Age of Heroes (Age of Heroes Chronicles)

Chapter 109: The north fort

Men screamed in pain, suffering from grievous wounds as arrows rained upon Arial's army. The bows twang and screams of pain filled the battlefield.

"Keep on moving!" Kyle ordered the troops as they pushed the siege tower towards North Fort. The enemy had sent out around a thousand soldiers to hold them back.

Smokes fills the sky and the barking of orders could be heard crossing each other as men pierce each other with their weapons, dying in droves

The siege weapons hurled stones at the walls of the fortress and each time they reached their target, an explosion that shook the surroundings was heard.

'KEEP ON MOVING!'

'ATTACK!'

But the walls stood tall and proud. North Fort remained defiant despite the rigorous assault.

The siege towers lumbers on slowly at snail pace as the mangonels and the trebuchet keep on attacking. The enemy archers targeted the mechanics and the soldiers operating the machinery

With Arial's blessing, Lisa had gone ahead with her cavalry division and had intercepted the enemy that dared to leave the fortress, slashing through their troops and bringing hell to their forces.

Arial suspected that she had set out to prove herself to the other lords and had succeeded.

She was effective in her attack as her horse rides through the soldiers like she was an unstoppable force.

Her detractors were in awe of her fighting skills, especially Sir Hugh who had so adamantly refused to let Lisa on the battlefield.

It was rumored though that he was fond of her, which would explain his resistance. He was simply worried that Lisa would get hurt.

The other lords, however, continued to regard her presence as an insult.

Lisa, who was hot-tempered and easily provoked, remained oblivious to Ser Hugh's feelings towards her. She viewed him as someone who enjoyed belittling her.

If only she knew the feeling of that pitiful Knight

Arial did not enter the battlefield this time and stayed behind to watch his army. His eyes look coldly at the army; his mind is thinking of many things.

He was judging his troops' strengths and weaknesses, and would only go into battle if the enemy forces reached his position.

But that was highly unlikely. Lisa could handle the small unit of soldiers that the commander of the fort had sent out.

He is smiling proudly. He sighed. The land was wrecked as stones the sizes of boulders fly high in the sky and landed on the land with great shaking.

On the other part of the battle, cavalry is mowing down the militia men. Their screams and despair is clearly conveyed as the cavalry cut them down.

But Arial did not feel mercy at all in his heart right now. This is war. He looks at that distant fort and his eyes is cold

Arial could not understand why people would hide in a fort.

It only made things easier for him, as he knew the exact location of his enemies and had the means to destroy them.

If it was up to him, he would have taken a gamble and attacked with his remaining forces in the hopes of creating an opening and planning another strategy.

A fortress was a military mistake in a way and a symbol of isolation.

It was an easy target for any attacking army.

Even though it was designed to defend, the fortress actually cut you off from any possible help and resulted in the loss of maneuverability.

They may appear impregnable, but once you retire to a fortress, everyone knows where you are, and a siege does not have to succeed to turn the fort into a prison.

With small and confined spaces, a fortress is prone to plague and contagious disease.

In a strategic sense, the isolation of a fortress provides no protection, and actually creates more problems than it solves.

Enclosing himself in a Fort? Sacrificing his maneuverability and flexibility? Inconceivable. It is not his style but most lords of the Dukedom were accustomed in thinking that a fortress would be their savior tactic.

In certain cases, that is true. But that is clearly not true for a brilliant military commander like Arial Vermont

For Arial, the citadel perched high up on the hill was a reminder of a war tactic not to emulate.

Cut off from communication, it was sure to fall with ease. Its only true purpose was to delay an attacking army while reinforcements arrived.

But face with an army who have a lot of supplies, a fort is merely a standing stone.

Arial looked at the battlefield and saw that Sir West was in charge of the siege division this time.

"Fire," the young Palais yelled, his voice reverberated in the battlefield.

The catapults unleashed a barrage of flaming stones, bringing death and pain to enemy soldiers and archers stationed on the fort's walls, and destroying some structures.

The sky was ablaze and screams of agony pierced the air. Anyone whom sees this battle from far away would have think flaming stone is falling from the skies.

