Chapter 61

Fleeting

 

Upon Baron Omin’s orders, the Korimor column began its march back to camp. This movement alerted the other two columns, but the reason behind it soon became apparent: The plains were ablaze, with the fire rapidly intensifying.

As the column nearest to the fire, they were heavily subjected to billowing smoke and the steadily encroaching flames. Before long, there was no semblance of an organized march. Everyone rushed towards their encampments in a desperate attempt to save their lives and belongings.

Those who had most of their possessions with them, or who quickly realized that the battle was lost, bolted westward with all their might. They understood the consequences and had no desire to be taken captive.

Thus, the retreat of the two-thousand Korimor and Nicopolan devolved into a full-blown rout.

On the north side, watching this development with great interest, the Lord of Korelia stopped his parade, spread out his cavalry formation, and ordered his knights to lower their lances.

The billowing smoke from afar had created chaos within the South Hill ranks and now the sight of the incoming charge finally broke their morale. Without an ounce of bravery left, the remaining men fled in total panic, with total disregard for order or formation.

As the vast plains burned red and churned out thick black smoke, every footman ran and the commanders were helpless to stop them. They had good reason to desert. For levied troops like them, to be captured meant servitude.

Ironically, their best chance to escape from slavery was to outrun their comrades. A trail of body armor, weapons, and helmets littered the plains. Everyone lightened their load as much as possible to outrun anyone in front of them.

The last column that remained on the field was Sir Arius’. The encroaching fire, along with the sudden collapse of the southern and northern columns, demoralized his men.

While Sir Arius had wanted to march into the forest to regroup with Lord Jorge’s cavalry, his knights were against it.

Even the crimson knight, his most trusted champion, told him not to. Sir Arius eventually relented as the fire threatened to cut off their retreat.

Sir Arius’ retreat finally reduced the might of the Coalition to a shambling mess of an army. Just as he had feared, like the other two columns, his Three Hills column also suffered massive desertions.

Amid the chaos, Lansius’ cavalry made their presence felt, taking hostages, capturing knights, and terrorizing the fleeing Coalition. They goaded their opponent to escape far west or into the fire.

The western Korelia plains had turned into a spectacular show of wildfire, while the tragedy of the once mighty Coalition army was just beginning.

Things were only marginally better inside the encampment. In the vast, sprawling city of tents, guarded by the most loyal retainers, servants, and a small number of camp followers, there was still a semblance of order despite the panic.

Baron Omin rode to the heart of the encampment and tried to organize a retreat. His quick reaction to abandoning his column had paid off. The smoke and fire hadn’t yet reached the encampment, and he had enough time to prepare.

“Find your lieutenants. Tell them Baron Omin of Korimor has summoned them!” He rode around the inner encampment to establish a working chain of command.

With great effort under the heavy smoke, he organized a convoy of baggage trains. Each cart was full of war funds and valuables. He knew he could rebuild the army if he could secure the supplies. Through honeyed words and bribes, he also convinced Jorge’s baggage guards to join his rank.

Without the sighting of Lord Jorge’s banner or the rest of the nobles, even the most loyal were compelled to flee. Lastly, Omin gathered as many horsemen as he could find, and then, leading sixty carts, he fled westward.

His escort consisted of just ten cavalrymen. However, behind his convoy followed many nobles, some even traveling in horse-drawn carts accompanied by their servants and baggage. Amongst the chaos, their only consolation was that the spare and draft horses they managed to acquire were fresh and eager to run.

In total, close to one hundred carts were making a beeline to the west, leaving the rest of the Coalition army behind.

Earlier, the Baron had traded his horse for a fresh one. His Nicopolan bodyguard rode calmly beside him, giving Omin some necessary mental support.

Time passed and the Great Lowlandia plains loomed on the horizon.

“Split up! Split up,” Omin commanded.

The convoy split in three directions. This was his masterstroke to foil capture. With Jorge’s baggage train in his hand, even if he could only secure one of the three convoys, he would still come out way richer.

The battle of Korelia had ended in disaster. However, Omin could still turn this into a great opportunity.

 

***

 

Audrey

The front riders slowed to a stop, and the rest of the cavalry followed suit. Several spread out as lookouts. Audrey had led her cavalry to the far west, where the Korelia plains and the Great Lowlandia plains connected seamlessly.

After ensuring the area was safe, Audrey dismounted. Soon, a group of thirty civilians arrived on their small horses or mules. They were either too old, too young, or unfit to join the militia and were certainly not part of the plan.

The leader of this group shared a horse, stopping next to Audrey. Margo, the page boy, dismounted first, then helped the rider with whom he had been sharing the horse.

“Are we sticking to the plan?” the second rider, a woman wearing a traveling cloak, asked.

“My plan,” Audrey replied, patting the head of her prized warhorse.

“Yeah, I meant that,” Hannei said, lowering her cloak to reveal sweat trickling down her forehead. “You knew I could proceed alone.”

“Nah, it’s too dangerous for you to go alone. You need at least four,” Audrey advised, glancing at the group of boys, elderly men, and a few individuals with missing limbs.

“Okay, so where are the men who’ll follow me?” Hannei asked, rummaging through the saddlebag for a water flask.

“Sigmund, Dietrich,” Audrey called out, turning to her men.

There was a ruckus, and then two men showed up with smiles on their faces. One even offered a handful of wildflowers and said, “For the good Captain!”

“You damn well know that I can’t eat them, Dietrich,” Audrey responded, sparking laughter from the men. Dietrich, one of their best horse riders, retracted the flowers, feigning heartbreak.

Meanwhile, Sigmund, the soldier-bard, showed a wide smile, already thinking about making a lyric.

