by Galen Wolf
The Horrabian column was past us now when our Wolf unit came level with me in the trees. I ordered them to stay within the shadow of the woods until the rest of our troops caught up and I turned to see ranger archers emerge from the ferns.
A commotion broke out from the Horrabian army to my left out of sight and looking through the eyes of the owl I saw that Samwise had ordered his heavy cavalry once more into a gallop. The Brown Owl's vision showed me the knights had leveled their lances and were going riding frantically towards the centaurs. The nostrils of their horses flared as they set their steel visors down, their red feathers bobbing on their helmets and the black bat insignia of Horrabia on their chests glinting in the sun.
The centaur archers turned to flee at full speed; they couldn't now risk turning to fire again. I knew the Centaur Lancers stood ready waiting in the open land to the south of the Stone Cross.
I made sure that Ixion knew what was happening in the battle but told him not to attack yet.
If the Horrabia cavalry contacted the centaur lancers, they were so much heavier they'd decimate them. Our plan had been to make the knights charge and lead them on until they were exhausted. Once the knights were tired and demoralized, then the centaur lancers would attack, but only after the Horrabians had been softened up further by more volleys from the centaur archers.
"Now?" Gearhart asked.
I nodded. "Now."
I ordered our archer regiments out of the woods to straddle the road behind the Horrabian column. Behind the archers, I set the unit of spearmen. Gearhart had command of these men. He'd been good before and I trusted him now. The rest of the troops I got ready strung out along the road to charge the Horrabian flank.
I ordered the spearmen under Gearhart to blow their horns to get the attention of the Horrabians. The brass horns sounded like angry dragons and Horrabian heads turned around wondering at the noise. Our challenge caught the notice of the Horrabian rearguard. Their mailed spearmen halted and stared around bewildered – realizing that the enemy had emerged from their rear.
Whoever was in charge of the rearguard was a better commander than Samwise, because the rearguard stopped, turned in good order and faced our troops. I heard the barked orders of the Horrabian sergeants as their spearmen leveled their spears set their shields and advanced slowly towards our troops, their boots crunching in time, their officers telling them, "Steady, steady."
If they suspected there were more of us hidden in the trees, they didn't show it. They'd probably been told the enemy was pitifully few and thought what they saw was the whole of us. I left the command of the spear regiment and an archer regiment to Gearhart and when the Horrabian rearguard was in range, I ordered him to let his archers fire at will.
I heard the thrum of our bow strings and saw our arrows fire off into the sky arcing down to hit the shields of the advancing Horrabians. Some of the arrows got through and others left Horrabian shields bristling like the spikes of a hedgehog. This would weigh down their shields and make them unwieldy for them to use properly. Our spearmen under Gearhart's command leveled their spears and braced themselves for the Horrabian attack. Our archers melted back through and round our spearmen and took up a new position behind their defensive shield wall. They fired on the advancing Horrabians. I stood in the wood with the other units of spears and archers. By my side were the enormous Tree Kin who lurked indistinguishable from the Oaks and the elms of the forest itself.
In front of me, waiting patiently was the unit of wolves. We were strung out along the road and well hidden in the undergrowth. As the Horrabians came level, tension in our troops grew but I wouldn't let them attack yet.
Looking through the eyes of the owl, I saw that the eagles had been victorious in the were no more raptors in the air. The eagles circled over the main Horrabian army. I saw happily there was a gap between the their rearguard and their main army now.Me: Ixion, do you have contact?
Ixion: The Horrabian knights have come to a halt. Their horses are panting and their commanders uncertain what to do now they are aware of the ranger force behind them.
The Horrabians were caught between the two of us. What they didn't know was that they still outnumbered us, but we had the element of surprise.
As the Horrabian spearmen marched past us back up Ermine Street intending to attack our spearmen that blocked the road, I ordered our hidden spears to charge into their side.
With battle cries of "Woodheart!" and "For the Forest!", our green clad spearmen charged from the tree eaves and clattered into the Horrabian flank.
