Herald of Steel

Alexander had sent word to his cavalry the moment the battle started to get in formation and attack the rear camp of the Adhanians, destroying their supply base and hopefully even capturing the king of Adhania.

But he had not expected the Adhanians to rout at the very sight of them, and so the battle had progressed so quickly that the cavalry that had hidden themselves deep in the forest to not let their horses alert the Adhanians, had yet to come out of the forest and arrange themselves in formation.

But this had a butterfly effect Alexander could have never predicted,

Because, the king’s escort, burdened and slowed down by its eight hundred, slow, on-foot infantry had the good fortune of meeting the fourteen hundred cavalries that were getting ready to charge the Adhanians rear side.

Remus instantly recognized the golden man on the golden horse as the King of Adhania as he had seen the very same man, wearing this unique apparel giving commands to the Adhanians from the opposite valley five days ago and immediately sent word to both groups that the Adhanian king was all alone and trying to escape.

So, the cavalry abandoned their previous orders and started encircling the contingent, trying to break through and kill the great ruler.

But although they had encircled him, the bristle of steel-tipped spears held strong and steady by the escorting troops made any breakthrough impossible.

These soldiers were the very best trained as they could march in the hollow square formation where the spears covered three hundred sixty degrees and yet not reveal gaps in the formation thus pulling off this supremely difficult technique flawlessly.

They were also blindly loyal and would never gonna break as evidenced by now.

Even after being almost encircled by double their numbers, they simply pointed their spears forward and fearlessly advanced, taking javelins shots to the face and dying without even a bit flinching as another from the back stepped over the corpse of his brother to get a chance at entering Aaru.

So, the cavalrymen could only circle the tightly packed contingent, keeping their horses from the pointy ends of the stick and throwing their limited supply of javelins into the center of the circle, in the hopes of scoring a lucky shot, and preferably a kill, and more preferably a king kill.

“Protect the king!” The horsemen around Amenheraft understood the danger these projectiles possessed and hugged and squeezed themselves together against the king, raising their shields and trying to act almost like human shields.

Amenheraft sorely regretted not just riding with his horse escorts and dashing for his city as he would have been home sweet home by now, but that chance had evaporated to thin air.

Even if he wanted to break away, their horses only numbered twenty, and knew the moment he exited the safety screen of the infantry and their large spears, the enemy calvary men would destroy them.

And thus, he was forced to stay put, under the bodies of his companions, hoping the javelins don’t get lucky as the eight hundred men slowly but surely crawled and inched toward the city and where their assured salvation waited.

Alexander rode like the wind and soon caught up like the king and his own cavalry.

“There’s the king! On the golden horse!” Alexander confirmed to his riders what Remus had already hypothesized.

“Do not let him escape. Kill him and all our loved ones will be released from Aaru,” He screamed words of fantastical encouragement.

“Ohhhh,” The men roared, and renewed by the presence of their god commander, charged again, in the hopes that the soldiers would break and run at the sight of a two-meter-long pointy stick making its way straight towards them.

But no matter how many times they charged and from whatever direction and in whatever numbers, the soldiers held their ground and scared the horses away with their pointy sticks.

“My liege, quickly! Switch clothes with me. You stand out too much,” Kefka shouted fearfully when he heard a voice identify the king using his armor.

The reason why unique and eye-catching armor was worn by commanders and leaders was that it acted as a beacon for their soldiers to listen to and rally to.

This was especially true of a god-king like Amenheraft whose very presence would lift the soldiers’ mood and alternatively him leaving would destroy it.

As such this was a double-edged sword as it could not distinguish the types of eyes it attracted, like now and many times drew enemy attention as they could easily identify the high-value target.

And so understanding this phenomenon Amenheraft even amidst this battle, under the flesh canopy made by his entourage, switched his golden armor set with Kefka’s dull, matt black armor blending in with the rest of the eighteen men.

And so, unbeknownst to Alexander and how his simple cry had caused such a change, how his prey had changed color, the chase continued.

