Rise of the Horde

Chapter 102: Chapter 10

The battlefield which was previously filled with thousands of monsters was no more. There were only three people on the battlefield. Adjutant Isma, who is using his two swords as crutches, his hands trembling slightly and his breathing rather really heavy. He just unleashed his most powerful attack, but then also had to defend himself from being turned to dust by his fellow Adjutant’s attack.

In the center of the battlefield where the dust turning attack came from, Adjutant Menna was on both his knees as he was attempting to prop himself up with his sword, but to no avail. His legs trembled as he tried to get back on his feet. His weight made his trembling legs buckle, and he plopped down on the scorching sands.

Further away from the two Adjutants who were obviously in a terrible shape, was Captain Ashgar who was the only one standing on his own legs. The guidon on his right hand was planted on the ground as the passing wind made the banner wave along with the direction of the wind.

“Victory!”

“Adjutant Isma! Adjutant Isma!”

“Adjutant Menna! Adjutant Menna!”

“Glory to Ereia!”

.....

The Sandstorm Cavalry broke into cheers as they finally defeated the numerous monsters or, to be exact, their two Adjutants annihilated them. Commander Ishaq glanced behind him and saw the massive clouds of dust coming from behind the dune that blocked their vision and path. He could still hear the sounds of battle from the ongoing engagement on the other side of the dune.

“It’s not over yet! We still have enemies on the other side.” Commander Ishaq shouted as the riders who broke into cheers quieted down. “You! You and You! Help Adjutant Isma and Menna and also deliver a report to His Highness that another group of monsters slipped away. The rest of you follow me.” he rapidly gave out commands as he turned his steed to face the dune.

The three chosen riders galloped towards the two Adjutants who were clearly exhausted and are threatening to fall into unconsciousness. It totally spent the two after using their most powerful attacks and are in no condition to continue fighting, unlike their commander, who is obviously a league higher than the two of them.

Captain Ashgar sprinted towards where the Sandstorm Cavalry was at. It wasn’t only him who had lost his steed in the previous engagement, there were many of them who were now on foot. Most of their horses were victims of the enormous monsters that came back. Some of their steeds were still breathing but suffered broken limbs and unridable to battle.

“Need a horse?” Commander Ishaq looked down on his captain, whose forehead was covered in sweat. “No need, sir. I still have plenty of stamina left and I am not yet satisfied with just those few kills.” Captain Ashgar replied as he stared at the top of the dune. “Alright! You set the pace of the march. All riders who lost their steeds to the front. The rest we will stay behind them.” Commander Ishaq shouted.

“What’s up with them?” Captain Ashgar said as he caught sight of the riders chosen by the commander to give a hand to the two Adjutants. Commander Ishaq turned his head around and saw the three horses galloping back towards them.

“I can still fight! Let me fight!” Adjutant Menna opposed the idea of him sitting out the next fight as he dismounted, falling to the ground with a thud. “Me too, commander. I will fight!” Adjutant Isma muttered as he fell off the horse that he was on and the rider of the horse in front of him was late in his attempt to prevent his fall. The two Adjutants were on the ground as they struggled to their feet with the help of their weapons.

Commander Ishaq facepalmed at the bullheadedness of his two Adjutants. “You two are clearly in no condition to continue fighting. What will you do in the next battle, kill your enemies with your trembling limbs and scare them away with your heavy breathings?” he pointed a finger at them.

“But we could still fight! Allow us to fight!” Adjutant Isma continued on wanting to fight more. Slowly Captain Ashgar walked towards the two with the guidon leaning on his right shoulder. The banner continued to dance along with the wind.

Adjutant Isma stared at Captain Ashgar, who was making his way towards them, but soon lost sight of him and felt a heavy impact on his abdomen. “Ugh! I’ll get you back for this...” Adjutant Isma struggled to utter his sentence as he fell forward and clutched onto the shoulders of Captain Ashgar. “Take a nice long nap... We’ll talk about this later.” Captain Ashgar supported the Adjutant who was now unconscious after he gave him a sudden blow in the abdomen.

He glanced towards Adjutant Menna who back off away from him and headed towards the warhorse where he dismounted from. The Adjutant struggled to climb behind the owner of the steed with the help of the same rider. “Glad you understand.” Captain Ashgar nodded his head and signalled for the other riders to load up the unconscious Adjutant on the other horse.

“Tsk... Tsk... Tsk... Can’t you solve it without using force?” Commander Ishaq shook his head while clicking his tongue. “Will they let it be solved peacefully?” Captain Ashgar questioned back as he craned his neck upwards towards the commander who was atop his horse. “Hmmmm... Impossible.” Commander Ishaq answered to which the Guidon Bearer shrugged his shoulders and walked towards the front of the formation.

“Move out!” Commander Ishaq gave the command to start their march towards their foes and aid their allies who were on the other side of the dune. The Sandstorm Cavalry started their ascent up the dune while the three riders, who he chose, broke away from them and took a longer route to return towards the main army to avoid being chased by the monsters. The rider with no baggage behind him galloped away with speed as he was tasked to report to the prince while the other two riders galloped at a slower pace as their steeds can’t gallop at full speed because of the extra rider that they were carrying.

*****

“Push forward! Don’t give an inch! Keep pushing forward!” Baron Masud kept on shouting commands at the Ereian Army who clashed against the monsters. He was behind the ranks of soldiers who were desperately trying to kill the monsters while doing their best to keep themselves alive.

“Push my ass! Come here, you pig, and do it if was that easy and stop shouting. All you do is shout. Why don’t you come and contribute instead of just posturing atop your horse.” a soldier at the frontline grumbled as the endless shouting of the noble annoyed him behind their ranks. He thrusted his spear forward and pierced through the mouth of an insignificant creature with a hook nose and batlike wings who pounced on him while deflecting its corpse away with his shield, which had its edges chipped away.

“Ssshhh... Queit down or he might hear you. You’ll get yourself lashed because of your mouth.” a soldier beside him cautioned him as he too was also annoyed by the endless shouting of the noble behind them, but he didn’t say any word. “If you want to curse him. Curse him all you want but curse inside your head and don’t let it out.” he continued. “Like he can hear us with all this chaos and noise.” the first soldier answered as he kicked away a monster that was crawling towards him.

*****

The Ereian Royal Army who took hold of the center of their battle-line was doing quick work of the monsters. They were almost tightly packed together and overlapped their shields with the man next to them while their spears were pointed forward. Some of them already unsheathed their secondary weapons as their spears already broke in half because of the continuous assaults of the monsters that were charging towards them with great momentum as they charged downhill.

Some of the monsters managed to jump over their first line but were quickly dispatched as they got surrounded in the middle of the highly trained soldiers. The Ereian Royal Army uses a formation which was similar to the phalanx. They had overlapping shields which were like a wall, a shield wall. The man at the right hand of each soldier had an important role as he covered the right side of the warrior next to him with his shield. This made it so that all the shields overlap each other and thus formed a solid battle line. But they aren’t as tightly packed together as that in the phalanx. There was a gap between the soldier in front and the one behind him.

The Ereian Royal Army held their ground steadily as the Ereian Army struggled to maintain the flanks. The straight battle-line formed by Ereia’s best was very apparent as their flanks, where the Ereian Army was at whose lines shifted from time to time in a crooked line and sometimes a straight line.

“Hold it steady. Prove why we are the best of Ereia. Don’t falter!” Commander Barika bellowed as he pushed away the monsters in front of him with his shield before slashing it in half with a powerful swing of his sword.