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c Ranger Will surveyed the incoming horde of warriors, and then turned to Serenity.

Serenity. He nodded, and the young girl


quickly fired an arrow, shrieking into the air. Then the pair mounted their horses, and began to gallop back to the main Araluen
contingent. Beside them, a small squadron of the Royal Scouts rode with them in a brisk canter; however, it was obvious the
enemy would catch them before they reached their own lines. Galvanized, the horde began to streak after the small party, their
ranks becoming more disorderly by the minute. Serenity casted a worried glance backwards. A thousand meters a warrior, mad
with battle rage, ran with ever-increasing speed, his sword seeming to carve an intricate pattern in her direction. Serenity shivered
slightly, then, stringing her bow, she calmly shot the screaming warrior. The enemy faltered slightly at the sudden death, then the
speed redoubled as the men roared for vengeance. Apparently the warrior she shot had been of some importance. Suddenly
terrified, Serenity leaned over to her mentor, and asked, ³Shouldn¶t we bring them out already?´ The middle-aged man looked
back, and a small furrow formed in his eyebrows. ³Yes, now would be a rather good time. Captain!´ Serenity watched her
teacher ride up to the leading horse in the group, and begin earnestly speaking with the captain. The scout nodded in affirmation,
and blew on his whistle. Immediately, a hail of arrows shot from a nearby pine grove, each with deadly accuracy, The front-most
group was annihilated; their twisted bodies and dying men only creating more confusion among the horde, as another storm
followed. Then, enraged, the survivors began toward the pine trees, only to find a company of Araluen forces hiding behind the
trees. In addition, the archers had poured on their fire, score after score of arrows decimating the incoming rush. The battle took
barely a minute to end there, and then Serenity noticed Will and the rest of the Scouts riding to mop up the stragglers. Irritated by
her lack of perception, she rode after them. However, she was riding an exhausted battlehorse (Rochester, her Ranger horse, was
resting with Old Bob), and the enemy were all dead before Serenity arrived.

Serenity took a deep breath, then released her string. Her arrow sailed away into the distance straight into the target; it¶s
shaft barely visible in the center circle. These days, practice time was hard to come by. When Serenity had first been noticed as a
suitable choice for a Ranger, Will had came to inspect her himself. She had been part of the Royal Scouts back then; being an
excellent shot and rider. Trying to impress the Ranger, Serenity had made the mistake of displaying her markswomanship on an
archery range. ³Your shots are definitely better than the average Araluen archer´, he had told her. Serenity had smirked proudly,
then frowned as the grave-faced Ranger had continued, ³With a lot of practice, you might even achieve mediocrity.´ Then the
first couple months, Serenity had trained her markswomanship harder than she ever had. Honing her skills with such ferocity
turned out to be a wise choice however. Three summers ago, the annual delegation of Araluen had arrived at the country of
Nihon-ja to discover the Temujai had struck there. Pushing south, Rangers had discovered the Temujai had also overrun Toscana,
and was pushing through Arrida. Luckily, Selethen and many more Arridi had escaped. However, unfortunately, all of the
Bedullin had been killed; a result of a massive raid on their part in a heroic attempt to drive back the Temujai. Rumor was, the six
hundred Bedullin had killed more than five thousand Temujai, and brought down almost all their supply wagons using hit-and-
run stratagems. Their attack, rumor or not, had still resulted in a temporary withdrawal of the forces there, and while robbing the
towns and villages of supplies, the Temujai worked their way back up to Gallica and Iberia. Teutland fell quicker than any of
them, and getting to Skandia, they found Erak had already evacuated the population to Araluen. He really had no choice. The
Temujai numbered almost twenty-thousand, although more than half of them died while crossing the Stormwhite Sea in the
flimsily-built boats they had constructed to invade Araluen. Adopting the same hit-and-run strategies rumored of the Bedullin,
the Araluen armed forces had burned and shot down mainly the Temujai horses and temporary stables; for without sufficient
horses, supply wagons would have to be pulled by men, reducing speed twenty-fold. The Araluen efforts succeeded, and as of
now, the army rarely saw any form of cavalry among the enemy. Even so, the enemy performed massive and unbelievable acts of
coordination that won some key battles. Already they had overrun most of the northern fiefs; each one successfully evacuated
before conquered however. The King was desperately mustering up an army from the rest of the population. Anybody who could
throw a spear ten meters, or have some skill with blades were recruited. Many of the women had also come; providing food and
nursing injured soldiers. But even so, with all the efforts, Serenity knew that it was only a matter of time before« She shook the
thoughts from her head as Will approached her. ³Your bow hand is dropping.´ Serenity glanced at her hand. ³It is not!´ Will
chuckled, and then his face grew grave. ³Serenity, the King has ordered me, you, and a few other Rangers to drop behind
Temujai lines. We are to wreck havoc in any way we see fit. However, there is a slim chance any of us will survive, and the mere
fact that the King has taken this measure proclaims that he is worried. We all are. The Temujai have taken almost a quarter of our
fiefs in hardly a season. The situation is completely desperate. All our allies have fallen. Some of the Skandians have deserted, as
have many of the Arridi.´ He paused a minute, Serenity¶s heart beating rapidly. ³However, the King is not actually at fault. I
persuaded him. I¶m not going to force anyone, but I intend to gather some of the more capable Rangers to complete this objective,
and you, Serenity, happen to be one of the Rangers I¶m hoping to recruit. Interested?´ Serenity simply gave him a wry look, and
went back to her shooting.
á , Serenity mouthed at Rochester. The horse instantly lay down, his ears pricking, and Serenity felt a deep
admiration for this beast; a command from her, and he would obey with no protestation or resistance. Then she cut short her
mental observation and concentrated with the situation on hand. To her right, about ten meters away, a young Ranger named
Locke slid through the trees, looking back every meter and motioning with his head for her to quicken her pace. Meanwhile,
Serenity was ignoring Locke and concentrating on the Temujai sentry on her left thirty meters away. She noticed the sentry¶s
head drooping slightly, then quickly took out her bow and shot him in the neck. The Temujai slumped slightly, then died with a
small moan. Serenity rose to her knees, and stole after Locke. Thi

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