The artillery had ceased, for then there was peace. The troops had quietened themselves and continued on their camp duties as they called. Wiping down the grime of rifles and cleaning out their barrels. Feeding mules and horses if ever they were needed to retreat or be taken to the battlefield. Polishing blades until the reflections of their faces were clean and clear. They sat above the misery where the clouds were heavy. All hell was unfolding below as the irregular gunfire snapped and throats were cut. The scrape of swords screeched and arms were torn from their joints. As fists came to blow, besides were comrades disemboweled. Helmets bashed against heads and crushed inward skulls. Blood and fire painted a distant world, with every man and woman, seeking nothing else but survival. The only sounds were that of apparent chaos that drove a captain, in much shock and hurry, through his comrades. Marching, he excused himself as he bumped past soldiers and officers alike but dared not to against his superiors as they exited the headquarters with talks of action already. The war wagons had stayed their ground, watching as the crowd grew thinner until there was none left. He hurried toward the commander’s home, hoping to secure an audience with him when two spears crossed over and held him back. It would have been a miracle if the general could see and let him approach. Peeling his nails from his fingers, the army’s heart and mind sat slouched with his chin touching his neck. The serenity around him was enjoyed alone, although, often paranoid, he would occasionally tilt his head up. At that time, he found a captain of the artillery standing there waiting for his receiving. Since his post had become idle from the unfair exchange of guns, none could blame him arguing with the guardsmen with a mouth doused in fire demanding passage. Sighing, the commander slammed his hands on the table and gathered the attention of his guards who felt his rising agitation. At the wave of a hand, the spears retreated and the captain was granted his pathway.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡywsJaW85hd
Straightening out his jacket, he marched at haste toward the end of the table before halting and stamping into position. “General,” The artillerist bowed, speaking with a mild voice. “You must come.” He said not what it was exactly but had hoped that the general would see for himself.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNWKOtvbkNt
Unsettled by the commander’s glare, the captain flinched. Turning his eyes down at the table, the general contemplated to move but his limbs remained tentative. Whatever it was, was perhaps unneeding of his attention. But whatever he missed, could become a risk altogether. There could be no more opportunities than then for he to act. He gave another sigh as he peeled off a hanging nail, shuffling himself to sit upright. With fists on his knees, the man pushed himself upward as if his joints had grown older by a decade. Taking his time to tuck in his chair that dragged on the soil beneath, he kept a hand on the table as he followed around its edge. The captain withdrew himself and spun around to lead on past the guards who gave way again. Shortly behind, the general emerged out of his chosen cage and marched by his troops, startled no less than the advisors and aides rumoring about their slacking commander during their meet minutes ago. Looking on, their mouths stilled from chatter and their hands frozen, wrapped around tea cups. Through the camp, many became curious and sought to join the pilgrimage of their general to wherever he went, whilst others felt inclined to follow him out of duty. They swiftly made for the ridge where the captain had not minded to hide his failures. Passing by the town of tents, the meadow of the hill finally opened up to the general who had forgotten the clear skies. Reminded of the short-doings of his battery of artilleries, he paid no heed to where there were half a dozen guns once and only half that remained. The shades of crewmen crushed by shells were still present and the steel and brass were most but mangled or scrapped. Their ammunition still laid abundant but it would not be used anymore. The surviving bombardiers sat by, indulging in cigarettes that they hoped would smoke out recent memories. When their commanders came by, they hurriedly tossed out their smokes and stood to, saluting, but the captain took his time to assure them with a pat on each of their shoulders. Ignoring his fallen guns, he brought the general to the edge of the ridge, avoiding the ruins beyond the pale of defeat. There, the scene was almost unimaginable. The general’s eyes widened in disbelief and his core had been shaken by surprise. It was a gift of the ages, molded by his men abandoned by him to fend for his country.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH0zlnAE4Lw
Stunned, Nikola looked on and uttered, “My army…broke through…”40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfam5A96oCl
“Not only that.” The artillery captain gestured with his head, hooking the general’s sight on the true miracle.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1KusuFU4JU
From the vantage point, he ran his finger along the front that had begun to curve from the blunt force of human waves. The spearhead of the Aelon, so much smaller and slighter in appearances, had punctured the skin of the Confederates and had ran their blades into their core ranks. Their formation began to collapse as the assaulter drove ever deeper, searching for the death of the heart of the army so that victory may occur. Like hyenas feeding on a greater predator that was the enemy who had nowhere else to retreat and could only stand their ground and fight. The headquarters of the Rus grew treacherously nearer the frontlines and soon, it would appear, that the banners of the lion would fall. Inviting his aides to witness the change of the tides, the general’s shock refracted through every soul who had thought the battle lost until all those, surrounding the edge watching the battle unfold, could see that miracles were true. For once, they felt the favor of the heavens land on their side, realizing their dream had emerged from desire.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbnLDJciK43
Struck in awe, only one word came to Nikola’s mind, “Gods…”40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8p3zGkLT34
The captain turned to the general and sought to correct him, “Forgive me, general, but the gods had no play in this victory.” Gazing at the spearhead led by the famed Robber Baron and his foreign allies, he told of something that his commander should have known, “We did not fight wars for nothing but in readiness for this great test.”40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPM0si9zro7
“General!” A corporal suddenly called out, breaking the officers from chatter. “T-The Confederates are pulling back!” He stammered in bewilderment.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD3HvFfs3JD
