After the massacre at the fortified city of William de Fort, the forces led by Lady Utopia swiftly advanced towards the Skolandian port city, named Aber Harbour.
However, Lady Utopia and her Crafters were not presently with her troops, for she had received a summons from the leader of The Eight Swords, Sir Plato, to assemble in Axalon's capital.
Guinere, being one of the kingdom's elite knights, found immense relief in not being alongside Lady Utopia. He could yet not erase the memory of the slaughter that had transpired in the fortified city of William de Fort.
The command of Lady Utopia's forces was now transferred to her deputy, Sir Gilles, with a total force of eight thousand.
Sir Gilles himself was an elite knight of the kingdom, tutored directly by one of The Eight Swords, Sir Anor the Sharpshooter.
Sir Gilles possessed a nature contrary to that of Lady Utopia; indeed, he felt horror at the manner in which the Lady had assaulted the fortified city of William de Fort.
On the eve before the assault upon the harbour, Sir Gilles visited Guinere's tent.
"Hark, Guinere, I heard thee didst entreat the Lady to refrain from slaughter; is this verily true?"
Sir Gilles inquired of Guinere in Guinere's resting tent.
"It is true, my lord; I didst beseech Lady Utopia not to commit indiscriminate slaughter, at the least that the Lady slay not the children and womenfolk."
Guinere answered Sir Gilles's question with a feeling of guilt for failing to persuade the Lady.
"Fear not, this is not thy fault; it was already the Lady's decision. We are now resting to depart for Aber Harbour tomorrow. Take thy rest, and forget not one of thy duties this night."
Sir Gilles sought to comfort Guinere, who still harboured his regret.
"Dost thou, my lord Sir Gilles, intend to commit further slaughter upon the folk of Aber Harbour?"
Guinere asked Sir Gilles with a tone of curiosity and hope.
"Nay, at least not upon those who offer no resistance. Our duty is merely to secure the harbour so that our logistical supply lines remain protected. Glory to King Oswald!"
"Glory to King Oswald!" Guinere answered the salutation with a relieved heart.
After hearing Guinere's reply, Sir Gilles hastened to his own tent to discuss his plans with the other elite knight commanders.
"What is thy plan for the morrow's assault, Sir Gilles?" asked Sir Galdrich of Sir Gilles, full of curiosity.
"As this harbour possesseth no fortifications, we shall enter by employing the method of city siege. This method, I do hope, will also sever the supply lines of the Skoland forces. I pray this war shall soon conclude."
"If any enemy doth use cavalry, let the spear-wielding troops swiftly form a schiltron formation. Cavalry are truly troublesome."
"That is all. Now, all of you, take your rest. Glory to King Oswald!"
"Glory to King Oswald!" replied Sir Galdrich and Sir Urak to Sir Gilles, as they placed their swords upon the map table, forming a triangle of blades.
Sir Gilles explained his plan before Sir Galdrich and Sir Urak. Sir Galdrich commanded the spear-bearing troops, and Sir Urak commanded the archers and the artillery trebuchet forces.
Meanwhile, Sir Gilles led the elite knight infantry, being Guinere's commander.
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Elsewhere, and on the same night:
The Skoland forces received a shipment of goods from a small nation to the west of Skoland, namely the Republic of Eire.
The Republic of Eire was Skoland's sole allied nation. Though allied, the Republic of Eire had not declared war upon the Kingdom of Axalon, but merely sent supplies to the Kingdom of Skoland.
The knights of Aber Harbour, receiving many goods from the Republic of Eire, were immediately emboldened and optimistic that they could prevail.
"Hahahaha, what magnificent weapons! Surely these shall decimate many of those barbaric Axalon forces!" exclaimed one Skolandian soldier.
"Thou speakest truly, my brother, we shall avenge the deaths of our brethren in William de Fort!" cried another Skolandian soldier.
Before this, the eight thousand Skolandian harbour troops had felt utterly despairing upon hearing the rumours from William de Fort; they felt they could not possibly win against Lady Utopia's forces.
Yet now, all had changed. Having received weaponry aid from the Republic of Eire, they were confident they could win the battle on the morrow.
"But how can a small nation such as the Republic of Eire obtain such technology?" a curious Skolandian knight asked an elite Skolandian knight.
"I know not. Enough, enough; seek not to know more of our friendly nation's affairs. 'Tis better thou rest and prepare to operate this weapon!" commanded the elite Skolandian knight.
"M-me?"
"Aye, thee; this is an order!" the elite Skolandian knight affirmed.
"V-very well!"
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The following morn:
The Axalon forces had assembled and swiftly formed a siege around the city from all sides. The Axalon troops had also secured the city's exit routes, ensuring no Skoland forces could escape.
