The last few days had been busy, and Team Flagbearer was now a well-oiled machine.
After their raid on Cormac’s camp, the whole team had celebrated together. Sven had even ‘allowed’ bonfires to be lit, which had nothing to do with his team ignoring him when he tried to stop them. With no team left in Cormac’s sector, a neighboring team wiped out, and no sign of anyone ever moving around at night, it hadn't technically been a big risk. But it was the last time they took such a risk.
Sunrise saw fifty students marching through the trees, working their way around the perimeter of the exercise area. They were there to greet their porters just 100 meters inside the boundary. Grizzly even helped the team to parcel up the supplies for caching, before taking the list for the next drop, shaking Sven’s hand, and whistling a happy tune as he led his porters back out.
Once the new supplies were hidden around their temporary campsite, the team spent the rest of the afternoon resting. There was no time left to get anything else done, and no one had got much sleep the night before.
The next morning was a repeat of the day before, heading out at sunrise and circling around to their own sector. This time, though, they were going back for some of the hidden rations and weapons that they had left behind.
Four supply caches were quickly dug up, followed by a quick detour to have a quick look at their base camp. Someone had gone through a lot of effort to make the camp unlivable.
“Is the hill shorter?” Chelsea asked, squinting uphill and into the sun.
“Definitely. The wall we made is almost gone,” Delmar responded immediately.
The view from the top was shocking. Another team had taken the time to dig away the top 3 meters, all around the entire hill, leaving the vertical portion that they’d created as little more than a step. But it was the inside of the base camp that had really been destroyed.
“They buried our whole camp!” Yaric exclaimed.
All of the dirt that had been dug up had been tossed into the bowl on the inside of the donut shaped hill. Only the very top of the doorway was visible, and anyone on their team would be able to augment themselves enough to jump straight up to the roof.
Yaric ran down by himself to have a look.
“It looks like they filled up the inside as well,” he shouted back, kneeling down and peering through the gap at the top of the doorway. He rummaged through his pockets for his lighting stone and cast the bright beam through the gap.
“It’s completely buried! I can’t even see to the end!”
Yaric made his way back up to the team, looking around as he went. There were no partially filled areas anywhere, the whole bowl had been thoroughly filled in.
“Well, someone wasted a lot of effort,” Sven laughed.
“How much time do you think this took?” Anton was grinning as he asked his question.
“Don’t know. At least a day. Probably two,” Marlon answered quietly, staring out at their old camp site with a soft smile teasing at his lips.
Gerrick started laughing. “Even if a 6th year team fully augmented themselves, this would still take a full day! And we never even planned on coming back!”
“Yeah, well, they obviously didn’t know that. I bet they celebrated their ‘clever’ plan after they finished with all this work!” Sven joined in, laughing with the rest of his team.
Their spirits were high as they made their way toward another supply cache. It wasn’t even that far away, and 45 minutes later they were making their way down a hill to the buried provisions, hidden halfway down.
“Contact!”
The yell came from further down the hill, almost directly ahead.
“Positions!” Sven yelled, ignoring the fact that his team was already rushing into formation.
All supplies were dropped where they stood, with twenty-five students rushing forward to form a wall of shields, swords in hand. Another twenty of their teammates moved behind them with arrows already nocked on their bows.
Marlon had become the unofficial flagbearer, and he stood behind them all, directly in the middle of the line, with their team’s flag waving proudly. The four remaining students hid further up the hill, keeping their other flags hidden. You couldn’t just bury the flags to hide them, as the rules required everyone to keep their flag visible, but there was no reason you couldn’t wave them proudly from behind a dense copse of trees.
A triple row of spearmen marched up to meet them, moving carefully to ensure they kept their formation. There was no flag visible behind them.
“Huh… it’s you.”
“Lauren…” Sven replied, watching warily as the center spear in the front row lift and Lauren stepped forward.
“They do still have their flag!” Li Na’s familiar voice called from the left flank, where three fighters stood with swords and shields. Two of the three anyway, as Li Na skipped forward with her mace over her shoulder.
