From out of a haze of dust, at the point where the descending valley turned rightwards, out of view, came the first ranks of enemy soldiers, chainmail clad axemen, leaning their weapons against their shoulders. They had a slow, steady pace, set by the beating of the distant drums. The effect was ominous and I felt my stomach tighten. Behind them came a large body of lightly-armed spearmen, the silver points of their upright weapons flickering in the sunlight.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIkdpi5ZSba
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDMzW9FDaqA
Then came their light cavalry, thirty of them, taking a long while to file into view; next the ten heavy cavalry. Their archers were not yet in sight, nor the drummers, nor their commanders or the Shaman, yet the axemen were coming straight on to the bridge without pausing. Whether it was complacency or stupidity, they were going about this all wrong.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3AlNARR8YZ
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEnqYlIN85s
'Blood and Thunder, do you see the chance?' I looked a Lord Arval for confirmation.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNjxDUQ47Sa
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9kG4wPZUUe
His face was grim. 'Order us on sire and we'll go to hell or glory.'523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCk6pkUDyHo
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeNwg5vj7JC
I laughed. 'I can do better than that. Follow me. Open the gate!' I shouted. Then I took the potion bottle, uncorked it and gulped down the contents. 'Rhino!'523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWhYmhYrP8l
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNFo0OSIOS7
For once my great bulk was valuable, I felt it stretch and stiffen as I fell forward onto all fours. Probably I was not a full adult rhino, but the weight and sharpness of the horn in front of my eyes was up to the job at hand.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIQg38JAPUZ
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCb64VZosLU
I set off, a lumber at first that was a trot, once through the gate I stepped up to a canter and finally hit my stride at a gallop. Being a rhino was intense. Although my vision was blurry, I could smell the sweat of my enemies and heard the loud thuds of their marching steps on the wooden bridge.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡusREbVQe3w
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSbPtxO6c2
Fifty yards and their shouts of alarm rang through the air. The axemen needed the spears in front of them, grounded. But my calculation was that we would get there first. It was intuition and it was the kind of decision that you make in an instant and have to commit to.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ff4wFd8vc
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjzoKat6NtB
Forty yards and I was throwing mud up from my hooves as I urged my heavy body to its upmost. This was living! No longer trapped in a body that couldn't walk up ten steps without having to pause for a rest, I was a raging storm; an unstoppable torrent; a tsunami about to crash on the shore. And I loved it.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXy0ZJ3B3pO
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF8rmkJ1ZZh
Thirty yards, some of the axemen were trying to run back through the spearman, who were massed too tight on the bridge to bring their weapons to bear.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUvIm7rQ7Hk
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMPw32Ww0VN
Twenty yards. Splashes either side of the bridge as men dived out of the way of the coming hell: me.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Ypa1QA2qG
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa0GNykKIhu
Ten and I was the tip of an avalanche. From the scent of fear, they knew they were going to be engulfed.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLu20SZLA4X
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNRJGgPHVq5
Impact!523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlFXKyyVkYw
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOGqlIBfDxD
There was a green box flash and I took it, of course.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLtilVqtx9f
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf0aC5gqi7Z
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5eCuWu05qM
You have hit an axeman for 147 hit points.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7xjYf6cK6
You have killed an axeman!523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbZCeSj9f02
You have gained 60 Experience.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUx1Gg4RrDE
You have unlocked the Impale proficiency.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSQOqeT44fE
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd1GQ5AMCJv
You have bashed an axeman for 31 hit points.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBmvhUY07hf
You have killed an axeman!523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡItSiSdfH3K
You have gained 60 Experience.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyapKdRclvi
You have become better at Bash: 2523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNtOseCMTDQ
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwdSnxWIPfN
You have bashed an axeman for 34 hit points.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWxvHjBD2s4
You have killed an axeman!523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ48TJzHecHX
You have gained 60 Experience.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqB8SAYtbta
You have become better at Bash: 3523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJOVDDXmkwL
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0FNG3TrvKj
