...Re-Estize...
Philip woke up late, which was no surprise to anyone, least of all himself, after all, a supreme king can sleep whenever he wants and wake when he wants. He had breakfast served at him at a table behind the lines, set up on a stage raised higher than the heads of his soldiers so he could watch them storm the walls. Who wouldn't be inspired by knowing that the supreme king of Re-Estize, future king over all the world, was watching them?
The charge was ordered, and the soldiers ran ahead...only to find that their ladders were to short. So they had to improvise by climbing up, then throwing ropes up the rest of the way and climbing up that way, praying that nobody on the wall had anything sharp enough to cut rope.
To their surprise, the wall they chose to strike was almost empty, and the few that were up there ran away immediately screaming, "Ahhhh! Its King Philip! The Supreme King is coming to kill us all! Ahhh! Run away!" They shouted so loudly that it reached Philip's ears as he finished eating, and he laughed at the cowardly fools even as he praised their wisdom to flee his might.
The other walls had guards as well, but with the collapse of that one's defenses, they too abandoned their posts.
Philip wanted very much to go find his courtesan again...but an aid approached. "Supreme King Philip, all reports indicate that they're running away and abandoning their defenses, I suggest we go to the palace, King Zanac has not fled, you can personally capture him and accept his surrender."
"Yes of course, and if he surrenders I won't have him tortured first, it'll be a quick death at a headsman's axe." He said in what he thought of as a noble voice.
He went with his army through the gate his soldiers opened for him and began to move through the streets, the commoners were indoors, no doubt terrified of 'Philip Allconqueror' as he was beginning to style himself in his own mind. There were a great many defensive structures established though, roughly one every fifty feet or so, blocking the entire road, it annoyed him, though at least nobody defended those structures, and it only slowed him down by a few hours making his way through to the palace. Then he was there, he hoped Princess Renner was still present, he was sure she'd be on her knees for him immediately when he sat down in the throne formerly held by her father and her brother.
That made him think...could he keep his courtesan after taking a queen? He paused, and laughed in the street at the silly notion, of course he would, he was an all conqueror, he could have as many such women as he wanted, and his queen would simply have to be ok with it, he'd treat her well after all, he did intend to be nice to her, as long as she didn't provoke him by challenging his position.
Such thoughts occupied his mind as his soldiers tore down the last barrier, and he descended from his horse and went up the stairs. Nobody was there to stop him, the inside of the palace seemed likewise empty, and so it was all the way to the throne room, and there it was...the seat of power...empty...and all his. He smiled happily and rushed and flung himself into it.
"Its mine...its finally mine!" He shouted, "Behold Supreme King Philip!" He shouted with joy.
His followers knelt the way they should, but there was something else he wanted first..."Search the palace for anyone in hiding, and send me my courtesan."
A few minutes later he was alone in the throne room except for her, he called her forth imperiously, and she approached with small steps, he pointed to his feet, and she knelt.
"You know what to do...please the Supreme King." He said.
"As your majesty commands...but forgive me for saying, as I think on it...how can you be a 'supreme king' if you have yet to reclaim all of your kingdom? After all, E-Rantel is still in the hands of the Sorcerer King."
That got to him. "Stupid woman!" He snapped and his hand darted out and slapped her across her face, she fell partially to one side and touched where he'd hit her. He almost did it again, he raised his hand, then thought better of it...she had a point, not that he'd grant her that much. "Get out!" he snapped.
She started to stand, and he grabbed her hair, "NO! You don't get to stand unless the supreme one says so! Get out, but get out the way you should for challenging your betters, don't rise above all fours, or stand until you're out of my site!"
She obeyed him, she did that much right in his mind, and it was a satisfying sight, but now the throne didn't feel good, the fact that the city was out of his hands...it was a blight...and the royal family was still alive...that was a blight, the only one that needed to be alive was the princess so he could make her marry him and secure his throne. It was a pleasant thought, and imagine her gratitude when she didn't have to live in the forest anymore...surely...she'd do anything for him...anything. He was going to enjoy giving the order to cross the border...more even than he enjoyed sitting in that chair.
