The Third Temujai Invasion

by RAfan2421

In a place known to all as the Eastern Steppes, the fiercest warriors are born. After being thwarted twice, the Temujai have risen in numbers so great, they have never been seen before. Now, they sweep the known world, both east and west, in a final attempt to conquer the known world. Read and Review. Rated T for blood and stuff.

1. Chapter 1

The Third Temujai Invasion

A/N: Another Ranger's Apprentice Story. Sorry I couldn't finish the other one yet. Enjoy this one. I hope no one has used this idea yet. Also, my geography of the countries might be a little off. I need to grab book 10 again and look at that map. I made a commitment towards longer chapters. That does mean a longer waiting time however.

Chapter 1

Will rode on Tug through the deep green forest with Horace. The two friends were off to scout what was rumored to be another Temujai invasion. Halt and Crowley had doubted the rumors of "there were millions of them!", since the last invasion had only been five to six thousand Temujai. However, when Will rode to the edge of the cliff with Horace following close behind him, they saw the extent of the Temujai army and gaped in astonishment. Anybody could've thought that there were millions of them. You couldn't see the beginning, or the end, of their big shapeless mass of men. After noting down key aspects to the army, Will and Horace prepared the long march back to Araluen, through Teutlandt and Gallica. Will thought, "At least we'll have time to prepare. Skandia won't fall for a few weeks, and then they still have to get through Teutlandt and Gallica." Will felt sorry for Erak, the Skandian Oberjarl who had helped him escape slavery in Skandia. He knew that the Skandians would have no chance. Also, the archers in Skandia would probably be killed and scattered. Meanwhile, Horace was still gaping at the huge mass of men and horses.

"Horace, let's go, no sense in waiting for the Temujai to attack Skandia before leaving."

Horace closed his mouth and turned and rode back into the trees. The two friends rode side by side.

"Do you Rangers have a brilliant idea on how to defeat these Temujai."

Will frowned, and said, "If you warriors rely on us to come up with all the plans, you should obey me more."

Horace smiled, and said, "That was pretty bad."
Will shrugged and changed the subject.

"How's Evanlyn doing?"

"She's fine. The midwife has been over several times and she said that nothing was wrong. They told us that it was likely to be a boy. King Duncan has become even more protective and I think that's making Evanlyn restless."

Will smiled, knowing how Evanlyn tended to be headstrong and hated protectiveness.

Horace asked in his turn, "How's Alyss?"

"She's doing well, off on another mission to Hibernia to help King Sean and the other five kings."

The friends rode on in silence, lost in their own thoughts. Will was thinking about how Araluen could defend against all the Temujai. He was thinking of gathering together a coalition force of all the men they could get from all the countries and facing the Temujai. However, he knew that countries such as Teutlandt and Gallica would never be able to unite, and countries like Nihon-Ja were too far away and it was too hard to get a messenger to them in time. The bulk of the coalition army, should it get formed, would probably consist of Arridi troopers if they agreed to join, Toscan troops, and Araluen warriors. Will, in his mind's eye, was trying to develop a way for the troops to defeat the Temujai. Horace was worried. Now that the topic of Evanlyn had been brought up, he was scared. He was scared that Evanlyn might have a miscarriage or something bad, and die, or if something might happen to the baby. He also felt that he wasn't prepared to be a father.

Suddenly, Will stopped. He held out an arm and stopped Kicker as well. He put a finger to his lips and dismounted. On the road ahead of them, a Temujai scout party was crossing. They had stopped and were now resting. However, as the day wore on, and the scouting party didn't leave, Will and Horace realized what had happened. The Temujai had blocked off all routes out of Skandia. They were trapped.

Halt rode Abelard into the Ranger Gathering, fresh from a moondarking mission to the south in Coledale Fief. He had helped the Ranger, Skinner, there and caught all the moondarkers including the leader. (A/N: Be impressed my memory :D) He saw Crowley and cantered over to him. Crowley was feeding Cropper half an apple, but he turned around when he heard hooves.

"Well, well, well look at what a fresh young face just came in!"

"Crowley, throughout the years, I would've hoped that you had developed a better sense of humor. I was mistaken for the first time in my life."

Crowley grinned. "Well, what brings you here now?"

"I was wondering whether or not Will and Horace have gotten back."

