)
A young deer raises a staff and her many archers ready.
Lun, a bit older, nearing his prime, crosses his polearm in front of his troops, signaling to ready but remain still.
A bird atop the trees raises a wing to halt- it would not yet be safe to fly. Not in this lightning.
...
...
...
Upon sight of the Noblians, the deer shall lower her staff, her undisturbed archers shall release a volley. She raises it again- they ready- she lowers it again- the loose another lethal volley.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
________________________________________________________________________________
On the Noblian side of things, they'll witness a rain of of arrows in waves- a lethal distraction to the charging mercenaries from the treeline. The front is headed by several quicker species- big cats and horses, for instance.
Before contact, the equivalent of the Noblian frontline(since ambushes may have a lot of "front" and not a lot of "line") will hear a terrifying whistling sound before being pelted with stones moving fast-enough to kill a horse(IRL, non-qnthro horse)