307 Chapter 30As Khao’khen had predicted, before darkness fully made its full retreat to give way for the light to have its turn to reign over the lands below, Ounephes ordered for his troops exit their camp and form up their battleline. All the nine thousand soldiers that he had formed a formidable battleline which were comprised of a thousand archers, five hundred cavalry and the rest were infantry.

Ounephes had his infantry divided into fifteen different detachments with each unit consisting of five hundred soldiers. Each unit had a length of fifty men while ten men deep and he equally divided his archers positioned on both of their flanks while being accompanied by a hundred riders on both sides. He still had five detachments of infantry in reserves and three hundred riders guarding him at the rear which would he would mobilize when necessary.

At the side of the Drakhars, the sentries who were on post quickly notified their superiors of their enemy’s activity. Zaraki responded by quickly deploying the Drakhars onto the field where their prowess in battle thoroughly lies. The Drakhars were distributed evenly forming ten detachments with the same number as their foes also consisting of five hundred men in each unit. The archers were positioned at the rear with their only cavalry unit positioned at their left flank.

Khao’khen made his way out of the camp to observe the battle that was the occur and he could spot some of the orcs peeking on top of the walls of their fortifications with envy clearly written on their face towards their human allies for being able to go into battle while they are to stay inside the camp. The soldiers on both sides weren’t still fully awake because of the sudden deployment and some could still be seen yawning while in their formation.

Khao’khen went and gave a nod of acknowledgement to Zaraki the Black with his arrangements and stood right beside him to observe their foes who were still yet to make a move after forming their battleline. Both camps were situated on hills overlooking the plains below through a gentle slope as both wanted to incorporate the terrain to their advantage in the defense of their camps.

A figure could be seen riding in front of the enemy army as he move from one flank to the other, ‘Probably addressing his soldiers before the battle begins’ Khao’khen thought then tapped the shoulders of Zaraki and told him to also go and give the Drakhars some words to try and boost their morale before the battle begins.

After both sides finished with their speeches, the sound of a battle horn echoed all throughout signaling the start of the fight. The Ereian Army marched downhill to the plains below and so did the Drakhars. Both sides marched in their own pace without caring whether the opposition makes it quicker down to the plains than them.

More than a kilometer apart, both armies stared at each other and waited for the other side to make their move first. More than an hour passed without any movements from both sides. The soldiers of both armies patiently waited with bated breath for the orders of their superiors to make a move.

Ounephes was still busy trying to figure out their enemies with his scrying spell before he would commit to the battle. Seeing that their side clearly had the advantage in numbers, he ordered for the archers on both flanks to march forward and try to seek action from the opposing side.

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Seeing that the enemy commander was yet to properly mount an attack and just sending his missile units forward, Zaraki responded by sending their archer unit to their right flank to engage their enemy archers in a battle of missiles. He had his archers marched forward in a loose formation to minimized the effects of concentrated volleys while he sent their cavalry unit forward that was on their left flank to deter the enemy archers from the enemy’s right flank.

The archers of Ounephes on their right flank slowed down in their march when they noticed that it was an enemy cavalry from the opposition that was coming out to greet them. The archer units from the right flank of the Drakhars and the left flank of the Ounephes led army began exchanging a rain of arrows while the cavalry sent by Zaraki to deter the other enemy archer unit halted in their advance.

The exchange of arrows of the archer units from both sides lasted for more than an hour with both sides suffering casualties but the archers belonging to the side of the Drakhars sustained lesser casualties than their counterpart thanks to their loose formation which caused many of the enemy arrows to miss their target. After both archer units wasted all their arrows, they began retreating back to their respective lines to supply themselves with new arrows and have some rest.

Khao’khen watched silently the boring opening of the day’s battle.

After the archers made their way back, Ounephes commanded for their entire left flank to advance forward. The drums of war began beating as the infantry on their left flank advanced forward and the opposition responded by also marching forward their right flank to engage them.

The Drakhars marched forward with their spears still raised up high pointing to the sky. They maintained a tight formation ensuring that they are not so far off from the other units.

When the distance between the two parties were almost only a hundred meters apart, the Drakhars slowed down in their march as they pointed their spears forward. Both hands of a Drakhar was needed to balance the weight of their ridiculously long spears and their smaller shields was but just hung around their neck with the use of some strings to add protection to them against missiles unlike the Rakshas who had the strength to hold their outrageously long spears with one hand.

The Ereian left flank was bewildered with the formation of their enemy which none of them have ever witnessed before in their entire lives. Albeit confused, the Ereian left flank still continued to move forward.

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