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@elisha-starquill

The others have already mentioned stakes and internal battles, and I definitely recommend listening to them. Based on the references you’ve made to other fantasy battles, my guess is that this is an epic scale military confrontation as well, not just a battle between our main characters and their nemesis.

My suggestion is to build up the stakes in the battle in the anticipation of it. The night before battle, the minutes before the drop – these are the moments every soldier dreads. In battle there’s nothing to do but move and fight, but when you’re just waiting for the battle to start, there’s nothing to do but try and distract yourself from thoughts of home and death. Recommended literature is Henry V, both as the play and the Kenneth Branagh film, as well as the Ken Theriot song, Agincourt, and Robert A. Heinlein’s Starship Troopers for a more modern / sci-fi look at a soldier’s mindset. Also read up about General Eisenhower (WWII) and General McClellan (Civil War) – both were commanders whose souls were wracked with guilt by the deaths of the men under their command; Eisenhower was able to hold it together, but McClellan ultimately could not bring himself to send his boys to their deaths, and so failed to capitalize on key tactical victories early in the war, thus prolonging the Civil War.

The sum of that – build up the characters’ fear of the upcoming battle. Play upon last minute doubts and fears, the little rituals they go through to try and steady their nerves and remind them why they’re fighting, clinging to hope of victory – to drive it home, perhaps even one of the most loyal companions throws in the hat and seemingly leaves, abandoning a hopeless cause. (Only to heroically return in the hour of darkest need.) Especially, especially dive into the commanders’ mind – how does a man or woman deal with knowing they are going to be responsible for the deaths of hundreds, even thousands of their loyal followers in the next few hours?

 

On the descriptive side, I might offer this historical morsel. Medieval battles did not just rage on and on for hours and hours at a time. Human beings have limited stamina, and it was normal for a day-long battle to occur in successive pushes lasting five to ten minutes, broken up by periods of skirmishing, pushing and pushing until a break is achieved or a flanking maneuver rolls up one side of the battle line. The medieval / ancient battle resembles less a drunken brawl and more an extremely deadly shoving match broken up by the world’s riskiest game of dodgeball.

 

 

On the tactical / strategic side, read up on military history. The Battle of Agincourt is a magnificent example of an overwhelming underdog victory brought about by spectacular courage, tactical brilliance, and stupendous luck of the victors, and astounding stupidity / arrogance on the losing side. The English, exhausted by two and a half weeks march on starvation rations, wracked by dysentery, were forced to fight their way through a fresh French host five times their size and better armed to a man – and not only won, but won with minimal losses, while the French were absolutely devastated. The English had no expectation of victory going into battle, but bravely they fought, and gallantly won against the very best the French could throw at them.

And that was how 6,000 men, most of them longbow-wielding yeomen, stood up to 25,000 of France’s finest knights, men-at-arms, and the best Italian mercenaries that gold could buy.

 

Or for more silly / ridiculous victories, look at Oda Nobunaga in the Battle of Okehazama. Confronted by a force ten times his size, his advisors counseled him to withdraw to a more defensible position. Realizing that he would be besieged and starved into submission anyway, he chose to launch a bold, daring, and completely suicidal frontal assault in the middle of the day. By blind stupid luck (or his tactical genius), his army’s movements were masked by the thunder and rain as they moved through the forest, while his enemies took off their armor to cool off during the afternoon sun. At that moment, his men attacked from the forest line, charging straight into the enemy camp and slaughtering everyone in their path. The enemy commander thought that a drunken brawl had broken out in his army until two of Nobunaga’s samurai confronted him and cut him down in a brief duel. The remainder of the enemy either surrendered or fled, as Nobunaga had killed all but two of their senior officers.

And that was how 2,500 men defeated 25,000.

 

Anyways, there’s plenty more than those to study. If you’d like more in-depth / personalized review, I wouldn’t mind taking a look at said scene and making recommendations. Or if you can tell me more about the battle (e.g., terrain, time-period / armaments, the forces of each side, etc.) I can make suggestions from those as well.

 

Hope this helped.