***
They’ve made up a codename for their unit, one that the marshal is aware of. They’ll need it to identify themselves, and also to keep their unit a secret from possible spies. Lerrot has proposed ‘Knights in Red,’ and Eloy supports the idea. They’re naming their platoon after Tenil, the knight who bathes in red.
“Proposal accepted. We are now Knights in Red. Messenger, tell marshal that we are departing now. Also, tell him that we have named our platoon as Knights in Red.”
“Yes sir!” The messenger, not part of Tenil’s unit, salutes and hurries to inform Marshal Ramiel.
They are gathering just outside the citadel down in the courtyard, Tenil’s bruise yet to be noticed because of the dark. Everyone has a backpack and a quiver regardless of the military profession. They wear warm shirts and trousers under their leather vests. A hot day will be painful, but a cold night would be worse if not for the clothing.
Tenil has a military dagger in addition to the sword. Lerrot always has a dagger of his own with him, and he isn’t the only one. What makes a military dagger different is the blade. It’s longer and heavier overall, designed for the purpose of killing an armed man.
“Knights in Red, move it!”
“““Oorah!”””
They start marching to the gate and exit the city in no time, heading out to infiltrate the enemy supply line at a town called Renyil. They’ll have to beware druids on their way, however, for they may be watching even now. According to the stories, druids can shapeshift into any animal with the minimum size of a hare. Turning into a squirrel, for example, may lead to an unwanted phenomenon: loss of humanity.
They’ll march during the night, rest in the morning while hiding from the scouts. Since fall is near, it’s very dark. If they choose their path well, they just might be able to avoid the eyes of the druids. However, there is the chance they might run into enemy guerilla corps.
They trot for the first few hundred yards to get far from the plain view where enemy scouts might spot them. Actually, scouts may have seen them already, but what they don’t know is where they are heading to, and for what reason.
While Tenil’s platoon is heading out, inside the citadel’s accommodation, Oreon and Rikyl are talking to each other, their beds right next to each other. Others are sleeping already.
“I’ll make sure I’ll surpass her in rank by the time the war is over. I’ll make her kiss my boot,” Oreon vows.
“And I want to beat the shit out of her. A girl bossing around? Over my dead body,” Rikyl states his thoughts.
Tenil’s worst enemy isn’t in front of her; it’s behind her.
***
In the afternoon of the following day, Knights in Red have crossed the border. They are maintaining a very fast pace despite the rough terrain. If not for Tenil, they’d be moving even faster, as her body can’t keep up with the strong men. Also, her mental state is chaotic. She couldn’t see her father before the mission, and being surrounded by men in the middle of nowhere makes her scared, although she isn’t explicitly showing it.
Renyil, the town of the empire, isn’t far. It’s relatively close to the border. All the supplies the enemy army at Teckton is getting come from there. According to a scout, there is a storage house for all the goods. If they can burn it down, it’ll be a great setback for the empire, as they won’t be able to advance inland any further than what they have already. At best, they’ll have to retreat if they run out of rations.
Lerrot the huntsman is eyeing the skies with a worried look. Tenil halts the unit by raising her fist in the air, conveying the meaning ‘stop’.
“What is it you see?” Tenil asks quietly.
“A hawk. It has been circling above us for a while now. Only now I realized it might be a druid,” he explains.
“A druid? Are you certain?”
“Rather than being certain, I’m confused. Hawks don’t follow humans like that, or at least I haven’t heard of such.”
“Can you shoot it down?”
“Impossible. The wind is too strong and it’s flying too high. We have to force it to lower altitude.”
Tenil surveys the terrain. There is a ridge nearby, the slope declining down to a deep natural pit covered in a thicket. The hawk—or druid—would have to fly closer to see them down there because of the branches.
“Do you think you could shoot it down if we descended down to that pit? The hawk would be forced to come closer. From up that ridge, it shouldn’t be difficult, right?”
Lerrot nods approvingly. “I might be able to. However, a stray arrow may result in friendly fire. Are you ready to take that risk?”
