ch 9

( we were about to be attacked pretty soon , at least according to jack . his shadows have been monitoring the enemies from the beginning . black sword had noticed our presence because according to jack , he had tightened the patrols so much that even jack ( who had senses greater than most people or assassin )could not find much . this meant that his reinforcement had arrived and the attack would happen any time . )

( the only thing lucky was that the enemy could not sneak attack us as we would have at least a hour to react before they reached here . even then the situation was not good , the enemy had greater number ,outnumbering us two to one and most of my troops were undead which didn't have great individual strength . luckily , we only needed to to hold out for another three days , before the crazy thing ( don't know about it yet ) happens . most of our defenses were already set up and I actually had few tricks up my sleeve . )

me - how long before they are here ( noticing jack who had just dropped from the entrance of the pit . )

jack - half an hour give or take , my shadows are harassing them so that might buy us time .

me - can't you send at least one of the shadows to request for reinforcements . I am pretty sure they will help you , after all you three have been together for a long time

jack - nope , they made it clear they won't help me .

me - then we have anything else .

jack - we just need to hold out for three days and we can escape .

me - are you really that sure ?

jack -yes i am and don't ask me tell you what , it is getting annoying now .

me - okay , can I at least ask how much of their forces they are bringing with them .

jack - most of it , I have confirmed at least one squad of archers and at least three squads of shield men and spearmen .

me - can't it be more detailed , you are supposed to be a legendary assassin aren't you

jack - you are supposed to be a legendary mage , I don't see you rising legions of dead to help us .

me - I know that , but still more information would be nice

jack - not like it would help too much anyway. while they know nothing about us and we know quite the bit about them , that might have backfired on us . you can say they overestimated us , which is the reason I think that they took so long to attack us . they could literally be using a sword to kill a ant

me - so you are saying we could be defeated here .

jack - all I am saying is that we need to prepare for everything . we are literally going against a world here , we might win or we might lose . all we can do is fight on hoping that we will live .

me - OK, but you must really use better metaphors . who the hell says what you just now , what was it . kill an ant with a sword .

jack - shut up young man. you are no better than me , who the hell says let's not die today before facing mortal danger , definitely not a an old timer like me who has way cooler stuff to say than that

me - something old man , I have work to do

( the area surrounding the base was completely open with a circle of open space surrounding the pit . this was partially because we needed to construct the wall and partially to ensure our enemies would not get the drop on us . we were mostly stocked up . the archers were to be our main weapon . as in close combat the enemy would defeat us without sweat . )

( I didn't know the general personally but I believed that he was very weak willed , to be affected by a devil enough to be charmed by it . )

( then I just stay down looking at nothing , this was my first large-scale battle . among my memories ,. I had fought many times but most if them were duels or small skirmishes having five to ten people . though there might be large scale battles like this one among my missing memories but it seemed too unlikely.

( anyways , I just say there until the first arrow hit . the enemies had gathered to the north of the pit and had already begun to set camp . they were showing no sign of attack us . the arrow which had been shot had hit the wall of the pit . dangling from it was a scroll , jack had already gone and was climbing the wall to check the scroll. it was most likely an invitation to negotiate . that actually confused me , because there was nothing here to negotiate . therefore I began to levitate to jack who had just removed the arrow and was opening the scroll to look at the contents .)

jack - they are inviting us to a negotiation ,

me - but why , have they mentioned any reason as to why they are doing what they are doing .

jack - the only thing written here is a request to negotiate . they want to keep a negotiation.

me - they have any request on who will do the negotiations .

Jack - they are requesting for the mage that destroyed their archers .

me- specifically for him .

( to my enemies right now I had two identities , one a mage that managed annihilatie most of the Archer in a single spell and the second one the mage that lured the archers near the pit . )

)

me - jack , can you tell one of the archers to give me their bows .

( as jack went into the pit , I saw who I believed to be the enemy leader , he was wearing a bright white armour and had removed his helmet to show blond hair with blue eyes , the classic sign of a paladin ( don't ask me why but most paladin's seemed to have blonde hair and blue eyes , many believed it to be a side effect of the mutation that happen after they took their mantle of holy knighy. ))

( he was at fence looking at me , preferably trying to make out my actions .)

