Chapter 35: Defense of Arenaen
War drums could be heard as the six thousand Imperial Infantry and one thousand Imperial Cavalry marched through the Golden Forest for Arenaen. At their head was a mounted Chagrin. He wore gleaming steel armor with a black cape and an onyx black sword. He had short black and grey hair and a bushy silver grey mustache. He rode a dark bay stallion in steel armor.
He looked back and smiled at his army. There were three thousand swordsmen, one thousand spearmen, and two thousand archers that made up the ranks of the Imperial Infantry. Then just behind him, in organized in columns, was the Imperial Cavalry. The Allied Forces didn't stand a chance.
There was still an hour of travel before they reached Arenaen when the rear Infantry units blew their war horns.
Arrows rained from the sky as Gliders passed over the Imperial Infantry. Then Ameth's Elven Cavalry charged out of the woods from all sides and destroyed their enemies. Swisher's Ducks followed behind Ameth's Cavalry. Belgan's Dwarves and the Knights of Change under Cate and Suta followed the Ducks.
As quickly as they had come, the Allies disappeared just as the Imperial Infantry and Cavalry forces were beginning to retaliate. As soon as Chagrin gave the order to move forward, the Elven archers under Aeldeth fired a volley at the forward cavalry.
Chagrin took an arrow to the shoulder and another in his thigh. Four hundred other Imperial riders were killed. Another two hundred were injured. The first volley was followed by a second. Three hundred more Cavalry fighters fell and everyone was injured. Chagrin blew his retreat horn and the Imperials fell back.
In the chaos as the Imperial Cavalry tried to retreat faster than the Imperial Infantry that was now in front of them, the Allied Army struck again. The Imperial Archers which were now at the front were lightly armored and easy prey for the Allies.
Ameth's Cavalry charged through the archers and after the Ducks followed, half of the archers had fallen. The Allied Army then fell back to a camp hidden in the woods east of the road.
The Commanders met in a large pavilion at the center of the camp. Ameth laughed as she looked at Kyu. "When the Allies had sent you, I thought that Arenaen was doomed! I see now that you are perhaps the best strategist I've ever met. I apologize for my early judgments."
Kyu shook his head. "The battle's not over yet. As for our next move, I believe that Chagrin will be expecting a second ambush. So I want you Cavalry backed by the Ducks to charge at the Imperial Cavalry head on. The Elven Archers will back you from behind cover. Then I'll have the Gliders strike at the center of the column with the Dwarves and Knights attacking the archers. We need to take out as many of their men as possible before they reach Arenaen."
A messenger entered. "The Imperials are on the move again. They're coming the same way."
"Time to play with the Imperials again." Ameth laughed.
Chagrin was now at the rear of his cavalry. He had also spread out distance between the Infantry, Cavalry, and the Archers. He had a bandage wrapped around his injured shoulder and another around his wounded thigh. Chagrin was not a strategist, but a king who used brutality to attack.
He had put his men on high alert for ambushers, but no ambush came. The Imperials had advanced farther than before when an Elven horn sounded. Ameth's Cavalry charged directly at Chagrin's forces. Chagrin laughed, knowing that his men were better trained.
Then there were cries as cavalry soldiers on the flanks of the formation were shot down. Ameth's Cavalry was upon them. Ameth led a straight charge, which was followed by the Ducks and their halberds.
Chagrin fell back as the rest of his cavalry were cut and shot down.
Then the Gliders attacked, firing arrows from the skies. The Spearmen units got hit the worst, and when the Imperial Archers tried to retaliate, they were suddenly attacked from behind by the Dwarves and Knights.
Once again, the Allied Forces retreated as quickly as they came. Chagrin sent scouts after them, but they never returned. Chagrin rounded up his captains and assessed the losses of his forces. He had lost every man of his Calvary, all but one hundred archers, and had lost a couple hundred swordsmen, and seven hundred spearmen. Chagrin groaned as he realized that left thirty one hundred soldiers to siege Arenaen with.