“I see that, Lina,” Lauren replied in a deadpan voice. She looked past Team Flagbearer, gazing up the hill behind them with a slight smile on her face as she realized where they had come from. “I didn’t expect you guys to be hiding out so close to your base camp!”
“Ready!” Li Na screamed, crouching low with her mace held ready. Each line of spears moved closer together in response.
“No!” Lauren shouted, watching Sven and the others present their shields.
Yaric didn’t miss the way Lauren looked over their row of archers, her eyes widening as she took in the number of bows lined up against her.
“You guys have a flag, but you also have the high ground,” she announced, looking Sven directly in the eye. “We might win, but we would take a lot of casualties, and someone else would just take your flag from us as well.”
Lauren quickly shifted her spear so she could hold it in one hand, while raising the palm of her other hand to face her opponents. “And the same goes for you. If you attack us, you might win, but even if you do, you will still take heavy casualties. You’ll be taking the same risk but with no reward – we don’t have a flag. Let’s just agree to part ways.”
“What?!” Li Na shouted from the side. “We’ve been looking for them all week! We can’t just walk away when we find them!”
“You’ve been looking for us?” Sven asked teasingly.
Lauren’s shoulders dropped as she sighed heavily, before looking to her side and glaring at Li Na.
“Of course. We heard you still had flags. But you guys are never at your base...”
“What do you mean, ‘heard’?” Sven interrupted her, intrigued.
“The Dragon Team sent a messenger to us. I think they sent one to every team. The message was simply that you guys had at least two flags and that they were willing to partner up and split the flags if anyone found you.”
Shields wavered up and down the line as Team Flagbearer started laughing, while Sven made a point of turning where he stood and staring at the only flag waving behind their line, seemingly studying it intently.
Lauren’s team shifted in place, clearly annoyed at the way their opponents were laughing.
“Huh… And you trusted them?”
“It couldn’t hurt to see if they were right, and it turns out you do have at least one flag. Besides, those guys hate you!”
Sven smiled widely. “I don’t blame them; we beat them repeatedly.”
“Did you really burn down their whole camp?” Lauren inquired.
“Yip. They attacked us twice right in the beginning, so we hit them back. Not my fault they keep attacking us but get upset when we retaliate.”
“Well you won’t burn our base down!” Li Na called tauntingly.
“Of course not!” Yaric yelled in return, causing Lauren and Sven to turn to face him. He was in the backline with the archers, right at the end, on the flank furthest from Li Na. “What would we do that for? You’re flagless!”
Li Na turned pink. “What makes you think our flag isn’t safe in our fort, huh?” she shouted in return, grinding her teeth.
“Because we checked!”
“Like you’d be able to spy on our camp!”
Heads were turning in sync up and down both team’s lines, as everyone twisted to follow the back and forth going on between Yaric and Li Na.
“Of course we have! By the way, what were you and Lauren arguing about after that big fort burnt down? Was it because you guys got there too late?”
“You dirty, spying, sneaking scout!” Li Na spluttered.
“Enough!” Sven called out. “I don’t agree,” he continued, looking directly at Lauren, “there is no might from where I stand. We will win. But you are right about there being no point in us fighting. If you want to walk away, give us your word that your team will go straight back to their camp, and I will agree.”
“Why do we need to promise to go back to camp?” Lauren asked, annoyed.
“Because if you don’t, you could just follow us until you have an advantage. And what else would you do anyway, apparently you are out here looking for us. I’d rather just fight you now if you’re going to try to attack us later.”
Lauren looked at her feet, deep in thought. “Fine,” she answered after a moment. “We can either be wiped out here, or go back today and keep looking for you tomorrow. But we will only agree to go back to camp for the day. After the sun sets, you’re all fair game!”
“Agreed!” Sven announced, smiling.
Both teams stood awkwardly for a few moments, each side staring at the other, before Lauren stepped forward and turned to face her team. “Alright everyone, we’re going back. And Lina is cooking for everyone, since she let slip why we were here!”