“What are we?” She answers the question with a question.
“Knights in Red?”
“Correct. Our destiny is blood,” Tenil says no more.
“Understood. How do we execute the plan?”
“We walk down to the pit, you stay behind and start moving only when we are at least a hundred yards off. Move under the trees, and take your time. We have only one chance. Also, there is no telling if there are enemy guerilla parties about. That bird might be attracting them here even now.”
In no time, the unit proceeds down to the pit while Lerrot hides in a bush until they’ve left the vicinity. Once they’re gone, he leaves the spot, moving stealthily through the terrain. He climbs up to the ridge. The hawk is lowering its altitude as expected, and the wind is calming down. He has a good chance to bring the druid down.
He takes three arrows from the quiver, stabbing them in the dirt while kneeling under the cover of a thick bush. That way, it’ll be faster to nock an arrow and shoot it while remaining hidden. He nocks the fourth arrow immediately. He then stretches the string, aiming at the hawk. A drop of sweat forms on his forehead. If his aim isn’t true, he might hit his allies.
The hawk is almost still in the air, watching the unit. Lerrot releases the string, shooting the fourth arrow. He’s calculated the trajectory of the arrow in accordance with the hawk’s movement. The tip of the arrow is reflected in the druid’s eye, sudden confusion causing it to panic.
A gust of wind changes the arrow’s trajectory.
“Damn it!” Lerrot utters as he nocks a new arrow, shooting another one swiftly. This time the hawk dodges the arrow on its own, but the third arrow that’s shot even faster catches it off guard. Skewered midair, the dead hawk turns into a cloud, a naked human appearing midair and falling down like a ragdoll.
The final arrow nocked and ready, Lerrot watches the druid fall into the thicket below. Tenil and the others are somewhere down there as well. He can only hope that he hasn’t hit any of his comrades with the stray arrows.
Lerrot starts climbing down the ridge to join the unit. The slope declines very steeply, hence he needs to descend carefully. Once down there, he asks the first comrade he finds.
“Where is Sergeant Tenil?”
“That way,” the footman clad in leather armor points towards the center of the pit where the thicket is even worse.
Lerrot finds Sergeant Tenil soon enough, and to his horror, she is wounded. Three are holding her still, one for each arm, one for the legs, and a fourth one is shutting her mouth with a piece of cloth. One of Lerrot’s stray arrows skewered Tenil’s left arm above elbow. A fifth knight is tending to the wound. Tenil is staring at the arrow eyes wide open in horror, breathing heavily out of shock. She closes her eyes when the medic knight is about to break the arrow. Upon halving it, Tenil bites the cloth hard, crying.
The worst part is still ahead. The medic needs to pull the rest of the arrow out. Since it pierced her arm, they can just pull it from the other side where the bloodied arrowhead is. Tenil’s chest goes up and down at a rapid pace, her heart hammering faster than ever. The ones holding her down are struggling as the medic is about to pull the arrow out.
Tenil lets out a cry as the medic does it, the cloth reducing the volume. The arrow has been pulled out now, blood gushing slowly but steadily out of the
wound. A piece of cloth has been tied around her arm firmly to stop the bleeding. The medic proceeds to wipe the wound clean, then puts medicine directly into the wound. After that, he bandages her arm. The cloth is removed from her mouth and she is set free. She can’t move her left arm, and the pain is making her cry. Lerrot is watching from the side, horrified.
“Here, take this. It’s a drug that should ease your pain,” the medic hands over a brown pearl-like pill.
Tenil eats it without hesitation, downing a nice portion of her canteen right after it.
“Sergeant Tenil, the plan was a success,” Lerrot reports with a strange tone of voice.
“Well done,” Tenil replies.
“Sir, that is not so. You got wounded in the process.”
“Lerrot, what are we?” Tenil reminds.
“Knights in Red.”