...Beyond the border of Re-Estize...
The royal factions members and soldiers and loyal civilian service members were both comfortable and well fed, thanks to the close communication between Renner, Raeven, Zanac, and the Sorcerer Kingdom, ample carriages and carts were available to draw everyone easily to safety, and with soul eaters pulling the modes of transportation, they could not have been safer...ironically enough.
Brain sat in the carriage with the Princess, Marquis Raeven, and King Zanac. "I have to admit all this is a surprise. You know...I never did have a terrible opinion of the Sorcerer King, but this is...impressive."
"No? Weren't you disturbed by his having killed your best friend?" Raevan asked with surprise.
Brain folded his arms, closed his eyes, and gave a slow shake of his head. "No, warriors like Gazef and I live our lives by the sword, a violent death isn't a surprise for men like us, its basically our retirement package most of the time. I do miss him, he was a great warrior and an even better friend. But the Sorcerer King did try to spare him, and he honored all of Gazef's wishes, right down to letting us retain equipment that could have potentially hurt him, he didn't even let Gazef fall to the ground like a lump, he laid him out gently, and he let us go unharmed, taking the body with us to be treated properly. He even stopped the massacre and allowed the city to surrender peacefully, he didn't hurt a single person. All that...well its the behavior of good king."
Zanac looked at him in understanding and nodded. "Agreed, he didn't have my father killed, he reached his goal easily and took nothing else, he could have done much worse than he did, and even the best king has to sometimes do bad things, I try to live up to father's standards, but I admit I now understand his weariness. Though my own frustration at having to abandon everything for this plan is...well I admit it grates on me still.
Renner giggled, "Its alright brother, it won't be long now, we'll be home in a month or two and stronger than ever, just trust me, and trust the Sorcerer King." She said with absolute confidence.
They rode in silence after that, drawing closer and closer to their host in E-Rantel.
Brain wondered if he should feel nervous about this, something told him that it was strange that he didn't...but as he looked out the window of the carriage in which he rode and saw a dwarf directing skeletons in cutting down trees, while an elf and a human stood nearby going over documents...he realized that he was entering probably the safest place in all the world, and he chose to relax and enjoy the simple passage of time.
...Kybar Village...
Kebel had been chief of Kybar village for more of his life than he hadn't been, in all that time, it hadn't changed much, the only thing to change much had been their faith, after the demon emperor Jaldabaoth had been overthrown, it was impossible not to see the wisdom of following the divine ruler who destroyed him. Kebel had never had much use for do nothing gods...but this one...this one did things, they got undead labor, good contracts on goods, the priests healed them for free and their red paladins escorted people to and fro without hesitation and with complete security, allowing the village to prosper without suffering any deaths or injuries from monsters or overwork in years.
Still, it was a small place, so when the Astrakian Loyalists entered, two hundred of them, and simply declared that they were now in charge, there was little that Chief Kebel could do. He hobbled over to the commander and asked, "Well what does that mean...you are in charge?"
"This, for starters." He said, and he ordered the destruction of all skeleton labor in the fields, then had his men retrieve the tools and hand them back to the peasants who lived there. "Now, first we're going to tell you how it is going to be...then you're going to go out there to your fields and get to work. Also, no more Black Justice healers will be tolerated here, if you want healing, we do have priests, but you must pay for it."
"But...that is an outrage, this is a poor village, there are few of us, before the undead labor we couldn't farm enough land to both feed ourselves and have enough to sell! And we could barely afford to pay for the cost of healing magic! What do you expect us to do if we're injured, and injuries happen all the time on a farm!" he asked.
The commander shrugged and shook his head, "Not my problem old man, you pay the fee or you stay hurt, you've got to earn the money yourself, or its you're on fault you can't pay for it, you have to be self sufficient and stand on your own to feet, nobody else is responsible for paying to take care of you if you're sick or injured...you don't have any right to not get hurt after all, its just the risk you chose to take by working." He looked smugly around the village.
