Hello everyone, sorry for the long wait.
That chapter was especially difficult to write because I wanted it to have many different scenes and I had to write it again and over again in order to have something that satisfied me.
I hope you will enjoy it.
Your reviews are always more than welcome.
Chapter twenty: How the campaign ended.
A few minutes later, we could hear screams coming from the woods. The Black One was hungry indeed. We waited five more minutes and the warriors ran of the woods, tailed by the most terrifying monster I could have imagined. The creature had the shape of a chicken, but with a black skin instead of feathers and huge arms with sharp claws instead of the fluffy wings. And the "chicken" had no beak, but a row of teeth similar to daggers. I should add the creature was also high as our walls and I was sure that if he charged our main gate, he could destroy it in a few seconds … Okay, I didn't expect the creature to be "that scary".
"Belgica, one last question, does it breathe fire like the Red One?"
"He doesn't need to. His huge size, speed and teeth do all the work. How are you planning to protect us?"
"You just wait! But maybe you shouldn't stay on the wall. You all have the right to wait…" I stopped. I was about to tell them to wait near the harbour, but something told me that they may well escape by sea at the first occasion. That's what I would have done if I was in their place. And I didn't forget Armorica that I threw to jail after her return from her little outsourcing. She couldn't escape anywhere.
"… Everywhere you want, as long as it is not in my way."
And I abandoned them. I gathered all the centurions to give them my orders. My plan might still work. All the infantrymen had to gather on the wall in order to secure the camp. The cavalry would follow me. My men looked at me with horror when they realised we were going to fight the monster.
"It doesn't look faster than a horse. We can keep him at a distance and distract him."
I quickly explained the horsemen what I expected from them. They were terrified, but they trusted me with their live and were ready to follow me. I smiled. I was so proud of them. I definitively had the best army in the world! I ordered them to get on their horses. We had to act before the barbarians reached the wall.
"To my command, open the main gate!"
"Wait! You aren't serious!"
Aquitania, Narbonensis and Gaul had arrived. I bet they had heard my strategy.
"That's completely crazy!" The Mediterranean girl said.
"And that's why it will work." I answered.
"You are going to be eaten." Aquitania threatened me.
"We won't!"
I turned to the soldiers keeping the gate.
"Open!"
"Rome, No!" I heard Gaul crying. I saw Belgica wrapping her arms around her older sister. I shouted one last time to my horsemen. "Remember, never stop galloping."
"Like hell we will stop." A man tried to laugh.
"Go!"
And the thirty riders dashed in the battlefield, following me.
The Britons warriors were still at two hundred yards of the camp, and the scary dragon was still behind them, forcing them to rush without rest. When they saw us, some the barbarians stopped. The monster immediately devoured one of them. Geez, what was Britannia thinking? That creature was crushing her own troops. It wasn't the place to summon such a freak.
"Left!" I ordered, waving the appropriate hand. My riders followed me. The army in front of us didn't understood what was happening, but after a few seconds and another man caught by the dragon, they continue to run toward the camp, exactly as I expected them to do. They must have received the order to bring the dragon to the wall of our camp, regardless the sacrifices. I ordered once again a change of direction. We had to catch the monster's attention, but first, pass-by the enemy.
After a few minutes of riding, I could tell the enemies weren't as many as I thought they were. They weren't more than twelve thousand. We could do it… so, while the enemy was still charging towards the camp because the dragon didn't gave them a chance to do anything else, my cavalry was making a huge curve and arrived in their back.
"First lances, threw your spears on the dragon!"
Only once spear wounded the creature but it turned around toward us, furious.
"To the North!" I shouted.
And we ran in that direction, tailed by the monster.
"It is working, but how much time must we distract him?" One of the riders asked.
"Enough time for the barbarians to forget us."
"What if the monster catches us?"
"Every time he catches something, he stops for a few seconds. It earns us time to distance it. If you don't want to be his next prey, just whip your horse."
And the ride continued for fifteen minutes. Inexorably, the monster gained ground. One of the mounts ran out…
"My lord, the dragon has got Caius!"
"Okay, new change of direction!" And I waved my hand to the right. The monster was so busy with its catch we succeeded the operation without any concern. But I wasn't planning to feed it with my men. I ordered some of my riders to throw new spears to the dragon. This time, it got injured three times. Being disturbed during its meal made him more than furious.
"To the camp!" I shouted. The Black One roared and hunted us one more time. But this time, the horses were exhausted and scared. The monster caught us up more quickly. I heard someone screaming and a horse neighing. "Courage! We are almost there!" I tried to cheer up my men. The creature stopped only for a few seconds and continued to pursue us, but I noticed one of the spears hampered him in his race.
In front of us, we could see the barbarians besieging the camp. I was sure my troops could hold on, if it wasn't for the Black One. Britannia must have summoned him in order to break our wooden main gate. So, I had done the right thing by attracting him far from the battlefield. I had saved my wood fences and the Briton army deployed around them. They seemed to have forgotten about us. It was just perfect! Never an improvised strategy had worked so well.
"Prepare for the charge formation! And I hope you all remember what to do next! We don't have the right to fail" I didn't add that the fate of the entire Britannia's campaign was relying on the next ten minutes. My men didn't need more stress.
And we formed four lines with the remaining riders. Would those barbarians really believe we were going to charge them in spite of the fact that monster was still on our heels? In my head, I started to count "five minutes before the impact". The dragon roared in my back. It was close, but it was better this way.