“Correct,” the drug seems to be affecting her already, making her accent sound funny. “We are destined to bathe in blood, because... we need to protect the kingdom.” Strange ideas come to her mind, affecting her thought process. “We spill guts and drink blood. Remember that!” Due to the drug, she says such gruesome things. Even she herself is shaken by her own words.
“Sir, that is...”
“Forget what I said. The drug made me say such,” Tenil tells.
“Understood.”
***
Nightfall of that day, they’ve located the town called Renyil. Tenil feels as if her head had become muddled, yet logical. It’s a very puzzling sensation, to have her head affected by a drug, that is. The most beneficial thing about it is that she cannot feel any pain. Her left arm is limp, drooping.
The town has two entrances with a wall made of timber protecting the whole place. From the Eastern gate, a road to the kingdom’s fortress has been trampled over the centuries by groups of travelling merchants. The other gate is on the Western side, the path from there leading to Valoria’s inland.
Tenil’s vision is affected by the drug. The world is flashing gray as if the Bladanian’s battle instinct was switching between on and off repeatedly. Also, her emotions come and go in similar fashion. It’s a very strange feeling. For a moment, she feels scared, and a few seconds later, it’s gone, until it’s back again. Why is she scared? Why is she feeling threatened despite being surrounded by allies?
“Sir, what’s wrong?” Lerrot asks.
“Umm...” Tenil doesn’t know how to answer. Her face is emotionless, yet aghast. “The drug, it makes me feel strange.”
“Does it hurt somewhere?” The medic asks.
“No. It’s the warrior’s instinct,” she answers.
“So you’re scared?” Lerrot concludes.
Tenil hesitates to admit it. She is the commander of the unit, she can’t show a weak front. To preserve the morale, she tells only half of the truth. “Not really. It’s just that I instinctively see males as hostile, whether ally or enemy. The drug drives that instinct further. That’s why I feel like going berserk right this instant.”
An archer behind Tenil fills in. “She was molested at Teckton. I think that has something to do with it.”
“T-that is so...” Tenil admits, stuttering.
“By whom?” Lerrot demands.
“I don’t know. If not for her lightning fast reflex, she wouldn’t be a maiden anymore.”
Tenil nods with a complex face. “Y-yeah.”
“So in other words, Sir, you see us as a threat?” Lerrot asks.
Tenil nods.
“But you shouldn’t. There is no one in this platoon who would lay a hand on you. None of us would live to tell the tale if we did. So, how about despising males instead of fearing them?”
The word ‘fear’ stings her, but the way how Lerrot has put it shouldn’t lower the morale of the knights. In fact, it’s the opposite, although Tenil doesn’t know it. Some of the knights next to them are making up their minds to prove her wrong. We aren’t your enemy, they want to tell her. Tenil is the first female knight recorded in the history of Phyr, and she is a proficient one at that. Of course they wish to protect such a unique prodigy and follow her to the battlefield. However, not everyone agrees with the idea. The colonel and Tenil’s former unit despise her as much as she despises males.
Her fear becomes contempt.
The gray vision is wavering. The evening is beginning to look like one. The colors are back and her emotions are swirling, blending together after the hours of suppression. She can’t tell what it feels like. Whatever she thinks of, mother or the colonel, empire or the kingdom, they are all lovely yet despicable. She looks at her own right hand, then the town some distance away. A sadistic smile spreads on her face.
“Knights in Red, let us raid the target!”
“““Aye.””” They answer as quietly as possible.
***
It’s past midnight, the empire’s guards in the town have raised the alarm quietly. Some of the soldiers on duty have spotted movement in the woods close to the Eastern gate. They are gathering their men there, preparing for a possible attack.
The commanding officer of the empire is smirking. “Those swines of Phyr, I bet they don’t even know we’ve spotted them,” he speaks to no one in particular.
Usually the empire’s soldiers are equipped with an axe when sieging a fort or clashing with an enemy force, but those who are assigned as guards have swords. Also, in contrast to the kingdom, the empire doesn’t distribute heavy armors. Only officers have plate or chainmail armors.
