Artemis and Caspian: The Spy

Chapter Thirteen

By the time Kendra ran out onto the battlefield, hell was already descending on Calatan's army. A monster rushed towards them, plated in steel armor with hindquarters made of large wooden spears.

"What in the name of all the gods is that thing?" she yelled, squinting against the blaring sunlight as she tried to get a better look at it. Lord Terrowin who skid to a stop at her side shrugged as he looked on. Whatever it was looked impenetrable. They would need a miracle to win today. His wife growled as she spun on her heel addressing her warriors who hastily scrambled out of tents, rudely awoken from their sleep.

"Brace yourselves!" she screamed over the clatter of weapons and shouts of soldiers who struggled to quickly put on their armor. "Find a weak spot on that contraption and use it to break inside! Surround it!" Her army shouted in response and steadied themselves under the Lady's command, watching as she held a firm hand above her head, a signal for them to wait. Kendra was still baffled by the thing speeding towards them. Cerberus had really outdone himself, but it didn't matter. It would fall, the Lady had numbers on her side. She watched patiently as it raced closer, waiting for the right moment to strike. Her heartbeat rang in her ears. The beast came within six leagues, then four, then two. Now!

"Attack!"

Calatan's army rushed forward, screaming at the top of their lungs with weapons raised, throwing themselves at the foe clad in steel. The Guilamontian soldiers groaned as they held up their weight, shoving bodies off the shields, using the small holes in their defenses to stab the ones who got too close. Kendra did her best to drive her spear into the cracks of the formation, managing to reach in and drag a soldier out by the arm. Following her lead, Calatinian soldiers broke into the hole that was made, infesting the middle in an attempt to break them up.

"Regroup!"

At General Dagaric's call, the collective moved, ushering weaker soldiers to the back who swiftly took down the Calatinian intruders before retreating. Then the shields closed in again. The Lady of Calatan was doing her best to break back in, thrashing against a weaker opponent with the sharpest part of her blade, creating deep cuts in the soldier's shield. Behind her the army continued to charge, pushing those against the enemy further onto the beast's exterior. Terrowin could hear people's bones being crushed between steel and their comrades who pushed forward to get a chance to seize glory themselves. Through the chaos, the Guilamontians thrived, using the confusion to stab the eager soldiers looking for a way to get through. Kendra backed into a woman as she dodged a blade. Then a shrill scream pierced the air.

The Lady frantically looked over to her right and spotted a soldier collapsing heavily on the ground. His mouth gaped open as a sickly trail of blood flowed onto the golden grass, staining it with red. His vacant eyes glazed over. Stuck in his back was an arrow that struck the Lady as odd. Grunting with exertion, she did her best to fight the sea of warriors, climbing over them to get a better look. Shoving a man aside, she forced her way down, pulling the arrow roughly from the fallen soldier's back. The man had been facing the Guilamontians in the center during the attack, so where did the arrow come from? It didn't take her long to figure it out. Scanning the treeline she heard a whizz cutting through the air, followed by an arrow that pierced another bystander. They were surrounded.

"Ambush!"

The Calatan army struggled to take cover as a rain of arrows hurled down from the sky. Many were too late, wailing in pain as their bodies hit the ground with a loud crash. Kendra yelled in frustration as she ripped an abandoned shield off a victim, using it to cover her head. The Guilamontians used the distraction to their advantage, breaking cover to pick off the weak, stabbing those out of the arrow's range. Lord Terrowin covered his head as he ran for shelter using the opening umbrella of shields above him as protection. Around him soldiers fell where they stood, growing stiff as they hit the earth. The Lord searched the area and saw the source of the terror, crossbows sticking out of gaps in between trees fired into the army with deadly precision, only a few missing their intended targets.