"Open the gates!" a knight shouted as the Prince and the Chief Seer rode towards the exit of the palace.
"Ride with me grandson!" The Old man simply said as he kicked his horse to a faster trot.
They left the palace far behind them and headed westward. Frank was yet to explore this land and therefore, didn't know where they were headed to. He dared not question the old man for he seemed quite troubled. They thus rode on in silence until they reached the edge of a forest which rose up a mountain.
"We shall go on foot from here. Beyond the top of the mountain lies what I want you to behold!"
"Grandpa, wouldn't save us time if we flew to the top?"
"Flew? How! Oh I forgot you have that beast of yours! But won't he attract attention?"
"No! I can make him quiet. Besides we can always alight at a safer distance depending with what you want us to see!"
"Very well, just ensure the beast doesn't throw me off its back!" He said and they both laughed.
With a snap of his fingers Frank summoned the huge dragon he had rode on earlier as he fought the enemy soldiers. The two sat on its back and the beast took its flight. First it went horizontally before slowly gaining altitude with each powerful stroke of its wide wings. The beast didn't roar even at once as they rose into the air to the top of the mountains.
"There! Let's stop near that cave!"
A huge table like stone appeared before them. Frank brought the dragon close to its mouth and they alighted. He snapped his fingers again and the beast disappeared.
"Now my grandson, slowly crawl to the top of the cliff and tell me what you see!"
Frank did as he was bade and soon was over the cliff. While lying on his stomach, he looked at the lands below. The mountain rapidly descended over the other side and a flat plain land lay down below him. It was still dawn and Frank could make out what looked like several tents. There were hundreds of thousands of tents! There were banners flapping against the morning breeze from each tent. It was a sight to behold, a terrifying reality of what lay ahead of him.
He came back to the seer.
"I see a great army camping! Who are They?"
"Our hostile neighbours! They have made a pact with the Dark Lord. Since you destroyed his entire Army which was on this land, he sought help of our foes. They are a greater and more fierce army than the one you conquered!"
"Wait, I thought the Dark Lord is not here anymore!"
"Yes he isn't, he's barred back their on earth, but he has his agents here. We have since established that indeed Grupa, just like Goshepa, is working for him too!"
"So, this is the threat spoken about, aimed at blocking the princess's coronation!"
"You are right. This is the threat you are to flatten out before the queen is crowned!"
"But on this mission I only have 4 days! For such a mighty Army which seems ready to attack I would need better plans and...!"
"Don't fret my Prince. You have me! I have seen through the enemy's plan. This army is not ready to attack yet. What they are aiming at is to invade our kingdom on the day the princess shall be taking her oath of office. That is ten days away. Luckily they are not aware that I have pre-empted their strategy.
I aimed to bring you here so that you could gain courage to defeat them and not to fret! Quietly assess them and find ways in which you can attack."
After the old man's explanations Frank took a while to observe and analyse the enormous army below him. He scrutinized their every detail. Zu Shi came up with their exact number and pointed to him possible areas of weaknesses in the army.
"Grandpa, I would like to get the kingdom's army on my side, is that possible?"
"They are at your disposal right away my Prince. In fact I thought of this possibility and already send word to the general commander to have all battalions assemble. What is your plan?"
"Take me to where they are assembling. I will address them there and give out my strategy!"
"Very well!"
**************
"Am the cardinals are marked my Lord!"
"Have the battalions matched out?"
"Yes my Lord! They would all be waiting for your signal when you are ready sir!"
"Great! Prepare the troops marching with me. Before dawn we should be there!"
The General commander went out to his juniors and his word was immediately implemented.
The Prince and this troop had not camped far away from the enemies. After a three hour trek during the night, they rested just 2 miles out of the sight of their enemies. The army that was with him comprised only of a few thousand soldiers.
"It's time!" the Prince said and the army rose as one person.
"Listen up once again! We have every right to fight this enemy! We have every right to defend our land! Today you fight not for yourselves but for the generations to come. You fight for your children and their children's children! You are greatly honoured to be part of this historic fight! We are marching to victory! Marching to conquer! Arise oh mighty Army! To VICTORY!" Frank roared and his a thousand strong men roared in response.
At the same time they blew their horns!
Panic struck the enemy camp. Their scout was just reporting to their commander when the yell of a thousand men sounded.
"You said 2 miles away! That sounds like they are here already!" the enemy commander said as he fiercely stared at his scout.
"Gong! Gong!Gong!" The enemy camp's war bell rang out!
"To Arms! All of you to arms!" he roared his orders and the word rang out to all his huge army. Soldiers scrambled out of their tents with their spears, swords, arrows and everything they had. They quickly fell into formation and looked towards the place where the marching soldier's cries of war came from.
The Prince and his team lit their torches as they marched and their enemies could clearly see them advancing to them.
"Archers! Ready!" The enemy commander called on his men. He waited for the Prince to get in range of their arrows so that he could shout 'fire!'. He looked at Frank's army with disdain, " Such a handful of men! Welcome to your slaughter!" He spat besides him.
Frank had other plans. He led the team just to near the range and stopped. At that point no arrow could reach them.
"What the hell is he waiting for?" the commander was alarmed seeing Frank stop. "Coward! Are you now contemplating a retreat even without starting!" He sneered.
"The vastness of our army has surprised him. He is no doubt wetting his pants right now!"
" Archers! Move forward ten yards and fire!" He shouted. Just as he finished this order, sudden cries of pain, gasping and confused shouting erupted from all sides of his camp. A rain of arrows descended on his soldiers. Thousands of arrows came down from the north, the east and the west sides of his camp. Thousands of his soldiers were struck within minutes!
"Split and attack!" the enemy commander shouted as he realized what had just happened. But he was too late.
Frank and his troop had met face to face with the advance team and clash of swords rang through the air. It was a murderous slain on both sides. The kingdom army had split into four troops and secretly pressed against the enemy.
For once the enemy did not expect any attack because Amarkale kingdom wasn't aware of their plot, or so they thought. Secondly, their spies had not reported any presence of more than one troop approaching. They were clearly ambushed. However, they did put up a good defence of themselves.
The Prince however, did not want to incur more casualties than was necessary. So his plan was for his army to fall back upon destroying half of the enemy army. Then at the same time he unleashed his dragon.
"Dragon! Dragon! Retreat! Retreat!" The enemy army fell over their feet as they witnessed the ferocious display of fireworks by this mighty beast!