Hunted

Act-VII:Steel

 'FORM UP!!' the Man-at-Arms stood in close array behind their King. The English army was small and had already taken a beating. The English longbows were allowed to take up positions at the Vanguard, as the infantry stood close behind them. The Longbow men stood ready with their arrows placed precariously between their stretched bows. The dust had barely died down when King Richard caught a glimpse of Seljuk archers beyond the broken gate, readying their arrows. 'RELEASE' shouted King Richard. The unready Seljuks' did not see the hail of arrows sprinting toward them and met their maker as English steel pierced Seljuk armour like it was French cheese. Longbow men retreated behind the infantry. 'CHAARGE!!' shouted King Richard, as he ran into the disoriented Seljuks'. His men followed without hesitation and fell upon their enemies like the sea, a very small sea but, the sea none the less. The bombardment from the German ships had stopped, giving King Richard and his men a momentary advantage over the still recovering, Arab defenders. King Richard took on two spearmen at once. One was easy enough; he screamed as his thrusting spear missed King Richard by miles, King Richard screamed backed hysterically and ran the spearmen through his sword. The other tried to take King Richard from behind; King Richard ducked to avoid a spear through his head, spun on the spot and forced his sword through the man's skull from his jaw up. 

His men seemed to be doing just as well as him. They stood their ground as more and more Seljuks joined the fight. The first few waves were manageable, but their luck was running out as the Seljuks had had time to regroup and their attacks had now become focused and methodical. Inch by inch King Richard and his men were being pushed out. With all the killing the English had failed to notice that they were now surrounded by enemy archers. There was a shout, a shout that made all the cling clanging of metal sound like whispering of cats. At once the Seljuks stopped fighting and retreated to the side streets, leaving the English perplexed. King Richard caught glimpses of shadows moving on the dusty ground just in time to shout 'SHEILDS! HIGH!' . Most men reacted quick enough to block the rain of Seljuk steel, two weren't so lucky. One of them caught an arrow in the eye and the other had his guts skewered by two. 'HOLD THE LINE!! HOLD THE LINE!!' Seljuk archers pelted the English with arrows, the English however refused to withdraw. 'Come on Aedan' 

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'HAVE A LITTLE FAITH YOUR MAJESTY!!' screamed back Aedan as he ran into the city, throwing caution to the wind. He and his men used the cover of dust and the confusion to slip into the city with ease. But for men wearing red surcoats the element of surprise could only last so long. There were several shouts in Arabic from every direction. 'SPEED IT UP LADIES!' jested Aedan without looking back, knowing that his men were close on his heels. Aedan figured the safest way of reaching the east gates was to stay on the path along the wall. Although they would have probably reached their objective much quicker by cutting across the city, they ran the risk of walking into an ambush or getting lost. The bulk of the Seljuk army was probably rushing toward the north gates and the sentries on the wall were too distracted to notice 10 Englishmen on the wrong side of their wall or at least that's what Aedan hoped for. As they advanced farther along the wall, they came across strays. A spearman here, an archer there. They were easy enough, screaming pigs, the lot of them.  

The bombardment from the Germans ships had stopped, which meant Wilhelm's men had already secured the docks. Aedan's party sped up, hoping they could get to the east gates before their king was hung by his toes.  

The east gates were now in sight. From what Aedan could see there were four sentries on the wall itself and two more on the nearby watch tower. Aedan signalled to slow down, and take cover behind what looked like an empty shed made of mud. The shed was right opposite the wall and its shadow was enough to hide ten men from the watch tower's gaze. 'Guts! Noob! Go down the street to the west, Arty! Take care of the rear. Des! Take Jus and clear the tower. Pitty, Pich and potts we are going to secure the wall. Tom, stay here, you'll coordinate' wispered Aedan. He swiftly swept the area with his eyes in a heart beat and huffed '.............Go..........'