TBATE | King Grey

-CHAPTER 13- First Battle

The Flame Casters division stood facing the Grand Mountains that separated our human kingdom from the enemy elves. Every solider looked grim as they stood in attention. Each squad of the division was commanded by a sergeant, who were overlooked by their respective lieutenants.

"This is the final frontier. As you traverse this mountain trail, the battle will begin. Our enemies are waiting for us on the leeward side, their arrows and staffs ready to pierce your skulls, burn your limbs and cut your necks. Their magical forest stands to their defence, meaning—once you enter, your only way out of the battlefield is by killing every single one of the elven warriors. Do not falter, do not succumb to fear. You either kill or get killed. Decision is yours. Now, move on!"

Captain Allister shouted as all the soldiers roused out of their daze at his powerful voice.

With that, we all left our basecamp to march forth onto the battlefield. The encampment we were previously in was located on the outskirts of Marlow, a few kilometres away from here.

I watched as we all made our way up the trail, Jasmine with me on my side, along with a squad of soldiers around us. Lieutenant Glory was walking with her own squad, her previous look of smiles and slyness replaced with battle hardness and intense concentration.

Few hours in, we were at the top.

As we looked to the other side...it was a very different view from what I had imagined. Everywhere I turned, I could see colours of green and blue. Dense blanket of forestry with unnaturally large trees sat at the farther side, some tall enough to pierce through the clouds. There was a blue streak of band cutting and zigzagging through the forest-scape.

A river, I realised.

"It's the Winetail River. That's the area of their main basecamp." Jasmine's soft voice was carried by the stiff winds as it reached me. It seems that she was also looking at the scenery, instead of the large groups of elven warriors who were standing ground, waiting for us.

I couldn't blame her. You don't see this kind of view in your everyday life. It was simply mesmerising and breathtaking.

"Soliders on guard. Stand by for battle!" Captain Allister roared, his voice clear and distinct as the troops shifted their attention to our enemies.

"Let's go!"

With that, the battle began. Hails of sharp arrows rained down from the enemy side, while the unit made of conjurers defended us from the rear, creating shields and defensive barriers.

Multiple battles started at once as the soldiers from both sides shifted and formed their respective battle group. The augmenters stood in the front as shields and tanks, going in for the offence in tandem. Meanwhile, the short ranged fighters stood close to ward off, and support their fellow melee warriors when the enemy spells made their way through the shields casted by our conjurers from the back.

It was chaos.

But my eyes followed our enemies—the elves. I couldn't help but stop and admire their features. It was the first time I had seen these—people—of whom I've only read in fantasy books and stories while I was in my old world.

And those stories couldn't be any more right. With pointy ears and seemingly near-perfect physiology, the elven race truly looked like the better, more refined version of what one can call a human.

To put it simply, they looked beautiful. If you can somehow overlook the hatred and disdain present in their eyes and facial features, you can say that they looked beautiful.

"Kill them all! For our princess!"

""For our princess!""

"Glory to the elves."