'Til Kingdom Comes - The Banished Prince Vol 3: The Prophecy

Still Tripping Once More

"Your Majesty... YOUR MAJESTY...!!! Time to get on your feet up. This is the last wave of oppression and our forces would be able to drive those hordes of wild men out from here. We've got you to lead the men through, Your Majesty... YOUR MAJESTY...!!!"

Someone was literally screaming into my right ear as I was trying to sit up after a mantlet in front of me had been blown into smithereens.

It was a defensive and offensive tool that I had once designed and was static but now it was being mounted with wheels on its sides and had The Patrol emplaced in the centre.

The mantlet when pushed or ridden on would be able to inch forward and perform an excellent pincer attack and counter offensive against oncoming enemies.

The only thing is that right now, our enemies were not men but were considered as wild men...!

I looked around to find the one who was screaming in my right side of the ear and discovered that it was Clayton Chadwell.

But this time he had grown into a fine lad and was wielding a kind of shield on his back that protects his whole head to his body.

He had two curved daggers in his sides and he wields a longbow with a set of quiver on the left hand side of his thigh.

From the looks of Clayton beside me, it seemed that not only did he had grown in his years but so do I anls I felt slightly heavy to even stand up. I then discovered that I was clad from head to toe in the special kind of metal that Priest Michael had made for us.

It was a three quarters suit of armour and had studded leather gambeson as the inner and outer wear of the armour suit. Looking at the designs, it was flexible and was plated that enhances ones flexibility and also durability of each armour plates.

I stood up immediately after kneeling one one knee and hoisted myself up. The armour felt good on myself and it felt as though it was meant to be like a piece of outerwear, rather than an armour.

After Clayton had checked myself for any injuries due to the force of the blast that had been absorbed fully by the mantlet before us, he thumped my chest nonchalantly and held my arm as we scooted off to take cover behind another mantlet instead.

I had a bow with me but I discovered several things different from what I used to wield before. The bow was not made of bamboo anymore and the designs were abit exotic or so it seems.

It was a recurve now and it was made with the same materials that was made from my armour plates. Weird... When I nocked my arrow and draw the string it at fully, it felt slightly lighter and I guessed the bow itself was less than the usual 110 pounds draw strength.

The arrowhead was also different as it was a three bladed tip with a small ball inside the blades and I wonder what they were.

I lined up for my shot and when I looked at the wild men that was preparing to move some sort of weapon across the ground that looked like a cannon but much more smaller, I realised that they stood just 3 foot tall.

Dwarfs...?

Goblins...?

Or even gnomes...?

Are we at war with them or they at war with us...?

From the looks of the clothes that they wore, it would be most likely gnomes that was mentioned in our folklore — mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy.

Sooner or later, the cannon that the gnomes were aligning to barrage us with their powers would soon fall on our defensive mantlet if we just looked on. After finding the most suitable target, I let the arrow loose and it struck directly inside the cannon's opening with a loud *BBOOOOOOMMM*

"Great shot, Your Majesty...! A few more of those we would have taken over this village and run them out from existance...!" Clayton pumped his fist in the air and was excited as the cannon was blown up and that means that the only offensive weapons the gnomes had was being reduced.

"How old are you now, Clayton?!" I shouted as I began to scan the surroundings as other mantlets slowly advanced forwards, pushed behind by some archers and infantrymen.

"18 years of age, Your Majesty. Why do you ask?" Clayton replied and asked me a question that he finds rather awkward in the middle of battle.

"Seems that ai had gone past 11 years ahead of time and what the hell are we doing invading other lands? Don't we have more than enough lands on our town?" I thought inwardly as I quickly replied to him, "Nothing... Just curious how times fly."

Clayton shrugged his shoulders as he too began to unleash an arrow high in the sky and it rained down on any unsuspecting gnomes who might be trying to burrow its way back into the Earth.

"How is Eagle? Is he part of this attack?"

