Snowid looke din the distance. He could hear the rumbling of the marching Empire forces and could tell that the time for battle was coming. He couldn’t help but smile in excitement. Reaching for his claymore, his men ran all around, getting into position as orders were thrown out.

It was deafening to hear the noise of the camp, and I wondered how anyone could hear where they had to go. Snowid watched. He had the best of his best all here. He knew this was far from the final battle, but a plan to end it now was in his mind. He didn’t want to kill lIsra yet. It would only make Alfred fight harder in this war. But killing Alfred would put an end to everything. His heir was a baby. With Alfred dead, the Empire would fracture.

Civil war would be inevitable, and then in its ashes, the Commonwealth could put the final nail in the coffin and seize their lands. If not, he could make it so they would never be able to recover properly. Watching the distance, he saw the Empire’s troops slowly marching forward. The mix of Henryk’s rebels in their silver armpour clashed with the black and white of the Unyeilding.

It was Snowid’s first time watching them get closer. He felt nervous. Being on the backfoot like this was a new experience, something he didn’t like. Taking a deep breath, he clenched the claymore in his hands and claimed himself. There was no point in being nervous. All he had to do was win. Then everything would be fine.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alfred stood watching the Commonwealth forces in neat rows, waiting for him. His men were the same. The emotions of Henryk’s men were palpable, all mentally preparing themselves to fight, whilst his uneyieling was an unshakable mountain unfazed by the coming battle. Isra came over and grabbed his hand, looking up with a smile.

"Are you ready?" she asked with childlike excitement, and Alfred could only offer a thin smile in response. Isra saw that and nodded, putting on her helmet. Pulling out her sword, she let the blade run across her hand, feeling the cold steel through the leather of her gauntlet.

Alfred watched for a second before turning his head back to Snowid. Putting his own helmet on, he pulled his sword and raised it in the sky. "ARCHERS!" His voice boomed across the field. Rows of men cut through the ranks of men and formed a neat line in front.

Watching them bull their bow strings, he didn’t waste a breath, "FIRE!" The volley of arrows flew across the open field as echside watched, The Commonwealth soldiers quickly raise their shield to block. A group of cavalry came charging out from the side towards Alfred’s position.

Without needing to give orders, the Uneyilding moved forward and quickly formed a shield wall around the archers as they continued to fire volley after volley. Alfred watched, paying close attention to any changes in the enemy camp.

The caverly inched closer and closer. The world went silent for a second as everyone watched, followed by a loud bang as the two forces collided. Spears shot piercing into the flesh of the beast as they cried out in agony, going crazed from the sudden pain.

The sound of steel being trampled soon followed as those unlucky enough to be in the way of the horses quickly were crushed, gasping for air before their lives came to an end. Alfred watched with a cold expression. It was a horrid sound and an even more horrid sight. In an instant, tens of men fell as the cavalry pulled away and circled around for another charge, those unable to escape fighting to their last breath.

From behind, the explosive sound of Snowid’s men charging at him echoed. From a distance, he saw the Commonwealth forces running with crazed expressions. "ARCHER! RETREAT!" Alfred shouted the order, and a new shield wall formed, waiting for the inevitable melee.

The horses came back and charged down the reorganising army, quickly slowing them down as many more were trampled under the horse’s hooves. The pained cries of both man and beast followed again as the air became heavy with the smell of blood. Alfred pushed the thought out of his mind and tightened the grip around his sword. The Uneyeilding pushed him back slightly, becoming his first line of defence. They tried to do the same for Isra, but she quickly pushed them off and stood at the front of the line.

Snowid moved at the head of his men and scanned to find Alfred. Seeing his golden hair through the lines of men, he smiled like a beast and ran towards him, his Claymore dragging behind, cutting into the earth. Alfred could see the eyes that looked at him like prey and frowned, knowing what Snoiwd was trying to do.

He was nervous. He wasn’t confident in fighting Snowid. The man was easily double his size and an expert in combat. Alfred had trained, but he knew he wasn’t an expert. From his right, he heard someone shuffling their way closer to him before resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Your Grace." Charles looked at him with a confident smile before looking at Snowid. Leaning in closer to his ear, he whispered so no one around could hear. "Do not fight him. Whilst I have faith, we can’t have anything happen to you." Alfred looked at him and nodded.

Charles smiled and put his helmet on. It was different from the other Unyeilding, with golden strwak running through it, showing his role as their leader. Snowid saw Charles and frowned but didn’t stop his charge. In a matter of seconds, both sides collided. The sound of swords clashing and men screaming followed as the battle began in earnest.

Holding his sword, Charles’s eyes were cold as he watched Snowid swing his Claymore over his shoulder, wishing to end things in one strike. He dodged to the side, knowing if he was hit, he would die. Blocking was impossible, and seeing how damaged the ground was, he wondered how William ever blocked the man’s attack.

Snwoid best clashes with the few thousand Unyeilding. The Unyeilding attack with cold efficiency, like programmed robots created solely for war, while Snowid expertly keeps up, fighting with an intense desire to defend their home and king.

Alfred didn’t let himself be outdone and fought alongside them. He was hyperfocused, not daring to miss anything that could suddenly end his life. But with each swing of his sword, he found only 1 out of 10 strikes hit. The skill of the men he was fighting was on another level to anything he had ever seriously fought. It was a battle of survival for him; each attack thrown his way was lethal and required him never to have a rest.

Snowiud dodged the attack thrown at his chest by Chalres. Using his momentum, he swung the Claymore on his shoulder and let it rest there, watching and waiting for an opening. After a minute of watching and dodging, he threw it. Charles was giving him nothing, always closing the distance between the two.

Stepping back, he dropped the Claymore and swung in a large arc, forcing Charles to jump back in panic. With him out of the way, he let the Claymore carry on swinging, throwing it behind his back and over his shoulder. The Unyelding watched the battle between the two as they fought their own. They saw Charles unprepared to dodge the blow and in a split second desicon one jumped infornt holding their sword up to clock the attack.

They had been made for two things. War and loyalty. Seeing their leader in trouble made their movements almost instinctual. The power behind Snwoid’s swing bent the steel sword as the Uneyilding soldier buckled under his strength. His shoulder popped and was dislocated as his strength gave out.

Snowid smiled, and one of his men came forward and stabbed the Unyeilding through the chest. The strength in his sword finally gave out, and the Claymore crushed him. Charles watched with sharp eyes, unable to offer the man a thank you as he dove back into battle. His sword was quick, and Swnoid couldn’t react in time.

In a instance, Snowid leand to the left dodging the attack that cut across his hip. Any closer, and it would have pierced through his stomach. Snowid clicked his tongue but didn’t let the pain get to him, swinging his claymore to get Charles away.

Looking at the man, he couldn’t help but frown. He was too slippery, and the men around him were willing to throw their lives away to make sure he lived. He was sure he could win in a duel easily; it would just take a while. But right now, it was impossible. Looking around, he spotted Alfred in the group of Unyeilding, fighting with a determined look, and smiled.

Charles had obviously come to keep him away from Alfred, so he may aswell take the battle to him. It was easy to fight for yourself, but to protect someone was much harder. Charles saw Snoiwd fall back and move his way across the battlefield. Scanning the surroundings, his face quickly fell seeing what Snowid was doing.