In the Forest of Fangs Princess Amercy's P.O.V.

I stand waiting with Zamart and Alexa, I see one of the scouts approaching. This should be the news we have been waiting for ever since I sent out the messages to the other kingdoms.

Scout says "Princess, the army has entered the forest!"

"How many are they?"

Scout says "Five thousand foot soldiers, one thousand cavalry!"

Alexa says "That is more than we were expecting, guess your father is serious."

Zamart says "More importantly, are they using the path?"

Scout says "Yes, lord mage."

Zamart says "Good! Then at least all that effort moving plants around wasn't wasted."

"Alright, we follow the plan. Let's begin!"

Alexa walks off yelling orders to our troops, the scout hurries after her. I turn and look at Zamart, only to see him smiling.

"You think our odds of winning are that good?"

Zamart says "No princess, it's not that. I'm ashamed to say I am excited, it's been over fifty years since I threw a spell in combat."

"Don't worry, you have earned the right to enjoy yourself a little. Between the mages you recruited from among your old apprentices and the new mages you have trained among the rebels you have contributed a lot to the coming battle."

Zamart chuckles and says "Not to mention the weeks I spent preparing the forest for the enemy."

"Yes, I know how much work you put into that, and trust me my friend I am very grateful."

Zamart says "Ahem, yes well, I should join the other mages. Things will be starting soon."

"Stay safe Zamart, there is still a lot for us to do after this battle."

Zamart says "Don't remind me! You take all the fun out of things!"

I share a laugh with Zamart before he heads over to join his mages. I walk slowly and confidently towards where my horse is waiting. With all the troops watching me I can't afford to show any sign of nerves or worry. I am just glad that all the speeches and morale boosting are over and done with, now all that is left for me to do is lead the cavalry into the fight.

We have fifty cavalry and just over one thousand foot troops, we are heavily outnumbered. Our advantage lies in the terrain and our mages, the enemy is going to face several traps and ambushes before we face them head on. Even if half of the enemy die in the traps we will still be outnumbered about three to one.

I sit on my horse racking my brain trying to think of anything we can do to improve the odds. We have been plotting and planning for this for weeks, I don't come up with anything new before I hear Alexa shouting orders for the foot troops to move out.

Shortly, Alexa walks over and mounts her horse and rides up next to me. We both watch the foot soldiers march out, I try to make eye contact with as many as I can to give them one last bit of encouragement. Even if the battle goes well a lot of them are going to die today and I feel responsible for all of them.

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Alexa says "The reports were accurate, the new knight commander is an idiot."

"Umm, Raveos, wasn't it?"

Alexa says "Yeah, that's it, he is even dumber than Tarrik was. They hit the first traps and just keep marching straight down the path."

"What about their scouts?"

Alexa says "All eliminated, they are marching blind."

"So Zamart's plan is working?"

Alexa says "So far, exactly as planned."

"How many have they lost so far?"

Alexa says "It is hard to get an accurate count but I would guess at least five hundred so far."

"That is better than we expected isn't it?"

Alexa says "Yes, but don't get your hopes up. They brought more than we expected so higher numbers are not as helpful as you might think."

"If Raveos is as stupid as reported and he marches straight through the worst we have what do you think our odds are?"

Alexa sighs and says "Even if he takes the maximum casualties I'd still say our odds of winning are about twenty percent."

"That bad?"

Alexa says "Yes princess, even at even numbers we would be in trouble. Our soldiers, while brave, are mostly farmers with what little training we could give them."

I try not to let my disappointment show as I go back to watching the soldiers march to their positions. At least with the equipment purchased in Illium our troops are as well outfitted as the king's army. If only we had had more time to prepare and train them, another few months would have made a huge difference.

As the last of the foot troops pass another scout comes running back to report. It takes him a minute to catch his breath before he can speak.

Scout says "Commander! The enemy sent out flanking squads to try and keep our archers at bay."

Alexa says "He split his forces? This Raveos really is an incompetent idiot!"

Scout says "The squads were eliminated, estimated enemy losses are around two thousand."

"Excellent! You may get some water and then rejoin your squad."

The scout bows to me and runs off. I can see the wheels turning as Alexa re-examines our plans. After a minute she smiles and shakes her head.

"What?"

Alexa says "If I had known earlier there is a lot we could have changed, but at this point it is too late to use the information."

"You can't think of anything?"

Alexa says "Not that we can implement before the fighting starts. We should take our position now."

I nod at Alexa and nudge my horse into motion, Alexa stays beside me and the fifty other riders follow right behind us. We are the center of the formation for the battle, our job will be to counter charge their cavalry. We stop when we reach the edge of the clearing where the battle will take place.

This clearing didn't exist two weeks ago, somehow Zamart used magic to move the trees and bushes to make it just for this battle. I am about to ride into the open when I hear running footsteps behind me. I turn in the saddle to see one of the mages run up panting, he is out of shape and obviously not used to running. I have to wait for him to catch his breath enough to speak.

Mage says "Zamart says to stay at the edge of the woods, visible to the enemy, but not in the clearing."

Alexa says "What? Why? We can't form up the troops in the trees."

Mage says "He just said to say stay out of the clearing."

Alexa sighs and rides off to spread the word to the troops. I signal the rider behind me to ride the other way, then I ride forward a little more until I am at the very edge of the clearing. The minutes seem like hours as I wait for the enemy to appear, I have never seen a real battle before and now the waiting is torture.

I want nothing more than to turn and ride away and take all my people to safety. I don't want to lead them into battle and have their deaths on my hands. Just as the waiting is about to make me scream something shiny catches my eye on the opposite side of the clearing.

A rider in armor just came out of the trees, he is soon joined by another and another. Soon around two hundred riders are lining up facing me across the clearing. Then the foot soldiers start coming out and forming up and I can't stop myself from counting as they do. Two hundred, then four, then eight, soon I pass two thousand in my count. It seems that between twenty-five hundred and three thousand foot have survived and are ready to fight.

I am about to give the order to charge when I remember what the mage said, so instead I sit and wait even though it makes me want to scream in frustration. Then I notice it getting darker and I look up, the sky which was clear and blue moments ago is now covered by black clouds.

A rumble draws my eyes back down, the enemy is advancing into the clearing. If we don't get in formation we won't stand a chance, but I trust Zamart, so I sit and I wait. Then I see a bright spot fall to the ground in the clearing, I am confused as I look up and see dots of light falling from the clouds.