"Shoot them dead! Loose your arrows! Loose your arrows!"
Arrow after arrow flew from King Claudus's army, but they had barely any effect.
Just before the battle began, Sovell had manipulated the atmosphere to create dim light and fierce winds.
The dim light effectively hampered the archers' vision, while the erratic winds repeatedly weakened the arrows' force.
And all 1,005 people, including Sovell and his two companions,
wore at least chainmail, which offered excellent protection against sharp weapons such as arrows.
Moreover, everyone on Sovell's side had a helmet. Aside from one unlucky soldier whose hand was grazed by an arrow, they all remained unscathed.
The enemy spotters saw that the arrows had no effect on Sovell's force and sent word advising that they cease shooting.
Then drums thundered.
The patter of hooves against the ground rang out incessantly.
Cavalry!
King Claudus's cavalry charged straight out of the formation, clearly intending to use their horses' overwhelming momentum to smash Sovell's formation apart!
Naturally, Sovell would not let them have their way.
The youth in pure white robes broke from the formation and charged ahead toward the enemy ranks. As he raced forward, he kept tossing points of blue-green light ahead of him.
Moments later, King Claudus's cavalry ran headlong into the lights Sovell had laid down and could advance no farther.
No matter how the riders dug their spurs into their mounts, the horses refused to take another step.
A closer look revealed threads made of those lights winding around every horse's hooves.
The next instant, the threads blazed blue-green. Dozens of Wind Arrows materialized from the air around the cavalry and shot toward them!
A few metallic clangs rang out, and two gaping holes appeared in each rider's helmet.
The riders tumbled from their horses, blood and brains spilling