Siege of Kholinar

The Siege of Kholinar - and the following battle upon the wall and inside the palace of Kholinar - is a major event in the context of the progression of the Everstorm.
==Progression==
The signal that the city was under attack was the sounding of drums.
Atop the wall, Fused swooped between Azure and Kaladin, trailing dark violet light, attacking with long, bloodied lances.
Members of the Wall Guard died on that wall in a hopeless fight. Azure was there because Kaladin convinced her that the only way to help them was to take the palace.
King Elhokar commanded the Highmarshal and Brightlords to pass the word to their forces. To organize ranks and march on the palace at his command.
Fused coursed through the sky along the wall. The king's forces marched through the city, passing worried refugees. Eventually, the palace rose before the army like an obsidian block.
Near the city wall, the Fused were visible, attacking the troops. A strange thumping started, and Adolin took it as another set of drums ... until a head crested the top of the wall nearest them.
It had an enormous stone wedge of a face that reminded him of that of some greatshell beast, though its eyes were just red spots glowing from deep within.
The monster pulled itself up by one arm. To Adolin, it didn't seem quite as tall as the city walls, but it was still enormous. Fused buzzed about as it swatted along the wall - spraying defenders like cremlings - then smashed a guard tower.
The monster then ripped the guard tower apart, and with a casual flip, tossed a boulder the size of a horse toward him, Kaladin, Azure, and the remaining Wall Guard.
Kaladin rose into the air on a streak of light, hit the stone and rolled with it, twisting and tumbling in the air. His glow diminished severely.
The boulder lurched, somehow changed momentum, and was tossed away from Kaladin. It crested the city wall, narrowly missing the monster that had thrown it.
Kaladin tells Adolin that he and his cohorts will distract the Fused and - if they can - they'll seize the Sunwalk. Further, that Adolin should get in through the palace, and meet with him in the eastern gallery.
The monster started pounding on the gates there, cracking and splintering the wood.
Adolin charged, running up beside Elhokar and Azure. They reached the palace grounds and surged up the steps. Atop the steps, they each each went to a separate door. There, the front of the palace roof shielded them from the stones that the creature was flinging.
After slicing his way into the palace, Adolin instructs a group of soldiers to reinforce the King's Guard and make sure that Elhokar doesn't get overwhelmed. Further, that if he does, they should shout for himself.
Getting into the palace was still slow going. The men inside had formed shield-wall rings around the doorways, and the fighting mostly happened with men using short spears to stab at each other. Some platoons of Wall Guard brought in longer pikes to break the ranks of defenders, preparing for a surge.
Adolin charged through into the palace entry hall and the enemy thrust a dozen spears at him. He ducked low, taking a slice on the shoulder as he did a two-handed sweep, cutting a group of soldiers at the knees. The enemy dropped, their legs ruined by the Shardblade.
After having attacked forward, hacking the fronts off spears, cutting at hands, the enemy finally broke, falling back through the entry hall - which was too large to hold - toward the narrower hallway leading to the eastern gallery.
Once the crashing at the gate finally silences, Adolin recognizes that the enemy is through it. Elhokar acknowledges that the enemy will fight quickly to get to them; that they know the danger the Oathgate presents.
Confirming that the palace will soon be swarming with parshman troops, Elhokar commands his companions to gather their troops, stating that Azure has command of the assault; that she must clear the hallway.
Grim, Azure commands archers to use shortbows to try to soften the enemy. But, the shield wall was built to hold out against arrows, so Azure gives the order, and her men advance against the fortified enemy.
Meanwhile, Elhokar charges Adolin with investigating a reported oddity; the door to the palace garrison has been rigged to lock from the outside with a metal bar. Once opened at Adolin's command, the soldiers found a group of dirty men in Palace Guard uniforms. One of those men was Sidin.
The men join with Adolin's forces as reserves, and as Azure's men continue to fight and claim the hallway, over the din of the fighting, over the shouts of men echoing against the walls, a quiet voice somehow cuts to Adolin's soul. Passion. Sweet passion.
The Palace Guard finally relinquished the hallway, retreating through two sets of broad double doors at the other end that lead to the eastern gallery. The doors weren't very defensible, but the enemy was obviously trying to buy as much time as possible.
The doors starts shaking, then opens, revealing a glowing figure. Kaladin shines with a powerful brilliance, his eyes beacons of blue, streaming with Stormlight. He grips a glowing metallic spear that is easily twelve feet long.
Kaladin tells Adolin that the gallery is secure. That the enemy he pushed back fled up the steps. He then suggests to Elhokar that he send Azure's men onto the Sunwalk to hold it.
Once upon the entrance walkway to the Sunwalk, Adolin is surprised to see not only guard corpses, but three prominent bodies in blue. Kaladin, Skar, Drehy. Stepping up to his side, Shallan tells him that the illusions worked better than fighting the enemy off. Further, that the flying ones are distracted by the fighting at the city wall, so they left the moment they thought the bridgemen had fallen.
To Kaladin, Elhokar says that he's going to lead a force up to the royal chambers, because someone needs to find out what happened to Aesudan, what happened to the whole city. Kaladin makes the choice of going with him.
Adolin picks out some soldiers to go with the king, then tells him that Sidin and his men refused the queen's orders. That they know better than anyone else what's going on there. Elhokar tells him that this is excellent and not to wait for him. That if Shallan is successful with the Unmade, they should go right to Urithiru and bring their armies back.
==References==
Category:Military
Category:Battles