“I still feel that we are too far away from the villagers, my lord. I fear for their safety.” Arlan said.

“Have faith Arlan.” Sir Darius countered. “If we give away our position then all of this will have been for nothing.”

“We should not be visible from this distance amongst the woods to any enemy scouts in the area.” Kaewyn said. “Keep your eyes to the north and upon the horizon for any sign of these raiders. Once we spot them moving in on the villagers, I want our cavalry to be ready to move in.”

“I do not like using defenceless villagers as bait.” Arlan made known with a frown. “Are you certain there was no other way we could have dealt with the raiders?”

There might have been, but we didn’t have time to sit around and come up with anything better.

“Concentrate Arlan.” Sir Darius said. “There is a time for contemplation and a time for action.”

“I know. I just wish circumstances were different. For Yohren and the villagers to be out in the open and so vulnerable, it does not sit well with me.”

“He will be fine Arlan, as long as we do our part.” He said confidently. “We just need to be patient and silent. Understood?”

Sir Darius and Arlan nodded to him and said no more and he was thankful for it.

Kaewyn played the part of confident and assured lord well, but in truth, he too worried for the safety of his retainer and the villagers. He had met with the villager’s representative alongside Yohren and asked them for their aid before marching out of camp and heading north. Kaewyn did not lie to the representative, a middle-aged man named Codric, nor did he omit any details or pretend the plan was anything other than using the villagers as bait to lure out the raiders. He was completely honest with the man. He expected disbelief or outright refusal, but what he got were questions. Codric asked how many lives the raiders had taken and what had been done to try and stop them. Again, Kaewyn was honest with him. Codric spoke with Yohren privately and then returned, agreeing to do whatever needed to be done to help. Kaewyn was impressed with Codric’s bravery and willingness to aid them. His impression of simple villagers living away from the towns and cities was that they were an uneducated, fearful lot, more concerned with self-preservation than exposing themselves to risk for the sake of others. He could not have been happier to have been so mistaken.

Yohren had decided to place himself with the villagers rather than at Kaewyn’s side. His retainer explained that he felt obliged to be amongst them, sharing in the danger that he had asked them to face. He helped organise them and had them camp along the Emperor’s Way where the majority of the attacks had taken place. It was their hope that the raiders Rhys mentioned would fall for the bait and reveal themselves, at which point the seventy some cavalry under Kaewyn and Arlan would rush out and intercept them, putting an end to their raids and hit and run attacks. It was a plan not without significant risk, but they were desperate. The raiders constant attacks had already weakened the Vinum forces considerably, denying them both new recruits and supplies. They needed to be dealt with now and Kaewyn saw no other alternative other than to use the villagers as bait, regardless of how difficult it was to do so.

Kaewyn had positioned their cavalry force in a large cluster of densely packed trees that offered a place to hide in the otherwise relatively open, large flat area. Yohren’s villagers waited out in the open on the road and played the part of defenceless non-combatants well. If not for the Greystone cavalry lying in wait, the raiders would easily slaughter the villagers with little trouble. That why was it was of the utmost importance that he and the others remained alert.

Kaewyn watched the horizon to the north, intent on spotting even the faintest sign of the raiders. But as minutes turned into hours, his eyes and body became tired. His mind then began to wander and dwell on matters of concern that had been briefly pushed to the back of his mind due to the urgency of the raiders and their attacks. He thought of Rhys and their strained relationship, he thought on the growing barbarian horde whose numbers increased daily, and he thought of Camilla and all he wanted and needed to say to her. Sitting in the saddle for so long had caused his backside to ache, so he shifted to get more comfortable and then rubbed at his eyes in an effort to stay alert. Against his will, he let out a long, strained yawn. Behind him, he heard his cavalrymen emulate him by yawning as well. He looked up and between the coverage of the trees he could only just see the sun shining through. He knew that it was roughly mid to late afternoon and that within a few more hours, the sun would start to fall. It did not occur to him that their plan to lure out the raiders might take more than a single day, but it was beginning to look more and more likely that they would have to either continue throughout the night or return to camp to try again tomorrow. Either option made him feel even more exhausted, so when he saw a single lone figure appear on the horizon to the north east, he didn’t know if it was just his eyes playing tricks on him.

“There!” Arlan said suddenly. “My lord, do you see it?”

“A single rider.” Sir Darius added, pointing to the north east. “No, my aging eyes deceive me. I see more now. Perhaps a dozen, maybe more.”

“It must be them.” Arlan said. “Shall I give the order?”

