War and Honour

Prologue - Part Three

"TO THE HILL, RUN" the petty officers' screams together with the din of the running soldiers covered the surrounding environment's noise. Otrom was running wild together with his personal body guards towards the beginning of the chaotic column of men which hurried to reach the hill ahead of it. He was tremendously angry with himself but he tried to keep his mind clear. It had been two days since the city was besieged but the result wasn't what the Rad'suls had expected. Less than an hour ago Otrom had seen himself forced to retreat from the city towards a defensible hill less than a kilometre away. The Onaghas had proved wary and determined fighters, more than the Rad'suls had expected: they managed to keep the port and to disembark a sizable contingent of men directly from Quarelia, whom had taken Otrom's divisions' most exposed units by surprise. Thing had gone from bad to worse until the necessary retreat and consequential end of the siege. Now the Onaghas chased the invaders with satisfaction, reaping on by one the units left too far behind.

Otrom had moved back in the attempt to manage the retreat in the most orderly way, but had to accept the fact that it would have been a messy run towards the hill. He realised that despite running with all of his strengths the Onaghas would have caught up to him and the soldiers close to him in the end. He would have had to face the enemy at a disadvantage, but the rest of his army still had the opportunity to fight with honour. He moved away from the rest of the army with his bodyguards, he turned suddenly and shouted "Soldiers, fight for your brothers. Repel the enemy. FOR HONOUR."

To the call of their general, tents of soldiers stopped running away and turned towards their pursuers. Otrom took pride in hearing his lieutenants ordering their troops to compact orderly even in face of certain death. The Rad'suls lined up against the Onaghas' soldiers who for a few second seemed surprised and the two armies remained still. The moment passed as swiftly as it came and the swords clashed one against another while the first lifeless bodied fell on the ground. In the first instants of the fight Otrom called to himself one of his bodyguards. He ordered him to carry on to the hill and organize a defence while he held off the enemies. The soldier left quickly and Otrom threw himself in the midst of the fight.

After about ten minutes, the enemy had by now almost eliminated his soldiers. They had broken the block and advanced towards the hill while the rear guard finished the job. He knew that in spite of his diversion his troops wouldn't have been able to hold the hill for long. He had to warn Leusk of his failure, as much as he hated to admit that he had let himself to be beaten in a bad way. He saw that not too far from him some horses had moved away from the battle, probably after losing their knight, and remained still, almost as if they were waiting. Exhausted, he called to himself a dozen soldiers and dived towards the horses. The Onaghas noticed them and about thirty soldiers went after them, among them a young wizard stood out in his white tunic.

Otrom reached the horses along his subordinates, he turned to watch the Onaghas' charge which meant certain death for all of them. He calculated to have thirty seconds before they reached them. He grabbed the horse's reins and pulled it to himself while with the other hand he called a soldier. The boy that ran toward him must have been around twenty years old, he wore the Rad'suls' standard armour. The helmet hid the majority of his head but some leaking tufts demonstrated that he must have had blonde hair. If the hair were visible, then he must not have cut them following the Rad'sul military style which imposed them to be very short at least on the sides and on the nape. He must have been a very recent recruit, perhaps that was his first real battle, not a great start Otrom thought.

"Soldier take the horse" commenced without pleasentries.

"Yes sir" the soldier answered promptly. He took the reins from Otrom and put his left foot on the closest stirrup, a quick movement and he was on the steed.