other companions, Elis relies on them to keep it all a secret as he naturally knows he will be in the greatest to be in trouble if word were to get out that Elis has been conspiring with the in famous Lumbre. This could all change with one man, Pavis, former companion of Elis.
Chapter 5: Procurement
Miles away just south of the dreaded Darian Marshes of the far north. Allan is marching with his army which has gradually started to see him as a caring leader as he was patient and constantly tended to the needs of his troops. However, his leadership as a military leader is starting to be questioned as most of his men have not seen combat yet, all they have been doing till this point is marching in mud with one occasion where some of the men got to fight alongside Allan in a small skirmish to rescue a few dozen people. “Oh dear, sire, I believe the marching is about to get far worse” said the advisor. “Why? Why is that my friend” asked Allan. “Look over in the distance, that dark mass of mangroves is the infamous Darian marshes, unforgiving when it comes to insects, no place to rest and there are a few dangerous creatures we’re going to have to contend with” said the advisor. Allan then turned to look where his advisor was referring to and what he saw was very intimidating, a wide slope downwards was its entrance at the edge, what followed was a dark mass of black trees, roots and branches tangled up with one another. That was really all he could see as a thick fog shrouded the entire area. Getting closer, the soil was starting to get softer and damper, Allan looked at the ground as his horse, copper, trotted slowly, he noticed that his hooves began to sink into the mud. He decided to dismount as he was certain the soft ground could not support the combined weight of him and his horse. This was followed by his advisor dismounting and Allan ordering “Soldiers get off your horses! Dismount!” soon all the cavalrymen were off their horses.
Allan turned to his advisor and asked “is there no other way? Must we really go through that? Surely there is another option… that is no place for an army on the march”. “You are quite right; the only other option is to hike a narrow passage on Mt. Daria but it would take us an entire day get to the other side. The Trolls too have only these two options and that is why I am certain they still haven’t made it past us” said the advisor in response to the concerned Allan. “All right then, there is still a quarter of an hour’s time of marching before we reach the marsh, I can see the mountain, it’s just an hour away. You sure there is no way around either?” said Allan again. “Yes, sire I am positive” said the advisor until he was suddenly interrupted when Allan whispered “Wait look, do you see that”. “Oh no, yes I do see it, Allan, it’s a Troll” said advisor, fear in both of their eyes was showing. They got nearer and the fog was starting to lift, to the horror of Allan and his Human troops, there was a Troll army emerging from the marshes. They were lining up in battle formation, they had obviously spotted the Human army due to the flat terrain, approaching and were getting ready to do battle. Allan rose his sword in the air and span it around vertically, signalling for his troops to get into battle positions. The battle formation they were getting into was the standard frontal assault arrangement. Allan and his advisor rode to the centre of the formation to join the Kings guard, an elite cavalry unit whose task is to protect the king or in this case the prince. After a short while both armies were ready for combat. In front of Allan were two rows of light and heavy spearmen and behind his position was the rest of the infantry, made up of mostly archers and swordsmen.
Allan took a deep breath and observed the Trolls, they were lined up in three disorderly columns, typical beast tactic. But what none of the Humans could understand was the fact that the number of Trolls was alarmingly low, just a few hundred Trolls seemed to be present. “Something doesn’t seem right” said Allan. “Indeed sire, but I suggest we advance, we hold the high ground and they still have space to manoeuvre, we should capitalise on this immediately” said the advisor as he drew his sword. Allan then drew his sword from its sheath as well and nodded in acknowledgement of his advisor. “We can’t afford to let them past us sire, because out there are defenceless villages and a straight path to the kingdoms” said the advisor as they both watched the Trolls move sideways. Allan took another deep breadth and put on his helmet and lift and sword in the air and lowered it down midway and shouted “forward!” giving the command to steadily advance. The Human soldiers marched forward, their armours clanking and the drawing of weapons made intimidating noises. It would take some time to march down the slippery hill. The Trolls weren’t charging like they normally would have done, which what puzzled all the Human army. After a short moment of men marching towards Troll, there was a scurry in the Troll ranks, the Trolls had summoned their archers to the first rank, running forward the Trolls were armed with primitive long bows with massive stone tipped arrows, better used against their own kin rather than disciplined and heavily armoured Human soldiers. Allan rose his sword and moved his fist forward, he then commanded “archers to the front!” The Human archers rushed to front, recently made larger as peace with the other kingdoms ensued and the only known enemies to the Humans were the massive beasts. Both armies stopped movement entirely and archers from both sides faced each other down. The Trolls were first and unleashed their round of arrows at the Human infantry in the front.
