The battle of Aprhen's Hold
On the rampart of the ancient fort of Aphren's Hold, a blue and silver silhouette paced the way of round, making the turn of the positions occupied by the Bretons soldiers.
Her presence had a definite effect on the morale of the defenders. First, the garrison was essentially male, and this young woman was breathless! Small, and frail, she had hair like powder of pure gold tied in a mat that rolled up at the back of her head. And her eyes were like emeralds shining in a face that seemed chiseled in alabaster.
But there was also her reputation...
Artoria Pendragon was a completely unknown Knight of the Rose two years earlier, but she had accomplished several feats during the war against the Orsinium Orcs who made her a celebrity.
Dressed in a blue dress on a white petticoat, she wore over gauntlets and a pectoral with strange metal plates forming an articulated skirt protecting her legs.
The outfit was strange, but it was some kind of armor...
Saber - as Shirou and Rin most often called her- was lost in her thoughts. While greeting the defenders at their posts and inspecting the new arrangements to improve the crumbling walls of the old fort, her mind was focused on a problem that left her no longer resting:
Were the Redguards going to attack?
From a strictly military point of view, they had nothing to gain from attacking Aphren's Hold. The defenders have not enough troops to face the invaders in the open countryside and their supplies were limited. In other words, the Redguards could win this fight simply by sitting around watching them starve to death!
Yet when she had crossed the enemy encampment, Saber had seen that the besiegers were busy building catapults and shields on wheels. Such material could only be used in an attack... The war logic emphasized the absurdity of this assault, but Saber was convinced that it would take place. Finally, everything was explained if we considered the personality of the enemy leader.
Kirie Kotomine!
Artoria's eyes narrowed with a sudden burst of anger.
It was the third time she had run into this man. During the Fourth Grail War, his machinations had caused the death of Irisviel, as well as that of Tokomi Tohsaka, leaving his wife severely disabled. Then during the Fifth Grail War, he killed Lancer's Master and stole her command marks before using Cù Chulainn as a "scout" to enable him to gauge the other Servants. Shirou and her had managed to stop Kirie with the help of Rin, but their friend had been injured, and when Illyasviel had been kidnapped and they had not seen her since the Grail had brought them here.
Artoria sighed, striving to cast out her anger.
But the feeling of having left an unfinished task was not to be only her own.
Her eyes were fixed on the figure wearing a blue leather jumpsuit that inspected another section of Aphren's Hold.
Cù Chulainn had died to save Shirou and her. He had not sacrificed himself in confronting Gilgamesh because he particularly liked them, no... But Kotomine had manipulated him, used him without ever having intended to let the Irish warrior make a wish to the Grail. Lancer too must have had a score to settle with the false priest. Especially since Kirei Kotomine had just kidnapped Bazett Fraga McRemitz, Lancer's original Master, with the intention of sacrificing her to invoke Avenger. It could be a simple coincidence... Or not! But whether it was one or the other, Saber knew Lancer well enough to be certain that the Irish warrior took it as a personal insult.
Yes, it was absurd... but Artoria was certain that Kirei Kotomine was going to attack Aphren's Hold. Kirei had only to wait for the fort to fall or perform an invocation's ceremony to call Angra Mainyu on Nirn but... for him too it had become personal. And Kirie wasn't the kind of guy who let a chance pass by to hurt his enemies with his own hands.
Ironically, the last chance to save Nirn depended... on Kirie.
The next day, at the first ray of the sun...
Artoria Pendragon heard this sound in her sleep. For the untrained ear, it evoked thunder. But she awoke instantly. Jumping on her feet, the legendary King Arthur invoked her armor and sword. She ran up the stairs and climbed up the tower.
She knew the war well.
Saber had fought hundreds of battles in her lifetime. However, she had to make an effort to mask the fear that was gripping her stomach. The spectacle of the enemy cavalry that invaded the plain had enough to impress the strongest hearts. It was like a river in flood, breaking its dikes and spreading in the fields. The Redguards, dressed in red, were divided into light cavalry regiment with leather armor, falchions, and small round shields, and heavy regiments with horses protected by bards, horsemen with lamellar armor, and long spears adorned with pennants.
Behind them were advancing infantry battalions grouped in squares, framed by banner-bearers. Some held seat ladders, or pushed catapults. However, it was above all the vision of the civilians pushed before the enemy warriors excited the fury of King Arthur:
"Cowards!"