( ignoring him I took a couple of leaves that were on the ground and was throwing them into the air . )

( after a while jack returned with a bow . )

( the bow itself was subpar and was made of blood iron wood . the bow was not perfect but it would do for now . the string was what we salvaged from the archers corpses so it was acceptable . )

( the bow felt uncomfortable , but that was natural as it has been a long time since I used a bow and was the first time in this body . )

I took the arrow with scroll ( the scroll was dangling from the arrow again ) . )

( nocking the arrow with practiced ease I didn't let go immediately )

me - jack ,do you mind throwing a few leaves into sky right now .

( jack seemed to be getting used to my weird requests . my present did not have a sense of touch and touch was one of the important prerequisite for feeling the wind . the distance between us was not too much ,the wind was weak and would not effect the arrow too much . I approximate the distance the arrows has to travel to be fine hundred meters . with my present arm strength i could shoot up to that distance accurately . all the while this was happening , I was not looking at my target but a soldier who seemed to be transporting supplies . )

( I imagined a well shot arrow would intimidate the enemy which was literally the first step of war . while all these thoughts were going in my head not even a second had passed , I was still drawing my bow . )

( now all I needed was release my bow and my arrow would hit my foe head on , but for now it would have to do another job )

( the arrow was flying true to its aim and hit it's target , not black sword but the ground in front of him . )

(the enemies reaction was as I expected it , black sword jumped knocking into the soldier with the supplies . both fell and hit the ground hard . I literally meant too hard . the ground crumbled as a miniature man sized hole was formed in the ground . I was actually feeling sorry for the soldier who was inside the hole . I was also curious as to what the armour was made of . )

( anyways jack got up from the hole , helped his soldier while glowering at me, at least I think that's what happend , because his armour covered his face . )

(after that everything happens as it should , our enemy completed setting their camp and preparing to fight us . )

(right now I was looking at a entire army of archers , as I had hoped our enemy began their attack with their archers . )

( while we were still at a disadvantage , at least we had a way to hold our own . a melee would destroy us instantly . )

( as I was saying I was looking at the archers who were preparing their weapons in leisure and with complete disregard to us . it has almost been an hour since my arrow shot on the general )

( but there was nothing we could do now but leave it and allow them to intimidate us and bait us like this , but we he no options and anyways the more they delay The better out chances were .)

(meanwhile , at the enemies base in the commanders tent . the table had been put back in it's place , but one could see small cracks on it )

fire dance - the soldiers are gossiping general .

black sword - it human nature , mage . let them gossip, you cant really stop them . believe me when I say that

fire dance -thats not what I mean ,

Black sword - you are well versed in your classics , mage but the thing is that , what you are saying does not and will not apply here . my soldiers are not mercenaries who will run away from combat at the sign of a stronger.enemy , they are my soldiers and.will follow their commanders to death . my little stunt won't change that , though I must say our enemies got pretty lucky , if that soldier wasn't in my way there entire plan would have backfired . it would look very funny if he missed his shot

fire dance - but , then ..

Black sword - you are to well versed in the classics . it's better if you come to the real world now . I don't know why this would worry you , I would understand if the enemy had strength matching that of ours , they are many times weaker than us . you can say we overestimated them. a necromancer is all about momentum . we would have been attacked by now if the enemy had the capabilities of doing so . I had even put up a bait for them. you really don't think my soldiers are so inefficient.

fire dance - but still , I have a very bad feeling about this . don't make any reckless moves .

Black sword (suddenly in a serious voice ) - young mage , I have been tolerating your presence here and have been treating you as I would an equal . but I am the commander of this place . remember here my command holds true and you hold no right to command me , your fathers power doesn't give you that authority .

as for my soldiers , they are not my slaves that they will run away when facing a forces greater than ours but are my brothers who will support me even in death , so please do not ask me to do so again .

fire dance - really ?

( saying so she left the tent . )

( after she left black sword sat on his table , with a really sad look ,his eyes almost seeming to tear up .)

(he closed his eyes as two drops of tears rolled of his face . he raised his hand wipeing of those tears of his .

black sword - master , can you come here .

mist figure - yes , I was here the whole time . don't feel bad about what that mage told you , they are masters of trickery . she is trying to undermine your authority , trying to make you feel guilty for your action

black sword - I know master , but are all these sacrifices worth it .

mist figure - sometimes you have to sacrifice a few for the sake of many . that is the entire point of heroes , who can do what is necessary for the greater good and I promise you are a hero , who would be saving the world from the darkness to come .

black sword - how long before the seal break will happen

mist figure - two or three day tops .