Twenty one – Mutiny Part Five

By the time the company of army warriors arrives at the fort, all preparations are complete. Despite the instructions that the instructor secretly passed on, the warriors still had to inquire in Nicaea where the New Legion is located. This has given Raidon and the others more than enough time to prepare.

Just before the warriors arrive at the fort, the last patrol has also returned.

"Morris, what do you think? Should we put everyone on the walls, or is that too dangerous?"

"Well, I think it's not without reason that we practiced as much fighting together. If you stand on those walls, you are fighting man to man. Despite your armor, those warriors are a lot better at that."

"So what are you saying? Should we meet them outside? Is that what you want to say?"

"That's exactly what I’m saying. Your discipline is your best weapon. Use it."

Since Raidon can't argue with this, he follows Morris' advice. When he stubbornly takes another look at the walls, he sees that they are still far too dangerous to defend. The chances are far too great that a piece of the wall will come loose. Then the soldier standing there would also fall down, which he probably wouldn't survive.

The mounted warriors attack from the west, probably because the traitor has told that there is a weak spot in the walls. To be on the safe side, they have taken three ladders from Nicaea even though they had to carry them through the wilderness.

When they arrive at the fort and see that the New Legion has no intention of manning the walls, there is a lot of cursing among the dismounted warriors. More than one warrior has scratched his arms on the vegetation while walking through the woods with a ladder on his shoulder.

Amazed at the strange decision of the New Legion, the commander of the warriors has his men stop at the tree line. With half of his men still hidden between the trees, the captain oversees the situation. The numbers of men are about the same in both armies. But the warriors have much more experience than these rude citizens. Each of his men should be able to handle ten of those weaklings. Even with those metal harnesses, which actually reflect a lot of light.

With his eyes squinted, the leader decides to teach these rebels a lesson.

Raidon in the meantime decides that he must make an attempt to resolve this disagreement without bloodshed. While his men line up neatly in formation, a long row of contiguous shields with a second row in support behind them, Raidon steps forward.

Calm, without rushing, Raidon walks forward. He secretly hopes that the captain of the warriors will do the same, because otherwise his position will be very dangerous. To be on the safe side, Raidon remains at the center of the two armies. Upright, with a confident appearance, Raidon continues to wait for what his counterpart will do.

For almost a minute and a half nothing happens. The commander of the warriors doesn't really need a meeting with Raidon. However, his men think that he should follow this courtesy. When the commander, a captain who is not inferior to Captain Bras in arrogance, arrives at the spot where Raidon stands, he is quite grumpy.

"So, so you're that bunch of rebels who have deserted," the captain hums.

"Sorry, sir, but I'm afraid you've been misinformed. We told exactly what was going on in our report. You could see it as deserting, since we left our assigned captain behind. However, it turned out to us that that man could not give us valid orders. We have explained this situation to the Empress and are now waiting for her answer."

"Ha, so you admit that you have deserted. That's enough for me. Put down your weapons, and we won't hurt you, too much."

"Sir, we will do that under no circumstances. We are willing to do a lot for a peaceful solution, but if you force us to defend ourselves, we will do so."

The captain turns around and shouts to his men, "Enough! They refuse to surrender. Attack!"

Raidon doesn't hesitate either. Even while the captain shouts the command to his men, Raidon starts running. With a bit of luck, the captain will wait for his men and Raidon can get safely to the shield wall of his men.

A moment later it becomes clear that the captain has other ideas. Raidon feels a push in his back that almost causes him to fall forward. When he looks over his shoulder, he sees that the captain withdraws his sword for another blow. Hoping his armor has held up and he's not too badly injured, Raidon dives to the ground. With a whoesh, the sword of the captain misses Raidon's head with a hair width difference. Raidon comes down hard, no one has taught the recruits how to fall with a harness on, and sees the captain's horse coming towards him again. If the horse's hooves hit him, the chances are small that he will survive.

Desperately, Raidon makes a feint to the right, but then dives to the left. He hopes that the captain can't move his horse fast enough to still trample him. When he doesn't feel anything, he decides that the captain must have stepped into the feint. Quickly, without looking up, Raidon scrambles to his feet. Still on all fours, he starts running to his soldiers. A moment later, however, he hears all the pounding of the captain’s horse. Just a little longer before he has to turn around again to defend himself. But then Raidon sees in front of him that Morris, who is standing behind the lines, has taken a crossbow from one of the soldiers. He sees the man take a deep breath and aim calmly.

Then, almost faster than Raidon can see, the arrow whizzes right by him. For a moment Raidon is afraid that Morris was aiming at him, but then he hears the whining of a horse right behind him. The army captain was close enough to hit Raidon right under the edge of his helmet this time, when the arrow struck. With perfect precision, the heart of the horse is hit by the arrow, after which it immediately goes through its knees. With a huge bang, the captain flies forward off his horse, after which he lies dazed on the ground.

