Herald of Steel

As Alexander was starting to sail off, a few of his officers chose to surround him and suggested that they should attack the Margrave's ships now, to take advantage of the fact that most of them were still anchored by the bridge.

"They are defenseless!" They had cheered, pointing excitedly to the ships that were woggling like a toddler on the water, appearing perfectly harmless.

Hearing this idea, Alexander was first and foremost amazed and astonished at these daredevils.

It had been literally just minutes since they had been saved from the brink of death by the skin of their teeth, and yet, these desperadoes had the gall to tempt fate again so soon.

Alexander could not decide whether to be happy that he had the great fortune of commanding such skilled and zealous men with balls of steel, or lampoon the muscle headedness of so many of them, who were so focused on immediate gains that they were unable to see even a corner of the greater picture.

But now was not the time to begin a bloody fight, that would certainly be taunting the gods in the rudest way possible.

However given the amount of courage and gall these men were showing, Alexander was also not going to scold them.

He loved it when his soldiers showed that they wanted to fight, it proved the morale and spirit of the army were high.

But here, this also put him in a slight dilemma.

He knew that while none of his men blamed him for trying to escape on his own, if he were to reject them now too, he would be perceived as a coward.

After all, wasn't he the one who just a while ago proclaimed that they needed to take large risks to win the war?

Well, this was it wasn't?

And it wasn't even that big a risk! In the majority of the men's eyes, the enemy was basically sitting ducks.

Now, Alexander could have spent the next few while explaining to them why attacking might be more difficult than it looks, and how the enemy might be more prepared than the men were giving them credit for.

But he swiftly thought of a better idea.

Thus in a soft and somewhat tired tone, Alexander succinctly reminded them,

"You say they are defenseless but you forget so are we. We have no shields nor many of our crossbows. How will we fight?"

Yes, by cleverly pointing to his lack of armaments as a convenient excuse, Alexander was able to quickly cool the men down and then in a gentle but firm tone declared, "We have done enough fighting for today. Let's go back home."

This decision worked to make some of the officers a bit peeved, but most of his men were relieved.

While Alexander's own heart turned to another matter, one which caused him to glance at the bridge and subsequently groan, for he remembered that his objectives remained half fulfilled.

He managed to successfully capture the island sure, but it was a great shame they could not hold the bridge.

Now he was forced to think of another way to protect his fleet at the harbor.

It was amidst such thoughts that he was then approached by Quinnolin, who had another idea to pitch to him.

A pitch that he started by pointing at the Margraves ships and suggesting,

"My lord, look! Their ships are already full. They cannot take any more men. Meaning those soldiers at the top are stuck! Why don't we offer them a rescue? The commander is sure to fetch a pretty price."

So Quinnolin here was proposing to offer the enemy rescue in exchange for their surrender, and then subsequent release with a 'small' ransom.

And this idea had seemed quite lucrative to Alexander at first, thus he entertained it for a moment.

If they could truly capture a thousand men just like that…. it would be truly a great victory for him and his forces.

Perhaps not as great in a military sense since losing such a thousand out of twenty would be certainly painful but not crippling, but in terms of a political win, in terms of making a statement it would be really something.

It would show everyone that Alexander still had some bite left in him.

And if that captured commander by any luck got to be a noble or someone close to Lord Parker, well Alexander was even hopeful that they might be able to get a peace treaty started.

Of course, Alexander did not know that Achillas himself was leading these forces, since he had never seen the man in battle before and neither did he think they would send their general to lead such a small force.

But if he knew, he certainly would have been ecstatic and might have even reconsidered his choice.

However now, the presence of those Margrave's ships gave him pause.

What if they chose to suddenly retaliate?

What if they chose to capitalize on their vulnerable position just like Alexander's men had been urging him just now?

Or worse, what if reinforcements from Lord Parker arrived while they were in the midst of securing their prey?

Would that make the hunter become the hunted?

Alexander was not willing to take that risk. Especially not after his close brush with death today.

And even if he was willing to, perhaps this time, even before the gods could smite him for ingratitude, HM would do the deed for them.

After his rescue, the captain of the bodyguard suddenly began to see these ships as quite rickety and frail, and the water around as very dangerous.

So the thought of a naval fight brought large trepidation.

Thus the man was not only absolutely in no mood to fight but completely furious at these men who wanted to.

So not willing to be suicidal, Alexander at last eschewed any and all offensive ideas and started sail.

However just because Alexander did not want to fight did not mean the heavens were going to let him off just like that.

And thus it happened as such.

Targeted by an unknown shot, Achillas found himself suddenly losing his grip and falling from quite a large height and so hit the deck with a giant thud, as unimaginable pain streaked through his body.

The fall might have not been enough to kill him outright, but it definitely hurt like hell, as Achillas definitely could feel quite a few of his bones had cracked, and even heard a few snaps.

"Arghhhh!" This caused him to thus let off this immensely pained groan, as flashes of intense whites and spots of blackouts began to float up in his eyes.

He could not believe such pain existed in the world and it suddenly made him feel incensed.

"Agghhh! Kill the bastards! Kill them!"

Thus, instead of begging for help or groaning in pain, Achillas let off this great roar through his bloody clenched tooth, even as a pool of his own blood began to soak the decks.

It really went to show the man's character.

Even when he was close to losing consciousness from the intense pain, he desired revenge, feeling that if there was one thing that could soothe his pain, it would be the blood of the bastards who did this to him.

"Aghhh!"

His order to avenge him reverberated all around the surroundings and it not only made all the Heeat soldiers atop the bridge howl out in anger but many of the Margraves down in the ships too.

Achillas might not be their direct commander but he was seen as an authoritative figure by them, and thus an attack on him was seen as an attack on them too.

"Shit!"

Even Anoon let out this curse upon spotting the man fall from the ladder all the way back from his ships, although not entirely for the right reasons.

He was far less concerned for the man himself and much more worried about what would happen if he were to suddenly expire.

He was their best ticket out of their predicament.

But now….

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Go! Go! Quickly attack! Quickly attack!

Before my fire off another volley!"

Anoon never got to figure out how to react to this new development, as suddenly this loud familiar cry pierced his ears, and he swiftly turned around to spot Ser Robert frantically waving his hand while letting off his order.

The man had not waited for his adjutant's input, but fearing the enemy was launching a preemptive attack, quickly ordered a counterattack on Alexander's ships.

*Bang!*

And the enemy's retaliation came as swift as it was sudden, as one of Alexander's ships in the rear was suddenly and menacingly rammed by two vessels, the giant collision causing a thunderous boom that jolted all the men in the vicinity.

"Wha… what happened?" And looking back, Alexander found himself too stunned to believe what he was seeing.

But even before he could register this new development, a sudden cry pierced his ears,

"Javelins! From the bridge!" as a shower of wooden spikes with metal bits began to rain on him, causing him to quickly duck.

And then raising his head, he quickly saw the Heeat soldiers running after them using the bridge, even while the floor beneath them creaked violently.

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