“No, we cannot charge out there too early. Every time we have tried to chase them since the invasion, they have always managed to evade our cavalry. Their horses are smaller and faster than ours.”

“I thought our whole plan was to rush after them?” Arlan asked.

“Only after they have taken the bait.” He replied. “Wait until I give the order.”

“I see another group.” Sir Darius said, pointing to the north west. “Another two dozen.”

“Two groups?” Arlan said. “My lord, I think we need to act, lest the villagers pay the price for our lethargic response.”

“We must be patient Arlan, they haven’t moved to attack yet.”

Kaewyn watched as the barbarian raiders, all on horseback, simply waited and watched. Both groups appeared to be content to not act hastily, a fact which concerned him greatly. Do they know our plan?

“Listen Arlan, when we charge, I want you to split off with half of the cavalry and go for the group to the north west while Sir Darius and I go for the others. Otherwise we risk focusing all our strength on one group while the other is free to flee the field.”

“Or to massacre the villagers.” Sir Darius added.

“Understood, my lord. Just give the order.”

Kaewyn continued to wait for the raiders to begin their assault on the villagers, but every second that passed felt painfully slow. He didn’t understand why they were waiting so long to attack. The longer it went on the more he was convinced that the barbarians had somehow discovered their plan. He came closer and closer to deciding to call the whole plan off, but the long, loud shriek of a horn blowing carried over the vast distance like a scream. The raiders were on the move.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Arlan once again pleaded for them to act, but Kaewyn held his nerve. He raised his hand in the air and held it there as he watched the two groups of raiders riding hard towards the villagers from both sides.

Wait…. Wait just a moment longer…. NOW!

He slammed his hand downwards and gave the order. He spurred his horse forwards and felt the air assault him as his horse sped up to a full gallop. All around him were his cavalry, armed with spears, swords and lances. Kaewyn too held a lance in his right hand, his family sword sheathed at his hip if he needed it. After a few seconds at full gallop, they broke out from within the woods and surged onto the open plain. Ahead, he saw that the two raider groups had closed in significantly on the villagers and Yohren. Their horses were smaller and faster, but he hoped that they would be fixated on their prey and would not see Kaewyn and the cavalry charging towards them until it was too late.

As they got closer, Arlan and his half of the cavalry broke off and headed north west, while Kaewyn veered right and headed north east. The barbarian raiders had spotted them now, but Kaewyn’s cavalry was closing in so quickly that if they tried to turn and flee, most of them would be run down before they could get up to speed. Ahead and to their left, Kaewyn saw the villagers pick up their hidden spears in the grass and form a makeshift wall of spearpoints to ward off their attackers. It was a good idea, but he knew it was mostly just to deter the raiders from committing to their attack. Without Kaewyn and his cavalry, the villagers had little chance of survival.

Much to his complete surprise, a volley of arrows launched by the raiders flew upwards into the sky and fell directly at them. Kaewyn heard a scream and countless thuds as arrows hit flesh and shields, but he knew it too late to prevent their charge. The raiders continued to loosen more arrows at him and his men, but he kept calm and lined up a target with the point of his lance. Kaewyn shouted at the top of his lungs as he and his men crashed into the raiders as they tried to turn and flee, impaling many of them with their lances. Kaewyn’s lance struck true and was shattered into splinters, completely annihilating and penetrating a small wicker shield raised up in defence of his attack. He continued to ride through the panicking raiders as more of his men unleashed their attacks. Kaewyn wheeled his horse around and prepared to charge again, but all the raiders were either down or slain in the saddle. Some riderless horses fled the field while others lay dead amongst their slain riders. His men let out a cheer, but the fight was only half done.

After quickly checking that the villagers were unharmed, Kaewyn looked for Arlan and his men. The other raider group had reacted better than their slain counterparts, and had managed to evade Arlan’s charge completely. Their smaller and faster horses outmanoeuvred the heavier, imperial horses ridden by the Greystone soldiers and remained out of reach of lance and spear. Kaewyn watched on as Arlan’s men chased the raiders who loosed arrows and flung javelins backward to devastating effect, maintaining a healthy distance ahead of their pursuers.

Arlan cannot catch them without our help!

“Everyone!” Kaewyn shouted, waving his lance in the air and gathering his men to him. “Our brothers need our aid!”

Yohren and some of the villagers armed with spears ran over to him, checking the dead and tending to the unlucky few who took arrows in the charge.

“Kaewyn!” Yohren called out. “What can we do?”

“Tend to any wounded you find, our men and theirs, and keep yourself safe.” He replied. “Everyone else, with me!”

