One week later, the group arrived on the southern battlefield. The area there was a massive plain land that in any other time of the year would have looked pretty nice, but even from a distance, the group was able to feel the aura of death in the battlefield. It didn’t seem like the enemies were planning to advance anytime soon, so they were planning to make the defenders endure that oppressive atmosphere for as long as possible.

  The camp on the defending side was completely silent. It was mid-afternoon, but it didn’t look like the soldiers had fought that day. Some of them looked truly exhausted, so they assumed that the enemies had used night raids as well to get on their nerves.

  Usually, a camp with a high morale was a camp with a lot of noise and people working everywhere. They would do things that would improve their odds of survival in the next battle, but no one was doing anything there. Things looked pretty nasty.

  Although the carriage and the five riders’ arrival informed them that someone important had arrived, they didn’t think that things would change that much. Before long, they reached the largest tent in the camp and stopped right there. Now they got the attention of the few guards who were there, and soon, they moved to block their path. It didn’t look like they had been informed of the princess’s arrival, so the prime minister was really trying hard to get on their way.

  When Liry left the carriage, the guards didn’t recognize her. Few people had seen the princess, after all. Still, they dropped to their knees when Irlan introduced her. Things started to get noisy around… when everyone looked in that direction, they only saw a group of warriors that perhaps was a bit too young to be there. The princess wasn’t wearing clothes that made her look like royalty either. She had an elegant red cloak around her, but aside from that, she was wearing pants, a white shirt, and some long boats that would all work to improve her mobility.

  Without wasting time, they entered the large tent, and soon, they found one of the captains on the battlefield sleeping on his table. When he began to hear the noise, he woke up and looked around blankly.

  “Hello, Captain. My name is Liry. Were you informed of my arrival?”

  The captain opened his eyes widely… he indeed received the letter with that kind of information, but he thought that the higher-ups were messing with him. Why would they send the princess to a pretty much-lost battlefield?

  “Yes, Your Highness. Please forgive me for not being ready to welcome you upon your arrival. I was expecting that you would come a bit later.”

  “No worries. I decided to hurry up and come here to help as soon as possible.”

  The expression on the captain’s face returned to normal after hearing that. It was the normal reaction… help. As if someone who lived the good life away from the battlefields would be able to help them with their business. It was like expecting a kid to teach an herbalist how to handle their plants.

  “I don’t think that we have time to waste here, so we should get ready for the next battle as soon as possible. My friends and I aren’t going to get on your way, but it would be better if you were to follow my orders if things happen as I predict.”

  The captain wondered about the meaning of those words… in the end, he called the other captain to hear from Liry about what was supposed to happen on the battlefield. Even without hearing anything so far, she assumed that the enemies would come at dinner time tonight and that they should be ready for it while pretending to be resting as much as possible.

  The two captains looked at each other and stayed like that for a second. They had expected that the enemies would do that, but they didn’t plan to try to fool them like that. It was too risky since the enemies would have the chance to control the flow of the battle from the very beginning.

  “I am aware that their mounted archers are a problem, but they won’t be this time. Just let the groups stay in formation or in semi formation using the tents, that will give them enough room to react fast enough.”

  “Your Highness… how do you plan to handle them? They never expose themselves and only target us when they have total control over the battle. They are also extremely good at killing officials from their positions.”

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  “I can’t reveal that since that might put the parts involved in trouble. Anyway, the enemies will silently send other battalions of infantry to surprise us and then send their mounted archers when the combat has been engaged. Once that happens, we will just hold our ground and wait until their formation crumbles.”

  The two captains looked at the group behind Liry. It was clear that she was planning to use them to do that kind of job, but it was hard to imagine that those young warriors would dash in the battlefield without being noticed.

  Without wasting time, the captains decided to put the plan in action, it wasn’t much and the risks were minimal, so they felt that they could try that much. If it fails, they won’t have any reasons to listen to the princess.

