“SHIELDMEN, TAKE YOUR SWORDS!”

“TORCHMEN, GRAB YOUR SPEARS!”

“ARCHERS, POSITION NUMBER TWO! MOVE!”

Right away, the well-trained comrades adjusted their battle formation. Heechul, together with his fellow shieldmen, pulled short swords out of their shields. Spears readied in their hands, the torch men lined up behind them. Further behind, the archers formed another battle line. They waited.

Just when Heechul thought he was ready for the opponents’ charges, he’s proven wrong the moment the real battle began. All of a sudden a huge force pushed against Heechul’s shield. And a wave of clanks drowned their senses, threatening to bury them alive.

Reflexively Heechul lowered himself, positioned his left foot two feet behind and pushed back. All his fellow shield men did the same. They poured in all their strength.

Given the terrifying number of enemies, soon shields were torn apart and opponent soldiers began darting through their line of defense. Heechul was plunged into icy cold water when he saw bloodthirsty eyes glaring right at him. He thought he did his sword forward at his opponents. But all Heechul could remember was shivers travelling down his spine. Fortunately, the spearmen were there to counter right away. Fiercely Heechul’s fellow soldiers fought and held their ground. That dragged Heechul back to reality and knocked senses back into him.

The next moment Heechul managed to steady himself and focus back on keeping their shields together. But before he could take his next breath, a loud cry above his head petrified his heart. Looking up Heechul shuddered at the devilish face sneering at him. And then light cast from the sword held by that face’s owner flashed…

Heechul gasped and squeezed his eyes shut. Right at the frontline where the two forces encountered and clashed, all sounds drained in an instant, when Heechul prepared to embrace his death. He was proud of himself for not wavering at that moment, for holding his shield firm, for continuing to protect and fight for his comrades until the end, for maintaining a calm heart.

Father… Mother… Farewell…

It’s a moment of eternity…

……

Gradually Heechul sensed battle sounds around him again. Cautiously opening his eyes, he realized there’s a corpse at his feet, an arrow stuck out of its torso still vibrating. Heechul turned his head and saw Kibum with his quiver and bow. The two exchanged an encouraging nod and focused back on the battle.

Using their teammates’ bodies as ladders, the enemies kept climbing over and fought the shield men. Nevertheless the fellow archers protected their fellow brothers very well. At the same time the shield men faithfully guarded their comrades.

Nevertheless it seemed the opponent side had an unlimited supply of soldiers. This side the spearmen and archers kept fighting off enemies. That side more rival soldiers came up.

A loud cry from Kibum paralyzed Heechul’s heart. Quickly he turned and saw a sword chopped into Kibum’s shoulder. Blood stained and continuously dripped from Kibum’s armor. Despite that, Kibum gritted his teeth, proficiently stepped back and with his good arm threw a dagger, which darted right into the opponent’s eye.

“EVERYBODY HOLD YOUR POSITION! HOLD THEM OFF!!”

Swiftly their captain appeared and stood in front of Kibum. Skillfully Hangeng held his own spear high and confronted their enemies. “Kibum go to the medics. I’ll cover you.”

Watching Hangeng’s battle dance as fluid as water, as fierce as fire, it dawned on Heechul that there’s no turning back. Maybe they were misinformed. The rival troop size was way larger than they thought. Running or retreating was no option because they would be slaughtered anyhow. What they were doing was to make the most use out of their pathetic situation. By turning themselves into walls, spears and arrows they attempted to hold off, wear their opponents down as much as possible. He could imagine captain Hangeng had already dispatched a carrier pigeon for reinforcement.

They could only do their part and hope for best…

Or prepare for the worst…

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A/N: Sorry was a bit busy last week. Don't worry I keep working on my stories.

A/N2: Thanks a lot for everyone who read, commented, subscribed and liked my page! I do need your support! Love you~~~

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