Alexei and his army stood outside the first obstacle in their way, worry apparent on his face. A large fort; the first line of defence against the Grand Principality. Unlike those in the South which had been stripped to leave behind a skeleton crew, Ali refused to leave the bare minimum on those defences vital to keeping the North safe. He had hoped to deal with Nasr quickly and be able to return to his job, but he knew war didn't always go as planned so he made sure to leave a big enough force to make any invasion an annoyance and give more time for the main northern army time to return.
Alexie looked as his trebuchets fired upon the walls of the large castle. The siege towers slowly inched closer, blocking the arrow fire raining down, and a battle ram charged for the gate. It was overkill for a starting fort, and Alexei made sure not to commit all his siege equipment to the target, but he also wished to pierce deep within the country before the North had the chance to reorganise themselves. His main goal was still Ali's castle. It was an impenetrable fortress that stood as the key to gaining control of the two major highways running through the north.
Balls of fire rained down. Screams came from behind the walls, and those hit fell into agonising pain. Arrows came over the wall, hitting the marching army but were mostly blocked by the siege equipment. The ram hit the gate multiple times, ignoring the boulders being dropped down on it. The sound of multiple eruptions rang across the castle walls, the siege equipment finally making contact.
Ivan was atop one of them leading the charge. His father had been against it, worried for his safety, but Ivan felt it was his duty to lead if his father didn't. He had a son already and had prepared a marriage for him in the future. As long as his father lived, then his son would ascend to the throne fine. Kicking the barrier down, it fell onto the wall, creating a bridge for the invaders.
The men guarding the walls were thinly, but evenly spread, creating a shield wall to meet the attackers. Ivan charged with his sword and shield in hand followed by his men. Raising the shield he blocked the first attack, stabbing forward into the gap. His blade missed as he quickly had to defend himself again from an income fury of attacks. His mind was clear, not panicking under the hectic situation. He felt the weight of more men charging into his back as the second round of men assaulted the castle walls.
Ivan kicked, knocking the defender in front of balance. He stabbed forward, impaling the man's heart before closing up the wall again, blocking the incoming attacks. From all around the screams of men falling off the walls, or pained cries rang out. The air had a red mist to it as blood spilt every second. A whistle blew from behind Ivan. He knew what it meant, and he and his men created a tighter wall, not leaving a gap in between the shields for the enemy to abuse.
"PUSH!" Ivan's voice called out as the shield wall as one entity pushed against the defending line. With the push, a stab of sword quickly came out afterwards, not worrying about hitting the target, it was simply to not give time for the defenders to breathe. "PUSH!" Once more the shield wall pushed. Those in the back of the defensive line felt their feet clip the edges of the wall. They panicked, frantically trying to push back, seeing very little results.
"PUSH!" The shield wall pushed once more before stabbing. Ivan's powerful voice struck fear every time he called out, the defenders knowing a new round of attacks was coming. The sheer weight behind the attacker's push was undefendable with their little numbers. Men began to scream as they fell from the walls. All around similar scenes played out.
"PUSH!" Once more Ivan's dreaded voice called out. The defenders unable to defend properly, became hysterical, blindly attacking, hoping to take one person out with them. Archers from behind on the siege equipment used the opportunity. With their defences breaking down, they picked off people one by one, as the shield wall continued to push.
Alexie stood outside the wall. He could hear the sound of fighting slowly die down as the enemy was slowly slowly wilted away. The front gate opened with the final hit of the ram. Alexei flicked his finger forward and led his personal guard through the front gate. Pulling out his spear, he saw the small force holding the line. Behind them was a man with better armour than the rest. He knew it was the commander of the fort. Leading his men through, his personal guard quickly made quick work of those around. Alexei walked forward, the same strange smile on his face he had when he made peace with the Sultan all those years.
When it came to battle his mood always personality always became different, finding a strange joy in it. With his spear in hand, the fort commander ran up, stabbing forward trying to close the distance. Alexei took a step to the side and one back attacking. His spear went through the man's cheek in one swift movement. The commander didn't even know what happened before the spear was pulled out and pierced into his neck.
Alexei clicked his tongue, realising he had gotten rusty from years of peace. He was ashamed for neglecting his training, but quickly snapped out of it. Dancing around the defending soldiers, his spear would attack from range, not giving a chance for anyone to approach. When they did, he would skillfully escape, parrying and failing back, never overcommitting and forgetting his advantage. The battle to secure the front gate was over quickly, with Alexei and his guard making quick work. Looking up at the walls, he saw that it was nearly over there. He looked at his son Ivan, who led the charge. He pulled his sword out of the neck of the man and gave the final order to push.
With his section of the wall clear and feeling a pair of eyes on him, he looked down at his father, giving a charming smile that was out of place on a blood-covered man. Alexei nodded, turning back. He went around with his men, picking off any stragglers. It was over within an hour and a half. Alexei was satisfied with the results but knew it was simply due to the weaker defences than usual. Although Ali left people behind it still wasn't at full strength.
Ivan walked up to his father, the men around giving light bows when he walked passed. He looked at the sight surrounding him. The corpse of the defending army was burnt, not before being looted for all valuables, creating a weird stench in the air. Laughter and pained screams mixed within the air adding to the smell of blood that was already strong.
"We didn't lose much Father, only hundred-odd casualties." Ivan gave gave the information, getting a satisfied nod from Alexei.
"Once the men have had their fun, get them to sort out what has been taken. Although I don't wish to take their plunder, we can't have them worrying about their gold being lost on the battlefield." Giving a new order, Ivan nodded.
"We found a couple of messages." Reaching into the bag on his waist he pulled out the notes handing them to his father, "Whoever the commander was, he had an obsession with keeping all his messages. I just brought you the most recent ones."
Alexie opened them, throwing those unimportant on the floor. Going through a few more, he stopped, smiling, "Harun is a week and a half away. If we go quick we can take more land, before he arrives." Looking at the next, however, caused him to frown. Ivan saw this wondering what was going on, only being given the note in return.
"Mansa made a deal with the North." A sigh escaped his mouth as he rubbed his head. "This is bad but not awful. It at least means those in the South will only have to deal with Nasr alone." Ivan threw the note on the floor. Alexei shook his head. His son didn't truly understand Mansa. He wasn't present during the war those years ago and didn't know the man's skill and strength.
"Don't underestimate him. He is the main reason the Sultante didn't collapse even when assaulted from two fronts. How do you think he made his name." Ivan shrugged his shoulder, brushing his father's words off. Alexei couldn't be bothered with his son, knowing that he was arrogant when it came to battle. He just hoped it wouldn't get him killed.