The roaring was heard in the barbarian troops. Many warriors gathered with their spears and their forks in order to repel us. They fell for the trick. It would have been more troublesome for us if we had to manoeuvre near the fence. "Three minutes before the impact". I glanced at the fences. I could see a bunch of blond heads. The Gallic sisters were all on the covered way. Geez, they were completely thoughtless. Did they really want to be hurt? "One minute before the impact". The barbarian still hadn't shot any arrow. What a chance! Maybe they didn't want to upset the dragon more than he already was. I warned my riders: "To my signal". Impact in fifteen… fourteen…thirteen… Mars, don't betray me now… Five… Four… Three… Two… "NOW!"
And the troop split in two parts; one to the left and the other to the right. We were so much synchronized we managed to manoeuvre at only two yards of the enemies weapons without getting any scratch. The Black One, surprised, didn't manage to follow us and rushed into the Briton army.
I heard a lot of screams. Then, there was a big green light… I turned my head. The dragon had disappeared. A few seconds after that, the sound of a horn resounded. It looked like the retreat's signal for Britannia's troops. I waved my right hand. I had won the battle.
One hour latter, when the cavalry could make a triumphal entrance in the camp, I tried to find my sweet Gallic hostages. It was very difficult because all my soldiers wanted to greet me and start a real banquet. I had to wait one other hour before I could escape them. I ran to Gaul's tent, where I was welcomed by a punch in the face.
"You're the biggest idiot the world has ever known!" Gaul shouted.
"Sis, calm down!" Narbonensis and Aquitania were trying to hold her back.
"Okay… what happened here?" I asked while checking if my nose wasn't broken.
"A stupid suicidal operation happened." Gaul continued. "How could you do that to us? I told you I wanted my children to know their father."
"Please, Gaul, I was just great on the battlefield. That suicidal operation was a huge success and I bet the campaign is going to end pretty soon."
Gaul escaped her sisters grip and pushed me again in the stomach.
"You idiot! You idiot! Never do that ever again."
"Okay! I understood. You were sick worried about me. But it is fine now. I won! The war is over."
She finally grabbed my face and kissed me. "My lovely idiot…"
And while she was crying in my arms, the other girls applauded me.
"I must admit that cavalry of yours was very impressive." Armorica said. Wait a second, she had escaped jail? Whatever, the war was over. "The Gallic cavalry would never have made a success of such an operation. Being able to split your group in such a short time required an incredible coordination."
"Let's face it. He's invincible on an open battlefield." Belgica added.
"So what's now?" Aquitania asked.
"We make a party, of course." Belgica announced with a grin. "I brought a barrel of hydromel." Here, I was astonished. The wildcat was finally smiling. She had stopped sulking. It was definitively a perfect victory if I had managed to win back her admiration.
"Yeah! Hydromel! Let's start the partyyy!"
"Hola, Belgium, Romano! I am back!"
The young nations stopped reading to focus on the voice coming from the corridor.
"Why did he only say your names?" Luxembourg mumbled.
"Maybe that's because he's not sure you are here." His sister tried to console him.
"Let's ignore him and continue the story." Netherlands said with a cold voice.
"But it is fine. We are reaching the end of a chapter. We can continue later."
"But…"
Romano moved from his seat and hid behind a sofa.
"See? He doesn't want to see Spain either." Her brother smirked.
"You're wrong, brother. He…"
The door opened.
"Here you are!"
"You're late, you bastard!"
And without any warning, Romano jumped on the newcomer and inflicted him a violent head butt on his stomach.
"That must have been painful." Netherlands noticed.
"No I… am… fine…" The young man with a tanned skin, brown curled hair and green eyes answered with a forced smile.
"If it wasn't enough to knock you off, I can continue!" Romano shouted.
Belgium couldn't avoid laughing.
"Hem… big sis, what's so fun with Sir Spain being beaten by his henchman?" Her little brother asked.
"Well, you know, with the end of the chapter where Gaul punched Rome because she has been too much worried… Romano is reacting exactly the same way and that's crazy cute."
"Yeah, my tiny tomato is the cutest nation del mundo!" And Spain succeeded in hugging the Southern Italy's representative.
"Release me at once, you bastard!" The little one struggled furiously.
"What a moving scene." Netherlands said with his emotionless voice.
"Spain, how much time are you going to stay here?" Belgium asked.
"As much as I can, I missed you all so much!"
"That's too much honour." Netherlands mumbled.
"So, what if we went to the kitchen?" Spain asked. "I have eaten anything since this morning."
"I bet I can be there before you, you bastard!" Romano managed to escape the Spanish's grip and ran to the corridor.
"Wait, Roma!"
And he dashed in his pursuit.
"I am going too." Luxembourg announced. And he left as well.
"It looks like the castle is going to be noisy these next few days." Belgica smiled.
"That Spain is such an idiot." Her brother said. "It is just like Rome, how can he think we are already accepting him in our family? And about Southern Italy, how dares he do as the sack of Rome never happened?"
"Netherlands, please. There is a time were all nations need to pass on other things."
"Say what you want, but from my point of view, nations who think forgiveness can come so easily are exposed to big troubles. A fake smile can hide so many things."
"You are thinking to the smile of Belgica at the end of the chapter?"
"Yes." And Netherlands grinned. On his face, grins were especially scary.
Nothing very special about that chapter.
Yes, I tasted Hydromel (one of the oldest drinks in the world) last week, and I think that drink is worth his title of "nectar of the gods" (Called that way in both Greek and Nordic mythology).
I know Hiramuya never drew Netherlands' smiling face, but I figure his grin must look pretty much like Russia's one. (Shits are coming.)