"No, I was just starting wonder what happened to him. We haven't heard from them in a long time. I would've thought they would at least be in range of one of our fiefs so that they could send us some news. Maybe Will wants to tell us personally?"

"Maybe, but the kingdom should know if they are back in Araluen. Maybe they got held up by Erak?"

"Erak has a war to prepare for. I doubt he would have held them up. Besides, he would have told us."

Crowley spread his hands. "Well, I don't know where he is."

Halt frowned. He was worried that something had happened to his former apprentice. He decided to go looking for him and told Crowley. Crowley agreed and sent word for Gilan to be moved from Whitby Fief to Redmont and for Alun to resume duties as Ranger of Whitby Fief. However, at this very moment Alyss came back from her mission in Hibernia. When she heard that Will was missing in Skandia again, she became extremely worried. Halt, Lady Pauline, and Alyss discussed the problem in Lady Pauline's apartment in Redmont Castle. Halt decided to go after Will and Horace to try and figure out what had happened, and to help them if they were in trouble. Alyss wanted to go as well. Halt had a long and fierce argument with her, but in the end, he had to let Alyss come. George had also showed up, but he couldn't come. He was too tied up in his lawsuits in Redmont. Halt and Alyss, with the help of Lady Pauline and Jenny, prepared themselves for the long, bitter cold. Winter was coming, and it was extremely cold in Skandia. Last time, when Will and Evanlyn had been captured while burning Morgarath's bridge, and Halt and Horace had gone after him, Halt still felt the chill sometimes. This time, he added extra blankets and layers of clothing. Alyss did the same. After they completed their preparations, they went to see Baron Arald to inform him that they were leaving and that Gilan would be arriving that very afternoon.

On the way out, Sir Rodney put his hand on Halt's shoulder and said, "Find them. The kingdom needs more men like them."

Halt nodded, and without a word, he and Alyss descended the stairs, mounted their horses, and rode off on yet another search.

That afternoon when they set up camp, Halt groaned softly. His knees were killing him.

'I really am getting too old for this.' He thought.

Erak Starfollower, Oberjarl of Skandia, was in the Hallasholm Great Hall with Svengal, Borsa, Thorn, and two other senior jarls. The day before, their scouts had reported a massive Temujai army moving towards the Skandian border. It was much bigger than the force that Erak and his predecessor Ragnak had fought off previously. He was worried. The Araluen rangers would be extremely useful, but not decisive since the element of surprise would be entirely gone. Also, the Skandians had no strategist like last time, and they were vastly outnumbered, perhaps thirty to one. Just then the doors to the Great Hall opened, and a small, slight built boy entered.

Hal Mikkelson was shorter than the average Skandian. He was also smaller in size. However, ever since he and his Heron brotherband had brought back the Andomal, the most treasured artifact the Skandians had ever found, he and his brotherband were hailed heroes. Erak had realized very early on, that the boy, although only seventeen years old, was an excellent strategist. He had therefore sent word to his mother to summon him.

Hal asked respectfully, "You summoned me, Oberjarl?"

One of the jarls grunted, "We need to borrow your brains here. The Temujai will arrive at the end of next week at the latest. We need to set up defensive operations."

Hal had been told about the invasion beforehand.

"You can't fight them with these numbers."

"Are you suggesting that we abandon Hallasholm?" said Borsa with a hint of anger.

Hal turned and looked at him.

"I don't like the idea, but it's the only possible course. The Temujai outnumber us almost thirty to one. We would all die, and they would still get the treasure we have. Besides, we can always take back the treasure after we defeat them."

"And how do you propose these invaders? We'll die no matter where we go. It would be more honorable to face them and take down as many of them as we can."

Erak frowned, and rubbed his brow. "I agree with Hal that we cannot hope to defeat these horsemen. However, alternately, I do not wish to abandon everything we have in Hallasholm to these invaders."

One of the senior jarls leaned forward. "If neither choice is the correct solution, then what should we do. I'm not saying I like it, in fact I hate it, but Hal's idea sounds like the most logical one."

The other jarl said angrily, "All of you are turning into strategists because of that ranger boy who came to help us drive these horsemen away. We are Skandians. To die with weapons in our hands in our berserker rage is the greatest glory being a Skandian can offer. I propose we fight!"

Erak sighed heavily. "So be it."

