The Split

Chapter 40

Hungary, 1241

I began to run as the horn sounded a second time. My body felt exhausted but I was wired with a strange energy, urging my pace forward faster than I had ever run. I had felt in the past, adrenaline, but never like this. My whole body felt a tingling numbness and my brain was focused like never before.

Arrows whizzed past me as the Mongols kept up their pursuit. "They should've caught us by now," I thought, and turned around curiously.

The nearest riders were a few horse lengths behind, moving at a brisk pace but not trying to catch up to me or my fleeing comrades. Wave after wave of arrows shot out from the enemy column. I had caught up to the main group of Templar's, but soon regretted it as the men around me began to fall one by one from the deadly storm of bow fire.

One of the arrows struck my helmet as I ran. The loud clanging reverberated inside my helm and I began moving even faster. The front gate of the camp was now in view and I could hear audible gasps of relief around me as the others saw it too. When I got within a few hundred meters, the arrows suddenly stopped, and I could hear the sounds of the Mongols hoofbeats fading into the distance. The arrows soon stopped as well, and I finally slowed my pace by a fraction.

Once inside the gate, I was shocked to see the men in the camp still dressing and preparing. They shouted over each other as they moved about frantically. A loud commotion rang out to my right and I saw the Archbishop standing above the crowd on a wagon, a look of cold fury on his face.

Across from him stood a portly man in red robes. A large golden crown covered his thick mane of brown hair, and he stood staring back at the Archbishop, running his fingers through his long scraggly beard. Guards in ornate armor stood around him, hands on the hilts of their swords. It was King Bela, there was no other possibility.

"Where are your men?!" The Archbishop shouted indignantly, "Your brother's army lies in ruins and you sit back at the camp waiting?!"

"My soldiers will be ready soon, I gave the order just moments ago and--"

"JUST MOMENTS AGO?!" The Archbishop interrupted incredulously, "Surely your scouts sent you word of our contact! Our enemies surround us and you leap into action slower than a slug trapped in oil! My foolish and slothful King, your actions may have doomed us all. I will see you on the battlefield!"

And with that the Archbishop stepped down from the wagon and shuffled off with a group of Templars. The King looked about sheepishly, clearly embarrassed from the Bishop's harsh words. He gestured to his guards and they too stepped down from the platform and all disappeared inside a nearby tent.

A great thirst suddenly filled me, and I took off through the camp to look for water. All of the food and wines from the night before were nowhere to be found. I searched from tent to tent, finding nothing.

My throat burned every time I swallowed, and I could feel myself growing hoarse from the dry feeling in my mouth. Finally I came upon a large wooden tub of water near a horse pen. The water inside looked brown and murky, filled with dirt and horse spit. I didn't care, I dropped to one knee and cupped up the water greedily, taking long gulps without pausing for air. There seemed to be no taste as I continued drinking, yet my throat felt better and my thirst soon subsided.

I walked back to the lane between the tents, looking for any of my fellow Templars and news of the battle outside. A column of green clad Knights came thundering by. They nearly trampled me in their haste, forcing me to leap out of the way at the last second. Men in similar uniforms came sprinting after them, the tips of their spears bobbing in the air above.

As I walked around I noticed many other lines of soldiers hustling every which way. The men still putting on armor were chastised for their slow pace. Loud captains ran between the tents beating any remaining men with the flat of their swords and yelling for everyone to get to their positions. As I made my way to the gate I had come in through earlier, I could see long columns of Knights and foot soldiers huddled around the entrance, talking quietly as the King stood above on a wagon nearby ready to speak to the gathered men.