Goldenhold
Chapter 7: An Arrow Legendary
If anyone had looked at him then, a view of confusion would have been seen on his face. Just like the rest of his armies.
WHAT? He thought.
Why are they opening their gate? They haven’t rounded up the militia yet... that would take at least a day. Considering this is a fortress of millions though... that would take much longer likely. They are in no position for a charge.... and even if they were... the only thing that could happen is them losing some men.... Most of his men were looking dumb-found at the gate. Some dropped their weapons and were stepping back. Zeon, his reaction quick. “They have opened the gate! It’s now or never!”
A strongman walked up to him -a knight probably- and after explaining that he was Kyle, he had to ask if the general thought there were men coming out of the gate, or something worse...
Zeon smiled at him on the inside, but on the outside he managed to portray a face of determination and confidence. There was no reason to let his troops question the idea of something strong coming through the gate. Now that he thought about it, that man would be dead if he had found his horse in time for the initial charge when the gate was open initially.
He addressed the young knight after taking in his appearance- he was a strongly built man, Zeon though that he couldn’t be more than twenty at most, but he was taller than the general, and may have thought Zeon the weaker if they had been standing on even ground. But for his luck, the general was on a hill at the time, making him stand over a foot taller than the man before him- he must have loomed, seeming like an eight foot giant.
By the look on the young knight’s face, he could tell that he didn’t notice the hill- or if he did that it didn’t add that much height. By the look in his eyes Zeon could tell that he thought Zeon was incredible, and he knew that people who thought of you that way always thought that you are taller than you really are. He also noticed the knight had really thick armor, and more importantly a war maul, one that could easily smash through the dwarvern shield line if he was standing still when he swung it... if he was mounted though........
“Find your horse. Join me in the charge.” Kyle quickly ran off, finding his horse in a moment, riding up next to Zeon. He told a young boy, a messenger, to send a message through his army that they were going to do a jogging formation to the front gate. He wanted his army to be fast but organized in case he had to pull back. Zeon mounted his horse that was next to him, swinging into it effortlessly, despite the weight of his armor.
Within a minute of the gate starting to open, Zeon’s army was starting behind him, Kyle the only man next to him. He watched the person in charge, possibly the leader of the defense, yell at his own people. Zeon yelled his own men encouragement, and they started to move towards the front of the dwarvern defenses.
Suddenly, a crack resounded through the valley. Several troops fell down, on both sides, grabbing their ears. But Zeon didn’t. He knew what the slam meant, and it was music to his ears. After a question from Kyle, Zeon yelled to everyone, “Those idiots jammed their gate! Tell the siege weapons to start firing again, and let’s move!”
Laughing, and in good cheer, the human army charged. It only took them only a few minutes to cross that mile. Zeon on his white stallion went a little ahead. Within the last minute, the enemy Captain had organized his troops into simple lines, disorganized for the most part, and the enemy morale wavering. He started to run away down the massive hallway, to tell the archers personally to get the hell up there. Zeon’s army laughed as they heard his yell and the voice of their commander cracking out of shock.
Zeon had full white armor, shield, sword. But the other thing he had was a bow. Over his years in the military, of conquest, conquering, and defeating his enemies he learned fighting styles from those he captured. One of those was the way of the horse archer from the nomads that he often defeated, he once considered them savages, forcing them into the ways of agriculture and trade. But once he found out that their commoners skill on horseback even matched those of the best knights, he couldn’t help but admire them, and take many knights of from that area, who often taught him the ways of the horse even as he taught them the ways of the sword.
Zeon hoped he had learned enough from them. He pulled out his wooden recurve bow, which had been recently polished and restrung for this battle by his servants. He pulled an arrow out of his leather saddlebag in a second, too quick for most to notice.
He notched it. He pulled back the string. He fired. This arrow had a destiny.
It flew into the air, the yellow feathers on it’s tail seeming to blend in with the sun as it flew in a high arch. As it reached the high point in the arch, many people watched it, the Captain of the Guard turning his head around to see what the commotion was about even as he ran.
It soared down. The Captain had a look of shock on his face as the quarter mile shot slammed into his arm. He had a look of unbelief like most of the guards on his face. The general had no clue that his soon to be nemesis was thinking..
Over a thousand feet.... oh my.... right before he tripped and yowled in pain.
The shot had moved slightly due to the wind, which Zeon misjudged. To him, it was a failure as a soldier. But when his own army heard the scream of the enemy after a few moments, along with the loud thwack of an arrow on a quiet battlefield, they cheered, charging straight into the enemy line. That shot was legendary, even though it’s shooter called it a fail.
And then there was contact. Soon to be followed by the pools of blood.
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Topic: The Age of Myth: Goldenhold (A DF Novel Length Story) (Read 115832 times)