Why weren’t they down here, fighting with us?! We stood no chance, Tomas realised, seeing the stark differences between he and Rilan’s makeshift weapons and scraps of leather armour, compared to the men-at-arms with their shining steel weapons and chainmail.
The defenders were falling back, heading uphill towards the wall of trees that marked the beginning of the thick woods.
Tomas and Rilan threw themselves into the crowd of soldiers, pushing their way as close to the middle of the group as they could where it would be safer. They weren’t going to be on the frontline again.
It was then that Tomas saw a stream of blood flowing down Rilan’s free hand. He had lost his fifth finger. The stump was at his second knuckle, with strips of flesh hanging from it and oozing fresh blood.
Tomas ripped a piece of cloth from the bottom of his tunic, handing it to Rilan.
“Your finger,” he said directly, pointing.
Rilan peered down, stunned, taking the piece of cloth, and bandaging the wound as tight and as fast as he could manage.
Tomas guessed that only one or two hundred of the Barrowtown levies had survived the initial attack. Others who were still caught in the fray had no choice but to hold their position, unable to flee as they became enveloped by Imperials. The Akurai soldiers showed no mercy towards them.
As the Imperial army flanked the rest of the vanguard, they began to encircle what was left of the defending battalion who stood side by side, body to body, in a tight circle against the edge of the woods.
The men at the front held out spears and shields, reminiscent of a hedgehog’s quills. Gharland and the other commanding officers stood near the back, swords drawn. Gharland’s helmet was smeared with thick lines of blood and his mantle cape had been torn in half. Not even they were able to escape the violence.
“Why not run, ser? We have lost!” someone begged.
“Hold, men,” Gharland shouted. “Just a little while longer.”
Tomas leaned over and whispered in Rilan’s ear. “What should we do?”
Rilan shook his head, shrugging. They were surrounded by fellow soldiers- running meant pushing through all of them to get to the woods. And even if they got that far, who knew what would come of them for deserting.
The Imperial soldiers now greatly outnumbered the remaining defenders. There must have been a thousand of them left. They charged full force from all directions.
Tomas closed his eyes, praying for the nightmare to end and awaiting the horrors to come.
Right before the two armies met once more, Tomas heard a loud horn blow. He hadn’t heard this type of horn before. He knew not what it meant.
Over the deafening noise of the charging soldiers, clanging swords, and the screams of the dying came a thunderous rumble. The ground shook as Tomas turned, looking past the encircled group and into the forest behind them.
He saw what looked like hundreds of bulky dark shapes heading straight for them, weaving in and out of the tall trees and leaping over fallen logs.
Horses.
It was a huge unit of cavalry, and judging by the banners they held, they were of the Broken Coast!
The wall of armoured horses and their riders, under the cover of the woods, came out around the Imperial army at full gallop, crashing into them harder than anything Tomas had ever seen.
Bodies went flying up into the air. Others were thrown backwards into their comrades at lethal speed. Despite their numbers, the Imperials could do little to slow the charge.
As the cavalry ploughed through the Akurai soldiers, Gharland ordered his men to counter-attack.
“Now!” he shouted. “Attack, attack!”
Since they had taken the high ground when creating their defensive circle, the soldiers of the Broken Coast had the advantage of height as they broke their lines and charged into the Imperials down the bank of the hill.
The line of spears on the outer circle met the confused and panicking Akurai soldiers with great force, enough for the spear tips to pierce through their plate armour and out the other ends.
Tomas and Rilan joined the charge with newfound morale, realising this was as good a chance as they would get.
The cavalry continued their assault through the Imperial force. Those not trampled by horses or hit with the overhead swords and spears of the riders were charged into by the counter-charging defenders.
Before long, dissent spread through the Akurai army and they began their retreat from the fields. Some were run down as they fled. But most of the Broken Coast soldiers, Tomas and Rilan included, were far too exhausted to even consider giving chase.
As the fighting slowed, Tomas bent forward, his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. He looked out over the bloodied plain as the Akurai soldiers fled.
“Should we give chase?” Rilan asked, wiping sweat from his brow.
Tomas simply shook his head. He had seen enough blood for one day.
Tomas felt for the key hanging around his neck, fearing he had lost it in the battle. It was still there.
Thank goodness.
The once green patch of land was polluted with, blood, mud, viscera, weapons, and corpses.
Soldiers were pulling the wounded up from out of the piles of dead to be carried off on wagons.
Tomas spotted flocks of crows fluttering down from their trees. Those who were still alive in the field of death, and had the energy left, tried batting the ferocious birds away as they began pecking at their flesh in a frenzy for blood.
One man in the distance was missing legs, yet despite the pain and loss of blood, desperately tried to drag himself away as the birds rips bits of flesh from his leg stumps.
The crows had waited patiently
