Henry's heart fluttered as he waited to signal Miles. The prince's plan was bold and for the first time in a long time, he felt the prickles of fear in his stomach. Well, fear and hunger.
He shook off the feelings and focused on the task ahead. The group of Nieblans were resting now. Two of them were seated on a log, another two were standing about five feet away from the log, and the last one was taking a leak in the bushes.
Now was the perfect time to attack. Henry looked up to the tall pine in which Miles had climbed and was currently perched on one of its limbs, his bow in hand, ready to fire at Henry's command. Earlier, Henry had instructed Miles to hurry ahead of the Nieblan group. It was obvious the Nieblans were following the length of the mountains, so getting ahead of them wasn't hard to do. The prince had worried for his friend's safety, unsure if he could climb such a tall tree quickly and quietly without detection of the Nieblan's. Fortunately, he had managed the task.
Henry took a deep breath in and tried to relax his tense muscles. He was hidden behind the large trunk of a massive tree, working up the courage to follow through with his plan. He knew he could rely on Miles' aim, but the goal was to take prisoners, not to kill them all. Henry was fine if one or two died, but they needed information and a good way to get it was to have more than one prisoner. Torturing someone's friend was a sure-fire way to get the other to talk.
Knowing it was now or never, Henry made eye contact with Miles and gave a nod of his head. Henry gripped his sword tighter as he heard the whistle of an arrow slicing through the air and then the sickening sound it made as it hit its target.
In a moment Henry was able to comprehend the scene in front of him. The man who had been hit had been the biggest threat. His sword was in its sheath around his waist while the others frantically searched for their own weapons. The man with his sword now had an arrow in his abdomen, a wound that was fairly critical if untreated for a time.
Henry quickly zeroed in on his own target as he heard the whizz of another arrow. There was the sound of an arrow making contact with flesh, but Miles had not anticipated on the man moving out of the way. The arrow only nicked the side of one of the Nieblans. Since that man was already distracted, Henry decided to go for the man that was quickly bending down to grab his sword from the ground.
Just as the Nieblan grabbed his sword, Henry sent a sweeping attack to the man's back, knowing the blow would not pierce through the man's armor. He only needed to effectively knock him down and unconscious until Henry decided how to take him back to the castle.
The man fell to the ground and Henry used the hilt of his sword to hit the man on the back of the head hard enough to make him unconscious.
Quickly, Henry noticed one of the other Nieblans had a bow in hand and was trying to take down Miles. Doing his best to avoid getting hit, Miles had ceased firing and was struggling not to plummet to his death from the height of the tree.
To help his friend, Henry advanced to the Nieblan with the bow but was suddenly hit hard in the back by another man. Henry moved just in time to avoid his head getting chopped in half by the glistening sword of the other man.
This man was screaming in fury as he lunged again at Henry. The prince sidestepped him and shot his right arm towards the man, his sword cutting a deep gash into the Nieblan's arm. The man cried out in pain and, with his left hand, suddenly pulled out a dagger.
Unprepared for this, the dagger's attack just barely grazed Henry's cheek. The prince felt a sharp pain and then the warmth of blood as it seeped down his face.
He bit his lip to keep from wincing in pain. Quickly, he took a few steps back to gain some distance between himself and his foe. He had forgotten about the other Nieblans, however, and was soon rampaged by a screaming man with a sword outstretched towards Henry.
Knowing there was no way he could safely take this man prisoner, Henry gave the attack his all as he focused his strength on his advance. He sliced at the man's chest to knock him backwards and then swiftly slid the point of his blade into the Nieblan's heart. The man's armor was cheaply made, making the job easier than Henry anticipated. It was the first man he had ever killed and he tried not to hesitate before facing his next opponent.
From his peripheral vision, Henry noticed the Nieblan with the bow continued to fire arrows towards Miles. So far Miles had not been hit, but as he avoided another arrow, his foot slipped from the limb of the tree, causing him to fall.
Henry's heart leapt and his loss of focus caused him to take a hard hit to the chest, successfully knocking the wind out of him. Another hit caused the prince to hit the ground hard and from the flat of his back he could see Miles above him. Thankfully, his friend had managed to grab onto the limb with his two hands but was struggling to lift himself back up. It was only a matter of moments before Miles' strength wore out and both young men met their fate.
Henry closed his eyes, knowing the Nieblan who had struck him down was about to deal the final blow. Then, realizing his cowardice, he opened his eyes to meet his doom. His sword had somehow fallen from his grip and landed on the ground just out of reach.
With a grunt of effort, Henry used his sore muscles to shift his body towards the sword. But he was too late. Yelling with battle rage, Henry's opponent flung himself forward with his sword outstretched and pointed at Henry's heart.
Just in time, an arrow whizzed through the air and pierced through the hand of the Nieblan attacker. Though Henry had no idea where the arrow had come from nor who had fired it, he didn't waste another second trying to find out. Instead, he grabbed hold of his sword and thrust it into the chest of the man who had almost killed him.
The prince thought perhaps his second kill would have phased him less, but alas, the feeling of his blade crushing through the man's body was enough to send bile up Henry's throat.
Once he swallowed it down, he finally took the time to see who had saved him. It was a Lyran patrol, four men on horseback riding through the small battle scene.
The Nieblan who had taken the first hit from Miles was fleeing towards the mountains, hoping to evade the patrol. But the Lyran knight was too quick and from his horse he sent an arrow sailing smoothly through the air until it pierced through the man's skull, killing him instantly.
There were only two Nieblans left and Henry quickly composed himself as he searched for them. He found them quickly but the scene before him was too odd to process. The Nieblan who had been shooting arrows at Miles was now turning on his own man. He sent an arrow flying straight into his own man's back and then another until the shocked Nieblan went down.
Then the Nieblan archer pulled out his own dagger and suddenly his intent was clear to Henry. He was going to kill himself so that he could not be tortured for information. This Nieblan enemy was so devoted to his own kingdom that he would take out his own men and even himself to keep his kingdom's plans a secret.
Before the man could commit his deed, one of the Lyran patrol knocked him over and pinned his arms behind his back. Henry stepped forward to help, but a hand pulled his shoulder back. Henry turned to see the angry face of his father, King Alan.