“There’s no way that can be real,” Suran sighed in disbelief. It was difficult for him to believe that anyone could spew fire from their fingers even though the man was right in front of him.

“Of course it is, and looks like it’s just low tier magic ” Greyson responded, perplexed by Suran’s reaction.

Gears in Suran’s head turned and churned. He could rationalize that the previous knights strength was just an anomaly of human strength, but there was no way he could explain magic. For the first time in ages, his curiosity was piqued.

“If it is low tier magic, then can you deal with it?” It was reassuring to know that there was a solution to this problem, Suran thought. On a second look, it didn’t even look that bad. Sure, several people were lit on fire and flailing about, but no one was outright vaporized in flames.

“Sure, with the right tools it should not be a problem,” Greyson mused with a gruff chuckle.

“Do we have these tools?”

“Nooope.”

A moment later and Suran realized what Greyson had just said, his eyes growing wide. “Then um… how are we suppose to take him out?” He questioned in a worried tone.

Scratching his head, “Still trying to figure that out,” Greyson said with a shrug. He continued, “Some of my knights and I can probably withstand those flames for a bit at that strength, but I would not recommend that…”

That was not feasible, Suran agreed in his head. As it stood, the friendly knights were already at a disadvantage number wise, and throwing a large amount of resources to take out one piece could backfire substantially. Cocking his head around, he tried to see anything around him could give him inspiration. There was the bridge which was currently under allied control, but the enemy forces were slowly advancing with the fire user. Only large, wide buildings surrounded him.

“What’s in these buildings?” Suran questioned, pointing to the sizable structures on either side. Houses would be much smaller, so they had to be something else.

“Those? Greyson responded, observing the buildings. “Just warehouses filled with raw supplies. Timber, food, some mining equipment–”

“Mining equipment?” Suran cut off Greyson. If there was some explosive material, he could make it work. “Is there any explosive powder?”

“There should be…”

Suran nodded his head relief. “Then I have a plan.”

Listening intently, Greyson straightened out, “Lemme hear it!”

“It’s simple really. We blow him up,” Suran nonchalantly proposed. Looking around, no one seemed clear on how he was going to carry out so he continued, “First you get explosive powder and pouches. Put the powder in the pouch and bait the enemy into using his magic. Throw the explosive filled bags at the fire and watch him explode himself.”

Greyson burst out laughing, causing the short knight to his side to flinch. “What a devious plan. Didn’t peg you as that sort of man, Suran.”

“You could throw in some pieces in metal in there for good measure so when it explodes shrapnel flies everywhere,” Suran remarked with a shrug.

“That might be a tad too much,” Greyson denied with a frown.

“Suit yourself.”

Greyson turned to the short knight Harrison, “You know where the supplies are, right?”

“Y-yes sir!” Harrison stammered out.

“Then go and prepare the bomb bags on the double. We’ll hold the line.”

Suran felt this to be the wisest choice. He had no idea what the storehouse layout was and it could take him awhile to sort through everything. Also, he was eager to swing his sword around some more and appreciated the opportunity.

Harrison dashed off to the warehouse while Suran and Greyson crossed the bridge to the battlefield. A majority of the town center was lost from sheer numbers and the arrival of the magic user. Fallen knights littered the area, many eviscerated and others charred. A plethora of bandits also were killed, but not enough to turn the odds. If nothing changed, the battle would be lost.

Dropping into action, Suran and Greyson secured the entrance to the bridge and allowed injured to escape and other knights to regroup and rally around them. Slowly, the bandits and brigands began to close in on the knights, isolating and overwhelming anyone they could. The black knight hanged on top of his horse in the back, his thirst for blood seemingly quenched for now.

“We can’t stay in this open area!” Suran shouted while assisting an injured knight up.

Greyson brutally ripped sliced the chest cavity of a charging bandit with his sword, “Go back to the bridge! Funnel them in!”

Suran understood that one way to mitigate the number disadvantage is to force them to fight on even grounds. The stone bridge was wide enough to fight roughly ten men side to side, forcing the enemy to have to come in smaller waves. With around 30 knights left able to fight, all they had to do was rotate their remaining forces in response to the brigand attacks.

Together, Suran and Greyson spread the retreat order to the bridge, and the knights wasted no time in pulling back, abandoning the center. With one minded focus, the town knights pushed the injured to the back, and made the designated ten man well several stride past the mouth of the bridge.

The first wave of bandits came crashing in. Suran stood at the middle of the defensive line and retaliated to the onslaught. Twelves bandits charged in and twelve bandits piled up on the floor. All the knights had to step back as the ground was running slick with blood.

