The Warlord's Prize

Chapter 24 - Assault

This was it, the moment had finally come for us to take what we had traversed so long for, and I could not believe that I was now in the mood for battle. All my life I had never known war growing up. Whenever it struck a place I was living in, my guardian and I would leave and find another place to settle until something broke out again. Everything was foreign to me here, yet I felt like I was ready to kill, ready to face another adventure no matter the amount of challenges that lay ahead.

The entire army charged down the mountain slopes towards the city and the dense trees surrounding it grew taller. I held onto the horse and kept my sword pointed straight in front of me shouting the charge along with Shan Yu and the rest of his men. I was one of them now and I liked that feeling of belonging to a faction that despite most of them questioned me, nothing mattered other than the fact that we were together now.

The snow soon ended and the trees soon surrounded us. I could spot the archers with Xu Ling emerging from their hiding places as they mounted and joined us. It was dark now and the horses galloped faster than ever; I felt a strong breeze on my face as I clutched my sword tightly and held onto the horse's mane. The path seemed long from here and it felt like we were riding through a dense cave with no exit as the sun had set and plunged night into our surroundings.

I waited for the resistance to come; perhaps they would be arrows being fired from the city's walls, but nothing had appeared. Xu Ling's ambush surely would have alerted the Imperial forces to our presence, unless of course they had managed to take them all out without being spotted. Then I saw a flash of light up ahead, the sound of war horns echoed from the fast approaching horizon as they sounded once, and then twice. It was time.

That was when I saw the city's gate zooming towards us as we rode faster, and the horns blew again, this time thrice. If there was one thing I knew about warnings of battle on the wars I had fled in the past, three blows would always mean danger was close. Shan Yu's horse whinnied loud and his master yanked the reins harder as we neared the gate. The fort surrounding the city looked empty and there a single Imperial soldier fell from the window of the gate's left tower. He was dead.

"Get down!" Shan Yu exclaimed. I ducked my head as Shan Yu swung his sword forward, and it struck the red golden dragon engraved gate hard, like an ax piercing a tree's trunk. He twisted the blade and the door did not budge. There was indeed a mass on the other side trying to barricade.

The army halted, "We cannot hold here forever to break it down boss!" One of the men from the rear shouted,

"There's nothing to worry about you prick, my forces have taken out nearly their entire defenses on this wall. We'll have this gate broken down by the time they send reinforcements!" Xu Ling yelled back at him,

"Xu Ling, you and Yong Ro take some men and scale the wall. We want to take out as much of the barricade as we can and any potential archers coming to reinforce the wall's defenses. I have a plan to break this down, bring it forward,"

"As you wish," Yong Ro's answer came, and and several other Huns followed him and Xu Ling to the foot of the wall. Grappling hooks were thrown upward as they began to climb on both sides of the gate. The horns sounded again and within seconds, the resistance on the other side turned to the clambers ensuing a fight.

Shan Yu shifted his horse to the side and I turned to face the rear, "I thought we wouldn't have any trouble breaking down their front door," I said, glancing at the rest of the army as they started to move aside to make way for whatever Shan Yu had planned.

"Plans change sweetling, it is not a surprise that the Imperials would keep the heart of their civilization heavily secured. Xu Ling's scout squad was to ensure no resistance would try to stop us from breaking down this gate. These Imperial soldiers are fucking pussies, we've outwitted part of what they've laid for us. But, once we're inside I suspect we'll lose many good men, they will die with honor to make sure we reach the palace."