The Monarch

Chapter 17

A few more weeks passed before Bal reappeared. He didn't try talking to me, but I felt his presence nonetheless. When I felt his presence, I became distracted and didn't see the incoming sword attack. The wooden practice sword struck me atop my skull, creating a loud bang as half of the sword fell to the ground.

"For the love of God," Arthur sighed, "Why aren't you paying attention?"

"Sorry, Sir," I said, looking back at him. I felt Bal laughing at me.

"You've got to pay attention, especially when you aren't in your element. You can't always expect to be able to fight in your true form," Arthur explained, "We don't know when we'll be fighting in a closed space.

"But sir," I tried to explain, "I'm still a talented fighter nonetheless."

Arthur pointed his sword at me, then chuckled, "So talented a fighter that you won't get distracted by nothing?"

"Sorry, Sir," I said, looking down in embarrassment. Arthur chuckled again, then sheathed his sword in the leather loop near his hip. Then, he moved closer to me and bent down to pick up the broken top half of his sword.

"Come," Arthur said, "Let's go get something to eat."

I walked with Arthur through the camp as we traveled to the mess hall. We talked about various things, but none of our subjects were about the war effort or my missing party members. Once we reached the mess hall, we were joined by one of Arthur's scholars, Johann. Johann was a kindish scholar, but he was still very cautious of my abilities. Out of all of the scholars, Johann was the smartest, the most respectable, and the warmest.

Johann was sort of, at least, a bit of a sadist. Her voluptuous body and long black hair almost screamed dominatrix.

"Good day, Your Majesty," Johann said as she sat down next to us, "How goes your day?"

"Good," Arthur said, "We just finished combat training. Johann looked to me, somewhat surprised.

"Combat Training? Do you need combat training?" She asked me. I shrugged.

"Arthur would say I do," I admitted, "How are you today, Johann?" I asked. Johann shrugged back.

"The day is boring without my favorite subject of study," Johann said, almost sounding like a flirt, "Hey, what say we go and explore the endurance limits of your full form again?"

"I'd rather not," I nervously muttered. The last time Johann had tried to test my endurance, she did so by firing several cannons at my stomach. While I'm not able to feel pain in my giant form, I could still feel the impact.

"That was rather entertaining," Arthur chuckled, amused. He watched as a server came over to take our order, then looked back at me once she left, "Now then. I have something important to talk to you about."

"Yes?" I asked, intrigued. Johann had a look of concern about her face as her eyes darted between the king and me.

"It's time for you to participate in your first offensive," The king said. Johann shot up, the look of concern now a look of fear.

"That's far too dangerous!" Johann yelled, grabbing the attention of the rest of the mess hall customers. She looked around nervously before returning to her seat, "I haven't explored nearly enough of Will's abilities to give him the o.k for battle!"

"You've been testing him for almost two months now, Johann," The king said, "I think it's time for him to be introduced into battle. Johann slumped in her seat, defeated.

"Alright," Johann compromised, "But I'm coming with."

Arthur looked at Johann for a moment, saw her look of confidence, then gave up. He shrugged.

"I wouldn't mind adding one more," He said, then looked at her again, "But what sort of combat experience do you have?" He asked.

Johann chuckled, "You know what I did before I became one of your scholars."

Arthur chuckled nervously. Then he stopped chuckling and slowly sighed.

A few hours later, Arthur summoned what he called the third Company of the second rangers Battalion. He invited Johann and me to the summoning as well. Evelyn joined us after nagging the king like a spoiled grandchild. I wasn't sure why the king gave in, but I was grateful that he did.

Once the king gathered the entire Company of around 200 rangers, we all stood in block formation. At the front of the formation, the king and a few other officials stood on a wooden platform. After waiting a few minutes for the entire Company to line itself in formation, the king finally spoke.

"Rangers," The king yelled, his voice echoing through the enclosed part of the camp we stood in. His change in demeanor shocked me. I was used to a cool-headed king who shared similar humor with me. Now that he was in 'king mode,' he seemed much scarier and colder, "Now is the time of your first battle. You are the Third Company, Second Rangers Battalion of the Northern Cross Division. You have remained dormant through this struggle the last two months. The third Company, throughout history, has always been the quickest Company of every ranger battalion. The third has been swift, deadly, and silent. That skill is needed today. You are needed today. The operation is a simple one. Retake the boundless brook, which the enemy has conquered a few weeks ago, and build bridges along the river to aid in operation tyranny."

