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REBIRTH OF A WARRIOR Chapter 63
Everyone was gone on our side except for the retinue of warriors from Thunder Ridge and my own friends from the arena. We sat astride our mounts on the higher ground at the head of the pass. The flood waters would pass to either side of us into the city beyond. The enemy’s advancement into the city had stopped as the field commanders had finally realized that something was amiss with their bulrush-and-pick-up-the-pieces-later strategy.The many thousands of troops still on our side of the wall that hadn’t been consumed in the fire of the city were pressed into the deeper channeled sides of the pass to either side of the city. There was no fire there and it was still possible to breathe as they were on a lower level than the rest of the city. They could not retreat back over the wall because the heat from the fire was too intense for them to pass by, so they remained huddled in the corners of the city, desperately emptying the gate tunnels of the debris that had been stacked tight into
REBIRTH OF A WARRIOR Chapter 64
The Zoarinian Camp on the highland outskirts of Kingdom Pass the next morning.General Tessan stood looking out over the multitude of tents of the army, he alone had been tasked to lead. It was the largest military force ever congregated together under one banner, even after they had lost so many in the fires and subtle chicanery of taking Kingdom Pass. They really hadn’t taken the city behind the great wall. It had been given to them and they had paid for it in blood. Over two hundred thousand men missing from the sea of tents before him bore testament to the price that they had paid to set foot on Valley Lander soil the night before. That wouldn’t have been so bad if the enemy’s losses had been high too, but they hadn’t. The assault last night had been a colossal error and now the whole army’s morale was in question. Their spirit of optimism as to an easy campaign was shattered. The Valley Lander army was gone and still intact and able to continue the fight, while they should have
REBIRTH OF A WARRIOR Chapter 65
By his calculations, he was already several hours behind that schedule. He had lost time, having to divert and travel out of the way of the Attorgron forces coming down from the north. The hastily put together misfit caravan groaned and creaked its way out of the valley in a flurry of its own dust as it was escorted by the cavalry northward towards the Shrine of Remembrance. Two days later, the Shrine of Remembrance on the shores of the northern sea.I watched the banners grow closer over the plain of rich green grass. They had done just as Sebastian had theorized that they would, if first met with a significant reduction in force. They had bypassed our cities, towns and castles to come straight here to the Shrine.Thank God! Little did the approaching army know that every city and castle would have fallen easily before them, because every available warrior capable of fighting had been gathered upon this plain for the engagement to come. If General Nadero had been successful in his a
REBIRTH OF A WARRIOR Chapter 66
The western shore was the only place along this part of the coast where troops could either be landed or boarded. I looked past the Shrine at our backs, at the small northeastern bay that lay situated between two rocky headlands.It was through this little bay that the mythical ships of our ancestors had supposedly journeyed, but I did not see how. The bay itself was a perfectly good harbor. It was even somewhat sheltered from the vicious storms that raged up and down this coast at times, as it was shielded by the rocky headlands to either side of it.What made it unusable, however, was the maze of jagged rocks that jutted above and below the surface of the water at the mouth of the bay, where it narrowed between the two rocky promontories. It would be suicide to attempt to sail a ship into the turbulent white water breakers that washed around the bases of the rocks guarding the bay. We were alone with little chance of succeeding in the battle to come. It had been the chance we had al
REBIRTH OF A WARRIOR Chapter 67
I half pivoted on one knee to see the source of the attack as air began to leak back into my starved lungs. The enemy soldiers had actually drawn back from me and Rolf slightly and then I saw why. One of the dark hooded figures had come up behind me and slammed me across the back with a broadsword. I was surprised that my armor had withstood such a strike.The big sword drew back for a killing downward strike. I dropped one sword into my open left hand and I barely had enough time to cross them into an x above my head before the massive sword came crashing down. I caught the strike in the crossing of my swords that would have otherwise cut me in half and I tumbled backward. Breathing heavy, I half stumbled to my feet.The black hood came back and I recognized Marfoul. “Stand back, you sniveling cowards! He’s all mine!” Marfoul screamed out, before he came at me with a vengeance.I did my best to step out of the way of his wild sword swings. “So we meet again, but this time will be the
REBIRTH OF A WARRIOR Chapter 68
Captain Jansa, the most junior captain present, stood up from the far end of the table where he was seated and addressed the admiral, “Neither option sir!” “What do you mean by such a statement, Captain Jansa?” the admiral asked, as he speculatively eyed the young captain. “I mean to say that, with all due respect Sir, neither option presented before us can accomplish anything meaningful in the outcome of this war. Attacking the enemy fleet guarding the western shore is sheer suicide, Sir. Not one of our ships will reach the beach, except perhaps later as a piece of idly floating driftwood. Sacrificing ourselves in such an attempt will serve little purpose other than to help us preserve our honor with a noble death. As for the other option; Sir, as you yourself said, this war will come to be fought on our own shores some day not too distant from now, if the battle taking place is lost by our allies. If we leave this fight we return home without our honor, only to face the inevitable
REBIRTH OF A WARRIOR Chapter 69
In horror, Captain Jansa looked at what lay ahead of the Tasa’Anna. The narrow channel took a sharp turn that no ship under full sail could ever have made. To make matters worse, the cliff overhung the channel at that point. The overhanging cliff would rip every main mast clear off the ship! The fleet watched in horrified fascination as the flagship neared the sharp curve and the low overhang. Water began to boil up near an upthrust of one of the bay’s rocky teeth. A great rubbery bulk rose out of the sea and hauled itself up the rocky breaker opposite of the sharp curve. It was a giant squid! It was easily over half the size of the flagship itself. Some of its tentacles encircled the rocky pier it clung to. As the Tasa’Anna entered the beginning of the curve the remaining tentacles and whips of the great sea monster shot out, fastened to the upper masts of the ship and began to pull the Tasa’Anna over onto its side. The ship, under the strain of the pulling tentacles, tacked over
REBIRTH OF A WARRIOR Chapter 70
General Nadero’s cavalry started out in a brisk trot towards the enemy, intent on taking advantage of the turmoil present in their disorganized ranks. Their movement forward sparked a reaction from the enemy cavalry, which took off at an uneven start towards the approaching cavalry.General Santaran’s warriors ran through the ranks of Attorgron archers to strengthen the hard-pressed forward shield wall of the Attorgron slave warriors. On the flanks of the formation they swept through the remaining Attorgron cavalry, finishing what the spearmen had begun.The fighting was close and intense as the Zoarinian soldiers realized that the odds were no longer on their side. The approaching militia had seemingly been forgotten in the chaos and they now swept towards the enemy’s southern flank uncontested, even as the Tranquil Islanders, with a wild yell, started down the earthwork fortifications in a charge towards the western flank of the enemy’s battle line.There was an opportunity to be ha