Yaric couldn’t tell who groaned louder, Li Na, or the rest of her team. Considering how he heard Li Na over the sound of her entire team, it was probably Li Na…
“What did you do that for?” Yaric asked Sven as soon as Lauren and her team were out of earshot. “We could have found out more!”
“Yes, but we are being very loud out here.”
“Loud? Seriously? It’s a miracle that we found Lauren, what are the chances of a second team running around out here?”
“Very high,” Sven answered seriously, looking nervously at the trees that surrounded them. “Lauren was out here looking for us. They knew where to look because another team told them. Do you really think they are the only team looking for us? Or that Lauren wouldn’t join them in a heartbeat if they suddenly came through those trees?”
“I’m sure most of the other teams know where the other flags are,” Yaric retorted. “They could be out there.”
“I’m sure everyone knows by now. But those flags are held by 6th year teams, and they’re sitting inside well-fortified camps. We’re the only 5th year team with a flag, and by now everyone should know that we don’t have any fortifications. We’ll be seen as the soft target.”
“Fine! But you also forget to make sure Lauren wouldn’t send spies to follow us. If she sends scouts to try and discover where our camp is she will find out about our caches.”
“True. Grab some of the others, however many you think you need, and set up a screen.”
Yaric ran off, grabbing Chelsea, Delmar, and four other archers. He quickly explained the objective to them, and they all ran off into the forest. It didn’t take long to hit paydirt.
“Hey Lauren!” Yaric called, stepping out from behind a tree. Delmar stepped out from behind another on Lauren’s other side.
Lauren just shook her head in response and turned around, not bothering to reply.
Yaric didn’t bother hiding the fact that he was following her either, walking out in the open 20 meters behind Lauren while Delmar went back to hiding, covering Yaric in case of an ambush.
They followed Lauren for 15 minutes before she turned and acknowledged Yaric’s presence. “Are you going to follow me all the way back to my camp?” she snapped.
“If I have to,” Yaric replied quietly, taken aback. “We’re on opposite teams, I’m not following you for fun.”
Lauren sighed. She seemed to sag a little, just like she had done when Li Na had given away that they were hunting Sven’s team.
“I know… And I’m sorry. This competition isn’t easy, and it sucks when you’re the one in charge. I can’t even imagine how Sven is leading your team the way he is. At least two teams already have it in for you guys, just to get revenge for what you did to them. And they’re both 6th year!”
Yaric shrugged. “Honestly? We mostly just got lucky.”
“Lucky?” Lauren laughed, mocking herself.
“Yes, lucky!” Yaric felt his face start to burn as he realized that he probably shouldn’t be telling her these things, but he continued anyway. “Those guys aren’t hunting us because we embarrassed them, they’re hunting us because they embarrassed themselves. They made stupid mistakes, and we took advantage. We’ve been lucky several times now. Besides, it’s also been a team effort. Most of the time Sven just listens to our ideas and picks whichever one he thinks is best. We hardly ever use ideas that he came up with.”
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Lauren stared back in surprise. A smile started spreading slowly across her face. “Thank you Yaric, that actually helps. Just so you know, I’m the only one who stayed behind to follow you. Sven made me promise that my team would go straight back to camp, so I was the only one who could follow you without breaking our word.”
This time it was Yaric that smiled. “Thanks!”
“No problem. Now you have my word that I’m going back as well.” Lauren started walking backward, away from Yaric and in the direction of her base camp. “And Yaric? You guys are doing really well. Those other teams are basically asking for help; they aren’t confident about taking you on alone.”
Yaric waved goodbye. “You as well. You’re the only team that’s ever found us.”
“And tomorrow we will be the only team that’s ever beaten you!” she laughed.
This time Yaric smirked. “Good luck!”
Lauren laughed again, before waving one last time and turning on her heel and running off in the direction of her base camp.
“You believe her?” Delmar asked, walking forward.
“About going back to camp?” Yaric asked, getting a nod in return. “Yes, she’ll go straight back to camp. And she will be the only one from her team that tried to follow us. We can go back.”
