/
Chapter 40 – Wild Horse (4)
Fahel lowered his upper body and kicked Kilios’s side. The stallion sharply blew air out of its nose and kept running along the canyon.
“There must be a bridge around here to cross the canyon. Sir Phillion said there would be one,” muttered Fahel.
Forlcana Kingdom’s borders were formed by canyons and rivers. Since it made it difficult to advance on them other than through a bridge, it was advantageous for the kingdom defensively. Because of it, despite the kingdom being a vassal state of the Empire, they aren’t heavily influenced by the Empire and thus maintained their autonomy.
“There’s another collapsed bridge over there.”
Urich opened his eyes wide and looked at the canyons. He saw vague shapes of bridges, but they were all snapped in the middle—probably because they weren’t used in a long while.
“It’s because they’re bridges that the defense guards aren’t managing. But there must be a bridge that hasn’t been cut yet.”
Fahel held onto his reins tight.
There had to be at least one or two illegally constructed bridges at the border of Forlcana Kingdom. Hunters and lumberers would use those bridges to freely cross the border to maintain their livelihoods, but there were also bridges that smugglers used. No matter how many bridges the border surveillance guards cut, people would stubbornly construct another bridge to cross the border.
‘Who could’ve known that I, someone of royal blood, would be searching for such a bridge?’
Fahel pressed his lips into a thin line. He didn’t like that he had to sneakily run away from the kingdom like a rat. It was humiliating.
“Fahel, my butt and thighs are hurting a lot. Is it normally like this?”
Urich felt the pain steadily increasing in the lower half of his body.
“Shut up and just look for a bridge.”
Fahel was starting to get nervous.
Kilios, who had been galloping vigorously, also started to get tired. It was a wild horse just a day ago. So, because it wasn’t used to letting people ride it, its endurance quickly drained out. Furthermore, Urich was someone of considerable size.
Neigh.
Kilios was breathing heavily.
“Are you tired already? You have less guts than I thought, Kilios.”
Urich crossed his arms as he sat behind Fahel.
“It’s because you’re heavy like a damn pig! Fuck. They probably won’t be chasing us, right?”
Fahel and Urich did not travel as much distance as they had planned. They were walking until before they rode on Kilios, and the stallion got tired from carrying two people more quickly than they had expected.
BAOOOOOOO!
Chills ran down Fahel’s spine at the sound of a horn.
Clip, clop.
Well-trained warhorses could be seen on the horizon. The approaching cavalry had already unsheathed their weapons.
“Damn it! Pursuers. Kilios, run!”
The cavalrymen chased Fahel and Urich. They were blowing on their horns to gather the other cavalrymen that had spread out. They had been maintaining a wide search formation for the prince. Soon after, the rest of the cavalry started to gather one by one.
‘Seven cavalrymen have already gathered.’
They didn’t know when more soldiers would arrive.
“Ahh, this is a big problem. I don’t know if the mercenaries are safe.”
“Stop talking like it’s someone else’s problem! You bastard! If they catch us, they might capture me, but they will certainly kill you!”
Fahel kicked Kilios’s side hard. Its eyes jolted, and it started galloping faster.
“Kilios must be tired as well. It’s a lot slower than before,” muttered Urich. The stallion’s balance was very unstable.
“Damn it, damn it. If we get caught here, we’re finished. I will survive this and become king! I am Forlcana’s rightful heir!”
Fahel cried out loud.
“Turn the horse around, Fahel. It’s time for a cavalry battle!”
Urich spoke while holding onto Fahel’s head.
“There are seven enemies!”
“And there are two of us. So we’ll just have to kill three or four each. Huh, it might be easier than I thought?”
“What bullshit are you saying?! Did you finally go mad?!”
Fahel cursed the mercenary leader. The basics of battle was to have an advantage in numbers. Even he knew that.
“Turn the horse around. We should let Kilios rest, even if it’s just a little. Trust me, Fahel,” said Urich.
“Urich is someone you can trust.”
Fahel thought of Phillion’s words.
“I don’t trust you. I’m trusting in Sir Phillion! Kiliooooooos!”
Fahel turned the horse. Kilios stopped galloping and stared at the advancing cavalry.
‘You are brave, Kilios. You are able to stand your ground even though you haven’t been trained as a warhorse.’
Fahel petted Kilios’s cheek as he stared at the enemies. His heart was pounding.
“Fahel. I’ll show you that I didn’t become the mercenary leader just because I looked cool.”
Urich pulled out both of his axes.
“They’re coming. They’re coming.”
Fahel’s hands were trembling. The enemies were close enough that he could discern their faces.
“Haaat… One for now!”
While seated on the horse, Urich threw an axe with just his upper body strength.
CRUSH!
The cavalryman who was leading the formation fell to the ground, an axe deeply rooted into his head.
