Act 1 Chapter 4
Battle of Ram Woods I (Gray)

Gray and the boys were sitting on the side of the table away from Sir Lukas. It was their first time in the large War Tent. A hastily assembled wooden table and a worn-out map of Valentia laid in the middle. The knight wiped his forehead in frustration.

"You're saying you have no information on the bandits who attacked your village?"

"Not really." Alm replied curtly. "Ram Woods is a bigger place than visitors think. It's why our village is considered so remote…"

Gray folded his arms, dumbfounded. He knew the bastards who burned down Old Mycen's house could not be far from Ram Village. It was difficult to believe they set up shop in such a familiar location.

"Okay, let's move onto the attack itself." Lukas sighed. "You said there were dozens of them, but your village fought them off."

Kliff nodded. "They made it past the gates by using ladders to scale the walls."

The knight stared at him.

"Ladders? Are you sure?"

"Yes, ladders."

Like that information's going to help us win a battle against them… Gray fumed.

"Right, they also had archers. One got me in the shoulder back then." Tobin said.

"Now we're talking." Lukas leaned back. "Sounds like these are not like the ordinary bandits we fought, when King Lima was still alive."

Gray and the others stared back, wondering why Lukas was not too worried. The knight coughed into his arm and wiped the smile off.

"Right, anything else that might be useful?"

"…Nope." Kliff answered for his friends.

The frown was back. Lukas turned his attention to some parchments on the crude table and scribbling down what few notes he could. A small gust of wind blew open the cover of the tent, bringing in fresh air to the cramped area.

"To be blunt, I thought you four would give us more information." Lukas finally said. "I suppose we'll work with what the scout brought back."

Gray grunted. "It's not like you 'Deliverance' folk have been very open either."

"Excuse me?"

"You and that other captain have been keeping everything from the recruits." He continued. "Whether or not we're winning the war. How strong the headquarters is. How strong Desaix's forces are. Why are you hiding this from us?"

Lukas stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"We've only known each other for a few weeks. Forgive me if the chance of you being a spy, or defector, crossed my mind."

"You mean someone has betrayed the Deliverance before?" Tobin asked.

"Yes. I won't say how many, but we must be cautious." The knight said. "Maybe you'd earn the trust of the Knights after beating back those bandits."

"Sheesh." Gray said.

If there was something Gray despised about working with others, it was being talked down upon. The dark-skinned boy curled his right hand into a face. To be thought of as a traitor, despite training so hard, rubbed him the wrong way.

"You should treat your fellow fighters of the Deliverance with a bit more respect." Lukas added. "It was obvious who was responsible for throwing that knight into the latrine. We decided to let that slide, but next time you might not be as fortunate."

The boy put his lips firmly together, but did not speak. It was clear who was in charge. Lukas dismissed the four, continuing to work on the plan by himself. Gray went straight to his tent, muttering under his breath.

[…]

"Bandits are going to be easy work. It's going to be a sweep."

"I can't wait to fight a real foe!"

The next day, the Knights and recruits of the Deliverance marched along the road, in the direction of Gray's birthplace. Lukas led the way with a small group of knights. The nearly hundred-strong troop of recruits followed behind. They talk excitedly among each other, boasting of their speed and blade.

"Heh, remember when we were like that?" Tobin asked sheepishly. "Thinking we'd beat the crap out of those bandits?"

"Yeah." Kliff mumbled. "What a sad day."

"Now we're trained to do so!" Alm replied, "This time will be different. Come on, back me up Gray."

"Uh, sure. We'll win."

Gray was not in the mood to back up anything. It was bad enough he was walking back to the boring place he wanted to escape. When he first joined the Deliverance, he thought he would improve his swordsmanship, become lauded in Zofia as a war hero, and visit towns across the continent.

It was the dream – drinking rum with my good friends, flirting with the foxy barmaid at the old town bar…

"Gray?" Tobin interrupted the daydream. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm still pissed." Gray admitted curtly. "What the hell are we doing, fighting bandits? That's not going to help our war against Desaix. I bet that fart's laughing at us from his damn royal throne."