Raidon doesn't have to think twice this time, and continues to run towards his men. A little later, he squeezes between two soldiers to get behind the shields. There he takes a seat in the second row, after taking his shield from Morris.

"You’re welcome, boy," Morris shouts cheerfully.

"Thank you," Raidon sheepishly replies. "Lucky you hit the horse like that. If you had hit that captain, the horse would certainly have trampled me."

"Ha, lucky? Something like that is called good aiming."

"In that case, I thank you twice."

Then the conversation is cut short because the enemy warriors have almost arrived at the lines of the New Legion. Normally, cavalry would have an advantage because they can arrive at a considerable speed. With their weight and momentum, they can storm right through an enemy formation. Unfortunately for them, that doesn't work this time. Due to the many tree stumps, it is impossible to keep up the momentum without their own formation falling apart. Because the captain is still dazed on the ground, that is exactly what happens. Some warriors are clearly a lot faster than others. Even when the formation has completely fallen apart, it is still difficult for the horses. Several horses go down, throwing their warriors forward.

The warriors rush forward as good as they can, dodging the tree stumps and their captain. Little by little, the first warriors arrive at the New Legion.

When the first warriors arrive, the soldiers suddenly disperse. The entire momentum of the horses is destroyed by not being stopped. Immediately the soldiers close their line shield wall again, while the men in the second row take care of the warriors that have broken through in duos.

Now the soldiers are under attack from two sides. Thanks to the armor and shields of the soldiers, the warriors that broke through have little chance to defend themselves. A few times a soldier is hit with a sword, but the warriors are unable to pierce the armor. Quickly the warriors are knocked of off their horses and knocked unconscious. No one has time to tie the warriors up after they have been disarmed.

After the first seven warriors are overpowered this way, four warriors break through the line shield wall at the same time. Together the four of them can defend themselves much better against the soldiers. But then Raidon also arrives at the group of warriors.

"Kill the horses. It's a shame, but without horses they can't do much."

He follows through himself after saying this and sticks his short sword in the chest of a horse. A whole gush of blood sprays over Raidon, causing his armor to turn deep red in one go. Within a few moments, the four warriors are lying on the ground.

When Raidon looks around, he sees the same picture everywhere. Horses run loose behind the shield wall, with their riders lying on the ground. Nearly a quarter of the warriors seem to have been defeated already.

Then a new warrior breaks through the shield wall right next to Raidon. Even before Raidon can raise his weapon, the warrior's horse hits him. Raidon's head reverberates like a clock when it hits the ground with a blow. Dizzy, Raidon scrambles back to his feet. The warrior who just ran over him is already lying on the ground next to his mates. Carefully Raidon retreats a bit to vomit out his breakfast against the wall of the fort.

The rest of the fight is a blur for him. Due to the dizziness, he has no chance to help with the fight. Luckily that turns out not to be necessary, because the last of the attacking warriors are easily defeated. In addition, ten warriors are killed, with seven others who have suffered broken bones in their fall. The arrogant commander is among the ones killed. When Gareth and a bunch of soldiers go look for the captain, they find him with a hoof print on his chest.

If the warriors had been able to maintain their formation, the situation would have been a different one. Then they could have acted as a unit rather than as individuals. After the battle it turns out that Raidon is the only wounded among the soldiers of the New Legion.

While Raidon is still recovering, Morris figures out how it’s possible that the army has found them. During his research, he found out that Alan, one of the trainers, had been away from the others for a short time while they were in the city of Aran. He is the only one who has been able to tell the army where the New Legion is located.

When he interrogates Alan, the man quickly admits that it was him.

"You understand that the ten men who are dead have died because of you? We are waiting here for a response from the Empress and then suddenly you make us have to fight for our lives. Why?"

"That seems clear to me. Everyone here is a deserter. Bob and I are the only ones who don't face the death penalty. He went straight to the generals with the information we had at the time, while I stayed here to find out where you were going. Unfortunately, the commander of Aran underestimated you, but that will not happen again."

"Thank you for this information. We will not persecute you for your betrayal, but I would just make sure that you are gone within the hour if I were you. Go back to your friends in Aran. Get out!"

The warriors return to the city. Their pace has slowed down a lot because of the wounded and also because there are not enough horses left to carry everyone. Before they are halfway through, they are overtaken by Alan, who accompanies them for the rest of the journey. When they return to the city, the commander is furious. Nevertheless, at the insistence of his advisers, he decides to wait and see what the generals have to say.