Reaching back to my saddlebag I pulled free a silken banner. The banner wasn't in commemoration of any one Kingdomer Nation, but rather it was a universal symbol of the Kingdomer faith being itself in the shape of an unrolled scroll with silver etched words set against a blue background.
Falarin watched me curiously as I fixed the banner to the end of the lance. Banner in place I held the point of the lance aloft and the banner took flight in the breeze.
"Falarin, you're in command until I return. Keep the caravan moving at its present rate and whatever you do don't stop for any reason."
"Where are you going to be?" Falarin asked in alarm.
"Claiming promises." With that said, Phalon launched forward with little urging. We soon left the caravan behind and within the half-hour they were completely out of sight.
I rode onward. Cresting a rise I stopped as I took in the army of Poretani arrayed in formation below awaiting the caravan. There was a flurry of activity as they noticed me on the valley rim.
I heard harsh commands issued and the force of roughly ten thousand soldiers began to march forward. I stayed where I was on the valley's rim with banner held high.
The movement of the army was abruptly arrested to a standstill as I watched several forward scouts return to report their findings. Minutes went by and then in the relative silence of the morning a sound broke forth from the enemy host that gained in strength as the news spread throughout the ranks.
They were laughing. Laughing at the prospect of but one man arrayed against them. Their first mistake was in standing in the way of El Elyon's purposed plan. Their second mistake was in believing that I was alone.
I was never truly alone in life. A fact of which I often forgot in moments of trial, but thanks to my wife today was not such a day. I raised the banner high into the air, as high as I could, and then I urged Phalon forward toward the laughing ranks of the enemy.
Phalon lunged over the bank of the valley, at full stride within but a few steps, as we charged full tilt for the enemy's center. The laughter rang louder, only to stop a moment later even more abruptly than it had started up.
I continued to race down towards the enemy's center line as ten thousand riders clothed in fire rode off to either side of me in perfect formation. No force on Ayenathurim was going to stand in the way of El Elyon's people reaching the Kingdom. The struggle of getting them there was not mine but rather El Elyon's and to His glory I rode.