Arobe was not a coward, but knew he might have to back off if he felt the fight became too hard. He ordered the attack, and Jay advanced up together with the others. The fight became fierce, and many soldiers fell to Arobe’s powerful soldiers, but Kemi had some very good fighters as well, and Jay took on several soldiers himself that he incapacitated from fighting more. After he killed one man, he saw over the soldier’s head that Nami was getting her horse killed by a soldier and she fell to the ground. She rolled on as she landed then brought her knives up for attack. She was a great fighter and struck down many people with her knives and martial arts. The fight was fierce and the sounds of swords meeting were heard throughout the battlefield.
The Darcolian forces did their best to hold back the attackers, but the allied army were many times more in numbers. The allied army made the Darcolian army back off, and the king, who had killed twelve of the Grasoll army himself, was seeing the danger for his people. He signalled to the back of the lines towards the horn that made a sound of retreat. The king was surprised about everything that had happened so fast and knew he could still attack but was also a careful man. He knew he would lose more than gain on the attack so he decided to retreat back. He ordered forward a line of people in hoods that released a heavy fog of smoke towards the wall. The smoke was thick, and it covered the land up to the wall fast so Arobe’s army was able to escape and retreat fast.
With so much smoke, it became hard to fight so also the allied army backed off to not accidently hit one of their own soldiers. Kemi’s army assembled the troops and waited until the smoke cleared. She ordered the injured soldiers to be helped back to the healers and also to let the enemy soldiers that were not dead to be spared but captured. During the fight, many soldiers had been killed. What the allied forces from Grasoll didn’t expect was to face so many women on the battlefield even if not as many as men in the Darcolian army. There were both dead and captured women after the attack had finished. Some of the men fighting against Darcolia died because they hesitated to strike against the women, a mistake the Darcolian women took advantage of. Even if most of the women were archers, there were some that carried armour.
Kemi, as well, was surprised to have seen so many of them, but she would not go easy on them. She did, however, separate the captured women from the men and ordered them to be taken to the Grasoll kingdom’s border. Arobe swore loud and was furious when he gave orders. The fact that he now had to flee from the strong wall he built made his blood boil and having the Grasoll kingdom invade was a great insult to him. He had been surprised, but his castle was well-protected and he brought the soldiers back inside to make ready for the attack.
Kemi wasted no time and took the troops towards the castle, but since it would take some time, she used it well to make sure everything was ready for the next step. On the way, Kemi talked to Jay about what to do, and he listened but had still wondered, in the back of his mind, how surprisingly well it went for them. He was happy the wall was able to break so well at the specific point that Kemi knew but he did wonder how she found out about it. Nami walked with troops and spoke to her general, Soste, about what they knew of the Darcolian castle. Nami had much information about the castle, and the city that was inside of the walls. There was no secret entrance as what she knew and Arobe had been busy bringing the defences up ever since his son died. Despite this, they knew the weapons Kemi had would be able to cause much damage to the high walls.
The kingdom could be seen further away and soon, they would be passing the first village after the wall. There was no activity there and Arobe must have ordered a retreat of those living there in fear of what Kemi would do. Finally, close by the castle, they stood ready and put the canons up on a line. Arobe had taken precautions and ordered the defence of the castle to start. The sun was at the highest, and Kemi was happy with the progress she had had so far and continued with great confidence. She felt it had been an easy attack that was all going her way and thought maybe she might bring peace in the lands. Her confidence got a nasty blow when she was about to fire the canons and from the castle came a rain of iron balls, arrows and heavy boulders that made their way to the army and killed many soldiers. The boulders were aimed for the canons and only some canons got the chance to fire before they were destroyed.
