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The Lost Book
Long Night

Long Night

"Everyone rest up," orders echoed throughout the walls. The initial clash ended in a massive victory giving more confidence and belief to the defenders. Their initial nervousness settled and the citizens of Bali were filled with energy. The day is at its peak, yet, the squad leaders all order them to rest, and sleep if they can. The civilians had their doubts, but they still followed the orders and lay down on the wall. They have already witnessed a miracle happen, so the few doubts they had about the sword saint and the heavenly squad have vanished and were replaced with faith and reverence. With the civilians resting the captains and the commander gathered and discussed the countermeasures for the next attack from the enemy.

"Ding, ding, ding..." with the sound of the bell the resting soldiers became alert. They quickly picked their bow and assembled to their positions. The sun has started to set, decreasing its intensity of light and thus nullifying the effect of the mirror. This in turn gave the perfect chance to attack. Yet, there was no movement in the Albanian camp. Soon, the darkness of the night engulfed the mountains. Some torches were lit on the walls of Bali and in the camps of Albania giving some light and a minor vision of the surrounding. But the Albanian camp and the city walls were separated by 400 meters of empty plains covered in darkness.

The Albanian army moved under the cover of the night silently, got close to the city, and launched a surprise attack. The soldiers on the walls were prepared for it and retaliated strongly. Both sides fought bravely with the sound of swiftly flying arrows and the scream of pain-stricken soldiers filling the air. The battle continued on and soon the Albanian soldiers reached the walls of Bali. They put ladder after ladder and climbed atop the wall forcing the defenders into a close-range confrontation. The long-range archery battle soon turned into a meal battle over the wall. The height advantage and superior positioning, that somehow equalized the playing field for the untrained civilians against an army of well-trained soldiers were gone. Thus the Albanians soon managed to establish a foothold over the walls allowing more and more of their comrades to climb the wall.

The defenders of Bali were pushed to their limit yet they still tried their best to hold out no matter what. They tenaciously fought, sacrificing their blood, sacrificing their limbs, and also sacrificing their lives, and managed to keep the enemies at bay. Dickon provided timely reinforcements to each area and maintained a stalemate. Soon, Devi with the reserved soldiers under him also joined the battle and somehow managed to regain their control over the wall. The wall was secured again but the battle was far from over. The long night continued and so did the struggle. The battle continued throughout the night claiming hundreds and hundreds of lives in the process. Commander Dickon has to personally pick up the sword and join the frontline. The citizens desperately fought alongside him. Some dying citizens even jumped off the walls with the enemy, dragging them to their death. Their desperate resistance paid off as the Albanians retreated, leaving behind a mountain of corpses.

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But the losses suffered by both sides were quite different than last time, The retreating Albanian army suffered more than 300 deaths and nearly 400 injured, a total of 700 to 800 casualties. The loss of Bali was astonishing this time, with more than 200 death and only 40 injured soldiers. This is because most of the injured chose to drag one more enemy to his death than preserve their own life. This horrified the Albanian soldiers and forced them to retreat. Their heroics saved the city and bought some valuable time but also left a big hole in its defense. The 440-strong defenders were now left with only 200 survivors. Adding the reserve and the backup squads together only numbered about 358 soldiers who were barely enough to man the city wall.

Dickon looked at the battlefield, the dead bodies of the citizens and some of his old comrades lay motionless on the wall. Blood gushed out of the body stabbed with swords and spears while the organs spilled out of the wound. The medical team under the guidance of Suri searched for survivors and was transporting them to the medical camp. Stretchers carrying the wounded passed by him and hastily moved down the wall. In the midst of this, a hand suddenly grabbed his leg. Dickon stopped and looked down, Hileos a very talented and skilled archer who has fought with him in many battles and carried out 100s of successful ambushes was laying down struggling to speak something. Deckon bent his legs and kneeled near him, bringing his ears close to Hileos. "It huu..r...rts, sir, it hurts," he said in a trembling voice while holding his chest tightly, "I,.. I will not survive, en...d end my life."

Dickon looked at the wound on Hileos's chest, his heart was pierced and black blood flowed out of it. Dickon pressed the wound tightly with his trembling hand to stop the bleeding. But blood kept on flowing and the color of Hileos's face was fading. He groaned again, "Please."

Dickon's eyes teared up as he placed a sharp knife on Hileos's neck, "Forgive me, my friend," his voice trembled but his hands remained firm, and pushed the knife into his neck ending his life in a split second. He put the knife back and moved his hands to close the eyes of his old comrade. He took a deep breath, stood up, and firmly gave his orders,

"Clear up the walls, push the dead down the wall."