Yaric walked past Delmar, returning the way they had come.
“You don’t think you told her too much?” Delmar asked, though he didn’t sound very concerned.
“No. Nothing I said was useful except to her. I mean, nothing would help her fight us, but it might help her personally with her team.”
Delmar didn’t reply, but he didn’t disagree either.
Every supply cache that they had planned to retrieve was soon dug up, leaving Team Flagbearer to haul the whole lot all the way back, following the outer perimeter. It was the longest route they could take, but Sven was adamant that they do everything they could to avoid running into another team.
The next day seemed even longer.
Sven was even more paranoid now, and he flatly refused to allow the team to split up. They moved everywhere in full force, ensuring that they could never run into a superior force.
That was all well and good for combat, but now the entire team was forced to continue moving around the outer perimeter, making multiple trips to move their supplies into the sector with Chris’s team.
Chris’s sector was directly opposite their original base camp, and directly between the two teams that still had flags. It was a perfect cover for planning their next attack.
With their temporary camp still situated in Cormac’s sector, Team Flagbearer had to move through a sector belonging to one of the teams with a flag in order to get to Chris’s area, which Sven was determined to do undetected.
They only made one trip on the first day, then spent the rest of that day hiding those supplies and making a basic, hidden camp for them to move into. The rest of the day was spent resting for the work ahead.
That involved nighttime trips. In theory, they should have been able to move stealthily through the night, but the moon was now starting to wane, which combined with the clouds that drifted across the glittering sky to create an impenetrable darkness on the forest floor.
Fifty students stomped their way through the underbrush, bashing into every obstacle and seeming to find every branch to step on. Sven was so tense he seemed about to snap, just like the dry sticks that constantly jumped onto their path.
It was made worse by the need to make three trips through the night. The only upside was the sun rising while they collected the last of their supplies, beginning with a soft glow over the horizon as they made their way into their old camp for the last time, and swiftly transitioning into glowing orange and red. It seemed almost blinding to the fifty students who had spent the night moving in near total darkness.
Everything was cleared up as best they could, before the whole team rushed to get back. Despite the difficulties, everything went smoothly. The rest of the day was spent hiding small caches all over the sector, then getting some sleep. After which the observations started. Hours and hours of watching both camps, with nothing ever happening.
And now Yaric found himself coming back into their hidden campsite, reporting that nothing was happening, again. Five days of watching both camps had yielded nothing.
“Any sign of movement?” Sven asked, looking hopeful.
Yaric had just returned from his morning shift. “No,” he replied, shaking his head. “Same as yesterday.”
Sven failed to hide his disappointment. “We’ll get our chance. There are five teams with no flags right now, and only two targets.”
“Three,” Yaric smiled, pointing at his teammates sitting around their makeshift camp.
“Yeah, well, you can’t target something you can’t find! I bet Lauren is running in circles…” Most of those listening in started grinning at Sven’s pronouncement, relishing the fact that they were both winning and missing. Not that they weren’t ready to fight. Every single one of them was armed and ready, eager to get their 5th and 6th flags as soon as the opportunity arose.
Unfortunately, everything had been quiet from the moment they had arrived at their new campsite. No opportunities had come up, and nothing at all had happened.
Until it did...
Chelsea came charging past the lookouts, looking around wildly until she spotted Sven nearby.
“They’re under attack!”
“The camp you’re watching?” Sven asked excitedly, springing to his feet. The rest of the team was jumping up as well, double checking their weapons without waiting to hear her reply.
“Yes! Just when Delmar arrived to take over! But it’s not one team, it’s two!”
“What?! Two teams arrived at the same time?”
“No!” she panted, trying to catch her breath. “Two teams arrived together!”
Sven’s enthusiasm dropped a little, but he quickly perked up again. He looked around at his team, all of them looking at him in expectation.
“It doesn’t make a difference!” he declared firmly. “They will still take big losses, I’m sure we can hit them just like we did to the dragon team when they attacked Cormac. Don’t forget, no one will know where we are. If it looks really bad, we can just choose not to attack.”
