Chapter 3:
Battle At River's Crossing and Barbarian Village
The a small mummer of voices was heard through out the camp Ace and Hookman's crew had set up. The darkness of the night has already taken over and soldiers were huddled around small fires with their buddies trying to keep themselves warm in the forbidding night and finish their food before it got too cold. Some of them had decided to skip dinner and get some shut eye. In the middle of the camp was a big bonfire and Ace along with the others were huddled around it. "How far are we from main camp Red?" asked Ace awaiting Red's scouting report in. "I would say at least 3 kilometers sir" reported Red. "Alright we break camp at dawn. Tell the men to get some sleep early and place some sentries around camp in case they managed to flank our forces by the river." Ace ordered. "It shall be done" replied Red running off to carry out his new orders. "So you guys know what happened to the monkey that was drunk and had small pox?" asked Killerbum. "Uuuummm it died?" answered Hookman with doubt. "Yeah and then what happened?" asked Killerbum once again. "Eerr I don't know" answered Mat, Legacy, Dritz, Hookman, and Killerine in unison. "Another monkey pee on his grave and he came back alive again!" shouted Killerbum and he started cracking up by himself while the others were just staring at him wondering the same thing: What the hell has this guy been smoking. "Ok... that was just corny" stated Killerine and she walked over to her brother and whacked him on the back of his head with her hand. Once again voices can be heard throughout the small camp and along with laughters here and there.
Morning
"Move out! We're moving out!" Ace ordered while riding his horse. Soon everyone began putting out the remaining fires and hurrying to their horses. After 3 hours into the ride Red's outriders along with Dritz came back to the main force reporting their surroundings. They reported sounds of battle near the river side. Ace ordered his troops to ride faster and aid their comrades at the river side. Soldiers readied their spears forming a line of charge. Legacy's sniper division rode even faster spreading to the north and south. When they reached the battle the royal army was being pushed back across the river but goblin commanding officers and hobgoblins were dropping at a rapid pace due to the spectacular performance the sniper crossbows are putting out. Ace shouted to the royal army to move out of the way and that the cavlary was comming through, they litsened and moved out of harms way while the goblins in front of them were trampled by hooves of the horses and piereced by the spears of the cavlary, breaking their lines. The royal army along the snipers picked off any remaining goblin that survived the charge done by the cavlary. The charge also boosted the royal army's hope and their captain ordered them to charge in and over throw the goblin infested barbarian village, but to their surprise the cavlary was retreating from something huge at a distance and reforming a line at the riverside. The royal army's moral dropped once again when they saw towering giants walking towards them with their clubs and swords raised swinging at any retreating cavlary near their reach. There was about 25 of them swining wildly at the soldiers below them. "Reform the line!" shouted Ace. The sniper division was firing wildy at the giants but they just pulled out the bolts and arrows as if they were little splinters. "...may she be with me and lend me my power, amen" whispered Dritz to himself finishing his prayer and he looked through his telescope and aimed at one of the giant's eye and fired his sniper crossbow. Whomp A distant roar of pain was heard and Dritz looked through the telescope to examine his shot. He had succesfully hit the giant's eye and caused him to bleed internally and externally and heavily. The pain the giant went through was excrutiating. He swung his sword around and caused chaos in the advancing giants. He chopped off an arm of one giant and killed the giant behind him with a blow to the head and sliced the other giant next to him and caused the other giant to go into more pain and cause more chaos. Soon a fight had broken through out the giant race. Unfortunately putting 2 giant clans together was not a good idea. Especially when they dropped down. They killed tons of goblins but the fight did not last long. The remaining 5 giants continued their charge towards the royal army. "Fire!" shouted Ace and the cannons that were setup while the goblins and giants were distracted fired. 3 out of 6 cannons hit the giants while the other 3 just exploded on the now retreating goblins. "Reload the cannons!" shouted Ace. "Mat! Take over the firing of the cannons! Red follow me while we distract the giants!" Ace ordered. Together Ace and Red rode forward to distract the remaing 2 giants. Legacy in the tree next to Dritz muttered an enchanment increasing the power of the bolt and aimed it at one of the giant's head and fired. The enhanced bolt pierced through the giant's forehead and killed it instantly and the giant nearly dropped on Red and his horse. "Holy shit!" Red shouted. "Damn you snipers! Trying to get us killed here?" Red shouted in anger. "Sorry!" Legacy replied grinning. Ace rode through the wreckage and looked at the monostirty that laid before him. He threw his spear at the giant and hit only his leg. He rode by a rune two hander stuck in the dirt and he picked it up with one hand with ease. To him, this weapon felt