“War?”, Ganbar softly mutters. The concept alien to him. He heard men of the tribe talk of battle and trials but the closest he had seen to any form of combat was the hunts. This is fills Ganbar with both fright and a strange tingling sense of excitement at the prospect of new experiences.
“Derden we need to start heading back. Go to the head of the column and tell caravan masters that we are returning, I don't want to get caught in anything dangerous and we're a couple days into Qin borders.”, Derden quickly rides off on his brother's command to inform the rest of the caravan.
Naran's face is panic-stricken and he is repeatedly looking around in an attempt to spot any third parties. Whether it be travellers or scouts, under these conditions everyone is potential threat.
“Ganbar?”, Naran nervously asks, eyes flitting across the trees. “You nervous boy?”
Ganbar snorts before responding, “I'm not nervous I'm excited!” Naran eyes the boy up after his reply. The fear and worry clearly marked upon his face, poorly hidden under a mask of false bravado. 'Hmm still just a cocky brat.' The merchant decides to leave the boy to his fantasies and dismounts his wagon. 'I'd better check on the entourage', Naran thought it best to inform the foreign parties travelling with the wagon about the situation. Even though they aren't Ledvic it is highly likely that the Qin would not care after seeing the Ledvic majority among them. This is still the early stages to the war and the prelude has no rules, only rage and savagery.
A couple days pass as the group slowly returns towards Ledvic lands. On the third day, just a short distance from the borders the group encounters other travellers amidst a forest of bamboo. Moonlight leaks through the thick forest canopy above and all of the men tense upon seeing the travellers. They appear to be a couple, walking alongside a donkey carrying their baggage. Derden immediately starts coaxing his horse towards the front of caravan, keeping a close eye on them. Naran and Ganbar similarly stay vigilant, eyeing the forest around them. The couple passes by with seemingly no will to interact with them. Most of the men sigh in relief as the tension washes away however Ganbar spots something odd about their clothing. “Naran, do Qin women such shiny armbands?”, upon Ganbar's exclamation Naran and a few other men whip around to observe the couple in further detail. They quickly notice the armour hidden under the couples clothing.
Silence. Not even a single breath is heard over the smothering and deafening pressure of the silence.
Finally the silence is broken by twang from the trees. To Ganbar, it sounds an awful lot like a bow string releasing tension. A quick whizzing sound follows. The arrow strikes, settling in the neck of a younger mercenary.
“AMBUSH!”,
The cry is carried along the caravan as men scramble for weapons and to get themselves into better positions. The narrow forest path and trees surrounding them prove to unbelievably disadvantages for riders, and Ledvic military traditions primarily centre around the horse. A large portion of the newer mercenaries are cut down by a hail of arrows as they struggle to manoeuvrer their steeds. The more veteran warriors quickly come to their senses as instincts kick in. They quickly dismount and take cover, hastily grabbing shields and any other objects from the wagons that could serve as protection from the onslaught of arrows.
Naran dives into one of the wagons to protect himself but almost immediately an arrow pierces the thin hide covering and a cry of pain is heard from within the cart. Fear and panic begin to consume Ganbar as he is entirely unaware of how to act in such a situation. Spotting a bow and quiver on one of the fallen mercenaries he dives for the object, eager to comfort himself with the company of a weapon.
After a short while the hail of arrows trickles to a stop and another short pause of silence strangles the air. This bout of silence is almost immediately shattered by battle cries as Qin warriors charge out of the thicket and clash with the caravan guards. Ganbar again freezes in shock as the noise of battle washes over him. Grinding clashes of steel and iron, war cries and screams for mothers reverberate around the boy's ears. As men fall and blood fills the air Ganbar begins to notice the smell. Like thick rusted iron and also another more foul smell, like that of the relief buckets. A body falls almost on top of Ganbar and he is broken out of his stupor. Gritting his teeth he slings the quiver around his waist, pulls out an arrow shaft and knocks the bow. Luckily the bow is only a red bow, used often by youths. The design sacrifices power for an easier draw. Eyeing one of the enemy soldiers caught in a sword bind with one of the veteran guards, Ganbar draws in his breath. Aims, and fires. The Qin warrior is caught completely unaware by the projectile and his face is frozen in an expression of shock and pain as the arrow is caught in his cheek. The Ledvic warrior takes advantage of his enemies confusion to quickly aim a cut at his throat, severing the man's head.
