"What happened Lown? Calm down" said Wura as she could see Lown visibly shaking, and that was not a good sign at all, he probably had bad news, but Wura did not want to jump into hasty conclusions yet at the same time, she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.
"My Queen it is horrible the East they… they…" said Lown as he kept on pausing.
"They what Lown? Tell me?" asked Wura as she did not like the way he was acting it made her heart start to pound.
"My Queen, the East, they have started to attack the mainland" said Lown as Wura felt her heart drop when she heard Lown say what he did.
"What??!" asked Wura in shock.
"Yes my Queen" I was flying around as usual when I saw more smoke, but instead of coming from the border it was coming from the mainland" said Lown.
"I flew down closer to be sure of what I was seeing, and the horror is unimaginable my Queen" said Lown as Wura looked horrified.
"This cannot be possible, I ordered that a border be built to separate the mainland from here, how could the East break it and attack?" asked Wura.
"They did my Queen, and from the look of things they seem to be here to conquer, they have their flags present and everything" said Lown as Wura could not believe this she did not even speak to Lown as she rushed out of the tent.
"Mero! Mero" she called as she had to find Mero right now.
"Mero!" called Wura as she rushed in the direction, she saw Mero leave in.
"My Queen are you alright?" asked Zechariah as he saw Wura running and she stopped in front of him.
"Zechariah, have you seen Mero?" asked Wura in a rush.
"No my Queen, I have not seen him" replied Zechariah.
"I need to find him right now!" said Wura.
"My Queen did something happen?" asked Zechariah in worry he did not like the panicked look on Wura's face.
"Yes Zechariah, the East just attacked the mainland!" said Wura as Zechariah looked at her in horror.
"That is impossible, there was a border built, they could not have possibly broken it" he said.
"Well they did, Lown saw it with his own two eyes, I need you to go gather the others while I go look for Mero" said Wura.
"Yes my Queen" said Zechariah as he did not waste any time at all and he rushed to do as Wura had told him to.
"Mero!" called Wura.
"Wura, what is the matter?" asked Mero, he took one look at her and instantly knew that something was terribly wrong.
"Mero, Mero, the East have just attacked the mainland, Lown told me so" said Wura as Mero sighed but he did not look surprised, he had expected this, they had been taking too long to attack and that was because they were short of troops.
"Mero, what do we do?" asked Wura she was so out of breath and stressed, in that same moment the loud sound of a trumpet could be heard as a large booming sound followed which startled Wura.
"What was that?" asked Wura as Mero looked around, hoping that It was not what he thought it was.
"The sound of a war" replied Mero as he looked at Wura. He took one look at her and instantly knew that his top priority was to protect her with his life.
"What do you mean?" asked Wura.
"The East have declared a battle, we have no choice but to fight" said Mero as Wura looked at him in horror.
"What??!" asked Wura as Mero wasted no time at all.
"Everyone get ready, we are going to war, be prepared, wear your armour and get your swords" said Mero in a commanding tone as all the knights nodded and quickly went to get ready as Mero walked to his tent and Wura followed after him.
"Mero is this advisable? We are still low on troops, and we are outnumbered?" asked Wura as Mero quickly put on his armour.
"We have no choice Wura, either we fight back, or we stay put and allow them attack us" replied Mero as he grabbed his sword and Wura had a bad feeling about this.
"Mero, I have a bad feeling about this" said Wura. Mero who had been busy commanding and making sure everyone knew what to do turned to her, he cupped her face in his hands and smiled at her.
"You have nothing to worry about, I will protect you at all costs." His voice sounded so tender and sound that Wura forgot about all her worried for a moment.
"Alright?" he asked and she nodded.
"Good." He smiled and let go of her.
"We have no choice Wura, please for your own safety stay in the camp and do not leave, I beg you" said Mero as Wura did not like this at all, it felt like as soon as he let go of her, the fear enveloped her again.
"Please Wura, stay here" pleaded Mero as he grabbed his shield and set out as Wura followed behind him.
"But Mero, what about the troops of the East that are attacking the mainland?" asked Wura as Mero directed some knights to prepare his horse for him.
"I will send Zuph along with some others to see what can be done" said Mero.
"Mero that is not advisable, we already have very low numbers, dividing ourselves even more would be a terrible idea" frowned Wura.
"Well we have no choice right now, please stay in the camp as I instructed" said Mero as Wura sighed in frustration, he was not listening to her and it irritated her. Yes, she knew that this was a very delicate situation and she knew nothing about war, but now was not the time for them to be disagreeing.
"My Queen, what is going on?" asked Nora as she walked to where Wura and Mero were standing, everywhere was in a panic with knights running up and down.
"Nora, stay with her Majesty and make sure she does not leave the camp" said Mero as he looked at Nora and even though she did not know what was going on, she nodded. She judged from the urgency in his eyes that his request was a stern instruction, not a suggestion.
