Silence filled the air as the shout from the battle was over, all the enemies lay dead but only one from their side lay lifeless, the one who they sacrificed to create an opening. As the soldier looks at Brol's body with a grin face, Cedric speaks up "Brol did a great job, he sacrificed his life for the glory of this army. Does anyone have a problem with that? If not, let's proceed."
They all followed a few questioning their resolve to follow this man who viewed his men as expendable pieces like a game of chess. They finally reached the back of the mountain, there was a huge clearing, the grounds were uneven and filled with snow. The temperature was freezing cold, the chilling wind made them shiver. It was dusk when they arrived, the sky yellow as gold, bright and vibrant but cold as ice.
To their surprise the Milaric army was engaging in full scale battle with the bandits but they were outnumbered,in their back lies a cliff and they were slowly being pushed back. And in a turn of events another bandit force was already awaiting to engage with Cedric's army, it was like they were playing right into the hands of the enemy.
Cedric clenched his jaw "This is bad news, we should have never trusted that prick, he said there were 200 bandits but look around there are more than 400 of them"
Kaedric furrowed eyes "This is the strongest bandit force in the Kingdom, winning here means great reward"
Cedric with a smirk "you are still thinking about rewards in this life or death situation huh Kaedric you are something else"
Kaedric chuckles "i am confident we will win cause you are here with us, isn't that right guys"
Orlen/Torric/Selara/Darviz/Silgard/Varron/Fenric/the whole army shout: Ayeee Ayeee
Cedric with a sharp commanding voice "I shall not disappoint Alvyren Crest!! Torric and Silgard lead the charge, Darviz lead, Varron and Kaedric with him on the left flank, Fenric on the rear and Orlen gauge the situation in the next battle, Selara take care of the wounded!!
As they hype themselves up getting ready for a head on collision, something unexpected happened: a volley of arrows struck their left flank, soldiers dropping like flies. Another volley was released, one of those arrows piercing right through Kaedric's temple, he dropped down instantly. Fenric trembling, his voice cracking "How is that possible?? There is no way you can control the direction of the arrows in this wind!!"
Cedric shouts "Halt!! Halt everyone shield up and form a line, put shields on the top too, make a tight formation hurry". The volley kept pouring in, Cedric in the chaos met eyes with a gaze so intense in the enemy front it made him draw a step back but he regained his composure. Once the formation was formed they were safe from the arrows but their numbers had dwindled down to 110.
Cedric breathing heavily "How many casualties have we suffered strategist Rokir" Rokir panicky "uhh… uhh.. i don't know". "Huh??" Selara speaks up "40 casualties, including Luca, Kaedric, Vorayn, Zilta including the strategist Rokir. "Kaedric too?" Cedric puts his hand on his forehead as the arrows keep thudding on the shields. Darviz trembling "we are in a pinch, if we try to move and our formation even breaks slightly that will be our end, their infantry are getting closer"
Cedric with resolve "Listen up carefully guys we will break into groups of 15, we will have 7 groups six with 15 men and one 20 men, 4 of that group will spread out wide while three will move south to attack the army engaging with Wilaric force, if they successfully manage to free them we will all be safe"
One of the men with fear and despair in his voice said "That's ridiculous, you are just trying to save your own skin while we act as decoys" Torric with a firm voice "That's enough, he is our captain" another spoke up "So what? it doesn't matter, we are all gonna die while he escapes!" Cedric with a heavy voice "I have no such intention in fact I plan to remain here in the middle ground, if you will not trust me your commander then do as you please"
Varron's eyes furrowed as he ran a hand over his long beard. "I have experienced many battles before. I am the oldest here, older even than Torric. In all my years of combat, I have never faced a situation as grim as this. If anyone else were leading us today, we would be doomed. But I have faith in this young boy. He has shown extraordinary talent, both in theory and in practice. His father is a competent general, and I had the honor of serving under him. Time and again, he proved his superiority in battle, and now I will place my trust in his son. Regardless, we have no other choice."
Cedric with a gentle expression "Thanks Varron, my father speaks well about you, either way if any of you have any better idea go ahead"
Uncertainty and the grimness in the atmosphere suffocate them, but no one could bear the responsibility or had the required skill to bear the role of taking 109 men in their hands, they agreed under pressure.
Torric says "why don't we just divide the group into larger chunks, one holding the ground here and the other aiding the Wilaric army?"
Cedric replies "If we do that their arrows will keep hold on us, while their infantry attacks our detachment and we will be powerless, but if we divide our force into smaller sections we could be able to hold off their infantry since we can do maneuver more freely and the archers can't grab a hold of all of us at once"
Fenric eyes twitching "it is like the archers there have a perfect sense of how the wind is moving! I thought they were just bandits?"
Cedric with a worried gaze "it is not the archers themselves it is their commander, I feel that there is more to their commander I didn't mention earlier but I saw him directing the archers aim after every volley and it precisely hit us every single time"
Draviz heart thumping his body crawling in "then there is no way we can win against such an enemy we must retreat."