“Sir, the enemy is clearly gathering to attack the Eastern gate,” a guard reports.
“Good. Pull the rest of our men from Western wall here. Leave only a few to guard it. Let’s crush these imbeciles fast. I want to go back inside.”
“Sir, that’s too risky—”
“Silence!” The commanding officer roars. “The kingdom knows how to defend its land with strongholds, but they don’t know what offense means. Their guerilla force will charge the gate head-on, and that is where we need our strength. The sooner we crush them, the better.”
“Understood.” The guard relays the order to the men on the Western section of the wall.
Each time Phyr has been in war with Valoria, the kingdom has always lost. Long ago, the kingdom was approximately 30% larger, but their land has been conquered piece by piece over the centuries. It has been predicted that Phyr wouldn’t exist after a century. So in other words, the military prowess of the kingdom is poor compared to Valoria. Hence the officer concludes that the guerilla force attempting to infiltrate Renyil is stupid enough to charge head-on. And even if the kingdom’s knights prove to be a threat, the cavalry patrol following the Eastern road will intercept them.
A guard reports, “Sir, fire has been sighted in the distance.”
“Fire?” The officer is perplexed.
“Yes. It appears to be a forest fire. Down the road to East, Sir.” That’s where their cavalry is patrolling.
“Shit. If they blow the horn to request reinforcements, we can’t come to their aid. The enemy knights are beside the road.”
Then without warning, an arrow skewers a guard on top of the wall. His body falls down like a ragdoll.
“We are under attack!” An archer shouts.
“Man the wall!” The officer yells below.
Arrows are shot at the guards on the wall with no signs of an enemy charge. The guards are trying to answer the hail of arrows, but they’re practically blind. They can’t see the enemy archers in the darkness, but the kingdom’s men do soo them on the wall, mainly thanks to the torches.
“What the hell is going on!?” The commanding officer yells.
“Sir, the enemy force consists of archers only. No signs of enemy charge.”
“Curse it!”
In short, even if the cavalry patrol did come to intercept, they’d be slaughtered one-sidedly. There is a thirty-yard-long gap between the edge of the woods and the wall around the town. If the kingdom’s knights did charge, the cavalry an
d the archers could easily butcher them on the open, but since they are hiding in the foliage, the archers can do nothing but fire blindly, and the cavalry would be skewered to the roadside. Nay, even if the riders managed to chase them into the thick forest, they’d still lose. First of all, it’s too dark for a cavalry to dive into such terrain, and secondly, the thickness of the forest would reduce their mobility, the sole advantage they have over the archers.
“Sir! Our guards on the Western wall were killed by archers! Footmen are scaling the wall with ropes! The town is breached!”
“What!?” The commanding officer is sweating. “H-how!? They are just swines with weapons! Intercept them! Now!”
“Sir, who do we send?”
“Pick the best men you can muster and fight! Move it!”
How did it come to this? Where is the cavalry? Why is the kingdom capable of something like this? The officer is holding his head in a panic. Never did he think the country of swines could actually pull off such a strategic move. The cavalry must be investigating the forest fire even now, oblivious of the infiltration. And even if they did arrive now, it’d be too late. Not only would they be slaughtered by the archers hiding in the shadows of the trees, the town would also be conquered regardless of their effort, assuming the guards can’t fight off the knights on their own.
“Drive them back at any cost!” The officer yells, blood draining from his face. “Blow the horn!”
“But Sir, they—”
“Shut up! We need all the hands available!”
“...Yes, Sir!”
The horn is blown. The cavalry patrolling the road to East will be returning to Renyil in no time. Battlecries of both the empire’s and kingdom’s men can be heard in the Western side of the town. What the officer has been calling a ‘group of swines’ is starting to bare its predaceous fangs. The officer puts his hope on the cavalry. It’s possible that they may successfully eliminate the archers. No, that’s wrong; they will be victorious. It’s the empire, after all. The almighty empire of Valoria can’t lose to a puny kingdom like Phyr. Right? Or can they?
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