Midday had come and gone, but wasn't yet a distant memory. The sun's rays continued beaming strong, but the orb of their origin hastened to its burrow on the western horizon. A welcome respite from the heavy showers of that morning, the sunshine warmed the grasslands of Shafaria, where countless hoof-prints pitted the earth, indicating that a large company had recently travelled the path. 

Tom and Juan followed the trail of prints to a hill, and upon reaching the top, they took a moment to survey the vast grassland before them, and in particular, the myriads of soldiers dotting it. The gold and blue Monteraynian flag fluttered in the back on one side, alongside the perfectly square Shafarian banner. And on the other side, the Innutukian red and violet flag backed the much larger force. 

Without any cue, Tom and Juan simultaneously urged their horses on, and they galloped downhill, barreling toward the ongoing battle. Both knights unsheathed their swords and rushed toward the nearest Monteraynian formation that appeared it could use some help. 

The Innutukians used their heavily armored horses to bash into their enemies, the riders also protected by thick metal. With far more of their men on the foot than on horses, the Monteraynians and Shafarians found themselves continually crushed and pressed back. Adding far greater numbers to that, and the invaders of the north found themselves with quite an advantage. 

Tom gritted his teeth and charged into the nearest Innutukian cavalryman, who'd been too focused smashing his halberd into a Shafarian archer to see his approach. Though their armor was thick and protective, Innutuk only possessed crude and unrefined metal to construct it out of, making fine articulation difficult. And Tom knew their common vulnerabilities well. 

Tom slashed right into the Innutukian's exposed bicep, and with a scream, he tumbled off his horse. His blood reddened the grass. Without being told, Exuberance kicked the man in the head, and having lost his helmet in the tumble, he found himself missing several teeth, along with his consciousness. A Monteraynian spearman finished the kill. 

Pumping his arm skyward victoriously, Tom urged Exuberance on. Circle around their ranks and pick off men here and there. he told himself, That appears a good use of your speed advantage. 

A growling Innutukian hurled a javelin at Tom, but he caught it mid-flight, flipped it in his hand, and flung it right back. Unfortunately, he aimed amiss, so the point merely scratched his breastplate and dropped from there. The man sneered again and moved his armored horse to charge into a collision course. 

Tom grimaced when the Innutukian cavalryman came barreling over, glancing with fear at Exuberance's exposed head compared to other horse with a long plate covering its snout. He attempted coaxing his mount to turn aside, but the other was upon him too suddenly. 

Exuberance reared in an attempt at protecting himself, but in the process, he hurled Tom to the ground. The knight dropped with a grunt. And the other horse knocked Exuberance aside despite his attempt to fight back. The chestnut stallion dropped to his side and neighed. 

Tom gasped. The Innutukian was now charging at him. With a clumsy roll, he avoided the hooves thundering his way. Then he hurried to his feet while the cavalryman came back around. He raised his backup spear to drive Tom into the ground. 

Tom stood taut, sword poised to swing a lightning fast defense. The spearhead stared hungrily at his chest. Once it drew near, Tom struck, and his blade tore right through the wooden pole just before the metal point. He grinned victoriously. 

But then he cried out when the splintery tip jabbed into his back. His Innutukian foe twisted the shards of wood for even greater pain before removing them and drawing the weapon back for another poke. Tom glared and spun around. 

The knight batted away a second jab from the mangled pole, but only left himself open to a heavy blow from the blunt body of the former spear. He dropped to the ground and clutched his head. One of the Innutukian's comrades tossed him a javelin, and with a grin, he focused his gaze on fallen Tom. The armored horse's hooves thundered closer. 

Tom threw himself out of harm's way just in time, watching as the equestrian turned battering ram smashed into the hindquarters belonging to one of its comrades. Crippled, the black horse crumbled, and its rider tumbled down clumsily. He landed on his head and didn't move again. 

