Chapter 5

I woke up early and watched the sun peeking at me from the horizon. I gave Alba a smooch to wake her up, and after foraging a couple of apples and a skirt full of blueberries, we returned to the encampment. Thankfully we didn't arrive late, but I saw many tired faces. A long day awaited us all.

Nahia was talking to the elder, but as we approached them she darted to welcome us.

"Hey, where's my apple?"

"Here you go. Did you have enough sleep?"

"Climbing to a tree did the trick. You both look good too, I can tell you had fun."

Alba blushed and I looked away. Before I could reply, she continued.

"Anyway, I talked to the elder just now, scouts should be here any moment."

"We'll know their numbers and equipment. It is very smart of them to do it."

"It'd be very unfortunate if they fell and died, or something like that."

Nahia's half-baked joke didn't impress me at all. Her smile shifted to a sly smug.

"Bah, it sounded better in my head! See, they're coming already."

"While I talk to them, could you ask the elder to gather the people around us please?"

The elder came to discuss the specifics of our plans. The scouts told us that there were 72 British soldiers in the field, 10 of them being knights, 10 additional light cavalry, 2 high-ranked nobles, 40 light armored militia and the rest being non-combatants.

For us, we had 70 men who could use a weapon. The majority of them could use a sword and shield without issue, but we had to drill them to use bows efficiently. Some of them participated in battles but I'd be surprised if the rest even used anything other than a scythe.

I devised a plan and shared it with the group.

"See, we can't take them on a battle. We’re not in a position to attack them directly. We'll just get squandered. I suggest ambushing them on their way to the village at night. If they can't see where the arrows are coming from, they won't be able to hold a defensive position."

A villager stepped forward.

"Our arrows won't penetrate their armor easily, though. We picked whatever we could."

"Correct. Our objective isn't to murder all of them, it's to break their morale so they stop invading here altogether."

Alba raised her hand.

"Then we shouldn’t give them a moment to breathe on our attack."

After discussing the matter a bit further, everyone agreed on the idea of an ambush. We spent the whole day drilling the villagers. At least I was happy that they got used to it faster than I expected. A couple of them struggled, but I didn't want to leave them out of the group. Since we had plenty of these arrows, someone had to carry them. I didn’t want all of them to be tired on our arrival to the battle, so a selected few of them carried the majority of our equipment.

I met with the scouts first to get a good idea of the surrounding area. They set up an encampment next to a shallow river, most of them talking to each other around a boiling cauldron. Others chatted around the grazing horses, and one was playing with his sword. They had no way of defending themselves if we descended upon them, none carried any bows, and if we killed their horses their best bet of survival was to flee to the dark forest.

In my moments of doubt, I saw a man crying next to me. We sat him down and gave him some water to wash his face. He finally spoke.

"These bastards killed my family a couple of months ago. They didn't spare anyone in the village, so I picked whatever I could from the ruins of my house and went to a village far away. If we won't stop them here, they won't leave us alone."

I got the moral justification I needed and decided to unleash hell upon these bullies. I met with others and gave them the news. In my absence, Alba blessed the villagers. I still didn't know how magic worked other than learning some tricks from the villagers, but I immediately felt the heavy air when I came back. A stream of blue light emanated from her hands. It traversed among men and bound itself to them. She must've learned a couple of things from the villagers.

"This won't last forever, brothers. Make haste and return to your families with glory."

I split a part of the militia and gave them to Nahia. She’d attack from behind to diminish their chance to escape. I knew some of them would try to run by crossing the shallow river, and that's where her forces came in. The attack would commence after I blew my horn. Under my strict orders, everyone was to scream at the top of their lungs to scare the enemy. I wanted to make an example of these rascals.

My excitement turned to dejection when we heard rumbles from our back. I detected a group of cavalry dashing to the camp, and worse, the soldiers got into a panic mode. Everyone rushed to gather their equipment and get into a defensive formation. I saw a soldier running from the other side of the river, and this meant one thing:

Nahia got compromised.

My heart dropped, just a couple of minutes ago we had the odds in our favor. Now, I was losing control of the situation. On top of that, Nahia initiated the attack before I blew the horn. If I didn’t do something right at this moment, none of us would survive the night.

To my luck, the reinforcements didn’t notice my part of the militia hidden along the road, so if we killed their horses in a surprise attack, they would be overwhelmed. This would also demoralize the soldiers in the camp as they’d get arrows from all around them. I had to accept that I couldn’t rout the enemy with the cards I’d been dealt with.