With the Imperial Army stalled, the Allied Forces fell back to Arenaen to prepare the defenses.
The Allies were able to rest for two days before one of their scouts came to tell Ameth and Kyu of Chagrin's movements. "General Rith, Lady Ameth. Chagrin has ordered his Imperials to fall back. Chagrin is coming and will arrive within the hour. He plans to use his Mutation Rune."
"Lady Ameth, we need to get to the battlements immediately. We need every archer on the walls and every infantry soldier ready in the city. We need to move all of the citizens to safety." Kyu commanded.
Ameth nodded. "I'll get my captains to move the citizens to the Moon and Sun Spire." She said and left the room. Kyu hurried down to the city to give out orders, and then headed to the battlements.
Kyu stood on the wall above the main gate. Beside him, stood Commanders Era and Aeldeth. Era had her Glide on her back and was ready to take off. Ameth, Belgan, Suta, Cate, and Swisher awaited behind the closed gate with the Allied Infantry.
Then everyone saw Chagrin riding down the road and watched as he stopped right outside of arrow range. He raised his right hand. The Armes symbol for Mutation appeared in glowing red light. Mutated Salamanders, Mutated Trolldragons, and Terrorknights appeared in thousands.
"Well there's at least two for everyone," Aeldeth laughed grimly.
Era's Gliders took to the air. Aeldeth gave the order for her archers to fire. The gate opened to let the Dwarves, Ducks, Knights, and Ameth's Cavalry out to fight the Terrorknights. In the first wave, many Salamanders and Trolldragons were taken out, but there was still many more.
Kyu estimated that there were three thousand Salamanders, one thousand Trolldragons, and four thousand Terrorknights. Kyu used two Light Volley attacks, one at the Terrorknights and one at the flying dragons.
The Salamanders and Trolldragons retaliated with red and blue fire. Kite, Fisher, and Cleaner were constantly busy.
Kyu used two more Light Volleys at the dragons. He knew that he could use the Light Volley attack three more times.
Kyu took up a bow and a quiver of arrows. He wasn't the best archer, but he had to overview the battle from the battlements and he wasn't going to not fight. He sent an arrow into the heart of a Salamander, turning it to dust. He shot a Trolldragon in the eye and another in the leg.
Suta and Cate were fighting back to back, surrounded by Terrorknights. Annevar, Cyrad, and Mei fought in another group. They were desperately protecting Annevar who was using his Wall Rune to keep the dragons from attacking the Infantry allies. Belgan, Kilrak, Delval, and Harrim fought in a third group. Swisher, Worker, Flyer, and Catcher were in a fourth group.
The Allies were holding the monster army back, but weren't gaining any ground.
Kyu, Aeldeth, Era, and Eirith led the archers against the winged hordes of Chagrin. Kyu shot down a Trolldragon and injured a Salamander. Aeldeth brought down two Salamanders. Eirith took down a Trolldragon and Era brought down another two Salamanders.
The glowing red of the Mutation Rune flashed again. A thousand GhostKnights and two thousand more Salamanders appeared. Then Chagrin rode off, back towards his army.
Elves, Dwarves, Ducks, Knights, and Gliders were being defeated by the storm of monsters. Kyu looked around and saw Allies falling left and right either by flame or sword. He did something unexpected. He drew power from within himself and released the power of the Rune of Salvation. Salvation. A bright golden light spread across the sky.
When it disappeared, the fallen Allies suddenly stood back up and continued fighting. Injured soldiers' wounds suddenly healed. Strength and courage rallied in the bodies of the Allied fighters. They fought twice as hard.
Kyu fell to his knees, exhausted. As he began to drift into unconsciousness, he heard Hyzin's voice. "Hope you didn't miss us too much!"
Hyzin, Boar, Aelydia, Zak, Boric, Leon, Nik, and Solet stood at the head of 2400 Knights of Change. They charged from the path to aid the Allied Infantry.