Alm raised an eyebrow. "Are you backing down from a fight? That's not the Gray I know. I'm going to enjoy avenging everything we lost in Ram Village."

Gray snorted in amusement. "You're right. I guess it'll feel good taking down the people who burned down your house."

The group of soldiers eventually came to a stop; the large expanse of trees known as Ram Woods came into sight. In total, three fifths of the Deliverance were under Lukas's control. The remainder were guarding Camp Votum.

"This is it." The knight said. "Gather around everyone. I'll brief you on this battle, and then you can get back to your patrols."

Gray and his friends scrambled to get to the front of the crowd. He touched his new, leather sheath. The iron sword gifted to him by the deliverance felt oddly comforting by his side. The delight of combat returned to the boy's mind.

"Unfortunately, our scout was chased off before gaining too much information." Lukas announced. "We'll be having two phases: scouting, and combat."

Just like what we learned from our mentors. Gray thought.

"In scouting phase, patrols will disperse around the forest to find any traps or other settlements in the area. We know that the bandits are here, but not how many camps there are…"

"...You already know there are twelve patrols. Each one consists of two knights, eight recruits. One of the knights, the signaler, will be carrying these."

Lukas pulled out a peculiar arrow from one of his knight's bag. Instead of a flint or iron tip, a deer's horn was fastened at its front. It was painted red and had holes perforated all over it in an odd pattern.

"This is a signal arrow." Lukas stated. "A knight will fire this into the air, and it will whistle loudly. One arrow means 'come to my assistance immediately'. Two means 'phase over'. Only I have permission to fire two."

Gray looked towards Tobin and Alm. They were also scratching their heads in confusion. Kliff's eyes lit up, his mind always looking to soak in information.

"When you here the two arrows, we will meet back here, exchange information, and carry out the final attack." Lukas said. "Any questions?"

plenty. Gray coughed into his tunic sleeve.

"Um, sir." A recruit raised her voice. "What if we run into a trap, and we don't want our comrades to follow?"

"Then the signaler won't fire an arrow."

An eerie silence fell over the troop. The recruits looked at each other in a nervous fervor.

"No more questions? Good. Get in your assigned patrols, and follow your knight's orders. We enter Ram Woods in five minutes."

"Not the most uplifting speech, but I'll take it." Kliff said. "What number are you guys again?"

Alm, Patrol One.

Gray, Patrol Four.

Tobin, Patrol Four.

Kliff, Patrol Eleven.

"Wait." Kliff coughed. "The knights don't know who we are. Why don't we trade numbers with the other recruits so we end up in the same patrol?"

"Good idea." Alm said. "I should have thought of that before."

"I don't think so." Tobin said. "We've been training with each other for so long. Maybe it doesn't hurt to work with other people."

"But-"

Before Kliff could offer a response, the Deliverance patrols have already assembled. The knight from Patrol Four was already furiously interrogating his underlings - those two empty spots were not going to fill themselves.

"Too late." Tobin sighed. "They sure are fast."

Alm shook his head in disbelief. "When I first joined this army, I never knew we'd be split up this quickly. Don't die on me guys."

"That's my line." Gray said. "Good luck out there."

Without further ado, the boys said their goodbyes and broke off. Gray and Tobin stayed together and headed towards their new commander. The knight was shouting at them to hurry up, his moustache twitching in annoyance.

I still can't believe we're a pair." Tobin commented. "Guess Lukas hates both of us."

"Well, he certainly dislikes one of us more than the other." Gray raised his arms and yawned. "Let's see which lucky bastard will be babysitting us."

The patrol leader, the signaler, and their fledging recruits roamed through Ram Village. Marching for a solid hour, the scenery of trees and green grew tiring. Two years ago, villagers from Ram have noticed the forest had become dangerous.

The number of attacks on travelers and bandits have risen steadily. In fact, for those two years Gray and the other lads were banned from leaving Ram Village. The village guard seldom caught them slipping out during the day.

The two caught up with the patrol leader, who was looking around aimlessly. Lukas's scout had prepared a crude map for them, but it was useless. It was almost as if they were lost though none of them was willing to admit it.

