Hello there! If your reading the second chapter let me just explain something; I spent 4 hours at first working on this chapter. I intended to make it a lot longer and better than the first chapter, however I had just reached nearly 9,000 words in this chapter when my computer crashed. So this might be a little crude, I started at 11:18 this morning, and it wasn't until 2:09 that my computer crashed. I lost everything I wrote. But with all of that said, this is the re-write from my rough draft in my notebook. And please, give a review! I add one chapter every week, however it could be one a day for the first week. I am now in my second semester of my freshman year, on top of that my house flooded. I use this as a little stress reliever because I do enjoy writing. So please forgive me if I suddenly disappear.
Jordan was on his knees, he couldn't believe it all. Looking around he could see everything. His heart was beating fast, and the world seemed to slow down around him as cavalry just shredded the enemy infantry. Why his men? What if the other patrols were wiped out as well? No, if another patrol was attacked his would have heard. But now, he was aware of the sounds of real war. Slowly looking to his right he saw a Pictan warrior drop to the ground, moments after a horse and rider passed him. His left arm was missing. He clearly tried to block a lance with his shield. And now he was suffering from that. The world was still slow as he looked to his left, he saw a Pictan warrior thrust a spear towards the horse about to trample him. But suddenly his spear was cut in half and he dropped to the ground. Jordan began to realize just what a Warrior, a Knight, a Soldier in general does. They fought and fought, serving for their King, or Lord, or Commander. But now, with his heart beating twice as fast, and he felt fear rushing through his veins, he finally understood what being a Warrior was like. He looked to his right when he saw a Pictan warrior fall to the ground. Lifeless.
But he saw more than enough, in front of him an enemy was charging him with a massive club in his hands, very quickly the world was suddenly back to normal, Jordan sidestepped and easily avoided the mans downward swing. He quickly thrusted his sword into the mans side. No, he thought. War is not something any person wants to enjoy. War is something that should never exist. But he looked around, steeling himself. And looking for any more enemy warriors. But the battle was over, there was nothing left. He just sank to his knees again. So close, so close to death. He thought to himself repeatedly. The armored knights and their riders were now silent as they began cheering and yelling for Araluens sake. But now Jordan was aware of everything around him, literally, every sound, every sob, he swore he could even hear peoples thoughts. He looked around once more. There, he thought. Looking around he could just see the wounded, the lifeless and incomplete. And those wallowing in misery over a lost comrade. Jordan suddenly felt a mix of emotions, Fear, Fright, and something he never thought he would feel. Pleasure, was it the death of a man that gave him pleasure? No, it wasn't. But why? And what was it? He had no clue. But Jordan stood up and turned around, and realized once again, what war was like. Every warrior here had family, they were a Son, a Father, a Husband, or a Brother. How could he explain to their family about what happened? He couldn't could he? He looked around for Doyle, And there he was. He was bandaging a brothers arm, he quickly looked around for Kael. And saw his Brother in Arms, and Best Friend tending to his own injury, a graze across the arm. He heard a gurgling voice by him and looked to see a Pictan soldier reaching out to him, choking up blood. And saying something in some foreign language. What should he do? There was no saving the man. He had lost so much blood, and his left arm was missing.
Jordan looked around again, he was the leader of this patrol. He had to take care of his men. He lifted up his Great Sword and made his way towards his Brothers in Arms. "S-Sir..."
He spun to his right to see a brother on the ground, Connor he realized. Rushing forwards he took Connors hand that was shaking over his surcoat.
"How-d-d we d-do?" Connor said, he was choking up blood as he said those words. And Jordan started into his eyes, fighting back his emotions.
"We won brother, we won." Jordan continued to stare into his dying Brother in Arms eyes. "G-Good, s-say hell-o to my.. So-n" It was the last thing Connor could say before his grip lessened, and his hand that was being held my Jordan dropped to his chest.
"I will my brother, I will." His hands were shaking, but fighting back his emotions, he closed his comrades eyes and prayed for him.
