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Dreamland Returns - #11 |
June 13th, 2007 @ 12:00am |
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Of my 1 500 troops, we only lost about 10 when Famine's troopers successfully breached the shield wall.
Inekwar and I agreed that it was a stunning victory, but we didn't let the thought of victory make us too confident.
I still put the men through various training exercises, knowing full well who was left to defeat.
Famine was an easy victory, but Pestilence would not be so easily defeated. War would definately be one of the hardest Horsemen to defeat, but Death would be next to impossible.
But I knew just how to defeat them all.
Pestilence was cocky when it came to battles. I would have to use that cockiness and stupidity to my advantage.
War was also very cocky. Because he was the Horseman of War, he naturally picked the best fighting troopers, and believed them to be undefeatable. It would be easy to defeat him, although I'd have to train the men extensively to defeat his troopers.
Death would prove to be a challenge. His troopers were almost invincable, but I'm sure if I killed a few, the men would be convinced that they aren't unkillable. Death himself would be a challenge to fight as well, but there is only one thing in this known universe that can overpower death.
And that is life.
The real challenge would be if after their individual defeats, they attacked me all at once. The men would have to deal with the rest of their combined forces, which I was confident they could do. To fight the Four Horsemen all at once while trying to make sure your troops were staying alive would be hard.
Especially if the battle against them went as it did before in the forest. And this time, Death would surely not be merciful about his dealings with me.
That thought frightened me.
I waited for almost a week after that planning with my army, hearing nothing about the movements of the Four Horsemen. After another three days, I heard news from a scout that Pestilence and his army had finally started moving.
They were marching straight at our position, with Pestilence leading an army of 2 500 troopers, outnumbering my forces by an even 1 000.
I didn't like those odds, so I made sure to get the troops to build extensive defences of a hilltop. If Pestilence wanted to fight me, he'd have to lay seige to the hilltop, which differs from his preferred fighting with army against army on a level field.
I almost smirked at the thought of Pestilence getting angry because he had to go out of his way to fight outside of his comfort zone.
But several days later, I would truly see how well he would fight. |
| 81 hit(s) |
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Dreamland Returns - #10 |
June 13th, 2007 @ 12:00am |
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Famine tried to swing his fist into my chest to knock me off of my horse, but I ducked under the blow and rode straight past him. He turned and charged at me again, so I turned and held my sword at the ready.
Famine galloped across the field towards me, and as he did I kicked my horse into a gallop as well. He brought his fist back to hit me again, but I stabbed out with my sword, hitting Famine in the chest with such a force it knocked him off of his horse to the ground.
He hit the ground on his back and skidded through the grass, and I dismounted my horse. My cape billowed behind me as I stalked towards him, gripping the hilt of my sword tightly in my right hand.
"You'll die for this." Famine said as he tried to crawl backwards.
"Oh I won't die." I said, pointing the tip of my sword at his throat.
For the first time ever, I saw something I never thought I'd see come across the face of one of the Four Horsemen: a pale look of fear.
I kicked him in the head as hard as I could, leaving him unconscious on the ground.
I turned to the battle, and saw my troops fighting valiantly against Famine's army.
Their shield wall had held, and Famine's troopers continued to try and hack their way through it, with no success.
Famine's troopers formed an offensive spike formation with spears and swords at the front and charged, hoping to break the lines of the shield wall.
They slammed through and the first three ranks of the spike made it through, with minimal losses to my forces. The shield wall reformed behind the three ranks, and the angered soldiers of mine quickly dispatched of the three ranks, while the shield wall held out strong against Famine's army.
They were unable to breach the shield wall, so my forces, led by Inekwar, pushed forward, killing any of Famine's troopers that neared them.
Famine's army was reduced from 2 000 to a mere 150, so the remaining 150 turned and fled the field, seeing that their commander was defeated, and that my forces were superior.
I met with Inekwar at the conclusion of the battle, and gave him a nod of respect.
"Good work." I said. My sword was now in its sheath, and my hands were clasped behind my back.
"I learned from the best." Inekwar replied, a compliment to me.
I nodded, and the soldiers buried the dead soldiers, both friend and foe.
After the burials were completed, we all turned and left the field, leaving Famine lying on the grass surrounded by graves. |
| 30 hit(s) |
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Dreamland Returns - #9 |
June 10th, 2007 @ 12:00am |
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The first wave of the Four Horsemen's troopers came at us several days later. There were roughly 2 000 of the demon armourer troopers, led by Famine on his black horse.
I told Inekwar to marshal the troops quickly, and I rode out to meet Famine. His army filled one side of the large field before us, while mine assembled behind me on the other.
Famine rode out to meet me in the center, and I rode out to meet him, possibly to discuss terms.
"Good day." he said with a nod.
"Fine day." I said, looking up at the blue sky above us.
"If you fight, every one of you will die." Famine said, getting right to the point of his meeting me.
"We shall see who will die." I said, turning and riding back to my now assembled army.
Inekwar ran out to greet me, and I turned back towards Famine's army. They stood and prepared to charge.
I hoped that the Four Horsemen had completely forgotten about the battle tactics I had taught them whilst still in their service, but I was confident I could find my way around them if need be.
Famine's army charged across the field towards mine, their shields and spears up front as they ran.
"Shields up! Spears to the front!" I bellowed. The troopers with armour and shields and spears quickly assembled into a long shield wall before the front ranks of my army, and they prepared for the coming clash of force.