Me: Gearhart, hold your fire.
I didn't want our spearmen hit by friendly arrows.
Gearhart: Got it. Holding.
The shock of our attack was total. The Horrabian commanders had not foreseen this. We drove the Horrabian spearmen off the other side of the road and pushed them into the trees. We had an advantage in the forest, our lightly armed troops were so much nimbler than the Horrabians in their mail shirts and hauberks. Responding to our attack, Attila sent a unit of ogres to join the battle and support their spearmen.
Me: Gearhart. Advance down the road with his spears set level.
He acknowledged the order and I ordered the Tree Kin to career into the flank of the Horrabian ogres.
The huge trees with their massive branches picked up the ogres with wooden fingers and hurled them into the air and up over the road smashing against each other and into the boles of trees on the far side.
More Horrabian troops were ordered into the melee with the Tree Kin. When the Horrabians were committed, and showing us their flanks and rears, I ordered the Wolf regiment into the attack. The grey beasts ran among the men who were now in disarray. The wolves threaded between their infantry dragging them down, biting, slashing, and slaughtering them.
Ixion: The heavy cavalry has turned and are being ordered back up the road to support their ambushed comrades.
This was just what we'd been waiting for.
Me: Ixion, send a volley from the centaur archers then order your lancers to attack the heavy cavalry from the rear.
Within ten minutes he sent back to say the order had been completed. After another flight of arrows from the archers the centaur lancers had broken out from where they were hidden south of the Stone Cross and slammed into the rear of the turning heavy cavalry.
At this point I committed all our troops. We had the advantage that the Horrabians were trapped between the rangers and the centaurs like soft fruit between a hammer and anvil.
The Horrabians stood and fought for around a further hour but they were broken into islands and around them those islands the sea of our troops are worried and snapped and bit and shot. Piles of Horrabian dead littered Ermine Street. I saw Samwise and Attila in the middle of their host. I emerged onto the road shooting at the Horrabian NPCs with my bow.
I had with me Tiger and Wolf who ran at the enemy and did desperate damage to them.
The centaurs were attacking from the south but they were lightly armed compared with the Horrabians and I could see them getting the worst of the fight.
Our Tree Kin had destroyed the Horrabian ogres but their army was still much larger than ours. Gearhart's spearmen were resisting bravely, but they were being pushed back by the sheer weight of Horrabian troops.
The centaur lancers were losing as the Cavaliers’ Guild knights hacked at them with their heavy swords. I ordered Ixion to withdraw his lancers and his archers to stand off and continue to fire into the Horrabian host.
But the Horrabians were rallying. I wiped the sweat from my brow. We had been so close to winning, but they were too many. Now it looked like we would lose. I looked at our troops who inch by inch were giving ground. Could I really order them to fight when defeat was inevitable? If we retreated we might rescue some troops. If we all fell here, then Woodheart was surely lost and with it all territory between Vinab and Horrabia. I was about to order a retreat. The herald had his trumpet to his lips.
I heard t
he blowing of horns.
At first I thought it was Horrabian reinforcements – that Gandalph's army had come from the east and was reinforcing Attila.
Me: Ixion, what's going on?
I feared the new Horrabian troops were slaughtering the centaurs.
Ixion: I don't believe what I am seeing.
I looked through the eyes of the brown owl and I could see centaurs being pushed back by Samwise's heavy cavalry. I saw Samwise himself charge Ixion.
But then coming from the south, three squadrons of heavy cavalry galloped, and behind them plate armored infantry. Again, at first I thought they were Horrabians but when I saw the yellow plumes on their helmets and the silver unicorn emblazoned on their shields, I knew they were the heavy cavalry of Vinab's Knights’ Guild. They were led by Parzifal Sturmwalzer.
The Vinab heavy cavalry leveled their lances and charged into the Cavaliers’ Guild troops. They hit their flanks hard, smashing into them like a storm wave, sending men and horses scattering.
