The Raiders

Chapter 20

The Invasion Starts

Yay, new chapter! The end of this is drawing near. But soon the poll for which sequel I should write will be up. Check often. Enjoy!

3 Weeks Later

"Sir, I know I'm ready to fight!" said Matthew, trying yet another appeal to the parliament. He had been trying for weeks to convince them that he was ready to fight. The Guardians had maybe less than a week before a full scale war. All Matthew was allowed to do so far was train a bow unit. Unfortunately, it was very small. Not many owls had eyes sharp as Matthew. And making arrows was tedious work. And usually painful. The owls usually had to use their own feathers to fletch them.

King Caleb sighed," Matthew, you still haven't recovered fully. Nick almost toke your heart out! Besides, if I recall correctly, your bow unit isn't ready yet."

Matthew cringed," Yes sir, but we just need some experience, and I know they'll be ready."

"Sir!" yelled a returning scout. "The Frost Claws division in Beyond the Beyond is requesting reinforcements. Several wave of Raiders have appeared." Matthew's eyes shot open. That was Amelia's division!

The king nodded. "Do you have word from the other kingdoms yet?" The Guardians had one major disadvantage. There were far too few of them. So, they had requested help from the other kingdoms. Help was also coming from the Northern Kingdoms. But they had very few of them. Most owls in the Northern Kingdoms were trying to rebuild their kingdom, and had no spare resources.

"Yes sir. The owls of the Shadow Forest have eagerly agreed to send owls here. Silverveil has also agreed."

"Good. Okay Matthew, I will send you and your unit to reinforce the Frost Claws. How long will you need to prepare?"

Matthew grinned. "Not long sir. Guys, we're going!" A resounding cheer echoed out.

"What?"

"I saw the scout earlier. He told me the news, and I knew you would send me."

"Okay Matthew. But don't die, okay?"

"Yes sir."

Several days later

"Sir, we're almost there."

"Good," said Matthew. He wasn't used to being called sir. "What's our equipment status?"

"Good sir. No bows broken, and everyone's quivers are full."

"Okay. Let's move out." The battle was in sight now. The Guardians were clearly outnumbered, even with the bow and arrow unit. "First volley!" yelled Matthew. 11 arrows shot out, killing near as many Raiders. "Front guard!" Owls with thicker bows, the wood being as thick as a good sized tree branch, and big claws came to the front. They would protect the archers. "Fire! And keep firing!" Matthew nodded to his second in command, Hiden. He would take over while he went to see the commander of the other unit. "Ames!"

"Matt!?" yelled Amelia, slashing a Raider. Matthew shot him down.

"Me and my unit are here to help."

"Good. We need it. Wait! Follow me," Amelia said. Matthew, confused, followed her. She flew into a nearby cave where there was a small spring filled with a black liquid.

"What's that?"

"I don't know. But I do know it burns. Really well."

Seeing what Amelia meant by this, he dipper an arrow into the strange liquid. "Where is the fire?"

Amelia grinned," Follow me. We have some embers."

Later

The fire arrows worked wonders. While the arrows usually killed, the fire type always killed. And the Raider troops seemed scared of them, playing it more on the defense. Which, of course, did nothing to shield them from the volleys of arrows.

"Just a bit more!" yelled Amelia. The Raiders were nearly gone.

"Troops! Switch to close combat!" yelled Matthew. Normally, he wouldn't do this, as the Raiders usually had ice claws. But this force didn't. The others had claws like him. While they were small, so was the rest of the opposing force. And, either way, they were running low on arrows, and might not have a chance to restock at the tree. The troops put their bows away with a much practiced motion. It didn't take them long to rout all the Raiders.

"It's over," breathed Amelia.

"Yeah. Hey, have you heard anything about Felli's and Joshua's units?"

"No. But I sent out scouts to check on them. Do you have any injuries?"

"No. You?"

"Unfortunately, yeah. No fatalities, but some won't be able to fight. Any news from the Tree?"

"Yeah. Silverveil and the Shadow Forest are sending owls to the tree. We should get some reinforcements."

Amelia nodded. "Hey, the scouts back!"

The scout flew in. "Commander. I have news. Both units are requesting aid."

She nodded," Are either of them critical?"

"No. They will be able to hold out. They are in The Barrens and the Desert of Kuneer. And we also have located the Raiders base."

"Where!?" asked Matthew urgently.

"In some canyons south of here. Where St. Aegolius' Academy was. I would suggest supplying aid to Joshua and Felli first though."

"Okay." She looked at Matthew. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Our force isn't large enough, and we need to help out friends. And it will give me time to request more arrows from the tree." Matthew nodded to one of his troops, and the owl flew off.

"I think we should turn it for the night. We're bruised and battered. We need some a day to recover."

"I agree. Troops! Time to sleep!"

Whew, done! Well, I think that was one of my better chapters. Tell me what you think. Review!