Temple Sword

Chapter 90 A stone's throw away

1311th of St. John's Month (June), 6

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Bells were calling for communion, but the church was empty on this summer morning.People can't see the approaching army yet, but they can gradually hear their voices.The pounding of drums accompanied their footsteps carrying food, water, disassembled siege engines, and camp equipment.And the Buda man's heart beats with each beat of the drum more intensely.

Matthew, Abbot of Buda, celebrated early morning mass in front of a large crowd, and the city was as quiet as it had ever been in Buda.The six hundred soldiers and knights who guarded the castle, and many more citizens, artisans, and penniless serfs, knelt in the street with their heads bowed, listening to the abbot recite the mass in a hollow voice. .

"This is my body!"

Those standing on the ramparts could already see the outlines of the approaching army, and Matthew guessed that he was running out of time, so he shortened the Mass as much as possible and began to bless quickly.

The tall, bald man took the holy water from the hand of the boy beside him and made an imposing sign of the cross in the air.He especially blessed the defenders of the castle and asked God to help them achieve victory and dispel fear from the hearts of the defenders of Buda.

Matthew, not in his usual priestly attire, was getting ready for the siege, intending to join the defense himself.He wore an ankle-length dark brown robe with a sash around his waist, and he didn't wear chain mail, because Matthew believed that if God commanded him to die, he would die anyway, and he had no need to go against God's will, wear Useless chain mail.

So, as soon as he had finished his sermon, he put on his gloves, took up his battered shield, and clutched his jagged mace, which looked like a small spoon in his large hand.He waved it a few times and nodded in satisfaction.

"It'll be all right," he muttered, "if they dare, they can attack now..."

Antares had never felt so tense, and even William Barto could not calm his adopted son, although his uncle had prepared the city well for any eventuality in a siege down.

"Water and food?" Antal asked the question no less than a hundred times, and Thomas Semsey answered it no less than a hundred times.

"No shortage, we have already prepared all the supplies that can be collected inside the wall."

"We should cover the flammable places with wet furs and clothes! The roofs of the huts are to be drenched until they leak!"

"They've already done that," said Laszlo, the son of rector Vinal. "Everything is ready."

"Old people, women, and children are in the innermost church." William brought the latest news. "The horses are safe too. Most of the soldiers are on the west facing wall, the non-combatants are ready to bandage, amputate and carry away the casualties. The women in the kitchen are already divided and we lock up the drunks rise up, and be guarded by full-time guards in case they cause any confusion."

"Okay," Antal nodded repeatedly, "let's go to the wall!"

"My lord!" A child's voice sounded, and little Mathias ran to Antal. "What should I do? I'm ready to defend the castle!"

"Of course, I know," Lily Knight smiled, "go to my room and take care of yourself, okay?"

"I want to go up the city wall too, my lord!" the boy shook his head.

"I know how you feel," Antal grabbed the boy who had just turned ten years old by the arm, "When I was your age, I was not afraid of anyone and dared to challenge anyone. And I did the same ...but that turned out to be a bad idea."

"I don't want to be a useless person," Mathias said with sad eyes, "I need tasks, my lord!"

"You have the most important task, my boy," the Lily Knight encouraged, "and wait for me in my room with bandages, food, and drink. This is very important, and when I return there to rest for a few minutes, I Fresh food and spirits will be needed, without which I cannot fight. And of course water for washing, and if I am wounded, you know what to do..."

"I see, my lord!" said little Mathias, "you can trust me!"

"Then you go back to my room now and wait for my next order, do you hear me?"

"Understood," the boy nodded, "cut them all down, my lord!"

"That's what we intend," said William, "and we'll take care of your master, boy, don't worry!"

The boy bowed to them and quickly disappeared among the houses.

"He is much more obedient than you used to be," said the old knight, nudging his nephew. "If I had let you stay in my room, you would have jumped on a horse, or on a wall."

"But maybe I can bring Mate Chuck's head back," Antal laughed, "but I hope that kid doesn't have such thoughts in his head..."

They reached the walls, and Mate Chuck's army had begun their attack.They were out of range of the arrows, but close enough that those on the walls could see their full strength.Their commander must have wanted to intimidate the defenders, thinking that when they saw the 3000 men, the endless camp, and the siege engines, the defenders would raise the white flag and hand over Buda to the oligarchs.Antal shared this point of view with those around him, and Thomas Semsey just laughed a few times.

"Good idea, we will only raise Mate Chuck's human leather flag!"

On the western city wall, there were more and more soldiers of King Charles, watching helplessly those who were preparing to attack the city set up their camps.

"Those are siege engines," William said, pointing further away, where dozens of men were fiddling with large wooden structures. "They're assembling them now, hope this doesn't cause us too much trouble..."

"Just wait till the sun goes down," said Vajk Flo, appearing on the ramparts. "They won't be throwing stone balls at us tomorrow, I promise you, my lords."

Twenty of his warriors followed the archers up the stone stairs, and although they were clad in leather armor from head to toe and carried more weapons than most soldiers, they looked incomplete without their horses as companions. It looks weird.

"Lord Vaik, can you tell me," Antal nodded to them, "how do you plan to destroy those siege machines?"

"Don't let this bother you," Vajk gripped his bow tightly, drawing a feathered arrow from his quiver, "keep your eyes open!"

"What are you going to do?" Lily Knight asked with a smile, "I don't want to disappoint you, but they are no longer in range, they are not that stupid..."

"Look at it." The twenty warriors of the archer rider also lined up beside him, each holding a compound bow in his hand, the upper bow head is longer than the lower bow head, and each bowstring has a There is a barbed arrow.

"Aim," they said in a low, calm voice, led by Vajk, drawing their bows up.

Antal, William, Thomas Semsey, and the defenders standing beside them all looked at the group of men in leather armor curiously.

"Let go!" The 21 bows rose higher at the same time, they gently let go of the bowstrings, the arrows pierced the air, flying much farther than Antal expected, they drew an astonishing arc in the air, and then Started to descend and flew towards the soldiers besieging the city.When Mate Chuck's soldiers came to their senses, eight people had died, ten were seriously injured, and only three escaped with minor injuries.

Those who stood on the city wall were stunned and praised the magical range and superb shooting skills of these archers and riders. It was a miracle that the bows and arrows could directly shoot into the enemy camp and hit all of them.

After a while, the 21 bows aimed at the sky again. This time there was no order. They adjusted the frequency of shooting arrows according to their own rhythm, but they still shot arrows almost at the same time, and 15 more people were shot and killed.

The besieging soldiers started to riot, not understanding what was going on, after all, they were out of range of bows and arrows!

"Retreat!" The few people in the front screamed desperately, and began to run away desperately, pushing away the crowd behind them with all their strength. "Stand back, you bastards, can't you hear me?"

Another 21 arrows fell from the sky, pierced the throat, shot into the heart, and nailed the limbs.Even those who survived could not pull the arrow out of their body, because pulling out the barbed arrow would only cause worse injuries.

Immediately after the bowstring was swung, they reached for another arrow from the quiver with unbelievable speed.The army, which was still strictly disciplined not long ago, seemed to step into a whirlpool with one foot, and every time several soldiers fell down.By the time they finally raised their shields in the confusion and began to retreat, no fewer than fifty people had been killed and over a hundred wounded.

"Enough." Seeing that the enemy army was out of range and almost ran into the woods behind, Vajk smiled at Antal with satisfaction, "It will take them a while to figure it out."

"You have all the respect and approval I have," Lily Knight said impressively, "I've never seen anything like it!"

"While we're here," Bow Rider promises, "you'll see more of this."

(End of this chapter)