Parzifal had finally kept his word and had come to our aid. I didn't know whether it was with the sanction of the city of Vinab, or his own decision, but I was glad of it.
Then like a house of cards falls, the Horrabian ranks wavered and collapsed.
The troops threw down their weapons and ran. I sent a message to Ixion to use his fast troops along with the Wolves to harry and destroy any Horrabians they found. I wanted to kill them all. The Horrabians attempted to wade and swim across the Great River but our Wolves followed them. The enemy fled through the burned woodland of Avalon, and as they tried to escape between its scorched trees, the Wolves pulled them down. I ordered the eagles to pick off any Horrabians they saw, and they swooped and dived repeatedly like angry hornets.
This was not a time for mercy. The more Horrabians NPCs we killed now the fewer we'd have to fight another time; NPCs don't resurrect.
Then it was over. Attila and Samwise took teleport pills and disappeared back to Horrabia. I'd not had the opportunity to throw down anchor runes to stop them leaving. I looked at the piles of slaughtered Horrabians that lay across the road with grim satisfaction. Soon the graphics would disappear and the road would be as if nothing had ever happened here, but now their dead marked our victory.
I met with Ixion, Elfhair, and Birog by the Stone Cross.
I looked at Birog and Rohan, and I gestured across the river. "I know it will be heart breaking to see Avalon the way it is now. But you should not be troubled by the Horrabia army anymore."
Rohan turned to his deputy. "I'll head back there now, Birog." He took my hand. "Good luck, Barcud."
I watched him leave. Birog was going to follow him but she came to me with concern in her eyes. "Pennred still lies under their control."
I was tired and our troops were tired. We couldn't attack Pennred now. I said, "We'll march up there tomorrow and see what the dawn sends us."
26
3rd Battle of Pennred
I logged on early and I rode up Ermine Street towards Pennred on a horse lent me by Parzifal. Ahn was on my left and Parzifal to my right. Behind us was Elfhair and Birog.
I dreaded to see what the Horrabians had done to Pennred and as I rode up the long road from the Jeweled Tree, I felt sick. I almost wanted to halt before we got to it.
Parzifal looked at me, his blond moustache still waxed, his eyes perfectly blue as he rode with his visor raised. "I am so sorry that we took so long to help you."
I said, "What's important is that you came when you did. If you had been any later, there wouldn't have been many of us left and you'd have had to face the Horrabians on your own. By the way, what happened to the Horrabian eastern army under Gandalph?"
"They've pulled back. Astral Bob told me they are marching hard for Horrabia."
"What about Keld?"
"The resistance rose up and threw them out once they heard of your victory."
"Of our victory."
The gallant knight blushed.
We rode on further. I knew round the next bend I would see the walls of Pennred, maybe ruined, the houses burned, the NPCs scattered and killed.
But instead I saw the walls intact. The south gate was closed against us and the yellow goblin flag fluttered above the battlements.
Goblin guards stood with bows and spears on the walls. Parzifal ordered his forces to halt out of bow range.
"Parley?" Parzifal asked.
I nodded. My mouth was dry. I couldn't see inside the walls but I imagined what destruction the goblins had wreaked.
Parzifal ordered his herald to run up the white flag of parley on his lance. He and I and the knight got ready to ride forward.
Elfhair spurred forward from behind me. "Don't..."
I turned. "What?"
"You can't trust Uzug."
I said, "All he can do is kill me. Then I'll resurrect. I'm not scared of him."
"I suppose. But I don't want you to die. Or lose all those levels."
"Nor me, not after all the effort I've put into leveling. I'll be careful."
She smiled as Parzifal and I went forward with his herald.
When we were under the walls, I called up. "I want to speak to Uzug, King of the Goblins."
The goblins relayed our message. There was a delay and I thought he wasn't going to come. Then he appeared high above us, green skinned and yellow tusked. He was wearing full armor. "What do you want? I see the dogs of Vinab have joined the bitches of the Rangers’ Guild."
