Steel and Sorrow: Rise of the Mercenary king - Chapter 197

Chapter 197: Kin’s blood(1) Chapter 197: Kin’s blood(1) Marthio’s army stood in formation, a determined line braced against the chill air and the weight of the battle soon to come.

On the left flank, Orwan Kantazoukenes, the current Pater Autoritas of the same house responsible for the events that led to the civil war that saw the battle of the shifting sand happen , led his division.

At his left was the lake, which made it much easier to create a deep-rank formation without the fear of being flanked.

In the center stood the forces led by Thyris Veritita, the proud son of Lisidor Veritita, which was one amongst the great houses of the south that helped in raising this army.

Thyris, a man of youthful but fierce resolve, held his soldiers in tightly packed ranks, their formation designed for defence.

Clad in reinforced mail and helms that glinted under the sparse sunlight, his soldiers gripped their spears and shields , ready to face whatever Mavius’ forces would bring.

On the right flank, Marthio himself commanded the lines, his presence like a steadfast oak in a storm.

Marthio’s men, veterans with faces hardened by years of campaigns, seemed to absorb his unwavering strength.

The left flank’s banner-a deep crimson, marked by a white hawk-was held high along side that of the Emperor’s .  Marthio sat tall in the saddle, his weathered hands steady on the reins as he surveyed the lines stretching before him.

At sixty-two, he had thought his days of warfare were long behind him; he should have been at home by a warm hearth, recounting tales of battles past to younger generations especially his grandson, not riding into another campaign.

Yet here he was, called back to the field by duty and bound by honor to defend his house’s legacy.

His bones ached,the remnants of a life filled with countless battles and campaigns that should have been enough for two lifetimes.

He raised his head, looking at the horizon This war…

it’s different.

This isn’t some mere clash over land or titles.

No, this is the battle that will seal the fate of my house.

It’s my family’s future that today I bet , whether my blood will still sit on that throne, or be forced to bend the knee to Mavius, branded as traitors.” He clenched his fist around his sword’s hilt.

I’ve served my house with every drop of my strength, with every breath I have left, and to think we could be made to kneel before that usurper…

He shook his head, bitterness gnawing at him like a poison.

“Not while I draw breath.

Marthio’s forces stretched across the plain, 11,000 soldiers in total; he had to empty most of his coffers to raise it in such a short time , hiring many mercenaries along the way in order to fill the numbers.In normal cases, he would never have relied on them so much, but this one was a special case.

Even if he won the battle he had to worry about replenishing their soon-to-be empty coffers, he knew trade would certainly take a dive for the worse, which meant that even his personal income would take one.

Then, across the horizon, they appeared.

Like a dark storm gathering on the plains, the enemy’s front ranks emerged, growing thicker by the moment.

Mavius’s forces came in waves, their numbers obscured by dust kicked up underfoot, their banners snapping like whips in the wind.  Marthio narrowed his eyes, studying their approach.

The banners of Mavius’s would-be empire loomed over the field, bright and unmistakable, as the full extent of the force arrayed against him came into view.

Marthio’s grip tightened on his sword hilt.

Despite the cold creeping into his bones, there was a certain pleasure in fighting him.  The enemy army halted as one, its ranks coming to a disciplined standstill, stretching across the field like a wall of steel and fury.

Dust settled in the wake of their march, and an eerie silence blanketed the battlefield.

Then, from their ranks, a lone rider emerged.

He galloped forward, crossing the field , halting in front of Marthio’s front line where he had knew he would find the commander as the right is usually regarded as the ‘seat of honor’ .

Lifting his voice, he called out, his tone carrying both respect and finality.

“His Grace, the Emperor, requests a parlay with the commander of the usurper’s forces .” A moment of thick silence stretched between the two forces, the vast field lying between them as still as a held breath.

Then, with a faint hiss, an arrow sliced through the air, arching gracefully across the distance before landing just shy of the messenger, embedding itself firmly in the ground a dozen paces from his horse’s hooves.

The rider’s expression remained unreadable, yet the message was unmistakable.

There were no words to be said Wordlessly, he tugged on the reins, turning his steed with mechanical obedience.

Without another look toward Marthio’s forces, he rode back across the field, carrying with him the silent understanding that today, there would be no parlay, no meeting of commanders-only battle.

UUUUUoooooooooo- A low, resonant horn shattered the silence, its deep call rippling across the field like the growl of some ancient beast awakened from its slumber.