“Huh? HUUUH?!”
The second cavalryman realized that something was strange, but it was too late for his horse to slow down.
“The second!”
Urich then threw the other axe. The cavalryman blocked his face with his arms, but the axe swooped up from below like a boomerang and struck his face.
“He ran out of axes! Surround him!”
The cavalrymen didn’t hesitate and rushed in.
Shiiiing.
Urich pulled out his sword and stood on Kilios’s back. His sense of balance was excellent enough to stand on top of a horse.
“UWOOOOOOOH!”
He roared, jumped off Kilios, and landed onto a cavalryman that was charging at them.
STAAAAB!
Urich’s steel sword pierced into the soldier’s chest. It pierced through the chainmail armor and stabbed his heart.
Blood splattered all over Urich’s face. He rolled his eyes around to search for his next opponent.
‘Three of them died in an instant.’
Fahel watched Urich’s back with his mouth agape. It was the first time he saw Urich fighting properly.
‘There are four left.’
Urich jumped to the side and body-slammed the side of a horse.
“UGAAAAAAAH!”
He shouted as he clenched his teeth. The horse faltered and subsequently fell over to the side. The soldier who was riding the horse fell headfirst and snapped his neck.
“Th-This lunatic!”
The remaining three cavalrymen rushed at Urich.
The mercenary leader slipped through the horses’ legs. If he got trampled on by a horse, he would have taken a serious blow. It was nonsensical boldness.
“Now! Fahel!”
Urich suddenly shouted for Fahel. The cavalrymen turned to the prince just for a second.
“What? What?!”
Rather, it was Fahel who was surprised and staring at the soldiers. There was nothing he could do in this situation.
STAB!
Urich used that moment to stab a soldier’s face. Brain fluid dripped down the blade of the sword, all the way to the tips of his fingers.
‘Two left.’
The cavalrymen looked at each other before creating distance between them and Urich. They were terrified of a single warrior who was on his feet.
“Grab the prince!” shouted a cavalryman while looking at Fahel’s blue eyes. The two cavalrymen recklessly sped past Urich to close in on the prince.
TENSE.
Urich didn’t let them run away just like that. He tensed up his thick thighs until his veins were visibly solid. He jumped from his spot and was able to land onto the horse’s back, behind the soldier, with no assistance.
SNAP!
Urich grabbed the soldier’s head and twisted it. A loud crack resounded.
“Fuuu.”
He took a single deep breath and quickly kicked the collapsing horse before jumping to the other cavalryman.
SLAM!
Urich’s and the soldier’s bodies tangled up and fell to the ground. Within that chaos, Urich grabbed the soldier’s collar and thrashed his face multiple times with his fists until it caved in.
“Haaah, haah.”
Urich’s entire body was throbbing. He moved as if he were a wild animal multiple times. He felt as if his heart and lungs were going to explode.
‘What did I just watch?’
Fahel’s teeth were chattering. Urich defeated seven cavalrymen by himself.
‘Is he really the same human as I am?’
The bloodied Urich retrieved his axes from the corpses. He shook the blood off his axes and sword before walking towards Fahel.
“See? I told you the two of us could handle it,” laughed Urich.
Fahel scoffed.
“Hurry up and get on Kilios. There are going to be more pursuers. They blew their horn, so the others should also know our location,” predicted Fahel.
Kilios flinched from the stench of blood on Urich but allowed him to get on his back. Maybe it was more docile because it was tired.
“They’re already here. Look at the hill over there. They’re watching us from there. They’re only following us while maintaining distance.”
Urich squinted as he looked at the three cavalrymen on top of the hill.
They just maintained distance without recklessly charging in, continuously blowing into their horns to alert their allies of their location.
“What are you doing right now? Go arrest them right this instant!”
Margrave Orkel and his aides arrived. The margrave roared after seeing that three of his soldiers were hesitating.
“Th-That’s because the man down there isn’t normal. He defeated seven cavalrymen by himself in an instant. It’s like he isn’t human.”
The cavalryman that was reporting spoke with a trembling voice.
Margrave Orkel scowled.
‘Because there haven’t been any opportunities to stack up real battle experience, the quality of the soldiers drastically dropped. It wasn’t like this ten years ago.’
There had been a decade of peace under the Empire’s rule. The last national-scale war was the barbarian subjugation that happened ten years ago. These new soldiers, who hadn’t experienced that war, had little to no experience.
“Argh, you cowards. I’ll lead the charge.”
Margrave Orkel raised his sword as he spoke. The six cavalry soldiers, including him, charged in.
“U-Urich! They’re coming!”
Fahel shouted while looking behind him.
“Don’t get scared, Fahel. We just have to go a bit further. I see a bridge over there. That one’s fine!”
Urich confirmed the bridge that crossed the canyon. Beneath it was a rapid river.
