[Mountain Pass]

[Southern Army Side]

"FIRE!!!"

In that one command, all siege weapons stationed on the highest platform in the mountains side, encompassing the mountain pass, then let loose their loaded weapons of huge arrows and stones, as it zooms pass through the air. In that one moment the whole sky is blanketed by these objects as they fall and crash towards the charging frontline of the northern army.

As the stones and huge arrows fall from the sky, the whole battlefield then erupted in screams and agony, as part of the northern army fell into confusion from all the dying warriors on the field. The stone's crushed people, the arrows pierced warriors, the impacts blew away formation, no matter what anyone says, the once dignified and hard formed formation was nothing but a mess when huge weapons are involved.

In this scenario, it doesn't matter whether one is strong or weak, the only way one can survive such onslaught was to run. However not everyone had this kind of same mindset, that is the reason why the charging front line army was now a mess in this situation.

Upon seeing that the northern army charging towards them were a mess in front of their prepared siege weapons. Boris then got on the ledge of the platform his tamed ice wolf was standing unto and immediately called out his side of the army after pulling back the injured Shielders.

"It is time my brother! Those foolish northerners dared to cross our borders and endanger our families from this war!... They had declared war on us when we ourselves have our hands full in our affairs with the western tribes! Such movement can only be describes as a type of collaboration from our enemy!"

"We've trusted them, shared resources with them, created connections with them, and this is how they repay us? with blood? this is an act of treachery from our trust and bond! Now it is time to judge them, to judge them from their sin of attacking us!"

"Raise up your weapons my brother! rise up from your feet! hold tight unto your weapons! We must protect this land from our invaders.... For the sake of your family!  Your wives! your sons and daughters! your parents! all you held dear! Use your strength and bravery to protect them this day!... Not all of us may come out alive after this battle, but this shan't stop us defending what is rightfully ours! For our motherland!!!"

Hearing Boris speech, all of the warriors begun picking up their courage as their morale rose and war cried together with him. No matter what they have to defend their land from any invaders, even if it means that they have to fight against their once allies.

"FOR OUR MOTHERLAND!!!!"

As the cheers rose from their side of the camp, Boris then held tightly on his sword as he held it high up to the air and commanded his army to attack which was then relayed by numerous surviving commanders all throughout the whole camp.

"ATTACK!!!"

"CHARGE!!!!"

"CHHHHAAAARRRGGGEE!!!!!"

Under those roars, the southern army then charged towards the battlefield amidst the cover of all the siege weapons, while wielding their own respective weapons against the enemy at their front.

After for what seems like a minutes or two of their full sprint, the southern army then collided with the surviving northern army frontline as blood and dust flew all over the area as weapons clashed against each other. In that moment the siege weapons then halted their attacks as they reloaded them and strategically aimed at spot where the southern army is not attacking, At most they are only attacking the convoluted area where most of the northern army gathers.

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[Northern Army Side]

Seeing the current situation of the battlefield, Payton then scanned the whole area as he saw the initial southern army that just attacked being brought down by the army of the southern tribes. In fact the death toll on their side was rising rapidly due to the siege weapons stationed high above the mountains encompassing the mountain pass.

With such high altitude, it was natural that the range of such weapon could cover the whole battlefield which was detrimental to the operations of the northern army. Even if they manage to take down the southern army blocking their path, the siege weapons stationed at the mountains would still prove difficult to handle as it will hinder their large force and break them into smaller groups. No matter what they have to take out those siege weapons.

First off some of the commanders tried to attack the siege weapons at the mountain from an attack down below, but due to their high altitude their range weapons could only reach such heights before failing to hit their target and fall down to the ground. Due to that they have to think of another approach on how to fix this losing situation.

What's more the army they have sent out was slowly losing its ground due to the high death toll on the field. If they don't stop the momentum of the southern army attacking on the field, they would then eventually break through their initial army's formation and attack their camp.

"What shall we do?"

Faced with that question, Payton then answered calmly.

"Prepare the second army to charge towards the battlefield and aid the first army, at the same time prepare another group that is quite efficient in climbing and take down the enemy forces controlling the siege weapons up on the mountains"

Hearing his command, some of the chiefs then begun giving out their concerned opinions.

"But if we do that? they will notice our movement and would try with all their might to take down such group targeti8ng them"

"Indeed! also sending out the second army now that the siege weapons have control on the field is the same as like sending out our men to their deaths"

In response to their concern, Payton then replied.

"We have no choice! if the first army is taken down now, the southern warriors would break through their formation and attack our base of command... we need to send out reinforcements for our men on the field and strengthen our line... also as for the siege weapons we need something that could distract their attention while our group of people assigned to take down the troops controlling them sneakily climb the mountain"

Hearing his preposition, one of the chiefs then said.

"Ah! then maybe we could use our flying beast and have our archer's ride them and distract the siege weapons by attacking them"

"That's great! what are those beast?" asked by Payton

"They're gryphons! a whole pack of them!" answered by the chief who suggested on such preposition.