Jordan looked to his right when he felt a rough hand land on his shoulder, he looked to see Kael. He was sharing the same look, and was also staring down at their comrade.
"I just spoke with Doyle, we lost thirteen of our brothers. A-And we have four more wounded, including myself technically speaking." Kael said in a calm voice, although Jordan knew him well enough to know that he was doing the same thing he was. Fighting back his emotions, his fear of dying.
"Also, Baron Edward wants to speak with you." He added before nodding towards a group of men.
"Alright, I will head over there now." Jordan said, grabbing his massively built sword he made his way towards Baron Edward, and he realized the Ranger was with him.
"Hello Jordan, we lost good men today. However i'll need you and your comrades back at the keep. The ranger and I will carry this out for now. Good work, I don't know how you managed to pull it off. But you bought us enough time to ready the entire garrison. At least Sixty more of us will be here in an hour or so." Baron Edward said. He was a very rough man, he had short Red hair, a bright red Mustache, and he was massively built. He was a man to be reckoned with, but he waved Jordan off, not even bothering to wait for a reply.
Jordan was upset by his words, why would he and his men be brushed aside so easily? He felt like he could explode in a Skandian rage. But with difficulty, he saluted and went back to his comrades.
Redmont Fief, 3 Days later
"The border was way too quiet in the first place." Halt said, Will, Gilan, Halt, Horace, and another Ranger who delivered the message personally were debating on the whole thing, in Halts cabin too. However, it didn't bother them at all.
"Well, I've been going around to each fief to deliver each message myself. And you are right, the Pictan-Araluen Border was very quiet. I just don't know how the Pictans could have pulled it off, they will let reports in. But their fake, and King Duncan believed it all, until recently of course." The ranger said, that earned a frown from Halt, and a worried expression from Gilan. Horace was pretending to be interested in the whole thing, but continued to look around. Will however, had a deep frown across his face. And now Halt has taken notice.
"Something on your mind Will?" Immediately everyone turned to look at Will, he just nodded and glanced up at them.
"Yes, there's been way too many bandits than usual. And on top of that, nearly all the bandits I've came across haven't said a thing, they don't surrender, don't speak, and they can fight. I think the Pictans have been leaking soldiers into Araluen to gather information, or maybe cause trouble." Will was jumping to conclusions, but they were most likely the case. But now Halt caught onto it, and he glanced at the fourth ranger present.
"What'd you think Alexander? He caught onto that pretty fast." Halt was obviously trying to hide a smile, Will had a feeling he was.
"I think Will was trained pretty well, and yes Will, there has been a sudden spike in bandit activity. Halt and I have had suspicions over it for a while. King Duncan has even acknowledged it, there's too many bandits, and too much trouble. Seacliff Fief is actually having a lot of Pirates burning and looting villages. So much that they asked for at least a hundred men at arms to even support themselves. They have also raised a couple dozen militia as well. It'll be a matter of time before we will have an inside problem as well." The older ranger said. His voice was low and deep, and they matched his face. His eyes were a dark shade of blue, and his hair was auburn coloured, however there was signs of graying in it. He also had a thin line of beard, but most of all he was clean shaven.
Will had to smile at that, but now it was Gilans turn to voice his opinion. "But if it is the Pictans then they would be spread thin for a frontline right? I doubt they would be able to hold of our whole army while some of their guys are somewhere here in Araluen at the same time." And he was right, mostly. But Halt and Alexander shared a look before they replied.
"Your right, they wouldn't be able to support themselves enough to handle our main army. However i'd still assume they are aware of that themselves. Most likely they will have a lot of surprises waiting for us. And who knows? They could have allies helping them. But I can't see who would help them at all. Besides, Horace has been in Celtica helping their armies for the past couple months. We could ask them for help, they may not be fighters but they would be able to lend a hand." Halt said looking around "Also Horace, how are they really?" He quickly added.
