Hey Everybody!!!!!! Thanx so much for reading my story. I know, I'm an awful updater, but hey, I hope it was worth the wait. I know I have tons of grammar and spelling mistakes, but go easy on me. I hate grammar. This is going to be a really long chapter. Enjoy!!!!!!!!

Chapter 3- Battle for the Woods



After further discussing the situation, Bran and I decided to set up guard on the walls and just hope that the walls would hold. The castle wasn't meant to be a fortress, but one of the previous lords must have decided to build the castle so that it would work as a fort. I used to hate the fort-like look that prevented the castle from ever looking very elegant. Now, I felt completely grateful that I had decided not to remodel the entire form of the castle before.

The Denlieff warriors were going to have to knock over the castle walls to get to us. After a brief rest and meal, we immediately went out into the courtyard. We met with Nessaren and the other commanders discussing our plans. The walls were strong, and we would have the advantage defending from a height. Unfortunately, Denlieff warriors were legendary in hand-to-hand combat on level territory; therefore our only hope would be if our guard on the walls would hold. If the warriors managed to storm in, we would be caught.

We positioned our soldiers on the walls with bows and arrows. Our two precious catapults were wheeled into the courtyard and placed at an angle. Soon the flurry of preparational activity was over and everybody took their positions either on the wall, at the catapults or one of the supply stations in the courtyard.

From my commander's position on the wall next to Bran, I suddenly realized how different everything was. A warring battlefield had replaced my images of a sweet homely Tlanth. I looked around into the faces of every soldier around me. Some showed fear, some held determination. Some of them were filled with excitement. Mingled in with the ridings of soldiers I had brought, were all the men in the village. Many were far too young, and some were far too old. In a painful moment, I realized, that because of the greed of some men, every single one of these innocent men were risking the chance that while defending their turf, they might never smell the fresh smell of dampened grass after the rain on a summer's day again, or never hear the thin comforting strains of the music of the hill folk again. While protecting the lands that have been theirs for generations, every one of these men might never see their families again. And yet, all of them still stood here before me, waiting for orders. I was suddenly filled with an immense admiration of all the courage and sacrifice of these soldiers.

With tears rolling down my cheeks, I hardened my heart in anger against all the Denlieff bandits who were trying to take the precious lives of my people away. I broke out of my thoughts as the distant rumble of drums sounded in the distance. The bandits were marching towards us. The air around me was tense enough to be cut with a knife as we waited. There was a sort of holy silence, as every soldier took in the last few moments of peace, and prepared to defend their castle with their lives, soon to be broken as the army of thieves marched into sight.

The view was magnificent with the setting sun slinking away on the horizon behind the thick, rich forests with a mass of bandits marching toward us. For me, it was hard to believe such a view could contain so much evil, yet the cries of encouragement and battle around me on the wall brought me back to reality. The commanders stationed around the wall called out their final commands before everything quieted down again. Every single soldier who could string an arrow onto a bow was positioned at the wall, aiming into the distance.

The plan was that as soon as the bandits came within shooting range, to release a storm of arrows on them, killing the first row of them. The action would be repeated as many times as possible, until the bandits came close enough for close combat. All the commanders looked at me, waiting for my command to release all the arrows. I looked ahead, butterflies fluttering in my stomach. Three...two...one...

"Fire!" I roared as loud as I could. In the closing distance, I could see the rows of bandits falling as my ears were filled with the whizzing of arrows. Soon, a second storm of arrows was released. Bandit after bandit fell, and yet, our arrows weren't enough. The distance between the bandits and our wall shortened rapidly and soon, we were starting our closer combat. A storm of bandits raced to set up ladders. We immediately tried to push them over. The battle had begun.

I watched as we set up our catapults and crushed crowds of bandits, and yet there were still more and more bandits coming. They had set up their catapults and big stone bolts crashed into the courtyard.