Kemi knew she had walked into Arobe’s home territory, and she was forced to back off her troops to a further distance. The projectiles stopped coming as soon as they were far enough away and they found themselves in a place where the last working canon would not reach its target. She made a mistake, she knew, by coming so close but she really wanted the attack to bring down Arobe. With no hole in the wall, it would be hard to get in to the castle. Inside the walls, the king was celebrating and told his soldiers to get on top of the walls then take out anyone that drew near. Jay saw Kemi looking like she had to retreat and return another day, but it might be too late if they didn’t win this day. Kemi swore and was disappointed with herself on how she could cause such an error. The officers gave advice but they were all not practical, and she began to feel she might have to pull back. With only a little impact on the wall outside, it would be seen as a failure from her part. If she left then Arobe might build up the wall, and there would not be a weak point in it next time.
From the side of them was the opening of the mountain that they were going to use and noise was coming from the opening. The army made ready for ambush and they all stood on a line and waited for whatever was coming. Since Hillmer was unsuccessful in taking the mountain route perhaps the soldiers there intended of attacking to aid their king. Everything seemed to have changed when something unexpected happened. Kemi got a happy surprise when out from the mountain came Queen Lisaro with three thousand soldiers, and she told Kemi when she came close that she changed her mind after she heard her niece chose to fight for the Grasoll lands. She assembled her troops and went through the mountain which had a direct line to her kingdom. Nami came up and greeted her aunty and Queen Lisaro talked to Kemi about what they should do.
From the tower of the Darcolia castle, the king had seen the two leaders had come to challenge him, and he swore that he would take over the Domoro Land after he burned the Grasoll land down. He told one of the servants to send a message to the Redonia kingdom, but knew it would be too late to get help. He knew he should have asked Amaya for help, but he was stubborn and did not want his brother’s help. He looked at his soldiers, and the people that hid in their houses. Some of the citizens of Darcolia had taken up axes, and other tools to fight anyone entering the kingdom. They were ready to defend Darcolia, but he knew many of them would die this day.
Queen Lisaro said she had a newly developed weapon and thought it would change the war to their advantage. She revealed it, and Kemi got the plan organised right away. They worked through the day with tending to the wounded and preparing for the night. From Arobe’s perspective, he was unable to see and wondered what they were planning. The darkness came and fires were lit both in the castle and outside. Behind the allied army, a makeshift wall of the broken canons and other equipment were laid that could not be used again. There was a high activity ready to be revealed finally to the king who was looking at the massive force gathered outside.
Jay was looking at a big wooden barrel piece, and Queen Lisaro’s tactical officers were getting the soldiers to fill the barrel with a strange substance. Kemi told the army they would attack as soon as the gate came down. The king was wondering what was happening and then saw the barrel being placed in a direct line with the gate. Lisaro ordered it to be pushed, and it started to roll towards the castle with the soldiers around it. Not knowing what it was, he told the army to destroy it before it reached the castle but when the soldiers tried to bring the barrel down, the people moving it brought up shields, and some of the soldiers shot arrows back towards the castle.
Arobe knew something was wrong and ordered the archers to take down the ones moving the barrel. The arrows rained down over the soldiers
below from the many archers on the wall. Many of them fell but the barrel made it all the way to the gate with the soldiers running back as far as possible. Heavy rocks were dropped at the barrel, but it was made very strong and as Arobe continued to order the barrel to be destroyed, he saw a long spear with a fire tip on it heading for the barrel. He could feel something bad was about to take place. His soldiers could do nothing to stop the spear, and there was no doubt there would be an impact. Arobe quickly ducked behind the thick wall, and when the spear hit the barrel, a powerful boom was heard.
The gate was blown away, and the ball of fire went up the wall and burned some of the soldiers alive. Lisaro, who had never tried with such amount of the substance, raised her eyes to the incredible ball of fire. The army did not wait, and they charged the kingdom with Jay in the main line. The first soldiers ran in, and then the war was in the city surrounding the castle grounds. Inside were much debris and anyone standing close to the gate when it blew up were either dead or soon to be. The first ones coming in attacked those that were on the ground making sure they didn’t come up again to fight them. The allied kingdoms had joined the well-focused force and were pushing into the kingdom.
