Chapter 231: Seriously?

The guard slapped Ibrahim Pasha's hand dropping that dagger. 

Ibrahim Pasha's eyes are still tightly closed as he awaits his final moment, but after really that he is still alive he lost all strength feeling like his muscles have softened making him fall onto the ground gasping frantically for air, having a mixed emotion of relief and resentment in his mind. 

Once a suicide ends in failure a man shall not think of doing it again until he meets the next major tragedy in his life.

"Honourable Pasha!" The guards by his side pulled Ibrahim Pasha up from the ground. "You do not need to be so damn harsh towards yourself! You have done what ever you can! We still have control over the Western gate, it is still not too late now to leave this cursed city!" 

Ibrahim Pasha slowly nodded his head looking at nothing as if his souls have been taken away. Seeing this the few guards lifted their pasha up and made a run for the gate before the Rumelian devils fully occupying the walls. All the guards gathered in the stable, with some other soldiers too seeing their commander is going to make a run. They opened the gate, freed all the horses in the stable and guided these horses setting fire behind them to charge through these creatures towards the Rumelians outside tearing and bumping a path through the Rumelians. 

The Ottoman survivors rushed out of the city in a pack mixed with the horses they sat free, with Ibrahim Pasha in the center surrounded by his guards holding shields. Antonius' sailors tried to stop these crazy horses but they found themselves powerless when confronting four legged creatures leaving them with no choice. The only thing these sailors could do is to inform their admiral Antonius, who is the only one over here with a small cavalry force. 

After Antonius acquired the information of 'a large bunch of Ottomans on the run', he immediately assumed that it must be Ibrahim Pasha and his gang. With no further thoughts he gathered Abraham and the hundred cavalries he brought this time round and galloped towards the west in the direction of where the Ottomans ran. 

The two groups of calvaries chased each other under the rising sun. The Ottomans desperately trying to gallop for their lives, with the Rumelians showing an expert marksmanship even on horse back, with that rider that looks no Rumelian at the front pinning one after another man down with each shot being perfectly precise. Slowly bit by bit, the number of followers behind them became lesser and lesser. 

It seems like Sultan Orhan too have awakened his ideas joining in the siege, as another group of riders flying his flag can be seen coming in from a distance away. Surprised but delighted Antonius sent a horse man who speaks the same language as them to approach the incoming Orhan's men to request their aid intercepting Ibrahim Pasha. On the side of Ibrahim Pasha however, the feeling of helplessness started spreading among the survivors again seeing the incoming men's flag, thinking that this place might be the spot where they shall meet their very ends getting crushed like a sandwich by two armies. 

But things quickly came to a change. 

The messenger of Antonius approached the incoming riders with polite and immediately after he expressed that he is a messenger sent directly by Antonius, the incoming rider stabbed his spear right into his chest pushing him down the horse causing almost an instant death. 

This scene sent Antonius' eyes bulging out of the socket making him in a state of both utter surprise and fury. Mean while these bunch of riders flying Orhan's flag turned their horses after killing the messenger coming right for Antonius yelling strange war cries which sounds to Antonius like. "We are coming right for you dumb arse, and you even exposed yourself!" 

This immediately changed the course of the chase as it is no longer possible for Antonius to continue chasing Ibrahim Pasha with such a threat coming right at them. Antonius raised his blade high in the air and yelled out to every one with a combined emotion of sorrow and outrage. "All men to me! Change of priority! We going to hunt down these mindless brutes first! There are no run away!" 

"Aye admiral!" 

"Admiral!" Abraham pulled the rope halters before Antonius charge almost pleading him. "Admiral, there are way too many of them over there and we do not have an exact intel of who they are, what are their strength and capabilities, it would only result in total devastation, we can drag them for a little while buying time for you to esc…" 

"Shut up!" Antonius threw his whip almost landing directly onto Abraham. "I know what you are saying, but that man over there, have been my pirate ever since I was a pirate three years ago. If you are in his position today, I will also be reacting like the same, because you all belong to my family, clear? Now charge!" 

Abraham is startled catching the whip by instinct, then sighed wiping the tear off the corner of his eyes and moved his horse charging alongside his admiral. 

The two surges of cavalries clashed with each other violently on the beach side ending up in a massive brawling session. Antonius struggles on horse back as he wields his cutlass left and right blocking and dodging strikes from the back while Abraham covers his back. Abraham's words are indeed correct, most of the riders on Antonius side are still newbie calvaries awaiting to get trained still uncomfortable and unfamiliar with horse back battle skills, with every few seconds pass there will be a horse man under Antonius thumping onto the ground. In this split moment the quick eyed Abraham spotted a man and shouted towards his admiral. 

"Look! Admiral! That man must be the enemy commander!"

Antonius pierced an enemy down from his horse and took the break to observe the direction where Abraham pointed at. In a short distance of around twenty meters away there seats a lavishly decorated man with his helmet embedded with jewels, wearing golden necklace chain, and a piece of silken red cloak on his back. No doubt that it is the enemy commander embellished with such a fashion as if he is afraid that people do not recognize his social statues by his looks. 

"Cover my back!" Antonius yelled to Abraham without turning his face, fenced off another incoming attack, and thrusted his horse forward giving it a slash on the bum. The horse let off a painful neigh charging forward bumping all the enemies trying to stop its path directly towards the fancy enemy commander. As fast as a thunder bolt the horse helped its master reach the enemy in no time giving him not even a single second to react to the ferocious Antonius. 

Antonius approached the enemy commander, and with no effort he swung his blade knocking off the spear he has in his hands away, pulled this little man up to his horse suffocating him by holding the commander's neck with his inner elbow, all of these happened in merely a few second's time. 

The enemy commander's guards hurriedly crumbled into action encircling Antonius and their lord, while Antonius plucked out the dagger of the man in his arms away from his belt dropping it onto the ground, neutralizing the last possible threat, then whispered beside the enemy's ear in a threatening tone with his cutlass right under his chins. "Do you know who I am?" 

The clown in his arms hastily nodded with his entire body trembling like he is having a seizure.

"Tell your men to drop their arms, release my men, if any more of my riders get hurt, you shall not see the sun light of tomorrow…." The threatening words remained in the commander's head like the hissing of a serpent. He nervously nodded again and literally 'cried' out to his men with tears almost coming down from his nose. 

"Have you not heard what this lord have said? Sheathe your blades! Stop bothering our guests!" 

The enemies looked at each other hearing this order with confusion finding the contradictory orders of their lord a bit laudable, but they still followed his orders getting away from the Rumelians sheathing their weapons. 

"Now, you shall ride with me back to my camp, and together we shall see your Sultan… You can try what ever fancy methods to get away…" 

"…But if you fail, I will give you a slow and painful death." 

The commander gulped and nodded once more. 

The remaining seventy plus riders of Antonius gathered around in a group and started riding slowly back to the rest of the troops preserving their horse's stamina protecting its hoes just in case they are going to be chased again. The Ottoman armies followed closely behind in a distance of around fifty meters away closely watching the tracks of the Rumelian, and it is only till now Antonius realised how many enemies they were facing just now, around six hundred calvaries, all finest from the border region of Erzurum judging by their clothing, meaning that they were fighting an unequal battle of one to six just now. 

Not a single trail of Ibrahim Pasha can be spotted now.