like only 3 kg. He saw Red coming in from the right of him. He nodded and Red acknowledged. When they reached the giant's legs they both sliced at them with all their might and as they crossed each other sliced at the other leg. The duo's attack was succesful and made the giant fall down to his knees and a cannon fired blowing a hole in the giant's chest ending his life. "Continue the charge!" Ace shouted as he picked up his spear and held the rune two hander in his left hand riding towards the desperate goblins attempting to make another stand. The archers and crossbowmen along with the snipers ran across the river splashing mud and blood everywhere and slopping on to land in their charge. The goblin forces feeble rock of courage was broken at last and they retreated into the shadows of the black knight's catlse looming high above the village surrounded by black clouds and lightning was flashing here and there on the mountains of which the catsle was built on. However they did not reach the road into the mountains. They were confronted by an individual that could not be seen because his hood covered his face. He has had a black cape and carried a sword that was tainted red and shined blue when the goblins began to surround him and as one of them attacked from behind he caught him by the head and squeezed turning his head into nothing but a bloody pulp and brain matter splattered everywhere. The dark indivdual twirled his sword with efficiency and decapitated 10 goblins with one slice and blew another then apart with his left palm and the only thing that remained of them was a pile of ashes. The remaining goblins retreated once again trying to make a break for freedom but was confront by Ace who stabbed one goblin with his spear and killed 3 more with a body swiped of his two hander and the rest of his force took care of the remaing goblins. Ace looked again at where the dark individual stood but saw nothing but darkness. Ace wondered who that man was. It was possible that it could have been Kaosmage but he was not completely sure. He blinked away the rain drops that were starting to come down heavily on him and his troops. The army made camp at the barbarian village and burned the dead bodies raiding them of any equipment or items they that have been on them. The loss was humongus once again and Hookman's crew suffered 23 casualties which was nearly half of his force. Thankfully the buildings still smelled fresh and the dining hall was exceptionally clean. Everyone made themselves at home and lighted a fire. Ace and Killerine explored the lookout/prison tower near the river and found children on the first floor and freed them from their bonds. They were escorted by 2 soldiers to the dining hall to be fed and cleaned and treated to medical attention because of their sick and weary look on their faces. On the second and third floor, Ace and Killerine found naked barbarian women in the cells and some were bonded against the walls, all of them having a look of relief when they found out they were saved. Killerine questioned them of why they and their children were alive but the men were not. One woman stepped up and answered her question. "They killed all the men, they killed our children and ate them. They kept the girls alive. We however were kept alive for one reason. To be raped at their pleasure at anytime of the day. They raped us ruthlessly without any concern as long as we satisfied their cravings. They fed us table scrapes to keep us alive so they can rape us mo-" "Stop. I don't need to hear anymore. Get some clothes and goto the dinning hall. There you can eat and sleep peacefully and have medical treatment. Please, I do not wish to hear anymore" said Killerine interrupting with tears streaming down her cheeks. "Those bastards. I'll kill them for you. I'll kill them all!" shouted Killerine bursting throughout the door towards the few goblins that surrendered and became prisoneers. "Killerine wait!" shouted Ace in attempt to stop her fury. Killerine pushed the guards aside and pounced on top of a goblin. "YOU LIKE RAPING HELPLESS WOMEN DON'T YOU!WHY DON'T YOU TRY TO RAPE ME HUH!" Killerine shouted in anger and began punching him with her fists nonstop venting out her anger on the single goblin while the other's watch in horror of what a single woman was doing to one of their toughest leader. He was getting his stuffing beat out of him. The female threw him acorss the room and slammed his head against hers knocking the breath out of him once more. She resumed her punches and kicks and all the others could do was coil up in horror. "God damnit Killerine stop! Stop!" shouted Ace and attempted to pull her away from the goblin before she killed him. " We need information!" shouted Ace once again. "Let me go! I'm going to cut it off! Let me go!" she shouted in fury. "Come on sis! What's done is done. You can't do anything about it!" shouted Killerbum pulling his sister away from the goblin with Ace. "Let me go!" Killerine protested while she was struggling in her bonds of 2 men. She nearly escape their grasp when Red came to help and pulled her away from the goblins at last, but after a while of still uncessful struggling Killerine fell asleep in the rain when she finally exhuasted herself. "Damn, my sis is sure hard to handle sometimes when she gets roused up like that" Killerbum complimented. "She got mom's temper." "Guess your mom is a strong woman" Ace stated. "Come on, let's get her inside. She's going to catch a cold out her wearing those clothes.
