres high and well above the heads of even the tallest members of the approaching army.

The knotted wood making up their hands rapidly expanded like the roots of a tree, moving with one singular purpose. They wove around each other, snaking back and forth, as they knitted themselves into tight shield that covered the Treant and those below them.

As the arrows rapidly descended, the shields expanded, until eventually their borders began to touch each other. Without hesitation the roots knotting together, forming one singular woven blanket formed of living wood that covered the approaching army.

A shield that moved with them, as the Treants continued to take creaking, lumbering steps. Each step synchronised completely as their interwoven roots were more than just a shield, but a connection of the mind.

At the front of the army, where no Treants could shield him, Alfie was not worried in the slightest. His mighty steed reared back, it's diamond skin shimmering as energy flowed into its ivory horn, which immediately began to glow.

An iridescent shield, as if it was formed out of an actual rainbow, formed around him. Surrounding all four of them in a rainbow coloured dome, which the arrows plinked harmlessly off of.

The same could be said for Carnifex, the living armour. Arrows shattered against or bounced uselessly off of his armoured body. On the occasion that they managed to slip through tiny gaps in his armour, such as in the joints, what could have been fatal damage for a living person was simply an irritation for him, as the arrow ricocheted around in his hollow body.

A second volley was released, sinking into the wooden shield and doing little to stop the encroaching army as they marched across the fields. The third volley, naturally, had some adjustments to it.

Whether by flint and steel, torch light or mystical powers, the arrow tips across the line of archers were set ablaze before being launched into the sky once more. This new volley lighting up the sky instead of darkening it, filling the skies with flames like a new sun had risen, before descending upon them in an infernous rain.

The flames eagerly took to the surface of the wooden shield, spreading across its surface... well like a wildfire in the middle of a forest, for that's exactly what it was.

Throats engorged, moisture congealed in the air or on palm tops and spouts of water sprung from fingers, wrists, eyes and all sorts of other places as those with liquid based abilities did their best to quell the growing inferno.

Although they were prepared for this, there was only so much you could prepare for before you were limited by your resources.

As they drew ever closer, the woven shield above them started to crumble. Segments neglected or under protected by those with the right abilities started to break apart. Flaming chunks of charcoal collapsing down to the ground from above. Some of the hunks so large that people had to break formation just to dodge them.

People kept advancing, as the Treants and the water users did their best to maintain the barrier. But when the next volley came, there were still enough gaps in the woven shield for dozens of arrows to sneak through.

Some of them pinged off armour, some of them landed harmlessly on the ground or were deflected by those with good enough reflexes. But others struck true, sinking into flesh. Screams filled the air from some of the arrows victims, while others simply collapsed to the ground.

The only sound coming from those victims, being the rattling of their armour as they collapsed, and the gargles as some drowned on their own life wine.

Alfie grit his teeth under the iridescent dome of the diamond unicorn, but as much as it pained him there was nothing he could do. Teleporting closer would have jeopardised themselves even more. They had to make the march, and if he stopped because a few died then even more would die as a result.

When they got too close for another volley, those in the gleaming armour put away their bows and, for some reason, started to shift their formation. They made deliberate gaps in their lines, which made no sense to Alfie.

It wasn't a false gap, to let the enemy inside, like the Great Alexander used to use. It was just a gaped formation at the back that... perfectly lined up with the boxes behind them.

'Shit.'

The gaps rapidly shifted throughout the entire formation, as even the disorganised, rag wearing human sacrifices at the front lines shifted to make way for whatever was in those crates. A mystery he wouldn't have to wait long to find out the answer to.

Atop the ramparts of the fort, the swordsman looked down at them with disdain in his eyes, which were still hidden behind those ridiculous sunglasses.

He both hands in front of him, guiding the tip of his blade into its sheathe and started to slowly glide it down, until only an inch of the blade remained visible. With a slight smirk, the sword finally clicked as it was fully set into the sheathe. At the exact same time, more sounds echoed out and drowned out the sound of the soft click.

Heavy rattling filled the air as the heavy, pure steel chains simply split apart. Not from the force of the beasts inside, that would have shattered them. Instead, all at once, they simply separated at a single fault line. Multiple links across that line split apart, the split even and smooth, as if they had been cut apart by an impossibly sharp blade and chose only now to succumb to the damage.

The crates doors flew off their hinges, bursting open with a thunderous boom as the wild beasts contained within were finally set loose. Alfie's eyes were drawn to the crate in the middle, the one which had an open path leading directly to him.

He watched in a mixture of confusion and horror as it was not the clawed paw of a beast, nor the wretched talons of some kind of monster that reached out. But the twisted hand of a human that gripped the side of the crate.

At least, something that used to be human. The hand was enlarged to the point that if it held a motorcycle it would seem like a children's toy in comparison. The size was not proportional, however. Half the fingers were larger than the others, which were already bulbous and misshapen and, considering that the hand had nine fingers and three thumbs, that made it look even worse.

Various cancerous growths and disgusting pustules grew along the hands, smaller fingers grew out of the larger ones, as it's flesh seemed to be in a constant process of melting and reforming over and over.

A wet slap drew Alfie's attention, forcing him to look up and away from the abominations hand, for that was the only justifiable word for it. A slab of meat had hit the surface of his iridescent protective dome.

The meat was so fresh that it still had blood oozing out of it as it schlopped down the surface of his steeds shield, leaving a trail of crimson behind it. But what twisted his stomach the most, was that this meat was not a cut of steak or from any animal he knew of.

The 'meat' sliding down his shield was a human arm. A pretty engagement ring still visible on its slender finger.

"HHhhUUUuuUNnNgGRRRYyyyYyYyyY!"

A guttural roar came from within the before Alfie as another hand slammed against the crates wall... then another, as the abomination within pulled itself out. A human face came into the light, its features twisted and melting much like the rest of its body. It's jaw hung low as if it was dislocated and a mixed bag of teeth filled its mouth, looking as if they were from a dozen different animals.

The five eyes, none of which mated in shape, size or species, locked onto the 'meat' sliding down Alfie's shield and glimmered with starved desperation.

"HHUnNGGRyY! MEEeeaAAttT!"

It's voice shifted, like a dozen voices layered on top of each other, as it's mismatched mouth visibly began to drool and gnash at the air. It burst forth from it's crate, giving Alfie a perfect view of the rest of it's body. A twisted abomination, like thousands of different creatures stuffed into the one bulbous skin suit.

It was faster than something of it's size should conceivably be as it dragged itself across the ground. Using two of its three arms like front paws while it's long, insect-like body unravelled from the crate and hundreds of human legs skittered either side of its bulbous, never-ending torso. Even hunched over like this, it was easily over 8 foot tall, and god knows how long.

Dirt was thrown as it's meaty hands pounded against it, bounding its body forwards through the gap made in the army towards the goal that was causing it to salivate. Through every gap, more twisted abominations joined them. Each twisted and horrific in their own wretched ways.

The mistakes of evolution.

Alfie twirled his spear and was about to shout orders to his army, when the iridescent shield protecting him flickered briefly, before disappearing completely. With a wet splat, the severed hand landed in his lap as a dark, slobbering shadow loomed over him.

"MMmEeaaATTt!"