Chapter V

"Advance!" I called out. The slower they moved the more likely they were to be hit. I spurred my horse on, and he whinnied as he increased his speed. "Keep up!"

The foot of the men began to march forward, protecting some of the peasants and serfs with their shields as they moved. The archers were not close enough to start picking off the bowmen on the walls and in the towers " the angle was still too great at this distance. Those with crossbows, which included Old Felix began to fire from the front rows " aiming for the knights on horseback. The thick bolts drove home with enough force to pierce through their armor, and they fell noisily from their mounts.

We did not slow our pace, and as we reached the field outside the gates of Melver's castle,

 Reddrought's army moved forward. I raised my sword up high, cried out to the cavalry, and led the charge as we rushed to close the remaining distance.

With my eyes focused on the men in Blue before me, I was in my element. I rode without thought into the middle of the grouping, and my sword drew blood every time I swung my arm. My horse snorted and pawed at the ground, but he also knew his place in battle and did not rear up or spook. In the eyes of each man I encountered, I saw Reddrought. I saw the one who tried " and had succeeded in many ways " to hurt her. I saw the man who was now holding her captive and endangering her.

Though she was in the back of my mind and pushing me forward in my attack, I still dared not think of her openly. I growled in hate as I stabbed into the eye-slit of one soldier's helm before I turned horse in a wide circle and ducked to avoid a lance that aimed for my throat.

Soldier and Reddrought both rushed me at the same time, and I managed to swing my sword at one as I kicked at the other. It was not enough, though the one who met with my blade was injured. I felt something hit me in the back, and with a gasp, I fell from my horse and landed heavily on my side. I rolled and pushed myself up on my knees just as my attacker rushed around and came at me. His arm swung in a full arc, bringing the head of his mace towards my shoulder. I parried to the side and knocked at his weapon with the blade of my sword. He came at me again, and my eyes met with his as his mace flew through the air at me again. I jumped forward and reached for his arm with my hand just to slow the swipe and my sword came around and bashed him in the side of the head.

He stumbled and fell, which gave me time to get back to my feet and meet his next attack without the disadvantage. Our weapons clashed again and again as we fought, neither of us getting the advantage over the other.

I felt my anger grow. This man " he was one of those who may have taken Sabrina from me. He may have even been there when it happened. It was his type who had no loyalty or sense of honor, but instead fought for nothing more than the pleasure of carrying gold in his pockets. He sickened me. They all sickened me.

“Reddrought” I spit his name.

I grabbed at his arm and linked it with my own elbow, holding the rough fighter close to me as I tried to get my sword around and in position to cut through his studded armor. He growled and bared his teeth at me as he brought his forearm up quickly, knocking me to one side. I spun around and swung my sword at his head, clipping his ear and drawing blood from his neck.

He parried my next blow, moving back a few feet " back on the defensive as blood began to flow freely from the wound. His next attack went wild and threw him off balance, giving me a chance to step in behind him and knock him to the ground. My blade finished between his shoulder blades and swift across his neck. The next thing I knew his head is rolling in my side. “You end” I spit at the head of the bloody king, his eyes are still open. Two more similar rams went for the walls at the sides of the gate, smashing into the stone structures repeatedly until dust dropped into the heads of the men who pushed it. The stone walls were harder to breach, but the men were more effective as commoners' archers concentrated on those aiming for the gate. At the same time, the catapults began their assault on the walls to the left and the right of the rams. Huge rocks flew across the sky, slammed into the walls, and crumbled the stone. Boulder after boulder hurled through the sky, and slowly but surely the walls started to come down. Even as hot sand was poured from the top of the walls, the men continued to run forward until the end of the giant ram made contact with the wooden doors again and again. They pulled back and rushed forward again as arrows tried to pierce them from above. The archers behind us dutifully picked off the men on the walls where they could, but I still saw many of the peasants of Malver fall as they were hit. Still, as one man fell, another took his place, and the battering ram slammed continually against the wooden gate. Finally, there was a crack that could be heard across the field as the door splintered and broke.

"Sabrina, wait me, my sister," I said too quietly for anyone else to hear. I closed my eyes for a brief moment, and we sped forward through the archway, and the doors fell before us. All around us, the walls surrounding Castle Melver were crumbling.

And that is when we knew we had won the war.

 Now, the new Kingdom is us.

 

 

Author's Note

-END-

-Conie Catala