Famine's army clashed into mine with such force that it threw the shield wall back, exposing some of the unprotected soldiers behind them.
Famine's soldiers jumped into the gaps in the wall and began slaughtering the troops with swords, spears and axes.
"Hold your positions!" I shouted, and unsheathed my sword.
Inekwar charged off into the thick of battle and began fighting back Famine's troops. The soldiers he had recruited joined him at the front, and they formed another shield wall to defend against Famine's army.
I saw Famine standing at the rear of his army, issuing orders to a council of ten well armoured troopers.
I kicked my horse into a gallop, and I charged at Famine. He saw me coming, and sent his council of ten troopers forward to stop me.
"You guys stand no chance." I shouted.
They came at me as one wave, and I channelled my energy into the blade of my sword. I felt one with the blade again, and I smirked as the wave came at me.
I swept my sword out, sending out an arc of white energy, which cut all of the coming troopers completely in half. Their top halves fell to the ground, and their lower halves stumbled forward to the ground as well.
Famine turned his horse towards me and we charged towards each other. |
| 26 hit(s) |
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Dreamland Returns - #8 |
June 10th, 2007 @ 12:00am |
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I ran the men through various sword drills, and ran them through various exercises, getting them physically fit for the task ahead.
They showed promise, except for the skinny farmer boys that Inekwar had recruited in the south. They were fit from their chores on the farm, but lacked swordsmanship. They could outrun the other troopers, but that skill was next to useless if you couldn't fight.
They continued through their drills nonetheless, and showed more spirit than the fighters from the north, although they were all determined in the cause they were coming to call their own.
"The men show promise." Inekwar said one night as we talked.
We stood on an escarpment overlooking the camp where the army slept. I was dressed in my white armour with my sword at my side and my great white cape billowing around me. He was dressed in a sleeveless black shirt, with a leather sheath holding his sword on his back. He wore black pants and high black leather boots, which were scuffed from the rocky foothills in the area.
"They'll get better. But they're not ready." I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
The wind ruffled my long black hair and cape, but I stood perfectly still.
"You know, that white armour can't hide your dark side." Inekwar said.
"What?" I asked.
"Whenever you get into a fight with your enemies, or your talking about the coming fight, there's a side of you that I've never seen before exposed. Its much darker than anything I've ever seen." Inekwar explained.
I closed my eyes and sighed.
"We all have a dark side we try to supress, Inekwar. Even you. Even the most kind people you know are trying to supress their inner demons." I explained.
"How do you figure?" Inekwar asked.
"Human nature. You know people who live by their lighter side, and others who have given in to their darker side." I said.
"Like who?" he asked, turning himself to face me.
"My late wife Kathleen was the sweetest person I know, and she was always displaying her lighter side. She was scared to see what would happen if she released her inner demons, so she always lived on the lighter side of life.
"Your mother on the other hand, was one of the people I knew who lived by their darker side." I said.
Inekwar laughed.
"What's so funny?" I asked.
"Mom always said the same thing about you." he said, chuckling.
"Well, I was a different person when I knew your mother. I've faced my dark side, and I've come to terms with it. I've also learned to control it." I said.
Inekwar closed his eyes and sighed.
"You're one of the lucky ones." he said.
We stood in silence until dawn, overlooking the encampment. |
| 29 hit(s) |
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Dreamland Returns - #7 |
June 10th, 2007 @ 12:00am |
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While I was away, Inekwar had marshalled together a militia of 300 men, all of whom Ienkwar had convinced they wouldn't actually be fighting against the Four Horsemen themselves.
Others condemned Inekwar's request, and called it a foolish mission to oppose the Four Horsemen. They laughed and scorned the men who joined Inekwar's ranks.
He still continued on, heading north to the larger villages where more able men lived. More men joined up when they heard that the Horseman of Life was leading the fight, bringing the total number of troopers to 1 000.
They were armed with whatever weapons an armour they were able to supply themselves with. One of the troopers was a blacksmith, and he fashioned swords for most of the troops, and repaired whatever shoddy weapons and armour the men had.
As Inekwar and his thousand troopers marched back to where I said I would meet them, they rallied another 500 to their ranks, and when I arrived they had 1 500 in total.
I dismounted my horse in the dead of night when I met them, and Inekwar met up with me, and the men gathered around us.
"Here we are." Inekwar said. I nodded.
"You assured them that the Horsemen were mine right?" I rasped.
Inekwar nodded.
"Good." I said, before looking at the small army of troopers.
They looked nervous.
"It seems a foolish task to take on the Four Horsemen, but it is possible. I was one of them for a time, but here I stand with you, ready to oppose them." I started, before one of the troopers shouted out.
"Why should we trust you? You fought with them!" he said.
"I am the Horseman of Life. I am the defender of the innocent, protector of the weak, and enforcer of true justice. What the Horsemen do now is attack the innocent, harass the weak, and perform unjust acts. It is my duty to fight them." I answered, a raspiness filling my voice.
The man nodded, so I nodded back at them.
"All I ask you to do is keep their troopers at bay. The Horsemen themselves are mine." I said.
"Four against one? That hardly seems fair." Inekwar pointed out.
I laughed.
"I've had worse odds before." I answered, and started preparing the men for the coming fight. |
| 27 hit(s) |
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