"You two Ram folk. You have any idea where the camp might be?" The knight asked. "This place is close to your village, after all."

"I would have suggested something ten minutes ago," Gray shrugged, "if I knew." His leader growled as the snide response.

Tobin looked around the area and thought hard. "I think there's a river that way, a few hundred paces from here. I used to hunt around there."

"Thank you, boy." The knight said. "This way, everyone." Tobin hummed along happily, more than pleased to be recognized.

After passing a patch of small mushrooms and pine, the sky began to show again. The birds chirped and the sun shone above all. With such a peaceful atmosphere, Gray found it hard to believe they were going to fight.

Their patrol leader was a tall man, blond hair and red armor far more durable than the boys' tunics. The signaler was a woman perhaps only a few month older than Gray. She had a short build with brunette hair and red chainmail. Tobin stared at the signaler's quiver. The young woman gave a few uncomfortable glances back.

"Creeping on Lady Amber now, are we?" Gray whispered.

"I was just thinking those signal arrows look amazing." Tobin said. "Shoot them in the sky and they make noise? What a brilliant invention…"

"You sure that's why you're looking that way?"

"Shut up lecher. Get in line before that knight yells at us."

They reached the stream Tobin had spoken of, or what was left of it. The waterway had lowered to a small trickle. Gray pebbles and broken rocks were the only remnants of what the river used to be.

"Great Mila…" The knight coughed. "Something smells horrible around here. Surprisingly, it isn't any of you."

"You're right." Gray admitted, scrunching up his nose.

It took seconds for a recruit to find out where the stench was coming from. After pointing towards a bush, he slowly walked through it to the other hidden side.

"Aghh!"

"Draw, now!" The knight ordered.

A few jays flew away from their tree, equally startled. Tobin and Gray unsheathed their swords in a panic. The signaler drew out her bow and arrow from the back of the patrol. After a bit of silence, the boy slowly stepped back to the river.

"What the hell was that, recruit?" The patrol leader cursed.

"B-bodies. On the other side of the bush!"

The two knights lowered their weapons. "Oh, just bodies. I thought our two Ram lads led us to a damn trap or something."

"Just bodies?" Tobin repeated.

This man has seen plenty, hasn't he?

The man in armor was the first to enter the brush. Gray was right behind him, followed by Tobin and the rest of the patrol.

The boys gasped when they arrived at the scene. Five bodies were scattered across the ground. Flies whizzed around their decomposed bodies. Their tunics were all cut up and brown spots were visible on most of their limbs.

"What-" One of the recruits breathed.

"Don't recoil. We'll be seeing a lot more of these sooner or later." The patrol leader said. "Let's stay here for a moment."

"Yes sir." The others, including Gray, replied. The boy was determined to do anything to avoid the smell. He and the other tried not to stare at the corpses.

The two knights quickly finished their autopsy. The dead were bandits died within the past two days, probably from battle. Various stab wounds through the useless cloth armor. All of their weapons and possessions were picked clean.

"What do you think killed them?" A recruit asked.

"No idea." The signaler said. "Nobody from the Deliverance could have been here. Tobin, Gray. Do any of you think-"

"Doubt it." Gray said. "The village guard from Ram never go beyond their posts."

The patrol leader took a long look at the bodies before giving a small smirk. He turned to the sweating recruits.

"Keep your eyes open. Looks like there's more than just bandits to look out for in these woods…"

[…]

They travelled southbound along the stream, bumping into Patrol Three along the way. They had no information to share, but they were surprised to hear about the corpses. Wishing each other luck, the two groups split up again.

"Who do you think killed them?" Gray asked in a whisper.

Tobin blinked. "How should I know? Maybe they were all fighting Desaix's forces over here."

"Funny, what would the chancellor's soldiers be doing all the way here?"

"We're in the middle of a civil war. Like the Deliverance, they're probably going from town to town, recruiting as many people as possible."

"That makes sense. If they're better orators than Sir Lukas, then-"

"We'll be fighting against people from our own village." Tobin finished.

Gray stroked his chin.

"Dammit." He said. "Faye!"

