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The BloodVaine EpicChapter 71: Bloody Battle
“Beleriand! Do your worst!” the wizard yelled out as he sat on the dragon’s neck. In his hand he held a black staff with a silver crystal on it.
“It is good to finally fight with you again, old man.” Beleriand replied as his wings flapped in the wind.
“IT’S THE MEGABLOCKS DRAGON!” a Black Falcon yelled out as Beleriand let out a ball of fire that hit the Black Falcon camp. The tents easily caught on fire, so did the siege equipment.
“HE'S GONNA MAKE ANOTHER PASS!” another Falcon yelled out.
Randolph had reached the group of forty odd archers just as the dragon was burning the thickly clustered tents. Swooping around, the winged reptile then wreaked havoc on the siege equipment. By now the initial shock was over, and some of the more level headed Falcons began to fire arrows at the creature. Most of them wildly missed, and the dragon paid no heed to them.
Giving orders, Randolph called for the archers to arrange themselves in a skirmish formation. Already, several dozen more had raced to the group. As the dragon flew away from the mostly destroyed siege weaponry to face the clusters of Black Falcons that were gathering in various spots, a well aimed bolt from a ballista that had escaped the fire flew right through the reptile’s right wing. Although it did not truly harm the dragon, it had drawn some of its blood, throwing it into a rage fiercer than it had been before. The flames from its mouth approached a blueish tint and one of the blasts left a darkened area where a group of nine or so soldiers had been before.
“I sense another dragon coming from the east” Beleriand said to the old wizard.
“Then ride towards it. For if I am right, it is the god dragon.”
Beleriand made a pass as Black Falcon arrows hit his scales. Beleriand flew for a mile from the main battle.
“We shall wait for this god dragon.” the wizard spat.
Sirion was at the gate of the city watching as Beleriand and the old wizard brought chaos to the Black Falcon lines.
“Milord?” a Black Knight asked.
“Gather every man in the city.”
“Yes milord.”
“This day will not end with joy...” Sirion said under his breath.
“MILORD! Another dragon comes from the east!”
“What men do we have ready for battle!?!” Sirion yelled out.
“All 3000 Black Knights are ready my Lord.”
“Good. Have the other ranks fallow us into battle when they are ready. Now open the gate.” Sirion replied.
“Yes milord. OPEN THE GATE!”
The huge gate that guarded the city slowly opened.
“Black Knights! All that I ask of you today, is to follow me into battle. Outside our gates stands a Falcon army of 100,000. Let us make this number 1000!”
“KING SIRION!”
“Some may call me crazy. But I fear we are alone. So if you find yourself surrounded by Falcons with none of your brethren around to help you. Do not give up. For fight and DIE as a BLACK KNIGHT!”
“KING SIRION! KING SIRION! KING SIRION!”
The 3000 Black Knights had left the city gates, not far from them stood the Falcon army.
“FORM RANKS!”
“ARCHERS. READY!”
“Form the axe men behind our knights. They will take what’s left. And in front the our knights will stand our 400 pikemen.” Sirion said to a commander of the ranks.
“Yes milord!”
Some of the Black Falcons saw what was happening and ordered there men to form ranks.
“BLACK KNIGHTS!” Sirion yelled out, “DIE WITH ME THIS DAY!”
Without saying another word Sirion bolted off. He held a spear in his hand. The Black Knight ranks started to charge with him.
“Ahhhhhh!!!!” Sirion gave out a cry as he hit the ranks of the Black Falcons. He drove his spear into the heart of a Black Falcon and then quickly he unsheathed his sword, and with one swipe three Falcons fell to the ground.
“RETREAT!” A Black Falcon commander yelled out.
“KNIGHTS. FORWARD!”
Knights started to pour out from the line of pikemen.
“AXE MEN! CHARGE WITH ME!” Sirion yelled out. His axemen followed him as they went around the battle.
By the time Sirion got to the Black Falcons second line the first line was gone. The remaining Black Knights headed towards the second line. Already over 2500 Falcons had died. And only 567 Black Knights had fallen in battle.
Randolph saw a large body of Black Knights pouring out from every possible opening from the castle. The Black Falcons, dazed and confused, many of them without weapons or armor tried vainly to follow their commanders orders, when there was a commander to be found. Randolph shook his head in disgust.
