Jeanette stayed awake all night as she rode through the lines. She was too nervous and excited to sleep anyway. At dawn, she heard the drums and trumpets of the Hesten soldiers as they began the attack. From her position on the mountain, she could see large waves of soldiers marching towards the mountain. Jeanette estimated that over sixty thousand foot soldiers were attacking the left flank. They were outnumbered two to one. On the right flank, it looked as if thirty thousand soldiers were advancing. The Hesten center was lightly defended in contrast, with maybe ten thousand men. Their fortifications were not that extensive, and it should be easy work for Bodak and the orcs to overrun their position.
Jeanette's observations were interrupted by a sudden darkening of the sky. She thought that a cloud was passing before the sun, but after hearing a loud cry she looked up and saw the arrows from the Hesten bows racing toward their lines. While the arrows fell short of Jeanette's command post, they fell down on her troops. Thanks to the natural cover provided by the trees of the mountain, and the fortifications they hastily constructed, the casualties were not as bad as they might have been.
The Hesten volley was soon answered by a Zentaran one. The Hesten soldiers, marching across an uncovered field, fell by the dozen from the rain of arrows. The Hesten force let out a great war cry, and charged to the base of the mountain and began attacking the Zentaran position.
"Now it begins, Daniels. It has all come down to this one battle. It will make or break this war."
Daniels looked out toward the mass numbers of the Hesten army. "There's so many of them, Your Highness. They have twice our number. Can we really hold them?"
Jeanette nodded, and answered with more confidence than she felt. "Of course we can. We're on the defensive, and we have reserves to draw from. Once the orcs attack, they will not." Jeanette swallowed and hoped that she sounded confident, and that things would proceed as they had planned.
The Hesten foot soldiers attacked the Zentaran fortifications head on. With their foot in direct contact, their arrows shifted target towards higher up in the mountains, preventing Jeanette from moving down closer to personally observe the battle. Instead, she had to rely on runners to go from the front line commanders to her to deliver reports.
Based on the reporting, the left flank was holding for the moment. The first defensive line was inflicting heavy casualties on the Hestens, keeping the rest of their army in an uncovered position at the base of the mountain and vulnerable to the Zentaran arrows. The archers inflicted heavy damage to the Hesten ranks, but not enough that it would turn the tide of the battle.
Jeanette turned towards one of her runners. "We need to draw them deeper into the mountain so they won't be able to flank the orcs. Tell the first line to fall back to the second position." The runner ran off to relay the order, and soon she heard a victorious cheer arise from the Hestens. Let them have their moment of victory, she thought, they'll pay for it soon enough. The mass of soldiers began to climb the mountain, advancing towards the second line. This line was higher up, and on a steeper bank to make it even more difficult for the attackers.
Jeanette turned toward the pass, waiting for the orc warriors to emerge. They should be emerging any moment now that the Hestens were fully committed to the attack. Sure enough, the gates were opened and the mass of orc warriors stormed out. Jeanette could make out Bodak in the front of his troops charging the simple fortifications.
Bodak leapt into the Hesten defenders, his axe hacking into men left and right. The rest of the orc host slammed into their ranks with a deafening battle cry. Jeanette could see the block of Hesten foot buckle and bow as they weight of the orc troops pushed against them. The attack was going perfectly, and making good progress against the Hesten center. The fortifications proved to be little obstacle, designed mostly to stop large warhorses as opposed to orcs or men.
The ferocity of the attack sent the Hesten ranks reeling. As the orcs pushed past the ling of fortifications, they began hacking and dismantling them to make way for the horse to follow. As Jeanette watched the attack, she realized that it was succeeding beyond expectation. They were pushing the Hestens too far back, and opening up their flank. She could already see the Hesten cavalry repositioning to charge it from the side.
"Bodak is hitting them too hard. They're going to get flanked by the cavalry. We have to tell him to close up his formation!" Jeanette looked toward one of the runners, who looked to the field and then back to her.
"We'll never be able to get down there in time, let alone find Bodak and issue the order to pull back."
"We have to do something." Jeanette looked at the battlefield again, giving it another look. "Alright, go to the reserve unit, tell them to join up with the right flank and to counterattack as hard and fast as they can."
