The Union

To put it simply, Knightsend was a small castle. The walls were not very high and the towers were not impressive. But it was well maintained. The Castle was clean and the walls, although old, have not degraded.

The castle ground was crammed with the Tulosans. To this, Stan was confused. At first he thought that he would be greeted with bloodbath. The Castonians, after all, were fighting for their lives. But the Castonians didn"t fight for the gate. In fact, he was confused why the Castonians didn"t just put a wall of pikes to block the gate. It wouldn"t hold forever, but it would be better than letting them take the gate unopposed.

Now, there were thousands of Tulosans in the castle grounds. He had been in a siege before and he knew how castle a.s.saults work. After taking the gates, the attacking army must then take the walls through the doors in the walls that lead to the top. It would be tough because the defending army would defend these entryways. If the defending army locked these doors, the attackers must then use the rams to break them.

Stan then remembered something. They didn"t bring rams. General Sigurd was so focused on taking the front gate that he forgot about the doors that lead to the walls. If the Castonians locked these doors, then it would be hard for them to take the walls even though they now control the castle grounds. And if the Castonians showered them with arrows from above, it would be catastrophic.

He looked around. At their back was the front wall of the castle that faced the road. To their sides were also walls. To their front was another wall that divided the castle into two. He then realized their dangerous situation. His eyes went wide. The the entire Tulosan army was in a basin! If the Castonians were lying about the broken gate and closed it, then the whole army would be trapped inside the castle grounds. He needs to warn them. This is dangerous! They need to retreat!

"Retreat!" he shouted as loud as he could "It"s a trap! Retreat now!" but his voice was lost among the noises.

Stan didn"t give up. He warned and shouted to his Knights. He tried his best to preach his realization. His throat was aching. At last he was successful. He eventually gathered the attention of his century.

Stan"s Century retreated to the gate. They need to get out of here as fast as possible. This was all Prince Timothy"s trap. They had fallen into a trap. Many people will die but at least Stan saved his century. He will be mocked for retreating but who cares? His knights need to live.

His Knights were fleeing fast and the clinking of their armor rented the air. They were close to the gate. Stan felt a little relived. They will survive, his Knights will live. On the other side of the gate was salvation. Stan thanked the merciful Omniscient for saving him and his knights.

But just as they were only a few meters away from the gate, it closed. The heavy gate fell, its bottom pounded the ground. Stan"s hope was snuffed like a candle. His jaw dropped. They were so close. They were almost out. But they didn"t make it. What will happen to them now?

"No!" Stan shouted. He immediately dismounted his horse and ran towards the gate. His Knights also did the same. They squatted and tried to lift the gates up, but it was too heavy. Stan filled his lungs with air and held his breath. He poured his strength into lifting the gate. But the gate didn"t move even a little.

Eventually, Stan"s vision blurred. He fell down. Beside him, many of the Knights were also panting from exertion.

"No!" Stan cried. He pounded the iron gate with his hand "No" his voice became weaker.

Stan failed. It was too late. Many of his Knights will die because realized the trap too late. He looked at the faces of his Knights. They were as worried as he was.

Arrows started to rain.

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Luther was riding at the front of his cohort when the gate closed. Fortunately, they were still outside. At first he thought that he was just seeing things, but the gates dropped. Luther was confused. The gates were supposed to be broken. He was there when the envoy revealed that Knightsend"s front gate was broken.

Luther squinted and confirmed it. The gates of Knightsend were really close! Most of the army were trapped inside. Was this a trap of the Castonians? Was the envoy lying when he said that the gates were broken?

Luther then realized that this was clearly a trap! With the gates closed, most of the Tulosan soldiers were trapped inside. The Castonians could just fire arrows all day and not lose a single soldier. Prince Timothy planned all of this. They had fallen into his trap. From the burning of the supply wagons to the envoy"s deceit, he planned it all. And they followed the Prince"s plan step after step.

Suddenly, Luther had flashbacks of that night, that dreadful battle in the forest that destroyed both his military and political career. This level of trickery was comparable to what he experienced that night. No, this was more vile and refined. It involved both large scale and small scale planning. It also involved political deception and sabotage. Luther was both awed and angered by the Castonian trickery. The trap was perfect.

For the first time since that fateful night in the forest, Luther felt real fear. He was afraid when he faced his uncle after his defeat and that time he went to the camp of the Whistlers. But the fear he experienced in those moments was incomparable to the fear in his heart right now. It was a sinister feeling. It was dread. Prince Timothy was an enigma that worked behind the scenes. He was a phantom that strikes from behind, an unstoppable force that destroys anything in its way. They had been dancing on the palm of his hand all along.

"Halt!" Luther ordered and his cohort stopped their charge. "This is a trap. We have fallen into a trap." he muttered

"For the first time, I agree with you" Centurion Lyn said as he looked at the castle. "I wonder what"s going on inside. Should we do something to help them? If so, what?"

"To h.e.l.l with that. We can"t help them anyway. We need to retreat" Luther immediately said. Help? What can they do?

Luther turned his horse around. They need to flee to the refuge of the camp. But what he saw shocked him. He thought that Prince Timothy"s plan was already perfect, but turns out it wasn"t complete yet.

Hundreds, no, thousands of cavalry were charging towards the camp. It was both an amazing and terrifying sight. It was a scene that future paintings would depict. It was marvelous yet terrifying.

Luther"s eyes were glued on the charging cavalry. He knew that he should do something. It was his duty as an officer to help the camp. But there were only a few hundred soldiers defending the camp and that already includes the non-combatants. The camp was already doomed so Luther was reluctant to help.

"In the name of the Great Rider!" Centurion Lyn exclaimed. He then turned to Luther as if he was begging for guidance.

"We need to flee Centurion. We lost this battle" Luther admitted. The people inside the castle were done for. Also in a few moments, the Castonian cavalry will swarm the camp. Only his cohort will remain. Only the Whistlers will survive.

Luther was thankful to his Uncle for preventing him from joining the a.s.sault. He was also thankful to his own stubbornness for getting them out of the camp. If there was a G.o.d, it doesn"t matter if it was the Great Rider or the Omniscient, he should have favored Luther.

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" General! We"re in trouble!"

Sigurd himself halted and looked blankly at the squire. "What happened?" he yelled.

"They are.." his squire"s words were interrupted by the shaking of the ground. It was powerful. Sigurd could feel the force of whatever caused the tremble.

His squire faltered for a while but he managed to finish his sentence "They are charging General! The Castonians are charging!"

"What?!" Sigurd can"t believe what he just heard. That was preposterous! The Castonians are charging? But Sigurd wasted no time. He immediately moved his legs.

Sigurd leapt outside and saw that the camp was now different from before he entered his tent. It was chaotic. The soldiers were running around, clearly in panic. Shouts of orders can be heard.

He then looked around. What he saw stunned his senses. It looked like a cloud of dust at first, but upon closer inspection one could clearly see what it really was. Thousands of cavalry were charging towards them with their lances pointed forward. Their flags display an image of a white lion with two swords crossed above it. It was the flag of Castonia.