"You think she'll join Desaix's army?"

"Listen. Lukas and his knights show up and give a half-assed speech. The next day, all four of her friends suddenly abandon her and disappear."

"Okay, she'll have a grudge against the Deliverance, but that's it." Tobin shrugged.

"What if she thinks the Deliverance kidnapped us, and joins Desaix's forces to 'free' us from our captors? We didn't let her know about anything, after all."

"Are we talking about the same person?"

Gray stopped his tirade. It was a good question. Faye ran away from her first battle and, as a result, turned into a prisoner in her old household. The poor girl would never get permission from her parents to take up arms.

"Ah, sorry about that." He admitted. "I was just spewing nonsense. We all owe her an apology when we finish this damn war."

"It was Alm's idea. He was-"

An arrow cut Tobin short as it whizzed past him. The flint buried itself into the elbow of a recruit, who gave a shout of pain. He stumbled forward and barely kept his footing. Gray looked around frantically for the attacker.

"They're here! Draw your weapons!" The patrol leader yelled.

The soldiers of the Deliverance had walked into an ambush alongside the river. The bandit archer was standing on a thick branch from a tree. He shot another arrow before jumping off to another tree. The projectile bounced off the knight's armor.

Behind the archer was the footsteps and shouting of several men. More hollering came from the other side of the river.

"They're coming from two sides." Tobin said.

The knight snarled. "I know that, boy. Get ready to hold them off!"

Gray grinned widely. "Hell yeah, let's do this!"

From the bush underneath the archer's tree came a dozen bandits, mostly armed with clubs. One of them carried a long iron lance. The patrol leader drew out his halberd and ran forward. The recruits instinctively followed behind.

"Charge!"

The knight targeted the lancer bandit and stabbed towards him. The rest of the patrol found their own targets and started fighting.

Gray locked into combat with a gruff man, much larger than him. The opponent swung his spiked club forward, which Gray easily dodged. The boy dived in and slashed at the man's shin. The bandit tried to jump back but the blade clipped him.

"Gragh." The bandit moaned. "You little-"

The boy looked on emotionlessly as he prepared to dodge again. As the opponent approached, a recruit ran between them, halting the man in his tracks. A second later a bandit ran past them as well, chasing the knight-in-training.

Gray cried out, "Hey assholes, stay to your own fights!"

Impatient, he lunged forward and stabbed the bandit in the stomach. The man groaned and staggered backwards. It was at that point Gray decided to finish the job as he stabbed the sword straight through the bandit's chest.

"Mrgh…" The bandit fell backwards with a groan.

Gray looked around to see how the rest of the patrol was doing. The recruits were holding their ground well, much better than Alm and his friends a month ago at least. The knight was fiercely fighting back the lancer. Both men were panting heavily but neither have landed a blow on the other.

Tobin was having difficulty fighting two bandits on his own. Gray lowered his posture and prepared to pounce on one of them. Just as he was, another tall man leapt towards him. The foe swung his club downwards.

"Not yet!"

Gray managed to block in the nick of time. As he was about to counterattack, an arrow flew beside him and impaled the man in the cheek. The man gave a deathly cough and tried to pull the projectile out with his left hand.

The boy dashed up to him and struck his head, ending the bandit's misery.

"Thanks!" He yelled back at the signaler. "Though that was a bit too close!"

The woman snorted in contempt and looked around for another target. Meanwhile two more recruits had joined Tobin's fight. The cartwright apprentice pushed the bandits back, letting them get away. Blood soaked his hand from an earlier wound.

Finally, Gray turned his attention to the lancer. The patrol leader brought down the blade of the halberd but only ended up hitting dirt as the chiseled man sidestepped.

"Yarg, pull back idiots!"

The bandits were smart enough to know they were losing. The remainder of the brutes ran towards the brushes they emerged from.

"Cowards!" A recruit said. "Come back and fight us!"

"Don't follow them." The patrol leader barked.

As he spoke, incoherent shouting came from the other side of the thin river. The second group of bandits was at least three times as large as the previous one. Tobin swallowed. His hands shook as he gripped his sword harder.