“But then what’s the point?” Anton argued.
“The point is finding out where the flags go to. I have no doubt that whichever of these two teams comes out strongest, they will attack the other once the defenders are defeated. I’d be very surprised if they actually split the flags between them. Do you really want to go back to watching every camp again to find out who took the flags?”
They all shook their heads.
“If things go really badly for us, we can at least find out who our next targets will be!”
Everyone quickly hid their packs and moved out.
It took half an hour to make their way around, even though they were all running full tilt with augmentation spells running. Trevor had replaced Yaric at the other observation point, leaving forty-nine members of Team Flagbearer to gather at Chelsea’s lookout spot.
“There!” she exclaimed, pointing.
“They’re still fighting?” Vano asked, confused.
“No way! They’re digging a tunnel like we did!” Chelsea laughed, shaking Yaric.
One hundred students were assaulting the camp below them. This camp was situated right on top of a small hill, and surrounded by much larger hills all around. The defenders had built a full palisade wall around the hill, halfway up, which they now stood along, lining up with spears. Several bows were repeatedly firing down the hill at the attackers.
The attacking force didn’t really look like they were assaulting a defended camp. Dozens of students were cutting down trees and chopping them into shorter sections, while yet more dug a trench up the side of the hill. Around twenty students were standing at the top with tower shields, protecting the diggers from the fusillade of arrows.
“Aargh…” Sven groaned, burying his face in his hands.
“What?” Yaric asked, concerned. “They’ve barely started, we could still get a chance!”
“No, it’s not that,” Sven muffled voice replied. “Look who it is!”
It took a few seconds, but Anton finally realized what Sven was talking about. “It’s the dragon team! Again!”
“Yes,” Sven mumbled into his palms. He finally looked up, sighing deeply. “I think those guys are going to end up devoting themselves to destroying us. We have to make sure we can win before we attack.”
“We’ll just take them out like last time,” Anton answered confidently.
“As you just said, this is the same team we hit from behind last time, just after they’d won. It won’t be so easy to do it again. I can guarantee you that they will all be watching their backs.”
“Chelsea, which way did they come from?” Yaric suddenly asked, turning to her excitedly.
“They came from between those two hills, where they’re chopping the trees down.”
Yaric started unfolding his copy of the map.
“Look! That leads toward the middle of the exercise area, and almost straight back to the dragon team’s base camp. I’d bet that they go back the same way they arrived.”
“You want to ambush them on the way back? Like that raven team with the big fort?”
“Exactly!”
“There’s just one problem,” Sven replied, smiling wryly. “Look!”
Yaric followed Sven’s finger, looking at the team he was pointing at. “What?”
“They have the same shields and spears as the raven team. I’m sure it’s them.”
“What? Both of the 6th year teams that we beat are down there? Together?!” Yaric exclaimed, shocked.
“Makes sense,” Anton mused. “The dragon guys are 6th years, and the team under attack are as well. The only other team with flags is the 3rd team, and they won’t be joining forces to launch an assault. That only leaves the Raven team.”
“What makes you so sure that they’re also 6th years?” asked Yaric, looking dubious.
Sven answered before Anton got the chance. “Any 5th year team that joined up with a 6th year team would just be turned on as soon as the fight was over. Which 5th year team would actually be that dumb?”
“Chris’s tea…”
Sven put his hand over Yaric’s mouth before he could finish.
“He’s not stupid. And does that look like Chris’s team to you?” Sven asked, taking his hand back.
“No…” Yaric grumbled.
“We will wait to see how things go before we make a decision. There’s no point in deciding before we see how their attack goes.”
This time, watching the camp was a lot more exciting. The defenders were not merely waiting for the tunnel to make it all the way, they were fighting back. Every now and then, twenty or more students would jump off the wall and launch their own counterattack. It should have been suicidal, but so many of the attackers were off chopping wood or digging trenches that the counterattack was almost always against a smaller force. And every time they launched a counterattack, those digging the trench or chopping wood would be forced to drop what they were doing and rush to support their friends.
