Chapter 9

“Thank you Sir Adam for all you have done for me, now I can at least sit atop a horse time get a better view of what is happening around me if need be”

“It is I who should be thanking you my Lord, without your guidance and acceptance we would not be in nearly as strong as a position as we are now”

As Jake and Sir Away surround by guards stood together they gazed at the line of infantry in front of them. Nearly three hundred men and women stood shoulder to shoulder facing the darkness of the forest. There armor made mainly of leather since they did not have the time nor materials to outfit everyone expect for the veteran guard units. Including the three other groups hidden waiting for Jakes signal to strike the total force of his army neared four hundred.

Standing in rows the first three were made of purely infantry while a special fourth was made of mostly archers for when the pressure of the shield wall became too much. For now they stood as they were so that nothing different could be gleamed so for all the enemy knew he was just a simple new lord.

Only darkness greeted them beyond there force of arms so as to not shine any more light then what Jake was now calling the River King and Bandit Leaders forces would. That day all the tree archers smeared a thick coating of something the dye workers found while searching that allowed things to easily stick to the coat. While trusting in the ability of his new long range scouts to see when they crossed over the Far East Bridge Jake had ordered them into the tress while the sun was still up and they had been up there for hours.

The trees themselves were the same ones they spent most of their time in and had hollowed out to store dozens of extra arrows so that when they were finally ordered to start attacking there would be no let up, just different targets. By the end of their training Brent himself went up to report that there accuracy impressed him to such an extent that his group should be given a special name.

Running at where Jake and Sir Adams was standing in a dead sprint and just a dagger at his side that news the man wanted to convey was already figured out. In fact the only thing he would be finding out was just how many would be greeting them this night.

“My Lord the enemy army is nearing your position, you should be able to set your eyes on him in just a few minutes. If I had to say there numbers reach to nearly one thousand”

“Your work tonight was important and don’t forget that now head back to where you were so as to see if they try to attack us from behind”

Bowing deeply to Jake the man made his way back into the darkness and the menacing silence resumed as all they could do now was wait for thing to start.

Well at least it’s not more than we thought it would be, just wish this armor for battle but that was my choice

Once he was able to convince the blacksmith to start working again Jake asked that, for now, not to make him anything special. The extra time spent on him would better be managed making more sets of shields so that the armor he wore never was used. After the promise that the both of them would live and he would be able to craft “A King armor” production of shields and upper amour increased.

The first things they saw was the glow of the torches as they made their way close to where Jake was. There glow getting stronger and stretching to most of his view in a nearly solid line of fire. Closer now the difference of the men between the two commanders could be noticed. On the left was bandits, there at least one hundred riders on their side and what they had on was hugely varied. While most had leather and a sword one person would stand out with a complete set of steel armor, a serpent on his chest and a sword in each hand.

For the River Lord his men were closer together but not much and his riders were lacking in what seemed to be both numbers and how they handled themselves. A disconnect seemed to happen between the two forces that while the fought together there was a clear divide through the middle. They both happened to work at the same goal and once that was over there was no telling where things would lead.

Right out of the range of archers both of the enemy armies stopped moving then just stood there.

What are they waiting for? Did they see something? Are they waiting for us to attack?

Confusion rattled Jakes mind and looking over at Sir Adam saw that he too had no answers for what was happening. The answer become clear that even from here an argument could be noticed from two men who were now at the void in between each army.

“Sir Adam see if any of our scouts are close enough to hear what is going on”

With Hand Signals Sir Adams aimed at a man even Jake could barely see a non-verbal set of word was transmitted across the battlefield. A response to Jakes questions was quick and for the first time since he had gotten to this world saw Sir Adams laugh

“It seems my Lord they are arguing about who is going to attack first. It surprises me how far they are thinking ahead with them wanting to have the ability to defeat the other once they take over our land”

Jake laughed in agreement to such dysfunction in the people who just before seemed so fearsome to him.

Well if we both think so then everyone else hearing about what’s happening might actually help

“Sir Adam inform the troops about this new information”

“Gladly my Lord”

Once the word was spread to everyone an ease fell over everyone as they watched what was happening in front of them. The laughter grew to such a point that even the other army heard them causing there argument to stop. Some quick, quiet words there assault began with a combined attack. The riders from the bandits started a wide arc and were quickly lost sight while all the infantry began a mad dash with arrows flying overhead.

