In the Forest of Fangs Princess Amercy's P.O.V.

I stare up trying to figure out what is going on, then I hear the first scream. I quickly look in the direction it came from and I see an enemy soldier covered in flames. He is spinning around trying to beat out the fire as he screams. I soon see more of the dots of light drift down and set soldiers of fire when they hit them.

'It's fire? It is raining fire? I didn't know such magic was even possible!'

The rain is increasing as well, but it is only falling within the clearing, this has to be Zamart's doing. Many of the enemy soldiers have stopped and are hunkered down beneath their shields. Only a few so far have actually caught on fire but their formations are broken, and the cavalry's horses are going insane.

I want to give the signal to charge them now, but even my soldiers won't follow me into a rain of fire so again I am forced to wait. I watch as several of the cavalry are thrown as their horses bolt for the safety of the forest. One poor horse goes running off with its tail on fire, and its rider bouncing along a few feet behind it with his foot caught in the stirrup.

I start getting ready to move as I notice the rain lessening, but then I see a larger chunk of fire fall to the ground. It explodes when it hits sending about a dozen soldiers flying, several of them do not get back up. Over the next five minutes several dozen of these explosions occur, and then suddenly silence reigns. I look up to see the clouds breaking up and patches of blue sky showing through.

I ride forward and give the signal for our troops to form up, I can see Alexa doing the same off to my right. I look back and forth until I see everyone in formation and ready to go.

"CHARGE!!!!" I yell at the top of my lungs.

I ride forward at a trot, I don't want the cavalry to outpace the foot troops too much. Alexa gallops her horse across the clearing to return to my side, together we form the point of the spear. The enemy is gathering ahead of us but hasn't managed to get into formation by the time we close the distance. When we are fifty feet away I draw my sword and urge my horse into a gallop.

The noise when we impact with the enemy is deafening, I never imagined anything could be so loud. I am swinging my sword left and right as I cut a path deeper into the enemy cavalry. Our momentum is soon spent and the battle degenerates into a melee, I can't see anything beyond a few feet away.

Alexa is guarding my back and I am fighting fiercely just to hold my ground, it is impossible to move forward with so many enemies pressing in. I need to buy myself some breathing space or I am going to be brought down by numbers, so I decide to use one of my trump cards.

Long ago Zamart taught me a flash of light spell that blinds everyone but me within fifty feet. Over time I have mastered the spell and modified it slightly. My spell now only blinds my enemies, but I can only cast it once a day. This is the spell that saved my life when my father's troops dressed as bandits tried to kill me on the day my mother died.

As the spell goes off Alexa and I quickly cut down the blinded enemies near us. What is left of our cavalry quickly cut their way to us and surround us. Once there are no enemies close to me I stand up on my horse's saddle to get a look at the rest of the battle.

A quick count shows I have thirty cavalry left and I can see about eight hundred foot troops left, the enemy is starting to push us back due to the weight of numbers.

"Alexa, sound the retreat. If we don't fall back now we are going to be wiped out."

Alexa looks disappointed as she takes the horn off her saddle and blows a long deep note. I drop back into my saddle and turn to lead the cavalry in cutting our way free of the enemy. We barely manage to cut our way free, another few minutes delay and we would have had too many enemies surrounding us to get out.

By the time we break free I only have twenty-two cavalry left behind me. The enemy doesn't immediately give chase, they stop to get back into formation. Then to our surprise instead of coming after us to finish us off the enemy turns around and marches back the way they came.

"What? Why are they retreating?"

Alexa says "I don't know, they still have enough numbers to finish us."

Shortly Zamart approaches leaning on another mage, his face is grey with exhaustion.

Zamart says "What happened? Did we win?"

"We are not sure. Alexa, order the scouts and archers to pace the enemy and harass them as much as they can safely."

Alexa nods and rides off. I then order the troops to get the wounded back to camp and check the enemy as well. I look at the mage supporting Zamart and order him to take Zamart back to his tent to rest. With a nod the mage practically carries the protesting Zamart back to camp.

I spend the next six hours organizing the clean up after the battle. I push myself too far trying to do everything I possibly can until I feel myself fall over only to be caught by Alexa.

The next thing I am aware of is waking up in my tent back in camp, judging from the light it is the next afternoon. I quickly get up, splash some water on my face, and get dressed. I make my way straight to the command tent where I find Alexa and Zamart looking at some maps.

"How long was I out? What is the status of the enemy?"

Zamart says "The enemy is returning to the capital, and you slept about twelve hours."

Alexa doesn't say anything; she just pushes a plate of food over to the empty seat. I quickly sit down and dig in as I realize just how hungry I am.

Alexa says "We killed about three thousand foot troops and six hundred cavalry. We lost almost thirty cavalry and three hundred foot."

Zamart says "By numbers alone it was a great victory. But the king can afford his losses easier than we can afford ours."

"Do we know why they turned around instead of finishing us?"

Zamart says "I was able to scry the past and find out. Raveos received emergency recall orders from the king."

"My step-father spared us? I don't believe it!"

Zamart says "Oh, it wasn't to spare us. The king recalled all troops to the capital."

"Why would he do that? It makes no sense!"

Zamart says "That took a bit more work but I was able to discover why. There was a small earthquake in the capital, it was caused by a ferocious roar from deep underground."

Alexa says "The roar apparently terrified the king and he panicked and recalled all troops to the capital."

"What caused the roar? Wait, did you say all the troops?"

Alexa says "Yes, all troops. I have already sent out every able bodied man we have to take advantage of the situation."

Zamart says "As to the roar, it was apparently the black beastman, although I wasn't able to find out why."

"Well, that explains why the king panicked. So the beastman saved us from over a thousand miles away. I really want to meet him!"