The runner bowed and ran off to relay the order. "Are you sure that is wise, Your Highness? It's not part of the plan. If we leave our defensive position we'll be fighting them on equal ground, right?" Daniels looked at Jeanette with worry.
"Not entirely equal. We'll have the high ground at the beginning of the battle. If it moves to level ground, we'll already be winning and have momentum on our side. If we can push their right flank hard enough, it might give their cavalry pause long enough for Chief Turogg to come through."
Jeanette hoped she made the right decision. She didn't know if it was what Frederick of Chief Turogg would do, but it felt right to her. The Hesten cavalry were wheeling around the battle in the center position themselves to strike Bodak's flank from the right. The cavalry were beginning to move between the battle at the center and the Hesten forces on the right flank.
The Zentaran reserve forces reached the battle lines on the right flank and surged forward against the Hestens. The Hesten forces on the right flank were unprepared for a counterattack, having been prepared to merely engage the Zentarans and keep them occupied. The ferocity of the sudden attack sent them reeling. Not only were they now on the defensive, but they also found themselves outnumbered, which was another occurrence they were unprepared for.
Jeanette saw the Hesten right flank retreating from the mountainside, pursued by the Zentaran forces. This would be the moment of truth. The left flank had to hold long enough without reinforcements for the center to break. The Zentaran right continued to push the Hestens back, gaining more ground. If the cavalry hit the orcs now, they could end up being trapped between Bodak and the forces on Zentaran's right flank.
The commander of the cavalry saw the danger and pulled his forces back, turning away from battle and repositioning the rear of the Hesten lines to wait for another opportunity. The hesitation bought enough time for Chief Turogg to lead his horsemen through the pass and between the lines. Chief Turogg led his force through the gap created by Bodak, showering arrows upon the Hesten troops as they rode by.
The Hesten cavalry force moved to intercept, but Chief Turogg rode away from the battle. As they pulled away from the Hestens, they fired another volley of arrows behind them, raining death down upon the Hesten horses. The commander of the cavalry ordered a charge, but his heavily armored horses could not catch the lightly encumbered horses the orcs rode on. Chief Turogg and his troops continued to shoot arrows at the Hestens, killing more horses and riders and depleting their strength as they led them away from the battle.
All the tension drained from Jeanette and she sighed in relief. The plan had worked, and they were going to win. Relief flooded through her as she realized that the battle was won. Frederick led his horsemen through and joined the battle, running down the Hesten archers on the right flank, cutting them down on the spot. The Hesten center collapsed, and Bodak charge into their left flank while the right flank was caught between the horsemen and the Zentaran foot soldiers.
"Tell the left flank to attack. We need to trap and kill as many of their soldiers as we can. The victory must be absolute!" A runner bowed and set off, and soon a battle cheer erupted further down the slope of the mountain. The soldiers pushed forward, and the Hestens fell back, then broke and began to run. Frederick brought his horsemen around again and charged across the battlefield, running down the retreating troops as they tried to flee.
Jeanette looked down to the battlefield and saw Bodak standing atop the ruined fortifications that the Hestens had tried to erect. Seeing that Chief Turogg was leading the Hesten cavalry back toward the battle, he formed up his orcs to catch them when they rode past. As the Hesten horsemen rode past the right flank, the first wave of arrows from the mountain hit them in time with a volley from Chief Turogg's troops. The hail of arrows broke their charge, and allowed Bodak's warriors to slam into their flank, tearing through the horses and cutting down the Hesten knights.
With the Hesten horsemen caught by the orc warriors on foot, Chief Turogg brought his horse warriors back around. They slung their bows and drew spears and axes and attacked the cavalry from the other side, trapping them. The Hesten horsemen were crushed between the two orc forces while the Zentaran forces destroyed the Hesten foot soldiers and archers. At the conclusion of the battle, the Hesten army was completely annihilated, along with much of the nobility of Heste. Unlike the human soldiers, the orcs did not take nobles prisoner for ransom, instead they were all killed on the battlefield. With the loss of the commanders, there would be no one to rally any of the survivors of the battle, who would probably disappear back to their villages and give up the fight.