Dining Hall
"Shit! This kid is running on a high fever and there is another kid over there that needs better medical treatment than our military first aid! We need a someone that is skillfully practiced in the medical field!" shouted Legacy. "Is there anyone here that has that knowledge?" The room fell silent, but it's silence was broken by the door opening and a an draped in a black cloak holding a brown leather bad walked in. "Let me try" he said. "Jack!" Killerbum shouted at once in joy. "No time for greetings man. We gotta start treating these kids fast. Treat the ones that are around the infant age. Their immune system are the weakest. They need vaccination and antibiotics quick" Jackisgay ordered. "How do you know this?" asked Legacy. "I'm a former surgeon and researcher of small pox and I was the 2nd in command looking over the genetic engineering teams. I was also the one that developed the genetic engineering and vaccination thesis in the lands of Asgarnia" said Jackisgay. "This child's wound is still bleeding. Here get me that bowl of alchol." Jackisgay ordered, and a soldier brought the bowl to him. Jackisgay wiped a clean towel soaked in alchol on the child's wound and he cringed in pain now and then. "Somebody get me some water!" shouted Jackisgay and the soldier that brought him the bowl brought him a jar of water. Jackisgay poured the water into the cup and let the child drink some. He then poured some water onto another towel to clean the wounds and quickly bandaged the wound tightly while he kept one hand on the child's arm holding strongly to stop the bleeding. As soon as the wound was dress Jackisgay sighed in relief and told the child's mother than the cut the child had recieved was a centimeter away from the child's arteries. "Jack! It's Mat! He was injured and he stopped breathing, and his heart stopped beating!" shouted Dritz. "Shit! Someone inject the child with the antibiotics I put next to his arm!" Jack shouted as he tossed aside his towels and ran towards Mat. He peformed CPR when he reached Mat's body at once and kept on pushing Mat's heart with the palm of his hand. "Come on breath Mat. Breath! Come on man. Don't die on me. Come on! Breath mother!" Jackisgay shouted in attempt to rescue one of his friends. A minute and thirty seconds passed and Mat's beating did not come back. "No" whispered Dritz. "Damn it! Breath!" shouted Jackisgay and banged his fist down on Mat's heart and Mat's head jerked up and coughed. "Come on man. Breath. Breath slowly. Someone get him some water!" "Jack the kid here! His fever is running high!" shouted Killerbum. "Somebody get me that purple vial!" Jackisgay shouted. "Here!" shouted a medic."Come on kid. Fight it" said Jackisgay as he poured the purple liquid down the child's mouth and told the mother that all they can do against the fever was to place cold towels on the child's head and let the medicine do it's work. "Looks like all the important things are done" Jackisgay said to himself. "Do we have enough morphine and antibiotics to treat the wounded soldiers?" asked Jackisgay. "Yes sir!" answered another soldier. "I'll stay here awhile and make sure everyone is well treated before we escort them into Varrock" said Jackisgay. "Former founding member of vaccination and antibiotics and a surgeon huh? Good to have you here Jack" said Ace.
Next Day
Killerine was in the now clean river bathing herself. She was away from everyone else so she felt it was okay to go into the water naked. She also washed her clothes in the water while she bathed herself washing away the blood and the dirt. She turned around and saw the goblin she beat up earlier staring at her with lust. She frowned and took her dagger near the river bank and threw it with precision near the window scaring it off. She didn't intend to give those sons of bitches anything free. She pulled on her spare tanktop while the bottom half of her was still the river. Then she heard whitsling to her right. "Nice aim" complimented Jackisgay. "What are you doing here?" Killerine asked with a dangerous voice. "Relax, I'll close my eyes while you change" said Jackisgay. Killerine got into her spare black mini-skirt and asked her question again. "What are you doing here?" "Well let's just say I was giving some medical treatment to the women and children and the soldiers as well."