You have bashed a spearman for 26 hit points.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjXFnTQHrtX
You have killed a spearman!523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZNF6yHnbaT
You have gained 40 Experience.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRXJA5o9bjr
You have become better at Bash: 4523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRu8lUQ9fl4
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡThWrfXD3g3
You have bashed a spearman for 22 hit points.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMdtCUamby2
You have killed a spearman!523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCTZ5SYFfMM
You have gained 40 Experience.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjO0VzMbox5
You have become better at Bash: 5523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiweCiwH205
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9kWfZyRUQm
The notifications flew by and I ignored them as I pushed on, crushing soldiers under my hooves, impaling them and throwing their dead bodies to the side. Several axe blows struck home on my front shoulders, flanks and chest but twice I experienced the sweetness and glow of a level increase, each time completely healing my wounds.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQJmR36c1kE
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOcjVFHZd2f
Screams of wounded and panicked men rang out all around. But through the cries, I could hear a voice like a howling wolf, it was Lord Arval, screaming, 'come on! Come on! For Greyland!'523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrP09MUkrRe
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgVKPyQOVuT
The crush on the bridge was intense, which favoured our side. While their axes and spears could not be brought into play, I could still smash my powerful head into faces ahead and either side, as well as break legs with stamps and kicks of my feet. Our horsemen, too, were nearly immobile, but they could still cut down with sword or stab with lance.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZrcD7BrGxk
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgZyWIelp3C
Step by step, we pushed on, nearly clearing the bridge. My only concern now was the timing of the potion. How long had it been since I drank it? Surely only a few minutes, despite the massive carnage we'd inflicted on their army.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjn0FySpBkb
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQZ7uZ73cdt
Then, with a sudden release, we were through, the remnants of the unit of spearmen running back down the narrow path in panic, which instantly disrupted the formation incoming light cavalry. Did I have time to keep going into them? I had to try.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDVYBp4IHu
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWqtaqiN9wj
The fact that I'd levelled up twice meant I experienced no fatigue and a quick check told me my hit points were at 32. Filled with confidence and energy, I used the room ahead of me to build up momentum again.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhFZadaqydV
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡatBWITp61l
'Follow the king! For Carlos!' Behind me, Lord Arval was still going strong it seemed and the answering roar of our soldiers had a clear note of triumph. Again, I could smell the fear of men and horses even before I crashed among them, showing no mercy to the animals whom I gutted and whose delicate legs I crushed.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkaFw2qNfGT
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBj1kxrTyi
Far louder than the cries of men and the clash of metal on metal were the high-pitched equine screams of injured horses. Unlike the heavy destriers behind me, these horses had not been trained for the press of the melee and they were frightened, some of them rearing up and throwing their riders to the ground. Even so, one or two lances managed to stab down and cut through my thick hide. My hit points dropped quickly from 32 to 19 following a third hit. But then I levelled up again, soaring up to 40 hit points.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfZ8OTcthoy
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVWawJv6LXA
Their light cavalry unit was in full retreat. I was just preparing to launch myself again, with the intention of smashing right through the heavy cavalry and into their archers when I found myself staggering, once more in human form, completely without armour. Fortunately, there was no immediate threat.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDxi97QoxdX
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8W0NHYE3gu
'Get back sire!' Lord Arval urged his mount past me and ceased his own charge, guarding me by interposing his large destrier between me and the enemy. Our four other knights did the same. Either side of our little defensive knot, our light cavalry came past, cheering that they were scattering their foes. Even so, the tide of the battle was turning. The ten enemy heavy cavalry were drawn across the road and were not budging, even for their own fleeing infantry and light horsemen, some of whom risked going over the broken terrain of the rising hillside, others trying to squeeze past on the river bank, falling in as often as escaping.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5n8ejltZn1
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ27g90Y7T9Z
Beyond the line of horsemen, their officers must have gotten some order among the archers because arrows flited overhead with increasing frequency, some struck striking the plates of Lord Arval and his armoured horse.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWf37SZdeJo
