Spring, 1436

Despite heavy losses, the Army of Tar Hollow had been holding on against the Antians when King Sfelewi galloped through the battlefield.

The Revenants are approaching! He communicated immediately within telepathic range to the Young Warlord.

Oevcn’s blood ran cold. &What? How?&

The dark cyno’s mind raced: The enemy must have forced marched that distance in the span of a day. The Tar Hollow defenders would be outnumbered almost 3 to 1, and being surprised and struck from the rear could break the spirit of the army and immediately cause it to rout.

Fuck.

&How far are they?& He asked the unicorn.

Fifteen thousand paces. Came the response.

&How many troops?&

Perhaps two thousand, mostly Overmountainers. The Imperial Remnants are about five thousand paces behind.

&They've outpaced their Imperial counterparts!& Oevcn immediately ran down the line. &Nagelw! Pull out as much of your forces as possible and join me!& He called to the nearest gonnedog unit, firing from behind the Northern redoubt. The tawny coffee cyno quickly extricated some 400 gunners and assembled them to her commander, who had pulled out another hundred infantry. Removing a tenth of the cyno army from the line caused the defenders to stagger before the continued Antium onslaught, but Oevcn hoped that the remainder could hold. He had no troops to spare, but he also needed troops to face the new threat.

&Follow me!&

The new taskforce quickly marched out on the East Corioli Road, past all the hills and fields that the Young Warlord had planned as fallback positions for the army and would now need to be used for fighting in reverse. Oevcn wanted to take up position upon Oak Hill, a large wooded knoll from which devastation could be rained down upon the enemy below. However when the dark cyno approached, he found to his dismay the Overmountainers had just rushed past. A secondary defensive position was needed. Instead the task force quietly took up position behind an old stone wall next to the road, partly hidden behind the apex of a low rise. Oevcn pointed at himself, then knelt down behind the wall. His followers did the same, and the entire force disappeared into the terrain.

Soon came the steady tramping of marching feet, far brisker than predicted. Ears barely above the grass next to the wall, Oevcn listened as the advancing column arrived, then began marching past. The dark cyno counted the number, evaluating how the woodsmen were progressing, then took a deep breath, nodded to the grass around him, lit his match, and rose up and aimed his arquebus over the wall. As his subordinates all followed suit, lighting their gonnes, the Young Warlord targeted the nearest enemy figure and pulled the trigger.

Immediately a sheet of flame ripped out from the wall, striking the Overmountainer column in the flank. The rapidly marching enemy troops fell in neat rows like tiles, almost every shot finding its mark. The woodsmen reeled back, then attempted to find the source of the attack, but the cynos had pulled back, with Oevcn leading the way scampering through the fields. Still, the bloodied Overmountainers caught the trail, and they rushed towards the retreating cyno forces only to be blasted by a second volley along the edge of the field, cutting down scores more. The Young Warlord was staggering his gonners, leapfrogging his two lines behind one another so as to successively keep one line firing from behind hedges and hillocks as the second line fell back to the next defensible position, yet the enemy charged ever closer. Finally, emitting their unearthly screams as the enemy smashed into Oevcn’s thin infantry protective screen. In an instant these heavily outnumbered defenders were shattered and brushed aside, leaving scores of dead and wounded. Triumphantly, the Overmountainers pursued the fleeing cyno survivors to a blackthorn hedge-and directly into another line of two hundred loaded gonnes. The hand cannons blasted away, cutting down scores of attackers, causing the attackers to falter again. Still a moment later the survivors came on, faster, clambering over the hedges like ravenous beasts, and Oevcn realized that the woodsmen were on hensbane.

&Back! Back!& Oevcn cried, pulling the line out again.

His little running battle had performed far better than expected, severely mauling the enemy and minimal cost to his forces, but the Tar Hollow troops had been bloodied, given up two miles behind the main line, and more importantly were tired and were running low on ammunition.

And then Oevcn’s luck ran out.

More enemies, Young Warlord! King Sfelewi abruptly appeared again, out of breath and almost screaming.

Fuck.

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The Witcher 3- Wild Hunt OST - Silver For Monsters

From  TheDinosaurMann