Gan Ning was slouched low in wait in a dip on the riverbank. He was waiting patiently whilst looking in to the sky for the signal. The runner beside him was prepped and ready to sprint away the moment the signal was noticed.
"Can't be long now." Gan Ning whispered, mainly to himself.
"No sir," The young runner replied quietly, but enthusiastically. He had joined Riverside with his family of bee keepers. There wasn't a need for their skills currently so the family members were helping where they could. He didn't really have the strength to work on setting up the farms or on cutting trees in the forest, but he did have speed. So he volunteered to help with the scouting instead.
"Are you sure you don't want to head back now?" Gan Ning asked, he had tasked the runner to leave him and to head back to the village and inform them the attack had started when he saw fire. "It will start to get dangerous soon."
"No, I want to see you start it." He replied, excited at the concept of what the leaders had decided. This was the biggest adventure of his life.
Gan Ning smiled in response, before looking again for the signal. The Town they had targeted was the same as any other day. Some Villagers went to the rivers edge with buckets to collect water and clean clothes. There were a couple of villagers further away stabbing small spears in to the water trying to catch fish. Others were gathering Berries from bushes across the forest edge. Whilst the Warriors were relaxed in the centre, having very little to do in the quiet forest, a few of them ogling the females that were cleaning the furs or catching the fish by the river. There was currently no sign of the Chief, who was most likely inside his hut.
"It's a prime time to go cause chaos." Gan Ning said with a grin as a large bird flew over the Town, doing two circles before flying off towards the woods in the distance.
No one in the Village noticed the Eagle that had flown over, and if they had noticed, they wouldn't have understood the meaning behind it.
Gan Ning propped himself up in to a crouched position, slowly making his was from the river towards the forest edge. Taking his time not to cause to much disturbance as he did so. It wasn't yet time to make his presence known.
He very slowly sneaked his way past the villagers that were picking berries, making sure that as he traced his way through the forest beside them, that he didn't catch their attention. Gradually he made his way forwards, taking each step one at a time, being careful not to catch a branch or make a rustle with any of the fallen leaves.
The runner was still waiting in the original position, his mission to head back to camp as soon as the attack started and inform the sub leader Lucius that the attack had begun, was soon approaching. Another runner who was with the main force would follow with news of success or defeat, with follow up plans being created for both eventualities.
Gan Ning suddenly dropped to the floor as a berry picking villager headed slightly further in to the forest. The rest of the villagers held back and continued in the same area they had been most of morning.
"Izel." A villager shouted towards the one that was approaching Gan Ning's location. "Our baskets are full, we should head back now."
"I still have space for more, I want to relax after the feast tonight and not have to pick all day tomorrow." Izel replied.
"Fine." The Villager replied, before turning to head away. "Don't be too long. I heard the Chief is planning some more entertainment tonight."
The berry picker Izel smiled back at his friend, before moving slowly through the bushes that were slightly further in the woods, picking little red berries that covered them. Gan Ning stayed flat on the ground as this happened, trying to keep his breathing as quiet as possible.
He lay there for at least ten minutes, waiting patiently for Izel to move away so he could continue with his plan. He couldn't stay here for much longer as the best time for the battle was now and if they waited much longer it would cause unnecessary delays. They didn't want to battle late in to the night, and wanted to conquer and return within the day if possible.
Izel was getting closer and closer to Gan Ning's location, and he had to make a decision quick. He either tried to crawl away, which could cause Izel to hear noise and either call for aid or investigate in case Gan Ning was an animal, or he could stay still and hope to not be discovered.
As Izel got closer, Gan Ning made a third choice, as Izel approached, Gan Ning unsheathed the dagger on his waist. He soon heard the nearby brush rustle as Izel started to pick the berrys, he rolled on to his front and quickly pounced forwards. He landed with a crash on the shocked Izel who fell to the floor hard, spilling his berry's from his backet that rolled all across the forest floor. Gan Ning punched Izel in the face with his first clasped around his dagger. This punch made Izel dazed, Gan Ning quickly followed up from the punch by stabbing his dagger in to Izel's chest multiple times.
Izel gargled in shock, struggling to breath as his lungs had been pierced, his face had a look of innocence, hurt and shock. Gan Ning put his hand over Izel's mouth and pushed down hard so that Izel couldn't breathe.
"I'm sorry." Gan Ning commented, "I didn't want to target the Villagers, but we are short on time, and you just wouldn't go away."
