War For The Kingdom (Part 15)

[dupuy 318]

Sir Gavin pushed his horse to move faster despite the thick snow and patches of ice that covered the hard, frozen ground. The column of cavalry behind him did the same, and the infantry divisions that were at the rear changed their brisk walk to a run. His apprehension grew as they gradually neared the forest behind which the Dark Lord's massive force was bound to be hiding. Gregory had given them a map of the area, so locating the caves would not be hard. Catching the enemy by surprise would be, though.

"Split!" Sir Gavin shouted to the army behind him. He heard officers pass the word down until all knew the order. The column slowly broke in half, leaving ten thousand infantry on one side and ten thousand cavalry on the other.

"Officers, to me!" shouted Sir Gavin. The lower-ranking officers cantered their horses in his direction.

"You know the plan," said Sir Gavin when they were all gathered around him. "Infantry advances slowly, directly towards the front of the enemy force to catch their attention. Engage with light skirmishes along their front, enough to keep them occupied but not so much that you lose large numbers of men. Cavalry move to their rear and attack when the signal is given. God be with you! Now go!" Sir Gavin dismissed the officers, who returned to their men and prepared to move. Slowly, the infantry split to the west, the direction that the enemy front was most likely to be facing since the Lothington force's battle lines were there, and the cavalry began galloping to the east, prepared to lie in wait until they were ready to make their move. Sir Gavin had sent the field officer with the infantry, while he and Bartholomew moved with the cavalry.

Presently, the forest's edge came into view. The thick trees blew back and forth with the wind like giant grass stalks, their icy branches crunching against each other like leaves underfoot. The crashing of the branches and whistle of wind was good cover for the noise that their horses created as they wound through the narrow spaces between the wide trees. Sir Gavin signaled for his force to dismount, and they led their horses as silently as possible towards the enemy. Distant voices whispered through the trees: real voices. They were very close now. A few more feet, and Sir Gavin could hear most of the voices clearly. He made a downward motion with his hand, telling the others to lie on the ground and make their horses do so also. They were in position. It was only a matter of time before their moment of action was to come.

 

*  *  *

 

The field officer slowly moved his infantry forward over the icy steppes that led to the edge of the forest. He dismounted his horse and motioned for other officers to do the same so that they would not become an easy target for enemy archers. The sound of ice crunching under their feet seemed to grow louder with every step as they neared the wood line. The field officer only hoped that the noise would not tell the enemy of their presence before they were in position. No one in the group of ten thousand strong could see the enemy force behind the trees, but they knew they were there. The field officer had little doubt of the almost perfect evidence that led to the use of the caves ahead by the Dark Lord's army.

The field officer saw a berm of snow just twenty feet ahead that wrapped around in a curve to meet the trees. Now he could truly take the enemy by surprise. When he reached the berm's edge, he signaled his force to crouch and move along the length of it until they reached the forest's edge.

The field officer gave a ringing shout and drew his sword while throwing his hand forward, and his men charged over the berm. The battle for the fate of Leaartrieya had begun. Within seconds, an uproar of confused voices bellowed from the forest and the enemy army was immediately put in retreat. The early momentum caused some of the royal soldiers to shout victoriously, thinking that they had already won, but the field officer knew better. Surprise had been achieved with astounding success, but the plan was only half begun. An army the size of the Dark Lord's would quickly realize that it had the numbers advantage. The field officer could only hope that Sir Gavin and his cavalry were having success on the other side of the enemy and that the main army would reinforce them soon.

The field officer began to clamber over the snowy berm to join the fray but was stopped by one of the lesser officers.

"Sir, the envoy that we dispatched to meet our main force from the capital and notify them of the situation was found dead not a mile outside the city o' Lothington. Had an arrow straight through 'im." The field officer started, a rising fear growing in his center.

"Then that means they will go straight into the city and not directly here to reinforce us?" he asked waveringly. The other man looked grave.

