Carl charged down from the low slope atop her armored warhorse, the plates grinding with dense metallic friction. Sixteen personal guards spread out in a wedge formation, lowering their lances until their tips formed a cold line in the morning light.
The purple square banners wrapped around the lanceheads snapped taut in the wind. The standing army advanced along both flanks, while crossbow bolts flew from behind the infantry toward the Nilfgaardian position. Three Nilfgaardian crossbowmen were nailed to tree trunks during a gap in their reloading.
When the personal guards crashed into the ambush formation from the flank and rear, even the loose stones on the ground trembled. Lances pierced shields, then carried men off the ground with undiminished momentum and hurled them into the backs of the infantry ranks at the front.
The layered sounds of shattering were like smashed pottery. The Nilfgaardian line broke completely, its shield wall splintering into isolated fragments. The scattered soldiers tried to flee deeper into the woods, only to be intercepted and cut down one by one by the standing army pressing in from both sides.
Blood splattered across Carl's visor, blurring the slit for her eyes. She pulled it open with one hand, then instantly swung her lance around and charged the last enemies trying to break out.
Several Nilfgaardian soldiers still struggling to crawl into the forest had their spines broken beneath the hooves of the personal guards' fast-driving wedge formation. Their corpses hung along the exposed tree roots.
The three Nilfgaardian squads numbered over forty men in total. Aside from the one Ron had personally hacked to pieces, all the rest were wiped out under the combined assault of infantry and charging lances.
Miko went around the collapsed shield wall and crouched beside Cole. Cole lay face down beside