Morning came all too soon. Kel rose feeling tired and sore, but she knew she didn't have time to sleep any longer. The had killed almost a hundred men that night. But there were still five hundred of them, ready to attack.

With so few horses, the Scanrans couldn't move easily. There was no action at all that day. Kel didn't send any men out, but rather decided to let her men rest while they could. They couldn't do much in the daylight anyway. She posted double guard that night, just in case, but nothing happened, yet again. It worried Kel. Going that long without movement meant they were preparing something big.

She slept gingerly the second night, waking often, imagining that she heard the horns of war. She woke for the last time just before dawn. She was about to roll over and go back to sleep when she realized that the horns were not in her head.

She leapt out of bed and tied on her armour as fast as she could. She had slept in breeches and a shirt, knowing that she might have to get up at any time. It was the right decision. She was the first person outside, her sword in it's sheath, her glaive and bow in hand. Her commanders arrived only seconds after she did.

"What is it?" Dom asked, sleep still on his face.

Kel grimaced as she looked through her spyglass. "All of them. They're marching." She turned back to the men. "Prepare the archers! Along the northern and eastern walls. Dom, I want you and your men ready to ride out. Merric, yours too. By the time their men are in range, we'll be ready for them."

The men nodded and scattered. Kel took out her spyglass again and looked out. It didn't look good. Five hundred men marching on her camp, ready for battle, and probably still unknown by any Tortallans outside of New Hope. The sun was rising on what would soon be a massacre.

Moments later, the archers were in place. Kel stood atop the wall once again, ready to lead them.

"They can't just be marching on us. There has to be something more. They wouldn't have left it so long." Kel heard Fanche's voice from beside her.

She nodded. "I've been thinking about it. I want three scouts set up on the southern wall, three on the west. That's the most I can spare. So make it your most reliable. I remember my first battle; I could barely keep my eyes off it."

Fanche nodded and disappeared. She returned a moment later. "Six scouts are in place," she said calmly. Kel nodded, still watching the approaching army.

She stood up. "Prepare arms!" She cried out. She didn't need to shout. Every man, woman, and child was silent, awaiting orders. She had trained them well. As soon as the Scanrans came into range, Kel called open fire. She watched as men went down. Not enough, but some. "Fanche, there aren't five hundred men out there!" She said, loosing an arrow.

Fanche nodded grimly. "I was about to mention it."

Kel left Fanche in command and ran to the other end of the fort, ducking low to avoid any stray arrows. She looked over the south wall. Nothing. She kept going around the walkway to the western wall. One of the men suddenly pointed at something in the distance. Kel took out her spyglass, unsure of what she was looking at. "I see movement!" She cried. She turned and shouted down to Dom, "get your men out there as fast as you can! Around to the western wall! There are at least a hundred men attempting to breach the western wall – they're going to go over the moat!" She ran down the stairs as she shouted and mounted Peachblossom, who was waiting. The gates opened slowly, and Kel and the men galloped out. The Scanrans were still far enough on the north that they couldn't reach the men coming out the door on the east side – they were safe, for the moment. Kel felt the hard wood of her glaive in her hand. It comforted her. it continued to comfort her until the rode up upon almost a hundred and fifty Scanrans with great cut logs for breaching the moat.

"Mithros protect us," Kel whispered, pushing her helm down further onto her head as she rode towards battle.

She didn't have her bow with her, so she couldn't shoot them as they came across. But the bridges they made out of great trees were not wide enough for more than four men each, and they only had six of them. They laid them out quickly across the water, and Kel and her men were unable to do anything about it until they could ride over. Luckily, the Scanrans had limited weapons because of their heavy load – they all carried a sword and a shield, but none had bows; a very silly idea.

Two men rode out onto the first plank, cutting down every man that tried to get past them. Two more went onto the next. Kel saw Merric on one. Men still squeezed through, not daring to try and cut the knights horses when they passed, knowing that every second they waited on that bridge brought them closer to their doom.

But waiting on land was a worse fate. A squad of the King's Own awaited them. Their narrow passage, even without the soldiers blocking their way, meant that they couldn't surround Kel and her men. But they cut down two soldiers and were now rushing past. Kel's men had nowhere to retreat. She had somehow known something like this would happen – they could not hold back these men, but they couldn't retreat to the gate because they would probably get shot by the Scanrans attempting to breach the bridge.

"For the red dawn!" She heard someone scream. She raised her glaive and kept fighting, surely to her death. She had made a decision that, while possibly save her people, would certainly kill her and her men.

But there was something else. She could hear the shouts of men and the clash of swords from further ahead. She retreated slightly up the hill to take it all in.

At least three hundred Tortallan men were riding in behind the Scanrans. Wyldon or Raoul, whoever it was, Kel couldn't remember – they had received her message, and they had answered it. They were her saviours. She watched, as if in a dream, as they came behind the Scanrans, shooting them and cutting them down with their swords. The crowd of a hundred men had nowhere to go, and were quickly killed by the Tortallan men. But what of the other four hundred men? How were they going to stop them? They couldn't get back into the fort, because they would easily be shot as they tried to go in front of all the men across the moat. Kel rode across the makeshift bridge towards the army. She found Raoul at the front of it. "Wonderful to see you, Keladry!" He said with a grin. "Shall we head around and help out with those gents on the other side?"

Kel smiled. "That would be wonderful," she said. "We'll stay here in case anyone tries to sneak around this side." Raoul nodded and signalled to his men to ride around to the other side of the camp, where there were still about three hundred Scanrans attempting to get across the moat.

"How are you doing?" Dom asked, riding up beside Kel.

She shrugged as she drained her canteen. "We could be doing better. We've lost a few men, but I think we're doing alright."

Dom smiled weakly. "And you?"

Kel sighed. "I'll live," she said with a smile. With that, she turned Peachblossom around and they walked their horses back to the gate.

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What makes me laugh is that I haven't looked at this in over a month, and all I did right now was add an extra sentence. Oh well.

Atlanta Enchanted: heehee. Neal is dead. Jokes, he's inside. Kel didn't let him go to battle because she needed him as a healer.

Caremel: don't worry, now there will be fluff.

Wake-Robin: ooh, tension. Yay.

FanFictionFantom: haha. I think it's because it was during a war. And I liked that better than the 'ooh, giant evil nemesis come to randomly kill people and take over the world! Bwa ha ha!' But I can definitely see where you are coming from.

Alenor: thanks!

Lady of Masbolle: thanks!

Tiffany: yay! I love making people cry. In a good way, of course.

NarwhalGirl: thanks!

Jesse's Querida: what the heck is a querida? Curse my idiocy! And thanks.

Queen Tigress: your name reminds me of Le Tigre, for obvious reasons. I tried to download their songs and nothing happened. You make me happier than the lack of Le Tigre, because you reviewed me! Yay! Thank you!

"I think a good gift for the President would be a chocolate revolver. and since he is so busy, you'd probably have to run up to him real quick and give it to him."

-unolimbo