"You can't DO this to us!" Kebel said.
"Sounds like rebellion." The commander answered, "And of course, since enemy combatants are legitimate opponents under the Draconic Accords..." He drew out his sword and ran Kebel through.
The other villagers held their farm implements tightly, and looked on in fury as Kebel lay dying on the ground.
They were near riot, but they were badly outnumbered, had neither armor nor weapons at hand. From the ground where he lay, Kebel frantically waved his arm and shook his head, telling them not to act yet.
"I guess I could heal him, we do have potions for that purpose with us...but it'll cost you?" He asked.
"How much?" an older woman asked softly.
"Five hundred gold..." He said flatly.
"We can't afford that...please...just give it to him...he's dying!" She said, rushing up to kneel at his feet and reaching up to the potion just beyond her means.
"Then you can't have it." He said.
After several more minutes of pleading, the plea became pointless, because Kebel breathed his last, and the woman fell over him weeping.
The Black Justice banner was taken down after that, and burned in the center of the village in front of all one hundred and fifty of them, and Astraka's banner was raised in its place. The peasants were forced back out into the fields to farm for the rest of the day, and well into the evening, under the watchful eyes of Astraka's soldiers.
The villagers of Kybar were asleep, as were most of the soldiers, when Skana first reached the place. Her scouts reported twenty men on sentry duty. But they were, in a few words...not very good. Rather than keeping torches at a distance from their position that they could see into, they carried those torches with them to see out from. Which meant they could see ten feet into the darkness and no further, while by contrast, Black Justice soldiers clad in night's cloak, could see each of them from a hundred yards away. With their Runic weapons having increased range, power, and accuracy...it was over quickly. Forty men picked their targets, two per sentry. One man crept close, while the other drew and fired and dropped the target. Then the nearer figure would close in and secure the body and draw it away from the site.
Then they would wait. It was early in the darkness, there would be other shifts, and to that end they brought up their best in sentry removal skills, it was easy after that, the relief would exit, and then the Black Justice member would step from the shadows, pull back their head by covering their mouth, and slit their throat to make for a silent kill. The commander's schedule simply fed his men to Skana in nice little bite sized pieces.
By the time the dawn broke, there were eighty dead men out of the two hundred occupiers, and Skana had the bodies stacked in the center of the village like bundles of sticks. She then ordered her soldiers to surround the place, and hundreds of archers lay in wait.
Chaos ensued when the cock crowed and those allowed their sleep emerged to find the bodies of their comrades laid out the way they were, shouting, calls to arms, and soldiers ran from their positions still buckling sword belts...and then Skana lifted her bow and fired a flaming shot into the air, that was their signal.
Hundreds of black suits of armor stepped out from concealment, and fired runic weapons into suits of armor that were not prepared to stop runic weapons at anything like close range. Bodies toppled or flew backwards, some men were lucky enough to die quickly, others fell clutching at arrows in the eye or throat, and had long enough to live to understand that they were going back to sleep, and that they would not wake up again.
A few who were slower than their comrades to respond to the disaster, and when they observed through a window or from an open door just what happened, they were quick to respond...sensibly.
"I surrender!" A voice called out, and several more with it. Among them...a burly looking man that Skana recognized must be the commander.
The villagers emerged only after the chaos had died down and Skana raised the banner of Black Justice above the village once again.
"Can I call for the village elder or chief to come forth?" Skana shouted as her soldiers took up the bodies of the dead Astrakian loyalists, and secured the bonds of the prisoners.
An old woman emerged, she was red faced and barely walking, she seemed to be cloaked in sorrow. "Ah...I am sorry ma'am...but...you can't...he...my husband...was murdered yesterday..." It was then that she saw the commander, on his knees being bound securely, "By him! He killed my husband! He killed my husband!" She shrieked and hobbled over to him as fast as her frail body could carry her. She began slapping him, hitting him, screaming and demanding to know why, but the commander just sat and took it, looking at the mask of rage and pain she wore on her wrinkled visage, and smirked.