"Yes... He had been ahead, Your Majesty. I am now the one guarding you if he is not with us." came the short reply as I sighted two gnomes who tried to flank us with another cannon about 100 yards away.

"We've got to get closer. There... 100 yards away on your right. Can you see it?" I suggested as I manouevered the mantlet and traversed it 45° to the right and pushed it along.

*WHIIZZ*

*WHIIZZ*

*SWOOSH*

Luckily for the mantlet, we would be able to take cover behind it as we were almost rained down by short bolts that nearly penetrate the front of the mantlet. If our mantlet was just made from plain wood or wicker, it would be easily pierced by those bolts shot from the gnomes.

Even if their arrows were shown to be rather short, it would prove to be a pain in the ass if we do not have any proper protection against them.

"Yeah, Your Majesty... I see the cannons they are setting up. We have to get closer now... It seems that most of them had burrowed back underground and there's only one cannon to deal with us, I sincerely hope so."

Clayton huffed his words as he inched closer to be able to get a good shot once again and blown their cannons into smithereens. It's payback time after what you had done to His Majesty.

"How are the twins and Her Majesty?" I simply asked gingerly, not expecting them to be taking up arms but would be protecting their mother at her sides then.

Clayton stopped pushing the mantlet and looked at me in the most bewildered look in his eyes. Somehow he had his eyes in a downcast manner when I asked about the twins and Heather.

"Your Majesty...! Its not the time to joke...! His and Her Royal Highness along with Her Majesty had perished a few months ago and you were with them. Their cause of death is because of this goddamned gnomes...!"

"Are you alright, Your Majesty?!" Clayton asked and somehow we had stopped pushing the mantlet forward as I stared blankly at Clayton.

"W-H-A-T...?!? PERISHED...?!? HOW AND WHY...?!? IS THIS STILL PART OF MY FREAKING DREAM OR WHAT...?!?"

I screamed in my head and I was stumped momentarily. I didn't know what to do... What happened to our town back then?

What happened to my beloved children and wife...? What makes these mythical creatures suddenly wage a war against the humans?!

Did we do something wrong in the first place or did they went berserk and annihilate us in our sleep?!

We had our perimeter well protected and we had soldiers all around us in the town Square. Something like this wouldn't have happened at all...!!!

"D-O-W-N...!!!" suddenly Clayton screamed once again on my right ear as he pounced on me to protect myself from the incoming projectile they was shot from the gnomes less than a 100 yards away.

*BOOM*

*WHHEEEEEEEE*

*KAAABBBOOOMMM*

The earth shook violently as the mantlet before us was sacrificed once more and was blown up into smithereens. A putrid smell of gunpowder hung in the air after the massive explosion rocked the earth around us as packets of soil was thrown high into the air and then rained on the both of us.

Amidst the smell of loose soil and gunpowder came the sickly smell of metallic blood. Dammit... Did I got hurt again?

Clayton lay on top of me tonprotect myself from the blast but he was unmoving for some time and I had it slide my way out. When I overturned his body, I saw that his eyes looked lifeless and his left hand was tucked inside his gambeson and when it was extricated, a familiar object was grasped rightly in his hand.

It was the scraggy doll he had given up to my twin baby girl when he wanted to hand it over to the Thrift Store but now the scraggy doll was in his possession.

I felt a sudden tightness in my chest as I tried to cover a large gaping wound at the sofa of his body. Due to the concussive explosion that ensued, he had been mortally wounded but managed to serve gallantly by protecting me with his life.

I grabbed the scraggy doll and stuffed it into my gambeson instead. The putrid gunpowder scent was still lingering in the air and it made me hard too breathe as I coughed out some blood as well. It seemed that I was injured in the blast as well.

"Rest in peace, little man... Its time for me to avenge my family. I will get back to you soon...!" I reached out for his curved daggers and I stubbornly stood up despite the rain of arrows near my location.