"Human shield. A strategy worthy of Kirei" mocked Lancer.
Artoria turned to Cù Chulainn. The Irish warrior was casually crouching on the battlements, Gae Bolg resting across his shoulders.
This impression of nonchalance exploded the next moment as he leaped back, and fell on his legs the scarlet spear surrounded by a blood-colored aura. His face was congested, inhuman:
"Kirei! You fucking jerk... This time, I swear Gae Bolg will pierce your heart!"
As the cavalry gained ready positions, the infantry overtook them. The fighters armed with spears and scimitars stopped first. The crossbowmen overtook them to begin to spread and to space each other. The catapults were placed in the back. Only a few men armed with whips continued their march, pushing their prisoners in front of them.
Attentive, Artoria followed the enemy's movements seeking to understand the enemy's strategy. However, she mainly identified their banners. Most of the flags showed a golden dragon on a red background in pursuit of a star...
"Dragonstar!"
Dragonstar was one of the smallest Redguard states of the Illiac Bay, just southeast of the Breton's Kingdom of Ephesus. As for the other banners... Saber frowned:
"Cù Chulainn, what is this standard?"
King Arthur showed a rectangular standard in front of a mismatched infantry singing strange hymns. The long band of fabric that snapped in the wind was adorned with a black snake on a yellow background.
"This? This is Kirei's personal banner! The fanatics of his new religion are fighting under this banner. They even wear the sign of the snake on their wrist!"
Artoria forgot to breathe, remembering events nearly two years ago...
The men who had attacked her while she was with Rin in a tavern of Wayrest, just before leaving in search of the Crystal of Corvus... they were Redguards tattooed of a snake on the wrist (1)! As for the fleet that had defeated the Imperials in Illiac Bay and destroyed most of the Bretons reinforcements destined for Alcaire... it came from Dragonstar (2).
"Kirei!" swore Artoria, her voice full of anger.
The pieces of the puzzle had finally come together... No, this arrogant Shinji Matou had not been their main opponent all these years. From the beginning, he was just a puppet that Kirei Kotomine manipulated in the shadows.
"Soldiers, listen to me!"
The eyes turned to Artoria Pendragon who had just given voice.
"Over the past two years, I've been in four sieges as a besieged, or besieging, and each time, my defeat seemed certain. However, I emerged victorious from all these clashes. Moreover, each of them was a humiliating defeat for the enemies of Hight Rock. Some of you may remember that I helped liberate Wayrest, besieged by the armies of Orsinum."
While speaking, King Arthur followed the advance of the enemy battalions with the eyes. The Breton bow was hardly powerful. It was easier to understand why most regiments preferred the crossbow. Although slower, the sight was easy, and the bolt could pierce the best armor. On the contrary, the cavalry regiment commanded by Cù Chulainn included mounted archers. However, an arrow can be fired indirectly, unlike a bolt which could only be fired in a straight line.
There the halberds advanced pushing the peasants like a mobile shield.
"On my command, indirect fire! Now!"
A cloud of arrows feathered with grey geese feathers took flight. Arriving at the peak of their trajectory, the arrows fell, striking almost vertically. The Redguards halberds occupying the front lines had no shield and were more than vulnerable. The first salvo caused the enemy rush to swing. The second opened wide gaps. At the third decimated the survivors who fled.
Of course, the enemy crossbowmen fought back furiously. Only, the bolt ricocheted against the créneaux, got into the wooden mantles, or passed over the heads of the archers well sheltered on the walkway. Opposing soldiers sheltered behind tripod shields and rapidly elevated barricades, protections effectively capable of stopping a projectile coming from the front.
"Same tactics!" continued Saber "New target: enemy crossbowmen."
The deadly rain struck the crossbowmen, as unable to respond effectively as the other infantrymen in the face of this tactic. One wave of arrows fell after another, spinning towards the ground in an impressive whistle. Even at a distance, the cries of pain and terror struck the imagination.
Over the battlefield, flags were deployed. Responding to these visual orders, most enemy formations retreated. It would take a while for the enemy to reorganize. This operational pause was more than welcome to intervene. Artoria bent down to locate the peasants. They had continued on their way and reached the foot of the walls. No enemy accompanied them. Those who did not lie on the ground, pierced with arrows, had retreated.