"The Company will be split into two forces, a vanguard force and a support force. The Vanguard force will be the spearhead to drive the enemy away from the river. The support force will be the shaft to transport the lumber and other building materials for our bridges," The king explained, "As for the assignments for your force, your Company captain will come to assign you within the hour." Then the king saluted by raising his right fist to his chest. The entire Company did the same, creating a wave of the sound of leather against leather impacts.

A few minutes after the king finished speaking, Johann came down from the platform to grab Evelyn and me. We followed her to a smaller tent behind the platform. Inside, the king and a few company officers talked to each other while looking over a table. The table had a large map on it, with several colored pieces, probably representing troops, placed atop it.

It didn't take long for the king to realize I had stepped into the tent.

"Ah," He said as he noticed me. Then, he looked to the officers, "Gentlemen, this is William. He'll be joining you today on the operation."

"William, eh?" One of the officers chuckled, "What's he supposed to help with? Lumber transportation?"

The king looked to the officer with a look of disapproval, then explained, "No. William is going to be the key to the vanguard force. Without him, the strength of the vanguard will deplete by half."

The officer chuckled, almost in disbelief, "So this boy is as strong as the rest of the vanguard? One hundred high-ranked rangers? Impossible. He's just a twig,"

"You'll see when the battle begins. If any woodland giants appear, he'll take care of them for you." The king said. The officer choked, startled by the king's statement.

"Fine," The officer said, "But I'll be keeping a platoon of my strongest behind to take care of the woodland giants when your boy here fails."

"Whatever. It looks like that platoon won't be doing anything today," Arthur chuckled, "And Evelyn, dear, thank you for coming with William."

Evelyn smiled at Arthur. Arthur's eyes drifted to mine again, summoning me over. I walked over to him, a sense of nervousness creeping within me.

"You aren't allowed to use your giant form until you're across the river. If you end up stomping on your allies, it won't look perfect for you or me."

I nodded.

"Good, now go prepare."

Just as Arthur intended it, the Company was split into two forces. Evelyn, Johann, and myself were put in the vanguard force. The officer who doubted my abilities earlier was in command of the vanguard force. Whenever his eyes met mine, he looked at me with an expression of disgust. The path to the river almost took three hours, which was surprising because nearly the entire vanguard force was traveling on horseback the whole time.

Evelyn and Johann rode alongside me, but neither of them spoke a word the entire time. 

Johann seemed tired, perhaps from a night of restlessness. Evelyn looked too nervous to talk, her whole body seemingly stiff to prove it.

As we rode, I looked up at the sky. In the distance, the clouds and overhead sky were red with a black haze just above the horizon. I sighed, assuming that was our destination.

A few minutes before we reached the river, the officer, Captain Brown, screamed over the vanguard force.

"Listen, soldiers! Our destination is almost within sight. Remember, fight courageously but fight quickly. The more time we take to retake the river, the more of our own will fall! Glory to the rangers, glory to the king!"

"Glory to the rangers, Glory to the king!" The entire vanguard force echoed in unison. Evelyn, Johann, and I seemed to be the only ones not to repeat the motto.

As our horses reached the apex of a hill before us, the river came into sight. Its bend curved like a venomous snake, stretching to both horizons left and right. The waters were almost black, and the waves were the size of mountains. It almost made no sense to me how the river was this active. The slope to the river was riddled with bones and dead trees. The air smelled like smoke and blood, the odor getting stronger the further down the hill we traveled.

As we almost reached the river, denizens started to appear from the bank and the water itself. Some looked like soldiers from our kingdom. They wore chain mail armor with fainted kingdom colors. All of the soldiers had grey skin and blacked-out eyes, with few soldiers surrounded in purple roots. The soldiers that emerged from the water were larger, almost surrounded by purple roots. The soldiers in the back screamed in rage as the soldiers in the front charged. The Captain raised his sword and screamed. The rest of the Vanguard force followed. Evelyn fumbled with her sword before finally pulling it out. Her scream sounded like a frightened child.

Johann laughed as she pulled out what looked like a bone saw. I felt chills down my spine as I looked at it. After the chills subsided, I looked back to the undead soldiers in front of us and conjured a bow. Each time I pulled the bowstring back, a wooden arrow materialized itself.As I fired arrows at the enemy, I realized we were easily outnumbered. I grimaced, knowing that this would end in a defeat if I didn't do anything special. I urged my horse to go faster as I aimed to the spot to the right of the Captain.

"Captain!" I yelled, "permission to engage the enemy first!"

"What?" He yelled back. I couldn't tell if he didn't understand me or if he was shocked by my request.

"I want to hit the enemy first, before the rest of the vanguard-"

Our horses finally collided with the enemy. I heard a symphony of death and destruction as almost thirty horses died, flipping their riders over. My own horse was among the ones hit first. I lost sight of the Captain as I was flipped upside down myself. I landed against the ground, my thighs hitting the dirt first.

