You know that tingly little feeling you get when you like someone? That is your common sense leaving your body.

Sitting under the moonlight, I tied the pieces of rope I had gathered from different soldiers.

My plan was to make a large net that covers a large area easily. Somewhat 10 feet in length and width. If I can find oil used to light stoves on fire in these houses, it will make my plan all the more successful.

The stars twinkled above me and slow wind cools my body down.

It has been days since I last showered but it did not really bother me. There were many things to be planned knowing I had thrown myself in a very complicated and mighty mess.

When the daylight hits, it is very likely that we will be attacked again and this time, with reinforcements of the enemy. If the retreated at night, that definitely meant either they have achieved their goal or maybe they saw no favor in continuing like that.

They did have the numbers, but now I am almost completely sure that whoever was the new emperor in their empire was not an experienced one. Instead of using their numbers properly, they sent them to their deaths because of poor planning and leading.

If only they were smarter about this, I might not be standing here alive.

A sudden crunch brought me back to the reality and I raised my head in the direction of the sound.

One of the soldier from my battalion knelt down beside me, wordlessly starting to contribute. He caught on my work quickly and started securing the ends with tight knots.

Tilting my head, he noticed my stare and looked at me, "I could not sleep. Rather than lying like that, I thought it would be better to do something and then I saw you." Nodding at his explanation, I continued my task.

"The wounded soldiers in Khulaid's battalion do not look good. Even after treating them, I doubt they will be able to take part in the battle if it happens tomorrow. We all mig-" My ears just could not handle his thoughts so I was forced to stop him by placing a hand on his shoulder.

His eyes connected with mine and I slowly shook my head. Pointing at myself, I tried to give him a reassuring look.

I hope my wordless look told him what my lips could not say. "Nothing will happen to us! We will make it out alive, believe me!"

A couple of more feet sounded in our direction and both the guy with me and I looked up.

More soldiers from my battalion and a smile took over my lips.

No one could sleep it seems.

::

Ozair - the man who was feeling sentimental only a while ago - and I decided to look for any useful supplies in the houses of the village.

We had already been to two, grabbed what little oil there was. I also found a small diary with a chalk. Immediately I had picked it up.

Things would be made easier for me.

I have no idea in how much time the sun will be out, I have no idea how many more moments to the second wave of the battle and because of that, I cannot stop moving!

I will not stop moving.

So far, Ozair and I have not encountered any soldiers that could have sneaked in so that was in our favor.

And if there were any intruders, they were smart enough to remain hidden.

Ozair and I dragged the large vessel of oil towards my battalion who seemed done with the large net.

Good!

Grabbing the the large heavy bet, I dragged it towards the vessel - my men helped me and we completely submerged the net in oil.

Taking a page out from the diary, I quickly scribbled something down and handed it to Ozair.

"You want me to gather all the men from our battalion?" I nod.

If we wanted to succeed, we will have to put the plan in motion while hidden in the dark of the night.

Best time to put things into motion.

I scribbled another set of order while Ozair took his time to gather the rest of the men.

When Ozair returned followed by the many men, I handed him the sheet scribbled on with my messy handwriting.

"I as the one leading this battalion can not and will not prefer to have any more deaths of the men under me. I have a plan. Out of 300 men here including me, 200 are to stay here while the other 100 will be sent out of the gates right now."

A few confused glances are throwing around and I nod at Ozair to carry on.

"Most of us are archers, long range combat is what you do. The 100 that will go out of the border and camouflage themselves among in the trees. I will be discussing with Khulaid and he shall send out some of his warriors with you. Your duty is to attack from their back while we keep them occupied at the front."

The glances that before looked worried seemed to gleam in appreciate. Approving the plan.

"The others will remain inside the walls. I along with two other warriors in this battalion will be on the frontline while the other 197 shall climb the walls and station themselves up there with the net. Gather pieces of wood and tie them to yourselves for extra protection. You all once again have to eliminate the long range warriors and then move to the sword wielders.

"Am I clear!?"

"Yes Sir!" Nodding, I usher them to stand up and they start quickly packing their things up.

It's best if they leave right now. I just have to now go to Khulaid and ask for his troops.

::

Morning light came far quicker than anticipated. My eyes had not rested even a wink and only now the tiredness had started making itself more noticable.

Everything was set into place while we waited. When the sun comes out completely awake from it's slumber, an archer from the top of the wall announces,

"They are marching towards us! Men, Prepare!"

My heart thumped faster and I unsheathed my sword with one hand while the other clutched my dagger tightly.

Back when the sky had slightly  lightened, I was able to make out the damage of the gates of border. It was burned.

Only little of the would close to the hinges remain, now that I think about it, it is for the better.

The enemy was coming on horses, in minutes we could sight the firm of their bodies and weapons.

At the front stood Khulaid and I next to him. Anyone would be better in my position, if only I could switch to give us a batter chance at the opening attack but I cannot step back. The title of Amir and a prideful man was already heavy on my shoulders.

I raised my hand, giving a signal to the archers on the walls to hold the first set of arrows.

To our advantage, the enemies archers  have to be exceptional to take a perfect aim from the back to a higher platform while moving on horses and I doubt many of them would be able to pull it off. Their archers were with limited mobility while all our warriors and archers had the mobility to move freely.

The moment the archer from the wall will attack, it will be a signal for the archers and warriors hidden outside the wall to attack.

The enemies will have to divide their attacks and still not be enough.

We will be attacking from three directions, the front, the back and the top.

The enemies seem to stop moving when they reach right infront of our gate - now empty space - and my eyes narrow. They seemed too many. I could not make a rough estimate but they seemed alot.

A jagged fire run wild in my heart as a very weird excitement laced my heart.

I lowered my hand.

The voice of arrows leaving bows and cutting through air zapped to our ear. The knights were quick to hover their shields above their heads and I smirked.

No warrior of our battalion on the ground moved as we all saw the net laced with oil - the weapon we spent hours on - drop above the knights, a flicker of torch and the knights are enveloped in flames.

No one moved from our side.

One man seems to escape, his clothes on fire, a war cry escaping his lips as his horse kneaded his hooves in the ground, making his way towards us.

With only a flick of my wrist, my dagger lodges into his throat, giving him the pleasure of death.

A sickening feeling rise in my chest.

The man drops and his horse runs into the lands behind us. The scream of warriors burning gets louder as they fight to de-tangle themselves from the net while their horses are driven mad from the burns.

Put them out of their misery.

Lowering my hand once more, another set of arrows are released, plummeting the burning warriors to their death. Their shields long gone.

I pull my dagger out of the dead man's throat and look back towards our army.

Time to teach them a lesson.

Never dare to think about hurting my empire and people!

I would suggest all those who are sensitive to reading this type of content to skip this and most probably the start of the next chapter maybe.