King Arobe became furious, and despite the danger for him, he charged in to fight with his army. He rushed past several of his men and jumped down a floor to hit the ground below. The fall would break bones on a normal person but Arobe kept running as if nothing happened. The king of Darcolia was known as a great warrior and with his formidable strength, he was able to bring down soldier after soldier that came close to him. Seeing their king attack head on made the soldiers gain strength and follow him straight into the crowd of soldiers coming for them. Arobe saw a horse and rode it down to meet the soldiers coming in through the gate.
Jay was fighting with others in a well-organised attack, and Nami helped take down several of the soldiers trying to defend their city. Some of the allied soldiers got met by the people living in the houses and got things thrown at them. One of the women in Nami’s army attacked mercilessly and cut down those who interfered with the attack. She seemed to have no continence, and simply attacked whoever she met in the houses. Kemi sat on her horse and told Lisaro she was happy about what she did so they could enter. Lisaro said they might end up with another war later if the king’s brother decided to take revenge, but Kemi only told her to let him come. She said that with such combined power of their lands, not even Redonia would pose much danger.
Arobe continued to strike against many that fell, but his horse got killed due to a strike of a sword so he fell off. He continued on without it, and cleared the soldiers in front of him. He had endless energy, and only needed to use his sword once on every soldier he attacked. Others did not have the same strength and were overwhelmed by the combined army. The king could see that there was only one choice left for him to do. Arobe knew the castle was taken and rushed back to where he could sound a horn that could be heard throughout the kingdom. It was an order to retreat to the big cave in a last attempt to avoid the loss. The king’s soldiers knew the kingdom well, and as soon as the signal came with the help of the horn, they took off towards the cave leaving the army in pursuit.
Kemi and Queen Lisaro calmly assembled the army out of the city, but Kemi told some of the soldiers to stay inside and secure the Darcolian kingdom. The last of the Darcolian soldiers left as well, as anyone else did not want to be inside the kingdom anymore. Some people who had locked themselves in their homes were still inside of the walls. Kemi wanted no one else to lose their life unnecessarily and soon, the soldiers were all assembled outside once more. When the army stood ready, they marched towards the cave that could be seen lighted up not far away. Kemi was told that the army had sustained some loss of soldiers in the attack but they had many more wounded. She told the high officers that those able to fight still were to be ready for the cave entrance.
They arrived to the cave opening, and Nami sent in some of her scooting soldiers but they were chased out fast by the arrows that were shot towards them. They did get a look at the cave and said the king’s army was all placed all over the cave and several wooden bridges were connecting the pillars that connected the ground with the ceiling. Kemi told the army that they would finish the war this day and ordered them all to walk in. The first thing they saw was a long and wide cave, and the army was placed on a hill and looking down to the king. The first wave of soldiers began to walk and were followed by another line of troops.
Jay was with the first row as he usually was and got to know first-hand why the king ran to the cave. From the cave top, a lot of canons were suddenly firing and the first wave of hits killed eighteen soldiers in one go. The allied army had to retreat quickly but got hit again and seven more soldiers lost their life. Standing at the top once more, the army could only hold back as the canons stood ready to fire if they got close. Kemi looked around and tried to find another way to fight but saw the king had setup a great defence. The soldiers and other people from the Darcolian kingdom were clearing out some boulders in the back of the cave. It looked like they were looking to escape from another route.
Kemi knew if he got away, he could regroup his troops and take revenge. She would have to find a way fast to stop them. Kemi must be quick and was thinking of sending everyone down at once, but believed she would cost many people their lives if she did. Help came unexpectedly and they could see one of the canons suddenly falling down on the ground. They saw another canon being pulled in and fired inside the room they were seated. From the bottom, Arobe wanted to know what was going on and ordered some soldiers to get up there to find out.