I put the plan into action with the first step. I blew the horn which caught the enemy off guard and halted the horses for a moment. The villagers showered the surprised cavalry with arrows, and many fell from their horses. The arrows I shot had a red glow, which attracted the attention of my men. This bolstered their waning morale and kept them together. They also pierced stronger than other arrows, which surprised me considering the poor quality of the arrows we had. I must’ve channeled my magical power to the weapon like how I'd done when we hunted that beast.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

The initial phase of the battle went in our favor, but the dismounted cavalry started their steady march to the camp. While I couldn’t pin them with the amount of militia in the field, their march slowed to a snail’s pace. To put the pressure on them, I picked up a couple of men and darted to Nahia on horseback. They took advantage of the camp in disarray and killed several of them. The rest formed a shield wall but didn’t advance to our position. Their armor slowed them down, and being in the dark also prevented a possible counterattack.

I hurried in advance to take back the command, and to my disappointment, the soldiers almost arrived at the camp. They sped up their march in exchange for some casualties. The main force also heard the fight ahead and moved out to meet with them. Despite my attempts, they regrouped and held their formation. I realized the change of tactics from the opposing side and discussed our next step of action with others. If they sallied out many of our men would be lost.

Each of us had a different idea of what to do. The elder urged us to retreat since it wouldn’t take long before we ran out of arrows. We didn’t lose a single soul compared to many soldiers who perished or got severely injured, not to mention how we destroyed their spirits as well. A quick withdrawal would ensure everyone’s safety at the expense of leaving the enemy intact, which Nahia objected to. Even though I liked the idea of departure at first, I couldn’t guarantee victory without sacrifice.

Nahia offered to let our men rest for a moment, they’d occasionally harass the enemy and let the rest plunder the camp for any valuables. The goal was to arm ourselves for the upcoming brawl. The numbers were even, so anything could happen. She didn’t want to let them go until they either surrendered or disappeared from the face of the earth.

I thought about pursuing the enemy to surrender by choosing diplomatic options. I had some ideas on my mind on how to crush the enemy’s morale as we’ve done enough damage to them. Pouring salt over the wound would do the trick. Both of them got interested in my plan so I elaborated on it. Intimidation tactics would be used during the negotiations. Since their leader got killed by the initial assault, it’d be easier to convince them to lay down their arms if I promised safety to them.

In the end, the other two agreed on my plan, it seemed to be the perfect middle of the two. We halted all engagement with the other side and let them relax to gain some needed composure. Exhaustion took its toll on us as well, I stressed out so much that I had to jump off from the horse and sit down to relax my nerves.

After a bit of chatter with the villagers, I observed the agitated soldiers waiting for the inevitable and decided to move out. I also got Nahia and Alba on my side so they'd assume I'm someone powerful. Still, I had to be careful with my words to make this work.

"Hello gentlemen, you look quite tired and thirsty. I can provide that, on the condition that you surrender and give up all your weapons."

They seemed hesitant, from what I didn't know. A knight appeared among them, he had good armor and decent weaponry. The cross on his chest gave me a good idea of his personality.

“Greetings, brave man. If we introduced ourselves earlier, none of this bloodshed would’ve happened.”

“It’s never too late to learn my foe’s name, I suppose. I’m John, a mercenary with an army which encircled you right now.”

“Nice to meet you, John. I’m Bernard, the son of the Duke of Gascony, Jourdain.”

“What is your business here, Bernard? Did you desert from the army to become a bandit, extorting grain and cattle from poor people?”

My words sparked an ire in his deflated ego. He held his tongue for a moment.

“Since you don’t wish to speak, Bernard, I’ll kindly take your turn. You’re surrounded by the people whom you harassed for so long. If you love your life, or at least the men you command, lay down your arms.”

Even under his helmet, I saw the fear grasping his heart and clouding his judgment.

“How do I know that you will not kill us the moment we surrender?”

I made a decision that some of the villagers would disapprove of, but I didn’t have a choice.

“I solemnly swear on my life that none of you will be harmed. If something happens to any of you, my name will be stained as an oathbreaker.”

He looked at his soldiers one last time and sighed. As he dropped his sword, so did the others. Before they realized I tricked them, I asked them to throw their equipment into a pile and told the villagers to come out. Seeing that they surrendered to a group of villagers, their faces dropped. The scenery before me was nothing short of amusing.