"Gryphons? Indeed! such beast could fly high up those altitude... how many do you got? asked by Payton

"Well we just freshly traded our wares for them from our neighboring mountain ranges tribe in another part of the land, so we got a whole 50 of them" the chief answered

"50? that's an overwhelming number of them! alright send them in!"

With those command, the order was then relayed onto their camp, as their own army's archers then rushed towards the pack of gryphons with the mission to even out the playing field. At the same time the second army was then dispatched out towards the battlefield as they aided the first army from fending off the southern army. Alongside it, a huge group of warriors who are proficient in climbing mountains then begun their operation in haste as they intended to take down the warriors controlling the siege weapons.

The moment the pack of gryphons were sent out, various shocked cries could be heard in the battlefield as this pack of gryphons begun attacking the southern army with a screech, while also distracting the siege weapons from noticing the assaulting group.

*********
[Southern Army Side]

Upon seeing the pack of gryphons flying across the air, Boris himself couldn't help but awe in shock as he was surprised to see such creature existed. The beast themselves had a head and wings of an eagle and a body of a lion, such peculiar beast was even more astounding to see than their own beast itself.

Not long after, one of the chiefs in his side who is smart regarding tamed beast then voiced out his knowledge regarding such creatures, Apparently such creatures were called gryphons.

Griffin, also spelled griffon or gryphon, composite mythological creature with a lion's body (winged or wingless) and a bird's head, usually that of an eagle. The Gryphon is a mythical creature known as a half-eagle, half-lion in various cultures. In legends and folklore, the beast guards the gold of the kings, as well as other priceless possessions. Moved into the far north, this ancient creature watches over the green gold inherent in the land.

Hearing such detail from this type of so called mythical creature, Boris begun to doubt on where the heck did the northerners acquire such beast and in large quantity at that.

However that doesn't change the fact that such creature were currently evening out the field as they distracted the people controlling the siege weapons, causing a massive decrease on the cover fire it provide on the surface. Faced with such problems, he then turned towards the other chiefs on his side for a solution after seeing one of his warriors dispatched getting its head bitten off by the gryphon.

"This is quite a problem, any suggestions?"

Hearing his words, some of the chief then begun giving out some suggestion which were then shot down due to their high tendency to fail from catching its target. The only plausible way of taking such creatures down alongside its ranged riders was to use their bola traps to and target the gryphons wings and take them down from the air.

But in order to successfully hit them, they would need a speed fast enough to actually hit their target. In that moment one of them spoke out.

"How about we load the bola's in the ballista's?, if we launch them under the guise that their arrows, wouldn't that catch them off guard?"

Upon hearing such plausible answer, various chiefs alongside Boris nodded in unison as they went through such suggestion. After all once they take out the gryphon's wings, it would naturally fall to its death alongside its rider once its wings get caught in a tie. Its like hitting two birds in one stone.

Plus they could also use nets aside from bola's to catch the gryphon flying into the air. With that they then soon begun to move.

After having the order relayed towards the people controlling the siege weapons, the troops then begun moving in accordance to the orders and replaced the huge arrows on their ballista's with either a bola of a compacted net. Once they finished loading the siege weapons, they then aimed towards the gryphon flying in the air while taking cover from the attack that they received from the archers on the gryphons back.

"Aim towards the gryphons! we have limited nets and bolas, make sure to make every shot counts" warned by the commander

Following its command they then tried their best to follow the gryphons path as they aimed the ballista all over the place. Of course due to this action, some of the men were quite open for an attack as the archers riding the gryphons took this chance and killed some of this men controlling the ballista's.

However despite this assaults, the positions that were vacated by the people who died, were then filled up by other people, as some soldiers stationed to guard the men moved and attacked the gryphon itself. Once the men got a clear shot, the commander then issued the firing command.

"FIRE!!!"

Pulling the trigger, numerous bola's and nets were shot off from both sides of the mountain pass and targeted the gryphons themselves.

Upon seeing the assault heading towards them, the archers riding on top of the gryphons quickly pulled up their reins in an attempt to dodge the shot targeting the tamed beast. However despite some of the gryphons barely dodging the attack, the other few were unlucky as their gryphons wings were caught into a tie which made them fall to the ground in such heights.

With a screech from the falling gryphon and a scream from the falling archer, a few of them fell to their deaths as their body got pierced by weapons from the southern warriors that just awaited their fall. As for the gryphon who survived the fall and were at the mercy of some warriors who hesitated to kill such majestic creature, they were then taken advantage, as the southern warriors themselves rode the gryphon as it freed its wings and goes against the northern army.

With such a drastic change, some gryphons captured by the southern warriors begun going against the gryphons of the northern warriors and fighting in the air for supremacy. If one had to describe such a situation, one can define it as a total mess.

With such a situation, the archers riding the gryphon then begun issuing an independent command towards the other northern warrior's riding the gryphon.

"The enemy had taken over some of the gryphon and we are currently under attack! Quick! Evasive maneuvers!!!"

in that moment an air battle then ensue, as the situation in the battlefield becomes stalemate for the moment.

***ReadAtWebnovel***