“Shield Wall!, my Lord stay close to me”

Sir Adam raised primarily over Jake along with the guards surrounding them while a much large version was acted out by everyone in front of them with the archers hiding under with the rest. Thud after thud was felt as arrows land on their protective shields which were made larger than the average that before was just a foot wide made of wood. Jakes orders made changes and now they were twice that with a coating of metal out the outside causing the landed arrows largely ineffective.

The arrows stopped falling a few seconds before the first men crashed into the shield wall. Allowing himself a look at the repeated arrow volleys Jake saw to his joy the new shields were hugely successful, he was pressed to see more than a few killed or wounded.

“Sir Adam there riders will be coming soon make sure our plans are ready”

While Sir Adam ran to the left most corner of Jakes forces more and more of the Bandit and River Lords men had impacted the shield wall. There most experienced troops quickly adapted to an extent but most of them were confused about how to handle the situation. In response to the dysfunction swords appeared from the shield wall and quickly found a new victim. While the idea was working it alone would not overcome the difference of nearly one thousand troops to their barely three hundred.

From the corner of Jakes eye the bandit riders finally came into view as they came at full speed right to where Sir Adams now was. Knelling with several dozen men they waited to act as they riders drew closer. It was not until they were seconds away when the first plan was enacted. Under fake grass a number of dozen foot long spears were pulled out with each held by two men. There was no time to react as the stream of riders fell to the extra-long spears. Over one hundreds made up that attack that now was falling to an ever smaller fraction. Archers from behind the shield wall finally let loose there arrows to the riders that were trying to get out from the mess.

The sighting of what was happening could be seen clearly from where the Bandit Lord sat causing him to be enraged. By his command his forces their efforts that caused the shield wall on the left side to buckle from the weight.

“Time for the second move, Left shield wall open!”

Jake command caused all the archers to gather on the left side of the shield wall and position themselves in oval formations in a dozen locations. At those places the shield wall opened up making the people who were pressing on the shield wall there to trip and run into groups of half a dozen archers. With no chance to react dozens and dozens of bandits died nearly instantly creating a pile of bodies. In seconds the holes were closed but the damaged had been done to the moral of the men.

Large groups of bandits broke off their attack of the shield wall and routed, there action caused Jake to break a smile and caught Sir Adams attention to throw up the next signal. A fire arrow suddenly flew high into the sky and by the time it came down fifty move arrows joined it. Wave after wave of arrows started to come from the darkness of the trees causing what was left of the bandits to all start running.

“My Lord in seems your “marksmen” squad is doing even better than I thought, with this there is no way they can recover”

“Yes we should thank Brent for his good work after this is over but for now command the left side of the shield wall to swing forward. That will make sure the River Lords troops have little chance to run making there only option surrender”

With the Bandit forces completely broken and Brent’s marksmen squad cutting down who was left with efficiently. The left side made its move commanded by Sir Adams with quick speed but that left them open to the archers who were not firing for free of hitting their own forces. In the time before they made their attack Michael made it for them, leading his riders into their group. The Marksmen stopped firing on what was left of the bandits so as to not hit their own allies and refocused there efforts on the encircled mass of the River Lords forces.

His infantry trapped and his archers swarmed by riders The River Lord drew his sword and started to rally his own riders. With the dozen behind him it would be enough to easily break through the trap Jake had encased his forces in and Jake knew that and yet he was not scared because his final trap had just opened. The last that was seen of the Bandit Lord was him riding away with a few personal guards.

“It is a name not commonly used as far as comics go so I hope the “Phantom Squad” lives up to what they are called”

It had taken a few moments of anyone to tell what was happening but one by one the River Lords riders were being throw off their horses by people in all black with blades to match in color. As he started to cry out the River Lord was cut down just like everyone else, the Phantom who now stood over the body pulled off his mask. Remi waved his bloodied dagger in Jakes direction and with that it was over, the word of their Lords death gave the men an excuse to stop fighting and nearly two hundred men put down their weapons in defeat.

“Sir Adam send riders to the town and villages and tell them of our overwhelming victory, we have lost less than a hundred to their crushing defeat. Also bring medics over to help the wounded. Any men that are still healthy and well rested are to march with me, now is the time to that the River Lords lands”