As soon as you ascend the hill, you find that lord Sielcco has already ascended his. He looks at you with hatred. Even so far apart, he speaks clearly to you through his eyes. Now you must have patience and wait for your men that had been sent to flank the enemy, to make their move.
Within a few minutes, you hear the sound of chaos from the other side. Lord Sielcco's back is turned to you and he is busy warring with some other force. You reckon that it is your men who were to flank.
"Quickly! Swordsmen, forward!", you scream with your sword in the air.
Your men-at-arms charge down the hill and rush up the other to combat lord Sielcco on the hill. Some of them manage to kill some of lord Sielcco's men, even so, most who are less outfitted than those of the Sielccan lord's, are overpowered and are forced to descend the hill.
You are astonished at the Rivermen's ability to withstand being attacked on both sides. You turn to Lufafa, and nod, cuing him to blow the war horn, signalling those on the other side to push the enemy down the hill where you can have an advantage. This seems successful at first. And then a soldier rushes up to your steed and informs you that just as you had made plans to flank the enemy, so did they. Lord Sielcco had ordered almost a thousand men to rush through the other end of the Carrii river, where your men were sent to destroy the dam. Seeing that lord Sielcco's men were successful in reaching your end, you reckon that your men were not successful in the demolishing of the dam to flood the area.
"What do we do? Lord Alexander, i pray you, think quickly!", the sly one screams and for the first time showing doubt and fear.
Looking at Vradnik, you order him to send a force of exactly 500 men to war with the flankers. Vradnik does as told and 500 men, a mixture of men from Portswater and mercenaries are sent to fight with them. However, it does not work and all the soldiers are butchered.
You raise your sword and, "men, with me!", you scream to them urging a thousand to charge with you and defeat the men.
You cause Regimore to stand on his two hind legs and then you ride him into the enemy forces, followed by Munkan, the sly one and of course, Vradnik and a thousand men.
You see that the enemy is equipped with axes rather than swords, and are led by Blacwin, lord Sielcco's high knight. A man almost the age of his lord and one with a temper. You know that such men tend to depend on their anger to win any battle, rather than their brain and muscles.
Your forces clash together and heads are cut off by your fierce men. Blacwin's push against your forces, trying to stab at them, but are blocked by raised shields. You then spot Blacwin fighting off some men. He sees you too. Hatred and wrath fill his eyes as he takes a wicked look at you. You look at your sword and then at him. And then simultaneously, you both launch yourselves at each other. Your sword is firmly gripped in your hand and Blacwin's lance is unmistakably aiming at you. When you get close enough, he thrusts it at you and and the last moment, you jump off Regimore's back and crash onto the ground, evading the attack. You then strike at the high knight's rear, delivering a cruel strike to his back. The man humanly cries out of pain and falls off his horse. Thus you are two horseless men, but only one of you is wounded, in the thick of a jarring battle. A soldier from your regiment jumps in to defend you, charging onto the knight with his sword. Despite the man's bravery, he is overwhelmed by the knights strength and Blacwin then thrusts his spear, first into his arm and then into his neck when it becomes exposed. The man drops dead between you both.
"Such bloodshed could have been avoided, lord Alexander!", he proclaims, tightening his grip on the spear.
"But alas, you are a blind and a fool, and now you will pay the ultimate price with your life!", he shrieks, sounding hysterical.
You glance at the sword in your hand and rub the colours on your breastplate.
"Come and deliver it then!", you dare him.
YOU ARE READING
The Black Raven: plot of the three swords
Historical FictionLord Alexander has just come to the throne of Portswater, a province in the west known for aurens in times of trade, but steel in times of war. He thinks that being a lord isn't too complex, but what he doesn't know is that there are those cunning...
