'1356'
Chapter 8: 'Mordhau' (The Battle of Great Grey Pass Part 2)
Having the great sword as a weapon creates a large 'strike zone' around the welder. Countess Ghislaine uses that knowledge to her advantage in battle. A splash of blood hit her as she bisected Morning Glory. Like a dance of blood and steel, she swung her blade with deadly grace and every Pony-Knight that faced her sword was cut down with great ease
The Griffon and Mountain Hippogriff knights clashed at the entrance of 'The Deep'. It echoed with the sounds of ringing steel and cries of agony. Lady Wilhelmina and her knights joined the fray as she slashed one mare-knight across the throat. She moved forward to slash a stallion across his back legs, and made an upward slash to take his face clean off
The mace was breaking bones and caving heads in while the battle axe was reaping a harvest of flesh as Pony-Knights were missing legs and heads in it's wake. The Earl of Grey looked on as his numbers of knights were dwindling to this rebel army that he deemed as 'nothing more than a rabble of woodcutters and shopkeepers' while he gritted his teeth
Lady Wilhelmina pointed sword to The Earl of Grey to which he just made a casual smirk, "You lot will have to do better than that," he said to himself as his Pegasi-Knights were being pulled down by their wings, and hacked to pieces by the sword or axe. Some were ran through by the lance or spear. Their bodies resembling morbid fruit on a tree branch
With that, Lady Ghislaine killed a stallion-knight by slashing across his face and bridge of his muzzle diagonally and part of his helmet. The Northern Griffon then parried aside a longsword from a unicorn mare-knight, and then cut off the mare's left front leg, making the mare wail in pain while holding the stump of her leg and falling to the stone ground.
"In the Name of Celestia, I will crush you!" The Earl called out
"When fur grows on our palms!" Lady Wilhelmina quipped
"Send in the infantry! Push forward!" The Earl of Grey ordered to his Ponies, pointing his sword back at two of three rebel leaders. Another item that has left it's mark on the battlefields as an everyday tool turned into an effective weapon for the rebels is the 'Four Lugged Chopping Axe'. In peacetime, it's an everyday and multi-use tool for the Griffons
It is used for daily tasks like chopping firewood and trimming branches. With a 23.6in long handle, a 4.7in edge length, and weighing 2.2lbs, this is an older type of axe which dates to the 7th century CE. In wartime, it becomes a handy and agile side weapon in case a Soldier-Griffon or a Hippogriff loses a main weapon such as a sword or spear in battle
As she ran her blade into the belly and out the upper back of a mare-knight, another took a chance and managed to knock Lady Ghislaine back on her wings. She made a roll to evade an axe, and readied a heater shield and longsword. The stallion-knight made a swing at her with an axe. She parried it with her shield and stabbed him through the mouth
She sheathed back her sword, and put her shield back behind her back. Ghislaine caught her sword by the grip, and spun the sword with a rotation of the wrist which cut down a mare-soldier. The rebels annihilated the mare-knights and stallion-knights. A banner was raised signaling their Griffon and Mountain Hippogriff hens and tercels-at-arms to attack
"Irontalon!" Wilhelmina called out, having given Ghislaine back her sword
Amid the battle's bloody carnage, Ghislaine smiled to her, "Gratitude!"
"Attack!" called out Gabby with her arming sword pointed at the Ponies in defiance as they charged down, and clashed with their enemy. Gilda and Greta charged alongside her, and were armed with pole axes. A polearm measuring 73.13in long with an axe featuring a 7in blade length on one end and a war hammer on the other, It is a fearsome weapon
A pegasi-soldier swooped in to attack with a lance only to be knocked out of the sky by a swing of Gilda's pole axe to her belly. Greta moved to the side to evade a stab from an arming sword from a unicorn hoof-soldier with her polearm, She came down to cleave the axe into the skull with blood splashing onto her face. Even Gabriella made her first kills
She stabbed one into the chest, and out the back. She pushed the blade in, and used her shield and a taloned paw to pull it out, and turned to slash another across the face. The Earl of Grey entered the battle, and made easy work of her. He knocked her on her back with his shield and an all-steel battle axe, and went up to finish her off, "Stupid catbird,"
His weapon was made as a customary order with an axe on one side, and a hammer on the other. It is 25.25in long with a 9in long head. It comes with a twisted wire wrapped grip with two steel guards and a twisted steel handle. The thing is, the Earl of Grey was not watching his back. A bloodied great sword blade went into his back and out his chest
She pulled out the blade from his back, and chopped off his head with one slash. Gabby pushed aside the headless corpse, and looked up at Lady Ghislaine. The Northern Griffon stuck the tip of the sword into the Earl's back, and offered out a paw to her. She grinned as Gabby took it. She is the youngest hen-at-arms. Gabby cried out to her kin "Victory!"