The lines of trebuchets and the elite Axalon forces were prepared to advance and attack, their shields emblazoned with the Axalon royal crest and their swords held firmly.
After waiting, the trumpets sounded, the trebuchets prepared to unleash their payloads... then suddenly:
BOOM
A colossal explosion struck the trebuchet line. All the Axalon forces looked towards the trebuchet line.
Flames blazed and thick smoke billowed upwards; none of the trebuchet line survived; all had been reduced to glowing ash.
Whilst all still gazed towards the trebuchet line with unease, Guinere heard a mighty thud originating from the city's centre. Guinere focused his gaze and saw a trail of smoke rising upwards.
No sooner had Guinere comprehended this, than there came a sudden great explosion amongst the spear-wielding troops, almost annihilating them all.
"FORWARD, ALL! ASSAULT THAT BARBARIC CITY!!!" Sir Gilles commanded all the forces.
Guinere and the others advanced with great swiftness to enter the city; they were met by a volley of arrows from the Skoland forces upon the harbour towers and from dozens of archer towers above.
This rain of arrows did not affright the Axalon forces; they swiftly raised their shields above their heads, protecting their upper bodies.
Guinere and the other elite Axalon knights successfully entered the city, which was unprotected by walls, and immediately secured the entry points.
Sir Gilles and Sir Galdrich also entered the city with hundreds of surviving Axalon spear troops.
"Greetings, my lord Sir Gilles, we have secured the southern part of this city; let us now attack that which is at the city's heart," Guinere invited Sir Gilles.
"Wait! We must await Sir Urak's archer forces in the east," Sir Gilles exclaimed.
"Very well, my lord," Guinere replied.
Then, suddenly, a great thud was heard in the city centre, and not long after, a massive explosion occurred to the east.
Smoke and fire blazed fiercely, making it clear that no living soul remained there.
"Sir Urak... DAMN THEE, SKOLAND! ADVANCE QUICKLY TO THE CENTRE, DESTROY THAT CURSED THING!" Sir Gilles commanded the elite knights with burning fury.
Guinere and the other elite knights pressed forward towards the city's centre. Ambush after ambush was overcome by Guinere and the other elite forces, though many of them did fall.
As they neared the city centre, a sudden great thud shattered the elite knight formation.
It was a weapon unknown to them. A weapon that hurled hot iron balls at them; there was not merely one such weapon, but five, and these encircled a large weapon in the centre.
"Curse it, what is that thing? What is that STRANGE thing??" one of the elite Axalon knights asked hysterically.
"Sir Galdrich..."
Sir Galdrich was already dead, leaving only the right side of his body; so tremendous was the power of that weapon.
The Axalon forces, from eight thousand, now numbered but one thousand. Sir Gilles and Guinere were still alive, and now they were surrounded by the Skoland forces.
"Damn, damn, damn, damn, why has everything turned out thus? DAMN IT!" Sir Gilles exclaimed in frustration.
Owing to the motto of the Axalon elite forces:
"Honor meus fides mea est."
Which may mean:
"My honour is my faith."
They formed a Phalanx defensive formation until they perished.
"Behold these fools," mocked a Skolandian soldier.
"Indeed, do they truly believe they can hold off cannons?" another Skolandian soldier continued.
"ATTACK!" cried the captain of the Skolandian cannon forces.
BAM
The cannons fired, accompanied by the assault of the Skolandian melee troops.
Due to the cannon fire and the encirclement by the Skoland forces, the remaining elite Axalon knights were almost all dead, leaving but one hundred troops, including Sir Gilles and Guinere.
Now, those remaining were fighting the Skolandian melee forces with swords; Guinere's left hand was wounded, forcing him to relinquish his shield and fight with only his sword.
"LOOK OUT, GUINERE!!!" cried Sir Gilles, and immediately sacrificed himself to protect Guinere from an enemy warhammer attack.
CRACK
"My lord!" Guinere was startled. He saw Sir Gilles's shattered helmet oozing red blood.
"Glory to King Oswald..." were Sir Gilles's last words before his head was struck once more by an enemy warhammer.
Of the elite Axalon forces, only Guinere remained. He felt he could not possibly win this battle.
A longsword struck Guinere's helmet, blurring his vision; he could no longer see the other Skolandian soldiers as clearly as before.
Then a spear pierced Guinere's iron body armour, and blood welled from his stomach, yet he was not yet dead. His final act, as he was stabbed, was to hurl his sword, striking the Skolandian spearman, before he finally fell.
When Guinere, that elite Axalon knight, fell there, the other Skolandian soldiers felt immense joy.
At last, they had avenged the deaths of their brethren who had perished in the fortified city of William de Fort.
Little did they know that this was but the beginning of it all...