Chapter 21

You know a few months ago I was in the Southern Empire picking grapes and working in the mines. I never thought I would be here participating in a war. The thought of being written down in history is a strange feeling.

Many here are excited to be part of history. I don't if the future world will remember me in the books. But at the moment it doesn't matter.

The shouts of men echo the valley the thousands of footsteps trembled the ground. To me it was like fighting the god's army. The sun suddenly had been blocked out by the dark clouds. Rain poured endlessly.

The ground had become muddy now and the Lazare knights slowly walked toward the abatis. Before the battle. Hen, Terra and I talked about our strategy. We talked about the plan of attack. We were told rain clouds were coming. Hen was strangely happy about it though. "The Lazare knights' heavy armor will become their weakness.

"The abatis will work in our favor even more and their cavalry will be our main focus." "Are you sure?" I asked.

"It's their only advantage they really have over us. Its best to take it out first. Listen what I say won't always got to plan in battle. Many things will happen, and we will have to adjust to it. The main goal right now is standing our ground as long as we can and kill as many as we can."

"He's right." 

"Lazare will struggle with their mobility." "Arrows than." "Yes. We will also try to in circle them. If I am correct, they will not send their entire force at us. The goal for them is to save resources. The city is their main goal. And for a siege you need a lot of men. And we are dug in with rain."

"The mud will affect us too even without armor."

"We have arrow and spears. They have to attack first." 

He was right. They seem hesitant to approach us unsure of how to attack behind the abatis. They had only sent a few hundred to fight while the main forced watched a hundred feet away. Rain continued to pour over the battlefield when the Slova begun to sing.

They began to beat their shields and sung in rhythm. Many of the best-men spoke loudly in the language of our people telling the mountain beast god to pass their souls to the next world. It was like their old routes sprung up deep within them.

The king of Lazare was very confused, but the generals of his army were not surprised at all. "Give the signal." "Yes sir."

They moved forward after the horn. This was it. The beginning of the Isabella-Lazare war. The adrenaline was pumping in my body. Hen commanded the archers to ready their bows. "Ready your arrows!"

Me and Terra both looked at each other. She can tell the anxiety was still there even after the battle at the fort. "Stay calm and focus on surviving. Follow the plan."

"Ready! Fire!" Barrage of arrows fell upon the Lazare knights. But the armor on most of them were top thick for an arrow to penetrate. "Terra! Get the spears ready. Kill every last one that comes over the abatis!"

The Lazare knights were ready to climb over the abatis. We thrust the spears on point in the gaps of the large abatis killing dozens at a time. Though some were able to climb over just by swarming a section of it. 

We were ready though. We had the numbers to deal with them on this side of the abatis. I had caught some kills as well. We had killed every single one of them after fighting for an hour. The bodies had piled up in front of the abatis.

"My king." 

"Servin!" "At your service your highness." "Can you do something about those abatis." He bowed. "The weapons are not complete yet, and I advise we use them when the city of Isabella is under siege. But I can do something about it."

This smell...no. This is him. "Link soul of Stygian." Servin. That roach is here! "Servin!" The mana resurrected the dead knights we had just fought. A dead knight had jumped on top of me pinning me to the ground before I could pull back.

"How are you still alive!?" I have never seen necromancy magic. The mana on them stinks. Terra had used her fire magic to burn down the corpses. But there were to many for one fire mage to fight. 

"Dragon Halo!" She through as many ringed fire attacks at them. Saving some of our men. "Everyone! Form a line and slowly fall back!" We form the line to make sure we don't fall under pressure. We don't want to cause a crush. 

The corpses were mindless. They don't do battle formations unless the Servin is more powerful than I think. "Slova! Don't let the evils of the ancient world break your souls! We are the warriors of the mountain! Stand your ground!"

With only just a few sentences the slova are filled with spirit. They will fight them and kill them as many times they need to. They are known for being great warriors in history. But the one thing that describes them is the guts they have to do anything to win the battle or win the moral battle.

The dead knights ran towards the line. The slova held their ground. "General! They can keep them like this forever!" 

"I know Terra. Let them keep pushing." What is Hen thinking? The formation is being pushed back. "General!?" "Just a little more."

10 minutes later we were pushed to the back of to our base of camp that was hidden in the forest. The women and some warriors we had left to protect to them. Were surprised that the battle was so close to base.

"General. They will not last much longer." "Ivalyo. This a first lesson of war." Hen calls out to the men to stand and push. The sound of shields stopping on the back of our men silence the valley. They pushed the dead knights back as hard as they could making them trip on each other. Underneath the slova were ropes and they pulled on it as hard as they could moving large wood beams tied together to create a hard surface. 

Underneath them was 30-foot-deep ditch that was dug across the valley. At the bottom were spikes. The dead knights could not stop themselves from attacking. They fell in the hundreds.

"Damn it! We had them!" "Your highness. This is a win our favor." "How so Servin?" "They can't get back to original position and the base has been revealed. They will have to fall back now."

"I guess so. Then move forward don't give them time to pack their valuables." "Yes Sir." They blow their horns signaling to move the main army forward. 

"What now?" "We leave and plan our attack." "General what is the lesson?" Hen pats my shoulder. "Defeat."

Defeat...but I already know what defeat is like. "Come we must move on." 

Take a look at the valley while the Lazare army moves forward toward. I was not sure, but I can tell Servin was looking at me. Like he knows I was here or was this the defeat Hen was talking about. "Come Ivalyo. We haven't lost the war."

"I know Terra. But this is not a great start to this. I have a bad feeling about this war." The rain had not stopped even when we left. We traveled deep in the forest the whole day until the sun settled. Hen, Terra and I talked in the tent to plan our next attack. "What happen today." "I did not expect a mage to be with them. It's surprising the mage association would allow it."

"The what? I only heard of the mage academy." "They are the group that decides all laws and decisions. I can't explain it all right now. First we need plan of attack and I need suggestion."

"We are in the forest. They either will follow us or find a way around the forest." "True they know we have the advantage in the forest now."

"They have a cavalry and heavy armor knights. They will try to find a way around the forest."

"Ivalyo. What do you think?" "I..." What should I do? What should I say? "...I not sure." "It's ok. We can figure this out."

"There only two paths they can take. The pass that leads over the mountains and the path we took to get here."

"And the path we took is near the river in an open plain field and it will lead to them to the city." "There is no way around its sir. An upfront battle is inevitable.

My brain had quick jolt as they talked. "Ivalyo?" Asked Terra with concern look. She must be surprised by my sudden action "I'm fine." My mind... what going on? I feel as it I need to say some thing or...something. "How long for them to get to the pass?"

"A day and half? Why?" "I think...we should make it longer for them. Make them stay here as long as we can. Destroy the path. Cut down the trees and block their way. They will have to go around or find a better path. We should strike then. But it has to be tonight."

"...Hm... this could work. They will be resting tonight. Terra tells the beast men to grab their axes. We're going to be working all night."

"Yes General!" 

Hen notices that I was holding my forehead. I was struggling with a headache. It happens before but it's happening a lot more now. "What's wrong kid?" 

"Nothing...I just need rest." "Of course, rest to night. And good thinking to. You did your best today."

Alie. I wonder if this headache is her doing. I hope it doesn't do this frequently.