Slowly the light faded from Izel's eyes as he passed away. There wouldn't be much time left now before Izel's friend would come and check on him, Gan Ning needed to move fast. He wiped the blade across Izel's animal furred pants and replaced it in it's sheath on his waist, before wiping his bloody hands down on it as well. He then got up and began to continue his slow journey through the forest edge, with a bit more urgency than earlier.
He soon neared the closest point to the Granary, to get to it he would have to sprint across a small bit of open land to the nearest house, before slowly making his way around and then sprinting towards the Granary. When there, he had some flint to create a small fire that should set the Granary a flame. In a pot at his waist he also had some animal fat gathered from one of the older sheep that they had slaughtered a few days earlier that he would sprinkle over the bottom of the Granary to get the fire going.
The group had discussed how the Villagers would react, and water wouldn't help put out the fire when it was on the animal fat, but could cause it to become much worse in the first instance.
Dom was lay on the forest floor beside Tomyris, next to them were 20 fully armoured Hoplite and Subutai who was on the other end. The signal had been sent an hour ago and now they were waiting for the fire to start and for Gan Ning to approach them so that they could strike.
"It must nearly be time." Tomyris commented as noises from the Village got louder. Soon there was smoke appearing in the distance.
"That's the signal." Dom replied, as he got himself to his knees. The Hoplites and the others around him also got to their knees in preparation. The Hoplites kept their spears low so as to not give away their positions until the time was ripe.
Soon the voices became shouts as the Warriors from the Village appeared on the edge, running after the fleeing Gan Ning who was laughing in glee. Javelins were aimed at him, but they were thrown without any form of command or frequency and he easily dodged his way towards the tree line.
"Get him!" A Warrior with a jaguar style fur helmet shouted as he chased, holding a wooden club that was covered in metal studs above his head. "We can sacrifice him to the gods and feast better tonight!"
The other warriors laughed, increasing their frequency of throwing as Gan Ning extended the distance between them, a bit of pressure now on him. Thankfully it seemed that the warriors weren't aiming to kill him, but capture him instead.
"Now!" Subutai ordered from the forest line, as the Hoplite unit stood in unison and locked formation. They marched from the forest, 4 rows deep and 5 men wide. Subutai who was on the edge of the formation raised his bow, pulled the string back quickly and launched a singular arrow, which took the lead jaguar wearing warrior in the throat.
The Warrior stopped his run and grabbed at his throat as he fell to the floor in shock. The Warriors around him that were wearing similar gear suddenly shouted in anger and charged towards the approaching force that had just appeared out of nowhere.
"Lock shields!" Alexander called, The Hoplites in the front row locked their shields, holding their long spears forwards. The row behind held their shields in the back of the Hoplite in front, their spear going over the Hoplite in front. The following rows did the same thing, creating a solid wall of long spears that the enemy warriors charged towards. Like a marching row of spikes that any approaching force couldn't avoid.
"Forwards march!" Alexander called. The Hoplites walked forwards at a steady pace, shouting with each movement and stabbing their spears forwards in to the small number of warriors that suddenly crashed in to them, showing no fear. Gan Ning had reached Subutai by this point and was stood on the right side of them, sword drawn. This was mirroring Tomyris and Dom who were on the other, protecting the weak flanks of the armoured hoplite force.
It did not seem that the enemy would try to target the weak and exposed flanks. The Jaguar fur covered warriors did not last long at all, with most being impaled in the first clash. The Hoplite continued their march, walking over the fallen enemy and stabbing in to those that were behind. The following rows of Hoplite stabbing down with the pointed rear end of their spears to make sure that they fallen foe were definitely dead and wouldn't get up to take them from the rear.
Soon the small group of enemy warriors were all dead, and the Hoplite marched further in to the village. They followed the path Gan Ning had walked and were soon greeted by an interesting sight.
The fire from the granary was growing, and the smoke was becoming thick as a line of Villagers led by the chief warrior soon came to light. He was much more well built than the previous warriors, with a large gut around his waist. He was covered in tattoo like markings and angrily roared at the approaching force, in his hands was a very large thick club, covered in small metal spikes.
There was a sudden silence as the two forces gazed at each other, around 50 badly armed villagers, with nothing more than clubs and the occasional fishing spear, stood behind their mighty leader vs the 23 hardened warriors and Dom from Riverside.
"What are your orders Lord?" Alexander asked Dom quietly from the front row, He was stood close to Dom on the left edge of the formation.