STEEL AND FLESH

THE BATTLE OF HARENIA 2

"Hold!" King Lauihnio bellowed while he and the soldiers tried to maintain a firm grip on their shields in order to not to break formation to prevent further casualties on their side.

The hurling of javelins at them seemed to go one forever but King Lauihnio knew that with time the energy that the charioteers used to harass them would fade and their javelins exhausted. "Archers get ready your bows! - Arrows! - draw!" King Lauihnio waited to sense when the quickness of their efforts reduced. When he noticed that their efforts were fading he smiled. "Fire!" he bellowed with much intensity letting out some droplets of saliva.

At this order the Bauthinian archers unleashed a volley of arrows that arched up into the clear sky and swept on the Quanian charioteers. A good number of them were struck by the arrows and this reduced their threat. "Return to your defensive positions and hold." King Lauihnio ordered when he noticed that a few archers were struck by the Quanian javelins in retaliation for the arrows the Bauthinian archers had unleashed.

After sometime he ordered them to unleash a second shower of arrows and once again when he saw the need for defence he ordered the archers to take refuge in the shields.

This went on for about an hour and with the number of Quanian charioteers reduced and their javelins depleted they pulled back.

King Brothlander then ordered forth his infantry in full force. When King Lauihnio saw the charioteers pull back and the fierce looking infantry advance he took a deep breath knowing that one of their main threats was nigh. "Up you lads - you see those men, they may look fierce appearing like wounded lions but we know them!, we know that there are more women than men in their ranks!. They are not proper warriors!. We have beaten them before and when they see our weapons and feel our spirits they will crack! - we maintain shield wall and we March as one - don't be scared of moving forward and knock them down with your shields and finish them off!" he bellowed.

The Quanian army charged towards the Bauthinian ranks hurtling at them, showing no form of organization and yelling on top of their voices while letting out a loud battle cry. The Bauthinians ignored the swift advancement of the Quanians maintaining their shield wall in tight formation while marching with a moderate pace towards the enemy. However the Bauthinian archers marched behind the swordsmen with their arrows on their bows ready to fire.

When the rushing Quanian army were at range king Lauihnio turned back. "Swordsmen go down! archers fire at the enemy!" At the order the Bauthinian infantry with swords bent on one knee while they crouched to take refuge in their shields in case of an attack. The Quanians were taken aback by this tactics, some of them tried to halt their advance but it was too late because they were already exposed to the merciless shower of arrows that rained on them. With a good number of them struck by the arrows many of them were killed outright with blood gushing out from their punctured chest, limbs and foreheads.

With the Quanian charging army disorganized by that attack King Lauihnio ordered his swordsmen to rush at them seeing it as the best opportunity to inflict casualties on their infantry. "Advance and kill them all!" he bellowed as he and his men overwhelmed the Quanian front ranks hacking and jabbing at them.

A Quanian swordsmen charged towards King Lauihnio and jabbed his sword at him but King Lauihnio parried the sword and hacked the face of the swordsman. With the battle axe stuck in his face King Lauihnio used his strength and pulled the weapon from his face making it disfigured and full of crimson blood.

Some sections of his men maintained a tight defensive formation blocking the efforts of some marauding Quanian swordsmen charging down their efforts while thrusting their swords into their sides.

The Quanians at the first ten lines gaped with terror at the overwhelming sight of the Bauthinian army. Some captains within their ranks barked out a string of orders for the Quanian infantry to hold their positions and taking up a tight defensive formation with their shields held out for their defense the Bauthinians hacked and strucked mercilessly on the dragon crested wooden shields of the Quanians.

King Lauihnio was focused on a particular infantryman while in line with his men, he hacked continuously at the Quanian's wooden shield till it split into two. With the Quanian soldier fully aware of his only source of defence destroyed he stared at King Lauihnio with eyes that begged for Mercy but he was failed as king Lauihnio divided his skull and split his brain as he used his brute strength to strike the soldier.

The Bauthinian army began to cheer as the Quanians pulled back after all the soldiers at their front line comprising of the first, second and third line were cut down. However the celebration was cut short as the fierce heavy calvary of the Quanians pounced on them cutting them down and thrusting their spears at the Bauthinian units who tried their best to defend on foot. The progress of the calvary was enough to give the Quanian infantry a high morale to charge down the Bauthinians. King Lauihnio panicked with fear at the onslaught of his men by both the heavy calvary and infantry of the Quanians. However over two hundred Bauthinian soldiers formed a circle around King Lauihnio in order to prevent him from being cut down by marauding Quanians.