Horace was not expecting that, but he was silent for a few moments before replying. "The past seven months I've been over there has been pretty frustrating for the most part. They never recovered from the Wargals and Morgarath. But they are wanting to learn how to defend themselves, and even help us. I noticed just a month ago before I came back that their mood changed." He glanced at Will "Thanks to a certain ranger and princess." At that comment Will grinned. "I'd say that their definitely now swordsmen, so I figured a way around all of that. It turns out their great spearmen, and after a week or two of figuring out how to solve flaws in their ranks I decided to go for the Toscana method of fighting. I'd say their more than ready for a fight now, before I left I had somewhat six hundred capable of fighting, their Supreme Commander said that he would continue to train more though. So I bet they could have nearly a thousand men ready by now."
That was unexpected to the party, there was an odd silence for a few minutes after that. And Gilan was the first to say something
"What about Hibernia?" Immediately Halt spun to look at him, a sharp look in his eyes, and Gilan quickly began to explain
"Halt, they could help right? You are friends with them after all." Alexander was a little curious about this. But Horace liked the idea
"If the Pictans decide to attack us, we could have not one, but two allies helping us. If the Pictans have their own friends then we would need our own right?" Horace intervened, he rushed it a bit.
Will has been quiet about this, he still had a little bit of an attachment to Seacliff Fief, but he now felt like it was his turn to join in on the debate.
"If the Pictans do attack us from the border, and at the same time have their own armies inside Araluen itself, we could have the help from-"
"I think its best we let His majesty decide that." Halt interrupted.
"However, if this is going to be another long war against the Pictans, a repeat from history then I doubt our neighbors would be wanting to help." Alexander said it before Halt could get to it
"I must take my leave, I still to deliver messages and check defenses. Will, Horace, Gilan, I am willing to bet His Majesty will send you all somewhere. If this is a Great War again then you three could see more than you've ever seen before. My advice to you is to practice and practice." Alexander said it as he stood up, Halt stood up with him and they both walked out, they could hear the older men talking outside.
"Do you actually think this could be a long lasting war?" Horace said, Will and Gilan looked at him and then each other and said in unison
"And who are you talking to?"
Immediately there was laughing, Horace rolled his eyes at that. But the laughing was quickly over as they became serious again.
"Horace, do you really think the Celts could help?" Gilan finally said. Horace looked up and nodded, he thought about that a lot since those reports came in, he was positive that the Celts would be willing to help.
"Yes, their officers, and everyone wanted to help, I think their more than willing to, because they showed it ever day." Was his response
Gilan and Will looked at each other and nodded, they were both realizing how grave this situation was. But they also knew what it mean if the Celts suddenly turned on them.
"Well, anyone want some coffee?" Will said finally, immediately Gilan looked up and replied "Heck, do you even need to ask?" With a big grin. Even Horace was smiling at the question.
Off the coast of Araluen, in the Narrow Sea 3 Weeks later
Captain Gordon couldn't believe it, first the Lord of this Fief told him to visit family until further notice, but suddenly a day later he was asked to return to duty immediately, the messenger saying they were preparing for war. He didn't believe it at first, until he read reports about what was wrong with Seacliff Fief. And now Araluens navy of ships from the neighboring Fief were on their way to patrol the seas. As well as dropping off some soldiers, he glanced down the deck to look at those warriors. They were clearly not sailors, it was just a half hour after leaving the harbor the soldiers went green and started puking all over the place. Leaving a big mess for him and his crew. But he let out a sigh, how could those Pictans manage to build a Navy? No Kingdom was as good as the Skandian navy, but Princess Cassandra has been building up Araluens navy the past year or so, and from what he's heard, she knows how to fight. He looked to his right when his second in command walked up to him.
"I just signaled the other ships of the fleet, nothing has been spotted yet. However those land troops are causing trouble on the Johanson- Apparently a Sailor pissed off one of the Soldiers on board. Tis a shame its nightfall already, but the lanterns are easy to see." His second in command said, Captain Gordon shook his head. He thought it was bad enough that he had land troops on his ship, names The Golden Blade, but it turns out other captains are having the same problem.
