2 weeks of speedy matching was taking a toll on the adventurers. Only the commanders and a select few in the administration rode horses. This time, Barda was important enough to match on horse-back, but many of the adventurers were on foot. The only downside was that since he was a ranger, most of the time he was scouting ahead for the team.
The soldiers and the horses were showing signs of fatigue. That was when the commanders advised the princess to slow down, especially now that they were almost there. They didn't know what to expect on the ground, so they decided to slow down, have some time to rest, sleep and eat before that final push into the city.
The princess had had no other option than to agree. She was anxious to get home, afraid that if she dallied she might not have a home to go back to. However, as a good leader, she knew when to listen to sound counsel.
Right now though, she was cursing at her decision to listen to the advice. From the horizon, she could see a billow of smoke rising from the direction of the city. In her heart, she feared the worst, but she could bring herself to think about it. She felt that had she made it back in time, she could have done something, but alas, she feared that all she would find were ruins.
Already, Barda and a troop of rangers had been dispatched to go scout ahead. The army itself was also on the move, making haste to get to the city. Everyone was ready for the fight, but still, none of that was enough to allay the worries in her heart. She barked orders, feeling impatient. Would she get there in time, would she find anything or anyone left?
Suddenly, 3 men came out of the bushes, panting and looking weary.
"Thank the gods we've found you!" One exclaimed.
"How did you get here so fast?" The other asked.
"Ma'am, when we got there, the city was under attack. They were not after the walls and those behind. They went to the peasants and commoners around. The soldiers are busy trying to curb the chaos and stopping the attacks, but they were not prepared for this. Barda and the others stayed behind to help, but there is only so much they can do."
***
Captain Dunhill heaved a sigh of relief. They had finally taken down the wave of attackers. He got busy commanding for lookouts to be sent out, in case the bast*rds were thinking of sneak attacking again.
As he turned around, his foot brushed into something soft. Looking down, he realized he had almost stepped on a Tristan commoner woman. She'd died clutching her baby, the outline of her tears still visible. A pained look appeared in the captain's face as he almost wept, however, now was not the time. He matched on, he had a city to protect.
"Sir, a messenger has just arrived from the city. Reinforcements are half a day away." Yarra, one of his aides, exclaimed, with a hint of excitement in his voice. It had been a dreary couple of hours, and now that the mothership was coming to help, how could he not be excited.
"They should hurry up, we might not have half a day." The captain said. It wasn't his purpose to dash the aide's hopes, but he didn't miss the look of shock and horror. "Don't worry, we are tough SOBs, we'll give them hell before we go down!"
"A glorious ending indeed!" Yarra said.
"You are not permitted to die, you hear? No matter what comes through that bush, we are all that stands between it and the people without a wall to protect them. We stand fast until help arrives!"
"AH-HUH!"
"AH-HUH!"
"AH-HUH!"
The captain had not whispered, and his voice rang wide. It wasn't just Yarra that heard him, but everyone around him. They were shouting loud, the captain's word already rejuvenating the gloomy mood of loss and death all around him.
"What about the other mission?" The captain asked.
"It's taking a bit of time but we are just about done parking up the civilians. Once reinforcements arrive, we can then begin moving them to the city."
Tristan was huge, extremely big. Its walls were sky high and the city itself spanned across several hundred square miles. However big it was, it couldn't hold everyone in place. Unlike Crane city where access to the walls was restricted, people could come and go as they pleased. The gates would be closed at midnight and opened at sunrise.
Life inside the city walls was expensive. Not only was it costly to acquire a house, but the food and shopping were on another level. The affluence was only matched by the wealth of the people living there. No simple person lived within the city walls, but many worked there. They would come in in the morning and leave for home at night. The gates would experience a rush hour at that time, on normal days.
Now, things were different. The city had been on high alert, waiting for the invasion. They expected the Gumina kingdom to attack from the sea, so that was where most of their defenses were. Despite that, they were determined to live their life unintimidated, so until there was any movement from the kingdom, they would soldier on.
The attack had been so swift and sudden they didn't see it. Instead of the frontal attack they expected, the kingdom was sneak attacking from the land. It was an attempt to whittle down the kingdom's forces. It was then that the king had made the decision, move all Tristanites back to the city. It wasn't altruism at all, just based on a cold logic: the villages and homes can be rebuilt, but the Tristanites can only die once.
Unfortunately, the order had come too late. The soldiers were busy doing all they could, but they were just a small part of the defense. Reinforcements were coming in from the main army, but he feared they might be too late. Looking at his men, he was proud of what they had done. Yes, they had taken losses, but they had heart, commitment, and a hunger to win. No quarter was given. They had held their ground. He feared he was going to demand a lot more from them.
Swish!
The thought in his mind had not been finished when he heard it. An arrow had just whisked past him and stuck itself into one of his aides. Just like that Yarra was no more.
"SHIELDS!"
"FIND SOME COVER!"
The captain yelled, knowing that his worst fears had come. He knew that there was no way they could have won that easily. That seemed like the first wave. This second wave had an ominous feeling to it.
The warriors around him had to be commended. Their movements were fast and their reactions were instantaneous. A volley of arrows had just fallen on them, and they had added to their losses. Those that saw or heard the captain's command quickly ran to grab whatever shield they could grab while running to any shelter available to them.
It was by sheer luck that no arrow grazed the captain as he ran to the village. His mission was not to hold the fort until help arrives. The village didn't hold much in the way of defenses, but anything was better than nothing.
A blast of a horn.
The bashing of spears against shields.
Menacingly, the enemy emerged from the treeline. It was a splendid formation, and to add insults to injuries, they were surrounded. There was just no place for him to go.
The captain had set off from the city with 2,000 warriors. After the skirmish, 439 were dead, and 578 too wounded to continue. The captain had less than 1,000 men at his disposal. After that volley of arrows, he was sure that number had dwindled further, to what scale, he was not sure. Now looking at the forces he was up against, he just didn't have enough men.
Unknown to the captain, someone was looking at him. From 9 miles out, a group of scouts was moving forward. Many couldn't see anything much from such a distance, but the one leading them could see every detail with crystal clarity.
He saw the sudden attack, and the order to move by the captain. He had been monitoring the group of enemies as they made their approach, and he had made a unilateral decision to send back some scouts to go and report what they saw, while he led others deeper to see if they could help in any way.
Apart from himself, only Batoo was from Dark Flames, yet out here, Barda had taken charge. Being a gold-ranked adventurer had its rewards. As they ran, Barda whacked his head on how they might help those soldiers down there. Nine miles out, he raised his bow and nocked an arrow.