"Mero, you are not listening to me, you cannot divide the troops into two when we have a battle pending here, we are at risk of several injuries if you do that" said Wura.
"Well we have no choice at this point my Queen" said Mero as he instructed other knights.
"Luc, you, Elihu and Zuph take some of the men to the mainland, go now" said Mero as Luc nodded and wasted no time at all as they left quickly. Zuph did not leave until he shot Nora a knowing glance and she mouthed the words "Be careful." to him and he smiled as he mounted on his horse and followed after the others.
"Zechariah, you come with me" said Mero as Zechariah nodded.
"Let us go now" said Mero as Wura sighed and Nora and she and Nora watched as the gates of the camp opened and Mero stepped forward as all the knights followed after him.
"My queen, do not worry, they will be fine." Nora tried her best to comfort Wura, even though she too felt scared.
"I really hope so, Nora, I really do." Wura rubbed her arms.
"Lock the gates and do not open them for any reason" said Mero as the gatemen nodded and they closed the gates tightly as soon as Mero and the others stepped out.
Mero stopped as he looked around, as there was silence, Mero had a bad feeling about this, it wav quiet… too quiet.
"Mero, should we charge?" asked Zechariah as Mero looked at him and shook his head.
"No, not yet…" replied Mero as he looked around, it was either it was a false alarm or the East were planning an ambush.
"You think there might be an ambush?" asked Zechariah in a low tone so only Mero could hear him.
"Highly possible" replied Mero as he nodded.
"If there really is one, we should lead them away from the camp, for her Majesty's safety" said Zechariah as Mero agreed with him.
"Go ahead and lead the troops, if you sense anything wrong retreat immediately" said Mero as Zechariah nodded and he instructed the troops to follow him as they walked out into the valley when Mero suddenly heard the sound of a horn blowing as there was a huge booming sound and dust covered everywhere.
"Everyone retreat!" said Mero as he shouted when he head the sound of an arrow being shot.
Zechariah halted as he heard Mero's voice, only to look up and see several flaming arrows heading in their direction.
"Everyone retreat, retreat!" called Zechariah as it was too late and what followed next was nothing but pure chaos.
Mero could hear the shouts as he should have known that there was something off, he could not just rush anywhere, he could not see anything, the sudden dust that covered everywhere.
Mero's eyes went wide when he realized that the East had planned this all, they were fully armed, they had somehow created this dust, and he had foolishly left Wura all alone.
…
"My Queen, you need to calm down, I am sure that everything will be alright" said Nora as Wura paced up and down.
"Are you not worried for Zuph?" Wura turned to her and asked.
"I am, but we have to remain positive." Nora replied softly.
"That is the same way I am worried for Mero and every other person out there right now." Wura replied.
"We just have to remain positive my queen, everything will be alright." Nora replied.
"No Nora, it will not be alright, I just know It, we are clearly outnumbered, and I just have this sinking feeling inside" said Wura as in that moment there was a loud bang on the camp's gate that caused both Nora and Wura to be startled.
"What was that?" asked Wura as she looked at the gatemen who shook their heads and did not know what was going on.
"I smell smoke" said Nora as in that same moment the mighty wooden gates started to burn down.
"We are being attacked" said Wura in horror as she did not know what to do, going to hide would be pointless, where were they supposed to hide.
"Wura get down now!" came Mero's voice as he ran and Wura did not need to be told twice as she and Nora got down on the ground and Wura heard the sound of arrows being shot and she heard one of the gatemen cry out in pain, he must have probably been hit.
"Wura, get up now, we have to get you somewhere safe" said Mero as he pulled Wura up, she was the target and he knew it.
"Where exactly is safe here Mero?" asked Wura as she looked up to see arrows set on fire being shot as Mero used his shield to block both she and Nora from them.
"Where are they shooting from?" asked Wura as this made no sense to her at all, she could not see the archers.
"Probably from the nearby hill…" replied Mero as the arrows ceased and the guided Wura and Nora to somewhere they could hide.
"What about the others? Are they hurt?" asked Wura as Mero did not answer her.
"Mero" called Wura as she looked at him and he avoided looking at her, he did not want to tell her anything, knowing how she would react, but this was just the harsh reality.
"Mero, Mero." called Wura as Mero heard sounds of footsteps coming from head and he stopped.
"Wura, move back now!" said Mero in a panic as quickly he pushed Wura away as she fell on the ground.
"Mero!!" called Nora in fear as she saw him get hit in the chest with a flaming arrow as he cried out in pain and fell on the ground in agony as the archer ran away.
"Mero, Mero!! Are you okay?" called Nora in a panic as she rushed to Mero and Wura looked up, her eyes filled with horror when she realized what had happened.
"Mero!" Wura cried out and screamed as she saw him drop to the ground after being hit.