"Lord, the entire army of Denlieff must be here!" yelled Bran over the din of the battle. Although, we were holding our own, there were still too many bandits. Some of them had made it over the wall and were quickly fighting our soldiers. The sun had fully set by the time we realized we were still far outnumbered. A thick bunch of bandits had reached our gate, and were steadily thudding against it. It was all the soldiers in the courtyard could do to hold the gate in.

"Bran!" I yelled over at him. "Bran! Let me lead a group of our villagers out the back gate and around into the forest so we can attack them from behind!"

"No! It's too dangerous!" He said, in spite of the worry lines creasing into his face. "I can't let you go."



"Don't worry! We know the terrain there better. Besides, it's our last hope before they break into our gate. Please, Bran, I promise I'll be careful."

Reluctantly, Bran agreed. I immediately gathered a big group of the local villagers including Geval and a couple of soldiers. We made our way through to the side gate, where we paused as I told them about my plans. We snuck out the gate and into the thick dark forest behind it. We made our way through to the western side of the forest right behind the bandits. We positioned ourselves at the edge of the forest. Everyone waited until my signal until we released a string of arrows into the bandits.

We kept firing until we knew we had blown our cover and that the bandits were aware of us before we stopped. I took a deep breath and with a loud cry of "Forward for Tlanth!" we burst out of the trees into the army of bandits. I drew out my sword and immediately thrust it into an unsuspecting bandit. Our entire plan was to surprise them, or else my plan would fail, but I guess we succeeded, because we managed to kill a large number of bandits before several of my soldiers fell.

And so began the desperate battle for us. My swordsmanship had improved, but I was still as small and scrawny as ever. The major improvement for me in this battle for me was the fact that my armor actually fit. After an hour or so, I signaled for my group of soldiers and retreated back into the forest. Our numbers had dwindled and several of my soldiers were wounded.

"We should go back to the wall." Geval spoke up. I quickly nodded. As we made it back to the wall, through the forest, I noted that our little attack had been a success. I met up with Bran back at the commander's spot on the wall; I noted that the bandits had retreated a little.

"Mel! You made it back!" Said Bran, looking very relieved. "I think that when you attacked from behind, the bandits panicked, and retreated a little."

"Good, has the wall been holding?" The moon that risen high in the sky, casting an eerie light on the castle. Involuntarily, I shivered. I tried not to think of all the lives that had already been lost.

"Yes, everything has been pretty much the same since you..." I glanced up at what might have caused Bran to falter. The sight that met my eyes was not what I wanted to see. From every direction I could see, except on the side where we had a forest, there were bandits pouring towards us. The ones below at the wall seemed to take on a fresh energy and started rebuilding ladders up. The soldiers in the courtyard scrambled to stable the gate as throngs of bandits pounded against it outside. Our soldiers were tiring and many were injured. It seemed hopeless.

"I think it's time I took another group behind to the bandits." I said. Bran nodded wearily as he turned to help overturn a nearby ladder with bandits on it. I gathered another group of villagers and soldiers and headed back out the side gate into the forest. Thus was the cycle that continued the entire night. Every time we started losing against the bandits, we retreated back to wall where I gathered a new group of soldiers to go out into the forest with me.

When the sky turned pink, and the first rays of dawn peaked over the distant hills, we were hopelessly losing. The wall was barely holding and yet, there seemed to be an endless storm of Denlieff warriors rushing towards us. I was on the ground in front of the forest fighting, when I first heard the thin strains of a trumpet to the east. At first my heart despaired, thinking that more bandits were coming. Then gradually, as the trumpet became clearer, I noticed that it was playing the Remalna horn call. I looked to the eastern hills, and gathered new hope when I saw rows of soldiers wearing the Remalna colors rushing down to our aid.

Just as I was rejoicing, I felt something sharp pierce my side. Darkness overtook me as I fell.



---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------

Wow, pretty long chapter, huh? Hope you liked it. Review now! I promise I'll update soon. Oh, and Mel doesn't die. Don't worry.