Lord Garhabal's heart skipped when he noticed the King was in danger then he ordered the calvary at his command to charge at the Quanians. Lord Wemblewin who took charge of the calvary at the left flank followed suit and together both commanders took it as an urgent task to save their King.

The Quanian calvary heard the loud thud of the Bauthinian horses and they turned to their direction to engage at them. King Lauihnio was pleased and thanked the gods for leading his men to come to his rescue and with the Quanian calvary disengaging from the Bauthinian infantry king Lauihnio and his men lined up in columns and took the fight to the Quanian infantry.

With the Quanian infantry outnumbering the Bauthinians as a result of the massive blows they suffered from the joint attacks of their infantry and calvary they soon found their wits and began to suppress the Bauthinians mercilessly cutting them one after another putting the Bauthinians in a very vulnerable state. "Fire the arrows." king Lauihnio yelled as the Bauthinian lines was pushed backwards.

Even with the casualties suffered on the Quanian side as a result of the arrows the Quanians did not show any form of hesitation in the already bloody skirmish. King Lauihnio in anger continued to hack his way through the Quanian lines striking any of the enemy that came his way having less regard for his own safety. A good number of his men followed him by his side fighting ruthlessly showing strong spirit. They fought like gods among men as they showed how valiant they could be despite the falling of their comrades in this gruesome bloodbath with missiles of arrows and javelins raining down on both sides.

At last King Lauihnio having broken through the Quanian lines sighted the dark Wazaj elves that surrounded king Brothlander. While he stared menacingly at the elves a Quanian infantry charged towards him at his side. He ducked at his effort and gave him a powerful blow to his neck with his battle axe causing flashes of crimson blood to gush out of his neck. The Quanian knelt down motionless. King Lauihnio turned to the dark elves who were looking at his direction and smiled for he intended to put up a show for them. He took a step back raised his battle axe and beheaded the Quanian at one swing.

"Order the veteran cohort to begin charge! sound the golden hoooorn!" After a few echoes of his order by some of his men precisely captains the golden horn was blown and the heavily armoured veteran cohorts of the Bauthinian military led by lord Garthine Polion advanced. Lord Garhabal and Lord Wemblewin were triumphant in their skirmish against the Quanian calvary inflicting heavy losses with a handful of them fleeing the battlefield.

When they saw the Veteran cohorts advancing to join battle both Lord Garhabal and Lord Wemblewin charged to pepper the remaining Quanian infantry that subdued their comrades who fought on foot with the aim of clearing ground for the veteran cohort so that they would be unchallenged reserving their strength for the main threat, THE DARK WAZAJ ELVES.

Upon marauding the Quanian infantry the Bauthinian calvary inflicted huge loses on the enemy causing the remaining soldiers to flee the battlefield.

With the triumph, the remaining Bauthinians who still lived stood toe to toe with the dark elves of Wazaj. However some Bauthinian soldiers were surprised that king Lauihnio survived the front line, some of them who witnessed how ruthless he was in battle thought that the spirit of Heykzan the god of war had engulfed his body in other words all the Bauthinian soldiers that still lived felt proud to be able to share the battlefield with their fighting King.

The Veteran cohorts wore a silver scaled armor coupled with a silver attic helmet that masked their faces however vision was possible with the visor that exposed their eyes and noses. With silver bracers and greaves some men of the veteran cohort wielded swords while some wielded battle axes holding their shields at the ready awaiting the command of King Lauihnio staring balefully at the dark Wazaj elves.

With their pointed ears at the tip and long eye brows that ran upwards the dark elves were black in color from head to toe, they had long spikey hairs that reached their shoulders. However some of them had brown hair while some of them had golden hair but non of them possessed a black hair however all of them ranged from eight feat to nine feat in height.

They wore white knee length tunics and a silver chain mail armor coupled with long silver greaves and arm manicas while each of them held a double sided swords without holding shields.

The height of the Wazaj elves made most of the men in the Bauthinian ranks shiver with fear, some soldiers who saw them for the first time thought of this towering warriors as descendants of the demons that occupied the underworld.