Twenty ships from the Araluen Naval Force have been sent to Seacliff Fief, along with them there are Eight transports. Once the transports have delivered troops they would stay there and take wounded, then bring them back to home port. Six of the ships of the Narrow Sea Fleet will take leave with them. The remaining ships would remain here and patrol the waters, they have been ordered to board every ship that they see, and inspect them for anything dangerous to Araluen. Along with the Narrow Sea Fleet there was also a fleet on the other side of the kingdom, called the Hibernian-Araluen Defense fleet. Apparently Araluen had the help of one of the kings of Hibernia, the Legendary Ranger named Halt took care of it himself, but that wasn't all. Araluen has an agreement with Celtica, just last week an army of four hundred Celtic troops passed the Araluen-Celtica border, and were on their way to Norgate Fief, since now they were were taking a beating from the pictans. Lord Orman has just barely been able to hold them off. Which brings the third fleet to mind, in total Araluen has one hundred and seventy ships. Just three days ago sixty were sent to a port city in Picta to form a blockade, it was expected that the port city surrenders quickly. There was still eighteen more ships at Captain Gordons home port named "Port Lissen" Named after the man who built it.
Captain Gordon glanced at his second in command, they both looked a lot like. However while Gordon was in his mid thirties, he was clean shaven, with dark blue eyes, and blonde hair. Kaleb, his second in command was in his late twenties, he was clean shaven as well, with dark blue eyes and dirty blonde hair. Lots of people mistake them both for brothers. But they weren't related at all. Gordon let out a sigh, he was wandering when they would have some fun with the Pictans, but they didn't expect to hit any ships until they reached Seacliff Fief.
"Captain! The Mighty Queensland has spotted a small detachment of ships at the Port side!" Gordon looked up at the man in the crows nest, The Mighty Queensland would be the first ship damaged if alone for too long.
"Tell the other captains! Kaleb, ready our new toys. It's about time we show off our might. Lieutenant Movach! Ready the men, prepare for battle!" Captain Gordon yelled at the top of his voice, and as he ran down to the port side of his beautiful ship he could see the rest of the fleet messaging each other through the crows nest messengers.
"Sir, there are six ships in total. And they are heading right towards us!" Once again Captain Gordon looked up to his crew member in the crows nest. Once a sailor went up there, they couldn't come back down. They were messengers, and spotters. They had a very important job to every ship. He waved his hand in acknowledgment and looked to his right when all sailors began running up. But he immediately looked back to look at the enemy ships.
Those ships showed no sign of turning back too. But now the ships were close enough that the Captain could see flurries of activity on the decks. They are obviously going in for a fight. And a fight they will have.
"Captain, The Rosemary is responding, as well as The Cliffton, what do we do sir?" The sailor once again yelled from the crows nest. The Golden Blade was the third ship in line to be attacked, however he was not a main transport ship. Of course, every ship had some soldiers, because the transports couldn't any more, so additional crew was added to the Warships. And he glanced at the soldiers on his ship, they were all ready for a fight. They may be seasick, but they know the basics of what to do.
"We move in to support them! Kaleb, get everything ready now!" Gordon yelled at the top of his voice. He heard Kalebs reply but continued to watch the enemy ships until he had to take the helm again. This encounter should be easy he knew, but glancing to his right he can now see the enemy ships even more clearly, he could now see what the crews were doing, they weren't that far away. But he spun his beautiful ship port side as soon as he got to the steer, and waited for the enemy to make their move.
Now the enemy was about a couple hundred feet away, they weren't going to Ram his ship Gordon knew, he could feel the butterflies in his stomach now. Along with the excitement, and the usual nervousness. No, they weren't going to Ram into his ship, they were going to attempt to board.
"Captain, we are ready!" His second in command yelled, Gordon looked over to see the new toy. It was a Giant Crossbow, Araluen adapted it from the Skandians The Heron. However they didn't have one, nor two. But five in total. And as of now two of them were ready to shoot at the enemy ship before them. The Pictans are going to have a nasty punch after today, He thought.