Only a moment’s breather was allowed until another group of brigands assaulted the line. All the attackers again perished, but not without casualties. Of the ten man line, one was killed and two injured, but the casualties were quickly replaced with knights resting in the back lines, waiting for their turn. Suran endured another round, parrying every bandit that dared attack him, before allowing another to take his place for a moment’s rest.

Sweat streamed down Suran’s face, human oil stained his sword, and blood splotched on his ill-fitting clothes. With a rotation going on, they could hold the line indefinitely. What was concerning was that the black knight was getting agitated in the back. He was prancing around on his horse, pulling several men to the side and speaking with them. Sooner or later, he was going to act, and Suran hoped that Harrison would have the makeshift bombs ready in time.

After each wave, the line was forced to back up so that the corpses would not interfere. Progress was being made in dwindling down the enemies number’s, but they were losing ground on the bridge and the casualties were mounting up. There was a pause after the seventh wave.

At the far end of the town center, where the black knight was stationed, now gathered a handful of enemy knights. Including the black knight, their count was five. While your allied knights represented an emerald-green and ebony-black, the opposing forces wore cloth of ice teal and dandelion yellow. Around this collective, a mass of bandits gathered. Suran tensed up at the sight. They were going to rush the bridge with all their forces.

Shouting to the knights on the bridge, Suran directed all the injured knights to evacuate the bridge, and the remainder to form two staggered lines to increase their numbers. Clicking his tongue, Suran was frustrated that Harrison had not come yet. At this point, it might be too late.

Gaining speed, the enemy came rushing in. At first it was only the bandits, which Suran and Greyson’s knights held. However, it was when the five enemy knights came in, that chaos descended. Flames spewed overhead from the black knight on his horse while his four companions bulldozed the knights around him. Quickly, Greyson’s knights were reduced from twenty to fifteen, steadily decreasing.

“I GOT IT!”

As Suran sparred with one of the knights, whose strength was more manageable, Harrison came sprinting in with several bags, some of them sprinkling black powder onto the ground.

The enemy was steamrolling over the bridge, so this would be their only chance at claiming victory.

“GET OFF THE BRIDGE!” Suran shouted at all the knights. When the explosives go off, he did not want anyone near them. He backed up, shoving the knight he was dueling with back, and ran to greet Harrison, “Give me the bags, I’ll take care of it!”

“No, let me!” Harrison denied Suran’s request with a shake of his head.

“Give the man his damned bags, Harrison!” Greyson barked from across the bridge, holding of several enemies to allow his allies to escape.

“Watch out!” Harrison screamed, grabbing Suran and throwing him back.

Rolling on the ground, Suran stabilized himself and saw that the black knight was charging a fireball to rip across the entire bridge. As the ball of flame licked pass the knight’s fingertips, Harrison stepped forward, and chucked his numerous bags forth, raining all over the bridge.

An instant later a shock-wave rippled through with a deafening boom following it. Suran was propelled back by the explosion, and he kept low to the ground, covering his neck and head from the stone that spewed out. In that moment, a plethora of men screamed in unison out as the pouches exploded right after another. However, One noise stood out against the screams of dying men and the boom of explosions: the crumbling of rock.

Suran felt the ground beneath him sway and sink. The shattering noise grew louder, and the bridge began to collapse. He scrambled from the bridge, picking up an injured knight, and hurdled his way across the gaps and holes in the collapsing bridge to safety. As soon as he cleared it, thunderous splashes roared out as slabs of stone crashed into the river beneath.

He let the injured man slide to the ground, and bent over himself, panting in exhaustion. Taking a quick survey, he found few knights left standing. When he first arrived, he could count their number to be of around 60. When they fell back to the bridge, there was but 30. Now hardly a dozen were still standing. He singled out Greyson, and stepped over to him.

“It’s over,” Greyson muttered, observing the quiet battlefield, his face filled with grief. He rubbed his forehead, “I came here with 100 strong, and now the digits of my fingers can count my men with room to spare.”

Suran had no words to ease the grieving captain. The sun was setting in the distance, and, on this unsightly battlefield, a n incomparable beauty rose in the sky. A blue marble with streaks of green in front of a massive gas giant layered in bands of soothing browns and solemn whites inches across the sky. Uncountable stars lit up as the sky turned to dark. It was so breathtaking that even for a moment, one could get lost in its splendor and forget everything.

Greyson broke the deathly silence, “Suran, my gratitude for your help today.” He turned to Suran, his face worn with exhaustion, “Without you, we might have all died along with this town.”

“Think nothing of it.”

“For now lets us rest and wait for the new day.” Greyson’s words were filled with pain and he held the look of a defeated man even though the battle ended in victory.

Suran held no objections. Muscles aching and bones breaking, not a single person could go on any longer. Suran searched around and outside the town and found a quaint hill overlooking the town with an old, weathered tree on its top. Collapsing to the ground, he propped himself up against the hard bark and slept under the starry night.