Steel and Sorrow: Rise of the Mercenary king

Chapter 86: Night cloak(2)

Chapter 86: Night cloak(2)

The warning cry rang out like a clarion call, jolting the Oizen soldiers from their momentary stupor. A shallow cry cutting through the silence and the dark.

"IT'S AN AMBUSH!" The soldier's shouted as he sprinted back to his comrades, repeating the ominous refrain. Yet, before the full gravity of his words could sink in, the darkness erupted with violence, almost like a shadow rebelling to his master.

Blades materialized from the dark like specters of death, catching the Oizen soldiers off guard. From every crevice and alley, men clad in chainmail and helmets emerged, their presence turning the once deserted streets into a battlefield. The element of surprise favored the attackers, and before the Oizen soldiers could react, they found themselves encircled, flanked on almost any sides , cut off from any reinforcement and outnumbered, their backs on the wall as the enemy charged forth.

As the attackers closed in, the Oizen soldiers felt the noose tightening around them. "WITH ME, MEN!" The officer's voice cut through the chaos,trying to rally his men , a beacon of defiance as he tried to revert an impossible situation . With grim determination, he rallied a group of soldiers to make a desperate stand against the encircling enemy.But it was like stopping a river with bare hands .

With a resounding battle cry, the officer and his makeshift vanguard charged into the fray, their weapons clashing against the onslaught of foes. Despite their valor, the odds were stacked against them, and the melee devolved into a brutal struggle for survival. Men fell on both sides, their screams lost in the cacophony of combat.

With a swift motion, the officer deflected the thrust of an enemy lance with his shield, the impact reverberating through his arm. Seizing the moment, he countered with a powerful blow, the edge of his shield connecting with the face of the enemy. The force of the strike knocked the assailant off balance, sending him crashing to the ground with a pained grunt.

As the officer dispatched his foe with a swift coup de grace, he spared no time for hesitation. With grim determination, he pressed forward, driving toward the weak point in the enemy's formation. His blade became a blur of motion as he carved a path through the encircling foes, f they were to survive they had to inform the rest of the army of the ambush

Amidst the chaos of battle, the officer's leadership proved crucial. "Don't get isolated!" he bellowed, his voice cutting through the clamor of combat. "Go forward! Fall back, and you are dead!" His words were a rallying cry, urging his comrades to keep pace as they fought tooth and nail to break free from the enemy's grasp, some managed to do so most however failed and were left behind .

With steely determination, the officer fought his way to the edge of the encirclement, his comrades close at his heels. Sensing an opportunity, he seized upon it with relentless ferocity,through a charge that created a small opening in the enemy's ranks. With a decisive push, he led his men through the breach, their boots pounding against the cobblestones as they fled from the heart of the melee.

As they ran, the sounds of battle faded into the distance behind them, replaced by the rhythmic thud of their footsteps and the pounding of their hearts. With every passing moment, the officer could feel the weight of their narrow escape bearing down upon him, the hole they had opened was closed and apparently the enemy thought it would be too bothersome to pursue them

Finally, they emerged from the chaos of the streets, their breath ragged and their bodies battered but alive. 'The commander' he thought as he continued to ran , his throat hurting from the cold air sucked in through the mouth 'He needs to know' and so avoiding death he set forth , as from the 80 men he led inside the city less than fifteen were following him, the rest were instead being gradually cut down behind them.

''Where are we going sir?'' A man asked as he held his bloodied shoulder

''We link up with the rest of the army '' He answered briefly before increasing the pace, leaving those that could not keep up behind.

As the officer and his surviving comrades finally reached the safety of the main army at the gate, their relief was short-lived. A grim realization washed over him as he surveyed the scene before him. The rest of his comrades, pressed on all sides, were being overwhelmed by a relentless onslaught, what had happened to them was happening to the rest of the army right now.

From the walls and the buildings, arrows and stones rained down upon the defenders, turning their moment of triumph into a desperate fight for survival. It was dark as no torches were present except from the attacking army, meaning that while their position was easy to spot , those of the archers was not

''Why are they not reinforcing us?'' The officer murmured as he could not comprehend why they were not overwhelming the defenders with their numbers, after all the army was not outside the city?

Some of the defenders caught sight of the officer and his group, and as they gestured to their comrades , death came knocking at their door .

Before they could fully comprehend the gravity of the situation, arrows began to rain down upon them. The air was filled with the deadly whistle of projectiles. The officer and his comrades too late to raise their shield as the night covered the arrows, got pierced by dozens of them . Despite their best efforts, they were just a fraction of the defenders destined to fall in the face of overwhelming odds, as the man who planned such slaughter was leasurely stretching his back as dozens of men fell at his feet.

Trapped within the tightening circle of enemy forces, the encircled men fought desperately to break free, but their efforts were met with fierce resistance at every turn. With each charge forward, they faced a barrage of arrows, stones, and weapons wielded by their adversaries.

As they surged toward the enemy lines, shields held high and swords flashing in the dim light, they were met with a rain of projectiles. Arrows streaked through the air like deadly darts, finding their marks with lethal precision. Stones hurled from slings or thrown over from the walls into the ranks, breaking bones and shattering armor.

Despite their bravery and determination, most of the encircled men were quickly cut down by the relentless assault. Those who managed to close the distance with the enemy found themselves outnumbered and outmatched, surrounded on all sides by foes with shields locked together in a solid wall of defense.

With each failed attempt to break free, their ranks dwindled further, and desperation began to set in.

It all happened at once ,they were easily marching through the city, the gate was theirs , yet the lack of torches was deliberately made from the enemy to not let them see what was over their head.The men entering the tower of the gate, never left as they were cut down from men hiding in closet and in other spot covered by darkness. And then it happened , all of a suddentheir escape route was swiftly cut off as a net filled with heavy boulders was dropped behind them, sealing their fate.Normally that could have been easy to fix, just simply using the men to cut the rope and take the boulders away , however panic set on as some of the men frantically attempted to climb over the obstruction, only to be met with a barrage of enemy attacks. The moment the boulders fell , they were shot down by arrows, and the clanking of armor could have be heard coming from the darkness , as numerous teams of men charged the main army that entered the city, straight towards the commander, the nephew of the prince.

With their retreat blocked and no path forward, the men found themselves trapped in a deadly trap. The enemy closed in from all sides, their movements swift and coordinated, as they unleashed a relentless onslaught upon the helpless defenders. Any hope of mobility or escape was swiftly extinguished as the enemy's projectiles found their marks, rendering the men immobile and vulnerable.

Surrounded and outnumbered, the encircled soldiers fought valiantly against overwhelming odds, but it was a battle they could not win. Cut off from any avenue of escape and facing a relentless onslaught, their fate seemed all but sealed.

It was nothing short of a tactical decapitation.