"Fire at their bow!" He yelled, and immediately the massive crossbows shot at the enemy before them, Two bolts, and Two hits. Theres a loud CRACK and large amounts of creaking as the enemy ship seemed to explode into splinters. "Crossbows reload! First boarding party get ready! Second boarding party prepare yourselves!" There were a mix of responses to that. But Captain Gordon caught the movement on the enemy ship, and realized what they were doing, They had a ton of Crossbows about to shoot. His men clearly noticed, because they all hit the deck as bolts flew past. One of his men took a bolt right to the face while he was reloading the crossbow, another was hit in the chest, and his right arm as he attempted to shoot his own crossbow at them. Captain Gordon cursed, he looked up to yell an order to his messenger and his eyes widened to see the bloodied mess of his messenger. Gordon can see at least Twenty Three bolts that slammed against his center mast, but his messenger, his poor messenger got struck by at least Eight of them. And if there is no Messenger, there is no way of communication.
"Messenger is down! You there, get up there and tell the oth-" As he is ordering one of his men, the sailor took a bolt right to his face and dropped to the ground. Once again Captain Gordon cursed, however now they had another problem, the enemy was now boarding his ship. Glancing over the railing, he could see most of those soldiers dropped their crossbows, and now at least half of them are heading onto his ship as of now. Gordon quickly drew his sword and rushed forward to help his fellow sailors, and he also sees three more of the Aralan ships coming in. Hearing someone behind him Captain Gordon spun around and just barely parried a sabre stroke. He then brought sword into the mans side, and pulled his blade out. The butterflies in his stomach seemed to be growing larger, and his heart was beating fast. But he had to keep fighting.
"Captain! The Rosemary has boarded their ship!" One of his sailors screamed over all the chaos. Captain Gordon spun around to see the man was right, The Rosemary did board the enemy ship. However there was also an enemy sailor running towards him, ready for an overhead stroke. However his weapon was odd, it was a massive spiked club. That's not a sailors weapon, however its best he didn't parry, or block it. Rolling to his left, The captain heard a SWOOSH as the club missed him, immediately followed by a loud CRACK and BRRR as the club vibrated. Gordon looked at the deck of his ship and saw the man put a big hole in it. Looking into the mans eyes he could see that soldier just regretted it. Gordon quickly slashed the man across the side, and quickly followed it up with another to the mans leg. And just to his left one of his Sailors let out a scream, out of the corner of his eye the Captain saw it, his sailors head rolled right by him, and before him stood a massive man with a massive sword. And already the man had his sword ready for an overhead, but the mans luck was out. A crossbow bolt struck him right in the arm, and was followed by a second- No third! bolt, one to his chest, and the third to his right leg. Gordon raised his blade to Parry, but unfortunately his own luck was out. An enemy sailor thrust his blade right though his back. Captain Gordon never felt so much pain in his life, at first it was just faint. But now it was immense pain that seemed to spread through his body like a thousand needles suddenly flying into him from every side, every inch of his body. Captain Gordon let out a scream, then he dropped to the ground.
As he dropped to the ground he saw his Second in Command take the same fate, stabbed in the back by the same person. And he began to think, think of what life could have been like instead of joining Araluens Navy. And then his family... What will happen to them if the enemy wins? He didn't know. But now he just looked up as he saw a man step over him, with a massive club. And the man swung it down onto his leg. And once again the Captain screamed. But the man laughed again, and quickly ended his life, Gordon just watched as the man raised the bloody club over his head. He then brought it down.
Captain Gordon was gone
What do you think of all of this? I do know the Heron Sail Plan was used by the Skandians, however I thought some naval action against the Pictans would be pretty cool, also, if you have any ideas just message me! I am running out of ideas and I need your help.(Whoever reads this) Also, the next chapter will explain what happened in Celtica and Hibernia, I thought everyone would need a little bit of action in this adventure before I start the funny part of it all, also don't forget to send a review! They help everyone A LOT. I have one review so far from an awesome person, I'd like to see 20 Awesome reviews, and 20 Awesome people before chapter 10. Woohoo! Anyways, see ya all later in the next chapter!