A surprising number of Humans were hit and many died in the first volley, this was unexpected due to nature of the Troll arrows. This must be attributed to the strength of the Trolls when pulling back the bowstrings. Nevertheless, the Humans suffered losses and the Trolls were reloading for another volley. Allan’s mind was a blank upon seeing that, fear for his men and his life gripped his soul. His advisor turned to look at him and shouted “Sire, what are you waiting for, give the command!” Allan emerged from his trance of fear and took a deep breath, he grinded his teeth in anger and shouted “fire at will! Cut them down”. The archers did willingly and returned fire much quicker with lighter bronze and iron tipped arrows. These modified arrows devastated the first line of Trolls, reinvigorating the Human troops and increasing their morale. Then the Trolls at the back of the three columns starting moving back into the mangroves. “What are they doing?” asked Allan as he turned to face his advisor. “This is not good, they are going to head back the other way and take the mountain pass now that they know our army is here” said the advisor with great worry. “Then we had better attack now” said Allan in a mildly aggressive state. “I believe that is our best move, we should stop this slugging match of arrows and attack them head on” said the advisor. “Then we shall and we shall do it now” said Allan. Allan took a deep breath and started walking forward and then shouted “advance!” The entire Human army started moving across the marsh and towards the Troll army all the while the archers remained put and responded to the Trolls firing their arrows. The Trolls in their three great columns rushed forward with their clubs and battle-axes to meet the incoming Humans.
The battle of the Darian Marshes had begun. The infantry of both fronts clashed, Allan and his advisor moved quickly through their comrades and got to the front. The Trolls fought hard and the sounds of the battle were intense, there were poundings of men’s armour, screaming men and Trolls and the sound of splashing mud. Those armed with spears were able to fight the Trolls effectively, spearing their face and chest from safe distances. Allan was fighting at the forefront with his advisor and his fellow soldiers, this boosted the morale of the men even though it absolutely terrified him. Human formed a tight wall of shields and spears at the front, effectively steamrolling through the Troll ranks. “Drive back and kill them!” shouted Allan as he pressed the back of another soldier with his shield and placed his spear on his shoulder, spearing Trolls one after the other. However, Allan could not help but feel that the Trolls were being pushed back too easily, it seemed they were not fighting at their maximum abilities, the way they normally would. The Troll’s formation was starting to break and the Humans were being drawn ever so closer towards the edge o
f the marshes. “Sire, this isn’t right, there is something up” said a random soldier behind Allan. Suddenly a Troll leaped to the front and with one fell swoop, killed the soldier who was in front of Allan, with a single strike using his serrated club to the poor soldier’s head.
The soldier’s lifeless body fell backwards onto Allan, who then supported the body up with his shield and brought forward his spear to fight this aggressive Troll. With anger the Troll rose his club once again and brought it down upon Allan who ducked behind his fallen soldier’s body, this time the club decapitated the head of the lifeless soldier and what was left of him slumped to the ground. Angered further this Troll swung his club again and Allan absorbed the hit by covering his flank with his shield. An extremely impact and so strong Allan lost balance and darted to the side, now with both sides in disarray Allan could not count on his men to save him. Allan then thrusted his spear towards the torso of this Troll, but the Troll was too quick, he grabbed at the