The Chronicles of Tenroha

Chapter 36

Chapter Thirty-six

Jeremiah had been busy since the enemy had arrived at the doorstep to the palace. They arrived just before nightfall, evening last, and began hurling whatever they could at the walls of the city with the two remaining catapults that they had. Wilhelm and other members from the Order tried their best to protect the walls of the city from harm.

Many of the stones that were being thrown had made their way over the walls and damaged many of the homes of the people that lived in the city. Jeremiah helped to evacuate the city into the palace throughout the night. He wanted to lead a group to destroy the catapults, but he dared not leave the safety of the walls for fear of the Luna Stala.

Torches burned along the city walls on every side. They were spaced out no further than a single step apart. The trees nearest the walls had been removed and there were no shadows in the city or palace that connected to any of the shadows that came from beyond walls. He decided to wait until dawn and the safety of the sun before venturing out into the battle.

When dawn finally came, he along with five hundred riders and their horses boarded several barges that were inside the gates of the city. They rode the barges through the gates that protected the city docks and quickly closed them behind before the enemy became aware. They traveled upstream on the river Quoe a short way before disembarking the barges in the shallows that were outside of the gates. The group of men worked their way through the timber that was there and emerged in the open field that surrounded the road. They carried with them as many arrows that they could and little else.

Once they reached the clearing in which the road to the city was located, where the enemy had laid siege to the city, they began shooting arrows at the men around the catapults before riding into the woods on the other side of the road. Claremont sent men after them. Jeremiah and his men fought them off and then turned their horses around to take another pass.

They repeated this process many times until around mid-day. Jeremiah lost men with each of the raids, but Claremont was losing more. Jeremiah and his men had regrouped deep within the woods and waited for Claremont's men to follow. This time no one came. He sent two of his riders to see if they had been followed. One returned and said, "It's a trap!" before an arrow struck him in the back.

Arrows began flying towards them from all directions. Jeremiah spun around and saw that Claremont's men had them surrounded. He spurred his horse forward to a thin line of soldiers and drew his sword. He charged through the line and yelled to his men, "This way," as he cleared a path for them to follow.

They charged through the trees as they made their way to the clearing and the road. Six hundred archers were waiting for them when they entered the clearing. Jeremiah led his three hundred remaining men back into the woods and began to ride away towards the north and away from the enemy archers and the city walls.

Jeremiah and his men re-entered the clearing several miles from the battle. Many of Claremont's men had followed them. He and his men drew their swords, turned around and charged into the riders that had pursued them. Jeremiah brought his sword down upon the helm of a rider in crimson and the man fell from his horse. He hacked and slashed many men and left dozens of riderless horses in his wake.

When he reached the end of the crimson riders, he turned his steed and began attacking them from behind. A man in crimson did the same. Jeremiah turned to face him and before Jeremiah could land a fatal blow, the man stabbed at Jeremiah's horse and stuck it through the heart. It reared back and fell to the ground with Jeremiah's leg trapped beneath its weight.

Horses with riders and some without were running all around him as he tried to free himself from beneath the horse. His leg ached from the pressure and he pulled as hard as he could. His men began to circle around him to keep the horses from trampling him as he freed himself, but a riderless horse jumped over Jeremiah and his fallen horse and landed on Jeremiah's arm.