Hah, more people to cut down.

"Damn, there are too many of those bastards. Pull back along the river!"

Gray was pumped up to continue battling, but his comrades were starting to wear out. The boy reluctantly followed his patrol northbound along the stream, back where they came from. The bandits were behind, waving around daggers and shields.

For some reason, they were not in any rush to catch up.

"Slow down, slow down!"

A recruit shouted in a panic. Yet another group of bandits was waiting for them close to the riverbank. From the bushes to the right came more rustling. An unknown amount of fighters crept through the green towards Patrol Four.

"We're going to be surrounded." Tobin said. "What the hell do we do?"

"Fire the signal arrow!" Gray shouted.

The signaler drew out an arrow and pointed towards the air. Before she could do anything, the patrol leader put a hand on her shoulder.

"Not yet. We ran into a trap. We're going to fight this one out." He said darkly.

"Sir?" Gray shouted.

"You heard me. Get out there and break through!"

The boys knew exactly what he meant. The knight was not willing to have others follow into the same trap. Gray looked all around him. There were ten foes in front, twenty in the back, and more coming from the sides.

"Dammit I'm not going to die here with you losers!"

He and Tobin ran forward, trying to cut a path through the group in front. The recruits followed, yelling a war cry as they crashed into the mass.

Everybody was too close together to see what was going on. In the midst of combat, Gray almost accidentally slashed his own friends more than once. His sword was stuck between one of the bandit's armor. He pulled back mightily in an attempt to pull it out.

"Watch out!"

A bandit jumped towards Gray and swung sideways with a sword. Gray braced for a painful impact.

It never came. The knight in red armor dashed forward in front of the boy and blocked the attack with his breastplate. The bandit stumbled backwards and ran away from fear. Gray opened his eyes in surprise.

"T-thanks." He said.

"No problem, just-"

An arrow whizzed by and struck the man in the neck.

"Agh!"

"Commander!" Tobin cried.

It's that damn archer again!

The knight staggered forward and fell to his knees. It took a second for Gray to realize after the shock. He tried to rush forward to help the man, but two more bandits were on his tail. After beating them off in rage, he turned back to see the patrol leader. The arrow had hit a major bloodstream and he was bleeding out fast.

"Push through!" He sputtered. "Push north before the group behind us catch up…"

"What was he thinking?" Gray shook his head. To him, the knight was just too embarrassed to call for help from the other patrols. "Lady Amber, fire-"

The signaler was unresponsive. Her body was sprawled out on the ground, a trail of red leaking into the earth. A bandit had gotten to her in the midst of the fighting. Both of the knights were down.

"Shit, this is not good!" The dark-skin boy exclaimed.

Tobin stared at the corpse, dumbfounded. The rest of the recruits were too busy fighting to notice the Knights of Zofia were dead.

Miraculously, they were actually cutting through the ruffians. Behind, the large group of bandits chasing them were just about to catch up.

"Tobin." Gray shouted. "Listen to me. Fire the signal arrow!"

"But our leader didn't say-"

"Do you want to die? Just do it, you bastard!"

Tobin grunted in fear and ran towards the signaler's corpse. He slowly picked up her bow and a deer horn arrow from the quiver of arrows. After taking a deep breath, the boy shot the red arrow into the blue sky.

As it flew into the sky, it gave a loud whistling sound. The bandits covered their ears, not knowing what the screeching sound was.

Gray gave his friend a nod and returned to the fight.

Mila help us all…

Throughout the entire fight, Gray fought with a renewed anger. They were just too late, however. By the time the bandits at the river retreated, the large group who were originally chasing them had caught up.

There were at least forty of them in total.

He ducked his head as another arrow whizzed into the crowd.

"Don't fight, just run!" Gray shouted, sheathing his sword.

"Wait, where is our-"

The recruits eventually realized their knights were dead.

Gray shouted again. "If you don't want to die, follow me!"

The boy from Ram designated himself as the leader. Nobody else had time to complain so the patrol unconditionally followed his orders. They continued running northwards.

The bandits this time were much faster in their pursuit. The recruits had completely worn themselves out back there.

