Chapter Nine - The Second Round, part 2
By the time the horde was eliminated, Hywel’s forces had dwindled to thirteen men excluding himself. The soldiers fought valiantly and all seemed to go well but the problem occurred when the archers ran out of arrows. They had eliminated five of the six bears, but the remaining one was still too much to handle without sacrifices with his soldiers, especially when the four or so remaining boars diverted their attention. Hywel wasn’t sure what kind of commands would help and he could not help but stare the first few seconds of the engagement with blank eyes.
By the time two swordsmen fell victim to the combination of the bear’s monstrous swing and the mountain boars’ stampede, the enemy count had decreased to three; two boars and a bear. That was when the young master decided on a method to try and gave his command..
“Two swordsmen each take a pig, draw it away from the other monster. Defense is your first priority but try to kill it as soon as possible. The horsemen at the other monster, stop it from going near the swordsmen until the pigs are gone. Be careful of its attacks.”
From observing the battle thus far, he knew that two swordsmen were able to deal with a single boar, and the boars’ only danger was their ramming strength which could be easily stopped with the tireless soldiers. The bear however continued to be a threat with their long reach and unbelievably solid skin on their forearms. The horsemen circled the bear, letting out quick strikes when it was occupied with the others to continue diverting its attention. The lance’s reach and the horses’ speed supported this idea for a while.
The remaining monster count dwindled to two as a boar succumbed into smoke. With a sigh of relief, Hywel observed the ending battle.
“Eliminate the pigs first, then all attack the other monster!”
He commanded to the swordsmen and within moments the only remaining enemy was the bear. The four swordsmen and the three horsemen closed in to the bear, lunging their weapons from all directions. The bear growled in pain as the weapons pierced its body, but its endurance was great enough to keep death at bay. It swung its forearms, connecting with the soldiers.
“Back away, keep your distance!”
Hywel shouted in panic, but the attack had claimed the second horsemen, the one with the injured horse, and a swordsman. The remaining soldiers engaged with the bear were now five. The young master gritted his teeth in thought. The bear was heavily injured so the five would be enough to kill it. The problem was the death count; if Hywel commanded them for an all-out attack once more, but turns out he had judged the state of the bear wrong and survives once more, his forces will diminish once more.
He thought about putting the swordsmen up as a defense with the horsemen attacking from behind them but it was unreliable; he did not doubt they would be able to withstand the bear’s strength, but that was only if the bear was aimlessly charging at them like the boars. What made the bear deadlier was its forearms; the reach and flexibility of attacking the swordsmen from the side or from above meant that their shielding could easily be negated. No, it would be wiser to implement something like a hit and run tactic which the horsemen had shown before, Hywel mused.
“Horsemen keep the monster busy like before. Swordsmen, try to attack from behind and then get out of the attack range as soon as possible.”
The soldiers obliged. The horsemen backed away and circled the bear while the swordsmen spread out around their target, just out of reach of the bear’s attacks. They were wary of any incoming attacks and evaded accordingly. When the bear’s attention were not on a particular horseman, they would lunge with their lance to attack from a blind spot then go back out of reach. The swordsmen, too, delivered strikes when the bear was facing away from them, then quickly leaping out of the bear’s strike zone.
That was when the bear gave out a roar, its eyes turning red. Hywel was stunned at the sudden change. The bear faced one of the swordsman and started charging towards them, completely ignoring the others. Due to the young master’s orders, the targeted swordsman attempted to evade the bear’s attacks while the rest of the team started striking at the bear. Even so, the bear took no notice of the others and continued to aim the single swordsman.
The chase was quickly over as the bear’s swing connected with the swordsman. Hywel shouted desperately as the swordsman turned into smoke and disappeared.
“If the monster targets you, run away with all your might. Everyone else keep attacking without holding back!”
As soon as his command was out, the bear gave another roar as it had selected another target to chase. a swordsman turned around and ran away while the bear was close in tow. The other soldiers followed, hacking and slashing at the bear whenever they caught up and was in range.
The bear was finally defeated and turned into smoke, but not before claiming another swordsman.
With the end of the battle, Hywel's vision was taken to a different place once more; to that place with a room full of soldiers. A voice which he recognized as the prince flowed into his ears.
“Hywel Inmos. You lost many men in battle due to indecision, but your tactics were not appalling. As you have also completed the first horde before the other candidate, I shall award you with a slight bonus. You may choose six more men to recruit for the next horde.”
The announcement made the young master ponder what way Fabre was dealing with the hordes, but soon moved on to the task at hand. He saw that there was a new addition to the different types of weapons the soldiers were carrying; a spear and shield. The shield these soldiers carried was bigger than those of the swordsmen, easily covering the top half or the bottom half of their body. If the young master was to utilize a similar tactic to before, then these shields would most likely provide better defense and in the case something like the bear happens again and the better reach may allow more flexibility.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Back at the barricade, the young master noticed that the archers’ quivers were full of arrows once again. He felt a wave of relief knowing that after every horde their supplies were replenished. He gave a similar order to the spearers as he had done to the swordsmen.
