Rise of the Horde

Chapter 99: Chapter 9

Commander Ishaq and his cavalry trampled the monsters that were chasing them. The horses of the Sandstorm Cavalry were carefully chosen and trained. They are the biggest and toughest horses that the kingdom has. The Royal Cavalry was more numerous since there are a lot of camels available in the kingdom to be turned into steeds, and are easier to maintain than the warhorses but the prince only took a thousand and five hundred of them since he really hates the stench emanating from the steeds with humps.

The naturally heavy hooves of the warhorses were already deadly, and with the addition of the weight of their armor and their armored rider, they could crash through the charging monsters with ease. Raising his curved sword high, Commander Ishaq leaned to his right like he was hanging on a tree branch while his left hand tightly gripped the reins of his steed. An upward swing of his sword bisected his target from the waist up, and dark blood splashed everywhere.

“Disengage! Turn around!”

“Move! Move!”

“Turn your horses!”

He shouted with all his might and the Guidon Bearer beside him relayed his command. The commander continued to fight while his troops made their retreat to prepare another charge. With every swing of his sword, a monster would fall, his warhorse didn’t stand still while he was slashing left and right as his steed raised its front hooves and kicked away the monsters in front of it, sending them flying away or straight up crush them under its hooves. The experienced horse didn’t just attack from the front as it also kicked away the monsters behind it with its rear hooves.

Just like that, one horse and one rider held the monsters at bay while the other cavalrymen prepared for another charge. A dim brownish light started engulfing the horse and its rider as they continued to slaughter the monsters.

.....

“There he goes again!” the Adjutant of Commander Ishaq said as he and his comrades watched their brave commander and his horse hold the group of monsters at bay. “What else would you expect from the strongest warrior of the Ereian Royal Army.” another adjutant muttered as he shook his head in helplessness.

Their commander was the strongest and probably the smartest among his generation, who were trained to be part of the Ereian Royal Army. He was supposed to be the commander of Ereia’s best, but he presented himself to be the prince’s personal warrior, saying that it is the greatest honor for him to be the protector of Ereia’s future ruler.

“Alright men! Let’s get back in there!... or else the commander won’t leave any enemy for us to kill!” the first Adjutant shouted as he raised his sword in the air and pointed it forward before yelling “Charge!”

The dim, brownish glow that engulfed Commander Ishaq and his horse protected them like another layer of armor from the attacks of the monsters. Basically, he and his steed was protected all around and, like a modern tank, they demolished everything in their path. Not even the biggest of the monsters could halt their advance as with every swing of the commander, a blade made of wind would be created and cut those that were on its path.

He was all alone with only his horse under him, which is why he made use of all his powers to slaughter the monsters. A lot of sand was kicked up as the wind blades flew all over the place. Blood and flesh accompanied the sands that were being kicked up.

“Halt! Don’t advance!” the two Adjutants of the Sandstorm Cavalry both shouted at almost the same time while raising their swords up to keep them away from the destruction that was going on. With reckless abandon, their commander charges forward deeper into the ranks of the monsters while slashing left and right. He no longer held anything back, as he wanted to end this battle as fast as possible.

Commander Ishaq was already in the center of the army of monsters, where they were breaking into three groups. He raised his sword up in the air and muttered some incantation as a magic circle slowly emerged under his horse, surrounding the two of them. The few clouds that are in the air seemed to have been frightened as they made themselves scarce and moved away from where the commander was. Powerful gusts of winds started coming from all directions as sands were being blown up in the air.

The monsters charged forward and pounced on the lone human amidst them, but they were shredded to pieces by the ravaging winds that were moving around in a circle around the human atop his horse. The wind blades that were spinning around the commander could be seen as a white-ish colored light emanated from the strong winds.

It felt like a storm was taking form. The strong winds howled like an enraged beast, which was preparing to strike down the one that enraged it. “It seems that the commander was in a hurry. He is using his strongest attack already.” the first Adjutant muttered as he and his peers watched the deadly spectacle from a safe distance away. There is no hell way that they are going near their commander if he is using that devastating move of his.

The Sandstorm Cavalry watched and took a much needed rest as their commander took on the entire army of monsters. “Hmmm... How many of the monsters do you guys think will survive?” the second Adjutant glanced towards the surrounding cavalrymen, asking for their opinions.

“Maybe a hundred.”

“None.”

“Not quite sure.”

“A thousand.”

“Nah... There will many that will survive.”

....

His question received many different answers, as there is no sure way to find out the effect of their commander’s attack while it was still starting. The name of their unit came from their commander’s unique ability to bury their opponents with scorching sands of Ereia. He makes a tomb for their enemies with the Burning Sands itself. They didn’t how many lives had their commander already buried under the sands but they feel it was already close to half a million.

Wherever the prince goes, they follow and whoever His Highness wants to die, they will kill. They moved as swift as the wind and destroy all enemies of the prince like a sandstorm, but that isn’t the reason that they are named the Sandstorm Cavalry. Their name came from the ability of their commander to create a real sandstorm and bury their foes with it.

The howling of the winds became stronger and stronger as it wasn’t only sands being blown away but also the smaller monsters. They were sent up into the sky along with the grain of sands. “Move! Move away!” the first Adjutant screamed his command as he kicked the sides of his horse to lead it away. They weren’t safe from the sandstorm that was about to fall upon the monsters since the direction that the winds were blown to was towards them. Frightened, the Sandstorm Cavalry galloped away to safety as they didn’t want to know how different their commander’s sandstorm is to the natural sandstorm of the Burning Sands.

“Raging winds of the Four Guides and the many grains of the Burning Sands, come together as one. Wreck havoc and bury my enemies under your wrath. Sandstorm of Rage!” Commander Ishaq invoked his unique ability and the raging winds started to destroy everything in its path, slicing anything as it moved forward except for Commander Ishaq and his warhorse. Large amounts of sand accompanied the wind blades as visibility became practically almost zero within the area affected by his power.

The Sandstorm of Rage reached the height of 15 meters as they blow towards the southwest with all its might. Starting from where he is at and towards southwest, the shape of the Burning Sands was changed. There was no more army of monsters except those who already slipped past him, who continued towards the Town of Gilban and those who were already up and on the other side of the dune.

Commander Ishaq was panting heavily as using his ability took a toll on his mental and physical strength. He felt drained, and he could barely keep himself on the back of his horse. His tight gripped on his sword was already loosening as he dangled his horse beside him, threatening to break free from his grasp.

“Is it over?” one cavalryman turned towards the two Adjutants, asking for confirmation. “Yes!... The commander has done it again... Let’s go!” the first Adjutant informed his peers as a proud smile was etched on his lips. He leads the Sandstorm Cavalry towards their commander, who was trying his best to keep his balance atop his horse.

Commander Ishaq slowly panned his head left to right, trying to find any sign of survivors of his devastating attack, but he can’t find any hint of the monsters who might have survived. A heavy sigh of relief escaped from his lips as he relaxed his tense body. His entire felt sore, and it was like thousand upon thousand of needles were pricking him to the bones repeatedly.

“You did it again, commander! We’ve won the battle.” the second Adjutant congratulated their commander who had a wry smile on his face. “This isn’t over yet. There are more of them behind that dune.” Commander Ishaq informed his men.

Behind the Sandstorm Cavalry where the monsters were supposed to be buried at, a hand popped out of the sand and wriggled around. More and more hands started popping out as their owners struggled to escape from their tombs.