A familiar snort drew his attention again, and Tom's gaze rose to see Exuberance standing over him. With a grin, he clambered onto his horse's back again, just in time before his Innutukian foe came back around yet another time. The jolt of colliding with the other horse had apparently caused his helmet to jump ship. Tom knew what that meant. 

When the two horses came close enough, Tom swung his longsword, and the blade took off the Innutukian's head. Tom craned his neck to view the riderless horse continuing in its straight path, and then he realized it was now speeding at Juan and his mare. The older knight managed to keep his mount out of harm's way, and as he passed the unarmored rear of the other horse's body, he moved his sword to cut a long slit. Then he hurried after Tom. 

The two knights continued fighting through the Innutukian ranks, finding themselves barely adequate to combat the enemy's superior horseback combat skills, but managing to persevere and stay alive. And as they fought across the battlefield, they kept their eyes always searching for Peter Raska. 

A trio of spear-bearing Innutukian riders charged at Tom and Juan with expressions so vicious Tom could hardly convince himself they weren't foaming at the mouth. The two knights broke off in separate directions just in time to avoid the incoming battering rams, and casting a glance back, they realized the horse's riders were struggling to regain control of their stumbling mounts. 

"I'll circle those bastards and keep them occupied." Juan said, guiding his mare to turn back around, "You slay them." 

Tom nodded. "Sounds like a plan if I ever heard one." 

Juan sped over to the trio of warriors and made a constant circuit around them, preventing their animals from gathering any momentum. Meanwhile, Tom sped in and stabbed into the nearest spearman's neck while he was distracted. Blood shot out in a sideways geyser. 

Growling, one of the man's comrades turned his armored horse toward Tom and urged the beast to charge. But then Juan sped by again and startled the animal. Snorting loudly, it refused to move. The third Innutukian's attempt at flanking Tom also failed for the same reason. 

Tom waited for Juan to speed by again to give him enough time to execute his plan. Once he did, the young knight and his mount jetted ahead at the vengeful Innutukian with the skittish horse. As he anticipated, the man's spear attempted finding a home in his belly, but with a quick swipe of his longsword, the weapon angled at the ground. In the little time remaining before Exuberance would pass the Innutukian by entirely, Tom gave his face a bloody shave. 

Screaming but not dead, the man positioned himself to follow. But Juan came about again and ended that idea. With his own blade, the older knight evened out the sloppy shave. In retaliation, the raging Innutukian managed a shallow poke in Juan's mount's hindquarters. 

As Tom galloped back to finish his foe off, he studied the armor he wore. Sure enough, it had its flaws. Instead of covering his whole body, the armor covered his chest alone and cut off just above where his ribs would be. A terrible oversight on the designer's part, I'm afraid. 

With a shrug, Tom prepared himself. Knock the spear away, stab. Just like that. The horses thundered closer together. 

Tom cried out when his attempt at batting the spear away failed and the sharp point tore the top layer of skin off his shoulder. He hissed at the stinging sensation coursing over his raw flesh. The pain distracted him so much he missed his opportunity to strike. 

The third Innutukian in the former trio gave forth a war cry, the one Tom had forgotten about until now. The violent man nudged his horse to charge, and as before, Juan whizzed in front. But this time, the man managed to coax his mount to overcome her fear. They lurched forward. 

Still reeling, Tom strained his mind to prepare for the coming clash. But his thoughts came to him doubly slow, and with sparing clarity. He barely could concentrate enough to notice his opponent moving his spear for an attack, and not a stab, but something else with the blunt shaft. 

The spear's wooden shaft impacted Tom's chest, and with the momentum of the other horse backing it, it flung him off his saddle. His longsword spun in the air and dropped out of reach, the knight himself flying back several paces. He dropped with a grunt, wincing when he felt the hard stone he'd landed on poke the back of his ribs. Tom's head swam as he watched Exuberance continue galloping away, and the Innutukian attacker moving to engage Juan. 

