The horn was distant and I quickly moved my gaze to see what had changed, but there was nothing I could see that had changed much. The battle was slowly coming to an end as my summons and the talon riders fought.
Lilah and Domino had formed up with Leone and Zombieman and they were cutting through the enemy ranks with ease. I had gotten a number of system notifications for what was probably level-ups for my summons and myself but I ignored them for now. I would have time after the battle to check them.
The horn sounded once more, closer this time and I felt an uneasy feeling pass over me. Dozens of possibilities ran through my mind in the span of a few seconds before I was forced to push them away as another soldier charged at me. I dodged to the left and brought my blade arm up to block a follow-up strike. Then a quick mental command to Migi extended the arm and took his head from his shoulders.
I let out a sigh and looked up and down the battlements. Things were coming to a close here as well, and I couldn't see any more enemies.
"Your majesty!"
I looked up to Asara on her silver hawk.
"Your majesty, the battle is almost won," Asara shouted over the sound of scrams and clashing steel. "I sent a rider in the direction of the horn."
"Good," I replied. "You have any idea what it could be?"
"I do," she said. "None of it good."
"Keep up the good work, and finish things off then get your riders in formation," I said. "I don't know what the horn was but I've got an uneasy feeling. This feels like it was too easy."
She nodded and flew off.
One of the talon riders that had landed on the battlements approached with an older man in battered yet ornate armor. They both bowed at the waist before the older man spoke. "Your majesty, I'm commander Brinehall, I thank you for the reinforcements. We would not have been able to hold out, not after the princess took many of our forces."
"It's no problem," I replied. "I won't let such a key place in my kingdom fall. I want you to secure everything and be ready. The horn that sounded could be anything. Do you recognize it by any chance?"
"It could be a number of things," Brinehall said with a frown. "The first that comes to mind is a war horn but to sound it when they're still far off from the battle is pointless unless they think their soldiers here have a chance of surviving till they arrive. I have to say your majesty those warriors you brought along are quite the bunch. I didn't expect to see a Wyvern. Even if they do have reinforcements with your allies a siege against us will not last, we have enough food for a long time and the riders quick enough to escape easily."
"Yeah, there ware quite the help," I said. "It would have been a lot harder without them."
That was probably an understatement. My summons had caused the chaos needed to disrupt the enemy and had practically carved their way through them like a knife through butter. I hadn't gotten a single system message informing me of any deaths which meant they were all still alive.
Both the commander and rider went off to accomplish their own tasks as I gazed out at the battlefield. It had turned from a fight into a slaughter as groups of soldiers ran and were promptly cut down. I saw one of Blair pumpkins hit a retreating group and send them flying in all directions like ragdolls in a video game.
"Your majesty?"
I turned to see a guard holding out a looking glass with a nervous look on his face. "The commander told me to bring this to you and to ask you if you needed anything."
"Bring me a drink," I replied. "Water mind you, not wine."
As the guard nodded and scurried away a sudden thought hit me, and I motioned to another gaud to come closer.
"Your majesty?"
"How many soldiers remained after the princess's taking?" I asked a small feeling of dread welling up inside me.
"Ermm, just under six hundred your majesty," he replied.
Six hundred against a force of two thousand wasn't an even battle by any means but in a fort, like this, the siege would have taken a long time to truly breakthrough, but that made no sense since Matin had told me that they wouldn't need to siege it.
Was he wrong or just incompetent? Or a traitor?
It made no sense to use a force like this unless it was bait and they were expecting reinforcements. Brinehall had said there might be an enemy force on their way and they might have thought that the force was still alive, or at least still fighting. They hadn't known the power of my summons, but that led to another thought.
Why? Why do any of this? Even if another force was coming with my summons here now, we could easily break the siege even if they brought five thousand as reinforcements.
"Unless..."
My eyes widened and I realized what it was as everything clicked into place.
I turned to the guard who looked confused and very nervous. "Bring me the commander now!"
I sent mental commands to my summons to hurry and finish off the last of the soldiers even as a second horn sounded from the opposite direction of the first.
The guard ran off to get the commander as my feeling of dread grew.
This was a planned-out attack but not in the traditional sense. The force of two thousand was never meant to take the fort but to be the bait and to keep up the pressure until the main forces arrived. That of course led to question about the number of troops since the royals scouts had seen the main arming marching to the capital and hadn't spotted them anywhere near Hulgate, which either meant they had a magical way of transportation or this was a hidden force. We could last a normal siege but a full force of tens of thousands with who knew what magical and kor abilities?
I shook my head as anger rose up within me
"It's a trap."
----
Quick Note: This chapter was very short but don't worry the next few will be longer as the true battle starts up. After all, Nathan still has a common token and a situation token.