‘They are gonna escape into the city!’ Alexander’s heart sank as he could see the silhouette of the city’s gate getting clearer and clearer every second as the infantry crawled towards their destination slowly but surely. 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝐞𝐥.

In about an hour they would be home free.

Of course, the reason why the Adhanians would need an hour to cross just one kilometer was courtesy of Alexander and the formation they deployed.

But slow as they were, nevertheless, they were inevitables gonna reach it if things stood as they were.

This realization stuck Alexander hard, as he was so close yet so far to capturing the grand prize to upend all grand prizes.

And the regret that filled his heart was scarcely comparable to any he had felt recently because he doubted he would ever have the chance to catch the forty-year-old king ever again.

‘Wait? The city? He’s gonna enter the city?’ Alexander suddenly began to see Amenheraft entering the city as not being a bad thing.

In fact, he began to see it as being a very good thing.

He quickly began to evaluate the feasibility of his plan and soon thought it was ninety percent possible.

“Remus, come here!” Alexander commanded and then said, “Take ten men and go to Menicus. Tell him that I have taken over Adhan and need reinforcements.”

“What?” To Remus, it sounded like Alexander was speaking in tongues.

‘When did he take Adhan, we are still a kilometer from its walls?’ Remus was befuddled by Alexander’s claim.

But Alexander didn’t have the time to describe everything, he just fiercely ordered, “Soldier! Learn to obey orders. Not what! Yes!”

This loud shout frightened Remus and he understood what Alexander really meant, ‘It is not a soldier’s place to question his commander, especially in the middle of a battle.’

“Yes, commander,” He loudly shouted.

But as he was about to set off, Alexander beckoned to him, “Wait! Take this.”

He then handed the golden royal seal he had kept with him to Remus and gave further orders, “Show this Menicus if he doesn’t believe you. And tell him that he is to leave behind a contingent of two thousand men and march the rest of them as quickly as possible so I can actually hold the city.”

“Okay, I will be back in ten minutes,” Remus promised with a grin and set off.

And although the time he stated was a bit exaggerated, it wasn’t totally bonkers.

Their camp was just three kilometers from here and a horse could cover that distance at full sprint in about three-four minutes.

So that’s eight minutes to and fro and in Remus’s mind, he needed just two minutes to give the message.

With Remus gone, Alexander then called Grahtos and commanded him, ‘Find everyone who can speak fluent Azhak (the language of Adhania) and bring them to me.”

“Yes, commander,” He said and then quickly passed it down the chain of command.

And by the time, a group of forty people gathered around Alexander, they were just a few hundred meters from the city gates.

Remus had also come back by now with good news and Alexander could expect a ten thousand men reinforcement within the hour.

Alexander then addressed the group of forty, “Ride east to the forest. Then turn back and head to the gates of Adhan and start screaming. ‘The king is coming! The king is coming! Open the gates’,” Alexander gave the bold command which made the forty bulge their eyes in shock.

Alexander ignored this and further emphasized, “Remember! You must give the impression you came from a different direction than us and are from Adhania. If it works each of you will be heroes, and I swear by the gods I give each of you a million tustas.”

“Commander, instead of all forty of us going together, how about we do it in small batches of five to avoid drawing eyes,” The squad leader very intelligently suggested.

‘Dammit it! Why didn’t I think of that?’ Alexander was very impressed by the plan and then asked the leader’s name which he committed to memory- Laykash,

And he then proposed that small groups can set off in different directions and converge on the eastern forest and then travel to the gate together.

‘It’s a long shot but stray groups of five men leaving a group of fifteen hundred should not draw too much attention. If luck is on my side, hopefully, the soldiers will be more interested in gazing at that golden armor,’ Alexander seemed to pray for the first time in his life, though even he did not know to which deity

But, noticing how praying was not his thing, he shrugged in his mind and consoled, “Even if it fails, no great loss. We will blockade the city gate and wait for the infantry to come and destroy them.’

‘Amenheraft, no matter what happens, you have an hour to live. And I will personally slay you,’ Alexander swore in his heart, it burning with greed as he feasted his eyes on the grand two-thousand-year-old city.