A Crowned King (Complete)

Chapter 33

Kevin Pale lead his men north with a determined stride, the steel armor he now wore bearing heavily on his back. He refused to complain though. He was the field commander and everyone took heart from him and his actions. He refused to complain about a precaution that would likely keep him alive, especially one that was afforded to everyone. 

Over one hundred thousand men and women of Star had been armored and armed. That had to be some kind of record, but he wasn't sure. The General supposed that it didn't really mattered, but his mind was a whirl with thoughts and they had a lot of ground to cover. His mind had been going over many things in the hours they'd spent on the march. He hoped that he would be returning home to Star a victor and not as a corpse. 

That was the one thing that the Battlemage feared more than anything: death. His own death. He had seen death many times in the past, but he'd never died. He was a faithful man who believed in the Gods, but he was uncertain if he was worthy or pious enough to join them in the afterlife. He hoped that he was and that his life had some kind of meaning. 

Father protect me, he prayed silently to Magnus, hoping that it wasn't in vain. He hoped that there truly was a Magnus and a Circle and if there was, that they were feeling generous with their prayers. They were going up against a very large army, probably on par with their own, but they had no idea of what they could do. All they knew was that they were a mix of Starlings and Gaals. That was concerning enough as it was and he knew the men feared more than anything running into someone that they had once knew or served with on the opposite side. It would be hard to kill their own brothers, but to survive and to win this war before it truly began, they would have to. They couldn't give up even an inch of land or the war would last for many years and thousands would die. 

That was why they were marching so hard and without rest. Kevin heard the complaints of the men, but he ignored them. Let them complain, as long as they were all alive and well in the end that was what mattered. They would just have to deal with having to eat their rations on the way to the border. They needed to get there as quickly as possible and set up formations. They couldn't allow the enemy to gain ground on them. None at all. If they did, it would be considered a loss and a failure by Kevin as well as his superiors in Star. They wanted to end this before it started and by the Circle, that was what they were going to do no matter how many lives it took; even if it meant his own life. 

The General saw shapes appear in the distance, thousands upon thousands. He frowned at the sight of them and he knew immediately who it was: the enemy, the Gaal and Tower traitors. He hadn't expected them to appear so fast and so far on the other side of the border. They were within ten miles of the border. They had already invaded, an act of war to him.

"Soldiers of Star! The enemy is just there across the horizon and coming. Infantry in front, battlemages on the left flank and archers in the back!" Kevin called to them, his voice carrying in its booming cadence. They began to react, moving into position and drawing their weapons or readying spells. He stood at the front, watching as the enemy approached all that much faster and he heard a loud horn blow across the expanse of land from the other side. Enemy sighted, he thought to himself with a slight smile on his face. "Archers, fire at will!"

His command was met with the sound of bowstrings creaking as they were drawn back, arrows being knocked. Then, the aound of arrows releasing and more arrows than what he could count shot through the air towards the enemy. The General watched as many of the invaders dropped, arrows protruding from their bodies, first blood being drawn.

There were cries from the enemy and a horn blew again before the men let loose battlecries, charging towards them. The Battlemage watched as they came with a smile on his face. The lack of discipline was astounding to him, but he was glad for it. It meant that he could take advantage of it and decimate their forces.