Catapults and trebuchets, and a variety of other siege weapons fired from all sides, attacking the fort like thunder strikes.

Explosions shook the earth, stone walls cracked, and debris fell.

Below the flaming stones is the screams of people wrangling in pain, half of their bodies is crushed while the other part is being burned

A fire began to encircle the fortress and billows of smoke rose to the sky, obstructing the view of the enemy and allied troops alike.

Arial look at this and that smile apapered on his face again. He survey te entrie babtelfied and look for any weaknesses. His men is eager to join the battle and win merits but they all looked at their young lord.

Their young lord is sitting on his fire kissed horse, Firebringer, looking dignified and smiling at the scene of hell that is unfolding in front of him right now

The soldiers of the Vermont are the most disciplined army in the entire Dukedom.

They are fanatically loyal to the Vermont and not only that, they only recognize the order of the young lord.

Arial have never been defeated and with each battle, his reputation has made his solider blindly loyal to him.

On the battlefield, the battle rages on.

The air was rank with the smell of charred corpses and the voices of the tormented fallen echoed throughout the battlefield. The winter cold could be felt no longer.

Lisa had finished her assault and had returned to meet Arial. Her soldiers are rounding up and killing the last bit of the enemy unit.

"How did I do?" she asked smiling, her white cheeks flecked with blood.

"Good, but you almost overreached," Arial replied. "Do not let them make you extend your unit too far and risk being cut off from our main force."

Lisa nodded but then she said

"I needed to prove myself to the other lords," she said, "or else, I risked hearing their incessant nagging and disapproval throughout this expedition."

Arial nodded. "I am fine with any decision you take..as long as you bring me results"

He then turned back to view the battle that raged on and saw Sir West quickly bring his horse forward and ordered his men to bring the battering rams, striking the fortress gates with incredible force.

"Again!" West yelled.

"You are a traitor to the North!" the commander shouted at the young Palais from atop his tower.

The commander has red veins on his neck and his beard seems to be singed by fire.

West's expression was blank.

Arial knew that this expedition would be hard for him, but West had to endure in order to defend his honor. Suddenly, oil ran down the fortress walls.

"Oh, By Light!" Arial exclaimed.

"What is it, Lord Arial?" Lisa asked worried.

Arial used his internal energy to amplify his words and yelled at the troops who were ramming the fortress gates, unaware of the horror that awaited them.

"RUN! QUICKLY RUN! IT'S OIL"

West widened his eyes as he also realized what was about to transpire. He looks at his soldier and then yelled his orders.

'RETREAT!'

The troops were not idiot. The moment they smell the liquid and hears their young lord shouted the words, they quickly realize what about to happen.

Everyone ran in anguish as the oil came down on them.

Flaming stones and blazing arrows were shot down along the oil's path and ignited a fire that danced on the walls and licked across the bodies of the soldiers.

Their screams and shrills were a sign of unspeakable pain. Those who had tripped had been swallowed up by the unrelenting flames as they rolled on the ground trying to extinguish the fire before succumbing to the pain and die in pain.

Death by fire is a terrifying thing and a painful thing

The ensuing inferno brought fear to Arial's army.

He could see it in their eyes.

The heat was oppressive even from afar and the ravaging winds only made things worse.

Smoke engulfed the battlefield, but Arial could still see that the fortress gates had remained intact.

The commander of the fort is not totally incapable, he thought. They must have coated the doors before the siege began. They had planned this all along.

"Do we retreat Lord Arial?" one of the lords approached and asked.

"Retreat? We press on!" Arial exclaimed. "The end of the war will come after we defeat and occupy this fort and, then we will march to Dented Shield. The road to peace is so close now and you expect me to retreat?"

"Then we press on," the lord replied.

Arial nodded.

The battlefield had turned to chaos with screaming soldiers running from the fire, but the siege division was still safe, stationed at a distance.

West had headed back unharmed from the archers' arrows. The troops, however, were left screaming in agony as the flames their bodies to ashes.

The battle raged on as that cold eyes keep scanning the battlefield, his eyes is trained at the fort.

The battle in the North has begin. Don't forget to vote and please leave some comments