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The battle rages on for a short while, feeling like hours to Ganbar but in reality it was only a few minutes. The boy continues to provide support to the soldiers with his own arrowfire, pinning enemy wounding and distracting enemy soldiers as the men battle on. Further ahead Ganbar notices Derden sweeping through enemy soldiers like they are children, his strength as Cekhno-Hon proving to be a great asset in the battle.
Then Ganbar notices two Qin warriors observing Derden from afar, it is the couple that they initially encountered, clad in shining lamellar armour which was what Ganbar initially spotted under their travellers robes. Ledvic bodies surround the couple while they simply watch Derden fight with a look of, amusement?
The women turns to the man and mutters something, looking annoyed at the man's expression to which the man raises his sword and cries out whilst looking in the forest.
“Lang-Ren!”,
Upon the man's command more soldiers appear out of the thicket and slowly approach the fighters. The Qin warriors respond with elated cries and whoops of joy. As for the Ledvic defenders...
Fear. The only reaction to the reinforcements is fear and despair. In total only ten men reveal themselves, hardly a number that could turn the tide. However the aura emanating from every single one is identical to Derden.
“T-That's not possible.” “Heavenfather you have forsaken us!” “Why!”, similar cries are taken up amongst the Ledvic soldiers as their morale begins to crumble. These soldiers were all Cekhno-Hon. The battle begins to swing heavily in favour of the Qin as the devastating strength of the elite warriors tears through the Ledvic defenders. Ganbar notices this and begins to panic, wondering what he should do to help turn the tide of this battle. The naivety and arrogance of his youth leads him to believe he can somehow salvage this situation.
Derden is caught in a fierce melee between two of the Qin elites, desperately trying to hold his ground but their strength and experience overwhelm him. As he fights he notices a figure dashing past him in the direction of the couple.
“BRAT! WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!”, Derden screams at Ganbar after noticing him rushing the couple with a short-sword in his hand. 'They commanded the others so maybe they'll panic if I can get one of them.' A strange calm flows through Ganbar's mind and eases his muscles. The familiarity of the sword gives him some confidence since he had been trained by his father, a Barr-Hon and great warrior. The woman giggles upon seeing Ganbar's face full of fury and desperation as he charges them. Ganbar aims to cut at the man however his sword is blocked by his opponent's.
The man smirks before shoving Ganbar back, sending the boy tumbling onto the ground. Unperturbed Ganbar quickly scrambles to his feet before charging the man yet again, he aims another cut at the man's neck to which the Qin warrior simply sighs and raises his sword lazily to block it. However his face quickly shifts from it's intial look of disdain to shock, then returns to amusement yet again.
Ganbar had feinted the initial upper slice and redirected his attack towards the man's legs. He aimed to cut the man's leg at the thigh however upon his blade contacting with the man's leg there was only a loud clang and a horrible tremor shook up Ganbar's arms. Unable to keep ahold of the sword he drops it as his hands and arms scream out to him in pain. Glancing over he notices armour covering the man's thigh exactly where he had attempted to cut, a small scrape can be seen on the lamellar plates, the sword had barely bitten into them. The boy did not realise that even with his training, the strength required to slice through armour was beyond what any ordinary fourteen year old boy could summon.
The Ledvic fighters break and rout. Those fleeing are quickly put down with arrows. Others upon seeing the fate of their more cowardly comrades, realise that the battle lost and drop their weapons on the ground, opting instead to surrender in the hope of survival.
Ganbar looks up in fear at the man who is smirking down at him sword arm raised in the air. The aura this man exudes is far beyond the elites from before, in fact it is strangely familiar. Ganbar's eyes widen as he realises the man in front of him is at the same strength as his father, Barr-Hon. He closes his eyes in defeat as the sword comes down onto his head, he hears a slight exclamation from the Qin woman before his world went black.
The man turns to his men, "Bring the boy, kill the rest." after giving his final orders the rest of the men begin to clean up the situation. Screams ring out in the area.
"What do you think?", asks the woman. "Silver in his hair, Trimvic nobility but the bloodline features are weak. A branch family perhaps?" "Why would Trimvic nobility be travelling with a Ledvic merchant caravan, and such weak guards?"
The man ponders for a moment. "I heard Shien White speak of a rumour about a commotion that occurred when he visited their main family." Looking down at the unconscious child, "Either way he'll be useful."