Thudding hooves drew nearer, and Tom snatched himself out of the fog just in time to spot the other Innutukian barreling his way, clearly intent on trampling him. Four mounted archers rode in formation behind him, greatly increasing their odds of crushing Tom.  

Heart racing, Tom hurled himself sideways. A set of hooves sped by his head in a blur. But the archers were still coming. With a grunt, he rose to his feet, mind racing for a battle plan.  

When the first mounted archer drew near, Tom leapt at him and clambered onto his horse. He gripped the rider's shoulders and attempted throwing him off, but he resisted. They struggled for several moments. Finally, Tom succeeded in twisting the Innutukian sideways in the saddle and caused him to shoot off an unintentional arrow.  

The arrow pierced one of the other archer's horses. When the sharp arrowhead entered its flesh, the steed reared, throwing its rider off in the process. Juan promptly trampled the fallen man. 

Tom snatched his attention back to the matter at hand, and with a final shove, he knocked the archer off his horse, suddenly finding himself the sole master of the armored equestrian. A bloodcurdling scream drew his eye back for a moment, and he winced at the gory sight of the fallen archer trod under hoof like grapes in a winepress. 

Two archers to go, and one spearman. he reminded himself, watching Juan make another inconsequential clash with said spear-bearing warrior. But then he realized he still hadn't retrieved his longsword. Eye widened in panic, he rummaged in the saddlebag. His search turned up nothing but a dull dagger and a half-full bottle of ale. 

An arrow sped by his face from one of the Innutukian archers speeding in from behind. Then another clattered against the armor covering his mount's snout. Tom glanced back and forth to judge their positions. The archer on his right lingered farther back, while the one on his left sped up to ride alongside him. 

Tom watched as the archer fumbled for another arrow and placed it on his bowstring. With a smirk, he uncorked the ale bottle and flung the contents at the Innutukian's face. While he was dazed from that, the resourceful knight reached over and took the bow and a few arrows for himself. Then he drove the dagger into his opponent's cheek. 

Another arrow flew by Tom and pierced the ground right in front of his horse's hooves. The knight twisted in the saddle and pulled his bowstring back. He grimaced at the strain. I hate archery. 

He fired amiss, and in the time it took him to pick up another arrow, his opponent retaliated. Tom tucked his leg in just in time to avoid the projectile, and instead, it pierced his horse's ribs. The equestrian reared up, and Tom tumbled off. The Innutukian archer smirked. 

While Tom fumbled evade the next arrow fired his way, the injured horse galloped off. Just before the archer could shoot another, Exuberance charged in from the side, leapt up, and kicked the man in the face. With a loud snap, he dropped to the ground, and the chestnut stallion's hooves crushed his body shortly after. 

Tom grinned at his horse, and with a grunt, he rose to his feet. He ran a hand over Exuberance's snout. "I thank the Lord for you, my friend." 

Exuberance whinnied before licking his owner. Tom chuckled and moved to mount him again. He raised his gaze to see Juan galloping over, blade covered in blood. 

Juan smirked as he positioned himself to ride in parallel with Tom. "You dropped this." 

Tom awkwardly caught the longsword Juan tossed at him. "Thank you. Any sign of Sir Raska yet?" 

"No, but we will find him yet." 

Tom nodded. In sync, the two knights sped onward, a train of raging Innutukians galloping behind them and spewing vile curses aplenty. 

**** 

A/N: I know this update is a day late, but as I said on my message board, I was exhausted on Thursday night, which is my usual day for preparing this story's new chapters for posting. That aside, I hope this was worth the wait! If you enjoyed this exhilarating chapter, please do vote and comment. 😁 

(Or if you didn't find it exhilarating...well...I'm just a little bit worried about you. 😂) 

Anyway, I won't waste a lot of time here, as I have another chapter to post here and one for my other ongoing work, the Iron Pillars. So it's a busy morning for me. See you in the next one, I hope!