I look out over the walls. The archers shoot through the slits in the wall at the Aveven troops. I want to laugh but I am so confused that I no longer know what is going on. All they have to do is slowly starve us out. Why waste manpower trying to break through at this point?

They haven’t even made a hole in the wall with the canons yet.

Everything before this was at least sensible but this seems to be the actions of a glory hound. I look out into the abandoned part of Cerva. I do not like my odds in this battle. Victory should never be gambled on.

If one merely bets on victory they will be sorely mistaken when they find out that it is a bet they will lose. I need to find their commander. If I could injure or kill him then it would be possible to seize victory.

There you are! My key to victory all wrapped up nicely and put on a horse. Within range of bows and arrows as well. Is he stupid or brave? Perhaps both.

“You there, you see that guy on the horse?” I pull an archer and point to the King of Aveven. The archer peers out and looks in the general direction. “You can tell him apart because he isn’t wearing any proper armor.”

He is probably a huge idiot. On a battlefield and wearing no armor? Not only is he being stupid he is being arrogant. This is telling me that he thinks that there is no chance of loss. Victory is assured.

“Yes, sir. I see him. What are your orders sir?”

“Knock him off his high horse.”

“Yes, sir.” The archer says and pulls back his bow. He halts breathing and releases the string on the bow. It whizzes by and misses. It wasn’t far away but it wasn’t close either. “Sorry sir, I am getting my bearings.”

“Do not mind. You, over there.”

“Yes, sir?”

“Send word to the soldiers, open the gates and attack the enemy on the signal.” The soldier rushes down the walls upon receiving the order. The archer pulls back the string once again and takes aim.

The bow he is using isn’t the normal Arrian bow. Normally medium size bows are used because they require less training and are easier to use as a result. But I specifically chose somebody trained in a longbow in order to make this shot.

I need the power and the range to catch them off guard.

He releases the string and the arrow flies once more. This time it actually hits its mark, so long as you count the horse. The horse kicks up and their stupid king falls back. I would have loved to see the shock on his face but he is too far away.

The archer pulls back the string once more and quickly lets another arrow fly. Due to the shock of being knocked off his horse he just sits there as the arrow nearly hits him. I can see the panic in his body because he crawls backwards and then rolls over. As soon as he is up on his two legs he bolts away.

“Open the gates and scream the enemy king has ran, press forward.” I instruct the soldiers below. It is important that the enemy soldiers know their king has ran off. I don’t need to kill them off, I merely need to get them to scatter into the wind.

The soldiers begin screaming my exact words and charging into the enemy. While they don’t instantly break and run I am willing to wait for it. They will break before we do. There is nothing to say about it. Where do we have to go?

Nowhere.

Them? They can fall back, they are not trapped. They don’t even have somebody to force them to stay. “I see them beginning to break sir. Do you want me to tell the soldiers whether to give chase or not?”

“Tell them to raid the enemy camp. I want to see if we can get our hands on some of their cannons.” The archer bows before heading out to deliver my message. I doubt any army as stupid as to attack a castle without breaching the walls first would be smart enough to regroup and launch a counter attack.

I look down at my hands. I know that they are shaking because I can see it but if not for that I wouldn’t be able to tell. I feel as if I just managed to get past an important point in history. A life changing event.

I need to stop such silliness. It is better that I give out the good news. Now that the Aveven army has been repelled we can launch a counter offensive and retake the lost land. I simply need to wait for the reinforcements to arrive before heading out.