CHAPTER 15

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"Rithia" A voice called her. Still weary from her all night watch, she slowly opens her eyes. "Rithia wake up"

"Marcus?" She says but as her eyes opened wider and saw a shadow in front of her but as her vision becomes clearer.

"Sadly I'm not Marcus" Dello replies.

Rithia looks around and sees that she fell asleep on the grassy hill. She yawns and stretches her arms. Dello stood before her, the wind blowing over his hair and blanket.

"Breakfast is ready, I'll be taking over here" He says as he sits down beside her but Rithia seems to not care about breakfast. "It's still soup and bread but Merriell cooked it"

"I'm fine. I'll eat later" she says as she sits up and looks at the sky. She covers herself tightly with her blanket. "You shouldn't bother yourself with me"

Dello shakes his head and looks at the sky as well. "Today's the day and you're not going to eat?" He says. Trying to convince her to eat.

"I'll eat when he's here"

Dello quickly turns his head towards her and sees her smiling, her eyes somewhat glistening at the thought of Marcus returning. He grins at the thought that someone finally outside their company has grown to liking Marcus.

"You like him don't you?" He asks but the answer is obvious. Suddenly her cheeks turned red and she forcingly contained her smile.

"I...I-I don't..." she mumbles. Dello tries to look at her in the eye but she evades him.

"You don't what? You don't like him or you don't know if you like him?" He eagerly asks. Intentionally making her uncomfortable, she glances at him for a second and sees him grinning which makes her even more flustered. 

"Enough with the questions" She cries out, standing up and starts walking away "I will go get something to eat but I'll be back!"

Dello chuckles and looks at the vast lands of Perion. "Marcus, you better be back or else Rithia will be lonely and you know me, I hate to see lonely girls" He teases the wind, hoping they will carry his words to Marcus. He hears footsteps behind him and thought that Rithia is already back. "Done already? That was..."

"Dello, Liana's back" Zel says. Pointing south. Dello stands up and from afar he could see a long river of men marching towards them, covering the hills and fields.

The air thundered and seemed that a storm was brewing but no, what they just heard was the beat of war drums.

"Assemble!" One of Perion's Generals shouted long and loud for all to hear.
Just the night before that day, the army of the king and the IronGuard arrived but with sad news, the King was assassinated by fanatics.

Quickly the soldiers went to their tents to get their armor and weapons, once that was done they assembled just outside of the camp borders. The IronGuard assembled themselves in the center of the battle formation, the most crucial part of any army. Gildas took personal command of his students and formed them near the rear. Lady Therese and the other three Talon Knights of the IronGuard took separate places in the formation, each they command fifty IronGuard knights.

Lord Harold was appointed by the new young king as commander of the army and given the task to win a victory and end this war but his hope was to face the demons first, not the nobles army.

The morning passed quickly as they watched the oncoming force, marching to meet them. Lord Harold sent his fellow councilmen to discuss terms with the nobles but they were met with blades instead.

The enemy numbers grew bigger than expected. Later they realized that the fanatics have abandoned the demons and joined the nobles instead. The IronGuard grew anger in their hearts once they saw Liana and the other noble recruits.

Lord Harold on his horse, drew his sword and pointed it forward and quickly the army marched forward in unison. Slow paced at first but as moments passed their feet moved a bit faster, growing eager in each step. The enemy blew their horns and suddenly they charged through the fields like wild men. The ground shook like an earthquake as they thundered through the battlefield.

The king's army and the IronGuard still marched forward with great discipline. Gildas looked over his shoulder and saw his students marching forward without doubt in their faces, he doesn't know if he should be proud or worried.

Finn looks up and sees the clouds slowly turning darker and thicker. It might rain but it could also be something else.

"Finn, I was the one who took captain Gildas' spoon and replaced it with yours" Dello announces, puzzled the group stare at each other. Passing each stare to another until Dello looked at them with a smile. "Marcus is not here to give us good speeches like before. I guess the best thing I could do now is be honest with you all"

Shortly after. Each member slowly confessed one secret they've been keeping from one another. Some were quite sad to say but some were amusing that even the soldiers around them laughed. "Finn? Do you have anything to say?" Gildas asked and all ears turned to Finn and the pressure got to him.

"I told the girls..." He muttered.

"Told them what?" Zel asked anxiously.

"I...I told them how equipped each of us boys were downstairs" He shamefully says. It took seconds for them to understand but when they did, the boys gave Finn a good smack in the head. Rithia, Merriell and Porla couldn't help but bite their lip and hide their blushes.

"So that's why you kept staring at us when we bathe in the river!" Dello exclaims. Each person chuckled their fill of laughter.

The distance gap between the two armies is already less than half. Aside the nearing battle, Dello and the others slowly turned their heads to Rithia, waiting for her confession. She blushed even more and hated Dello for a second but since everyone looked at her like she is one of their own.

She takes a deep breath and exhales then looks at the sky. "I...li-like Marcus" her heart lightened and she smiled like a child discovering something new, something not expected.

The company nodded to each other and held each other's shoulders. Holding on to their friends and wishing them luck.

"Let's see each other on the other side" Gildas said, looking over his shoulder. His three former students smiled and nodded at him.

The battle cry of the fanatics grew louder but only to be matched with the cries of the IronGuard and the soldiers. Lord Harold raises his sword high and roars "Charge!". A split second and the army charged through the fields and cheered as loud as they could. Moments later the lines clashed and the two armies broke into complete chaos.

The nobles have the IronGuard at a disadvantage.  They clearly outnumber the king's army but little did they know that their downfall is near and will be delivered by those they least expect. 


HI! THANK YOU FOR READING :) PLEASE VOTE AND COMMENT IF YOU LIKED THIS CHAPTER. YES ANOTHER BATTLE I KNOW I HAVE WRITTEN SO MANY BATTLES BUT IT WILL BE THE LAST AND THE DECIDING FACTOR OF THE STORY OF THE IRONGUARD PERION.

THANK YOU AGAIN FOR READING! NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE POSTED SOON!















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