to two men carrying the young elementalist just a few paces behind them.
Chapter 7.
As the morning sun slowly made its appearance in the cold wintery sky, Ramon was already stood at his front line. The enemy had also wasted little time in doing likewise, as he watched them once more take up positions just a few hundred paces away from his makeshift barriers. He watched on far more confidently than he had the previous day, although he still knew he needed to get the job done quickly. In the last of the daylight hours yesterday, he had received a message from Katria, carried by one of her birds, which simply read 'Tribes almost upon us'.
However, the arrival during the hours of darkness, of Darion, and more importantly Maxim, would change the outcome of any ensuing battle that would take place shortly. The only reason he was not already cutting through the enemy ranks was to allow the young elementalist time to recover from his previous day's exploits. Ramon scratched at his head, realising something was amiss. The enemy were far fewer in number than previous, and he was struggling to comprehend why they would send what was appearing to be little more than a token force against him, particularly after his own show of magic yesterday.
Ramon turned as he heard a man approaching behind him, "Another message Sir...arrived by bird just a few moments ago," he added between breaths. Ramon nodded his thanks as he took the small capsule containing what he knew would be a message from Katria. After carefully removing the thin slip of paper and unrolling it, he read the very unwelcome message. His question as to the reason so few enemy were lining up against him had been answered. The enemy had moved a large force during the early hours, and under the cover of darkness, and were now positioning themselves around the walls of Pitford.
It was clear to him what he needed to do, and he also knew the enemy lined up against him were merely there to delay him as long as they could. Without further ado, he turned and headed for the inn they had been using as a makeshift field hospital. Ignoring the salutes and greetings from his men as went, he walked as quickly as possible, at times almost breaking into a jog.
Once inside, he headed straight for the stairs to the rooms he knew were being used by their most welcome arrivals. He found the man he needed sitting at a small table in one of the rooms eating his breakfast, "Darion," he said struggling for breath and clutching his side, "We need to make our move...now. Pitford is in trouble." The old man for once, did not argue, nor did he make any snidely remarks as he quickly stood and started readying. "Best see if the lad is up for a bit of fun," he eventually replied slipping on his boots.
Ramon found Maxim sat up in bed, surrounded by his friends. "How are you today?" Ramon asked, hoping the answer was going to be a good one. Maxim smiled, "I'm fine...a little jaded still, but well enough."
"Well enough to fight?" Ramon asked coming straight out with the question that he needed answering.
Despite the concerns of his friends, mainly Zack, Maxim nodded to the affirmative. "Good...we need to act as soon as we can...Pitford is in danger," he added giving the words even more importance.
Oran stood beside Katria atop the roof of the main keep, the sun was rising into an almost cloudless sky as the pair watched the events unfolding around them. In the distance, hordes of men and strange beasts were slowly making their way around to the north of their position, coming in from the east and moving around to their south was another force flying the flags of Bosaria. "So many," Oran uttered looking from one direction to the other. Katria nodded knowing that things indeed look very bleak. "Ramon is still in Denley you say?" Oran asked her. Once more she nodded, "Yes Sire, although last report I had back from my birds were that he was preparing to
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