Transmigrate to another world

In the Forest of the Fangs P.O.V. of Princess Amercy

I stare upwards trying to figure out what is going on, then I hear the first scream. I quickly look in the direction it came from and see an enemy soldier covered in flames. He spins around trying to put out the fire while screaming. Soon I see more points of light coming down and setting the soldiers on fire when they reach them.

Is it fire? Is it raining fire? I didn't know that magic was possible.

The rain is increasing as well, but it is only falling inside the clearing, this has to be Zamart's doing. Many of the enemy soldiers have stopped and are crouched under their shields. Only a few so far have caught fire, but their formations are broken, and the cavalry horses are going crazy.

I want to give the signal to charge them now, but even my troopers don't want to follow me under a hail of fire, so again I am forced to wait. I watch as several of the cavalrymen are thrown as their horses flee to the safety of the forest. One poor horse runs off with its tail on fire and its rider bouncing a few feet behind with his foot caught in the stirrup.

I start to get ready to move as I notice the rain slowing down, but then I see a larger piece of fire fall to the ground. It explodes on impact throwing a dozen soldiers into the air, several of whom don't get up again. Over the next five minutes there are several dozen such explosions, and suddenly silence reigns. I look up and see the clouds dissipate and patches of blue sky come into view.

I step forward and give the signal for our troops to form up, I see Alexa doing the same to my right. I look this way and that until I see everyone in formation and ready to go.

"CHARGE!!!!" I shout at the top of my lungs.

I advance at a trot, I don't want the cavalry to outnumber the foot troops too much. Alexa gallops her horse across the clearing to return to my side, together we form the spearhead. The enemy is gathering in front of us, but has not managed to get into formation by the time we close the distance. When we are fifteen yards away I draw my sword and urge my horse into a gallop.

The noise when we impact with the enemy is deafening, I never imagined something could be so loud. I wave my sword left and right as I cut through the enemy cavalry. Our momentum is soon exhausted and the battle degenerates into a melee, I can't see anything more than a few meters away.

Alexa is protecting my back and I am fighting fiercely to hold my position, it is impossible to advance with so many enemies pressing me. I need to gain some breathing space or I will be knocked down by numbers, so I decide to use one of my trump cards.

A long time ago, Zamart taught me a flash of light spell that blinds everyone but me within a fifteen meter radius. Over time, I have mastered the spell and modified it slightly. Now my spell only blinds my enemies, but I can only cast it once a day. This is the spell that saved my life when my father's troops dressed as bandits tried to kill me the day my mother died.

When the spell activates, Alexa and I quickly wipe out the blinded enemies near us. What's left of our cavalry quickly makes its way towards us and surrounds us. Once there are no enemies near me, I climb into the saddle of my horse to see the rest of the battle.

A quick count shows that I have thirty cavalrymen left and I can see that there are about eight hundred infantry troops left, the enemy is starting to push us back due to the weight of numbers.

"Alexa, call for a retreat. If we don't retreat now, we are going to be annihilated."

Alexa looks disappointed as she removes her horn from her chair and blows a long, deep note. I drop back into the saddle and turn to lead the cavalry to break through and break free of the enemy. We barely make our way through, a few more minutes delay and we would have had too many enemy surrounding us to get out.

When we manage to break free, I have only twenty-two cavalrymen left. The enemy does not immediately pursue us, he stops to get back into formation. Then, to our surprise, instead of chasing us to finish us off, the enemy turns around and goes back the way he came.

"What, why are they retreating?"

Alexa says "I don't know, they still have enough numbers to finish us off."

Soon after Zamart approaches leaning on another mage, his face is gray with fatigue.

Zamart says "What happened, did we win?"

"We are not sure. Alexa, order the scouts and archers to keep up with the enemy and harass them as much as they can safely."

Alexa nods and leaves. I then order the troops to carry the wounded back to camp and check on the enemy as well. I look at the mage supporting Zamart and order him to take him back to his tent to rest. With a nod, the wizard practically carries the protesting Zamart back to camp.

I spent the next six hours organizing the cleanup after the battle. I pushed myself too hard trying to do as much as I could until I felt myself falling to the ground and Alexa caught me.

The next thing I realize I wake up in my tent, back in camp. Judging by the light, it's the following afternoon. I quickly get up, splash some water on my face and get dressed. I head straight to the command tent, where I find Alexa and Zamart looking at some maps.

"How long was I out, what's the status of the enemy?"

Zamart says, "The enemy is returning to the capital and you slept for about twelve hours."

Alexa says nothing, just brings a plate of food closer to the empty seat. I quickly sit down and start eating as I realize how hungry I am.

Alexa says, "We killed about three thousand infantrymen and six hundred cavalry. We lost almost thirty cavalry soldiers and three hundred infantry."

Zamart states, "In terms of numbers alone it was a great victory. But the king can deal with his losses more easily than we can."

Do we know why they turned back instead of finishing us off?

Zamart says, "I was able to sift through the past and find out. Raveos received emergency orders from the king."

"My stepfather spared us? I can't believe it!"

Zamart says, "Oh, it wasn't to pardon us. The king called all the troops to the capital."

"Why would he do that, it doesn't make sense!"

Zamart says, "It took a little more work, but I was able to figure out why. There was a small earthquake in the capital, caused by a fierce roar coming from deep subway."

Alexa says, "The roar apparently terrified the king and he panicked and called all the troops to the capital."

"What caused that roar? Wait, you said it was all the troops?"

Alexa says, "Yes, all the troops. I've already sent every physically fit man we have to take advantage of the situation."

Zamart says, "As for the roar, apparently it was the black beastman, though I couldn't figure out why."

"Well, that explains why the king panicked. So the beastman saved us over a thousand miles away - I really want to meet him!"