"Open the doors! Quick! Let's get shelter our peoples before the besiegers get back together."
Cù Chulainn glanced at Artoria Pendragon and whispered between his teeth:
"Nice job, I never thought I'd use my archers that way."
Artoria smiled in response:
"I spent a lot of time with an archer..."
"Oh, yeah, that weird kid. Shirou. Is he okay?"
But before Saber could point out to him that the time was ill-timed for private conversions an impressive hum resounded. Passing over their heads, a pitch-covered projectile fell back into Aphren's Hold. The ball broke down a building, projecting tiles and planks around it, together with burning debris that fell on other nearby hovels. Already flames were rising.
Saber looked towards the enemy lines. The Redguards lined up several catapults that were firing towards the walls. If she had commanded the enemy forces, Artoria would have started the assault with an attack of catapult. She allegedly razed the battlements to drive the defenders out of the patrol lane before sending the assailants with siege ladders. Afterward, she would have made a breach in the wall, and - only then - it would have been the turn of the infantry. Fortunately, Kirei Ktomine was not as good a tactician as she was.
For several days, the clash had entered a routine phase, dawn was rising on the ruins of Aphren's Hold. The soldiers and civilians gathered on the ramparts were exhausted. They spent days fighting, and the nights repairing the damage inflicted on the walls of the fort. After each direct attack on the walls, the catapults began to beat the air with their long arms, pulling rocks and incendiary charges.
For the defenders, it was an endurance fight. Every night, they had to repair the damage inflicted during the day. While for the assailants, it was necessary to show patience and hope the exhaustion of the besieged. However, Kirei Kotomine had already proved that waiting was not his forte.
A little before noon, the false priest again showed haste. Doubtless believing that the defenders were sufficiently weakened, he deployed his troops in a frontal assault.
Leaving Lancer in command of the archers, Artoria Pendragon brought as many militiamen as possible to reinforce the sector of the walls threatened by the advance of enemy soldiers carrying assault ladders. They had learned from their previous experiences. Now they advanced protected by large shields raised above their heads, also forming true walls on their flanks and in front of their first rank. The arrows shot from the ramparts were powerless against such protection. With the exception of a few lucky arrows, they became helpless. The testudo formations effectively protected the ladder teams climbing the walls of Aphren's Hold.
Kirei's attack was dangerous because it was aimed at a point where the bulwark had completely collapsed under the action of the catapults. The barricade of debris was not as strong or as high as the section of wall it was replacing.
Leading by example, Artoria Pendragon climbed the barricade, standing in front of the enemy who was preparing to climb it on the other side. The militia welcomed them with rocks and boiling oil. The first ladder could not be lifted because its porters were decimated. The second reached the top of the barricade. However, men armed with pitchforks repelled it as the first fighters climbed it.
When the ladder fell and the bruised assailants retreated, there was a formidable victory cry. Unfortunately, this joy was premature. A third assault team managed to fix its ladder. Despite the deaths and injuries during the ascent, they reached the top of the barricade. Artoria found himself facing a huge Redguard wearing leather and ring armor and armed with a large scimitar. The dark-skinned man leaps forward, seeking to lift off his head. The Sword of the Wind King described a bluish arc of light and King Arthur pushed his enemy back, opening his shoulder. In the second exchange of blows, Saber pushed back the scimitar with her left buckler-gauntlet and hitting the enemy in the chest before sending him to the bottom of the ladder with a kick. He fell among the assailants who clung together like ants.
The assaults followed the assaults. The Rougegardes climbed, preceded by flocks of tiles that ricocheted against the merlons where they stuffed themselves into the mantelets. Away from the battlements of Aphren's Hold, the archers fought backfiring dense clouds of arrows that opened gaps in the rush of the assailants.
In spite of everything, some ladders finally landed on the ramparts and some assailants even managed to seize a section of the rampart. An ephemeral victory, Lancer led the counter-attack himself. Metamorphosing into a fuzzy, blue, and red shape, he bounces on an opponent to hit another. In five seconds... he had massacred about twenty enemies and his red spear turned into a wheel broke the weapons of the Redguards who attacked him.
The trumpets finally sounded the retreat. Despite hundreds of dead and wounded, the Dragonstar's troops had been repelled in all points. While the archers continued to shoot at the enemies, turning their retreat into a rout.