Jay and Nami said this was the chance and Kemi and Queen Lisaro wasted no time. They ordered the soldiers to charge forward then that they had a chance. The army ran down the hill while the final canons shot their ammunition and took some soldiers down but soon quieted down and only some of the citizens of Darcolia were through the hole they made in the back of the cave. The soldiers helped those not able to fight to hurry up into the cave. Arobe ordered the rest to get ready for the confrontation while more tried to escape. The king knew he had no escape and had no intention to flee even if his advisors wished him to do so. He would not flee and would fight until everyone could get out even if it killed him. He drew his sword for anyone to dare approach him and ordered as many soldiers to get away as possible then to bring down the wall next to the small cave passage leading out.
The fight became fierce between the soldiers wanting to end a war and the soldiers fighting for the king. Jay and Nami fought their way through the soldiers and ran up the pillars. Jay fought and heard a loud boom at the wall that brought down a part of the cave wall. Many eyes were fixed at the wall that was filled of smoke and from it, a person appeared. Jay and those who knew, saw it was Gon that was standing in the opening. He jumped out and shouted to Jay to save him some soldiers. Jay smiled and moved closer to the king who was taking down soldier after soldier in one hit. A lot of the king’s army was fleeing through the back of the cave or were forced to give up; only the strongest of Arobe’s loyal soldiers stood to fight. Jay fought through some soldiers and pushed some of them down into the water where they would be met by Kemi’s forces when they came up. He fought his way past a lot of them and was quickly up to the higher platforms.
Arobe had taken to higher ground to have the best chance to take down his opponents. He also wished to draw away attention from the small opening that his soldiers were escaping through. Those foolish enough to attack the king alone followed their comrades into the afterlife. The very best of the Darcolian soldiers managed to advance into the enormous wall of soldiers. There was a reason why the Darcolian soldiers were so feared and many saw the skilful warriors fought fiercely before they died by their swords. Jay finally came up to the king, and he was on the tallest platform. Arobe did not know who he was and assumed he was another soon to be dead man. He struck at Jay who felt the king was a very strong opponent and had to move back.
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br /> Already, Jay had been able to survive longer than anyone of the other soldiers. With a lot of strikes, Arobe could force Jay back, and when he was at the end of the ledge, Jay tried to return so he could get around. But had no way to do so and got kicked down to land on the next platform. He was attacked by some soldiers, and the king took on other men that fell fast. Some had a chance to strike back because finally, there was a sign of tiredness in the king. He felt it himself but knew he could not stop fighting. Gon was clearing out the platform he was standing on and had a great time doing so. He grabbed a man and held him in front of himself and used the man to hit the other soldiers. He grabbed a sword mid-air with his hands and took it from the soldier. He threw it so it landed in the chest of another soldier. After kicking the man, he took the sword from in the head. He used his staff to take down another soldier by striking him unconscious. He then got three soldiers on him at the same time and made the first fall due to hitting the leg and then slamming his staff over the sword of another one so he lost his sword.
Gon immediately grabbed the man while blocking a strike from the last man and threw the soldier off the edge hitting the rocks below. He hit the standing soldier he just blocked with a punch and then knocked him out with a strong swing of the staff. He grabbed a sword that was lying on the ground and put it into the man holding his leg and trying to hit Gon with his sword. Kemi was looking up at the fight and was thinking to herself that Jay was right about Gon being the strongest man to be in the army.
Gon saw the king so he got on the same platform and the two looked at each other. Arobe initialised the attack and headed straight for Gon who held his staff ready for him. They fought and heavy strikes were exchanged between them and the king had finally a strong fighter to match him. Gon hit the king over the arm and then on the side of the body but was partly blocked by Arobe. The king struck hard and kicked Gon on the knee which caused a sharp pain. Arobe realised he had a tough opponent and must do what he could to win, and Gon felt the king was stronger than he first thought. The strikes became harder and he had to move back. He could tell Arobe was powerful and had to watch out to not come too close. He was able to get the king off balance but got cut over the arm deep and lost the feeling in the arm for a few seconds. He knew that maybe if Arobe was unarmed, and if there was a fight without weapons, he might have a better chance, but the king was all too strong with the sword.
World of Taroo Page 37