Conquest of War

Chapter ten

In Natiri Forest
Tavrik looked at his soldiers with a scowl as they eyed the encampment of Talvok soldiers warily and his eyes held nothing but contempt. These cowards had fled the battle and abandoned their sovereign in his time of need. It did not matter that their desertion had aided his cause, the Shavendral Prince would deal with these men as if they had betrayed him because he loathed traitors. If you take an oath to serve your king, you serve until your dying breath or you are released from your oath.
"Sire, why are we here?" One of the captains asked and the Prince glared at him.
"A deserter is a traitor no matter the side and should be dealt with accordingly. I refuse to allow these cowards to go free. They will be an example to the new troops" he growled coldly and the soldiers frowned.
"New troops, sir?" The captains asked as they looked at Tavrik in confusion and he gave them a flat look.
"The Talvok soldiers" he stated and they choked in disbelief.
"But, Sir, they are..." The Prince cut their protests short as he raised a hand.
"My decision is final" he snarled making them flinch and the captains fell silent. None of them had the nerve to argue the issue further.
"So what exactly is the plan, sire?" One of the commanders asked with a frown and the war prince sighed in annoyance.
"I want them captured so I can make an example of them in the city square" he answered coldly as he shifted in his saddle and turned his full attention to the deserters.
"My prince, how are we to capture these deserters?" Another one of the commanders asked and the war prince looked at the man with a scowl.
"You are a general,  you should not be asking me how to plan your battles for you. Split the troops up and come along both flanks to make sure none of them get away" The massive warrior growled as he gave his commanders an annoyed look before spurring his horse away from the group. The men stared after him for a few moments before looking at each other. They all held him in high respect, but they also quite afraid of the man as well.
"I will take my men around to the west" the tallest of the commanders announced and turned his horse to wear a group of about 70 men were standing in silence, waiting for an order.
Tavrik looked around watching as his soldiers assembled into two groups one would flank the camp from the West and one would flank it from the East. This tactic would assure that no deserters escaped in the battle. Then the prince glanced at his own group of soldiers who would lead a frontal attack on the deserter camp. The men were standing at attention as they watched their sovereign with curious yet nervous glances; however, when the massive warrior turned his gaze towards then, they all immediately lowered their eyes to the ground.
"I want as many of them alive as possible, but that does not mean be gentle with any prisoners. They will set an example for any who have thoughts of desertion in mind" The Crown Prince barked out at his soldiers and they chorused, "As you command, Sire." While they bowed their head and saluted by placing the right fist against their hearts. Tavrik smiled darkly as he turned his mount back towards the direction of the deserter camp and his men immediately snapped to battle ready attention. The prince watched as the other two groups of men slipped off into the forest before taking a deep breath. Then his left hand gripped the hilt of his long black bladed sword and it came from the scabbard with the hiss.
The prince and his men burst from the tree line making the deserters cry out in confused panic. The deserters immediately started scrambling around for weapons, grabbing the closest weapon to them whether it be a sword or a club or one man even had grabbed a frying pan. Nonetheless as some of the deserters started trying to flee the rest of the prince's men surround the camp forcing the men to try and collaborate.
"You are outnumbered and surrounded. Surrender peacefully or you will all be slaughtered like a cowards you are" the prince commanded as he looked at the disorganized group of men before him with contempt.
"You can rotten hell, bastard" one of the men among the deserters screamed out in defiance causing his comrades to rally his cry. Tavrik sighed as he looked at the pathetic group of soldiers before him, assessing the threat they posed.
"Is this your final decision?" The war prince questioned calmly as he leaned forward in his saddle and the enemy looked at him angrily.
"Die, you son of a bitch!" On man said as he raised a bow and loosed an arrow at the prince, but to the deserters horror, the arrow bounced off the prince's black armor and fell to the ground.
"Take as many of them prisoner, but you may kill them if you must" the prince commanded as he glowered at the deserters and signaled his soldiers to move in. Tavrik watched as his soldiers combated the deserters, the sound of steel on steel rang in the air. Then the prince saw what he assumed to be the leader of these deserters, the man who had spoken first earlier, slipping away from the camp in the midst of the commotion of battle. Tavrik swung out of the saddle, landing gracefully on the ground before he stocked towards his prey. Both deserters and his own soldiers instinctively made a path for the massive war prince as he strode across the battlefield. One deserter was foolish enough to try to strike the prince, but the warrior's blade came up blocking the deserter's club with ease. The Shavendral Prince looked at the man with annoyance for half a second before he struck, the blade hisses through the air cleaving the foolish man's head from his shoulders like a hot knife through butter. Blood splattered across the prince's face as the deserter's head rolled across the ground and the rest of his body crumpled. Without a second glance, the warrior continued his pursuit of the man trying to escape. Finally, the deserter escaping realized the massive warrior was only about 5 yards away and immediately reached for his own sword. Tavrik watched as the man unsheathed his blade and turned to face the prince.
"Your empire's reign of tyranny ends with you" the deserter spat as he launched a frenzied attack against the prince and Tavrik reacted by parrying as he retreated a few paces. The man smiled as he saw the prince retreat, thinking he had the massive warrior ready to defeat, but the man didn't seem to notice the ease with which the prince was parrying his blows. The deserter's attacks seem to be hitting a stone wall. The dance of blocking and parrying went on like this for a few moments before the prince changed his stance to one more yielding to attack.
"Even if you did manage to kill me I have two younger brothers who would take my place" the Shavendral Crown Prince mused as he towered over his opponent and the smaller man blinked. Then out of the blue the war prince flicked his blade, removing The deserters hand so the appendage fell to the ground still gripping the blade. The unsuspecting man howled in agony as he clutched the stump as blood poured from the wound. A sadistic smile slid across the prince's face as he grabbed the man by the collar of his tunic and pulled him close.
"Your kingdom will be mine the moment your precious little princess becomes my wife. Then after a few years I will kill her and your kingdom will belongs solely to me" Tavrik sneered as he threw the bleeding man to the ground and a soldier dragged him away.
A few hours later all the surviving deserters were bound and placed in a cart, ready to be transported back to the capital city. The prince looked over his handiwork with the satisfied smile before turning to his commanders with the cold flat mask of indifference.
"Did we lose any?" He inquired and then looked at each other before looking at him with sad looks.
"We lost 12 good men today" the tallest of the commanders answered and the crown prince nodded his head.
"Bring their bodies they deserve a proper burial" the war prince stated as he turned to his massive battle charger and swung into the saddle. It was a day and a half's ride to the Talvok palace so he was eager to get on the way. He knew as well as any that the forest was full of enemies and it was best not to linger there any longer than necessary.

So what do you think? Good? Bad? What should I change? Please comment on your thoughts that would be very helpful. Should I keep this chapter? Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. Have an amazing day.