One of the elves walked in front of them with a helmet, he was their leader and he spoke to the Bauthinian ranks in a language that non of the men in the Bauthinian ranks understood. He became silent for a while then he turned to his men then he bent on one knee and stuck his double bladed sword to the ground. His men followed suit thereafter they began chanting some incantations then they jumped up to their feet advanced towards the Bauthinian lines.

They strolled, then jogged then alas they started running swiftly to begin attack. Some of the soldiers including Lord Garhabal were frightened by the sudden movement of the dark elves. But King Lauihnio stood his ground "Shield wall!" He bellowed. "Whatever happens do not break the line!"

The dark elves began to attack. They rammed into the Bauthinian lines breaking it in an in instant and they engaged the veteran cohorts. King Lauihnio who was on the front line trying to hold position received serious blows from one of elves. The elf struck his shield till it bent due to the force it used to ensure he cut King Lauihnio to pieces. King Lauihnio fell at the last effort loosing his shield which fell away from his grip. The elf towered above King Lauihnio and raised it's sword above it's head to pin king Lauihnio to the ground but King Lauihnio jumped up dodged the effort and using his battle axe he divided the elf's hand into two.

With the elf wincing in pain King Lauihnio ran his axe across the elf's head beheading him in the process.

King Lauihnio was not given time to savor his successful duel with this elf as another came charging towards him. the elf aimed for his legs but he jumped then dodged his second, third and fourth effort. The elf smiled sinisterly then he moved like a snake to the right and the left as though dancing then he charged at him. On reaching King Lauihnio he feigned a move to the right while turning to the left then he landed a heavy blow on King Lauihnio. Though he blocked the effort the impact of the strike made him tumble backwards however he sustained a deep cut on his hands as a result of the strike.

King Lauihnio peered at his injured arm but upon raising his eyes to the elf he received a powerful kick to the face driving him into an unconscious state.

Lord Garthine Polion thrust his sword to the side of one of the elves then he turned and gasped in surprise when he saw that the King was in grave danger he ran towards the elf that had already raised his sword for a kill but his attention was drifted towards the incoming commander. Leaving King Lauihnio to his fate the elf charged towards Lord Garthine Polion. The elf struck his sword at Lord Garthine Polion but Lord Garthine Polion glided down the wet grass and jabbed continouesly at the elf. "No one dares to harass my king Infront of me."

He pulled his sword out of the elf and helped king Lauihnio up, after a short walk he handed him over to some infantry men who were to take him to a safe place far away from the battlefield ordering some infantry men and a few veterans to look after the king with their lives.

The dark Wazaj elves had the upper hand over the Bauthinians in the skirmish slashing their throats, severing their heads and spilling their guts. Although the men that belonged to the Bauthinian veteran cohort stood their ground and fought valiantly, they could not match the swiftness and the strength of the elves. Lord Garhabal was killed and the morale of the Bauthinian army faded completely. It began to turn into a one sided massacare.

Apart from the men that guarded king Lauihnio the rest of the Bauthinian army including the remaining commanders kept on fighting allowing the gods to decide how long they will remain in the realm of the living.

As the Bauthinian units used the last reserves of their strength to fight back there came a loud sound that resembled a heavy thud. However King Lauihnio regained consciousness. He held his aching head wondering what had happened to him.

The thudding sounds of horses became louder and at last above the head of the dark elves far down the track, a line of horsemen appeared. They wore a sunset yellow jerkin armour together with their red tunics, crimson helmet and blue plumes which decorated their helmets.

They charged towards the rear of the elves line and using their numbers effectively they overwhelmed the elves and began to cut them down for the elves in their numbers were outnumbered five to one against the marauding Mocinians and with the onslaught of the outnumbered elves they struggled to maintain their lines and resist the Mocinians. The Zimbian Calvary soon appeared and charged towards the elves who tried to defend themselves from the extreme jabbing and hacking of the Mocinians.

The Zimbians where dark skinned with white braided hair and white eyes which made them look like heavenly beings and upon reaching the elves they hacked and slashed at their ranks and it wasn't long the Wazaj elves were totally subdued and the carnage of the elves began.

"My King the Zimbians and the Mocinians have come to our aid - they subdue the ranks of the Wazaj elves and look, some of them flee from battle." One of the Bauthinian veterans said excitedly at king Lauihnio.

King Lauihnio however showed no expression of surprise instead expressions of resentment was written all over his face. "Those bastards - they should have been here sooner.