This entire situation was one big meat grinder, and Amara and I were simply feeding into it.
I shook my head. With so many units at our disposal and the gold flowing continuously, this fight could go on forever.
Something was needed to tip the balance.
Suddenly, there was a deafening shriek from above.
I looked up, shielding my eyes from the sunlight.
High above was a bird, flying from the north over the trees. And it wasn’t any old bird, it was huge.
Atop the bird sat a rider, and her gray garb with blue highlights made her identifiable even from such a height.
Amara.
She was coming to attack the platform.
I pulled up the giant bird’s stats.
Name: Yuinnick
Race: Great Eagle
Rank: Champion
Hit Points: 500
Speed: 60 (flight)
Y’godda’s Aerial mount.
This was not good. Amara had used the Battle points she gained from killing me to hire that thing.
Why can’t I have a dang aerial mount?
Getting over my initial surprise, I shouted orders for the units at the platform to tighten up and for the archers to be ready.
If Amara wanted to make a suicidal run at the platform, I’d be happy to oblige her.
But instead of descending, the bird kept flying, its massive shadow passing over me.
As it kept going, a cold realization grabbed me.
She wasn’t coming to the platform at all. She was flying south.
To my banner.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Oh, crap.
For several moments, I simply gaped at Amara and her new champion mount as they sailed out of view over the southern trees.
Had I known a flying champion mount was on the Battlefield I would have made a point of locating it. And if I couldn’t hire it, I’d set a guard to keep it from Amara.
But there was no point lamenting what was a moot point.
Amara was on the way to my base, and she had to be stopped. But how?
Quickly, I rode Smoke through the dense throng of units cramming the platform area. My mind was no longer on the battles raging nearby, just the fluttering red banner at my base.
“Out of the way!” I shouted with frustration. Since I was the idiot who jammed them all together, I was now the idiot who had to get past them.
“Commander coming through!” soldiers shouted as they jostled each other to make room.
I navigated my way through the units until I emerged past the densest part of the formation. With a kick at Smoke, I headed down the southwest curve.
Enemy spotted!
It was one of the Lookouts at the Keep. Amara’s icon appeared above the trees due north of their position.
Analyzing my map, I was alarmed to see that all buildings had each just started training units. Previous units had already moved on and were halfway to the middle. All of those were slow moving footmen save for one cavalry unit.
Grumbling curses, I selected the cavalry unit and ordered it back to base at top speed.
The only other defenders present at the base were the lookouts as well as one archer and one footmen unit. The latter two having been assigned to guard the banner.
For some reason I didn’t think this would give Amara much cause for concern. If she felt she didn’t have a chance to get the banner, this attack wouldn’t be attempted.
I passed footmen units as I raced southward, and each one cheered in kind. I didn’t feel celebratory. This had taken me completely by surprise, something Amara was good at. I needed to be the one full of surprises, for a change.
Halfway there, I got the footmen’s leader onto a chat screen.
“You see her coming?” I asked, rhetorically. Of course he did. They all did. I just needed to hear him say so.
“Yes, Commander!” the footmen leader said. “And we are ready for her!”
I wished that were true.
“Let me see what she’s doing,” I said. By now, Amara’s icon was slowing down as it sidled up next to the Keep.
The leader turned around giving me a view of the base.
The great eagle was hovering high above, with Amara peering downward, assessing the situation.
The Lookouts atop the Keep fired their crossbows, but their bolts came up short. I noticed with dread that reloading these weapons took the Lookouts forever.
My archer unit stood nearby, bows at the ready. They didn’t even attempt to fire since Amara was well out of their range.
The footmen were assembled around the altar, eyes on the aerial invader.
What was she going to do?
I was still too far. Less than two minutes out.
The eagle adjusted its height and came in closer to the top of the Keep. The Lookouts were still loading their crossbows as quick as they could.
It wouldn’t be fast enough.
The eagle reared its head back then opened its massive beak. Thrusting forward it let out a terrifying shriek.
It was using an ability.
The shriek emanating from the eagle was like a physical attack. The air in front of it shimmered like a heatwave. The Lookouts were enveloped in a torrent of deafening sound.
The Lookouts were knocked back and sent flying over the battlements. They tumbled screaming down the vast height of the Keep to the ground.
With this problem eliminated, Amara brought the eagle around the Keep and landed.
The archers moved close and loosened their bows.
But as the arrows zinged toward their mark, the eagle stood tall and flapped its mighty wings creating an incredible wind.
The arrows were knocked out of mid-flight as the wind intensified. In seconds, the eagle generated hurricane-force winds.
The archers tried to stand against this, but were sent flying to the ground, or tumbling into the trees.
While the great eagle maintained the attack with its wings, Amara jumped off its back.
The moment before she touched the ground she vanished.
Shadow Form.
My footmen, shocked by the attack on the archers, but still rooted to the spot I commanded them not to leave, looked about in confusion.
Oh, for the love of…
“Watch out!” I shouted at the footmen leader. “She’s in Shadow Form!”
I rounded the final bend, and the Keep was in sight, but I was a good thirty seconds away.
The footmen looked about, apprehensive. They knew an enemy was nearby, but had no idea where.
Yuinnick continued its attack, buffeting the archers with the horrific wind. When one archer managed to get purchase and stand, he was immediately sent sprawling to the ground.
Your Banner Has Been Taken!
No, no, no, I thought. This cannot be happening. Not again!
Amara had snuck by the footmen in Shadow Form, but the moment she grabbed the banner she became visible. Crouched on the altar itself, banner grasped tightly in one hand, she killed the nearest surprised footman with a sword swing.
The other eleven footmen reacted, whirling to confront her.
The great eagle immediately stopped flapping its wings and charged forward at the footmen formation, shrieking loudly.
As some footmen engaged Amara, others turned to face the frightening champion moving in to attack.
I was ten seconds away.
Amara’s sword was a blur of motion parrying sword swings from her perch on the skeletal altar. Surrounded and outnumbered, she appeared in a desperate fight to keep them at bay.
This attempt at the banner had been a tremendous risk to take. But fortune favors the bold, especially on the Battle Field.