Before you continue, I'd like to extend a word of thanks:

I thank everyone who reviewed, especially you, Sarah'sTwilight (as you are the only person, as far as I see it, who has kept up with the story the whole time.) As you may know, I plan to become a writer someday. This is only a warm-up for the stories I plan to publish in the future.

I fear that my skill as a writer may not be as great as I had hoped, yet I see that there are more than 3100 hits to this story, and it makes me shocked, and, admittedly, very pleased.

I thank everyone who's been reading this story. The more you read it, the happier I get!

Chapter 43: A Decisive Retreat

Janaff scanned the enemy formation ahead: "Looks like an average sized ambush." He spoke.

"Typical. They always try to use ambushes to scare us. Boyd, come here." Soren ordered.

"Huh? Me?"

"Yes. Now, you've always told me how you could easily beat up the entire Begnion army. You always complain of the mistakes Ike makes and how you could fix them. Well, words are merely words, until they are proven by deeds. Prove yourself to us. I will give you Nepheene, Zihark, Relane, Calill, Tormod, Sothe, Gatrie, Rolf, Makalov, and Largo as inferior officers. Make us proud." Soren spoke.

"Soren, are you sure this is wise? Giving Boyd a post?" Titania asked.

"We won't know until we give Boyd a chance." Soren nodded grimly.

"I won't let you down, Soren!" Boyd smiled.

"Making me Boyd's inferior! Are you making fun of me, or something?!" Gatrie yelled.

"Calm down, Gatrie." Ilyana's sweet voice made him shut up.

Boyd smirked at Gatrie, and gathered the 200 soldiers Soren had generously given him.

"Did Soren get some kind of head disease, or something when he was downed? This does not sound like him!" Lethe whispered in Ike's ear.

Ike chucked: "Lethe, you should know well enough that Soren has a backup plan in case something goes wrong."

"He always does, but I can assure you that something will go wrong."

Ike looked uneasily at Boyd after Lethe gave her fine argument. "Lethe's right... What if Boyd is going to mess this up, like he always does? I hope Soren knows what he's doing..." Ike thought as beads of sweat trickled down his spine.

Muarim and Corrine talked to Tormod. "Be careful, Little One." Muarim reminded him.

"You get so sentimental. I'll be fine. Sothe and Calill are watching my back."

"Really, be careful." Corrine spoke with worried eyes.

"I'll be fine." Tormod repeated softly.
Meanwhile, Stalker was staring at Corrine.

"My brother always pointed out the beauties of Kilvas to me, but I have never seen a girl... Like... Her..." Stalker muttered.

Nealuchi snickered: "Isn't it a little early for you to be smitten by her?"

"Grr... You heard nothing." Stalker snapped.

"You can't hide it from me, Stalker. You are smitten by that girl. She's not from Kilvas. She's a former slave. You are a retainer of the King, or were one. Your ranks are too far apart. Your peers would not accept her as your mate." Nealuchi spoke.

"I don't care. I don't care about them. They are all toadies who fawn after Naesala, anyways... She is so beautiful... And, as a slave, she is talented enough to free herself from bondage and lead an army of former slaves to a safe place. She would be a fine wife... But would I be a fine mate for someone of her caliber?" Stalker mused.

"Don't belittle yourself, Stalker. You are a fine warrior, and one of honor. You set aside hatred for the betterment of the continent. You saved the life of the man who took your brother's. You are a noble man. You two would make a fine pair, so long as fate wills it." Nealuchi replied.

Stalker's face flashed a smile, but soon returned to his stern look. "I better keep myself calm. I need to be there for Ike when he needs me." He spoke as he regained seriousness.

Boyd led his troops to engage the Begnion army. He asked Calill to serve as his advisor, and she wasn't very thrilled. As their forces engaged, the Begnion commander noticed that Boyd did not seem to know what he was doing. Tormod was positioned in the front lines, and General Gatrie was positioned far in the rear. "What the heck? Boyd! I need cover! These spears are getting too close!" Tormod yelled.

"I'm so far away... It's taking me forever to drag myself to lance some people... Heck, even Tormod's in front of me... You're either telling me to take a break, or your telling me that you don't know what you're doing. My professional opinion is that you do not know what you are doing. That's pathetic, Boyd!" Gatrie sighed as he trudged forward.

The enemy general ordered his calvary to strike Boyd's right flank. Boyd was too busy rushing in the very front with Largo, cleaving people, that he had no idea that his troops were under attack, until he heard their screams. "Well," thought Gatrie, "at least I have the chance to lance people now." He slowly lumbered forward and attacked the enemy flank head on.

In fact, had it not been for Gatrie, Boyd's supply line would have been raided and he would have been isolated from Ike's watching (and crying) army. Boyd, seeing the situation, suddenly felt a sense of fear. "I'm gonna die... I'm really gonna die..." He thought. Just when Gatrie had finished lancing the last of the enemy units that made up the enemy flank, Boyd shouted: "Everyone! Retreat!"

"But I just saved your neck... Our position is secure. Your best bet would be to follow this up with a frontal strike. We can end this fight..." Gatrie shot back.

"You're not the Commander, I am... And I say that we retreat." Boyd ordered.

"Boyd! I can feather people from a distance! I've practically feathered half of their calvary. Even if you're slow, you have nothing to worry about anymore. We can end this now!" Rolf shouted.

"Shut up, pipsqueak! I said, retreat!" Boyd yelled again.

Boyd's surviving 170 soldiers stared at their Commander as though he was an idiot. They had just gotten themselves out of danger, and were fully able to break their opponent's lines, yet he wanted to retreat... But they had to do it.

The moment they began retreating, the enemy Commander saw Boyd's incompetence and ordered his forces to pester Boyd. These strikes scared Boyd out of his wits, making him run for dear life. Thus, more of Boyd's troops were slain like cowards when their lives could have been spent in glory. Soren, watching these events from a distance, calmly stepped to a tree and rammed his head into it. As Ike and the others stared, Soren continued to ram his head against the tree, yelling: "WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY...!"

Boyd's decisive retreat cost Ike's army 40 troops, and had heightened the moral of the Begnion army. From then on, a warrior who retreated in the moment of security was initiating a "Boyd Maneuver." Boyd, proud and shameless as usual, bragged of how he, as a commander, was in the front lines taking down troops. Everyone else, however, knew better.

Yep, I do not like Boyd.

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