Trumpets sounded once more and a new set of hordes appeared in the distance. Hywel was tense, hoping that there wouldn’t be as much difficulties this time. Within moments he had a clear view of what he was to face. This time it was a horde of bears and tigers of monstrous size. There were twenty in all, six bears and fourteen tigers. Unlike the time with the boars though, the tigers were very agile, covering almost twice the distance in the same time the boars covered.
“Those with shields, defend the front lines for the incoming attack, then try to tire them. Aim for their legs or sensitive areas to stop them first. Archers, aim together on one target coming close to the front lines.”
The bears were two-legged and sluggish compared to the tigers which meant if Hywel aimed for the ones advancing, there were little means for the bears to repel the arrows. With that in mind, he had decided to deal with the tigers first. It was also to see how strong they were.
About half the tigers approached the spearers who were in line, they leapt with their vicious fangs wide open. As if they had expected it, the spears were protruding out from the shielded defense. Some of the stupider tigers were impaled, the tip of the spear easily going through the soft areas of its mouth. The tigers who managed to hit the spear with its body however only got away with small scratches; their leather was tough even against steel tip of the spear and crashed into the shields. The spearers were pushed back, but with the aid from the horsemen leaning on the other side, they resisted and retaliated the moment their balance was stable. The spears were aimed at the tigers countless times before they recovered from the crash enough to back away, there were many visible scratches along their body. Most of the hits were focused on their legs and face, and some had been unlucky enough to be attacked in the eyes. Others were visibly injured in their mouths. And yet, they were still standing, not one had turned into smoke in defeat.
The arrows relentless impaled the wary tigers and finally some of them turned to smoke. At the incoming arrows, the remaining tigers backed away towards the bears while another wave of tigers, the other half who were at under the safety of the bears, went for the charge. Perhaps due to having no damage done onto them, Hywel noticed that none of the arrows were able to make much effect this time.
A little too late, he also noticed that the majority of the tigers were leaning towards one side as if aiming to charge into a single soldier.
“Put more defense into the righ-”
Hywel’s command was no match for the speed of the tigers and the defense was broken; one of the spearers turned into smoke and the rest were surrounded by the tigers.
“Get into a circle, protect each other! Archers aim for single target facing away first!”
The command was given and the soldiers executed perfectly. In the middle of the circle formation were the horsemen who, with their advantage of height and reach, were able to assess the situation of all side and lend a lance strike to repel attacks coming in the blind spots of the spearers. The spearers held their shield up while gripping their spears, ready to strike when a tiger would charge. The tigers growled low as they stared at the soldiers.
The first of the arrows connected to a tiger who yelped in annoyance and turned towards the barricade. The spearer closest to it did not miss this chance and lunged, the spear correctly impaling it from behind. As if that was the cue, the rest of the tigers went for the attack with a mighty unison of growls and the spearers all attacked accordingly. The place was alight with the sound of ferocious beasts in frenzy and the sound of metal clashing into metal. It was difficult for Hywel to make out exactly what was going on, but due to the fact that none of the tigers were able to come towards the barricade he was hoping against all hope that they were winning.
Soon the sounds of combat diminished, and Hywel saw that the remaining tigers started advancing towards the circle of soldiers. He commanded in haste.
“Archers aim for the approaching enemies. They are injured so your attacks should work.”
The arrows instantly switched targets to the incoming tigers, though the bears were also advancing; he knew that soon enough the bears would be in range to repel the arrows. Even so, he wanted to get rid of as many opponents as possible before then.
The aftermath of the intense fight was soon visible. To Hywel’s relief the majority who were standing were the soldiers, but the circle formation had gotten smaller. He counted five spearers and a single horsemen. No, he noticed that one of the horsemen were on his feet, realizing that only the horse was the one who was taken out. That meant the casualty was two soldiers and a horse. The remaining tigers were eight in total, the bears completely unscathed.
Now came the hard part; the bears. They were within range to support most of the tigers from the arrows, so ideally it would be best if the two kinds of beasts were separated. The problem he had faced with the bears in the earlier round was the flexibility of their forearms. If the soldiers put up a defense to their front, they would attack from the side. If their defense was on the side and the front, they would attack from above. In short, it was better suited for the archers to deal with the bears, and thankfully the amount of arrows they had spent on tigers were significantly less than what they had used for the boars. Assuming the amount of arrows were the same, Hywel was confident they had enough arrows for six bears this time.
“Soldiers fall back towards the barricade as fast as you can,”
Came Hywel’s decision, a plan forming in his mind.