Chapter 145 Thunder of Hooves
The Gate of the King.
The Royal Road entered the city almost directly north of the royal castle. The gate, situated atop a small hill, faced slightly west. The entrance was well defended due to the width of the road, as if an army penetrated, it could easily attack the royal castle.
The soldiers had heard that the two western gates were under attack. First, they saw a large Pegasus flying overhead. Then, three more appeared in the sky. Looking up at the sky and the Pegasi, they heard a sound like distant thunder. But after a few seconds, they realized it was neither thunder nor the sound of horses.
Fifty unicorns galloped across the field from the west toward the wall. They were not dressed in blue as usual. Nor were their riders wearing their blue tabards. But all of them wore heavy armor and were armed with every weapon imaginable. Rodrigo and his personal company raced at full speed toward the wall. The smallest unicorn and knight in the group weighed more than ten large men. Three hundred crossbows and small ballistae were ready. When they were within range, they would fire three hundred arrows and twelve spears.
The captain at the gate called to his men: Wait! Wait! Now!
Rodrigo raised a spear. All the knights did the same. The horns began to shimmer faintly.
Arrows and spears streaked through the air in a deadly formation. Each soldier began nocking a new arrow into his crossbow. The ballista teams loaded fresh spears into their machines.
Fifty unicorns jumped in unison higher than the height of a man.
The captain watched as the arrows rained down on the empty field. He could not comprehend what he had just witnessed. Like everyone else, he heard a loud noise very close to the wall. The sound of fifty war Unicorns landing. Few soldiers saw them, for their eyes were fixed on the distance.
The unicorns took a few more steps and leaped over the wall with a great bound. The knights thrust their spears downward and stabbed the soldiers in the head and shoulders. Unicorn hooves strick heads amd necks. Rodrigo killed the captain himself. They landed inside the walls and turned to hurl their spears at the bewildered soldiers.
A group of ten unicorns charged toward the gate and attacked the nearby soldiers. The rest began fighting groups of surprised and frightened men. Within half an hour, the gate was open and more than four hundred soldiers were dead, wounded, or fleeing. The remaining companies of unicorns entered the city without resistance. Six unicorns and nine knights were killed or too wounded to continue.
In the air, Pegasi circled the areas ahead, indicating the location of defenses and clear paths. Rodrigo led the majority of the group toward the soldiers to attack and sow confusion and fear. A small group ran along the clear paths with the help of the Pegasi. They encountered few soldiers, and those men were unprepared to face thirty-one war unicorns.
In the royal castle.
The king and his son heard the horns signaling a retreat to the north. On the large map laid out on the table, there were no coins depicting an enemy force in that direction. There were two possibilities. The army of the queen had concealed a force large enough to breach the gate of the king and surprise the count of war. Or Aurelio was arriving with his army. If it had been the first, it would have been bad, but he could defend the castle. If it had been the second, no scout would have seen a huge army approaching the city. And the king and all his supporters would die.
Victorino: Pages! These companies of knights are going to the main road. The archers will form a double line here to support them. The soldiers near the castle will block each road in an east-west curve. That cavalry company and those two companies of soldiers will march to this location to block any section of the line that might fail. All the castle guards will be on alert to defend it should these defenses be breached.
Many pages rushed out of the room with his orders. The count pointed to some messengers approaching the table. The king looked into the eyes of his son and saw that the machine of his mind was working at full speed.
Victorino: Find the reaction force for the two western gates and tell the captains they will travel north and then east. They must attack any force they encounter near the gate of the king. After that, continue along the main path to catch any enemies that are between them and the castle.
Messengers raced through the corridors until they mounted swift horses. The orders of the Count of War reached his commanders with speed and precision. The pieces were moved by a man who almost never lost a game of chess.
At the south gate.
More than a hundred soldiers of the queen died before they could breach the defensive gate. Forty minutes later, they secured the entrance, and the cavalry road in swiftly, turning north toward the gate of hunters. Young knights, squires, and members of the royal militia rode their imitation unicorns. With a rear attack, the gate of hunters collapsed in less than half an hour. The army of Olivia army was in the city and marching toward Colina Verde.
East of Colina Verde.
The knights of Puerto Blanco and Colina Alba had engaged in minor skirmishes along the secondary roads as both forces advanced westward. Units of green clad archers ran behind their knights. One unit would halt fire arrows northward at the enemy. Another unit would race forward. Little by little, the companies loyal to Valero moved further and further north, seeking safety from the arrows that fell with great accuracy due to the signals of Volker.
When Heinrich and his companies entered open ground near Colina Verde, he organized them for an attack to the north. The Colina Alba companies entered in small, disorganized groups. A wall of black and gold charged them with ferocity. The sons of Puerto Blanco remembered the red and yellow tabards that had murdered relatives and raped their mothers and sisters.
The horns signaled the retreat after the first charge. Four hundred knights under Heinrich routed the companies that confronted them. By afternoon, Colina Verde lay between two enemy armies, and all available forces were heading north toward the royal castle, away from them.
On a small ridge to the north of the royal castle.
Thirty-one war unicorns and thirty men looked at the training ground of the Blue Knights. The area was empty and vast. Each man prayed that the priest had taught them the correct gestures. They mimicked the phrase the man showed them. The unicorns made the gestures exactly as they were shown and the gesture of agreement.
The men mounted and the Unicorns galloped to great speed while looking at the training field. They disappeared together.