She was a very old woman, and as such she had little stamina left to her, Skana approached, and gently pulled her back, the woman's arms were raised to her sides and her hands clenched into fists, tears ran down her face, "You monster! Monster!" She shrieked.
"I killed a rebel, nothing more." He said in a remorseless voice.
Skana's lips curled into a snarl, "Sure you did." She looked at him with her one good eye and placed her sword level on his shoulder, and looked at him with her one good eye, and in that eye he beheld the gaze of death's own avatar. Her arm was tense...but with a deep breath she drew it back.
"Under the Draconic Accords, I am not permitted to end the lives of prisoners...but know that I am sorely tempted. You will be sent to Prart and imprisoned until a trial can be arranged. Be grateful to the magnanimous will of the Sorcerer King."
His smug look went up to her, the arrogance, the remorselessness, it ate at Skana...and she vented her fury by spitting down in his face.
"Have this one bound and laid on his back, return to him every hour and spit on his face again." She said, "I don't want to see him 'dry eyed' until he's handed over to the guards in Prart and formally charged with a crime."
That got him. He started shouting and snarling and snapping his teeth like an angry dog, and when he was bound and pushed to his back, he tried his best to rise, but could not, not with his wrists and feet secured as they were.
"Going to crawl like a worm in the dirt?" Skana asked with contempt, and put one foot on his back between his shoulder blades, and she pushed down. He shouted and blustered his threats, but Skana only leaned forward, resting her arms one over the other atop the bent knee, rolling her sword by its pommel in her hand.
"Oh, finding this unpleasant?" She said, "Just wait till you find yourself being confronted by the Sorcerer King. I have felt his power, I would not be surprised if his presence alone could turn your body to paste."
She removed her foot and walked away, get them all to cart and escort them back to Prart.
The old woman approached Skana again.
"T-thank you. But...now what do we do? Kebel was our chief for thirty years...I...we..." She began to say, but paused when Skana put away her sword and took the old woman's hand. "You go on. Its all any of us can do. When someone whe value is taken before their time...we remember them...we build on their names and make our little corner of the world a little bit better. Your village will have a new chief, and you will remember the old one, you will remember your husband, you will tell his story, you will give his passing meaning by the way you live in his memory." Skana said softly, as she thought about the vacant places made in her life...and she gave the woman's hand a gentle squeeze that belied the furious warrior strength she possessed with the muscle and sinew of youth and the power of a veteran's experience.
The old woman nodded, and drew her close, and gave her the tightest hug the aged could manage, and stepped back and held her shoulders softly. "You're a good girl...thank you...remind me of my granddaughter you do, up and went adventuring when she was about your age...she never came back. So you take care out there. The world is a dangerous place, stick by your family, and go home to those'at matter to you. Don't go makin more holes in hearts, OK young miss?" She said with a crooked little smile and dancing eyes that Skana thought...must have been radiant when she was young.
"I'll do my best, but you be careful too, danger as you can see...can seek us out all on its own, we'll be in the area for a bit, but I recommend you establish a watch and be ready to flee the village next time Astraka's soldiers come near." Skana said as she stepped away and turned around.
"Black Justice, that was ONE...before this week is out, I want TEN MORE VILLAGES!"
Swords and bows were lifted. "Justice! Justice! Justice!" The weapons of war rose and fell with their call, echoed by the faithful village.
"We will leave you the bodies of the dead to dispose of, you may keep their weapons and armor for yourself, but bury the dead in accordance with their faith." Skana instructed the villagers, who mutely nodded.
"I will send word to Prart of your labor shortage, and I will request that you be sent a small detachment for your security. Our mission does not allow us to remain, otherwise we would." Skana said regretfully.
The old woman bowed her head. "I don't know how much worse things would have gotten...you've done more than we could ask." She said softly. "Go, with an old woman's gratitude."