“Sigmund, I appreciate your willingness to come. I need someone to look after them,” said Audrey, motioning to the group of thirty.

“Please, I’m always happy to help. This Sigmund is at your service, my ladies,” he replied, bowing graciously toward Audrey and Hannei.

Hannei smiled, while Audrey could only shrug.

“And I am also at your service, Captain,” said Dietrich, not to be outdone. He then turned serious. “But are you sure you can manage the chase on your own?”

Audrey nodded. “I think I can manage against slow-moving carts. Your part is even more demanding. Try to keep them safe, especially Lady Hannei.”

“Understood,” said Dietrich.

“Let the men rest a little before you reorganize them,” Audrey instructed.

Sigmund and Dietrich nodded their heads before returning to their group.

“They’re either the bravest I’ve got or the stupidest,” Audrey commented about their antics, prompting giggles from Hannei.

With no trees in sight, they sat in the shadows of their horses, quenching their thirst, discarding their helmets, and wiping off sweat.

“That Sigmund, shouldn’t he be responsible for some tens of men?” asked Hannei.

“Yup, he’s the leader of the third group,” confirmed Audrey.

“So, is taking him with us okay?”

“Heh, it should be,” said Audrey, with a hint of nervousness. Despite her closeness with Lansius and the fact that she had bashed him so many times in training, she didn’t want to overstep Lansius’ authority. He was the Lord, while she was barely a Captain.

Hannei noted her concern and said confidently, “Look, I’ll help cover for you when this is over. I think I can manage that much.”

“I’ll be counting on you then,” Audrey replied with a grin. Last year, they had a cordial but professional relationship. But now, after living together in a small castle and sharing a room, they were closer than ever.

Since spring, the two, along with Felis, had become as close as sisters and were the prime troublemakers in Korelia Castle. They dabbled in food experiments and even attempted to make uniforms for the castle staff.

Now, two of the “rascals” as Lansius referred to them behind their backs, had planned something risky. Lansius would never approve, but they know it was within their ability.

As they waited, only the breeze offered some respite against the scorching summer sun. To their east, they saw black smoke billowing into the sky.

A shout attracted their attention. They watched as the scout with the dog in his lap came galloping toward them.

“Carts on the horizon,” the scout reported as he reined in his horse.

“This is faster than predicted... No matter, I’ll give chase,” Audrey declared, and then to her friend, “I’ll depart first then.”

“Bon courage!” Hannei wished her.

“I hope it’s a good wish,” Audrey commented, drawing a giggle from Hannei.

Audrey then mounted her horse and quickly departed with sixteen horsemen.

“What should we do then, My Lady?” Margo asked. Behind him, Sigmund and Dietrich, along with two other riders, were ready with their horses.

“It’s time for us to leave as well,” Hannei replied.

Led by Sigmund and Dietrich, along with two other horsemen, Hannei, and thirty civilians, rode eastward.

 

***

 

Chase on the Plains

The vast Lowlandia plains were predominantly flat terrain, which made traversing them relatively easy, even without a road. While there was no place to hide, avoiding detection was possible, as there was no road to follow.

At this moment, Baron Omin’s convoy had built up a substantial distance, moving as fast as their carts and horses could manage. However, they were slowing down as the heat and exhaustion began to take their toll on the animals.

The convoy had just split up when things started to go awry. Hidden by the trail of dust kicked up in the wake of the carts, Korelian riders had caught up and were subjugating the carts in the convoy one by one.

“My Lord, the Korelians,” warned the Nicopolan bodyguard.

Omin was furious. The pursuers were so efficient that by the time they noticed, one of the split-up convoys had been completely captured.

“Damn it! Why are their horses so resilient?” Omin watched in dismay as the Korelians easily transitioned from the last convoy to his own. Their horses seemed as fresh as ever.

His lieutenant raced to Omin’s side and asked, “What should we do, My Lord? The convoy can’t keep up much longer.”

“You know what to do. Lead our escort to intercept! The Korelian horses should be as tired as ours,” Omin urged.

The lieutenant felt disheartened but obeyed the order as instructed. Soon, ten horsemen detached from the convoy. They turned around and awaited the arrival of the opponents. They were mostly officers, not expert cavalrymen.

Omin and the convoy pushed forward, but many carts lagged as their horses’ stamina was nearly spent. From afar, they witnessed their ten horsemen engaging in a brief but one-sided fight. Only five fought, the rest yielded.

The convoy’s morale plummeted. Their escort barely bought them time to run.

“We must escape,” urged the bodyguard gravely.

Accepting the inevitable, Omin gave up. Riding only their horses, they veered wide and abandoned their allies.

Watching their Lord escape was the last straw for the coachmen. They slowed their carts and accepted capture. However, a stubborn few continued to flee. They fired their crossbows haphazardly, splitting further to dissuade their pursuers.

Some put up a fierce fight before being subjugated, as their horses refused to run any further. Ironically, their struggle to escape bought precious time for their Lord to evade capture unnoticed.

Audrey’s cavalry remained unaware of Omin and the third convoy's existence until it was too late. It was only after they began rounding up and questioning people that the Korelians realized a third convoy even existed.

They had mistakenly assumed there were only two convoys and that Omin would likely be in one of them. Now, Audrey's force were exhausted, a few were wounded, and their horses were spent from chasing and fighting carts one by one. On top of that, they still had to secure the captured baggage train.

Simply put, they were in no condition to search for Baron Omin or the third convoy.

Furious, Audrey slammed her fist against one of the carts. "Erryaahh!" she vented, acknowledging her failure.

Baron Omin, the instigator of this war, had escaped. If only Audrey hadn’t split her forces, if only she had another rider as capable and cautious as Dietrich, all of this might have been prevented.

 

***