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His eyes darted, and I wondered if they had deserted their countrymen The punishment for that was severe and I didn’t have the heart to enforce it now But as it turned out, his neorse

"My king, the battle did not go well They are the feho survived"

I hardly dared ask "Roden?"

"He was taken prisoner My lord, ill fight as long as you coainst the dirt, and then looked back at him "Lieutenant, you will order the immediate retreat of our o to be safe"

He bowed "Yes,up our ns of Tobias and Amarinda

Then, with more horror than I could absorb, I realized where they e of ca in front of the pile, his sword so heavy that he could barely hold it with both hands Fink was trying to protect the him toward the woodpile Several of the Avenians followed, swars But I had no time for them, and dispatched them as fiercely and quickly as possible

However, another Avenian on a courser horse near the woodpile had spotted Fink, who yelled in terror Frorabbed the sword fro wildly at the soldier, who quickly knocked hihts on Aed She started to run and the soldier kicked at his horse to follow, but Fink crossed between her and the horse, the sword in his hands again He was so short that his sword cale It pierced the man’s armor beneath his knee and the man cried as loudly as Fink had just yelled He collapsed forward, blood spilling fro, he said, "I did that! Me!"

"You acted as a knight should," I said When Tobias and Amarinda were closer, I turned to them "You were supposed to leave"

"We tried," Tobias said "But they caave Tobias the reins for my horse and the fallen soldier’s as well "Get into the forest We’ll gather there"

"But I already sent the wounded on ahead"

"There is nothing ahead, Tobias! Look around us!" Then I lowered my voice "There will be st them"

That was all Tobias needed to hear Once they were mounted on horses, Fink led the way Tobias and A him into the cover of the woods

By that time, the battlefield had ht, but nothing I did at that point would end in any way other than with my death

I never run

That hat I had said once to Gregor, the foruard And now, I had not only ordered the retreat of my army, but I was forced to retreat with theed to Avenia now The land was littered with our wounded and dead, and if I didn’t find a way out, the rest of us would be dead by tomorrow