As he gazed down at the square below, he saw squadrons of lancers,
dragoons and hussars, batteries of horse artillery; behind them marched
regiments of infantry, all preparing for the battle ahead of them. As he looked
below the horizon, he saw Kang’s army hacking away at his own, men falling by
the second. He led his men down the river with a fierce look in his eyes. King
Theodore shuddered at the thought of having to fight him, but there was no
stopping it. This time, Kang had come prepared, and for once, King Theodore
was scared…
1 day ago…
King Theodore walked down the hallway to his quarters. As he walked on
the soft golden-trimmed velvet rug, he thought about his day. It had been a
tiresome day, just like any other. After 5 years, the kingdom was finally
repaired. The damage Danova had before to Upalia beat any other time they
had tried to take Upalia over. After killing more than half the population of
Upalia and destroying almost a three quarters of the kingdom before being
routed by King Theodore, the kingdom was completely restored. Feeling good
about Upalia, King Theodore lay down on his bed, thinking about the next day’s
celebrations that would begin because of the complete restoration of the
kingdom. Bright fireworks would sprinkle the sky, balloons and streamers would
hanghanging from all sides of the kingdom, and he couldn’t wait for the
delicious foods that had been prepared for the day.He closed his eyes, finally
feeling as if everything was finally going exactly as he wanted it to.
“What was that?” A rumbling sound was heard in the distance, followed
by a strange stomping.
“I don’t know.”
“Get the-” the guard never finished his sentence as the a huge bomb
broke through the stone walls of the quarters, landing on top of him. His wails
only lasted for a second before it was drowned out by the shouts from others in
the vicinity. No one had to think twice about what to do. Running to the front
of the castle, they saw a large mass of armored men riding on horseback
jumping across the river towards the city of Theodoresburg, the capital of
Upalia. King Theodore soon came out, soot covering part of his clothes.
Nevertheless, he had his sword with its diamond-studded hilt at the ready and
was in full battle gear, his shining armor gleaming from the sun’s rays.
“We need to get everybody into the castle!” King Theodore yelled over
the chaos that occurred below. His men greeted the idea with a quick shake of
their heads, hope beginning to come back to them at the sight of their king.
King Theodore looked down at the scene before him.
Catapults were lined up behind the river, getting set up for the next
shower of flaming rock to envelope the kingdom. Looking to the left, he saw
men lined up, not advancing, but waiting, most likely to make sure no one left
Theodoresburg. On the right, there seemed to be an endless flow of men on
horseback, ready to destroy anything that came through their path. And right
in the center of it all was Kang. He was dressed in shining metal armor with a
golden studded sword raised above his head and riding on a horse that led the
rest of his army through the middle of it all.
King Theodore ran to his drawing room, where one plan after another
was made on all possibilities of defense and attack strategies for his army.
When he walked inside, he put both hands on the table, thinking about what to
do. Standing on the opposite side of the table were four men ready for battle.
“Do you have any idea how they made it past our defenses?” King
Theodore asked the men.
“It looks like they had it all planned out for a long time. The had the
entire west part of the kingdom besieged, ready for a raid straight to the heart
of the kingdom, to Theodoresburg,” one of the men answered with a sigh as he
took a few sheets of paper out of a wooden drawer on the side of the table. A
dim light hung above the table, flickering and wobbling from the commotion
from outside. Walking around the table, King Theodore saw what he was
talking about.
“It took them a matter of seconds to breach past the main defenses
after that, we were overpowered.” Another man finished with a sigh, wiping a
bead of sweat off his forehead.
“I want the men down there to get into formation down there. It’s
chaos. We need to organize our men, otherwise Theodoresburg will be gone.”
King Theodore quietly as possible. After fifteen minutes, they neared the river,
but it looked nothing like the river two days ago. It was filled with loose metal,
shrapnel, dead men, and blood. As King Theodore lifted his gaze from the
shocking scene, he saw Kang staring straight at him, the same cold, dead look
in his eyes. Behind him stood about seventy men on horseback, and three
cannons fully loaded. King Theodore turned around, staring at the men before
him.
“I want those cannons set up evenly apart, attacking the men who are
on horseback and who are manning other cannons. Whoever is on horseback,
flank left and right. People on foot, stay here, only ten of you should go to
fight. Kang is mine. Any questions.” Dead silence. “All right then, what are we
waiting for?” King Theodore yelled. And then the fighting began. Kang’s forces,
almost simultaneously, began heading towards Theodore’s own men. Kang and
King Theodore stayed behind, commanding their cannons and troops. As the
bloodbath began in the river, the first sound of a cannon began.
It all became a blur to King Theodore. He was winning, or he thought at
least. He saw a sword pierce through one of Kang’s men, but then saw another
fly through the heart of one of his own. He was matched. It would all come
down to him and Kang. It was as if Kang was thinking the same thing. There
were about ten men on horseback from either side remaining when both sides
began to retreat. All of his men were dead except these last ten. Two of King
Theodore’s cannons had been destroyed, but Kang’s cannons had been
completely extinguished.
“Sir..what...should we...do?” A man barely let out the words, huffing
and puffing from the short bloodbath. The river was now a dark red.
“It looks like it’s going to come down to me and Kang. I need you to take
out those remaining horsemen of his.” King Theodore replied. He looked up at
Kang. At once, they both rode their horses into the water. From the corner of
his eye, King Theodore saw his men meet the rest of Kang’s, fighting until only
one side remained standing. Right away, Kang slashed his sword towards King
Theodore’s neck. Without thinking, he ducked and lurched his arm forward.
Kang’s horse, on Kan’s command, quickly moved back, causing a spray of water
to come. They both snapped the reins of their horses, charging at each other.
Their swords collided, both trying to hold their ground. King Theodore saw his
opportunity. He flicked Kang’s sword to the side, at the same time bringing his
down on Kang’s need.
The metal point collided with Kang’s knee as blood began to gush from
the wound, causing a screech to escape Kang. He fell off his horse, landing in
the red water of the river, turning the surrounding water an even darker shade
of red. King Theodore got off his horse, and without a second thought, brought
his sword down with both hands down into the water where Kang had fallen. In
a second, Kang’s body floated to the surface, his lifeless eyes rolled back and a
wound the size of a fist going straight through where his heart should have
been. King Theodore saw the last of Kang’s men, at the sight of their leader
dead, retreat.
After all the adrenaline had left him, King Theodore realized there was a
wound on his forehead. He fell in the water, both knees on the ground, and
closed his eyes. Kang was dead, and he was alive. He repeated the words
through his head. I’m alive. I’m alive. I’m alive. He got up, straggling up onto
his horse. The last thing he saw was Kang’s lifeless body laying in the water.
Then, everything went black.