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGvQSk3HSL
Our problem was that we couldn't easily reach their archers. Our light cavalry lunged ineffectually at the enemy knights but couldn't break their ranks. There was room for our archers on the other side of the river, but if I ordered them to go there, we would be outnumbered and lose in the exchanges with enemy fire. The ballista was far too slow to bring up. This could really hurt us. Our riders and horses were beginning to suffer.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtmdYiDtKZw
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhQOjU4Mlm3
Another rousing cheer from behind me. It was the arrival of our twelve heavy infantry and a large body of light infantry with Carlena at their head. There were a good mix of spears, axes and swords among them. This was exactly what we needed!523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU22boq4AlP
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9U64qXoPaT
There was a fierce look on Carlena's face as she ran past me, pausing to raise her hands and then, with a flash, half a dozen fire darts splashed onto an enemy horse. The animal collapsed. Cheered by the success of this magic our newly arrived soldiers ran past and also cut and struck at the horses in front of them. We were winning again, a huge press of our soldiers climbing over the dead animals and past enemy knights who were still fighting, so as to get among the archers.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡECji0EUV5o
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUcpRjjF4k
I felt that we were on the brink of victory, when cries of consternation from our men made my heart sink. The very land was working against them: bushes and grasses reaching out to entwine their feet and immobilise everyone. The enemy archers, on the cusp of routing, took heart and through the chaos, I could hear an officer of theirs urging them to hold and fire at the immobilised targets.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv5l796VPLV
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN7Qw4anlmc
'There,' screamed Carlena, pointing to a man in a bearskin, whose sabre-tooth tiger pet was walking in a circle around him, protecting him while he cast spells. It was their shaman, who had climbed up the hillside and come close enough to cast what to me seemed like an Entangle-type spell. 'He's out of my range.'523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvLHLi8o4OB
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAP4t2CXqUo
'Archers!' I called, but we only had a few men around us with bows.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYEUMtIaxbn
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7RIOe9DAYV
Carlena ran towards the enemy spell caster and I admired her, because that tiger was fierce looking. The enemy Shaman had spotted her run too, and was clearly aiming a spell at her, his arms gesturing swiftly.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw2DCFGPPrV
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgOakpPOdmC
Caster battles could be short and violent. I found myself clenching my fists anxiously as I watched, oblivious to arrows and screams and the movement of the people around me. Was Carlena going to be taken out by a powerful spell? It would be a disaster for us if this went wrong.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaqXKbWkYch
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFZ9unZAe5j
Then the Shaman was down and behind him was the chancellor. Parrin had backstabbed their caster and taken him out! Our men were free again, the enchantment of the plants dissolving with the death of its creator.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGV2SbNW4cf
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgKR4cGmL1R
'On, on! We have them!' Lord Arval set off again, the other four knights moving with him. It left me unprotected, but it was right. Even though a few enemy archers saw me as their target and I did get hit twice, we had them. Archers were no match for heavy cavalry and they knew it. Soon bows were abandoned as most of their army fled for their lives, while dozens of men huddled in groups, hands in the air, trying to surrender.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLD1Aa2rz7i
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡurqN1aEdDD
Up on the slope, our elderly scout was being savaged by the dead Shaman's pet sabre-toothed tiger and was clearly wounded. Carlena, however, had not stopped running and was in range for a spell.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwb6yx4i62p
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOj4PgOGBVA
'Freeze!' The animal was checked and Parrin scrambled clear.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaCnlFBUD5Z
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0aDHsTOeLw
'You! You!' I got the attention of two of our archers with an urgent shout. 'Kill that tiger.'523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPiaMOv31LY
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq061Hm3FGu
It took several hits, but Carlena had enough mana for a second Freeze and was able to keep the animal locked in place while the arrows thudded home.523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVfScYVk0AT
523Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYRUCGwwSmi
All at once, it was relatively quiet. Yes, there were still groans and the clank of weapons and armour but the sounds of fighting were in the distance now, down the road. All around me Greyland soldiers were smiling and laughing. Some looked at me with frank delight, as if in this moment rank did not matter, that we had shared an experience that transcended the barrier between king and foot soldier. And we had. This was a victory to savour.