Selethen, Wakir of the Arridi province of Al-Shabah was enjoying a feast with his troops. They had just joined forces with the Khoresh Bedullin once again and defeated the Tualaghi force that had been gathering in the mountains. They had been led by Yusal's brother. Selethen remembered how Yusal had left his men in the desert with very little water and no shoes. He took a savage delight in destroying his kin, as well as his forces. Suddenly, one of his officers appeared.

"Wakir Selethen! We have an ambassador here from Araluen who says that the matter is very urgent."

Selethen stood at once. "Let him in!"

A tall young man stepped into the dining pavilion. He introduced himself as Thomas. He took from within the depths of his cloak a letter sealed with wax, imprinted with the seal of King Duncan himself.

Selethen took it, broke the seal, unfurled the tightly bound scroll and read the contents. It was written with a fancy script, making it hard to decipher. (A/N: Sorry about this)

From King Duncan, King of all lands in Araluen, To Selethen, Wakir of the Province of Al-Shabah.

Greetings. I hope this letter finds you and your comrades alive and well after your latest skirmish with the Forgotten of God. We have some urgent news. There have been reports of Temujai movement. Will and Horace have went on a scouting mission, but it appears that we have lost contact with them. In this hour of need, I intend to unite all the countries in a battle to defeat the Temujai and cripple their forces so that they shall never dare to invade again. I would have sent this to your Emrikir, but owing to the fact that neither I nor anybody in Araluen have met him, I feel that it would be more appropriate to send this to you, who we all know from Cassandra's wonderful stories. Therefore, I must ask a great favor of you, Selethen. I know that currently you are not threatened by the Temujai, and that you are busy rooting out the Tualaghi. However, I feel that if we fail to form a coalition army, we will be destroyed one by one. The Temujai show no sign of halting. I hope that we can come to an agreement. Currently, I am also calling for support from Hibernia, Teutlandt, Gallica, the Scotti, and the Toscans. Although some of these countries listed are enemies, none of these countries can stand against the full might of the Temujai. Please help us and convince the Emrikir.

Sincerely,

King Duncan

After Selethen finished reading, he was appalled that a strong country such as Araluen required help from all the countries to defeat this one army. He had heard of the Temujai before, and knew their prowess that they had excellent horse-riding skills. Beyond that however, he had no idea what their strengths or weaknesses were. He sighed. Anything for an allied country.

Emperor Shigeru sat at his royal study table in his palace. He was studying battle plans with his chief advisors. Two weeks ago, his scouts had reported that an army of several thousand horsemen had become to attack Nihon-Ja's outskirts. He was worried that his might be an invasion force. There were many reasons to believe this. First, the army itself was too large for it to be a raiding group. Second, the horsemen had continued to advance deeper into Nihon-Ja. Currently, Shigeru was readying his forces in preparation to meet them in battle. However, seeing as he had no real knowledge of how the men fight, or how well trained they were, he was meticulously planning his strategy. He hoped that the enemies were scared, pathetic men who ran away at the first sign of defeat. However, the ease at which they defeated the outposts of Nihon-Ja led him to believe otherwise. Therefore, he and his advisors sat in counsel near midnight, preparing their forces to meet the invaders the next morning. As they were going over their final strategy, they heard shouting outside, and then the clash of steel. A Senshi warrior burst into the tent.

"Emperor Shigeru! The horsemen are attacking us in the cover of night. We are being overwhelmed!"

The emperor and his advisors and retinue of a dozen guards all jumped up, and grabbed their kitanas. They all rushed out of the tent. Outside, fires were breaking all over the camp, and the horsemen, like a black mass, came at them with their battle cries.

When the horrible din of battle had finally subsided, the ground and trees were stained red with blood. A weary Shigeru retreated with about three-quarters of his force into the mountains, where he and two hundred Kikori had staved off thousands of Arisaka's troops. There, they prepared themselves for a long and bitter siege. The other quarter of his force was either captured or slaughtered. All in all, it had been a long, bitter, bloody fight. Winter was coming, and the trail was deepening by the moment with the fallen snow. The wounded groaned, and the men shivered as they climbed the mountain pass. It was truly a miserable sight. When Shigeru saws his men, he almost wept. They were broken, gaunt, and stained with blood. Slowly, they retreated into the mountains to regroup.

Well, I hope you people enjoyed this. First story in quite a while.

-RAfan2421