“Kilios! Just a bit more! We’re almost there!”
Fahel shouted, as if to comfort the stallion.
The bridge was made of wooden planks and rope. If the rope snapped, they would fall. If they were able to cross the bridge then cut the ropes, the pursuers wouldn’t be able to keep up with them.
Neigh, neigh.
Kilios ran while sticking its tongue out. Its legs wobbled, and its knees were about to collapse.
“They’re getting closer.”
Urich was preparing himself to fight at any moment.
“Do you think I’ll get caught here? You damned traitors! I’ll send you all to the gallows!”
Fahel clenched his teeth. His blue eyes shone brightly. He lowered his body even further and hugged Kilios’s neck.
‘Run. I leave it to you. Kilios.’
Surprisingly, the stallion was able to overcome the limits of its stamina despite having already been completely drained. It arrived in front of the bridge before falling onto its knees.
Neigh.
Kilios dropped its head and gathered its breath. Its large eyes looked at Fahel,slowly blinking as if to say that it had done its duty.
“Thank you, Kilios.”
Fahel bitterly smiled and ran across the bridge. The cavalry were on their tails.
“You’re throwing Kilios away? You said you communed with it or whatever. So in the end, I guess you just used it before throwing it away.”
Urich spoke as he ran with Fahel.
“Shut up. Do you think that I want to leave him behind? He wouldn’t be able to move even if he wanted to.”
“Hm.”
Urich stopped running. He measured the distance between them and the approaching cavalry.
“Damn it! What are you doing?! Hurry up and cross the bridge!”
Fahel was bouncing around. Urich handed his sword over to the prince.
“I like Kilios. I have to bring it over.”
Urich lumbered over to the stallion that was still on its knees.
“Heut.”
He took a deep breath. His muscles expanded, as if all of the air that he breathed in went to them. Urich gathered Kilios’s front and hind legs and carried the stallion on his back.
Neigh.
Kilios sharply blew air out of its nose. Urich finally extended his knees and lifted it.
“GUUUUHHHH.”
Urich’s face turned red. He felt as if his blood vessels were exploding. He could almost hear the sound of his muscles being snapped and torn.
“UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
Urich roared as he took his first step. He walked towards the bridge with the horse on his back.
Wobble, wobble.
His arms and legs were trembling. Urich fiercely looked onwards and watched Fahel who was crossing first.
“Kilio…sssss! You have g…uts…”
Urich’s lips were trembling.
“If I see… guts like that… I also… have to answer them… with my own guts…”
His steps gradually got quicker. Urich used all of his strength, and his entire body screamed. It was something difficult to do even with his god-given strength.
“This fucking lunatic.”
Fahel teared up as he spoke.
STOMP! STOMP!
Urich ran with the horse on his back. Every step he took, the bridge would rock and planks would shake.
“UAARRGH! OHHH!”
The only thing that escaped his mouth was a strange cry. His face didn’t look human. All of facial muscles were scrunched up, as if he were showing insanity and pain merged into one expression.
“What are we watching right now?”
Even the cavalrymen had their mouths agape at the ridiculous sight.
Urich crossed over the bridge with a horse on his back. Fahel, who had been waiting for him on the other side, severed the ropes of the bridge.
“Kaak. Haah. Keok.”
Urich placed Kilios down and screamed while crouching. Viscous blood was dripping out of his mouth. His eyes weren’t just bloodshot but even had blood dripping out of it.
“Keok, keok.”
Urich gasped hard and gagged. His entire body was in severe pain, as if he were hammered hundreds of times.
“Find another bridge! There must be more around here!” shouted Margrave Orkel from the other side of the canyon. He pulled out a crossbow from his horse’s side.
‘That has to be Prince Varca. Deep blue eyes like that are rare. The child grew up so fast.’
Margrave Orkel aimed back and forth between Urich and Fahel. It was difficult to hit Fahel as he was hiding behind a tree, but he had a clear shot of Urich.
However, the image of Urich running on the bridge with a horse on his back didn’t leave his head. While it was ridiculous, it was also an admirable sight.
‘He isn’t someone that should die so fleetingly here.’
Margrave Orkel hesitated, then finally lowered his crossbow. He saw someone accomplish a great feat with his two eyes today. He understood why his subordinates were terrified.
“Today, I shall show respect to your tenacity. That feat alone was enough to satisfy me.”
Margrave Orkel turned his horse’s head. He covered his smile with his fist.
He thought of his younger days. The days when he faced fierce barbarians day after day. Back then, he would feel fulfilled every day.
Badump, badump.
His heart was pounding. His cooled blood was boiling again. The more vitality the prey overflowed with, the more worth there was in catching it. Margrave Orkel wished to directly face his prey and become drunk with their blood. Just the thought of it made him feel as if he were getting younger.
—————