Chapter 21: The Final Moments of the Battle

Varius had joined the battle with a cry. "Come on!"

When the tribal army saw him show valour in the battle, they, too, got pumped up.

"Yeaah!" they cried.

Colt faced the enemies when he was about to finish Hammer.

"We will parade your head in the capital city!" a tribal enemy said, and jumped at him.

Colt jumped to the side and dodged the attack. He took a small swing, resulting in a wound in the enemy's gut. The others attacked him as well. When the prince saw he was outnumbered, he pushed himself back into the battlefield, going further away from Hammer.

Varius saw Colt joining a group of his soldier to defend against the enemy. "Do not let him move freely for long!" he shouted. He had momentarily taken charge of the tribal army without even knowing it. The soldiers of Hammer, too, followed his orders subconsciously.

When he had escaped from his captivity, he did not know about the army of Rozerd clashing with Hammer. He headed towards the castle, but he discovered Colt and other horsemen taking a route in the forest for a surprise attack. He followed them and reached the scene. He never knew he would engage in a battle so soon.

"Come on! Retrieve our king!" Varius cried when his soldiers pushed back the army of Rozerd. "Retrieve King Hammer!"

Colt knew his army had the disadvantage on the battlefield. He had managed to break the morale of his enemies when he brought down his brother Hammer. But the arrival of Varius changed the favour of the battle again.

Even though it was time for his army to retreat, he wanted one last push.

"At this rate, we will be killed, my prince," Kyte said when he joined Colt side by side and shot his enemies. "What are your orders?"

"I do not know," Colt said with a tensed face.

"My prince, let me tell you what your brother told to me just before the battle," Kyte said.

Colt looked at Kyte and readied himself to listen to him. After Kyte told him about the last-minute plans Rozerd had made, Colt was ready to give orders.

"Take my brother Rozerd," he ordered as Rozerd was lying unconscious near the area Hammer was spread on the ground. The objective was to secure Rozerd before the powerful army of the enemies, and even retrieve Hammer as a second objective if the situation turned in their favour.

"Soldiers! Square formation! Model closed box!" Colt shouted.

Suddenly, around fifty soldiers near the prince stuck their backs against each other, including Colt, and formed a closed formation.

"Head forward!" Colt shouted his order. They kept fighting the opposing forces and headed towards Rozerd together.

Kyte did not join the formation and shot arrows to keep the enemy at bay, and bar them from reaching Rozerd. The remaining archers from the hilltop, many of whom had died from the counterattacks of the enemies, joined him. Kyte knew he could only hold the enemies for a minute or half. Colt had to complete his objective before the situation got out of control.

There were soldiers inside the closed formation. Whenever a fighting soldier fell, one from the inside took his place. That way, they maintained the formation tightly.

The tribal soldiers had already retrieved the half-dead body of Hammer. They headed to oppose the approaching prince and his soldiers.

Colt and others managed to reach Rozerd in time while fighting and defending against the enemies. A soldier beside the prince fell when he got hit by an arrow.

"Protect the prince!" a soldier cried when they realized Varius targeted the prince but missed his target because of their movements. The soldiers broke their formation and grouped around the prince.

"Damn, I missed," Varius said in frustration, and loaded another arrow.

"Do not break the formation!" Colt ordered, but they had already broken it.

It gave the enemy soldiers an opening to counter them. They grouped at them from the sides where they had left the opening.

They still fought against the enemy forces. The small group of soldiers covered Colt while he picked him up.

He pulled him inside the formation while the remaining soldiers defended him.

"Ah. He is too heavy." He struggled to carry the body of his unconscious brother alone.

"I will help you, my prince." A soldier stepped in and helped him carry Rozerd.

Varius still aimed at the soldiers, but an arrow hit him in the shoulder. "Ah." He winced and saw Kyte aiming at him.

"You would not act as you please," Kyte said and shot another arrow, but Varius moved away to dodge it. It still grazed his waist and hurt him.

"Damn you, Kyte," he said and moved away from the range of his arrows.

Colt had successfully retrieved Rozerd, but Hammer was also in the hands of the enemy. Colt knew the wounds he gave to Hammer were fatal enough to kill him, but there was still a chance he could survive. He had failed to give the finishing blow to him.

When the tribal soldiers carried Hammer and brought them to Varius, he ordered everyone to retreat. "Men! We are retreating!"

Colt and Kyte looked at each other and strained a smile. They knew they had managed to survive against a superior army, and even wounded them fiercely in the form of their leader.

"We are also retreating!" Colt ordered his soldiers as well.

"Retreat!"

"We are retreating!"

Both the armies maintained their distances until they were far enough.

"I will get you next time, Colt!" Varius said loudly when he retreated.

Colt said nothing and moved his steps back.

Kyte said to Colt, "It is good that we had foreseen the worst-case scenarios." He looked at the unconscious Rozerd carried by the soldiers. "It is amazing just how much he had anticipated. He had already planned for retrieval of wounded commanders. He knew Hammer would take charge himself against him."

"Yeah. His instinct is sharp enough to make us run for our money," Colt said in admiration.

EARLIER (BEFORE THE BATTLE)

"Colt took some of the cavalry with him. I know what he is going to do," Rozerd said to Kyte. "So, now listen to what I have to say. There will be archers on the hilltop near the lake. We will lure them into a trap and disturb their balance. There is one more thing I must tell you."

"What is it, my prince?" Kyte said.

"Brother Hammer is drunk in arrogance right now. I know him too well. He will want to confront me personally on the battlefield. I will have no choice but to engage with him in person."

"My prince, that would be dangerous. Let me fight him instead," Kyte said in consideration. "If something happens to you, we will never be able to resist him."

"No, this will be between us," Rozerd said. "You just have to back me up. Tell Colt to lead the army if I fall. If one of us gets wounded, we will use square formation to retrieve the wounded commander. The head of the snake must be preserved."

"Understood," Kyte nodded. "Any other orders, my prince?"

"If nothing works, just take the remaining men and retreat. Give my will to Colt and obey him just like you obey me."

"Nothing will happen to you, my prince," Kyte said. "We will show them what we are made of."

"In that case," Rozerd smiled. "Let them come."

…

"So he had planned to leave the battlefield if nothing went his way," Colt said.

"It is better than to get massacred by the enemies," Kyte said.

"I know."

"What is the plan now, my prince?" Kyte asked.

"We will tend to brother Rozerd first," Colt answered. "He is the priority. His breathing is diminishing after every passing moment. Also, send some men around to check on the castle we were out to conquer and the condition in Hammer's army. I am sure they would try everything to revive him." Colt clenched his fist. "I failed to kill him."

"It is okay, my prince," Kyte said. "We will get him next time."