Run.

A horse. A dragon.
With eight armies on their backs.

The northern part is mountainous.
The trees in the mountains are mostly conifers.
It's a region covered with snow in winter.

Dressed in black military uniforms, the 8th Army managed to move along the foot of the mountains where horses could run. The soldiers, numbering about two hundred, are silent.
They just followed behind Patrick.

After half a day of riding, nightfall was approaching.
'All right, we'll camp here for the night. Set up the tent!　Don't make a fire!'
Patrick gave the order when they found a small stream.

Patrick left his men and climbed a nearby tree.

'The fort's that way, so I'm guessing it's around there.　I wonder if we can see the fire when the sun goes down a bit?
He muttered and climbed down the tree.
'Each team, watch in the same order as in the drill. We'll leave before dawn.'

Later, the 8th Army was attacked by a few goblins and forest wolves, but they were repelled without damage.

After the sun went down, Patrick climbed the tree again to get a better look at the enemy's position.


When the sky turned white, the 8th Army had finished their preparations for the sortie.

'Then let's go. We should be in contact with the enemy this afternoon.
Everyone, we're going slow, so be prepared.'
Then he signaled with his foot to the side of the running dragon.
When the dragon begins to run, everyone follows him.
As he runs, he takes a bite of dried meat and drinks water from his canteen.
Don't eat too much before a battle.

When the sun was slightly tilted from above, we could see a fort-like structure ahead of us.
We have finally completed our detour.
The enemy is just ahead.

'All hands, make no noise. Move forward quietly. '
Slowly, slowly advance the Eighth Army.
There's almost no sound of running dragons' footsteps.
Horses can't help but make hoofbeats.

Patrick estimates we're about a kilometer from the enemy.
'All troops, charge!
Patrick ordered in a quiet but firm voice.

'Attack!
A voice rises from the enemy side.

We're about two hundred meters from the enemy.
They've just spotted us.
Patrick calls out to a muscular man on horseback, six feet tall.
'Captain Wylie!　Archers on horseback, ready your bows! ' he orders.
The man called Wylie turns his short green head to Patrick, his green eyes bowing,
'Ha!　Horsemen, draw your bows!　　Get ready. ...... Release!
At the command of Captain Wylie, the captain of the Horse Guards, about a hundred arrows flew from the archers on horseback.

'Captain Van Pelt!　The dragonriders charge with spears!
Patrick orders.
A slender man, slightly taller than Patrick, with long red hair, widens his brown eyes and calls out,
'Yes, sir!　I'm not sure what to do.　I'm not sure what to do.

Since we are not expecting a forest battle this time, I have brought a spear.
But it's a short spear.

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The enemy, on the other hand, was impatient. He had only been looking at the fort.
They had received a report the other day that enemy reinforcements had entered the fort.
Hundreds of their men were out of action.

But they had no idea that the enemy would come from behind.

These people were despised as mountain tribes and lived in villages here and there in the mountains.
Life in the mountains in winter was harsh, and there were many years when they could not live on the fruits of the mountains alone. Whenever this happens, we try to reach the plains, but we have never been able to do so because each village is always attacked by surprise, only to be turned away.
This time, we communicated with each village and attacked them all together.
We thought we would be able to take them easily because of our superiority in numbers, but we never imagined that attacking a fort would be so difficult.
We had never even fought a proper group battle before. There was no way he could have known.

'Enemy attack from the rear!
This voice sent the whole army into a frenzy.
They scream at the slightest arrow.

It wasn't supposed to be like this.


The empire sold us food at a reasonable price, but the amount was only enough for a month if we distributed it throughout the mountainous region. If we didn't take the kingdom's territory, we would inevitably starve.
It was an invasion that could not be stopped.