Skana smiled at the old woman, her own men had already taken the initiative and purchased a cart from the village to load the prisoners onto, and had largely finished with the task. As Skana began to walk away she looked the prisoners over, they were a nervous looking lot, not much backbone, none of them met her gaze as she walked past. Two soldiers were quickly found to take the prisoners back to Prart, and four more volunteered to serve as scouts for the prisoner wagon as well, that was as secure as could be under the circumstances, not ideal, but there was other work to do.
Skana moved in front of the cart as they took positions in, driving, and alongside it. "Good luck soldiers, link up with us soon, and don't go getting drunk at the tavern when you get back unless you make the first toast to US!" She grinned and wagged a finger at the soldiers, who laughed and offered mock sacred oaths to follow her command, and then as Skana stepped aside, the cart began to move and the riders with it. The rest of her formation was already gathered, so she went to the front of it, and called out "FORWARD!" and they began to ride, kicking their undead mounts into a low trot, while the first two ranks galloped ahead to act as scouts for the remainder.
As they rode past, she saw the fearless determination on some of their faces, and she was certain of one thing...however the war ended...today Black Justic would NOT know defeat.
...Prart...
Neia was satisfied, days after the general counsel and all was proceeding apace. CZ was serving as an instructor on ranged combat, and the city had turned into one great big armed camp. Thousands of soldiers were still pouring in, and thanks to the...departure, of some corrupt members of Prart's old society, ample space existed to put them all up, while production of equipment continued to pour in, scouts were steadily reporting information on enemy movements from Hoburns to Kedyn. With the sudden elimination of so many Theocracy agents, their own now had a virtual free hand, and Neia daily received reports of their sabotage efforts in Hoburns and elsewhere. Of greatest interest however were the raid reports. Skana's efforts at undoing the attempts at occupying Black Justice villages was racking up hundreds of casualties, and the constant raids on Astraka's line of march towards Kasaga had turned a three to five day stroll in good conditions, into a two week nightmare, the army was tired, worn out, severely short of supplies compared to what they began with, and had nothing to show for it. Kasaga was asking for help now though...and Neia intended to render it. She checked her calendar, if her request had been approved, Olasird'arc would arrive tomorrow. The saddle she'd had commissioned was ready but...concealed from all others save the men needed to move it.
She...couldn't...wait.
...Slane Theocracy southern military command...
"Gustav Montagne is a problem, he's raiding our supplies and he's hindering our resupply efforts, we need to divert some of our forces to deal with him." The slane theocracy supply officer said.
"What happens if we don't?" His superior asked.
"Then even with foraging here, we run out of supplies in three months, barring a substantial boost by seizing a large city supply." The supply officer said.
"We'll send fifteen thousand to chase him down then, if we can drive him off, we can defeat him later." The commander said.
...Astraka's army...
Finally something good had happened, word filtered back that several Black Justice villages had been occupied, a few rebels had been executed, but losses were low and raids had begun to slow down, he was only a day away from Kasaga now, and his men were angry, very angry, and he was going to let them vent that anger on the defenders. They'd need to unleash their wrath somehow. That night, rest came to them in a small measure, a few raids occurred, but someone had the sense to put torches out at a distance and keep sentries hidden, so when the raid happened this time...casualties were few, and an enchanted arrow even killed an undead horse and lead to the capture of a member of Black Justice. He had to be beaten into unconsciousness to take him into custody...but in the morning he'd get to see the walls of the city they'd captured, fall to him.
Tomorrow was going to be a very good day.
...Office of Raymond...Slane Theocracy...
Zesshi was just about to knock on the door to Raymond's office when the voices gave her pause.
"You really want to let the elf king rape human women as the price for his help?" Raymond's muffled voice said.
"You can't have qualms about it NOW, we already made the agreement." Dominic's voice answered, "And if we get another one like Zesshi out of it, well its for the greater good! Why can't you see that?!" Dominic shouted.