Kaewyn spurred his horse toward Arlan and the other cavalrymen, leaving behind Yohren and the villagers to do as he had asked. The raiders had drawn Arlan and his men further and further away. In the distance, he saw many of Arlan’s men fall to javelins and arrows. Nearly half of his men were gone, but Arlan continued to chase the raiders as best as he could. Sir Darius remarked that Arlan had lost so many men that he was now gravely outnumbered by those he chased, and before Kaewyn could respond, the raiders must have realised it too. The raiders stopped riding away and turned around, charging straight at Arlan and his diminished number.

Kaewyn and his men were still too far to help, and even though they were getting closer, he could see that Arlan and his men were losing the fight decisively. Horses screamed as well as men. The raiders completely encircled Arlan and what remained of his soldiers but the sound of fighting could still be heard. Kaewyn forced his horse to gallop as fast as it could and after what felt like too long, they joined the fight.

Many of the raiders turned to face them and threw javelins at Kaewyn and his men to soften the impact of their charge, but luckily for him none of the projectiles hit their mark. If a javelin had struck him in the chest, he doubted that his armour would have held up against such a heavy weapon. He drew his sword and lined up a target. The raider he planned to strike was distracted by one of Arlan’s men who fought for his life against three of the raiders. Kaewyn closed in and swung his blade deftly, feeling it bite into flesh as the momentum of his horse carried him through the pack of raiders and out onto the other side of them. He pulled the reigns and slowed his horse, then brought it around to charge again.

He picked another target and spurred his horse into a charge. This time however, just before it came time for him to attack, a spear was thrust in front of his horse’s head, causing the beast to stop and rear. Kaewyn held on and nearly fell out of the saddle, but when the horse landed he managed to recover. Now surrounded and in the thick of the fighting, several raiders attacked him with both their signature curved swords and spears. He parried what he could see, but one strike defeated his guard and caught him under the right arm where his protection was minimal. He felt a sharp heat as a stinging pain shot up his arm and down his side. He retaliated with an attack of his own but it was clumsy and he missed. Another attack that he did not see struck him on the left above the arm, but luckily it only scraped against his armour. He tried to spur his horse forwards to get out of the chaotic centre of the fight, but his horse panicked and refused to obey his command. A raider on horseback blocked his way forward and stabbed at him with his spear. Kaewyn managed to swat away the tip of the spear with a quick swipe of his blade, but before he could go on the attack, he suddenly felt his horse collapse out from under him.

On the ground and on his knees, Kaewyn scrambled to find his footing. He had lost his sword and all around he heard screams and shouting, as well as the clashing of steel. He felt a something strong tug on his shoulder and panicked, balling his hand into a fist, he spun around to defend himself from the unknown threat with whatever means he could muster. To his relief, Sir Darius stood over him. The old knight offered his hand which he took gratefully. Sir Darius then lifted him to his feet with a strong one-handed pull, causing Kaewyn to cry out as his right side flared with a renewed flash of pain. The old knight then pointed out Kaewyn’s sword on the ground, wedged underneath his slain horse. He knelt down and pulled it out from under the beast, then turned to see Sir Darius dispatch two raiders with two decisive strikes. A third raider on horseback closed in and stabbed at the old knight with a spear, but he deftly dodged backwards. Kaewyn saw his opportunity and rushed at the raider, thrusting with his pain ridden arm and finding his mark. His blade struck the raider under the ribs, causing him to fall awkwardly out of the saddle and collapse onto the ground.

Kaewyn spun around and held in sword in front of him, ready to defend or attack whatever came at him next. Rather than be swarmed by barbarians, he instead saw Greystone soldiers all around him. They were bruised and bloodied, but alive. The last few raiders went down swinging their weapons and screaming savagely as his tired soldiers cut them down. Many of Arlan’s soldiers had lost their horses to the fighting except perhaps half a dozen.

They had won the fight. Kaewyn immediately called out for Arlan as he feared the worst, but the valiant warrior remained unhurt. Seated still in the saddle on top of his white horse with nary a scratch upon him, Arlan rode over and expressed his concern for Kaewyn’s wound. He lifted up his right arm despite the pain and tried to examine the wound he had received, but he could not get a good look at it. All he knew was that it stung and hurt worse whenever he moved his arm. Sir Darius asked for him to be still and had a brief look at it. The old knight’s conclusion was that it was not too serious, but that he should have a healer or physician take a look once they were back in camp. Arlan joked that Kaewyn needed to train with him more often and take part in more sparring lessons so that he could keep himself from harm in the future. Kaewyn, too sore to think of a witty retort, decided to simply half-heartedly agree.