As I slid a few dozen feet, disorientated, I lost my bow. The dirt felt hard and tough, splitting into my left leg as I slid down the slope. I felt a searing pain for a moment as the world around me was silent. I looked around and saw confusing glimpses of fighting soldiers. Soldiers were wearing metal armor, fighting soldiers with leather. I stood up, my ears flooded with the sound of intense ringing.

Then, the last few moments flooded my mind as I got a firm grasp of the situation.

I looked up again as the orchestra of fighting became registered in my ears. Almost immediately, we had lost almost all of our horses. The soldiers still on their horses were being flooded with more enemies than they could handle. The soldiers that didn't have their horses anymore were either already dead or were gravely wounded.

The whole situation had gone to s**t within the first few moments of battle. I looked around but couldn't find anybody I recognized.

Then I heard a high-pitched scream as one of the Undead charged at me. I quickly materialized a sword in my hand, then paid full attention to my new enemy. The Undead attacked me first with a wide right swing, which I responded to by dodging under it and attacking swiftly with my sword.

The Undead fell to the ground a moment later, dead. The purple roots disappeared in a flash, almost as if they disintegrated. A few more Undead charged at me, to which I responded by killing them as quickly as I killed the first one.

As the battle stretched on, it became obvious that there was no way the Vanguard force was going to pull through. I quickly ran forward, near the river bank. Hopefully, all of the other friendlies were further up the bank.

As I got near the water, I quickly threw my weapon down and closed my eyes. I felt my body become heavy as roots surrounded all of my body. I opened my eyes again, now looking at the river from the air. I looked down, then saw the battle from above.

Instantly, I spotted Evelyn. Somehow, she was still on her horse, but she was being swarmed quickly. I yelled, shaking the forest around me as I charged my hand into the ground near Evelyn. Then, I quickly grabbed her and brought her up.

She looked absolutely terrified as I placed her near my chest. A giant hole formed, creating a path for Evelyn to walk into.

"Go inside. You'll be safe," I said to her without opening my mouth. She looked back at me, shocked. I chuckled, grateful for Johann's experiments. Without her, I wouldn't have figured out half of my current abilities. Once Evelyn had walked inside, I closed off the hole. She would be safe there, where my real body was.

Then I started to rain hell upon the enemy below me. I started by carefully picking off the smaller Undead that was currently fighting the vanguard force, although it was hard to distinguish the two. I didn't both looking for Johann or Captain Brown. I assumed they would both be safe.I noticed the sounds of battle didn't seem too loud from above, especially when there were several layers of wood to block it out. After I finished picking off the smaller Undead, I turned my attention to the larger Undead still in the river.

They looked at me, almost with a furious expression. I chuckled, then turned to them with the same expression. Then I watched as the Undead in the river started to walk to teach others. They joined hands. I thought it strange for a moment before their roots started to gather in one place. The bodies of the Undead underneath all of the roots dropped to the river once their root exoskeleton was gone.

After only a few moments, a woodland giant, twice my size, stood from the river. I chuckled, shocked but excited. The woodland giant looked at me, then screamed in rage.

The woodland giant enemy was the first to attack. They raised their leg high into the air before swinging back towards me. I met it by catching it with my arms. I felt my body being pushed back against the bank. I didn't bother trying to find out how many rangers were just crushed underneath me.

After I stopped sliding, I looked up at the giant with an evil grin. I held his leg tightly as I started pulling. The giant fell backward, his back hitting the opposite end of the river. Then I started to swing myself while tightening my grip on the giant's leg. The giant started to spin just above the ground.

I felt like a wrestler from my old world at a champion match. Every time I span around, I went a tiny bit faster. Then, once I realized I was going as fast as possible, I let go of the giant and watched where he landed.

Luckily, he landed on the opposite side of the river again. I refused to hesitate as I jumped into the air, gaining enough air to topple my own size three times. I landed against the other giant, my legs stomping on his chest. Then, once I had landed successfully, I started to pound the other giant's face with my fists. I continued to do this until he didn't have a face anymore.

Once I stood up, my own fists decimated, I watched as the giant disintegrated into purple smoke.

I heard cheering from the other side of the river. I looked back, then smiled. I started walking to the other end, planning to join the surviving force before returning to the camp. I was interrupted when I felt a hard blow to my cheek. My legs left the ground as I was forced to fly down the river. I landed painfully against the ground, my legs submerged into water. Dazed, I looked up, then saw a familiar figure.

"Constantin?" I muttered.