It was extremely effective.
“I’m glad they’re doing the hard work for us,” Vano remarked.
“Same,” replied Sven.
The attacker’s strategy soon became clear. They were repeating the strategy that the dragon team had used against Cormac, only this time, there wasn’t an existing trench to drop a wall into.
So they were digging their own.
The trench was dug right up to the wall, with a steady stream of logs delivered to cover the top. Once the makeshift tunnel reached the wall, it split, moving along the wall in both directions.
It was much harder to cover the diggers when they were directly below the wall, and they started taking casualties. Many of the students who were chopping wood were called back to help. The large number of reinforcements used long spears to push many of the defenders off the wall.
“Won’t it be dangerous when they drop the wall?” Chelsea asked.
“I think they’ll be fine. Remember, the trench wall won’t collapse horizontally, it will drop as well. If it drops on them it will only bury their legs, and their shields will protect them,” Anton answered.
Chelsea still looked happy to be up on the hill.
Palisade sections finally started to sag, causing everyone outside the wall to ready themselves for the attack. Sven turned to face his team as well.
“It looks like they’ve got this. Get ready to move down, we’re either attacking the camp or moving around to block their path back.”
Team Flagbearer didn’t move, they’d been ready since they’d arrived.
Now they all watched as a long section of the wall collapsed, allowing over seventy fighters to surge through. It quickly became clear that the defenders had lost.
“Alright, move! We don’t have much time! We’re going around to setup an ambush.”
Sven’s team cheered quietly and set out, running around the hill the were on and around the back of the hills that stood between them and the path they were aiming for. It took half an hour to get around, making everyone nervous.
They’d made a half circle, and were now facing back to the camp, with the center of the training area behind them. Right in front of the team were two hills, with a narrow ravine between them. The hills were not very tall, but the sides along the ravine were steep, and the terrain was rugged. It was obvious that the valley in the middle would be much easier to travel through, with flat ground and only small bushes as obstructions.
The little ravine opened out into a wide, flat plain, that stretched out behind Team Flagbearer. It was a repeat of the ravine itself, covered in different sized bushes but otherwise clear and open.
“You want us to sit on top of those hills?” Sven asked Yaric.
“No, I want us to sit on top of those hills,” he replied, grinning. “All archers need to be up there, on the slopes facing this open field,” Yaric explained, gesturing behind them. “You guys will be digging a few traps and berms to block their path.”
“Ahhh… you know there’s more than seventy of them, right?”
“There were. There were more than seventy of them. There will be less now that they’ve fought their way into a base camp.”
“That changes everything,” Sven replied with a deadpan face.
“Relax. You guys aren’t facing them one on one. We’re going to set some traps!”
“You can do that? Make traps that take out 6th years?”
“No, traps that will slow them down and disrupt them. The corporals showed me how much more effective that is than one off traps that take out a single enemy. The goal is to let you fight no more than ten or twenty at a time. We’re going to make their life hell!” Yaric had an evil looking grin when he finished, which for some reason brought a smile to Sven’s face, filling him with confidence.
“Alright, let’s get going.”
Chelsea was sent down the ravine to provide an early warning, while Yaric proceeded to measure out the defensive line. Here they dug a shallow trench, piling all of the dirt on the side furthest from the camp, making a knee-high berm. Then they dug a 2nd one 3 meters behind the 1st.
“This is where you guys will make your stand. Stay hidden until the teams are close, then stand up in a line. I know the berm is low, but it really does make a difference. They can’t attack very low, but most of all, it makes it very hard to advance that last meter. They have to get over the berm while you guys defend. If they do push you back you can fall back to the next one, and make them start again.”
“I thought you said we’d have traps?” Anton reminded Yaric.
“Yip! Come on!”
Next, Yaric showed them how to dig small holes, only 20-25cm’s in diameter, but at least 40cm’s deep. It didn’t take much to cover them, and they proceeded to dig a dense field of holes. It was almost overkill.