"Yes Sir, I fear that is right." The field officer tried not to panic despite the growing urge to do so. He knew that the army was crucial to the success of this operation. If they did not reach them in time - or at all - then their own attempt to stop the enemy would be a bloodbath. The field officer thought quickly.

"Send another messenger under full guard back to the city to tell them the news. Double speed!" he shouted. The other officer nodded and ran to find men for the mission.

The field officer finally cleared the berm and ran into the forest behind his men as they pushed the enemy farther back. Before him, he saw a gaping cave in the side of a small hill, undoubtedly one of the ones that the Dark Lord would have begun funneling hordes of soldiers into had they not arrived to stop him. A handful of dark warriors stood by the cave's entrance, desperately trying to fight off a number of royal soldiers that outnumbered them by twofold. They had apparently not fallen back with the rest of their army and were given no opportunity to do so now. Within a minute, the just swords of the Lothington troops had cut them to the ground.

"Inspect all caves for enemy soldiers once you have cleared their entrances!" shouted the field officer in their direction as he continued to move forward. He wanted to make sure that none of the enemy force had already begun to move underground, en route to one of the kingdom's main cities.

After moving another one hundred feet or so, the field officer began to notice that their advance was slowing down. It appeared that the dark army was beginning to fight back on a more organized level. After another fifty feet, their advance halted entirely and the rapidly moving battle line became stationary. The field officer pushed towards the front of his force, hewing down several enemy warriors on the way. He had almost made it to the front when a group of ten or twelve dark soldiers moved forward to stop him. The field officer could tell from the red plumes in their helmets that these were not just ordinary enemy troops, but elite warriors. They held massive great swords which they wielded as effortlessly as grass blades. The first one engaged him directly, and he was forced to retreat, nearly to the rear of his lines. Several of his men were engaged and pushed back with him until he and four others were encircled by the enemy squad. Before long, he was trapped in the battle of his life - one that he did not know if he could survive.

[Person_Random 4,991]

Approved.

Sorry for the delay on the approval; I planned to do it earlier but had some schedule and forum difficulties, but thankfully, I've had the time to get to it now. And it's definitely a great story once again - magnificent plot buildup, vivid description and dialogue, and strong character development - the perfect recipe for another chapter of this series. With more time to unwind with the holidays, I hope that we'll see a thrilling climax and conclusion to this story!

Edits: minor grammar and spelling fixes

[dupuy 318]

5 hours ago, Person_Random said:

Approved.

Sorry for the delay on the approval; I planned to do it earlier but had some schedule and forum difficulties, but thankfully, I've had the time to get to it now. And it's definitely a great story once again - magnificent plot buildup, vivid description and dialogue, and strong character development - the perfect recipe for another chapter of this series. With more time to unwind with the holidays, I hope that we'll see a thrilling climax and conclusion to this story!

Edits: minor grammar and spelling fixes

No problemo on the delay and thanks for the approval. If all goes well, then I should have the last of the pieces up before Christmas ;)

On my end of things, this topic is still being shown as awaiting approval for some reason :P

Edited December 19, 2020 by dupuy

[Person_Random 4,991]

7 hours ago, dupuy said:

No problemo on the delay and thanks for the approval. If all goes well, then I should have the last of the pieces up before Christmas ;)

On my end of things, this topic is still being shown as awaiting approval for some reason :P

Oops, that was a misapproval from me. I may have either forgotten to press approve or had some forum disruptions earlier (the computer was acting up a bit then). My bad

On a positive note, let's enjoy the story!

[Venerable 2,969]

Climax soon o.O

Can't wait!

Another wonderful chapter, dupuy!

[Viking4s 10,791]

Please create a table content with all the chapters links or at least create links between the different article (previous / next).

[dupuy 318]

5 hours ago, Viking4s said:

Please create a table content with all the chapters links or at least create links between the different article (previous / next).

I can do that with the finale ;)