All we need to do is run until we meet someone…

The riverbed was filled with jagged rocks, slowing down what remained of the Deliverance. Tobin struggled with the terrain and fell over. The sharp edges of the stone pierced his kneecap.

"Tobin!" Gray cried.

"Ugh…"

The boy picked himself up but could only stagger forward.

No! He cannot die on me today!

"Hey guys! Wait up!" A deep voice came from the bushes.

A bunch of young men and women burst forward from the greenery. Among the group, Gray could recognize Kliff's recognizable face among the crowd. The knights saw the bandits on the riverbed and yelled at their underlings to draw.

Patrol Three and Patrol Eleven.

"Thank the gods!" Gray swallowed.

"Where are the knights of your patrol, kid?" The eldest knight said.

"They're dead. I'll explain later!"

The knights exchanged a confused look and ordered their patrols to attack into the riverbed. Gray reared Kliff as they charged into the fray.

"Hrah!"

Kliff stabbed forward at a bandit in the middle of the jagged rocks. The man dodged easily, but tripped over a few pebbles. Gray leaped forward and slashed the man's throat easily. His friend gulped at the sign of blood and backed off.

"Thanks for the kill." Gray said.

"Y-yeah, no problem."

The reinforcements demoralized the bandits, and slowly they were pushed back from the river. Gray managed to score two more kills before the bandits started to flee.

To his credit, Kliff had greatly improved from weeks ago. Throughout the chaos of the battle, the boy was fast on his feet. After splitting up with his friend, Kliff managed to tag-team with a knight and knock out a few opponents.

The bandits were in full retreat.

The damned archer bolted for the bushes. Gray wanted desperately to avenge his knight, but the foe was too far away. Just as he began to give up hope, the boy heard a woosh sound pass.

A direct hit.

The ruffian groaned and fell to his knees, eventually buckling over completely. In his back was a buried arrow. Tobin was holding the signaler's bow, kneeling on the jagged rocks by the water.

His target was dead.

"Good shot…" Gray murmured.

The Deliverance cheered at their victory. The recruits of Patrol Four fell to the ground in celebration, completely worn out from fighting.

The soldiers from the other patrols walked around, inspecting their wounds. Gray and Kliff took the opportunity to wash the blood off their blades in the river. The stream of water had turned into a shade of red as they kneeled by the water. Tobin was taken into the bushes. His wound and equipment were being looked over by a young man from another patrol.

"Hey, what happened back there?" Kliff said. "That was close."

"Oh, long story." Gray said. "I'll tell you about it afterwards…"

"Why not now?"

The two turned around. It was a knight from Kliff's patrol.

"Sir?" Kliff tilted his head.

"Two dead knights and leading us into a battle..." The man huffed. "I hope you recruits aren't responsible for any of this."

Gray stood up. He was used to standing up against stuck-up commanders. After all they had been through, he was furious at the accusation. It did not matter the man was in red armor, or that he was a foot taller.

"If you think us recruits did something to cause their deaths, you're wrong." He uttered. "We're the ones putting our lives on the line so you can get your fancy castles and titles back."

Kliff tried a more diplomatic approach. "Uh, what he means to say is that we regret the loss of those two lives."

"You are not a knight. You will never understand true loyalty." The man replied. "We'll be keeping an eye on you, Patrol Four."

Before Gray could reply, a loud whistle filled the air.

Then a second one.

The soldiers around the river talked amongst each other quietly. The scouting phase was officially over, and they had yet to start the final battle. The knight gave a final look of contempt before leaving.

How dare he… After all we've done…

"Gods be a bit more cooperative would you?" Kliff hissed. "We're all on edge with the battle right now."

Gray fumed. "On edge my ass. To fight for these ingrates... is an insult to my dignity. I'm leaving this 'Deliverance' the first chance I get."

A/N: Thanks for reading!

Sorry for the long wait! The battle and its aftermath will be settled in next chapter. Also, I have decided that Faye will be reintroduced within at most three chapters. Look forward to seeing her soonish.

Reviews on how to improve are always welcome. If you like what you read, follow / favorite for updates.