Calm gradually returned to the battlefield. However, the enemy cavalry was gathering out of reach of the bows. While new flags were rising, transmitting orders remotely. The combination of pennant was unusual, promising a different form of attack from all the previous attacks. As the catapults continued to keep silent, the defenders pressed on the ramparts. With their eyes wide open, they were looking for a clue as to the new tactic adopted by the Redguards.
Finally, the sentinels stationed at the main gate of the north wall called. Artoria Pendragon and Cù Chulainn rushed to reach the bastion at the same time. One of the defenders pointed to a movable shield mounted on a wheel. Out of the enemy ranks, he advanced painfully in the direction of the postern.
The threat seemed insignificant, but Lancer immediately ordered to open fire. Only, the arrows bristled the wooden panel, unable to pierce. The shelter on wheels came to a sudden stop. As the archers raised their heads, arrows notched, a man left the protection offered by the siege shield. Saber had just the time to recognize the ornate dress and turban of a magician. His hands described magic passes in the air, drawing a sphere. Immediately, it is filled with fire. The igneous orb then left the hands of its creator in a perfect trajectory that led it to burst against the door, projecting in all directions broken boards and stones in a formidable crash.
The feat of the anonymous magician was however sanctioned by several projectiles which nailed him to the ground before he could regain the mobile shelter.
However, it was too late. While the echo of the detonation was still rolling in the plain, the hammering of hundreds of horses at a gallop answered it. The enemy cavalry charged the door ripped open by the magic explosion.
The Redguard horseman wore leather armor and a turban helmet with an iron crest, squeezing a long spear. The neigh of his mount had attracted the gaze of Artoria Pendragon to him as she descended the stairs that led to the rampart. Many of his kind were breaking into the fort. Their cries were heard, the noise of their battles against the besieged, and the hissing of the arrows shot at them from the bastion crowning the gate.
However, the Dragonstar's horseman and Saber kept their eyes on each other. It was as if each had discovered in the other a mortal enemy.
As Artoria reached the bottom of the steps, the rider pushed the heels into the sides of his horse, with a loud cry. In the thunder of hooves hammering the hardened earth, he pointed his spear at the throat of his enemy.
There was a metal noise when the Redguard passed Saber. For a moment, the horse seemed to continue on its way as if nothing had happened. Then, the black-skinned warrior rolled to the ground. The legendary King Arthur turned to watch his enemy painfully return to his feet, then the two warriors rushed towards each other. The exchange was short. Already wounded when he had emptied his stirrups, the Redguard was finished in two blows by Saber.
Dissipating Excalibur, Artoria ran to the nearest barricade. All the ways leading to the gates were thus barred. A precaution that proved more than justified in view of the turn taken by the battle.
Informing a gray sergeant giving orders to her soldiers, she asked him what the situation was. The old non-commissioned officer showed the horses running in circles, empty saddle and the corpses on the ground and on the barricade:
'We repelled the first assault, only a few enemies passed. I think it's the same everywhere. However, the riders who managed to cross gather on the square. If they attack us from behind when the second wave is upon us, then the worst will be to fear."
Indeed, an officer wearing a magnificent armor of iron plates gave orders to the enemy horsemen. Obviously, a man of experience who would be dangerous to underestimate.
Over the barricade, the hard and cruel eyes of the warrior in Saber's armor and emerald gaze crossed. Obeying his orders, the Horsemen of Dragonstar gathering, charging the barricade where Saber was standing. Behind Artoria, the sergeant communicated his instructions to those he commanded. They were of the utmost simplicity:
"Aim for the leader!"
Twenty bows stretched out. A shower of arrows fell on the only target that had been so designated to them. The result was overwhelming. Horseman and horse were on the ground, pierced on all sides, while some projectiles that had missed the officer wounded or killed those who stood beside him.
The volley made the other mounted warriors howled with rage. This opportunity was immediately used to launch a counter-attack. Cù Chulainn appears at the head of a troop sheltered behind a wall of shields. Once again Lancer demonstrated his speed and agility. He seemed to appear simultaneously at various points of the clash, his cursed spear seeking the heart of an enemy... and killing him.
It only takes a few seconds for the confrontation to turn into a disaster. Terrified, the surviving Redguards rode away. Demoralized by their heavy losses and the death of their commander, the cavalry no longer thought of reforming its ranks to attack. Their desire to win had evaporated. The Redguards horsewhipped their mounts, galloping them out of the trap formed by the walls of the fort.
