To Save a Kingdom

Chapter 22

I stood in the sea of soldiers waiting for the command. There wasn't a sound. Not a creak of armor or sigh to be heard. For that many people to be silent at once amazed me. I wondered if the battle would ever start. Then suddenly it erupted. I wasn't sure how they knew but all at once the battle had begun. Theo's forces clashed with ours. The ring of swords were deafening. I retreated to the tree line. Picking a large tree as a perch I got a spot with a good view and started picking off men. No they weren't men. They were pawns. Thrown into battle without a choice. I hesitated for a second before I let my arrow fly. Even though they were pawns they would still take down one of my men without a second thought. It made the task easier to think of them simply as the enemy rather than people. If they weren't people then it didn't matter if they died.

Each arrow flew with deadly accuracy and soon I lost track of how many I had taken down. My small amount would make barely any difference in the end. From my spot in the trees I hadn't removed my sword. I hadn't needed it. The distance was what kept me safe.

Once I spotted Jared in the mass I didn't take my eyes off of him. An enemy lifted his sword just as my arrow struck him an inch beneath his helmet. He went down in an instant clutching at his neck as the deeply lodged arrow cut off his oxygen supply. Blood cascaded down in a dark red waterfall and I lost sight of him as he sunk beneath the sea of men. Jared looked around but didn't have the chance to spot me before another man was on him. This man didn't stand a chance. He was cleaved in two by Jared's sword. His head when freed from his body fell off his shoulders to the blood soaked ground. Jared kicked the useless torso and legs away from him and continued on with the task at hand.

Jared cast a glance towards the trees and I knew that he knew I was out here. He didn't look very happy at the idea. Knowing that I was out here kept him in range. As long as I was shooting arrows I was safe.

The two of us together became a lethal weapon. We took out enemies left and right as they advanced on our line. Jared's sword became stuck in a mans chest. Knowing that he was going to die in a second or two the man used his remaining strength to lift his knife to stab Jared. I shot him through the hand as Jared pulled his sword free. By the time he lifted his sword to finish the job the man was already a corpse.

There was a crunch of leaves nearby. I looked down from my perch to see two men walking beneath me. They looked up and smiled at me with horrible faces. I shot one straight down through the skull. Blood poured out his mouth as his dead eyes rolled back into his head and he fell in a heap at the bottom of my tree. The other was more intelligent. He stuck next to the trunk using the large branches to conceal his head and a killing shot from me. Laying my bow aside I lifted my sword and jumped to the ground. As soon as I feet touched the earth he lunged with hate and anger in his eyes. I swung my sword and he blocked. The clash of the blade shook my shoulder painfully but I ignored it. A little shoulder pain wouldn't matter much if my head was no longer connected to my body.

We danced a dangerous waltz. Each searching for a killing swing. Only one of us succeeded. I looked at his lifeless body as blood flowed creating a dark blanket next to him in the soft dirt. That was the only second I allowed myself before climbing back up to my perch. They weren't human they were animals. I wiped my sword on a large leaf and slid it back into its sheath.

Jared was looking wildly at the trees racing over towards my direction. When I took down his next target I could see the relief wash over him. He shook his head in my general direction. He had been terrified when the arrows had stopped. He started swinging his sword again but this time staying closer he was probably two hundred feet away now. Allowing him to get to me quicker if he needed to.

I had just dropped another soldier when a flash caught my eye. It was a large cat. I had heard stories about these beasts. They were trained to attack the enemy based on their smell. All the soldiers who weren't supposed to be attacked were rubbed down with a scent that would repel the cats. I watched as one sunk its teeth into the neck of a man. He went down screaming as blood sprayed into the cat's golden fur. The next second the cat was up and racing again practically flying across the battle field.

I knew I couldn't hit it so instead I focused on what was in range. Protecting Jared was my main focus which kept me very busy.

There was the sound of footsteps nearby. I looked down to see a few of our soldiers being surrounded by six enemies. I managed to drop four of them before the other two knew what hit them. Then the last two were down on the ground with glazed over eyes. The few soldiers saw me in the trees. One lifted his own quiver of arrows up to me his bow was nowhere in sight. Then they left returning to the battle.

When I found him again Jared was looking again to the trees. I took out another man to assure him I as fine. I was there to protect him not have him so worried about me that the distraction got him killed. There was a terrible roar of a cat as it sunk its teeth into another man. This man was so covered in blood that it was difficult to tell which side he belonged to. The cat leapt off the dead mans chest and ran closer to the group Jared was fighting with. The cat made me nervous because I couldn't afford to waste the arrows in an attempt to kill it. It was too fast to hit and to intelligent to predict. All I could do was hope that it didn't attack Jared.

The sun was slowly starting to come up over the horizon. My arms ached from shooting arrows all night. The adrenaline had worn off. I was exhausted.

With the sun up the carnage was visible in all its terrible glory. Bodies littered the ground like weeds. With all the blood and gore t was difficult to tell where one ended and another began. We had made a stand and the castle hadn't been breeched. Not yet anyway. The pace of the battle just seemed to be slowing down. I wondered if we would be getting a break from the fighting soon.

Jared's little group was in sight they weren't defending from all sides anymore. It looked as though we had a chance. Jared looked towards the trees and we made eye contact. He smiled at me. With all the blood on his armor he was a terrifying bringer of death. But that didn't matter. We had somehow survived this mess. I was just starting to climb down when I heard a new sound.

It was a battle cry. The second wave of attackers were coming in. They were being led by non other than prince Caleb and king Theo. Now was our chance to end this once and for all. I pulled myself back up to my branch. This wasn't over.