The Confederate lines have snapped, but in no panic, telling of their professionalism, they organized a withdrawal. As expected of the lion’s men, they knew not to take any more losses than necessary and conceded the moment to the elation of the camp. The wedge of the infantry had driven a stake into the center of the Rus’s army and seemed to be on a course to a complete victory. It was an upset to the battle, more unthinkable it was to the Aelon than it was to their adversary. Wondering what had caused an uproar among their officers, the troops of the headquarters gathered around and came to see for themselves until the spectators were bunched into a wall overlooking the battlefield. They soon found cause for celebration and hurled their cries to their comrades who bravely fought. The artillerist lifted a smirk but the general was not yet convinced. His face was without a smile as his eyes felt to have been misled by the one thing that the Summer Lion had wanted him to be blinded by. His troops may have been easily swept away by the sound of victory but even the older veterans and comrades elder thought alike. Looking around, there were faces of simple joy and certain cynics. As the fog cleared from his head, he was reminded by a foulness that was to occur. The last ranks of the baron’s army were ordered to advance and to join the melee but their flanks were left entirely open. The formation of the Confederates bent and wrapped around the thirty thousand that he had deployed, swallowed like a rock in a lake.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuQYFYVVPGw
Searching for a messenger among the mindless audience, he snatched a lowly corporal by his collar among those he could find and discomposed, “Get those blasted fools to withdraw at once!”40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡayfSpQmm4z
Steadily yet, the army pushed, whose shoulders grew sour from advancing against the backs of their comrades. Their feet dug into the earth and churned up the soil in the field of mud. They let their cries free as their enemies were gradually felled, cut down and trampled. The greater army was forced deeper into the forest seemingly without retreat as the Aelon gained on victory, the Confederates giving up their land by paces which may seem little, but the force of such a slight detachment of unprofessional and untrained levies and volunteers should not have been so able. Even when the battle had been turned over by surprise, the Rus’s faces were composed. The voices of their sergeants and captains worked in tandem as they began to shift the weight of their lines onto their flanks. The bulk of the Bohemer army rushed through the only gap like a deluge of rainwater seeping into a boulder’s cut. Quickly inflating, the crevice grew into a bay that broke the center formation. Giving way, the Confederates marched backward every second, for more troops to pour into the battle and to swell the Aelon lines.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNfwRovU0hB
Rapid currents of steel and flesh swept troops away without a say in the direction of their advance, fighting wherever and whoever was there to challenge them. A squad of foreign lancers and soldiers found themselves separated from their century that had gone and disappeared into the human wave, charging towards the heart of the enemy army alongside Žižka whose prowess with his hand cannon could pulverize a section in one swing and whenever fired, a century would turn into ash. The flashes of heat from his eifer washed across a face soiled by blood fixed to his sweat and the spit of shouting troops. A fiend’s blade came down and cut into the heart of a foe dragged into death. Heads flung high as the cords of their spines were snapped, disallowing any chance of suffering. But this mercy was not so keenly given by his comrades. One danced among the corpses, without a care for his own guard. The smile of a brute, whose fists were as steady as his blade, smashed into the faces of what he saw as prey. A giant beckoned fear with the pommel of his saber that crushed a dozen skulls in a single swing. It was no farce that the quiet had grown brutal as his dark hatred for the enemy awakened. The proud felt his true might upon discovering the ease of battle. Another, a girl, born of a goddess and who had been created to wage war, killed without question. In all the while, a boy’s blade had not been wetted, fearing still of taking another’s life. Soon, despite all their trainings and their experience warmed, strength became their new enemy. Waning at every movement, their cuts dulled until there was almost a need to saw through flesh. Those most enduring had exerted their all.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsT4SXvk91S
Hacking through bones, Gin stayed his ground and gathered his breath, “They keep comin’!” Seeing a challenger charging towards him, he swung his saber in a frenzy and paralyzed him with a fierce voice, “It’s endless!”40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6HXnKQyYYS
“Advance!” Ahead, Žižka riled his troops. “Let this day be donned with our victory!”40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlMwDezeEFx
Their flow pressed onward with what strength they found and deployed. As if it was their only chance to fight, their assault grew desperate. The squad fought as commanded and as desired but they could not keep their ears off elsewhere that had broken their concentration. The air rumbled and the ground began to violently shake. Time continued and the overture of the bellow had become a quake. Staying their positions, allies around them had noticed it as well, as if the earth was ready to open and swallow them whole. The spearhead had been put into a standstill, not out of need, but out of curiosity. Then, the army grew quiet. Listening to the heavens, Julien looked to the clouds that played no reflections of the culprit but echoed a noise disheartening.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVk0HyDx9aO
Easily halted and easily fearing, he mentioned first among his comrades, “What is that sound…?”40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZC2DYcDAtj
The squad stopped and tensed their fists. Drawing themselves closer to defend their comrades, those with keen ears listened out and heard a clamor coming from afar. From both sides, there was thunder rolling and the drumming of footsteps, mashed together into an unscored piece of an orchestra.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡazKDSE9MuX
Realizing its only answer, the grip of Arminius’s saber slacked and he held his blade down with blood dripping from its tip. “Cavalry…” Familiar with its sound, Arminius warned.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlabMMnxl8F
The very same word began to repeat among the Bohemer until it had flustered the army whole. Passed across the ranks from the flanks seeing it first, then to the core, their hearts were iced-over knowing that without a shield, a cavalry of their own to defend the coming onslaught, disaster was inevitable. The levies soon wavered, their faces growing cold and their bodies stilled.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfAQoIeuCqW
