“Get inside! Quickly, before her forces arrive!” Axton shouted at his squad, ushering them inside the outpost. Once the last person had crossed the line, Axton makes his way into the outpost, as two of the soldiers closes the large wooden door behind them. One of the soldiers looks at Axton.
“How did it go?!” He asks, nervousness and anxiousness evident in his voice. Axton gave him a confident nod. “It went as well as it possibly could, given the circumstances. Their archers are now very few, but they still outnumber us. The ambush caused initial confusion, but Kailyn was able to rally them together and turned the tide of the battle. When she attacks the outpost, she most likely won’t be dumb enough and leave their rear flanks undefended. We’ll just have to trust our two squads out there to turn the tide of battle when given the signal.”
The soldier nods his head, salutes Axton, and returns to his post at the door. Axton looked at the rest of the troops. “Make sure you’re prepared and at your posts within the next three minutes. Those on the wall, keep a lookout for any ladders that may be used to climb up the wall and try to knock them away before their troops make it to the top. Only use the large boulders we found if absolutely necessary. They may be our enemy, but we’re all still citizens of Eshal.” Axton looked at a man next to him. “Fletcher, you stay at the back of the outpost and wait for my signal. Once I tell you, you fire that flaming arrow high in the air. That's their signal to charge into the battle.” Fletcher nodded and immediately ran to the back of the outpost, clutching his bow. “And for the rest of you…you’re with me at the door. We have to hold out in the courtyard for as long as we can, whatever the cost! Now…to your posts!”
The troops began running about quickly trying to make it to their assigned positions when a scout on the wall whistled. The scout turned around and shouted, “Enemy sighed! About three minutes out!”
Axton sighed as he took his position at the door. I had hoped that they would have waited a bit to regroup…but that was only wishful thinking.
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Kailyn spotted the outpost and took a deep breath, unsheathing her sword. She pointed her sword at the outpost and shouted. “There it is men! Our objective! They won’t give it up easily, and there’s bound to be some trickery up their sleeves, but we need to have this objective captured within the next few hours! Once we do, we’ll have taken the first step in bringing peace back to Eshal. Accept any and all surrenders without conditions. Make sure that Commander Riley is taken alive. Am I understood?”
“Yes ma’am!” Her troops said in unison.
“Squads one and two will advance to break through their walls. I’ll stay with squad three and watch your backs for any trickery they may pull. With our archers almost decimated, we’ll have to rely on the ladders we brought to try to scale the wall, or break through the wall with brute force. Once we’re through, we’ll surround their forces and force a surrender. Let’s get a move on!”
The troops split up into their squads and began to march forward. Soon, they had made their way up to the front gate. Kailyn put her hands to her mouth and shouted, “This is your last chance Riley! Surrender now, or risk your troops' lives in a pointless battle! Your choice!”
After waiting several seconds, and not getting a response back, Kailyn lifted her sword. “Forward men! Break through their walls!”
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Axton watched as several troops leaned against the wooden door, hoping to hold back whatever the enemy would use to force it open. After hearing Kailyn’s shouting, Axton shook his head. You’re the one causing all of this. You’re putting both of our troops in danger. He thought to himself as he remained silent. After several seconds had passed, he heard Kailyn shout again, this time to attack. Hearing a large shout and footsteps running up to the outpost, Axton took a deep breath and steadied himself behind his men. Merely seconds later, there was a loud crash outside of the outpost. The door to the outpost noticeably bulged from the force of the impact, and the soldiers that had pressed themselves against the door were sent forward, having to quickly step back to the door.
I didn’t see any battering rams during our small skirmish in the forest, so what is she using to try to break down the door?
“They’re deploying ladders!” Axton heard a soldier shout from the walls as he heard several thuds to the side of the walls. As Axton looked at the walls, another loud crash nearly broke through the front door. Soldiers on the wall were running about, trying to quickly push the ladders away from the walls, being mostly successful. However, considering the weight of the ladders, and the amount of them being deployed at once, they weren’t successful at knocking down every one. Within thirty seconds, some enemy soldiers were on the walls, engaging in combat with those on the walls.
“Away from the door!” Axton shouted, holding the hilts of his swords. Considering the walls had already been breached, he didn’t want him and his troops between a rock and a hard place should some enemy soldiers descend from the walls and attack from the rear. As his troops backed up, Axton could hear the screams of pain and death as the soldiers fought on top of the walls. Burying the pain and stress of knowing soldiers were dying in combat, he steeled his resolve and made his way to the front, staring at the door. One large crash later, and the door flew open, splinters from the door flying in the air, with some hitting Axton in the face. As he looked at the now destroyed door, he saw a large boulder being used as a battering ram of sorts.
Troops began to pour into the outpost, swords at the ready, and charged at Axton’s position. Standing at the front, Axton held out one of his swords in front of his body, with the aim to kill the first soldier that reached him. Within seconds, what appeared to be a suicidal man charged right at Axton and his sword, getting impaled through his leather armor. As Axton shoved the soldier away, another soldier was right behind him, swinging his sword at Axton. Quickly reacting, Axton managed to parry the blow as the other soldiers in his squad began fighting the other soldiers. Swing his two swords together, Axton managed to unbalance the soldier in front of him, giving Axton an opportunity to trip up the man, stabbing him as he lay on the ground.
In the corner of his eye, Axton could see his troops on the wall beginning to be overwhelmed by enemy’s numbers. It wouldn’t be long before resistance there would break and release another wave of troops against his own. Stabbing another soldier who had begun combat with him, Axton whistled as loud as he could. Thanks to the training at the academy, who trained their students to whistle loud enough to be heard despite the chaos of battle, the whistle resonated throughout the outpost. Fletcher, who had nervously been watching the battle and fighting the urge to join in to provide his allies some support, heard the whistle and set an arrow on fire. Quickly securing the arrow to the bow, he raised it high enough for the arrow to make it far over the walls and into the forest behind them.
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Kailyn watched as she saw a flaming arrow make its way over the wall and behind her. Next to her were the members of squad three, who had been both watching the battle unfold and keeping an eye out for any enemy reinforcements, began to stir. The collective nervous energy palpable among those in the squad, Kailyn raised her hand to try to steady her squad as she stared in the direction in which the arrow landed. Seconds later, what she had feared had come true as hundreds of soldiers, some coming from the left and others from the right, began to charge at them from the forest, shouting out a battle cry. Kailyn unsheathed her sword and got into a fighting stance. “Hold men! We need to hold them off just long enough to allow our troops to overwhelm the enemy and reinforce our positions! We hold the advantage! Don’t give it up to the enemy!”
As the shield bearers formed a wall on the perimeter of the squad, the few archers that remained began firing their arrows at the enemy positions, striking several as they collapsed on the ground, some silent as they lay while others writhed in agony. However, there was no way the archers could thin the numbers enough to diminish the two to one numerical advantage enjoyed by the enemy.
With a loud crash, the first troops slammed against the shields of her squad, unbalancing several and causing the line to bend backwards. Enough separation from the shields occurred for a few swords to stab the shield bearer behind the wall, causing larger gaps in the wall. As Kailyn moved her way forward to reinforce the front wall, she noticed several enemy troops ignore hers altogether and moved to attack the rear of her attacking troops. Before she could order her troops to try to cut off the flow, she noticed a sword coming right at her head. Lifting up her own sword, she parried the blow, the two swords still in contact as she saw a black haired woman holding onto the other sword.
Jaylee grunted as she pressed down her sword against Kailyn’s. “Sorry to disappoint you, but as long as I’m breathing, you won’t be able to give out any more orders!”
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