Part of the reason for digging so many was that most of those who would be fighting from behind the berms were very skeptical about the effectiveness of the traps. Until Trevor found himself surrounded by holes when the rest of his team dug too fast for him to catch up. He tried to get out but fell twice, the first time almost landing on his face. It soon became apparent that stepping onto a foot that suddenly drops almost half a meter can be very disorienting.
“Don’t forget, this just makes it difficult to get to you. They won’t have a proper line. And it will be difficult for them to move their feet once they start fighting, or they could find themselves on the ground right in front of you. But you still have to finish them off yourselves.”
“Alright, everyone, move around and get behind the berms,” Sven ordered.
“Wait! We need to dig more at the bottom of the hill! To protect the archers!”
Team Flagbearer rose to the occasion, managing to dig at least a dozen holes each before Chelsea came running through the gap.
“They’re coming!”
Twenty archers scrambled around the sides and up the hill, ten to each side of the ravine, before ducking behind bushes part way up. Everyone had two quivers, which were placed within easy reach. Their flags were brought up with them. Those on Yaric's side were once again under Marlon’s supervision.
Sven, meanwhile, led the melee fighters in a large loop all the way around the berms, coming from behind. They had dug holes far to the sides and down the flanks, hoping to slow any flanking maneuvers, and the berm curved part way down the side as well. No one had forgotten that they were about to be outnumbered.
Yaric moved slightly around the side of the bush he was hiding behind, keeping it between himself and the ravine, but giving him a view of the defenses below. They were too low to see from ground level, but Yaric could easily spot Sven peering up from where he sat behind the 1st berm.
Yaric waved.
Excited voices soon reached their ears. It only took a few minutes for the vanguard to appear, quickly followed by a very large group of cheerful students. Yaric tried to count them, but they moved around too much to get an accurate number.
'There must be around seventy.'
Two flags waved above their heads as the lively group started out across the field.
Then Sven stood up.
Those in front stopped dead, shocked by his sudden appearance, causing the rest to start bunching up behind them.
“What’s going on?” a highly annoying voice called. Yaric watched a tall student push his way to the front while the rest of the group started scanning their surroundings nervously.
“Well if it isn’t the deadbeat dragons!” Sven shouted, smiling widely. Even those at the back were quiet now, reaching for their weapons.
“You!” the tall student snarled, while the rest of his team started pushing their way to the front beside him.
Those with the large round shields were trying to move between the other team members, attempting to get into a proper formation.
Sven sighed dramatically and dropped his chin to his chest, allowing his head to bounce slightly. Then he looked back up. “This again?” he asked in exasperation.
The leader of the dragon team just spat on the ground between them, raising his spear.
“Hold up, it could be a trap! Get into formation! Quickly!” someone from the raven team called.
Sven opened his arms wide, prompting his melee fighters to stand as well. “We’ve all come to congratulate you! Again!”
The tall asshole snarled even louder, clenching his spear tightly. Behind him, the raven team was still struggling to get into their own formation, with too many of the dragon team getting in the way while their leader kept making noises.
‘Is he trying to sound like a dragon?’ Yaric wondered. ‘Sounds more like a little weasel. Or a small ferret.’
“And I would like to take this opportunity to thank you personally! For fetching us another flag… AGAIN! You can give it to me now. AGAIN!”
Team Flagbearer picked up on Sven’s intentions, and began beating their swords against their shields, chanting.
“Me?! Me?! ME?! ME?! ME?!”
….
“ARGHH!” Asshole screamed.
The dragon team charged. After just a moment’s hesitation, the only partially organized Ravens followed.
Thirty students stood banging their swords against their shields, standing behind a small, knee-high berm.
They faced seventy 6th year opponents, each of which had their spears lowered as they stormed the small group, with seventy sharpened spearpoints glinting in the mid-afternoon sun.
Sven faced down the overwhelming wall of weapons, steel, and still screaming students, watching as the charging horde surged forward.
And Sven laughed…