  “You all should stay in position for when night comes, I will be fine on my own here.”

  Zelos raised his eyebrows when he heard that. Leaving Liry alone in such a place would be too risky and they would be the firsts who would lose their heads in case something happens.

  “Is that an order? Well, it doesn’t matter since you aren’t paying us.”

  “No, it isn’t. Zelos. However, we will need everyone to be away. Otherwise, the two captains will know who will be responsible for killing the mounted archers.”

  “Even if they know whom, they won’t know how we did it. There is no real tactical value against the enemy to make those three be on the very front lines. Edea is also an archer and once she starts to pick the enemies, she will be targeted.”

  “I am with Zelos in this one, Liry. Leaving you unprotected is too risky. Besides, in a nocturnal battle, no one will be able to see what happens to you and if you disappear, then we will have a hard time finding your traces. It would be better if we could surprise the enemies as much as possible today, but other chances will come.”

  Liry considered Heirina’s words and in the end, she nodded. Both of them had a point and they would be able to fight better knowing that Liry would be well guarded.

  “In that case, we should get closer to the front lines when the battle starts, we will be able to pass orders more effectively by then. If the enemies hear about me as well, we will be able to keep luring and trapping them.”

  Compromising under those circumstances probably wasn’t the best of ideas. Still, Heirina knew that Zelos and Kaitrine would pull off their missions before the enemies offered any risk to Liry.

  Before long, the message to the whole camp began to spread, and the soldiers began to change tents while only carrying their own things. They felt that was a waste of time since the enemies would have the preemptive strike anyway, but orders were orders.

  At the same time, the group watched the whole thing and tried to see the enemy’s camp in the distance which was three kilometers away. They looked the same as usual with no changes, but Liry could see several points where scouts could be hiding. Kaitrine could see that as well.

  “I can see them, shall I dispose of them?”

  “No… the enemies will stay on alert if the scouts are disposed of right now. It is better to let them live for a while longer. At least until we decide when we should go to the offense.”

  Hopefully, that will happen soon. Battles were they had to defend all the time were the worst for rookies… Zelos and the others certainly were total rookies when it comes to that kind of battle. Before long, the sun began to set and soon the group began to prepare as well… Zelos and Kaitrine moved to the sides of the camp in order to assume their positions. Now the worst part of the job will have to start, the wait.

  For all intents and purposes, the enemy scouts should have noticed the fancy carriage arriving, but they didn’t do anything out of the norm. Just as Liry had predicted, a first wave of infantry silently approached their camp throughout the darkness, but soon they began to hoar with all their might while charging.

  The infantry only had around five hundred warriors, but they were so eager to fight and made so much noise that they looked like they were two or even three thousand. Despite that, the defending side soon assumed their positions and formed their lines to fight.

  The sound of metal colliding and the screams of effort and pain echoed in the area. Zelos heard all that with his arms crossed two hundred meters away from the battlefield… he couldn’t engage now even though he was so pumped for a fight…

  Fortunately, it didn’t take long for the enemies to send their second wave and even amidst the darkness, Zelos could see the mounted figures and without wasting time, he began to approach.

  Zelos tried to be as calm as positive, trying to blend in the shadows and without tripping on anything. Despite the fact that he could see his first target already unleashing some arrows, he didn’t let that stir him up.

  In the end, that had been the right thing since Zelos soon found a group of right soldiers around the mounted archer. That guy was skilled and one of the lieutenants of the enemy army, so it made sense that he would have such a guard.

  Still, their formation was completely useless… When Zelos was twenty meters away, he grabbed one of his iron balls and then threw it at the enemy's head without any hesitation. The enemy who was about to nock an arrow suddenly fell from his horse and then hit the ground. Before long, his guards realized that something was off and then some confusion began to spread around as some of the enemy’s warriors approached to see what was going on… in that moment, Zelos infiltrated their army without being noticed.