“Archers! Fall out and take places behind the battle lines! I have business to attend to!”
Spurring his horse, Randolph rode as fast as he could to a group of some 400 Falcons a mile away, one of the bodies that had been positioned to effect a full siege on the city and had consequently been left out so far. The men were scurrying from their tents and putting on their armor. Riding up to the small camp, Randolph faced a small body of soldiers.
“Where is your commander?”
“I am here,” a man said, pushing himself through the small group that had clustered there. His shirt was dirty and his face looked like it had only been half shaved. The men beside him looked around, their faces struck with fear and amazement.
“What should we do?” the commander asked, his voice shaking with shock.
“Form your men up. Tell the other groups that are scattered around to form ranks and push onto the Black Knight’s right flank when you are ready. We have been caught by surprise, and time is crucial. If we act quickly, we might turn the tide. Now hurry!”
Randolph spurred his horse away and galloped back the same way he had come, riding barely a half mile from the side of the battle. The Black Knights had taken the initiative and the first few ranks of the Black Falcons had already yielded. Digging his spurs deeper in the horse's flanks, Randolph rode as hard as he could. A stray arrow struck the ground just ahead of him and he goaded his horse even harder.
A few minutes later, he had come around to Adolfus’s tent. This section of the camp had escaped the fire and men were running around, forming groups while officers formed them up. As Randolph jumped off his horse, the commander walked out from his tent in full armor. He held the helmet in his hand, and on his breastplate, there was an emblazoned figure of a falcon. His face was bent in a scowl, and turning to a man beside him, he barked some orders. Turning to Randolph, he spoke.
“Our army is in disarray - the Black Knights are approaching with rapid speed. In ten minutes, they will be where we are standing right now.”
“I know that. I have just spoke…”
“Stop. We have no time to talk. I want you to form up as many horsemen as possible. Charge into the enemies ranks. Do whatever you must. Just give us time to regain our bearings. The lines that are forming will be swept away. The greater portion of the army must get away to regroup. Right now, we can either destroy the Black Knights for good, or have it the other way around. You have eight minutes. Now go!”
Randolph jumped on his horse and sped off. The men here were more prepared and were retreating in good order. Coming to the enclosure where the horses were kept, Randolph found almost two hundred men already mounted with several dozen more coming. He rode up to Gustav, his second in command.
“Take the left flank and intercept those coming out of the city. I will take the right and attempt to stem the flow. Get as many man as can be found in five minutes time. Then charge - we must act quickly.”
Already, nearly four hundred knights were ready. From the low hill he was on, Randolph could see the situation - it looked like the complete disaster it was. Half the tents were burnt, and it was over this ground that the two lines were fighting. The Black Knights clearly had the upper hand, and were literally plowing through the Black Falcon ranks. At the edge of the unburnt tents, another line of Falcons stood, about 800 yards from the battle. More were coming each second, and it appeared they would stand longer. Craning his neck, Randolph saw fresh bodies of Falcons that had been positioned around the city form up, some of them being engaged by groups of Black Knights that had broken off from the main body. To his left, hundreds of wagons, soldiers, and equipment were retreating out of the back of the tent city. The first line was shattered. The Black Knights kept coming. His time was up.
Looking behind him, Randolph called to his men, their ranks swelled up to nearly five hundred men by newcomers.
“Let us stay this onslaught. We will turn the tide of this battle. Charge!”
Sirion didn’t withdraw from the first Black Knight line. His ranks were strong, and there axes swift. But he heard a voice from behind.
“KING SIRION! THE 8000 FRESH TROOPS ARE JOINING US NOW!”
Sirion quickly picked up a axe from a dead Black Knight.
“FORWARD!”
Sirion let his axe down swiftly. It crushed a Black Falcon’s helmet and into his head. It only took a few more second and the Falcons 2nd line had been wiped out.
“ARCHERS! FIRE!”
A wave of arrows hit the Black Knights first line killing 235 men. But then the 8000 fresh troops joined the Black knights. They hit the third line hard.
“Milord! There are 800 horses with Knights ready for advancement!”
“Take me to them!” Sirion yelled out as he withdraw from the main battle.
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