During the march home, I had the pleasure of chatting with Bernard and learned of the developments between France and England. So far, the conflict has come to a halt with both of the sides exhausted. Bernard wanted to drag the Navarra into the war by instigating a false flag operation. France and its neighbor didn't get along, which he knew, and sought to use this to drag them into the war. His plan eventually failed with his capture by us.

"A smart idea I must say, if I didn't foil your plan here it could've worked."

"I even swayed some nobles to my side, I was this close to achieving it. Soon everyone will find this out and I'll be killed."

"You bet on a huge gamble and lost. Should've thought twice before doing it."

After he mumbled some more, I left him to the villagers and gathered the group to plan our next move.

"Pfft. I brought that much meat for nothing. Villagers ate all of it last night when we drank alcohol. Pesky bastards."

"Relax, I'm sure that gave them the strength they needed. Nobody can afford that meat here, it'd go bad within days."

"Either way, we'll struggle with money for the time being. Maybe Alba could suggest something better?"

Alba gazed at the starry sky for an idea, and I listened to the owls in the forest. Until that moment, I didn't realize how I missed a quiet environment, away from the industrial hell I used to live in. No air sirens, no nukes, no concrete buildings reaching to the clouds. Before I could sour my mood with somber thoughts, Alba responded.

"We can go to the coast. The elder said the coastal towns are still intact, so we can travel there."

Nahia shook her head.

"If we want to make a living, we have to go to the closest city and find work there. It's impossible to live in a village unless you want to do hard labor all day."

"How far is the city from there, Nahia?"

"A week or so. The coast is closer to us, so if you want to go fishing we can do it."

Before we concluded, I saw the campfire from last night from afar. We managed to come back without any issues, but something felt off. I noticed more silhouettes, and even horses grazing around the area. My vision became clearer and noticed many soldiers in heavy armor patrolling the area. A banner stood in the middle, it had many symbols on it. They noticed us and stood up, one of them who had heavy armor on horseback approached me.

"Sir John, the villagers talked of your renown, and I can see that you deserve all of it. We'll take it from here, please relax yourselves."

We sat down as the man took off his helmet. He must've been around in his mid twenties, his shaven face and black hair reminded me of the typical hero in a fairy tale. Yet, one full of life stood next to me.

"I apologize for the late introduction. I'm Sancho Penez, my family governs the villages from here to the Pyrenees. As the eldest son, it's my duty to protect this land."

"Pleased to meet you, Sir Sancho. I'm John, this is my wife Alba and that is our acquaintance, Nahia. We're travelers seeking adventure and money. We can pack a punch with our weapons."

I thought it'd be weird to call Alba anything else. If I didn't, people would look at me as if I had multiple concubines, which I wanted to avoid the most. I ignored Alba’s dumbfounded face to continue the conversation.

"I can tell you're more than a simple traveler, I know the perfect place for you to visit."

"Where would that be?"

"If what this man said is true, a conflict is unavoidable with the English. Until then, I wish for you to depart to a safer place like Santander. A kind noblesse whom I befriended will appreciate your services more than anyone in Hispania. Here, with this seal, she'll know I sent you."

"I trust you with the men here then, Sancho. For us, there's only one thing to do, which is to be on the way."

The villagers gave us some food as a gesture of gratitude and we parted ways with them.

We traveled on the coast and watched many ships and frigates traveling on the way. Nahia explained that her kin often engaged in fishing on the open sea, they went as far as the Icelandic shores. They must've been skillful crafters if they could fish in the open ocean. Nahia later told us a story from her childhood on one of those nights where we sat in front of the campfire and watched the fire consume the sullen woods.

"My uncle spent his life fishing in the open seas. Everyone said he had some screws loose in his head, but I wouldn't love him any other way. He gave me one of his secret tricks for hunting big fish. They imbued their harpoons with magic so if they hit whales, they could easily track them from the light the spear emanated. This is how they spent the nights hunting and the mornings sleeping. The whales surfaced at night more often, which made them an easier target."

Alba jumped in.

"Sounds like your uncle loved his job."

"He did, but I rarely saw him after he lost his wife to pneumonia. The bastard just doesn't step out of his ship. I hope he'll find the inner peace he's looking for."

We fell asleep one by one, and despite it being my turn to look after them, exhaustion clouded my head, and my eyes closed. In a couple of days, we'd be at Santander and I would finally see what a medieval city looked like. The last time I saw a Spanish city, it became a pile of rubble from shore bombardment. The mere memory of it made my skin crawl, I wanted to forget about it as soon as possible.