The sound carried far and wide, filling the soldiers with a chill that went bone-deep.

The enemy ranks stirred in unison, a wave of steel shifting as one under the command of the horn’s call.

First, the banners moved forward, snapping against the wind as the enemy’s colors unfurled, marking the vanguard.

Then, with a slow, powerful surge, the foot soldiers began their march, the thunderous beat of their boots echoing like a distant storm.

Shields interlocked and spears bristled in organized rows, and from the center, the armored cavalry rode into formation, shining like a river of silver winding toward the loyalist army.

As the weapon that made half the eastern continent bow their heads to the empire, stood ready to poise the blade against itself.

The ground seemed to tremble as they advanced, the heavy steps of thousands pounding forward in relentless synchronization, each step bringing them closer, every heartbeat drawing the two armies nearer to the clash that would decide their fate.

Marthio raised his arm, signaling to his archers.

Without hesitation, the bowmen stepped forward from the main line, their movements swift and practiced.

They spread out, forming a wall of archers that stretched along the front, each man settling into position as they nocked arrows and waited dfor the enemy to get into range.

The sunlight gleamed off their arrowheads, sharp and deadly, a glittering promise of what was to come.

Across the field, the enemy responded in kind.

Their archers advanced in disciplined rows, stepping forward until they mirrored Marthio’s line.

They, too, raised their bows, each archer waiting, the field suspended in a breathless silence as two walls of wood and sinew faced each other across the barren expanse.

The silence shattered all at once .

Archers loosed their arrows in a coordinated wave, the sky filling with a dark, whistling cloud as the arrows arced upward, blotting out the sun for a brief moment before plunging downward toward the enemy lines.

They struck with sharp, unrelenting fury-some finding armor, some biting flesh, a deadly rain scattering chaos along the advancing ranks.

The air between the armies buzzed with the ferocity of iron and feather, and men braced themselves, shield raised, as arrows plunged into the earth around them, some finding unlucky targets.

The archers on both sides reloaded swiftly, again and again, sending volley after volley across the field, each rain of arrows seeming to answer the last, neither side giving way and doing all they could while the time allowed it .

For a time, the sky itself became the battlefield-a place of brief, brutal exchanges, arrows traded like words in an ancient, violent dialogue that accompanied humanity since its first breath.

On the far right of both armies, the cavalry, clad in glinting armor and mounted on powerful steeds, surged forward, a thunderous roar of hooves echoing across the battlefield.

Clouds of dust rose in their wake, and the ground trembled beneath the weight of hundreds of horses charging headlong into each other, each side determined to break the other’s flank in a clash of steel and speed.

Lances broke against steel, smashing the meat hidden behind , breaking bones, smashing helmets and piercing throats, as the chaos of war, faceless ,loveless, and yet called on too many time picked the ones that caught her eyes.

With a disciplined stride the infantry moved toward Marthio’s flank, shields raised and weapons ready, an advancing wall of iron and determination.

Marthio’s men held their ground, watching the approaching line with steely resolve, knowing this assault would be brutal.

The cavalry clash intensified on the right, horses and riders jostling, thrusting, and slashing in a fierce melee.

Meanwhile, the enemy infantry continued their forward march on Marthio’s flank, the sheer weight of their numbers pressing relentlessly closer, inching toward what would soon become a furious meeting of blades and lives.

Marthio narrowed his gaze, watching the enemy infantry’s steady approach.

He turned to his closest officer, his voice low and commanding to make sure his archers did not retreat too soon.

“Order the archers to release as many volleys as they possibly can.

Once they’ve loosed their arrows, have them pull back before the infantry catch them .” The officer nodded sharply and relayed the order down the line.

Moments later, a cascade of commands echoed along Marthio’s ranks as the archers readied themselves.

They raised their bows, pulled back with a sharp, collective inhale, and released, sending a hail of arrows arcing high into the sky, darkening the air with a deadly swarm.

As the arrows found their mark, a few chorus of cries rose from the enemy lines,while Marthio’s archers undeterred continued nocking and loosing again in a swift, relentless rhythm.

After the final volley, the archers swiftly shouldered their bows and retreated in disciplined rows, slipping back behind the infantry, clearing the field for the infantry to brace themselves for the clash to come, leaving them to wonder which of them would effectively see the sun rise the next day.