"Because we're talking about an act the god's themselves abhorred, something so sickeningly wrong that even the undead expressly moved to prohibit it! And what do we say to them? How do we tell Zesshi that we can't let her kill her father until he's at least raped his way across the Holy Kingdom for us first, or that we might not even let her try at all if it turns out we can easily take away any women he impregnates. How do we tell her mother, one of our own scripture seats, that we're endorsing what was done to her?!" Raymond snapped.
"Your fondness for the half elf is tainting your thinking!" Dominic snapped.
"No! My value of my COMRADE is keeping my thinking clear! She'd never forgive us for this, and I wouldn't blame her, I blame myself for letting us get dragged this far into this monstrous agreement. What good is an army if we trade away our humanity! This won't end well for us! You mark me!" Raymond snapped.
"Blasphemer! Anything done for the faith cannot be sinful! Anything to ensure that our gods reign supreme and their worship and their servants are not threatened, must be acceptable or we are all done for!" Dominic shouted. "Why did you even ask me here?!" He snapped.
"I hoped in private you'd be able to keep your temper and see sense...but you didn't, now get out of my office!" Raymond snapped. Dominic walked away and reached fort he handle, "You mark me Raymond, if we do things your way, there will be nothing left of us, we're battling monsters, so we must fight as they fight or we will be no more. "We'll kill the boy in the tower, and the princess for good measure, we'll use the soldiers of a mismanaged Re-Estize to reclaim E-Rantel, and in thirty years when we're retired you'll swallow your pride and say I was right all along." Dominic said rapidly and angrily, until the end when he laughed.
"Everything will be fine, don't worry, the gods will it." Dominic said, and he exited the room. Zesshi however, was not seen, she had concealed herself to eavesdrop, and was displeased with much of what she'd heard.
She considered entering to speak with Raymond...but instead...decided she had somewhere else to be, and began the walk back to the tower where Climb was no doubt swinging his practice sword.
...Ikari City...
When Ikarian command teams got the report that forty thousand soldiers were bypassing their city and heading on a circuitious route to Kami Miyako, there were mixed feelings. First...they weren't being attacked...but arguably worse was...the city behind them, their capital, was being attacked. They immediately notified the hundred thousand plus army that had been moving North, and warned them to diver to Kami Miyako instead. Presented with the possible loss of their capitol, this they did, and for good measure, the expeditionary force asked for the city to provide seventeen thousand soldiers to outflank the force or aid in surrounding it when it was intercepted.
There were many...many volunteers hungry for the glory of defeating General Enri, the guardian of the southern pass, and the only one between them and marching North on E-Rantel itself.
...Enri's camp...
When the dragons were en route, she'd expressly requested that they land far behind her camp and walk in along the ground, they had made no objection to this, but Enry had to explain to the frost dragons the utility of secrecy as a means to power, and several found it intruiging as a concept, but what was more interesting were the boxes.
Enri stood in front of several very large boxes. "These are how we will take Ikari City." She said.
"Each of these can hold fifty soldiers, what I want you to do when I am at the city, is sweep over the defenders and use your ice breath, then sweep low and snatch these boxes up by the handle on top, and then sweep low into the city and deposit them near the gate, our soldiers exit, seize the gate, and you fly up again and render range support while we storm the entrance."
Enri grinned. "Do you have any questions" She asked.
"Whats the box called?" One of the dragons asked.
Enri put her finger to the corner of her lip and looked up thoughtfully for a moment. "I call it the 'dragon's lunchbox'. She grinned and began to laugh, and so caught off guard were the rest of them, that they began laughing as well, and nobody stopped, not for quite some time.
AN: Well here is another double release, not quite as long as I originally intended it, but I'm not unhappy, I still have to go back and fix two details from a previous chapter, just to tired to do that now, long day, good day, but long, I'll fix those details later. In the meantime, if you've enjoyed my work thus far, please consider donating to my charity organization: bdgiving dot org.
Also, per a reader request... I've started a (not sure if I can say this without it being censored) a 'discordserver' and if you'd like to join it: hJrfday