I cleared my throat and yelled up. "Surrender to us Uzug. Give us Pennred. You'll get no aid from Horrabia now."
He laughed. "A second Horrabian Army is behind us. Horrabia will come to our aid. And besides," he pointed behind us. "You have no siege engines. Knights on horses won't get through these gates."
I turned to Parzifal. "We could use the Tree Kin to break down the doors?"
Parzifal nodded. "We could. But wait."
"Wait?"
"Wait."
Parzifal shouted up. "Surrender now. Open the gates and we will let you leave and go back to your miserable hovels in the mountains."
I yelled, "But I want my 20,000gp back before you go."
Uzug laughed. "Your puny threats don't frighten me. I will await reinforcements from Horrabia. You can sit outside and shit in the woods." He mocked us. "But you do that anyway, don't you?"
With that he turned and left.
I rode back with Parzifal to our ranks.
"How did that go?" Elfhair said. "I couldn't hear from back here."
"So, so. The goblin toad has a point. He's sitting behind walls. I thought we could use the Tree Kin..."
"Wait," Parzifal said again.
So, we waited. An hour passed and nothing happened. Parzifal didn't enlighten me why we were waiting. "What now?" I said, tetchily. I imagined Uzug was right and soon we would face the second Horrabian Army. The Centaurs had departed back to the Winters Woods and we had sent two units back to Woodheart just in case Gandalph did happen to turn south.
It would be touch and go whether we could beat Gandalph with such forces as we had, especially if the Goblin army piled in with him as Uzug implied it would.
Parzifal looked uncomfortable. We sat round a camp fire and he stood and went to peer down Ermine Street. Then I heard him say, "Ah, at last."
I went to stand by him. Down the long straight I saw wagons. They were kicking up dust and seemed heavy laden. Elfhair was beside me. "You've got to hand it to those traders, they don't take long to get back to business."
"It's no trader," Parzifal said.
I shielded my eyes from the afternoon sun. I saw a dark clad figure sitting beside the driver of the first wagon. He was dressed in midnight blue satin robes embroidered with suns and moons in gold and silver. He wore a pointy hat that listed over to one side.
"Astral Bob!" I said.
"Indeed," Parzifal said.
As the wagons got closer, I saw they were laden with siege engines, trebuchets and mangone
ls. The Silver Unicorn Flag of Vinab flew from the wagons and the horses strained under the great weight of the artillery.
Astral Bob jumped off his wagon when he got close and went to hug Elfhair. She was overjoyed to see him. He indicated the artillery with his thumb. Already soldiers were working to unload it and set it up. "Thought you might need these," Astral Bob said.
"You thought right." I grinned.
He turned to Parzifal. "Sorry, the Council meeting took longer than I thought. Even the shittiest of them eventually agreed when they heard Attila's army was defeated and Gandalph's had turned back."
I said, "I'm still worried about Gandalph."
"Don't be," Astral Bob said.
"Oh?"
His wispy beard fluttered in the slight breeze. "The Keld resistance ripped into them as they were retreating across broken ground. They're heading straight back to Horrabia to lick their wounds."
"Okay," Parzifal said. "Let's go renegotiate with Uzug."
The afternoon shadows lengthened as we stood under the walls of the town I'd considered my home.
Uzug eventually came to the walls. He stared at the mangonels, now half set up. He wasn't laughing now.
"So?" I shouted up. "Want to reconsider our offer?"
In a quieter voice he said, "We get to retreat? You won't attack us?"
"You have my word," Parzifal said.
"I'd attack you," Astral Bob shouted up. He patted Parzifal's armored arm. "But he's in charge."
"Let me open the north gate and retreat my forces back to Goblin Town," Uzug said. "Then you can come in by the south gate."
"And leave the money."
Uzug stood grim faced. "Of course. I'll leave it in the village square. Every coin."
I sent Brown Owl up and watched as the goblins retreated. I saw their ponies were laden as they stole what they could. I cursed them.