Meanwhile, Artoria had rushed to the ramparts. Grabbed to the battlements, she witnessed the exit of the surviving riders. They ran straight to an infantry battalion of Dragonstar's infantry who sought to enter Aphren's Hold through the broken postern. Terrified and panicked, the Redguards' riders didn't recognize their own or didn't care. It was just an obstacle in their way. The clash of the two troops caused real chaos... Men were trampled as the formation of the infantry disintegrated, leaving them very vulnerable.
Imperious, King Arthur raised a hand:
"Archers, fire at will."
With her sword, she pointed to the broken ranks of the infantrymen, the mounts that threw their horsemen to the ground. Falling back into the midst of such chaos, the salvo unleashed a veritable carnage. Finally broken, the enemies threw their weapons to run faster, fleeing towards their lines.
This sudden rout appeared to be contagious. The regiments held in reserve retreated spontaneously. The losses had accumulated since the start of the siege and the disaster of the last assault was too great. Some generals would not have understood the state of mind of their men and would have vituperated, threatening to execute the stragglers. This kind of nonsense was often the last mistake they made, causing the uprising of the troop. Unfortunately for Saber and the other besieged, Kirei Kotomine had spent his life manipulating his fellows, he understood them too well to do this kind of lack of command. The retirement bell sounded, officializing the retreat. The false priest had given the only order to which his soldiers could still obey.
On the ramparts, the outcome of the clash was greeted by a wave of cries expressing pride and joy.
As King Arthur observed the disorderly ebb of the defeated army, Lancer came to join her on the walkway. His armor was stained with blood, he had bright eyes, exalted by victory.
"Ah ah ah, Saber, we beat them up and they will tell their grandchildren! And in High Rock, our feats will make songs for the bards!"
Artoria bowed:
"Once again, the Red Plains Dog has been true to its legend, it is by ten that you kill your enemies, O Son of the Light of Ireland!"
King Arthur then turned to Aphren's Hold, drowned in smoke on the battlefield. The fort had almost been razed to the ground. Here and there, buildings were still burning. While some of the disabled tried to barricade the destroyed gallows, others gathered the wounded for treatment. The dead were lying in front of the main tower.
The spectacle shook her heart. Even victorious, the battles were costly in human lives. Leaning on the ramparts, Saber looked at the desolation that extended to the gates. The enemy's losses were much heavier. If all the corpses gathered in front of the gallows were to stand up again, there would have been no room to circulate between them.
Preceded by Lancer, Artoria returned to the old dungeon where she was able to wash off the blood and dust of the battle.
The enthusiasm brought by the fight had not lasted long, already Lancer was morose:
"Well, victory is ours. But in the end, what does it bring us? There are only five days left before the eclipse, if we do not prevent Bazett's sacrifice this battle will only have delayed our death. I don't think we can stop Angra Mainyu reincarnated to the two of us, saber.
Saber nodded thoughtfully:
"I agree with you, Lancer. The answer is obvious, we must prevent Kotomine from carrying out this ritual."
Artoria's calm tone earned her a dubious look from Cù Chulainn. He raised his arms to heaven:
"When you talk about it, it almost sounds easy!"
"No, it's not. But to succeed in the impossible is the nature of heroes, Lancer. Look, on my way here, I saw the Redguards brought to light a Direnni ruin. The prisoners we delivered on the first day of the battle will no doubt confirm this, but that is where they had to work. And if they were sent here to serve as a living shield, that's because Kotomine found what he was looking for. The sacrifice of Bazett Fraga McRemitz will take place in an invocation room of these ruins in exactly five days. So we know where and when. I think the best thing is to leave tonight, the two of us. Taking advantage of the fact that today's defeat has provoked a security lapse in the enemy operation, we will slip between the sentries."
A terrifying smile appeared on Lancer's lips. More than ever he looked like a rabid dog ready to leap:
"And woe to those who seek to prevent us from saving Bazett."
Artoria simply acquiesced. Cù Chulainn made Gae Bolg appear:
"But if you want us to remain good friends, don't touch that false priest! Kirei Kotomine is mine!"
"Of course."
(1) See Chapter 10.
(2) See Chapter 22.